These boots are made for …

Lindberg Field in San Diego, CA. Photo by Stephan Hitzel.

I’ve been on a walking kick lately, ever since I went to San Diego for work-related training.  I had four hours to kill after the conference, and having never been to the city before, I wanted to see some more of this sunny oasis everybody keeps raving about.

So, I decided to walk back to the airport.  It was only about a 15-minute drive, so I figured I could walk it in an hour or so.  I was right.  And I was wrong.

You see, it’s very easy to walk to an airport.  Yes, they tend to be near major freeways, which can pose a problem for pedestrians, but this can usually be overcome with a little planning.  But actually walking into an airport is something else entirely.  I made it to San Diego International in just over an hour.  It took me another 45 minutes to get inside.

Why?  Because the modern city is not built for pedestrians.  It’s built for cars.  You know, those gas-guzzling, ozone-depleting, road-rage-inducing horseless carriages we all love to love and love to hate.  In fact, the only reason I actually made it inside in under an hour is because a kindly shuttle driver took pity on me and let me inside his motorized machine.

I know we live in the age of vehicular transport, but we also live in a society teetering on the brink of collapse.  Is it not high time we started shifting away from this system, and moved toward a more sustainable future?

Walkable communities.  Bikes.  Real public transportation.  High-speed rail.  With Hubbert’s Peak looming large, can we truly afford to maintain a system that will be obsolete by mid-century?  Think of all the space taken up by roads in our cities.  We could have parks and piazzas.  We could have homes and hospitals.

Or, we could have smog.  We could have traffic.  We could have fender-benders.  Oh wait, I mean we do have all those things.

I know it’s asking too much, too soon.  But there are encouraging signs that some cities are moving in this direction.  Whole neighborhoods have been declared auto-free zones.  Cities are extending bike lanes.  Some are experimenting with denser, greener urban planning to give cities a neighborhood feel, and reduce the need for long commutes.

I’d like to see more of this.  Then maybe I’d see a park surrounding the airport and not a parking lot.  Then maybe there’d be a bullet train heading right into the airport, or better yet, right back home to San Francisco.  Maybe.

Or maybe we’ll see oil wars, gas shortages, riots, food shortages, and Thunderdome.  Think about that the next time you walk … to your car.

The Problem of Personal Ethics

Personal ethics are typically thought of as a bonus in most situations. An ethical person does the right thing for the right reasons. He or she can always be counted on to give advice that will lead the wayward soul back on the straight and narrow path. The ethical person is the go-to-guy or gal with the answers to life’s persistent questions.

However, what happens when those ethics get in the way of one’s job. For newspaper people, this can be a real concern. When is it appropriate, if ever, to turn down a story if the ethical implications are such that doing the story in the way an editor wants it done would pose a problem for one’s moral well-being? Can a reporter legitimately detach himself or herself from the ethical problems of a story, and if so, is it right to do so in the first place?

This is the question I raised in a blog post this semester regarding Harry Potter. My problem with the way the story has been covered is that not everyone agrees with the premise that the films and books are a good influence on children. I happen to believe that they are morally reprehensible pieces of pop-culture trash that present a negative example for children and promote an interest in the occult. This is the story that doesn’t get told, and it’s precisely the one I believe needs to be.

I initially drew fire from several bloggers who felt the issue was off-topic. My concern, once again, was that not enough coverage is given to this aspect of the issue. Eventually I won the respect of some of those same individuals, if not their agreement.

Ultimately, I think reporter’s have to make their ethics a very real part of how and when they cover a topic. Otherwise we risk simply becoming an echo chamber for the master narratives everyone else is espousing.

Nice People Finish First

For reporters, sometimes the importance of developing a relationship with sources is clouded by the perceived need for objectivity.  The reality, however, is that the building of trust between journalist and source is of paramount importance in securing good information.  A reporter cannot and should not get into bed with his or her sources, figuratively or literally, but a cordial and even friendly attitude can go a long way toward alleviating a source’s fears, fears that might ultimately prove a poison pill in the interviewing process.

