The Best Journalism Job Post Ever Written

http://bit.ly/ew9APU.

Hat tip to "Ed Post" of BlawgReview

 

 

 

ADIOS EMBARGO

OK, this post is a bit "inside baseball," i.e., it will be of interest probably only to journalists and flaks (both inside companies and 3rd-party PR folks), but it hits me where I live —and I'm going to immediately adopt the same policy:

No more embargos on news -- except under the rare situation where LTN has an absolute exclusive.

From Tech Crunch (with a hat tip to @BlawgReview:)

By Michael Arrington

Late last year I announced a new policy at TechCrunch – we don’t do embargoes. Well, it was a little more complicated than that, and designed to stir up chaos in the PR ranks. We said we’d break every embargo, and we also said we’d honor embargoes for exclusives plus a few select companies, particularly Microsoft and Google, because they had proven to be reliable. Overall, we meant to be confusing, and we were.

Embargoed news, if you aren’t familiar with the term: a company wants to announce news, like a product launch or a new funding. They brief lots of press with a stated day and time for the news to break. Press agrees not to write before that time. But generally someone goes early, with a really good excuse like a time stamp software problem, and then everyone floods out with the news. Whoever broke the story in the first place generally gets more eyeballs and attention than the others, so there are lots of incentives for mistakes. Particularly because no one ever punishes the offenders.

A lot of people said our new policy would be the death of TechCrunch. We’ve more than doubled our readership and page views since then, so with the benefit of hindsight I disagree. But what’s interesting is that since that post the embargo culture in the tech news world has essentially crumbled. Chaos rules, and even the once great Microsoft and Google have fallen.

Read the rest of Arrington's post  here.

7th ANNUAL TWINS/YANKS FEST

Bye Bye Dome.... The 7th annual Twins/Yanks fest was, as always, Big Fun -- a chance to connect with the terrific Twins Cities tech community and say goodbye to the Metrodome... (well, unless we meet again in October!)

As always, it was a jam-packed three days of vendor meetings and beisbol! We started off the trip with our annual visit to Thomson Reuters, with huge thanks to John Shaughnessy (far left), Gretchen DeSutter (below)  and Scott Augustin (left) for setting up a day of helpful briefings. We had a chance to say a quick hello to Allison Guidette, who has returned to Eagan as vp of litigation (she was headed to the airport for a trip west); then visited with Preston McKenzie, vp of  Hubbard One (which includes ContactNet, Hubbard One and Monitor Suite). Then we got a fascinating update from Rob Sargeson, senior vp & CIO, about the company's expansion plans for its massive data centers.

Over a yummy evil midwest lunch, (TR's commissary is just too tempting!)  Mike Abbott and Stephanie Krause updated us on pro bono projects designed to help displaced legal professionals. It's always great to see vp Laurie Zenner and the corporate communications team, which also includes Kevin Hunt and Michele Endgahl in addition to the aforementioned folks.

Then Denis Hauptly (vp strategic development), who has just returned from a long stint in Switzerland, offered his mighty wisdom about uber search and other trends on the horizon. Here's a link to his new book, Something Really New, which I will be reading shortly!

Next on the agenda was a briefing on the Westlaw Business' global outreach, with marketing vp Gus Thompson)  and sr. director Rob Kirchstein (with Gretchen, above).  The day wrapped up with sr. director Brian Knudsen mktg mgr John Vonhor offering me a tour of the company's PeopleMap public information software that helps everybody from litigators to skip tracers track down 411 on folks.

Before I headed to the Dome with Teri "Jersey Girl" McCarron and Teddy Lindgren for game 1 of the Twins/Yanks series, Incisive's Michael Medwig and Marnie Maroney (below left in white shirt, with Paul Godlewski from Thomson Reuters) and I  visited 3M -- with mktg communications mgr Joan Olseen and Erik Johnson for an update on the company's popular RFID system that helps law firms and companies track their paper files.(BTW, apparently Teri is not the only "JG" in Mpls -- check out the license plate I saw at Thomson Reuter parking lot!)

Day 2 began with an update from NightOwl, which offers document management services. Scott Sterkel, director of sales and mktg, told us how the company is growing with its e-discovery offerings.

Then it was off to Eden Praire to meet up with the Kroll Ontrack gang, including Christian Betancourt and Megan Kubacki, (left). Kaitlin Shinkle regaled us with reports on her June wedding at the St. Paul hotel (Congrats! plus a shout out to Michelle Lange, who is on maternity leave!)

Finally, we had a very interesting meeting with Avantstar's Matt Knudson about the company's content management system, and how they are getting increasing traction within the e-discovery community.

