JOUR 6700.03 Public Records Research

Instructor: David McKie
Office: 1-613-290-7380
Fax: 1-613-288-6523
E-Mail:

Week one | Week two | Week three | Week four | Week five |

Tuesday and Thursday mornings: 9:00-12:00 in lab #3 on the third floor…. and make-up classes Wednesday July 16, 30 and August 13, 13:00-16:00, in lab #3

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

This course will teach students how to locate, obtain and read public records
with an investigative mindset. Students will learn to probe public records to uncover connections and patterns of information that might be invisible from reviewing one record in isolation. Students will learn how public records fit into a complete research strategy with the aim of telling, investigative, original and breaking stories, or simply adding context to ongoing stories.

The course will cover tools such as federal access-to-information and provincial/municipal freedom-of-information requests, as well as journalists’ legal rights to specific types of information and key repositories of public records such as documents and electronic databases. The course will show students how to think laterally about these records, find journalistically relevant information in records created for other purposes, and connect information in different types of records.

To aid our analysis of how these records can be used, the material will be classified
into general themes such as government, the courts and following the money.
Such classifications will aid in our ability to cross-reference the information
and think strategically about records, which will include, but not be limited
to, the following categories:

GOVERNMENT

Hansard, Canada Gazette (and its provincial cousins); bills; statutes; regulations;
policies; evaluations and audits; Orders in Council; budgets; estimates; public accounts; public sector salary disclosure; disclosure of contracts and travel in various jurisdictions; polls conducted for departments; formal and informal answers to questions from members of Parliament; discussion papers; municipal reports; minutes of meetings; Statistics Canada; and news releases.

ARCHIVAL RECORDS

Personal papers; old photographs; newspapers; sound recordings of significant
events; Statistics Canada’s Historical Statistics of Canada; files contained in libraries; books; journals; and 20-and 30-year-old cabinet documents (they routinely become public after 30 years).

LEGAL

Court decisions; informations (charges); exhibits; transcripts; civil filings;
bankruptcy records; search warrants; divorce documents; Judge Advocate General
reports (the military); crime; statistics; records of professional disciplinary
bodies and quasi-­judicial tribunals.

WHAT PEOPLE OWN

Land titles, mortgages, assessments, liens; shares in companies; and assets
such as boats and cars.

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

Public securities filings (SEDAR, EDGAR); financial statements; management information circulars; annual reports; political campaign contributions; contracts and tenders at the federal, provincial, municipal levels and lobbyist registries

SPECIALIZED RECORDS

Transport Canada’s online database of vehicle recalls; Health Canada’s drug,
medical and consumer product safety data; Workplace safety data; Revenue Canada’s listings of revoked charities; federal and municipal lobbyist registries, environmental records such as the National Pollutant Release Inventory; food recall data; Industry Canada’s trade data, etc.

STORYTELLING

Though this isn’t a storytelling course, per se. However, narrative is a key driver for
our stories, especially if they are original and investigative. A tale that is more visual in nature may require searching Facebook, Twitter feeds, or Photobucket for photographs for important context. As such, any discussionof records will stress that they go well beyond documents, databases and geographic files to include photos, video, Twitter feeds, in addition to the more standard material such as audits, annual reports and affidavits. And, of course, the stories must have one essential element, people. That is, strong central characters who can help drive the narrative.

Since our focus is digital, stories will be posted to specific categories on this WordPress site, and they will be multi-media, using the tools you’ve already learned and some new ones that we’ll discover in this course.

ASSESSMENT

The normal journalistic standards will apply to the assignments. The work must
be submitted on time. Generally, you will be graded on factors such as the precision and clarity of the writing, the thoroughness of the research that we’ve discussed in class, and the creativity needed to take your research and interviews beyond the regular suspects that populate too many stories, namely, spokespeople and oft-quoted officials. Specifically, you will be graded on the criteria established for each assignment. Grammatical mistakes and errors due to a lack of proofreading will all lead to a loss of marks. Factual errors may result in a failing grade. Written stories should be written in accordance with Canadian Press style.