I’ve discovered this axiom through my somewhat limited experience, but I think it will hold true in perpetuity.  My most recent encounter came from my interview with reporter Rick DelVecchio.  Rick works at my newspaper, Catholic San Francisco, and over the past several weeks I have gotten to know him both as a reporter and an individual.  I admire and respect his attitude toward the profession, and enjoy his writing very much.  I have even gone to lunch with him on several occasions, giving us the opportunity to get to know one another in a non-professional setting.

Rick was happy to give me an interview for my ethics essay, and because of our relationship he made time to do so in the middle of an on-going investigation for a story he was working on that day.  Had I not already developed a rapport with Rick, he likely would not have given me this opening.  Busy people tend to make time for those they already know, and not so much for people whom they don’t.

Ultimately, Rick may have given the exact same answers to someone he didn’t know, though I have no way of knowing for sure.  In other situations, people are often more likely to divulge information to someone they trust.  The quality of an interview regularly hinges on nurturing this trust, so I would encourage any reporter to actively and genuinely court sources rather than treat them as tools to be used in the furtherance of an agenda.

Should we be careful to avoid prejudice and bias, the inherent problems of maintaining personal relationships with sources?  Of course we should.  The problem is that by attempting to maintain objectivity and aloofness, the reporter may find himself or herself without a source, or a friend, in the world.

Flower Power

On Tuesday, I visited the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for the second time. Built between 1878 and 1879, the Conservatory houses almost two thousand plant species, from tropical aquatic plants to cacti. Its stunning outer visage, made of redwood with glass walls, is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the park.

Inside the central dome is an area for lowland tropical plants, dominated by large ferns. The back walls are adorned with plaques describing the Conservatory’s history, and house glass cases featuring pieces collected by early Conservatory botanists. To the right is a second room with plants from the highland tropics. The highland tropics room prominently features orchids, and has two walkways that each lead to the final room on the east end of the building. This room is among the most stunning of the permanent displays, with large pools with waterlilies. One sign in this room describes a water lily large enough to support a full grown person.

Each room is separated by swinging doors that must remain closed except when passing through them. This is because each room features a different environment, with noticeable temperature differences between them. Some rooms are cool and dry, while others, like the highland tropics room, are warm and humid.

To the left of the central dome is a room for potted plants, with many different types of flowers and even cacti. This room has the most open floor space of any of the permanent displays, with two separate large seating areas on either side of the room. As most visitors seem to follow the path to the right first, this room can be a welcome respite before heading on to the final room of the Conservatory.

This last room on the western end of the Conservatory houses special exhibits. Currently, this room features carnivorous plants, such as flypaper traps, pitcher plants, and Venus flytraps. This exhibit was recently featured in the San Francisco Chronicle. The Conservatory’s press agent, Nina Sazevich, contacted the newspaper with the story.

“Carnivorous plants are just too good of a story to pass up,” said Sazevich. “A good meat-eating plant will get a lot of interest.”

That interest can be readily seen in the faces of the thousands of Conservatory visitors that walk through its doors every year. Many come to the park on vacation, and as the Conservatory lies along one of the park’s main thoroughfares, the Conservatory, like its special exhibits, can be a hard attraction to pass up. One tourist from Cincinnati, Ohio, Nate, enjoyed his first visit to the Conservatory.

“There are far more orchids in here than in the one in Cincinnati,” Nate said. “They’re pretty cool.”

In May 2005, the Conservatory welcomed its 500,000th visitor since reopening two years prior, after a hiatus imposed by severe damage done to the building in a 1995 storm. The Conservatory celebrated that year with an exhibit featuring “Ted the Titan,” a giant Corpse flower that attracted 16,000 visitors while it was in bloom. The Conservatory shows no signs of slowing down, and remains one of the most vibrant and interesting places to visit while in Golden Gate Park.

Can You Get Excited about a Grocery Store?

My uncle Chuck gave me my first introduction to Trader Joe’s grocery stores. He lives in Illinois, and shops at a Trader Joe’s located south of Chicago, about 45 minutes north from his home in Kankakee. I never actually set foot in the store, but I saw his refrigerator packed with interesting foods and drinks from Trader Joe’s. As there was no Trader Joe’s in Kentucky, where I was living at the time, I did not have a chance to shop the store for myself. I would not get that chance until I moved back to California in 2004.

