Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Crimefile News Needs Reporters!

To my visitors:  From time to time I get requests to post the writings of others.  Unfortunately some of these people are really promoting their personal businesses rather than providing information suitable for Crime, Guns and Videotape.  I want more news in Crimefile News but I can’t be everywhere to do it myself.
This is where some of my skilled visitors come in. I want your stories.  They must be up to journalistic standards.  I don’t want rewrites of published news stories.  They should contain video or at least pictures taken by the contributors.
That means getting interviews of your newsmakers, vetting the information properly and avoiding libel.  Diligent use of public records is a must. 
There are few limits on subject matter if the material is compelling and interesting.  Submitting stories about government policies, crimes, courts, corruption or your latest gun are acceptable.  Perhaps the actions a local hero, or some inspiring person may be great material.  I’m not looking for commentary or opinion material from the contributors however I expect to see opinions pop up in provided interviews of newsmakers.
I want acceptable and properly edited video.  An iPhone can be used with iMovie can accomplish great things with minimal training.  May I suggest an E-book called iPhone Millionaire by Michael Rosenblum.  You can get this through Kindle, iBooks or Amazon.com. It will give you a great deal of information you will need. 
The bad news is I can’t pay for your material.  The good news is your work will be seen and properly credited.  Additionally of this idea flies there could be money down the road. 
I don’t want discourage your quest to report news but there are roadblocks and speed bumps.  CNN has had iReport out there for years.  It’s been a colossal disappointment. I would hope someone would be able to dazzle CNN enough to hire them.  I call that missed opportunities. 
Occasionally excellent raw and unedited video has come in as news was breaking at violent events and disasters.  But for the most part all that came in was unwatchable crap.   If you’re at a news-breaking event get some interviews.  Most people will talk if you bother to ask them. 
For your video editing you need to put in well-written voiceovers.  iMovie has the tools for this.  Added voiceovers are much better than trying to narrate on the fly.  That’s how the people you watch on TV news do this.  You can also do a stand up where you face the camera to tell a small part of the story.
For my cop, paramedic and fireman friends may I suggest that you use a pseudo name to avoid difficulties with your departments?   This is a great way of exposing the truth that too many government administrators can’t handle.
Below is a simple video news package I did on the death of Conservative Blogger Andrew Breitbart’s death in the Brentwood neighborhood of L.A.   It contains a voiceover, graphics, an interview and a standup: 






13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually Paul the reporting in this country seems to serve the government and what they want the people to know and what they want hidden. Unless there is some reason for the family-not giving the entire story to the public when the authorities have it - is misinformation, misrepresentation and the same old covering up and withholding information again and again and again.

The authorities disturb everyone who own smartphones with an amber alert - but after withhold information about how they killed the son of someone who committed suicide while abducting a 16 year old. I hope this is not true.

And if this news in a UK newspaper is true why do I have to find this overseas before it has been broadcast here in USA where the incident happened!!!!! Why are they treating everyone here like idiots.

Revealed: California killer who abducted teenage girl is shot dead in Idaho wilderness 18 years TO THE DAY after his own father committed suicide while holding another 16-year-old hostage

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2389292/Father-James-DiMaggio-killed-16-year-old-crush-18-years-ago-day-DiMaggio-shot-dead-FBI.html#ixzz2bj0Ue7uz

Anonymous said...

Regarding Shield Law,Reporters and Congress!

"The US Senate is pondering who is a 'real reporter' – because some of them don't like the taste of activism or real passion in journalism, never mind the knotty issue of whistleblowers...


Here's the judiciary committee of the US Senate trying to frame a "shield law" that will give reporters some protection when government and its agencies seek to bug, arrest or demand to know sources...

But, asks one senator, is that protection for WikiLeakers? Surely we only want to help "real reporters", who draw salaries for their work, says another...

The senator driving the bill, Charles Schumer, doesn't exactly help. "The world has changed," he insists. "There are people who write and do real journalism in different ways than we're used to – and they should not be excluded."

...Meanwhile reality itself assumes another dimension as Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden keep up their flow of exclusives about security surveillance.