Given that stories online lend themselves to a multi-media treatment to a greater degree than print, television or radio,  you’ll be graded on those elements and the extent to which they are seamlessly blended into the story. Whether it be a photo, timeline, map, chart, graph, the element must not only be a natural part of the narrative, but add value.

Style errors will also result in a lower grade, as will any of the elements described in the paragraph above that lack explanatory information. For instance, a photo must have a cutline and source. A timeline must be set up so that it makes sense and advances the narrative, just like you would set up a clip in a radio or television piece, or a quote in a print story.  

The assignments will be comprised of two parts: an explanation of the steps
taken to locate the record(s), the reason the methodology was employed and how
the material was employed as a source or major component of the story; and the
story itself. Each part will be marked equally because it is important to reward
the process ( as opposed to effort ) of finding the story. That means 50 percent for methodology and 50 percent for the story.

Assignments will be graded for both their journalistic and production values.
Marks for the journalistic values will be based on the strength or newsworthiness of the story idea; originality of research; the depth of your research and the ability to overcome obstacles in gathering research, interviews, photos and other elements critical to the assignment.

The stories we produce each week will be posted on the class website and students will be encouraged to use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to publicize their stories and solicit tips that could lead to more stories or follow-ups. In short, the class will be run like a newsroom.

And, finally,  10% of your grade will be based on your professionalism: showing up on time, participating in class, doing the readings, doing the assigned Excel skills (pivot tables and functions, for instance), responding to emailed queries promptly.

Students must achieve at least a B-.

A BREAKDOWN OF THE MARKING SCHEME

Research Component 50%

Depth of research 10%

Originality 20%

Creative use of material 20%

Total 50%

Storytelling 50%

Precision and clarity 20%

Originality 30%

Total 50%

*Marks will be deducted for errors of spelling, grammar and CP style.

See detailed rubric at the end of the outline.

Assignments are to be uploaded to our website in on time, and unless there are unusual circumstances such as a medical emergency, no extensions will be granted. If an assignment cannot be completed for a medical reason, you will be required to provide a doctor’s note.

The assignments — the stories, public records and explanation of research methodology
— will be submitted as emailed attachments. The assignments will be graded
promptly and the marks returned before the next class.

Assignment one 20%

Assignment two 20%

Assignment three 20%

Professionalism 10%

Assignment four 30%

Total 100%

Assignment one: A story based on a publicly traded company

Assignment two: A story based on legal records.

Assignment three: A story about a controversial public figure.

Final assignment: This final assignment will be the broadest in scope,
pulling together everything the students have learned, and cross-referencing a number of records belonging to the various categories discussed in class. Students will have to give some thought fairly early in the term to the way they want to tell the story and on what platform because the form may influence the content, which is a reality in newsrooms.

Grading Scale:

A+ 90-­100

A 85-89

A- 80-84

B+ 77-79

B 73-76

B- 70-72

F <70

Students must achieve a B- in all classes. Disputes over academic performance
and assessment will be dealt with according to the Academic Regulations of the School of Journalism. Students may appeal decisions of the Journalism Studies Committee to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

For more information, see the King’s calendar and the Dalhousie University Graduate
Calendar.

PROFESSIONALISM

The professionalism you exhibit in your conduct, work habits and assignments
are emphasized because they will matter in your career.

Because we’ll conduct ourselves as professional journalists, you will be expected
to exhibit the appropriate behavior. That means attending class, showing up on time; being prepared and ready to make a meaningful contribution based the readings and work you’ve been assigned; paying attention to your instructor and colleagues and ignoring cell phones, email correspondence, Facebook, Twitter and text messages while in class; and promptly responding to the instructor’s email correspondence. You’ll also be expected to stay on top of current events, which is part of your obligation as a journalist. If you must miss class, you will be expected to communicate with the instructor via email beforehand. You will also be expected to exhibit the conduct of a professional journalist when working on assignments in the field.

You will also be expected to complete the readings, as they, too, will form
the basis for our discussions.

If an in-class exercise or assignment is unclear, it is your responsibility
to seek clarity.

