“Those who have virtue always in their mouths, and neglect it in practice, are like a harp, which emits a sound pleasing to others, while itself is insensible of the music.” ― Diogenes

 

 “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
― Dale Carnegie

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut, Ed Perry)

 

Robb announced that the fruit will be on its way from Florida in a few days, and should be here about mid week. He will send out an all club email with the day and times for help and when to pick up your orders. 

 

Jack has donated eight free tickets to club members for any U of I Women’s Basketball game this season. See Robb for the tickets.

 

Michelle noted that Central High School Interact Club’s 5K fundraiser was a success even with the heavy rainfall the morning of the run. She thanked the club members for their service during the race. 

 

Keith announced that this year’s Holiday Party will take place during our club meeting on December 14th. Family and friends of club members are invited to attend. Keith needs to have a count of the people that will be attending the Holiday Party. An all club email about the Party will be sent out.

 

Tod sent around the sign up sheet for the Salvation Army Bell ringing that will take place on December 16th at the Walmart on north Prospect in Champaign. Our club will also be volunteering for Habitat’s “gift wrapping” at Market place mall the afternoon of December 17th. Tod will send out an all club email with the information. 

 

 

PROGRAM

 

Phyllis introduced Professor Brant Houston who is the John S. James and James L. Knight Foundation Chair and teaches investigative and advanced reporting in the Department of Journalism in the College of Media at the University of Illinois. Brant is an award winning investigative reporter who worked at daily newspapers for over 17 years and has served for over 10 years as executive director of the 5,000 member Investigative Reporters and Editors organization. He is also the author of four editions of the textbook, “Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical guide and co-authored the fifth and sixth edition of “The Investigative Reporter’s Handbook.” He also oversees CU-CitizenAccess.org., volunteers at Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and is chair of the board of the Global Investigative Journalism Network. 

 

Brant’s program focused on Data Journalism and Investigative Reporting. He discussed the use of available data in investigative journalism and how it is being totally integrated in reporting. Brant gave two local example stories – Foreign Investments in US Farmland and Restaurant Health Inspection – to show how much data can be used to improve news stories. Such stories are further enhanced by providing links so the reader can review the data that was used in the story. Brant cited one story about local road bridge conditions that teaches the three basics to good journalism: thorough data analysis from various sources, interviewing people face to face, and observing the actual physical conditions of the bridges.  

 

Brant noted that while there is an abundance of data available today at our finger tips, we must remember that all data is incomplete and/or flawed. The ability of collecting data was another topic. He noted an example of a story run in The Guardian News in the UK,  that took public tweets about recent riots and were able to assemble data on the locations of the tweets, thus locating where many of the rioters came from. The building of a database or finding one along with the abundance of information can be overwhelming. As the number of people from a variety of backgrounds provide data entry, the need for careful data analysis and journalistic integrity continues to grow. 

 

Brant finished his timely and informative presentation and then answered many questions on current topics. The questions from the club included topics on: “Fake News”, who are the non-profit news sources that rely on donations and grants, determining what is a true and not true story, knowing that there are abusers of information, and checking the creditability of the journalist.

 

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  Dec 7th Dec 14th Dec 21st Dec 28th
Introductions Mary Kay Smith Charlie Smith Mary Kay Smith Charlie Smith
Invocation Tod Satterthwaite Angie Schoonover Jen Shelby Jeff Van Buren
Greeters Mary Kay Smith Charlie Smith Mary Kay Smith Charlie Smith
Larry Johnson Andrew Kerins Candy Loyd BJ Lytle
Song Leader Ed Perry Rod Roberts Tod Satterthwaite Angie Schoonover
Notetaker Hodson Conforti Perry Penwell

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

December 7th – Jerry Hunt, Champaign Juvenile Detention Officer (Diana)

December 14th – C-U Sunrise Holiday Party

December 21st – Steve Bentz, Virginia Theatre (Mary)

December 28th – Royle Mortenstern, U of I Fire Institute (Rod)

January 4th – Steve Adams, Prairielands Council, Boy Scouts of America (Mary)

January 11th – Micah Kenfield, Sustainability Programs Coordinator, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Phyllis)

January 18th – Club Assembly

January 25th – TBD (Tod)

February 1st – TBD

February 8th – Captain Anthony Corapi, Commanding Officer of US Navy ROTC at UIUC (Bob)

February 15th – Ed Perry will discuss his efforts in Vieques, Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria

February 22nd – Dennis Hesch, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, The Carle Foundation, will discuss  Carle’s expansion/development at the Curtis/I-57 interchange (Phyllis)