Sources

Mary MacDonald
National Lentil Festival Director
director@lentilfest.com

Gunnar Nordquist
WSU Student
gunnar_nordquist@yahoo.com

Monique Slipher
Employee, Bruised Books
mslipher@hotmail.com

Outline for lentil fest story

1. Lede

2. Mary MacDonald

3. History of Lentil Festival

4. The Festival "industry"

5. Current NLF status

6. Community reaction

7. Final MacDonald quote

On one hand, what would this photo really do to illustrate the situation at hand?  Is it worth running the risk of losing your job/offending millions of Americans (potentially)/or actually causing some sort of profound positive change?  On does the photo offer a crucial news value?  I don't believe that there is a significant news value to this photo.  I believe that it has a purpose, but not necessarily best served in a daily newspaper.  Americans know that American soldiers are dying.  Showing a graphic illustration should be reserved to highlight an unknown social injustice, in my opinion.  Rather, this photo may be better used in a political magazine of some sort, where audiences must go out of their way to pick one up.  Newspapers are more readily accessible.  I can't explain why this makes a difference, but I think it does.

Martha Mendoza

I was able to listen to Martha Mendoza speak in the Evergreen conference room a week or so ago. What really intrigued me about what she said was her experiences in doing investigative-type journalism. Tracking down people for stories and reaching out to great extents for the sake of news gathering is pretty intense to hear about first-hand. I benifited from hearing what her processes were for working on projects like the Korean War story. I thought it also interesting how she believes FOIA requests should acknowledged in the story. I suppose I had never thought of that before.

Libel practice

1. “Up until the day he died, he was a brilliant writer. But the drugs made him a thief, a pimp and a liar,” said friend Karen Smith, who was with Johnson at the time of his death.

Not Libel depending on the state.  You can't libel a dead person in most states. The source is trusted, also.  Smith was at Johnson's side upon his death.

2. “Megan Fox is a man!” Headline on Weekly World News Web site

It's satirical (hyperbole), Fox is a public figure, and WWNews is a parody paper.

3. “In my opinion, Kevin is a murdering rapist,” the prosecutor told the jury.

Not Libel.  This a quote from part of the trial. 

4. "In my opinion, he's a murdering rapist," the man said at the rally.

Libel.

Outline

Palouse Producers site

Explanation of the Brownfield site

IPG awarded to Palouse

What’s in the site exactly?

How did the site get contaminated?

How much will this clean-up cost?

Who will pay for it?

Ideas for development?

Who owns it now?

Contacts:

Michael Echanove – Interviewed via phone ¬
Mayor of Palouse
(509) 878-1811

Doug Willcox – Interviewed via phone
Brownfields Committee Chair
(509) 878-1836

Mike Bagott – Interviewed in-person
Bagott Motors (located next to Palouse Producers site)
(509) 878-1541

Joyce Beeson – Interviewed in-person
City Clerk/Treasurer
(509) 878-1811

John Sell – Contacted via phone
Current tenant of Palouse Producers site
(509) 878-1366