READING MATERIAL

The course textbook will be Digging Deeper: A Canadian Reporter’s Research
Guide Second Edition. Because of the dynamic nature of news, the textbook will be augmented with online tutorials, outlining ways to use Excel, pdf-cracking software, Google’s Fusion Tables and other programs that visualize data. The additiional, online tutorials may also include steps to obtaining certain records, as well as tips from the reporters who write breaking stories based on public records.

As such, the course outline will be subject to changes.

COMMUNICATION WITH STUDENTS

In addition to regular office hours, communication will also take place through
email correspondence and phone calls. The protocol will dictate that emailed queries be answered as promptly as possible because that is how it is done in newsrooms.

As such, it will be important for students to regularly check their email accounts
for communications such as revisions to instructions for assignments or readings,
additions to the syllabus, or notes about a particular news story that I want
everyone to read.  For the most part, my lessons will be based on events making news. The excuse that I forgot to check my email is unprofessional and will not be accepted!

COURSE DETAILS

The class will meet every week for a total of six hours that will be broken
up into two sessions on separate days, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:05 to 11:55.

Because you’ll be doing the Mobile Reporting course exclusively the week of July 21-25, I’ll have to adjust our schedule. To make up the time, we’ll add a Wednesday afternoon class the first week (July 15) and the third week (July 29). The extra intensity for those weeks will help us master the material.

Since Excel is crucial to a lot of the work we’ll be doing, each class will begin with a 30-minute exercise designed to advance your knowledge. Between classes you’ll be able to practice using tutorials based on real datasets that can be downloaded.

These exercises will be followed by a general discussion about a news item that relates to the lesson of the day. From there, we will learn the research methods that we’ll need for the next assignment. In short, the classes will be designed to prepare you for each assignment. As such, I will carve out some time for you to get a head start on the assignment. For instance, in the first week, you’ll be given ample time to choose a publicly traded company and study the financial numbers you’ll be using for the story.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

The School of Journalism vigorously enforces the highest standards of academic
integrity.

Plagiarism is the duplication in whole or in part of work created for another
purpose. This can be work done by another student, published work or even a
student’s own work that has been re-purposed for a class. Plagiarism can be
reflected in actual language, or in the duplication of an idea or a sequence.
Do not cut and paste information from the Internet. If you have any doubts about
what constitutes plagiarism, consult your instructor. All cases of suspected
plagiarism will be dealt with according to the policy.

Academic integrity issues will be dealt with by the Academic Integrity Officer
of the University of King’s College, the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the
Dalhousie Senate, as outlined in the King’s calendar and the Dalhousie University
Graduate Calendar.

As well, the School of Journalism has a statement of ethics and professional
standards that

must be followed. It can be found at: http://ethics.kingsjournalism.com.
Please read this material carefully.

ACCOMMODATION

Statement on Accommodation:

Students may request accommodation as a result of barriers related to disability,
religious obligation, or any characteristic under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act. Students who require academic accommodation for either classroom participation or the writing of tests, quizzes and exams should make their request to the Office of Student Accessibility & Accommodation (OSAA) prior to or at the outset of each academic term. Please see http://studentaccessibility.dal.ca/for more information and to obtain Form A – Request for Accommodation.

A note taker may be required to assist a classmate. There is an honourarium
of $75/course/term. If you are interested, please contact OSAA at 494-2836 for more information.

Please note that your classroom may contain specialized accessible furniture
and equipment. It is important that these items remain in the classroom so that
students who require their usage will be able to participate in the class.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week One(TOP)

Financial records of a publicly traded company

Learning how to pull tables out of PDFs and use Cometdocs to convert them to Excel files

Learning how to upload and annotate documents to DocumentCloud

Filing an informal access to information request

Using Excel crunch numbers

Reading: Chapter 9 of Digging Deeper

Links

The 10 most endangered jobs (and one of them is mine) (The Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/the-10-most-endangered-jobs-and-one-of-them-is-mine/article19609116/#dashboard/follows/

Citizenship backlog stark contrast to fast-tracked Olympic skater (CBC News)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/citizenship-backlog-stark-contrast-to-fast-tracked-olympic-skater-1.2470634

Would-be Olympic ice dancer fast-tracked to Canadian citizenship (Global News)
http://ht.ly/tXpM4

To see the citizenship application backlogs, click here

Completed Access to Information Requests ( a running tally of departments and agencies posting summaries of completed ATI requests)
http://open.gc.ca/eng/completed-access-information-requests

Search Summaries of Completed ATI Requests
http://data.gc.ca/eng/search/ati?

