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Sanford Crime by Zones

The Sanford, FL Police Department tracks crime by dividing the city into 10 zones. Click on the Sanford Police Department shields to view the most frequent crimes in each zone.

-Data provided by Sanford Crime Analyst Radley Amerault


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Biden Asks WFTV's West: "Are you serious?"

WFTV-Channel 9 news’s Barbara West interview with Joe Biden has sparked attention from the national media for what the Obama campaign has called an “unprofessional interview.”

One of West’s questions included a quote from Karl Marx, a Communist icon, in an attempt to characterize Obama as a socialist.

Sen. Biden struck back, clearly surprised at the questions West asked him.

“Is this a real question?,” Biden asked sarcastically before chuckling.

West clearly came into the interview with an agenda: to base questions around Obama’s statement of ‘spread the wealth.’ The McCain campaign has had a field day with this statement. It’s the job of the campaign to scrutinize and use the words of their opponents for their benefit.

But reporters? No. It’s one think to ask the tough questions. It’s completely different to go into an interview with a list of biased and misleading questions.




With the presidential candidates telling half-truths and sometime down-right lies about each other, the American people’s only source of truthful information are journalists.

The Economist Breaks It Down

The Economist magazine is a really good source for easy-to-understand economics explanations. The articles are written by actual economist that have a much better grasp of the concept than most reporters.

The magazine's online Web site has incorporated special audio briefing on topics currently in the forefront, including the bailout package, international economics and the presidential candidates' economic plans. I think the economists featured in the briefings do an effective job of explaining things simply.

With nearly 400 economic briefings, these audio clips are a great multimedia tool, especially considering the economy can be a pretty complex issue. Listening to explanations and proposed solutions from experts is helpful.

Check out a recent analysis of Obama's and McCain's economic plans:




Visit http://audiovideo.economist.com for other audio analysis.

Campus Watchdogs

"Seek truth and report it." That's our main goal and obligation as journalists. Wherever there is corruption, mismanagement or misconception, it's our job to uncover the facts.

Colleges and universities are no exception.

Robert Faturechi, Enterprise Editor for UCLA's campus publication The Daily Bruin, exposed illegal actions within the university's prestigious orthodontics program in the article, "Donations Influence Admissions".


Faturechi revealed in the article that special admission consideration had been given to top program financial donors and their relatives, actions that violated policies of the university.

I had the opportunity to meet with Faturechi when I attended an event in D.C. this summer. He said that this story required weeks of research and extensive source contact, but that he always felt it was the duty of the Bruin to report this. It was inspiring to hear that even as a student, he already felt that he was obligated to tell this story.

The Central Florida Future has also published some great investigative journalism pieces.

One example is former Future News Editor Matt Morrison's story, "13 financial problems identified in '08 audit - News".

I thought Morrison did a great job of finding strong sources and explaining the findings simply. I'm sure the use of freedom of information was key in the success in this story also.

Just like the UCLA students needed know what was going on in the orthodontics admissions program, UCF students needed to know where their tuition money was going and how university officials mismanaged hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It's encouraging to read the work of my peers. No matter how the industry has and will continue to change, fundamentally, the truth still matters. Examples of this type of watchdog work from students is just proof that young people understand that journalism is a necessary and essential part of our society. The future of journalism is in good hands.

Just for Fun: Political Cartoons

Post Combines Politics and Multimedia

For many Americans, a presidential candidate's background is just as important as their platforms and policies. The Washington Post created a really cool interactive timeline of John McCain's and Barak Obama's life time lines.

Check it out at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/timeline/

I think the keys to a great multimedia package are two-fold: aesthetic appeal and substance.

The Post's timeline has both. Users focus first at how the package looks including colors, pop-ups, creativity and the ability to adjust the controls of the tool. Then users focus on substance. Voters are interested in where candidates come from, including their families, faith, passions and experiences. The media has an obligation to outline these areas for the public.

Users can scroll through the timeline and click on the years and captions in each candidate's life that they want to learn more about in small pop-ups. The timeline includes everything from the year Obama's parents separated to the year McCain divorced his first wife. Voters want to feel as though they know the person they're supporting- every minuet detail. A timeline is a great way to briefly showcase these points in an organized and interactive way.

Google maps has even caught the politics bug. Visitors can track Obama's and McCain's travels, from birth to every place they've lived, all acrross the world.

Check out both candidates' life journies by www.mibazaar.com:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Is the mainstream media anti-Palin?

After weeks of being sequestered from reporters, Republican VP nominee Gov. Sarah Palin was unleashed to ABC's Charlie Gibson and most recently CBS's Katie Couric. Both asked about U.S. relations with Russia, Iran and Israel, abortion and the Bush Administration's handling of the war in Iraq. Neither Gibson nor Couric let up.



Some political strategists argue that the McCain camp's strategy of keeping Palin away from reporters for so long suggested that they don't have much confidence in her abilities, thus affecting her performance during the Couric interview in particular. Others suggest that the media has and will continue to scrutinize and over analyze everything Sarah Palin says.

