A meetup with Dr. Michael Bitzer, an N.C. political expert

WSOC’s Blair Miller (left) and Dr. Michael Bitzer “tweetcast” from the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

By Frank Barrows

On Nov. 1, nearly on the eve of the election, we’ll have the chance to talk with Dr. Michael Bitzer of Catawba College, one of the Carolinas’ most respected – not to mention most insightful and wittiest – political observers.

At 6:30 p.m. at the Dilworth Neighborhood Grille (911 East Morehead Street, Charlotte), he’s our guest for our regular first-Thursday-of-the-month gathering. It promises to be a great night, with lots of discussion about the Nov. 6 election and lots of ideas and information from Dr. Bitzer that will help shape your coverage.

If you don’t already know him, I hope you’ll take this chance to meet Dr. Bitzer. He’s a good a friend of our chapter, and is associate professor of politics and history at Catawba College. You can get an idea of the depth of his thinking and research, as well as his sense of humor, at his blog, NC Politics; his post on Tuesday was a fascinating look at early-voting trends in North Carolina. Or you can follow him on Twitter at @CatawbaPolitics.

Dr. Bitzer is among our state’s most widely quoted experts on elections and campaigns, writing for WFAE this campaign season at The Party Line. He’s also been quoted by people like Charlie Mahtesian at Politico.

This evening is one more part of your chapter’s award-winning initiatives and programming for your professional development. Plus, our meetings are a splendid place for networking.

Please join us, and let your colleagues know about this event: “A Conversation With Michael Bitzer,” 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 1 at the Dilworth Neighborhood Grille.

Photo courtesy of Dr. Michael Bitzer.

Resources for journalists covering the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte

By Andria Krewson

Here’s a link roundup of resources available for journalists covering the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Many come from our successful July 28 seminar, “Ready, Set, Go,” on covering conventions. University of North Carolina student and journalist Melissa Abbey wrote a summary of that seminar, and Society of Professional Journalists National President John Ensslin, who has covered three national conventions, spoke at the seminar and shared his tips on his blog.

Note: The law allows police in North Carolina and Florida to search your digital devices if you are being arrested, according to Andy Sellers of the Digital Media Law Project. Sellers also notes that digital networks in crowds can become overloaded, so do not count on your phone to work. Consider using old-fashioned paper identification and reference materials as a backup.


For emergencies

If you run into trouble and can tweet, a couple of moves might come in handy.



• Please feel free to send a tweet to the Greater Charlotte Society of Professional Journalists’ account at @charlottespj if you run into legal issues. Ensslin notes in his roundup that national SPJ has a legal defense fund.
• 
Free Press uses the tag #journarrest for cases in which journalists are arrested.
• From the National Press Photographers’ Association, General Counsel Mickey Osterreicher is tweeting from @nppalawyer.
• From the North Carolina ACLU, Chris Brook, legal director, is available for your calls at his office (919-834-3466) or cell phone (919-830-4228).
• Charlotte-Mecklenburg police representatives have held several meetings with local media and community members. Deputy Police Chief Harold Medlock met with the Greater Charlotte Chapter of SPJ in June. Here are notes from that meeting.

The roundup

John Ensslin’s tips, with his own advice as well as tips from other experienced journalists.

The Digital Media Law Project’s guide to reporting at the 2012 Republican and Democratic national conventions, including a one-page, crammed-to-the-gills cheat sheet
.

Free Press, the International News Safety Institute and Harvard University’s Digital Media Law Project teamed up for a webinar on safety for journalists while covering conventions. Replay available here. One excellent advance tip from this webinar: treat the DNC as a long hike, bring snacks and water and plan ahead with a map to avoid being “kettled.”

Know your rights, from the ACLU, with a one-pager full of resources.

Covering the conventions and protests, from the National Press Photographers Association (updating live from the Republican National Convention)
.

No rebar, lots of sunscreen: Covering the Democratic National Convention, a concise roundup by UNC student Melissa Abbey of the Greater Charlotte Society of Professional Journalists’ July 28 seminar.