Access to Information and Privacy Coordinators
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/atip-aiprp/apps/coords/index-eng.asp

Top 100 CEOs earned $7.9 million on average, report says (The Toronto Star)
http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/01/01/top_100_ceos_earned_79_million_on_average_report_says.html

To obtain the list of top  CEO salaries, click here

Business Reporting Links
http://davidmckie.com/syllabus/reporting-methods-carleton-university-journalism-5206-2/#Canadian1

Questionable arms exports up (The Canadian Press)
https://www.ceasefire.ca/?p=17259

Industry Canada Trade Data
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/tdo-dcd.nsf/eng/Home?OpenDocument

SEDAR (Canada)
http://www.sedar.com/search/search_en.htm

U.S. Securities and  Exchange Commission (SEC EDGAR  Archives)
http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/srch-edgar

Apple-IBM partnership targets BlackBerry’s main customer base (The Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/apple-partners-with-ibm-to-sell-iphones-ipads-to-corporate-customers/article19625975/

BlackBerry’s first quarter results uploaded to DocumentCloud

BlackBerry
http://ca.blackberry.com/

BlackBerry’s 2014 Q4/Annual report

Cometdocs
http://www.cometdocs.com/

BalanceSheet_BlackBerry_Q4_FY14_Filing.xlsx

BlackBerry’s 2014 Proxy Circular

The deadly secret behind the Lac-Mégantic inferno (The Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/the-hazardous-history-of-the-oil-that-levelled-lac-megantic/article15733700/?from=16157981

Enbridge’s filing with the U.S. Federal Regulatory Commission

Industry Canada (Bankruptcy searches and statistics)
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inbsf-osb.nsf/en/home

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/bsf-osb.nsf/eng/h_br01011.html

Statistics Canada
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html

A tutorial explaining the key elements of the assignment. Please click here to download it.

Assignment #1

1) A 1,000-word multi-media based on a financial statement uploaded to a specified category on our WordPress. The story must have at least two multi-media elements (for instance, a photo and timeline) and at least one interview with an expert such as a business professor or analyst who follows the company. While you will be expected to contact the company for an interview, an official voice from the company is NOT a requirement for the story. You may have to make due with an emailed correspondence (which is usually boiler-plate stuff), or what the company has said publicly in its financial statement ( management, discussion and analysis ), news release, testimony before a committee of some sort, or even a court document.

TIP: set up a Google alert for news about the company; use twitter to find out which experts are tweeting about the company you’re following; try to read the financial statement in conjunction with others ( proxy statement for salaries, annual report for more information on how the company has fared for the year, or even a similar financial statement of a competitor.)

2) A 500-word explanation of your methodology sent to me as an emailed attachment.

3) The Excel workbook containing your calculations.

4) Please upload the PDF(s) to DocumentCloud and annotate it, allowing me easily see the sections that you used.

The entire assignment is to be emailed and uploaded to the “Business Assignment” category on Friday, August 15 before midnight.

Week two(TOP)

Excel exercises

Read chapter 5

Legal records

Using Excel to construct timelines

An introduction to court records (affidavits, search warrants, bankruptcy records,
etc), and crime data

Links

The colour of money.  Writing coach, Don Gibb’s, must-read article on using numbers in stories

Striking redundant expressions (The Columbia Journalism Review)
http://www.cjr.org/language_corner/language_corner_july_august_2014.php

Search Summaries of Completed ATI Requests
http://data.gc.ca/eng/search/ati?

