Finding people and phone numbers

A few search engines can be quite helpful in finding people for your Native News stories. One of the best is switchboard.com. You can use it to find people if they have listed phone numbers in any public phone directory. Let's say you are looking for a source on the Blackfeet Reservation, but you don't know just where the person lives. If you go to switchboard, click on "Find a Person," and type the person's first and last name, plus Montana. Omit the city name.
The search results will give you every person by that name who has a listed phone in Montana. Knowing (from a map, if need be) what towns are on or near the reservation, you can find out where your sources live (often including addresses) and what their phone numbers are. You can do the same search with last name, city, state, for example. That way, if someone who you know lives in Heart Butte goes by a nickname, you might find them under a listing of people in Heart Butte with that last name and formal first name.
If you're trying to find a person and you have no idea where he lives, type in his first and last name with no city or state. Everyone in the country with that name who has a listed phone number will come up. Below the listings is a sponsored search engine (an ad) that gives the names and other identifying info (like ages) that can sometimes help you narrow the list.
You can find phone numbers for businesses (or organizations like tribal colleges) by using the Find a Business search.
On occasion you might have a phone number and want to know whose phone it is. You can do this on switchboard as well, or you can go to other search engines like 411.com or bigfoot.com.

Writing tips

As I noted to reporters in class Wednesday, one of the best ways to improve your writing is to study good writing. Read it not just for content, but for style, tone, pacing, word play. Here's the link to the Poynter site that has many writing tips.

Another example you might want to take a look at, both for content and writing, is a series Missoulian reporter Michael Moore wrote looking into the deaths of two 11-year-old boys on the Flathead Reservation from alcohol poisoning and exposure. He won a Casey Medal (a national award for stories about children) for his series.

Another good resource

The Santa Fe New Mexican published a special section a few years back that, while dated in some respects, may give you good story ideas. It's called Paths to Proficiency: Indian Education at the Crossroads. If you'd like to see it check in my office.

Guess ours is not a new idea

Actually, we knew that. But if you want to see how the Sioux Falls Argus Leader did its series of stories on Indian education go to this link: http://www.argusleader.com/specialsections/2004/biaschools/

Fifty cents for the first person to explain the statistics graph drawn on the blackboard in class yesterday. Ahh, yes. Journalists + Numbers = Disaster. Be careful out there.

If you want the names and email addresses of the reporters assigned to your reservation last year or in years previous, ask me or Teresa. They may have some advice on sources.

Don't forget: You must read every story in previous tabs from your assigned reservation.

Sharing resources & evaluating the news

We'll use this site to talk about things you find out in doing your reservation research, or questions you have that others might help you find the answers to. Check it out between class meetings and don't hesitate to post interesting findings, observations or concerns.
I'll also use it to point you to interesting sites or information I've come across.
If you want to take a look at the report our guests referred to on Monday about American Indian Student Achievement, go to http://leg.state.mt.us/css/committees/interim/2005_2006/qual_schools/default.asp and click on that title under staff reports. You'll have to download it to read it, but you'll likely find it worthwhile.
If you want to compare it to John Stromnes' story in the Missoulian, go to http://missoulian.com/articles/2006/01/23/news/mtregional/news03.txt
What do you think?