Ruby Sinreich's blog

Let's increase the ROI on Inter-city Visits

Submitted by Ruby Sinreich on August 3, 2012 - 2:19pm

I've long been skeptical of the bi-annual Inter-city Visits organized by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, err sorry, that's actually the Chamber-owned Partnership for a Sustainable Community. The intention to visit a community and learn from their successess and failures is a good one. But the reality of an expensive trip with the wealthy and powerful of Chapel Hill - where the learning stops when the return flight touches down at RDU - is a little different.

The blurry line between blogging and journalism

Submitted by Ruby Sinreich on July 11, 2012 - 11:28am

I used to think that getting paid is what differentiated The Media from blogs, but I'm increasingly not so sure about this. For example, WCHL uses a large number of unpaid interns as news reporters, and now they want some lucky "winner" to provide voice talent to promote their new FM signal. 

If you think YOU have the perfect voice for radio, then this is the contest for you!

Click on the "Scripts" tab above, follow the links to download and print the three scripts, record yourself reading all three scripts in the best BIG FM RADIO voice you can, and submit the file (as either an MP3 or a Video File) through the submissions tab. 

The winner receives the opportunity to record commercials and radio spots to be aired on 97.9 FM WCHL and a $100 gift card to a local restaurant!   

North Carolina Open Elections Project

Submitted by Ruby Sinreich on June 22, 2012 - 11:38am

I'm excited to announce that OrangePolitics is a partner in the effort by the Raleigh Public Record to create an accessible statewide database of campaign finance information. Please read more about it and comment on the Knight News Challenge site.

Chapel Hill 2020 steamrolls ahead

Submitted by Ruby Sinreich on June 21, 2012 - 3:31pm
2020 collage

The Independent Weekly has a new reporter on the Orange County beat, Billy Ball. He has some enormous shoes to fill since Chapel Hill native Joe Schwartz left the paper and the country.  Ball is doing pretty well so far and asking good questions. I can't help but notice a few gaps in his knowledge of local issues, but that can be rectified with time.

In this week's article "City or Town?" Ball takes a look at Chapel Hill 2020 in advance of the draft comprehensive plan coming before the Town Council for inevitable approval on Monday. Although he doesn't ask the questions I'm most interested in now, such as how will the Town answer the many outstanding questions and gaps in the plan, I do appreciate him pointing out that "Some of its harshest criticism has come from within the committees that molded Chapel Hill 2020."

I See You, Chahnaz Kebaier

Submitted by Ruby Sinreich on June 7, 2012 - 1:30pm

Last month, Chapel Hill's collective heart broke as another woman was killed in a completely avoidable case of "domestic" violence in front of Scroggs Elementary School. You can read Katelyn Ferral's coverage in the Chapel Hill News for more background about the man who repeatedly threatended to kill his wife, Chahnaz Kebaier, who was a postdoctoral researcher at UNC, should she take their two children away from him. As the story unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear why she would have wanted to do just that.

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