Bank of Canada statistics
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/

Legal links from my research methods syllabus

Duffy billed taxpayers for attending funerals, RCMP allege (The Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mike-duffy-filed-expenses-for-funerals-ceremonies-court-documents/article19695383/#dashboard/follows/

Mike Duffy’s summons uploaded to DocumentCloud

The Information Against Mike Duffy uploaded to DocumentCloud

GM could face class action suit
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1206557-gm-could-face-class-action-suit

Office of Defects Investigation (of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
http://www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/eng/Accountability/ProjectInformation/Pages/Home.aspx

Download ACOA data for mapping here

Temporary Foreign Worker Program complaints began in 2006 (CBC News)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/temporary-foreign-worker-program-complaints-began-in-2006-1.2685056

Temporary Foreign Worker Program queries came mostly from Tory MPs (CBC News)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/temporary-foreign-worker-program-queries-came-mostly-from-tory-mps-1.2687159

Temporary Foreign Worker Access to Information Document in DocumentCloud

Temporary Foreign  Worker Chronology
https://docs.google.com/a/cbc.ca/spreadsheets/d/13JWUzLfEVwiH83JDNhNuwN5QOo1xigvhdFKtUYlk7Hs/edit#gid=720494963

To obtain a map of ACOA grants from Nova Scotia in Google Fusion Table, click here

Postal Code Searches
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_B_postal_codes_of_Canada
http://www.canadapost.ca/cpc2/addrm/hh/maps/FSA/CA01.pdf

Former escort called to testify against Bruce Carson at preliminary inquiry (APTN National News)
http://aptn.ca/news/2014/06/02/former-escort-called-testify-bruce-carson-preliminary-inquiry/

Bankruptcy
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inbsf-osb.nsf/en/home

Bruce Carson_Statement of Affairs_AR-M355N_20110329_120222.pdf

Bruce Carson affidavit in insolvency case.pdf

Bruce Carson_Statement of Affairs (liabilities) AR-M355N_20110329_120626.pdf

L’École de langue de l’Estrie met la clé sous la porte
http://www.lapresse.ca/le-droit/actualites/education/201401/24/01-4732247-lecole-de-langue-de-lestrie-met-la-cle-sous-la-porte.php

Entegrity stories.pdf

Integrity court docs.pdf

Canadian spy Jeffrey Delisle gets 20 years for selling secrets to Russia (The Globe and Mail)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadian-spy-jeffrey-delisle-gets-20-years-for-selling-secrets-to-russia/article8390425/

78445103-Court-documents-relating-to-charges-against-Jeffrey-Paul-Delisle.pdf

Jeffrey Paul Delisle court docs.pdf

Class Action Database (U.S.)
http://www.consumer-action.org/lawsuits/

List of Class Action Lawsuits
http://www.classaction.org/list-of-lawsuits

Assignment #2

1) A story 1000-word story based on a court document and uploaded to the “Court Assignment” category on our WordPress site. As was the case with the business assignment, the story MUST come from the document.  The story must also contain at least TWO nterviews: one involving a major player such as the plaintiff, defendant, lawyer involved in the case; and an expert who can put the case into context. 

TIP: The story must either be new because no one has reported on it, or contain a fresh element that has been unreported. Also, use other public records. So, for instance, if the court case involves a publicly traded company such as General Motors, then be sure to read its latest financial filing to see if the company discusses the court case.

2) A chronology of the key dates from your public documents in Excel. You can also turn the chronology into a visual element such as a timeline.

3) The story must contain at least three multi-media elements such as a video (please feel free to use your new mobile skills), audio clip, photo (cutline and photo credit) of the person you’ve interviewed, or a graph. The court document uploaded to DocumentCloud DOES NOT count.

4) A 500-word explanation of how you put the story together and the rationale used to determine its newsworthiness. Here, I’m looking for contact information of people interviewed, or those you attempted to contact; links to key websites; and a list of the public records  and a brief explanation of how you used the information in your story (direct quotes; context; an address, a name, a tip that led to another public record, etc.)

4) The court document must be uploaded to DocumentCloud and annotated. Failure to do so will lose you half a mark.

The assignment must be uploaded by midnight on Sunday, August 10. This will allow me to mark the assignments the next day and have them back to you for class the next day. Please email the Excel workbook with the chronology and the Word file with the background info as attachments.

