Journalist’s Resource: Research on today’s news

Local news and civic accountability: 5 questions for Setti Warren Setti Warren, the former mayor of Newton, Massachusetts, is now the executive director of the Shorenstein Center. We sat down with him to get his thoughts on what happens to a community when there aren’t journalists covering city hall. “We are in danger  ,” he said. Toxic waste sites and environmental justice: Research roundup Often, those most at risk of living near toxic waste sites are low income or racial or ethnic minorities. Over the past few decades, researchers have looked into exactly where these sites are located, and the demographics of neighboring communities. Check out the latest scholarship. 7 ways to access academic research for free Journalists sometimes have trouble finding the research they need because many academic journals keep the published work of scholars and research organizations behind paywalls. This new tip sheet  outlines seven ways reporters can get access to that knowledge without spending any money. Reporting on immigration? Choose your sources responsibly Define American is a nonprofit media and culture organization working to change the narrative about immigration in the United States. Their latest campaign, #SourcesMatter, pushes the news media to reconsider the ways they achieve balance in stories on immigration. The main message of the campaign: Choose your sources responsibly.

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Will New California Law Banning For-Profit Charter Schools Make a Difference?

Let’s go Michigan… follow suit!

janresseger

Many of the states passed charter school enabling legislation back in the 1990s, before there was any understanding of how these privately operated schools—naively imagined as innocent incubators for innovation—might take advantage of public goodwill and access to pools of tax dollars to find ways to make a profit. By now we ought to have learned a lesson.

There are a few instances of fledgling regulation—notably last week, when California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law that is supposed to ban for-profit charter management companies and for-profit “sweeps” management contracts under which for-profit management companies take over and operate charters that are formally not-for-profit.

Living in Ohio, however—where the notorious Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow stole what is now known to be well over a billion dollars over a seventeen year period while legislators and potential state regulators looked the other way as campaign contributions flowed from the school’s founder and…

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