Is Greenwald, a Guardian columnist of vivid, libertarian views, a "real" journalist? Not according to some Obama administration voices and rather too many sonorous broadcasters and upmarket commentators. Greenwald, they say, is "an activist" – which means he isn't fair, balanced and suitable for employment by "respected" organisations. Therefore his work is somehow tainted, so not worth overmuch reaction, sitting somewhere beyond the pale.

More at: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/11/journalism-shield-law-us-senate

Anonymous said...

n 2006, the New York Times won the Pulitzer Prize for having revealed that the NSA was eavesdropping on Americans without warrants.

The reason that was a scandal was because it was illegal under a 30-year-old law that made it a felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison for each offense, to eavesdrop on Americans without those warrants. Although both the Bush and Obama DOJs ultimately prevented final adjudication by raising claims of secrecy and standing, and the "Look Forward, Not Backward (for powerful elites)" Obama DOJ refused to prosecute the responsible officials, all three federal judges to rule on the substance found that domestic spying to be unconstitutional and in violation of the statute.

The person who secretly implemented that illegal domestic spying program was retired Gen. Michael Hayden, then Bush's NSA director. That's the very same Michael Hayden who is now frequently presented by US television outlets as the authority and expert on the current NSA controversy - all without ever mentioning the central role he played in overseeing that illegal warrantless eavesdropping program.

More at

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/12/michael-hayden-nsa-media-reverence

Anonymous said...

Obama created a mess - Obama concedes that Snowden's leaks triggered a passionate and welcome debate. But he claims that Snowden is no patriot because "we would have gotten to the same place" eventually.

When?

This does not pass the bs test.

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2013/08/obama-please-be-nice-to-me-as-i-fail-to-deal-with-this-awful-mess-i-created.html

Anonymous said...

Again on the slowness of the news in California & the now dead Psycho Killer and the sad aftermath.

Peter Tilden 790 AM radio via Daily Mail of the United Kingdom gets more of the California story before anyone else! Why so slow in USA to get the details? Why is everyone treated like children - i.e. are not told what is going on.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2392452/He-psycho-tricked-Hannah-Anderson-speaks-time-kidnap-ordeal-reveals-Uncle-Jim-lured-family-house-kidnapping-setting-fatal-blaze.html

Anonymous said...

OT Paul. For those PO's from CPD that are on Duty Disability, I finally got the straight answer from Illinois Retired Officer's Concealed Carry (IROCC). After being told by sources that should know, if you were injured in the line of duty and receiving duty disability, you can get the retired officers concealed carry card, which you can carry with your disability star and ID. Only requirement is you were duty disabled after your probation ended and you can qualify with the weapon. So other than being duty disabled because you can't fire a handgun, you can apply for retired officers concealed carry. It is in the Federal law and was verified by the IROCC office.

Anonymous said...

As far as reporters re-victimizing a female victim - Radio program hosts on 790 and 640 AM have suggested that because Hannah Anderson was inconsistent, hiding things she bears some responsibility for her family's victimization...

What motive would the California Teenager Hannah Anderson possibly have for helping her father's and mother's friend James DiMaggio kill her mother and brother and the family dog???

Why should seasoned Talk Radio hosts on 790 & 640 AM radio, judge a sixteen year old girl for having her nails done after she has been traumatized through being kidnapped and losing most of her beloved family to a psycho who through her family she had known all her life.

Before this traumatic experience, Hannah was an ordinary girl. Why does she have to change her appearance in any way to please the press.

Why does a young girl Hannah have to come up to Radio Hosts and others perfect standards. Must Hannah, a young kid, be absolutely accurate or else – this is evidence that Hannah is responsible for her own and her mother and brother's murder at the hands of family friend Jim DiMaggio?

Hannah Anderson is neither an adult nor a professional, yet she is expected to be perfect.

In addition & even more so in this case as James Dimaggio was the father and mother’s friend isn’t that connection also part of the dysfunctional dynamic in this family tragedy as well. It is not like Hannah was kidnapped by a stranger and someone the family did not know.

The family couldn’t see James was dysfunctional. I am sure there were some warning signs. But because the family couldn't see or read those warning signs they could not protect themselves nor their daughter from him.

The father Brett Anderson worked away from home and his daughter Hannah allegedly could not tell her father about James’s DiMaggio’s crush on her for fear this would cause a rift between her father and DiMaggio who were friend.