7 Rules for Recording Police, by Steve Silverman at Gizmodo.

The National Lawyers’ Guild

Privacy and security for mobile phones and other devices using voice and data networks, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The surveillance self-defense project from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Charlotte Mecklenburg online form for filing a complaint about an officer.

Social media resources

Many of these came from a Poynter chat led by Mallary Tenore on Aug. 24 with Ethan Klapper, Jeff Sonderman and Charlotte’s own Mary Curtis.

• Phone apps and a map for covering the DNC, including screenshots of apps from the Charlotte Observer and the DNC host committee.
• A Charlotte DNC Twitter guide by Ted Boyd, director of Historic South End, a subsidiary of Charlotte’s Center City Partners. It includes hashtags and local media accounts.
• Tumblr’s elections.
• Five apps for tracking and fact-checking political news.
• How to verify – and when to publish – news accounts posted on social media, from Poynter.
• A replay of the Poynter chat on using social media in election coverage.
• 25 ways to use Facebook, Twitter and Storify to improve political coverage.
• From the Atlantic: “9 Concrete, Specific Things We Actually Know About How Social Media Shape Elections.”

Phone apps and a map for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte

DNC in 2012 “Make it possible for me…” page in iPhone app.

Here’s part of what you get with the DNC in 2012 app if you choose, “Make it possible for me to be a hipster.”

National Journal’s convention iPhone splash page.

National Journal’s convention iPhone calendar.

Splash page for the app from Event Farm and Bloomberg for exchanging tickets to events and building a personal event calendar.

The Charlotte Observer’s DNC app provides news, an event list and features from local journalists.

The Observer’s app includes features on local attractions beyond hotels and restaurants, such as the city’s growing greenway system.

A portion of the CLT Uptown map by cartographer Jeff Simpson, available for iOS for $1.99.

By Andria Krewson and Corey Inscoe

Take a look at four smart-phone apps and a gorgeous, detailed map available to help journalists get around during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

The official DNC 2012 host committee app, made by AT&T Services, offers slick ways of pushing out information also generally available on the host committee’s website, like unique videos made by Charlotteans about Charlotte, and also offers more features like Google maps with restaurants and venues marked and integrated with basic information and a web link. You can mark as a favorite a restaurant, or a blog post or a video to store them on a separate tab for later.
The phone also has a “Make it possible for me … ” function, where you can choose to be a hipster (yes, a hipster) or “farm to fork foodie” or “museum/art lover,” tying into an activity of a certain duration and within a certain radius. The function essentially gives you a calendar or entertainment listing, and the icons are rather amusing (a mustache and glasses represents a hipster, and a bicycle represents outdoor activities). Cost: free.

The National Journal’s app, called Re:Con Conventions, includes information about both the Democratic and Republican conventions, including a list of delegate hotels and an events listing laid out in a tabbed calendar format by day, with events listings I haven’t seen anywhere else. The Journal appears to have partnered with DemList for some content and includes its own events, of course. It also has news, photos of key figures, integration with Google maps and the ability to quickly add events to phone calendars. It’s shorter on specific city information, but the calendar content for national organizations holding events in Charlotte is quite valuable. Cost: free.

Bloomberg’s convention app, made in conjunction with Event Farm, lets convention visitors swap tickets to events and helps event planners distribute tickets to individuals, groups or sponsors. It also shares Bloomberg news and integrates its Google maps with Yelp listings. (If you don’t allow it to use your current location, the maps don’t know where to go, though, displaying “Orlando” for me in Charlotte. I’d love more transparency and a toggle on-off switch for sharing my location with some of these apps, for when I’m home versus when I’m out.) You can get all the details from Folio. It requires you to set up an account with Event Farm before you can use the app (it asks for your phone number but doesn’t require it). It also integrates with Facebook and Twitter and has a search function for events. The icons and design are intuitive, using forms similar to mobile gmail, and you can add events listings to your very own schedule, integrated with your mobile calendar. (Tiny thing: the Charlotte version is called “My 2012 CTL” in its short form on the app’s icon and within the app in a few places. Charlotte is “CLT,” not “CTL.”) Cost: free.

