Questioning official narratives

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WK 3 28 Jan

Bryan Stevenson

Read for next week

Alert: The following items include descriptions of violence against women and racial epithets.

Nicholas Kadar, Roberto Romero, Zoltán Papp, "Ignaz Semmelweis: 'The Savior of Mothers' on the 200th Anniversary of the Birth," American Journal of Obstetric Gynecology, 2018

READ

Ed Bradley, "Johnny D," 60 Minutes, 1992

WATCH

The Ellsberg Archive Project, “Pentagon Papers, Watergate and Trials,” University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2020

READ

Optional Video: Bryan Stevenson, “We need to talk about an injustice,” TED Talk, 2012

WATCH

Lecture / Q&A

What is an official narrative? What is a cultural narrative? How do you question these narratives in a way that benefits the public?

WK 3 Detail

STORIES & REPORTERS

Review stories in this week's homework
Reporters: Woodward & Bernstein, Ed Bradley, Bellingcat

WORKSHOP

Writing: Shining a light on the perpetrator
Research: Review ISP toolkit
Exercise: Some official narratives we'd like to question

Homework

Read/watch assigned materials for next week
Click the “Homework Tools” tab at the bottom of this page for homework instructions and tools

WK 3 Homework Tools

HOMEWORK

Do the following items for homework, according to the instructions below. This assignment is due on Brightspace next Tuesday at the start of class.

1: Read/watch this week's assigned materials.

2: Pretending that you are Bryan Stevenson, or Ignaz Semmelweis, or Daniel Ellsberg, write a one-paragraph pitch for a story about ONE of the following:

the case of Walter McMillian, who in 1988 was tried and convicted for murder in Monroeville, Alabama
what the Pentagon Papers, leaked in 1971, revealed about the Vietnam War
how, for decades, doctors were inadvertently killing mothers in childbirth—and what happened when in 1857 this information was revealed

3: For EACH of the stories above, write a single sentence that you feel states the main problem that this story exposes. All three of your sentences must be in the ACTIVE TENSE.

Online Research Tools

General Research

Nexis/Lexis (via Xavier University Library)—A vast database of news articles, lawsuits, and other public information

Bellingcat's Online Investigations Toolkit—A collection of search tools used by Bellingcat, a leading international investigative group

Google Datasets Search—Locates free online datasets

Google Images/Google Lens—Identifies photos and sound recordings and provides information about the stories behind them

The Data Center—Data and maps tracking social and economic patterns in Southeast Louisiana

Criminal Justice

US Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer—A national database of criminal justice activity including various kinds of crime, police use-of-force incidents, attacks on law enforcement officers, and law enforcement officer suicides

New Orleans Police Department—Crime map, demographics, analytics, police management information, and historical crime records made public by the New Orleans Police Department

Politics

FollowTheMoney—Tracks political money in both federal and state elections

Louisiana Ethics Administration—Personal financial disclosures of candidates, campaign finance information, lobbyist information

VoteSmart—Bios, ratings, financial information, voting records, and speeches of political candidates and officeholders

OpenSecrets—Tracks political donations, politicians’ and lobbyists’ personal financial information

Federal Election Commission—Tracks finances of federal political campaigns

LittleSis—Maps out relationships of money, politics, and influence

Ballotpedia—Information on government officials, policies, campaigns and elections

Businesses and Nonprofits

OpenCorporates—Database of companies and company officers around the world

CorporationWiki—Traces the connections between people and businesses

LA Secretary of State—Displays information that companies must file in order to do business in Louisiana

CA Secretary of State—Displays information that companies must file in order to do business in California

Coordinated Legal Tech—Page of links to all Secretary of State websites and related sites that include business filings

EDGAR—Securities and Exchange Commission information about publicly listed companies, including company filings and enforcement actions

GuideStar—Information about nonprofit and charitable organizations

Environment

US Environmental Protection Agency—Website of the US agency charged with protecting the country's environment, including air, land, water, and other resources affecting human health

Tulane Environmental Law Clinic—Includes reports and legal documents from cases brought by a group of environmental attorneys who bring cases concerning the endangerment and destruction of Louisiana's natural resources

Louisiana Environmental Action Network—Information and community resources from Louisiana's premier environmental activist group

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources—Website of the Louisiana agency concerning the state's natural resources, especially oil and gas

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality—Website of the Louisiana agency concerning the state's air, land, and water, particularly as it pertains to human health

Census

Census Reporter—A website designed to facilitate searches of US census data

US Census/QuickFacts—Enter a county/parish in the search bar and then choose a category to browse

US Census/American Community Survey—Enter a county/parish in the search bar and then choose a category to browse

Maps and Mapping

Google Earth Online: A satellite map of the Earth that lets you search, measure distances, and create online maps

Google Maps: Includes detailed street and satellite views, as well as search, directions, traffic, and measuring tools

Privacy

web: gpm.digital xulastory.com