Personal Opinions and Journalist...Bad Combination?

I'm happy to admit that as the semester comes to an end, I'm finally getting the concept of blogs. By getting the concept, I mean that my blog is about my personal opinions and my views of things I've experience throughout the semester. I see myself keeping my blog active throughout my career. So far, I'm free to write what I want, my opinions aren't restricted and my views are mine to share with whomever wants to read about it. But not everyone in the world of journalism is free to express their opinions about any topic.

William March took time from his vacation to come in and speak with my class about his career in journalism. As a political writer for the Tribune, March's job description requires that he keep his personal political opinions to himself. In fact, according to March, if you asked what his political affiliation is, he wouldn't tell you. Now of course, as journalist or even a curious bystander if  I really wanted to know, I could go to the supervisor of elections office and obtain his voter registration information. After it is public record, but as March concluded at the end of his time with my class, if you want to know where he stands politically, you're going to have to look it up.
 
During his time with us, March shows some of his favorite websites to visit when looking for information. His lecture began with a story he wrote by following the money trail of soft money contributions being given to Bill Clinton's political campaign. March was able to uncover a web of deceptive doings surrounding that particular person's company and his political contributions to the campaign. According to March, money laundering is one of the most difficult crimes to catch. March explained to us that his investigation began with a google search for Florida corporate records. Having an idea of what you want to find out is important to becoming a good investigative reported. As I start to investigate a story, I've found that what helps me is mapping out what I already know about the subject and then asking myself what am I trying to find out?

I'm really glad we had the opportunity to hear from March. Listening to his lecture gave me a lot of new avenues to look into for my profile project. I don't plan to leave any stone unturned. Thank goodness I bring my laptop everywhere I go because the next phase of March's lecture was guiding us through some of his favorite websites and helping us understand exactly what information certain websites could provide us with.
"When you aim to run down election information you're aiming at a moving target," said March as he reminds us that election sites and locations information changes with every election. So for those of us who enjoy a challenge we never have to worry about the research level of the job becoming repetitive.





Sites Used frequently:
google- political contributions
http://www.fec.gov/ (political contributions)
http://www.irs.gov/
http://thomas.loc.gov/
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/campaign-finance/contrib.asp