Then it was to the Dome for the Twins/Yanks fest. Thanks to everybody who joined us, including LTN edit board members George Socha and Tom Gelbmann (right); consultants LaVerne Pritchard and Linda Ulbrich. As usual, the gangs from Thomson  Reuters and Kroll. 

The Dorsey & Whitney crew included partner Melissa Krasnow, left in red -- who with colleague Nick Ackerman, was the star of our May Law Technology Now podcast. Next to Krasnow is her friend, General Mills counsel Cam Hoang. Also from Dorsey was Patrick Courtemanche (in light blue shirt) who has joined the firm's marketing department, with Dorsey marketing colleague Bob Kleiber (in royal blue shirt).

We were also thrilled that LTN's former associate editor Katie Montgomery could come north from Iowa to be with us! Incisive's Rob Hafiz of LegalTech also joined in the fun, as did Curt Meltzer of Meltzer Consulting, and Sean Solberg, of Faegre & Benson (far right).

BTW, we send our best wishes to Linda Will, who's on the DL, for a speedy recovery, and a shout-out to Amy Juers, who missed her first Twins/Fest because she was in California (good excuse!). 

Huge thanks to Luis Breazeale of the Twins for all his help getting us such great seats (behind home plate!) It was a great, tight game, a nailbiter all the way to the end, when Mariano faced Mauer, and for only the third time in our seven year Twins/Yanks fest history, the Yanks actually won. (Sorry, Minnesota fans :) On top of the good game, one of our rows was selected as the Hormel Hot Dog Row of the Game  -- so everybody in the middle of our group got a free hot dog! What a hoot!!

Day 3 started with a few "issues" with my Garmin Nuvi 200 -- actually, it wasn't the tech's fault, it was my fault for not updating the maps. The Twins City is undergoing a massive amount of construction (Three people told me the same joke: "Minnesota has two seasons: winter and road construction") and the whole area is completely chewed up (especially downtown) rivaling Boston's Big Dig. Trying to get to Roseville to meet up with the Merrill gang, I could not find an open on-ramp to 35W North -- and ended up almost at Bloomington trying to get north. I am soooo updating my maps before my next adventure!

But because I'm paranoid and always leave extra time to find new places, even with Garmin's 90% reliable "Jill," I pulled into the parking lot just at the meeting time. Thanks to Leonard Lee and the Merrill team for a terrific conversation about social networking, e-discovery and all the challenges they present. We enjoyed meeting with marketers Scott Snyder, Diana Lepper, and Dawn Edwards!

Finally, before heading back home, I had a chance to visit with Jon Bream, my colleague from my days at the Minnesota Daily, who is the veteran music critic at the Star Tribune. (His latest "coffee table" book is Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin). We headed to Wasabi, which I highly recommend as a terrific Japanese restaurant right about halfway between the  Guthrie theater and the Dome. 

We noticed a lovely new restaurant in the same complex, Sanctuary, and took the opportunity to get a quick tour from Michael Kutscheid, owner and GM. The charming bistro also has a sweet outdoor garden -- and I definitely plan to visit it on my next trip to Minnesota, hopefully in October! 

And if not for post-season, we'll look forward to returning next year for OUTDOOR baseball at the new Target Field (we'll bring our down coats). 

More photos here.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM STEVE BRILL #2,145

Steve Brill, now the head of Clear, founded American Lawyer Media, and was my boss for just about a decade. He's brilliant and difficult (a combination that can be challenging but fun) — and what I always appreciated the most (and try to emulate) is that with Steve, what you see is what you get. You always know exactly where you stand.

The rumors about his management style were pretty much true. Tact was never in his briefcase, but fortunately humor usually was. When I was at The Recorder, in San Francisco, he got pissed off because we were splitting too many infinitives in our stories — so he sent us a memo promising that he would fire the next one of us who blew that grammar rule. A few hours later, when he cooled down, he sent us a memo with four split infinitives calling off the threat.

And yes, he really did return edited stories with razor words, such as "Is English your first language?" But when he praised a story, you could trust and truly enjoy the accolades. I loved working for him.

And did he ever teach us to be good journalists — lessons I have preached to my Law Technology News staff for the last 10 years. Above all, be honest and be fair, and admit your mistakes, he insisted. There's no failure in a mistake, he would tell us, but you'll be fired if you don't bring mistakes quickly to your boss' attention. Corrections under Brill's regime always went on page 1 of our newspaper. Always, and with the name of the person who made the mistake. No hiding under a short hidden paragraph buried in the back. People's lives are affected by what we write -- and when we screw up, we must announce it boldly. You stand up and take the consequences. It's only fair. It's always the right thing to do.