Is the media against Palin or just irritated because their requests for interviews have mostly been turned down? CNN's Campbell Brown recently lashed out at the McCain camp urging them to 'set Palin free', stop the 'sexism' in their campaign, and let her answer unscripted questions from reporters.



I don't think the McCain campaign's strict limits on interviews had much to do with her gender than I do on her knowledge on economic and foreign policy issues.

Still, I think that keeping Palin locked away for so long was a mistake on the part of the McCain campaign. Regular interviews with selected reporters and media outlets would have allowed Palin to become more and more comfortable unscripted. Moreover, Palin's first interviews probably should not have been with the sharpest and most recognizable people in the news industry. I guess the McCain camp figured that veteran journalists like Couric and Gibson wouldn't be as...aggressive and biased as other mainstream journalists. In any case, Palin's interview with Couric has received harsh criticism from both Democratic and Republican strategist and maybe more disturbing, from journalists.



Ok, the interviews were not by many accounts...stellar. Obviously foreign policy isn't Palin's strongest area and it's also clear that she isn't completely informed on all issues facing this country. Palin was probably just as surprised when McCain asked her to be his running mate as many Americans were. However, as journalists, we should allow Americans to decide how well or poorly she did.

At the same time, she is running for the Vice Presidency of the United States, and journalists do have an obligation to ask the tough questions and get answers for the American public.

I just hope that the media remembers to ask Palin questions not to quiz or test her, but to better understand her principles and stances on key issues.

Fox: Unfair and Unbalanced

Seeking Truth and reporting it is at the core of the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. Along the way, the news industry has sometimes lost sight of this charge. Most recently Fox News has lead the pack for "unbalanced" and "unfair" news.

During this current presidential campaign, Fox News has worked overtime to portray Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barak Obama as a mysterious, strange outsider too young and incompetent to be Commander in Chief and determined to impart his "Muslim" views on the American people.



The network has a history of racism and catering to conservative Americans. According to The Hill newspaper, a Washington D.C. newspaper which focuses on political and Capital Hill news, 88 percent of Fox viewers voted Republican in 2004 (http://thehill.com/mark-mellman/hounding-fox-news-coverage-2007-03-20.html.)

Now this is not to say that all Fox News reporters, commentators, corespondents, analysts or viewers are racist. Many may find the network more informative or even entertaining, but the interviewing styles, selection of guests and analysts show something different. Fox News is more committed to satisfying its mostly conservative audience than reporting both sides of an argument equally. This is especially evident with the current elections.

I have been glued to new stations for the past five to six months in particular because of the elections. Although CNN is my main source, I watch Fox just to compare reporting styles and techniques. For me, it clear but again it's all personal preference.

The network has even gone so far as to attack Michelle Obama, even though Sen. Obama has firmly held that the spouses, children and families of presidential candidates are off limits according to The Huffington Post ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/18/barack-obama-lay-off-my-f_n_107912.html).




American news in general has become more about sales and viewership than real journalism. Report the facts and let the readers and viewers decide. Reporting the facts for broadcast in particular means asking the tough questions, inviting guests with contrasting view points, giving those guests a chance to speak (Mr. O'Reily) and always remaining as a mediator and journalist, neutral no matter what.

Slumping Newspaper Sales Hit Home

The partnership between the University of Central Florida's student readership program and the Orlando newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel has come to end...for now.

Our university's Student Government Association refused to continue business after the Sentinel increased the prices of the paper by 23 cents. SGA president Logan Berkowits said that he "wouldn't allow students to be forced to pay extra."

This is a good example of the types of things newspapers across the nation are dealing with. In a world of buyouts, job cuts and shut-downs, it's uncertain what the history of newspapers will be. Advertising sales are just not where they used to be, forcing newspapers to make tough decisions about circulation, which in turn affects overall readership of newspapers.

So it's understandable why the Sentinel would look to generate a little more revenue from the SGA partnership, but on the other hand students lose. We lose if we increase the prices of the Sentinel on campus, and we lose if don't have the papers on campus. Journalism, business and political science students use the Sentinel for class assignments.

Although newspapers may not completely go away, the industry has and will continue to change drastically. The Internet has played a key role in these changes, serving as a faster and possibly more comprehensive alternative to gather information.

Although the Sentinel, like other newspapers, is going through changes, it shouldn't neglect the students that so actively support it. Advanced reporting student at UCF write articles and contribute to newspaper through U-News, a section of the Sentinel written and edited by students. The relationship with UCF and the Sentinel is ongoing through jobs and internships.

Students can easily pay the 75 cents for the Sentinel on regular newsstands, but going through the 'extra trouble' may discourage some students to simply not bother if they don't have to.

Either way, both the Sentinel and SGA say they hope to come to an agreement. Sentinel spokesperson Lisa Jacobsen said: "They've been in discussion for some time now, and we definitely hope to bring it back if we can come to an agreement on the price."