If Hannah’s internet post is true – she could not TRUST her father with the potentially explosive information of his friend DiMaggio’s crush on her– then her expression of raising the alarm was repressed and she had no-one in her family where she could voice her concern , and so the seed of trouble was allowed to grow invisible – and grow and grow under cover – until it literally exploded in the family’s face

In another family perhaps Hannah Anderson could have alerted her family what was happening without being blamed or faulted – like a messenger who is shot because they convey news that is unwelcome (aka a whistleblower, leaker, traitor), if she had of been able to communicate with and TRUST her parents - the “friendly crush may have been able to be nipped in the bud , before the entire family was crushed literally by DiMaggio”s crush on Hannah.

Additionally even if Hannah was having an affair with James DiMaggio, the family were allowing this man to be near their 16 year old daughter all her life. That still does not mean that Hannah was anything but victimized by DiMaggio, and her own family’s toleration of DiMaggio.

The Press should NOT blame Hannah for what happened to her family, & nor should she blame herself, if she was unable and fearful to tell her own father for fear of reprisals for conveying unwelcome news.

If true this tragedy has a similar theme of repression and denial present in the book and movies “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” set in Sweden. (The Swedish Movie is more authentic and better than the American version)

However if Hannah was having an affair with Dimaggio and hiding this from her family on purpose, that is another story. But even then - some accountability lies with her parents for allowing her to be near him.

It would be difficult for me to imagine that Hannah Anderson could be involved with DiMaggio
in the killing of her own family - even if she was having an affair with him.

Kids can get into trouble - and experience teaches us to stay away from trouble, including troublesome relationships.

Anonymous said...

Spying on Its Own: The NSA's Deep Bag of Tricks

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/news-report-shows-how-the-nsa-spies-on-americans-too-a-917000.html

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130816/10360724207/just-weeks-ago-keith-alexander-said-review-nsa-found-not-single-violation-reality-thousands-violations.shtml

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/08/us-govt-snowden-also-took-secret-docs-while-working-at-dell-in-april-2012/

Anonymous said...

UK Guardian editor slams police state actions

‘Snowden data destruction won’t harm our reporting’ – Guardian’s Alan Rusbridger
The British government’s attempts to stem the tide of articles on mass surveillance have gone beyond intimidating the journalist behind the publications. Just a day after Glenn Greenwald’s partner was detained at Heathrow airport, The Guardian’s editor, Alan Rusbridger, came forward describing how the authorities pressured the Guardian newspaper to destroy documents provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

Mr. Rusbridger has explained why he gave in to pressure from government agents, and destroyed hard-drives carrying information obtained from Edward Snowden, but did not give it to the Government.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHgWqGuGOAw#t=305

Anonymous said...

The Real, Terrifying Reason Why British Authorities Detained David Miranda partner of Journalist Glen Greenwald.

The scariest explanation of all? That the NSA and GCHQ are just showing they don't want to be messed with.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/the-real-terrifying-reason-why-british-authorities-detained-david-miranda/278952/

Anonymous said...

No matter in what system or to what purpose: A monitored human being is not a free human being. ...

A regime is ruling in the United States today that acts in totalitarian ways when it comes to its claim to total control. Soft totalitarianism is still totalitarianism.

It's not just Obama, but he's been in office long enough that he owns this problem. Governments at all levels in this "free country" have a long track record of tracking and trying to make life difficult for dissidents and treating peaceful protest as terrorism.

http://eb-misfit.blogspot.com/2013/08/totalitarianism-when-germans-are.html

Obama's Soft Totalitarianism: Europe Must Protect Itself from America

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/europe-must-stand-up-to-american-cyber-snooping-a-906250.html

Anonymous said...

Privacy, Security And The Economy: Why The US Government Cares More About Spying On Your Email Than Getting You A Job

Earlier this month, a report was released showing that the U.S. cloud-computing industry stands to lose $22 billion to $35 billion during the next few years -- all as a result of the National Security Agency’s surveillance and the negative press associated with it. Cloud computing is no niche segment

es.com/privacy-security-economy-why-us-government-cares-more-about-spying-your-email-getting-you-job

Anonymous said...

Wrong Link Above. Correct one below.

http://www.ibtimes.com/privacy-security-economy-why-us-government-cares-more-about-spying-your-email-getting-you-job