Stay awhile:
I
am a PhD student in journalism/
mass communications at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, where I teach a range of undergraduate journalism courses. Prior to grad school, I was a reporter at The Vindicator, the daily newspaper in Youngstown Ohio.
My hobbies include winemaking and working on my classic VW Dormobile camper. Once in a great while I write a book review.
Inside you can find:
Ancient story about me in Cleveland Jewish News
Pictures of my cats Sally and Daisy.
Instructions to make your own wine
Tips for beating a speeding ticket
Contact me:
10 Herrold Ave.
Athens, OH 45701
(330) 647-4298
Workshop Web Tools:
Good for Just About Everything
www.google.com - Hit the "advanced search" to make it even better. The news, book, Uncle Sam and scholar searches are also great.
General Reference
www.wikipedia.com - Wonderful resource for imperfectly reliable information. The place to get preliminary information for confirmation from other sources.
www.refdesk.com - Links to huge range of reference sources, searchable newspaper archives, on-line public documents, more.
Urban Legends
Have a tip about a story that's too good to be true? Check it out at www.snopes.com.
Directories
www.switchboard.com - Offers search by phone number.
Public Records
Often, it is possible to find the following information if you have a person's name and some geographical information (city, county, state).
TIME SERVED (Google state department of corrections, Federal Bureau of Prisons.)
COURT RECORDS ( Google clerk of courts for particular county. Different counties make different records available. May include criminal and civil court cases, marriage and divorce records. Always available if you show up in person)
MUNI COURT RECORDS (Ditto, but for misdemeanor offenses - that is, offenses carrying less than six months jail time.)
PROPERTY RECORDS (Google auditor for particular county. Generally includes value of property and location. May include floor plans. Always available if you show up in person.)
REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS (All counties keep lists but may or may not make them available online. A searchable state-wide list is at www.esorn.ag.state.oh.us/Secured/p1.aspx .)
Health Stories
www.cdc.gov/ - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is a great source for information you can cite in news stories.
www.odh.state.oh.us/ - The Ohio Department of Health site. Generally has news releases on the latest health scare. Phone numbers for PR contacts are in the "news" section.
Search Your School
http://ilrc.ode.state.oh.us/ - Official Ohio Department of Education report cards that allow you to compare your school's performance against others in the state.
Want Facts with that Film Review?
www.imdb.com - Searchable database of movies new and old.
Experts
www.expertclick.com/ - One of many online resources to connect journalists with expert sources.
The Real Dirt
www.thesmokinggun.com - Want to see 50-Cent's arrest report? Read the civil suit against Bill O'Reilly? A fun browse through public documents.
Tools for Journalists
http://www.cyberjournalist.net/supersearch.php/index.htm - Many search boxes in one place, from cyber journalism guru Jonathan Dube.
http://tech.nytimes.com/top/news/technology/cybertimesnavigator/index.html - Site developed for reporters at the New York Times.
http://www.sree.net/stories/web.html - Links and more links from Columbia J-School professor Sreenath Sreenivasan.