When I first got settled after moving back, I was living in Brisbane, California, a small town nestled on a hill south of San Francisco. Several Trader Joe’s stores were nearby my home, including stores in Daly City and Millbrae, both of which I went to intermittently. The stores had a lot of interesting features, with exotic foods and nice, prepared meals at low prices. There were many things at Trader Joe’s not found in other stores, including an abundance of healthy organic foods, and imported foods from around the world.

I did not start shopping at Trader Joe’s on a regular basis until I moved to Emeryville, California in the East Bay. Emeryville was not built with people in mind, as it was originally an industrial center. Consequently, there are not many restaurants or grocery stores, with Trader Joe’s being the only sizable grocery store in the area. The only other grocery stores nearby are the Watergate Market and the Emeryville Public Market, both of which could only really be called convenience stores at best. The nearest actual grocery store was Pac-n-Save, a Safeway offshoot located at 40th Street and San Pablo in Oakland. This store, while enormous, is not very friendly. Also, the fact that the police have two reserved parking spots in the lot should give some indication of the type of people who frequent this store.

So, Trader Joe’s it was. I certainly was not hurting for food by limiting myself to this store, though. In fact, I got introduced to all sorts of new treats by shopping there. I had never tried dolmas, a Middle Eastern appetizer made with rice and grape leaves, before becoming a Trader Joe’s shopper. I had never even heard of mochi, a fantastic Japanese dessert that consists of ice cream wrapped in a rice skin. The latter can be particularly expensive, sometimes fetching four times the price I get it for at Trader Joe’s.

After being a regular shopper for many months, I became an employee. I was searching for a job while I was waiting to return to school during a hiatus imposed by financial aid problems, and Trader Joe’s seemed like the perfect fit. The pay started at $10 per hour, with benefits including 10 percent off on groceries from the first day on the job, and health insurance starting after a few months. In addition to the baseline pay, all employees have a chance for a raise every three months. This is in sharp contrast to many other jobs where review periods come up every six months. The job also has flexible hours. I have adjusted my availability several times since coming there in order to make my school schedule work, and have never had any problem doing so even with relatively short notice.

After I started working at Trader Joe’s, I learned a lot more about the how the store operates than most customers know. For example, the reason why so much of the food is inexpensive is that Trader Joe’s pricing is based solely on supply and demand. In most grocery stores, the store charges a stocking fee that varies depending on the size of the space and the placement of the item on the shelf. Large amounts of product facing at eye level will cost more than a few facings on the bottom shelf. This creates a financial incentive for stores to keep certain products on the shelf, even if they might not sell as well. It also becomes a self-perpetuating sales method, allowing established companies to crowd out the competition. Perhaps most important, it raises the price of groceries, because the companies do not want to pay the cost, and therefore pass it along to the consumer.

I also learned a great deal more about the products at Trader Joe’s by working the various sections of the store. I have worked nearly every section in the store, with the exception of flowers. After bouncing around to many different sections, I found my favorite place to work was the frozen section. Many sections of the store have to worry about spoiling older products before they can be stocked, whereas the only spoiled items I deal with in frozen are open packages and items like fresh meat that have been carelessly placed in the freezer and are frozen solid. This removes a tedious task almost entirely, which leaves more time for stocking the section. Another nice aspect of working the frozen section is that many other sections, with the notable exception of bread and dry produce, have an imperative to be done at least an hour before the store opens. While it is nice to be finished early, the frozen section has until the store opens at 9 a.m. to be off the floor.

The benefit of working one section regularly is that you really get to know the products, and can have more control over the section with greater experience. I have gotten to the point where I recognize most of the cases of products on the palettes on sight, and have even participated in remerchandising the section, a process that can involve completely reorganizing where whole sections of products are located on the shelf. The biggest shift in my responsibilities came when I was given the opportunity to write the frozen order myself. I had been assisting in order writing for some time, first for my manager Caleb, who ordered the section during the first several months I worked at the store, until he transferred and was replaced as order writer by a new manager, Soren. This worked out fairly well, but it soon became apparent that it could work to the benefit of the section if I took over order writing responsibilities.

Because the management at the store changes hours frequently, they never get the chance to work the sections they order on a regular basis. This can make it difficult to write the order, because the person ordering does not necessarily know what has actually sold or what has been worked up. Because of this, the head manager at the store, Darren Watson, asked me to take over as order writer. The shift has worked out pretty well, although I am still getting used to the responsibility. It can be difficult and time-consuming, and many of the variables are out of my control. With time and experience, I have been able to order fairly consistently, and have enjoyed the opportunity to have more control over the section.