Charlotte Observer DNC 2012 app: The Charlotte Observer released its own Democratic National Convention App earlier this week. It is available now for Android phones and should also be available on the iPhone soon. iPhone or Safari desktop users can access the app now at www.conventioncharlotte.com. (Doesn’t work for Firefox 14.0.1 yet, it appears. Works for Safari and Chrome.)
The app features news and information about the convention from Observer staff writers and wire services. In addition to a “Breaking news” section, there is a section about the delegates and weather updates.
The app also provides information on parties and events around the DNC, though the “calendar” list doesn’t seem to be in any particular order.
The “Explore Charlotte” section offers information and articles about local restaurants, bars, entertainment and even Charlotte’s greenway system from Observer staffers. This section may be the app’s most valuable asset, giving information about local things to do from the local writers.
The Observer also mapped hundreds of restaurants, bars, farmers markets and even gas stations on a Google map, which is available through the app. Cost: Free, though at last check it was quite a large file on the Android phone.

Finally, Charlotte cartographer Jeff Simpson has a gorgeous uptown Charlotte map with details like public art, sky bridges between buildings and even those pesky restaurants hidden inside larger buildings. He marks parking too, for anyone who actually plans to try to drive within the uptown loop. His app costs $1.99 in the Apple store.

Know of any others?

(Andria Krewson is a former Observer journalist in Charlotte now writing for Columbia Journalism Review’s Swing States project. Corey Inscoe is an Observer journalist covering primarily prep sports and also helping with convention coverage.)

Parking for Saturday’s seminar on the Democratic National Convention

Final details for Saturday: parking.

The seminar is at UNCC’s Center City building with parking at 707 N. Brevard St.

Once you turn onto N. Brevard Street, take the first right into the parking lot (707 N. Brevard St.)

Park in a numbered space, and pay $4 cash into that number’s slot at the honor box. Exact cash only.

If you don’t have cash, the parking garage at Seventh Street Station accepts credit/debit cards. ADA parking for those with handicapped license tags or parking permits is marked with red lines.

Photo credit: James Willamor of Willamor Media.

 

Meeting notes: access, credentials, conflict resolution and student journalists during the Democratic National Convention

Barack Obama campaigns in uptown Charlotte on Sept. 21, 2008, after the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Image by James Willamor.

Here is a summary of a meeting that Frank Barrows, Grant Baldwin, Susan Stabley and Stuart Watson had with Kristie Greco, communications director of the Democratic National Convention Committee, on April 30. Grant Baldwin,a freelance Charlotte photographer, took the notes for Charlotte Society of Professional Journalists.

Access

Uptown will be “open for business.” Any specifics on the established perimeter defining areas that are public and areas that will require one or tiers of credentialing by the DNC will be outlined in the upcoming Transportation And Security Plan. There is no set date as to when that plan will be made available. It is still being formulated.
It is the DNC’s goal to have a minimal impact on the daily life uptown
however, the execution of that lies in the hands of CMPD and the Secret Service.

Conflict resolution

Resources for resolving conflicts concerning access during the DNC include Kim McMillan, head of public relations for the DNC; she was named specifically as a point of contact for access related issues during the DNC along with Kristie Greco herself.
Aside from printed materials that will be available at a later date, the communications office and media logistics office are resources as well.
There will be press information booths set up that can also assist at each facility.
We suggested establishing a hotline number that journalists could call for quick resolution of conflicts that arose around access issues; Greco was noncommittal about that idea.

The next walkthrough

The June 5 spring media logistics walkthrough will also provide more information concerning access issues as well as be more in depth than the winter walkthrough as more details will have been fleshed out since the winter walkthrough. Greco cited that the pamphlets given out then will be the best place to look for whom to go to to sort out access issues that arise.

Credentialing

Greco also noted news organizations should be managing credentials and that the individuals doing so in those organizations would be a frontline from which to seek help.

Student SPJ involvement

Greco requested that a list of student SPJ members that had applied for credentials be sent to her. She seemed to imply that if SPJ set up programs for students to interface with the DNC that she would look into helping those programs.