Week Three(TOP)

Pivot Table exercises

Land title searches

Records from quasi-legal bodies such as tribunals and boards that deal with
issues such as human rights, workplace transgressions and professional misconduct

Databases such as political donations and registered charities.

Good Fusion Tables

Links

Canada’s involvement in the First World War began with a telegram (The Canadian Press)
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/canadas-involvement-in-wwi-began-with-a-telegram/

Nova Scotia 2011 political donation PDF

NS_2011_Political_Donations_Converted_Raw.xlsx

Nova Scotia 2011 political donation PDF as Google Fusion Table

Fusion Table symbols
https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?dsrcid=308519#map:id=3

NS_2011_Political_Donations_Clean.xlsx

Ottawa Citizen Bruce Carson backgrounder

Bruce Carson Ottawa property record for 417 Dundonald Drive

Bruce Carson Ottawa property record for 500 Laurier Ave W

Bruce Carson disbarment notice

Nova Scotia’s Property Online
http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/property/default.asp?mn=282.46.1064

Bankruptcy
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inbsf-osb.nsf/en/home

College to hear allegations against Pugwash family doctor
(Herald News)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1143334-college-to-hear-allegations-against-pugwash-family-doctor

Common Patient Questions About the Complaints and Investigations Process (College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia)
http://www.cpsns.ns.ca/Public/CommonpatientQuestionsaboutthecomplaintsand.aspx

Discipline Committee Schedule
(The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario)
http://www.cpso.on.ca/whatsnew/committeeschedule/default.aspx?id=1448

All Doctors Search (The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario)
http://www.cpso.on.ca/publicregister/default.aspx?id=2048

Law Society of Upper Canada (list of disbarred lawyers)
http://www.lsuc.on.ca/with.aspx?id=2147486087

Elections Canada
http://www.elections.ca/scripts/webpep/fin/select_search_option.aspx

Elections Ontario
http://www.elections.on.ca/en-CA/Tools/FinancialStatementsandContributions/RealTimeDisclosure.htm

Quebec political contributions
http://www.electionsquebec.qc.ca/francais/provincial/financement-et-depenses-electorales/recherche-sur-les-donateurs.php#

Nova Scotia
http://electionsnovascotia.ca/content/political-contributions-disclosure-statement-annual-reports

Federal lobbyists search
http://www.ocl-cal.gc.ca/eic/site/lobbyist-lobbyiste1.nsf/eng/h_nx00274.html

Lobbyists (Ontario)
http://www.oico.on.ca/home/lobbyists-registration

Lobbyists (Quebec)
https://www.lobby.gouv.qc.ca/servicespublic/consultation/ConsultationCitoyen.aspx
http://www.si2.commissairelobby.qc.ca/en/commissioner/access_information

Lobbyists (Nova Scotia)
http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/lobbyist/

Assignment # 3

A story on a newsmaker using extensive background research.

More details to be announced

Aug 21 at midnight (tentative)

Week Four(TOP)

Pivot Table and mapping exercise

Continue with backgrounding

Institutional records such as annual reports, audits and regulations

Discussion of the backgrounding assignment

Links

Assignment #3

The backgrounding assignment is designed to flex your inner sleuth. Though we’ve been recently introduced to new search tools such as bankruptcy and property searches, this assignment should allow you to draw on all the records we’ve covered thus far: financial statements, court documents, lobbyist records, political donations, to name but a few. Also be sure to consult Digging  Deeper.

The following is a Q and A that should help spell things out.

Who should I choose? It should be a news maker: a politician, businessperson, doctor, lawyer, lobbyist. The choice is yours. By news maker, I mean it should be someone in the public eye., or whose work has a major influence on public policy (such as a  lobbyist) The idea is to use public records to produce a story that reveals something about the person we’ve never heard before.

How many records are you required to use? At least five!

How many interviews should I do? At least two.

What if I don’t have enough to produce a full profile? Then use the information you gather as a jumping off point for a broader discussion about a public policy, or an important issue. For instance, a doctor who was punished for a botched surgery is allowed to continue practising. How is this allowed to happen? Should the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons have stricter rules?

Do I have to interview the subject of the profile? No.