He practices what he preaches. When our Court TV was covering the O.J. Simpson trial, one of the cameras accidently caught, for about 1/8th of a second, one of the alternate jurors. Court TV didn't just hope nobody noticed. They went straight to Judge Ito, who shut down the cameras for that first day. But it was the right thing to do.

And on July 26, 2008, when a company laptop containing unencrypted data about 33,000 pending applications went missing from Clear's (Verified Identity Pass Inc.) San Francisco airport offices, Brill's team went straight to authorities. With the assumption that the laptop was stolen, TSA immediately suspended new enrollments into Clear, a "fast-pass" service that pre-screens members, who then get expedited clearance through airport security. (Disclosure: I am a very enthusiastic member of Clear.)

Fortunately, the laptop was found by Clear on August 5, and Clear determined that it had not been accessed. (Further forensics investigation is being conducted by law enforcement.)

"We apologize for the confusion, but in an abundance of caution, we treated this unaccounted-for laptop as a serious potential breach," said Brill. "We're glad to confirm that a preliminary investigation shows no personal information was compromised."

Clear was in the process of notifying the applicants when the laptop was found, and it is suspending enrollment until the information is encrypted (the data was already protected with two layers of password controls, but they are now adding encryption as well.)

No credit information, or social security numbers, or biometric information was on the laptop, however, there was a limited amount of the applicants' personal information, says Clear. According to CBS5, that information included "names, address, and  birth dates, and in some cases driver's licenses, passport or green card numbers," citing Clear.

It can't have been an easy experience for Brill and his team, and they certainly should have had the data encrypted from the beginning. (Maybe I should sent Steve a complimentary subscription to LTN :) But I think it speaks volumes that — as usual — Brill and his Clear team went straight to the authorities when bad news hit.

Here's a news report on the incident from CBS, including a video report. Here's ABC's report.
And a NetworkWorld story. And on BoingBoing.

You can find Clear's press release at its home page and you can download it here: Download verified_identity_pass_announces_laptop_has_been_found.pdf

Hat tip to Babs Deacon & Donna Payne for forwarding the news stories.

Update 8/15: Clear is again taking enrollments.

Here's the latest letter from Brill:

We re-opened Clear enrollment on Tuesday, which had been temporarily unavailable after a laptop containing a small part of some applicants' enrollment data was taken from a locked office at the San Francisco Airport (though, as you know, the Clear lanes continued to operate normally nationwide). The laptop was recovered, and preliminary investigations revealed that no unauthorized person gained access to any of the information stored on that laptop. The data was protected with two levels of passwords, but was not encrypted, and it should have been.

Update on Security Enhancements to the Clear System
Clear has encrypted every enrollment kiosk and laptop computer containing personally identifiable applicant and member data. Ernst & Young independently performed an inspection and filed an audit report with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stating that all enrollment kiosks and all mobile devices are encrypted up to government standards. TSA also conducted its own on-site verification of encryption on all enrollment kiosks and mobile devices at randomly selected locations.

Beyond the encryption of these devices, Clear has also installed other security updates, including physical security enhancements. And, Clear will continue to enhance the security of our system with the latest technology and software security advancements as they become available.

Finally, Clear's privacy ombudsman wrote in a letter posted on Clear's website that he is conducting an independent review of Clear's security processes on behalf of Clear members. He will post those results online once he has concluded his investigation.

Please call Clear Support with any questions, comments, or concerns at (866) 848-2415.

Sincerely,
Steven Brill
Clear CEO

HELLO, GOODBYE, HELLO

As we wave goodbye to the lovely Katie Montgomery, as she heads west to Iowa City to begin her Ph.D program, we say hello and welcome to Nabia Jenkins-Johnston, as LTN's new associate editor.

Nabia (pronounced knob-ee-ya) joins us as a recent honors grad of Rutgers. She previously worked with our colleague Jessica Reed on a general counsel project, and we're thrilled she has joined us.

As soon as I can grab my camera, I'll post her picture.

And a big congrats to Shane DeLeers, who recently rec'd his MFA from NYU -- and just got a promotion from us! Shane is now LTN's Art Director!

Safia Maharaj, Shane & Nabia are the best team any editor could hope for! I'm so blessed! 

If you haven't already heard, we're retiring ALM as our corporate brand, and introducing Incisive Media. And changing our e-mail protocols. So heads up to all the PR folks, our new address for LTN is lawtech@incisivemedia.com.

Cheers!

OUR MAN IN BAGHDAD

Benjamin Hallman, a reporter at our sister publication, The American Lawyer, spent almost two weeks this month embedded with the U.S. Army in Baghdad.

