BAH HUMBUG TO CITIZEN'S JOURNALISM: AND MORE ABOUT THE MARISSA REYES MEMORIAL FUND --by Joyce Schwarz, blogger Hollywood2020, emerging media & entertainment marketing consultant...
how an email about a national news story about a little girl swept away in the Arizona Floods this week brought the importance of citizen's journalism closer than ever to home -- alas, Citizen's Journalism fails the test!
GIVE ME YOUR EMAIL PLEASE AND SET UP A PHONE LINE FOR THE CITIZEN JOURNALISTS TO CALL YOU -- PLEASE:
All I wanted to do was email or link or post to a local newspaper in California who spend hours and days promoting its rise of Citizen Journalism --and this blogger could not even find an email address online --
Lots of posts about the Ventura County Star's CITIZEN JOURNALISM INITIATIVE ...but no email addresses even on the press releases and the posts in other blogs...so I pick up the phone....a few discouraging calls later to the City Desk at the Ventura County Star--no answer first....a few minutes listening to Music on Hold tunes waiting to be transferred automatically to a live person...and then I just re-called the newsroom myself... a busy news guy picks up -- this blogger identifies herself by name and explains the desire to promo a Memorial Fund for the grand-daughter of a local resident...to the non-responsive AHUH at the other end I start over --I identify myself and my voice starts to tremble (and it's not even my relative) and I explain about the little girl swept away on national news and how her grandfather lived in Ventura (their subscription area) for years....And the reporter doesn't say anything at all....(I know, I know it's late he's on deadline...and I'm not even one of his subscribers...he doesn't say that but I hear it in the subtext).
THE LITTLE GIRL IN THE NATIONAL NEWS -- -the girl in the flood...
still on the phone with the newsroom at the VENTURA COUNTY STAR -- seems like 20 minutes but the clock says it's only been 3 minutes ....SO I SAY AGAIN -- you know the little girl on the national news --TV NEWS -- swept away in the Arizona floods....and the veteran news reporter is a bit nicer and says -- "oh I've been on vacation -- I didn't watch the news lately -- just back here" -- and I start over again -- "Her grandfather -- and I give his name is from your area -- he's started a Memorial Fund for her -- where can I list it online-- can you put something in tomorrow's paper?" I ask....
And the reporter starts to get it..."Does the guy live in Ventura?" he asks...and I START OVER AGAIN -- ( yes, that's why I'm calling -- feeling that my undergraduate journalism degree is failing me in communicating with a fellow scribe and wondering what a real CItizen Journalist without any background at all would do in this case.)....
SO THE REPORTER TAKES THE PHONE NUMBER....he says he'll 'email it to one of the editors on the morning shift'; ...I ask aren't you a morning paper and he says -- yes, but he can't do anything -- besides isn't my guy down in Arizona at the funeral or such...I don't know...but I just gave you his mobile phone number...WHICH EDITOR?? and of course he asks why I want to know-- and I say -- I want to call back tomorrow and make sure they promote the fund...and finally he gives me a name-- by then I've gone through scores of pages on the VENTURA COUNTY STAR website and found an editorial staff list -- the reporter's going to send the email the County editor..."Can't do anything tonight I ask again? " ....nope..okay...thanks....SO OF COURSE I ZAP OVER TO TYPEPAD TO WRITE THIS BLOG....thank heavens for TYPEPAD.....and here's the story -- if you get a chance can you pass it on -- her mom and stepdad lost everything in the flood... I'm sure the girl was swept away to heaven....
SO HERE"S THE REAL STORY:
This afternoon the national news turned personal -- a lot too personal if you ask me. An email from a colleague, Peter "TahitiPetey" Orgmann came in along with scores of other emails but this one was much different -- the subject line was "Marissa's Death"...as I scrolled down carefully I saw this note --and it's probably best said in TahitiPetey's (that's what everyone calls him) own words:
SUBJECT: MARISSA'S DEATH:
"I would like to thank all of you who have responded to my earlier e-mail today, for your kind words and donations to the fund I established today on behalf of Marissa. If you have not heard yet, she was swept to her death last night in a freak flash flood north of Cave Creek,Arizona
They recovered her body early this morning, which will allow us to give her a proper, and well deserved memorial service.".(Blogger's note: The next paragraph was even tougher to read)...".Marissa was very special to me, being my first grand child. She was also born on my Birthday, six weeks premature, and her smile always gave me hope for the future. I am not sure if I will ever get over this loss, but my focus now is to help my single daughter, and my one year old Granddaughter get through this ordeal in any way I can. Shannon, her mother and step dad lost everything they had in this flash flood as well, so your help will make a huge difference."