Should I try to contact the individual? Yes.

Who else can I contact? Use your imagination.

Can I submit drafts? Absolutely! But NOT the evening, or 24 hourse before the deadline. The latest I will review a draft is before noon next Wednesday. Remember, you don’t need all the elements in order to submit a draft. A lead and a broad outline will do the trick. The idea is to obtain feedback to ensure you’re heading in the right direction.

How many words? One thousand. Please respect the word limit!!

What am I required to submit? The story uploaded to our website, and a separate 500-word account of the sources you use to produce the story. Again, please respect the word limit. I don’t need a chapter-and-verse account of the obstacles you encountered. The highlights will do.

Where should I upload the story? To the “Backgrounding Assignment” category.

What’s the due date? August 21 at midnight.

Will I be penalized for being late? Yes. Half a grade for each day.

Week Five (TOP)

A continuation of the lessons learned the previous week with an emphasis on connecting records to see patterns.

Reviewing regulations that make it possible for laws to function

Using archival records to bring history to life

One-on-one time for final assignment

Deadline for final assignment August 28

Links

Halifax Examiner
http://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/

Vote fire hydrant for mayor (Globe and Mail editorial)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/vote-fire-hydrant-for-mayor/article20102235/#dashboard/follows/

CAJ column on reporting tips (Don gibb’s last column for Media magazine)

Aspartamekills
http://www.aspartamekills.com/

Martin Luther King Jr. – A True Historical Examination
www.martinlutherking.org/

Geektools
http://www.geektools.com/

Grand Manan plane crash site offers few clues about cause: Pilot Klaus Sonnenberg, paramedic William Mallock died in N.B. plane crash (CBC News)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/grand-manan-plane-crash-site-offers-few-clues-about-cause-1.2738891

Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System (CADORS): Main Menu (Transport Canada)
http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/2/cadors-screaq/m.aspx?lang=eng

Nova Scotia Food Establishment Inspection Reports
Online Search
http://www.gov.ns.ca/agri/foodsafety/reports/Request.aspx

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Prosecution Bulletins
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/prosecution-bulletins/eng/1298575869119/1299852705293

To access the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners Agendas & Minutes from January 8, 2007-July 14, 2014, please click here

Halifax Board of Police Commissioners Agendas & Minutes
http://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/bpc/Agendas.php

DownThemAll ( A FireFox plug-in to download several PDFs simultaneously)
http://www.downthemall.net/main/install-it/downthemall-2-0-17/

MarineTraffic
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/

60 data-driven ideas in 60 minutes
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1bwYTBxnSSCBlhEh5_xnoiTejqoNbR5j_NZtVe1iDfTc/present?pli=1&ueb=true#slide=id.g2bfc09ced_0116

Key deadline nears in Home for Colored Children settlement (Herald News)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1230075-key-deadline-nears-in-home-for-colored-children-settlement
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1230309-settlement-in-home-for-colored-children-lawsuit-proceeds

Amherst first site of plaques to honour WWI ‘enemy aliens’ (Herald News)
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1229122-amherst-first-site-of-plaques-to-honour-wwi-enemy-aliens

Thematic Guides: Internment Camps in Canada during the First and Second World Wars (Library and Archives Canada)
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/the-public/005-1142.27-e.html

The Canadian Council of Archives
http://www.archivescanada.ca/index2.html

Theses Canada ( Library and Archives Canada)
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/thesescanada/index-e.html

Peter MacKay hails ‘royal’ renaming of military
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/08/16/pol-military-renaming.html

RCMP spied on scholar Northrop Frye, records show (The Canadian Press)
To read article, please click here

Read this article to find out who else was targeted by the Mounties

To view  the annotated document The Canadian Press used for the Northrop Frye article, please click here

Federal government studying $30 billion counterfeit market (The Toronto Star)
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/11/01/federal_government_studying_30_billion_counterfeit_market.html

Government contract tendering
https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/
http://www.merx.com/Services/AboutMERX/English/MK_SiteMap.asp?FLASH=Yes

Nova Scotia Tenders
http://www.novascotia.ca/tenders/default.aspx

To download the BuyandSell Excel file that was posted on the website on August 20, please click here. 

