Strengthening Community, Reading Materials

Interesting summer reading turned up in a recent Poynter column on keeping roles straight if/when the relationship between journalists and their sources begins to evolve. This situation could pertain to small town or tribal journalists, or to reporters covering a beat where over time they might become closer to sources. As author O. Ricardo Pimentel writes, "...the truth is that both people in such a relationship should just lay their cards on the table. Get the ground rules straight...What we're trying to avoid here is any misunderstanding that will sour either a business relationship or a friendship. But both of you should be on the same page about whether it is one or the other." Read more on-line:

Dr. Ronald J. Glasser's essay in Harper's Magazine July 2004, "We Are Not Immune: Influenza, SARS, and the collapse of public health," gave me the chills and made me wish I didn't have to breath so often. The essay is not available on-line, but worth it to hunt down a paper copy or order a reprint from Harper's Online. He delves into the history of the collapse of public health in the US through neglect, budget cutbacks and just plain wishful thinking. SARS, he writes, hinted at the next disaster and the US health system is not even ready to prevent an influenza pandemic. Scariest quote - "We spend vast sums to lengthen the lives of terminally ill patients by a few days and refuse to make modest investments that would prevent millions of needless illnesses and deaths."

By 2007 the average American will spend 3,874 hours per year (about 10.5 hrs/day) with the major consumer media. The "Investment Considerations for the Communications Industry” report cites the increasing personal use of wired cable, Internet, home video and video games. 29 percent of consumers now feel overwhelmed by the volume of media options available to them. How will you distinguish your Sound Partners' projects from the rest?