Author Archives: Barbara Fought

Apr 27

Track Charities with a 990

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Barbara Fought

Part of a series on how databases can add value to daily news stories.  We’re coming up on the time when non-profits and charities have to file their 990 reports to the IRS, giving basic financial information, salaries of top … Read More →

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Apr 23

Database Quickies: Property Records

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Barbara Fought

Part of a series  on databases that add value to a daily story. A well-known person in our area, under federal investigation, suddenly put his house up for sale.  It became a page 1 story in the local paper, with details … Read More →

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Apr 19

Database Quickies: Corporation Filings to SEC

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Barbara Fought

Part of a series  on databases that add value to a daily story. An international  company with a small plant aways from where I live announced it is closing that facility and  laying off 150 employees. The closure,  in a small … Read More →

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Apr 17

Database Quickies: Census

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Barbara Fought

Start of a series on databases accessible quickly to add value to a daily story.  I’ve just finished teaching students about databases that can be accessed quickly and can make a story stronger with context or a take-away fact. Reporters, … Read More →

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Apr 10

Top Five Web Sites to Follow News

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Barbara Fought

Job requirement: keep up with the news. So what are the best sites to check or autoload on your web browser? In our student newsrooms, we see the AP wires within the ENPS system where we write scripts. But in … Read More →

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Apr 03

Help for covering religion this week

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Barbara Fought

Okay, so you didn’t grow up Jewish or Christian and you need a little help this week.  It’s Holy Week for Christians, and Passover begins Saturday for Jews, so here’s some key resources to help you understand the days, their … Read More →

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Mar 31

Inside Tip on How To Contact Sources Via LinkedIn

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Barbara Fought

Have you ever found a good source on @LinkedIn but weren’t connected to him or her so you had to go through someone else to contact the person?  This tip is just so good I knew when I learned it that … Read More →

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Mar 26

Get Background on Supreme Court Cases

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Barbara Fought

With Supreme Court hearing the case on the new health care law this week,you might want some tips on finding material about the Court and cases. For background on cases my favorite is SCOTUSblog.com (it stands for Supreme Court of … Read More →

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Mar 20

Calendars Help You Find Stories

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Barbara Fought

Finding stories is one of the hardest things about reporting — at least for me.  So I like to gather online calendars that I can check for story leads of upcoming events. Here’s a list I use for Syracuse, N.Y: … Read More →

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Mar 16

Online Resources for Stories on Gas Prices

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Barbara Fought

I just drove by a station that was selling gas for $3.95 in Central New York.  And then I saw a story in the LA Times noting, “[t]he consumer price index jumped 0.4% last month from January, mostly because of … Read More →

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