Public Accounts (Federal)
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pd-dp/gr-rg/index-eng.asp
Nova Scotia
http://www.novascotia.ca/finance/en/home/publications/publicaccounts/default.aspx

Nova Scotia Orders in Council
http://www.novascotia.ca/exec_council/orders.html

Methodology of weekly assignment

	Fail	Needs more work C,C+	Adequate B-, B	Good B+, A-	Excellent A, A+
Depth of research — 10 per cent	Research relies on secondary sources, press releases or official spokespeople. Research relies on sources that are unreliable or cannot be verified. Key characters or issues have been ignored or omitted.	Research is missing key elements necessary to explain the story.	Research includes several primary sources, but not all of the research is relevant. Research relies on similar types of records and sources and some of the research is redundant. There are gaps in the research that relate to minor issues of fact.	Research includes several primary sources. Most, but not all, research is relevant. All research is credible and there are no major gaps.	Research includes multiple primary sources, all of which are relevant to the subject matter and are verified and credible. Research includes several types of records, as well as interviews and statistics. There are no gaps in research.
Originality of research — 20 per cent	Research material has been reported prominently by other media.	Research includes some sources covered in class.	Research includes only sources covered in class and in readings. Specific material is unique to the assignment.	Research shows evidence of lateral thinking in seeking material. Sources are unique to the assignment.	Research shows evidence of lateral thinking in searching for material. Research includes material from sources not covered in class or readings. Sources are unique to the assignment, and have not been used prominently in other media.
Creativity of material — 20 percent	Research is uniform and repetitive. Information is used in isolation.	Research from an insufficient number of sources is used.	Research from different sources is contrasted and compared to create insight.	Research from different goals is contrasted and compared to offer insight. The research goal was ambitious. The student used good strategies to overcome obstacles, but was unable to acheive all research goals.	Research includes leads generated by earlier research. Material from sources is contrasted and compared to offer fresh insight. The research goal was ambitious and the student may have overcome significant obstacles to obtain material.

Storytelling rubric for weekly assignment

	Fail	Needs more work C,C+	Adequate B-, B	Good B+, A-	Excellent A, A+
Originality — 30 per cent	The story is unfocused with no clear news hook for topic value. The story is predictable, relies on journalism previously produced by other outlets, and is poorly structured.	The story is filled with too much jargon, difficult to understand, lacking in a clear focus, and missing major elements.	Story idea lacks focus, but is grounded in a reasonable topic area. The story lacks one major element. Story and structure outcome are predictable.	Story idea is clear, but not compelling. All key issues and characters are included in an appropriate way.	Story idea has tight focus with a strong news hook and obvious narrative potential. All key elements are present, and the story structure is shaped to the subject matter. The story offers fresh insight for readers.
Precision and clarity — 10 per cent	The assignment is poorly executed, with multiple errors of fact, style and grammar. The story includes numerous production errors that impair the ability to read or view the assignment.	The story is missing some production elements and is unclear.	Concepts and issues are still clear, but the reader or viewer may need to review the story more than once to fully understand the content. Several elements appear to be at the first-draft stage, and some web functions may not exactly work as planned.	The story is well-told, but small elements of execution are rough. For example, segue points may be awkward, lighting might be inconsistent, photos or fonts may vary on slideshow captions. All concepts and issues are clear.	The assignment reflects perfection in execution. For example: Text is clear, concise, well-structured with a tightly-crafted lede, strong verbs and varying sentence structure. Photos are well-framed and illustrate key concepts, issues, characters or events. Slideshows flow smoothly, with a clear narrative arc, and have excellent headlines, captions and narration. Audio clips are clear and useful. Storytelling technique is expert and of professional quality.
Appropriate media use — 10 per cent	The story is told in a medium that is ill-suited to the subject matter.	The story is told in a medium appropriate to the story, but is missing key multi-media elements.	The story is told in a medium appropriate to the story idea, but it may not be the best medium available.	The story is told in the medium best suited to the story idea, but the medium is not exploited to its full potential.	The story is told in a medium best suited to the story idea.