More on credentialing

There will be multiple levels of credentialing. Some are not fleshed out and even when they have been the information outlining all types of credentials and their associated parameters may not be made publicly available for security reasons.

Barack Obama campaigns in uptown Charlotte on Sept. 21, 2008, after the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Image by James Willamor.

Getting local names, places and things right

National website gets local news organization's name wrong.

This isn’t the first time national media confused the names of the Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News and Observer. It won’t be the last.

How can Charlotte SPJ make this better? Would you pay for a local style book to avoid these gaffes? In what form?

Catawba College’s Dr. Michael Bitzer talks politics

By Michael J. Solender

Members of the Charlotte chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists were treated to a lively discussion April 5 at their monthly meeting in Dilworth. The guest speaker was Dr. Michael Bitzer, chair of the Department of History and Politics and associate professor at Catawba College. Bitzer is an avid blogger, weighing in through The Party Line at WFAE’s website, and Twitter user at @catawbapolitics for N.C. politics, and he shared some of his most recent research.

Stating his fascination with campaigns, elections and the polarization that comes from partisan politics, Bitzer has set out to learn from and predict voting behavior and gain a better understanding of where the Grand Canyon-like divide in our local, state and national politics is coming from.

Bitzer brought with him a colorful district map of Mecklenburg County precincts based on the PVI, or Partisan Voting Index, to illustrate just how polarized the Democratic and Republican voting bases are in Mecklenburg County (site of the Democratic National Convention in early September, in case you’ve been living under a rock). Bitzer used data from the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections and compared precinct results to national averages to determine the likelihood of voting one way or another. His chart shows strong party loyalty in an overwhelming majority of precincts, which is likely predictive of strong partisan voting results.

What does it all mean? Mecklenburg County has few swing voters, and a great many voters have already made up their minds about the 2012 presidential race. Of the 243 districts, only 13 were identified as tossups in Bitzer’s data.

The quick review of this information led to Bitzer sharing his analysis of what he sees as a sorting process going on across the country. He cited two books that explore this political, social and economic sort in more depth: The Big Sort by Bill Bishop, and Patchwork Nation by James G. Gimpel and Jason E. Schuknecht.

Bitzer spoke about a lessening of split-party voting and shared that those who identify themselves as either Republicans or Democrats have a 90 percent likelihood of voting their ticket in national elections.

(Yes, the state and nation are seeing an increase in those who register unaffiliated, with the electorate essentially divided in thirds, Bitzer noted, but that grouping in thirds has been apparent for years. What that means for groups like Americans Elect remains to be seen, he said. Bitzer expressed doubts that the group could serve as anything beyond a spoiler in 2012. For voter registration details, see the Carolina Transparency voter charts.)

He predicted a tough go for the presumptive Republic nominee for president, Mitt Romney, in November’s election as he sees an inability to connect with those unaffiliated voters, who are increasingly becoming the coveted “middle” choice wooed by polarized main parties. Three months ago, Romney had a 10-point lead in polls over Obama with independent voters; today, the president has the same margin over Romney among that group, Bitzer said.

Those in attendance were quite interested in the role Hispanics, women and minorities would play in upcoming elections, and Bitzer was quick to share that he saw these groups carrying increasing weight, particularly in battleground states such as Florida, Ohio and Texas. Long term, it is in Texas, where Bitzer sees an increasing vulnerability for Republics as an entire generation of Hispanics is being won over by Democrats.

The state of the society: SPJ President John Ensslin speaks in Charlottte

John Ensslin, national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, spoke on the state of the society during a visit to Charlotte on Jan. 27. The organization’s national board held its winter meeting in Charlotte.

Ensslin’s speech emphasizes the strengths of the society: continuity, ethics, Quill magazine and support tools for individual journalists facing challenges while doing their jobs.

Ensslin and SPJ have been champions for journalists arrested while covering Occupy Wall Street protests. Ensslin has written thoughtful editorials and promises future support, and the society’s Legal Defense Fund provides legal assistance to individual journalists.

Ensslin, who was in Denver during the Democratic National Convention of 2008, also spoke to the challenges and fun ahead for the Charlotte chapter as the convention comes to Charlotte in September.

