tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post8419712835866710927..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: On the future(s) of nonprofit journalismGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-35558860870162866092017-07-09T14:01:52.530-05:002017-07-09T14:01:52.530-05:00Grits, I so admire and appreciate what you do here...Grits, I so admire and appreciate what you do here and recognize the time it takes you away from family, friends, and things you'd probably enjoy more! Your readers really do appreciate it and you are changing the world. I'm reminded of a saying that I like a lot: "We are called not to be successful, but to be faithful." But by being the latter, you are often the former.<br /><br />Debbie, look forward to more of your work!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-75054199463058328672017-07-09T09:40:29.594-05:002017-07-09T09:40:29.594-05:00My guy is a huge fan of yours and he's been re...My guy is a huge fan of yours and he's been reading this blog for a long time. You probably know him. He knows Will. He's drafted an opinion on Texas politics and wants a second opinion before he sends it. It's pretty charged. It's pretty in tune with what you've been addressing in your blog. It's "Animal Farm." lets us know. xo :) KrisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-75649778509662835572017-07-09T08:59:26.745-05:002017-07-09T08:59:26.745-05:00Addendum: If under the new model, nonprofits only ...Addendum: If under the new model, nonprofits only hire established journalists to avoid the advocacy tag, does that make the MSM the new Farm League under this model, where people get experience there but move on to more lucrative nonprofit gigs once they make a name for themselves? Just a thought. ¿Quien sabe? Who knows how all this will play out?Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-89937105706363612402017-07-09T08:52:42.625-05:002017-07-09T08:52:42.625-05:00Ah, hi Debbie, I heard ACLU hired you, this is the...Ah, hi Debbie, I heard ACLU hired you, this is the first I heard any details. Congratulations!<br /><br />ACLU of Texas has come a long way, I guess. I worked there when I started Grits for Breakfast, as fate would have it. Will Harrell, the E.D. at the time, was supportive, but lots of people were unhappy and I was told I had to do it under my own name, on my own time, because it didn't have anything to do with my advocacy work. (!) Ironically, when I was run out on a rail at ACLUTX few years later, some of my internal critics felt the blog had <i>too much</i> to do with my advocacy work (which, bc they'd insisted it be separate, wasn't under their control). If I'd had my original preference, this blog would have been an ACLUTX project from the get go. Indeed, perhaps, in some alternative, parallel universe, <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Dark-Matter-Novel-Blake-Crouch/dp/1101904240/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1499608091&sr=1-1&keywords=dark+matter" rel="nofollow">like in a sci-fi novel</a>, it is one!<br /><br />But yes, that's exactly the model I'm talking about - nonprofits hiring (usually established) journalists to straight up perform journalism. I've seen a couple of other examples, too, just didn't document them.<br /><br />A quarter century ago when the Dallas Times Herald closed and dumped hundreds of veteran reporters on the TX market (followed by the Houston Post not long after), folks like me thought "How can I sell a journalistic skill set to employers masked as some other job, like communications director, researcher, etc.?" For me, it became "opposition researcher," supplemented by investigative work for attorneys and writing reports for nonprofits. Nobody outside the traditional media hired "reporters" per se. So this is a welcome change.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-67882386688571130832017-07-08T18:32:07.254-05:002017-07-08T18:32:07.254-05:00FYI ACLU of Michigan has an investigative journali...FYI ACLU of Michigan has an investigative journalist, Curt Guyette, who uncovered all that lead in the water in Flint; and ACLU of Texas has me in the same role since November of last year. I'm based in Brownsville; my "beat" is border militarization in the Rio Grande Valley and its effects on immigrants mainly in that area but also in Texas in general. I'm publishing in various media including Austin Chronicle and Fusion, and currently working on a very interesting collaboration with two publications, one in Texas and one national, for whom this will be their first time working together. I'm identified in my writing as ACLU of Texas' investigative reporter, and as freelancing. This new hybrid seems to fit (more or less?) into the model you're describing. Debbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04916028989871849799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-11610885661678688542017-07-08T15:22:31.499-05:002017-07-08T15:22:31.499-05:00Anonymous 5:00 AM I couldn't agree more and ...Anonymous 5:00 AM I couldn't agree more and here's another example of that by an officer who I witnessed first hand take his handcuffs and beat my friend over the head so many times he started to have convulsions at which time this same officer asked me, "what the fuck is wrong with your friend dude" and when I explained that he had just come out of a diabetic coma and his foot was just amputated and he had a serious heart condition, and high blood pressure he responded, "God damn it I need an ambulance I've got a guy faking a seizure or something over here" as my handicapped unarmed and totally defenseless friend lay there bleeding and barely conscience and the "reason" this officer attacked my friend in his own complex's parking lot? Because said officer "Kimball" stated that he had given him a "no trespass warning the last time he saw him and that he wasn't allowed to be at that complex" and whenever my friend started to explain that he's been living here for three months the beating started. Now this same -now ex- officer is charged with: <br /><br />http://www.khou.com/news/crime/former-friendswood-pd-officer-accused-of-indecency-with-a-child/452531775jamesinnes7@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12912228458362707017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-84329626357963434412017-07-08T07:24:31.419-05:002017-07-08T07:24:31.419-05:00The ex speaker of the house is in jail for 15 mont...The ex speaker of the house is in jail for 15 months and I am sure will be out before that but meanwhile a child molester in my county was just sent up for 30 years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-66295670679877983942017-07-08T07:05:06.746-05:002017-07-08T07:05:06.746-05:00Publicizing the fact that more cops are convicted ...Publicizing the fact that more cops are convicted of child sex crimes that all other professions combined will do more for criminal justice than anything. The perception that police officers are somehow better than the rest of us must be shattered and the only way for this to happen is to inform and educate the public so they realize just exactly who they worship.<br /><br />https://www.facebook.com/PoliceOfficersRapingKids/<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-49653247569120344282017-07-08T06:51:07.552-05:002017-07-08T06:51:07.552-05:00The brain dead voters and the free shit army could...The brain dead voters and the free shit army could care less......Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-29622217355162901882017-07-07T16:40:05.662-05:002017-07-07T16:40:05.662-05:00Oh, this wasn't a plea for funding, Kristie, I...Oh, this wasn't a plea for funding, Kristie, I've got a job!<br /><br />@ jdgalt, that's campaign work, the MSM cannot (or just as often, will not) dig deeply into a candidate during a race. If oppo people don't do it and put it out independently, it won't get covered. Plus, it's too labor-intensive to excavate incumbent's records. Unrealistic to expect the media as constituted to do that. There's insufficient demand for it.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-12257727991829267382017-07-07T15:18:03.596-05:002017-07-07T15:18:03.596-05:00Grits - we'll gladly pay you to write an artic...Grits - we'll gladly pay you to write an article for us - giving an unbiased perspective. How do we contact you? Kristie VaughnAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-43712346160765252802017-07-07T14:56:24.392-05:002017-07-07T14:56:24.392-05:00I very much appreciate the work of Grits, along wi...I very much appreciate the work of Grits, along with other journalists and sites that cover criminal justice such as Radley Balko, CopBlock, and PINAC.<br /><br />But what I think would be even more useful, if it could be done, would be information about the records of judges, prosecutors, and sheriffs when they come up for (re-)election. It seems silly not to get to use that voting power effectively when we already have it.jdgalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08984710697512765565noreply@blogger.com