THEN CAME THE PIX OF 7 year old Marissa Reyes: 
click on thumbnails to see a grandfather's pictures of his grand-daughter Marissa Sabrina Reyes -- the 7 year old girl swept away in the floods in Arizona this week.
MORE THAN AN E-CARD TO SHOW I CARE
The next graph in the email caught my attention -- maybe I could do something besides just email back condolences...sure I could pick up the phone and try to get TahitiPetey...but we're not close friends -- heck he was even a prospective client...I don't want to invade his space at this time...the email thing is good...but if I could just do a little more than an e-card from AMERICANGREETINGS.com that would be great.
Marissa Reyes Memorial :So, in memory of Marissa Sabrina Reyes, who we lost at the age of seven, and who will always be missed by me and the rest of our family deeply, I have set up a memorial fund in her name.
If you or your company would like to make a small contribution, please send them in the name of Marissa Reyes Memorial Fund, care of NetCashFlows, P.O. Bob 370847, Las Vegas,Nevada 89137
LINK TO REGIONAL/NATIONAL NEWS VIDEO CLIP : And TahityPetey then adds: For more on this story visit http://www.azcentral.com/12news/12newstoday/ and watch the sad video clip of the news. The email ends with:"Thank You so much for your help and support during this time and his 805 area code phone number (with-held here for privacy reasons)." CITIZEN'S JOURNALISM TO THE RESCUE? As soon as I see the 805 area code and I think -- Ventura County Star-- that's the newspaper just North of Los Angeles county that has that new Citizen's Journalism initiative -- So I check online and sure enough: J.D. LASICA's NEW MEDIA MUSINGS: Ventura County Star Citizen Specialist: I knew I saw it launch earlier this year via a post on J.D. Lasica's blog "New Media Musings"Cached : New Media Musings: Ventura County Star's citizen journalism specialist -- the post says --
p> Howard Owens, director of new media for E.W. Scripps' Ventura County Star, posted this notice on the online-news list today: Our online editor, Alicia Hoffman, will be adding the role of citizen journalism/user-content specialist to her duties. We see blogs, forums, photo blogs and other forms of citizen journalism as a significant part of the online news world. Our readers want to be part of the process of sharing the news and shaping the news. *this blogger notes -- no email given...for the Citizen Journalism department...or contact" MORE PROMO FOR CITIZEN JOURNALISM: so I search again looking for a link or an email to this Alicia Hoffman-- Citizen journalism/user-content specialist....nope...not on the general masthead-- nope, she doesn't even have a blog. SUSAN MERNIT'S BLOG: ANOTHER SEARCH and I see Susan Mernit's Blog promoting the Ventura County Star Citizen Journalism 'friendliness" -- I know Susan I met her at the American Press Institute Media Center reception on the 20th Century Fox Movie studio lot earlier this summer -- susanmernit.blogspot.com/2005/ 05/ventura-county-star-newspaper-site.html - 13k - *nope no email in Gillmor's post ...somewhere along the way I did find a link to Howard Owens via his BUZZNET Journal -- but it didn't seem right to post the picture of Marissa Reyes on BUZZNET....couldn't email Howard because I couldn't remember my password for Buzznet ...okay, maybe I don't have one -- but I thought I did.... EASIER TO APPLY FOR A BLOG, THAN TO POST A NOTE TO THE READERS: I looked at the Ventura County Masthead buried inside the website and I saw the name of the County editor and hope that whoever answered the phone will pass along the info about the Memorial Fund for Marissa Reyes...Unclogging blogging: Ventura County Star shows the way --wow they make it easier to sign up for a blog than to post a little note about a memorial by a grandfather who was a reader for years and years.... TWO SIMPLE THOUGHTS TO MAKE CITIZEN JOURNALISM WORK BETTER: 1) Hire an intern to answer a Citizen Journalism hotline...2) Hire an intern to check your email for Citizen Journalism "hot news" contributions....and when you're promoting Citizen Journalism --bloggers, newspapers, radio and TV -- give us an email to write to -- not just INFO @ either -- we know no one looks at that stuff Of course I could have gone back to post on the TV station for the news clip source: http://www.azcentral.com/12news/12newstoday/ but somehow an hour and a half later...I'm just praying that TYPEPAD doesn't crash before I can RSS this out there... Merissa Sabrina Reyes, August 10, 2005 --- swept away to heaven..... If you or your company would like to make a small contribution, please send them in the name of Marissa Reyes Memorial Fund, care of NetCashFlows, P.O. Bob 370847, Las Vegas Nevada. 89137
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