(Video from Rhiannon Bowman, text here from Andria Krewson.)

A letter to Steve Kerrigan

The Charlotte chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists sent the following letter to Steve Kerrigan, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee, on Jan. 24, 2011:

Stephen Kerrigan
400 South Tryon Street
Suite 500
Charlotte, NC 28202

Dear Mr. Kerrigan,

The Greater Charlotte Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is concerned about the off-the-record portion of the media tour January 17 of venues for the Democratic National Convention.

Media representatives were told the restriction is standard procedure, and several were approached directly and asked to stop posting information to Twitter. One journalist who asked questions about the restriction was told he could leave if he didn’t accept the restriction.

While we understand the concerns for security and the preliminary nature of the logistical information, journalism and in fact our society are based on relationships of mutual trust and respect. Logistical emails, notices and parts of tours that require off-the-record restrictions violate that trust, treating journalists as passive recipients and not as partners in providing information in a civic society.

Further, research shows that the 2008 convention in Denver either had no such restrictions on the press or those restrictions were routinely violated without consequence. The actions by current DNCC communications professionals have resulted in online headlines such as, “Reporter blows the lid off DNC secret media meeting.” DNCC members have said they want an open and inclusive convention; restrictions that legitimately prompt adjectives like “secret” work directly against your purposes.

In addition, a DNCC communications professional implied in a conversation with one Charlotte media representative that journalists “in smaller markets” don’t fully understand the nature of large events or the importance of “off the record” information. That disparaging comment about Charlotte journalists is off base. The communications professional was talking with a journalist with many years in the New York media market. Further, one of the strongest voices pushing against the off-the-record tour restriction has served as an embedded journalist in Iraq.

The dust-up also prompted the headline, “Some Charlotte media not ready for the convention stage,” at one national blog as well. It’s not our role to compare credentials of journalists and DNCC communications professionals, but Charlotte has seasoned, professional journalists who deserve respect and mutual trust from the DNCC. We’d like to find ways to further positive relationships.

The Greater Charlotte Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists urges the DNCC to keep communication channels with local reporters as open and respectful as possible, and our chapter is inviting you attend one of our twice-a-month meeting for a discussion about such terms as “off the record” and other aspects of the approaching convention.

Thank you for your time, and we look forward to seeing you at one of our meetings.

Our president, Frank Barrows, will be glad to work with you to confirm a date.

Sincerely,

Greater Charlotte Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists

Contact: Frank Barrows, 704 576-3485, fcbarrows@aol.com.

Charlotte’s impending media circus: Insight from Iowa

Journalists work in the Google media filing center in Des Moines, Iowa. Photo by Kelsey Kremer, Iowa State Daily.

By Andria Krewson

At the Iowa caucuses, the Des Moines visitors’ bureau set up a media center that included television backdrops, wi-fi, snacks, coffee and Google goodies.

Workstations cost $400 each for established media organizations and $200 each for blogging stations, according to Erika Fry at Columbia Journalism Review. Not all traditional media or bloggers plunked down the money, Fry wrote, and political parties provided other media access points.

Watching the political hot spots can help Charlotte media folk know what to expect during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in September 2012. The S.C. primary still lies ahead, but plans are starting to gel in Charlotte, and the PPL group has been working on access to free space for media, especially independent media. Charlotte’s expecting up to 15,000 journalists for the convention.

DNC organizers are making their pitches for institutional sponsorships in Washington, D.C., now.

The details from Politico:

The top fundraising package is appropriately named “Presidential” for those who raise $1 million. In return, the convention promises a premier uptown hotel room, platinum credential package, platinum events package, concierge services and priority access for rental facilities. It also earns the fundraiser two tickets for the “First in Flight Series,” a number of pre-convention events based in North Carolina with elected officials, political vets and others and four VIP tickets to the “Dialogue Series.”

The first media walk-through of the convention site in Charlotte is Jan. 18.

For a deeper sense of the Iowa scene, take a look at the Google Media Center in Des Moines, through the eyes of Business Insider, Iowa State Daily and Google. See and hear the media circus in a video from Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun Times.