“As far as I know, this is a first for the company,” says our CEO William Pollak. “We’re not usually in the business of sending journalists into a war zone. But the development of a court system and introduction of the rule of law in Iraq is an important story which happens to involve quite a few American lawyers.”

As part of his assignment, Hallman blogged every day for Law.com and americanlawyer.com.

Hallman's Rule of Law: Dispatches From Iraq blog posts are compelling, sometimes funny, and always increased my anxiety level about having one of our own in harm’s way.

Here’s an excerpt:

“I had read about the outsourcing of functions once handled by the Army (from cooking to convoy security), but I never appreciated to what extent the military is reliant on independent contractors until I got here. KBR, in particular, seems like a fifth branch of the armed services. KBR workers are everywhere, and they make far more (in some cases) than their military counterparts. A convoy driver, I’m told, is paid between $6,000 and $8,000 a month.

“[A Navy Seals] officer told me the Seals had to dramatically boost their reenlistment bonus to staunch defections to the private side. At the other end of the spectrum, a Peruvian guard, also employed by KBR, told me he makes about $1,200 a month. The guard told me he is leaving soon, after two years in Baghdad.

“Baghdad, too much muerte,” he told me, pantomiming a rocket flying into the Green Zone. Iraqi army soldiers are also paid far less than senior KBR and U.S. military personnel. My conclusion: There is an inverse relationship here between a guard/soldier’s exposure to danger and his salary.

On my last afternoon in Baghdad, another reporter and I tried to get into the monument to the fallen soldier. Two lonely Iraqi army soldiers at the gate apologized and said it was closed. Then they asked for water. I told the Navy Seal about this and he said Iraqi soldiers are issued one bottle a day, never mind that it was easily 95 degrees. (Our escort, a
National Guard soldier from the media unit, bought the two Iraqis some water.)”

Watch for Hallman’s story in The American Lawyer. I’m glad he’s safely home.                 — M.B.

PASSION & WORK

Got to Minneapolis last Saturday, in time for the Minnesota Daily's annual awards and alumni dinner.  I cut my journalism teeth at the Daily in the '70s, at the height of Watergate, when everyone wanted to be a journalist. We watched Nixon resign, all huddled over the lone TV in the newsroom.

I actually got my foot in the door at the Daily as a rock and roll reviewer. Jon Bream, then Arts & Entertainment editor, hired me because he thought it would be novel for a girl to cover rock, and the rest, as they say, is history. I ultimatley succeeded JB as A&E editor, did some rock and roll radio before going to law school, and then landed at San Francisco's The Recorder -- beginning my 23-year stint at ALM. Bream's been at the StarTribune for more than 30 years now, as its authoritative music critic.  (Here's his review of the eclectic Nellie McKay concert at Dakota April 6.)

The keynote speaker for the Daily's event was the venerable, veteran Jim Ragsdale, who heads up the St. Paul Pioneer Press' editorial pages. He gave a thoughtful, guarded, warm speech encouraging the young journalists to be flexible as print media morphs into digital, and advised them that they, unlike their elders, probably will NOT find their careers dominated by a single employer. It was timely, and appropriate.

As awards were given out to the year's top staffers, I was struck at how almost all the presentations were stressing the business side of the Daily, and especially on new media "forms of content" (the emergence of digital, etc.). The word "employee" was mentioned frequently, as the plaques honoring hard work were handed out. The top editorial award went to a production staffer, but there was no statement made about why she won it, other than she worked hard.

Afterwards, I was puzzled by my reaction to the evening, until it struck me. During the entire event, no one REALLY talked about journalism. About the passion and drive you need to get the story, report it carefully and right, quickly make corrections; not be afraid to take on established entities. The whole important, vital role of the "fourth estate" -- to monitor power: the government, the agencies, the people who have it, to protect the rights of all.

Granted, I, too, have been obsessed with the forms of content, as Law Technology News quickly evolves into a multi-media enterprise with podcasts, webinars, blogs, etc. And as I recently said on Kevin O'Keefe's Real Lawyers Have Blogs Q&A, journalists are not the only sources of important content.

But it does trouble me that the youngsters in Minnesota, traditionally a nurturing ground of world-class journalists, seem more concerned with running a business than generating excellent journalism. When JB and I paced the worn concrete floors of Murphy Hall, we would have been appalled at being called employees. We were reporters and editors. (Nor did our meager wages hardly qualify us to be employees).

Hopefully that's just a glitch, and at next year's awards session, we'll hear more about the STORIES they produced and less about the mechanics of story production.

(No slight intended to the important business-side folks.)