When the idea of my taking over as order writer first came up, one of my managers, Chris Cha, expressed his excitement at the prospect. “I’m just glad we’ve finally found something to get you passionate about,” he remarked. It seems funny to say that about a section in a grocery store, but I am passionate about it. I love my section, and I love my store. We have parties and tastings. We all get along very well. The place has a family atmosphere that I love, and I have gotten to know many of my regular customers.

Yesterday, one woman in my checkout line said, “I love everything in your store.” I cannot say that I disagree. Working at Trader Joe’s has been a wonderful experience, and I am happy to promote the store to everyone I know.

Wolf Freed After Months in a Cage

One week ago, at the invitation of members of the media studies faculty at my school, the University of San Francisco, vlogger Josh Wolf came to speak about his recent release from federal detention. Wolf, who at an unbelievable 226 days, holds the record for a journalist incarcerated for not revealing his sources. Wolf blogs at www.joshwolf.net, where he continued to post through intermediaries during his seven month stint in prison.

Wolf’s harrowing story started on July 5, 2005, when he filmed an anti-G8 anarchist demonstration in San Francisco. The FBI sought the tape in what they called an effort to identify those responsible for damaging a police car during the protest. Although Wolf repeatedly assured investigators that he did not capture the event, and would turn over the tape if requested, he refused to testify about the identities of any of the anarchists involved. Wolf said that as a journalist, he had to protect his sources, and would be unable to do his job if future sources withheld information for fear that their names would be revealed to the authorities.

This act of defiance would be protected under California’s shield laws, as it would in most states in the union. The difference was that Wolf was under federal subpoena, where no such shield law exists. Ironically, the same federal government that seeks to protect reporters through the first amendment has not seen fit to actually enshrine those protections in the form of a shield law protecting a reporter’s right to confidential sources, a key aspect of what it means to be a journalist.

Wolf said the reason he got involved in vlogging in the first place was to present a side of the protest movement that few in the mainstream media were willing to tackle. He said he was dismayed by a constant misreporting on the part of the media establishment when it came to protests in his native San Francisco, and what he perceived as a bias against protesters. Therefore, instead of sitting on the sidelines, he used the tools of the new digital journalism revolution to take to the streets and document what he saw.

“Why not tell the other side of the story?” Wolf asked. “Why not bring balance to an imbalanced newscast?”

Wolf straddles the line between journalist and activist by not shying away from his own beliefs and opinions in his coverage of an event. While this may ruffle the feathers of some traditionalists in the media industry, Wolf sees it as part and parcel of who he is as a blogger.

“I can understand the concerns raised,” said Wolf. “Am I a journalist? Am I an activist? For once and all, the answer is yes.”

After the event, USF journalism student Evan Wiig remarked that Wolf captured exactly the type of integrity and tenacity that it takes to be a journalist.

“As a journalist, and as a citizen, I think that we need to protect our rights,” said Wiig.

As for whether, as an aspiring journalist, he is dissuaded from the vocation by Wolf’s ordeal, Wiig remained resolute. Still, he was guarded about whether he would be able to endure what Wolf went through.

“I really wish I could say that I would do it. I’d like to think that I would,” Wiig said. “There aren’t many things I would stand up for to that capacity, but the first amendment is something that we should.”

Starting out on a Journey

Welcome to News for a New Generation. My name is Michael Vick, and I am a young journalist interested in exploring the frontier of digital journalism. This journey, on which I hope you will join me, will take us down many paths. One, the most obvious, is blogging. This is the most visible landmark in the new media environment. Other paths include podcasts and vlogs, both of which you will see in upcoming posts. The beginning of this blog excursion can be found at USFblogtastic.

My focus for this blog will be topics of interest to me, namely politics and religion. Expect to see a lot of coverage and commentary about the San Francisco Bay Area, where I live. Also, because this is my own personal blog, from time to time I will include entries of a more intimate nature, revealing thoughts about my life and where I think it is going.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Be sure to check out the links section, and link to me on your own blog as well.