The mission of The American Independent News Network is to investigate and disseminate news that impacts public debate and advances the common good. We call this is “impact journalism.”™ This is a qualitative measure, which defines impact stories through the following lens:

• It’s about a public policy or proposal, or a person seeking or holding a position of public trust;
• If it’s about a policy or a bill or a certain practice, the story brings to light how the practice fails to meet, or patently contravenes, the common good;
• If it’s about a person, the story identifies actions that either raise serious questions about their fitness or ability to hold a public trust or demonstrates that they have already breached the public trust they hold;
• It may also be about an organization or person attempting to influence public opinion through covert means, as investigated and revealed by AINN;
• It creates consequences: If it’s a person, he or she has to publicly respond/defend/change position; if it’s a proposal or a practice, efforts have to be made to address the issue raised in your reporting.

Quarterly Reports

Each quarter, AINN compiles a report detailing the impacts achieved across the network.

AINN Quarter 1, 2010 Impact Report –

Charting Impact Goals

AINN sets network-wide goals for impact each quarter.  The following charts illustrates the number of impacts achieved since Quarter 1, 2009:

Most Recent Biweekly Report

Twice each month, David S. Bennahum, President and CEO of AINN, sends an email to supporters sharing the highlights across the network in the previous two weeks.

The following is the most recent email sent:

July 15, 2010

From: David S. Bennahum

Re: Washington Independent unemployment reporting cited on the House floor,  Iowa Independent’s impact for sick nuclear workers, and much more

Halfway through the month of July, AINN is seeing demonstrable impact from our reporting. As part of our commitment to impact journalism, we consider it our mission to make sure our reporting creates consequences. Below you will find two recent examples of how our growing network of sites is doing so:

• On June 10, The Washington Independent’s Annie Lowrey reported on the plight of “99ers” — unemployed Americans who have exhausted their 99 weeks of benefits. Six days later, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), the head of the subpanel on income security and family support for the House Ways and Means Committee, cited Lowrey’s reporting on the House floor as evidence of the crisis that was going unresolved and pressed his colleagues to act.
• After months of reports by the Iowa Independent’s Laura Millsaps about the problems surrounding a federal program designed to compensate former nuclear workers who are sick due to exposure to toxins and radiation, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin formally intervened on behalf of one of those workers, asking the Department of Labor to reopen his case. Harkin also pointed out the many ways in which this particular case illustrates the shortcomings of the overall program.

More coverage from our sites, below.

As always, feel free to call me if you have any questions.

Best regards,

David

AINN HIGHLIGHTS

June 28 – July 11, 2010

Washington

IMPACT: On June 10, Annie Lowrey reported on the plight of “99ers” — unemployed Americans who have exhausted their 99 weeks of benefits. Six days later, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), the head of the subpanel on income security and family support for the House Ways and Means Committee, cited Lowrey’s reporting on the House floor as evidence of the crisis that was going unresolved and pressed his colleagues to act:

“I recently read an article by a reporter named Annie Lowrey that highlighted one of these long-term unemployed Americans. Her name is Cindy Paoletti. For 23 years, she worked in the corporate accounting division of J.P. Morgan Chase in upstate New York. In December 2007, Paoletti was let go in a wave of layoffs that eventually shuttered the entire Syracuse operations center. Her job went to India. Soon after, she started collecting unemployment benefits and severance while searching for a job. … Now that she’s about to run out of benefits, she has started taking money out of her IRA. She doesn’t have health insurance and faces the daily fear of losing her home. I have heard similar stories from all around the country. [...] At the end of the article I mentioned, earlier Cindy Paoletti said, ‘Out of all the people I know that got laid off the same time as me, I think only three have found jobs. The rest [...] all have exhausted unemployment or they’re getting close to the end of it. Someone’s got to do something.’

“The Congress is faced with this. The Senate is dawdling. It is time, Mr. Speaker, that they act and move onto the next level while we deal with long-term unemployment in this country. We cannot close our eyes and believe it’s going to go away. It is not going to go away. We have to help the process.”

Lowrey is in touch with McDermott’s office to interview the Congressman about his efforts to draft legislative relief for 99ers, as described in her reporting.

The June jobs report showed that the unemployment rate dropped slightly, from 9.7 to 9.5 percent. But Annie Lowrey reported on the real reason for this drop: 652,000 Americans who are unable to find work, have given up looking, and so they’re no longer counted as part of the country’s labor force. Lowrey looks at the case of one such discouraged worker, Michele Walker of Pennsylvania, to exemplify the struggle of these out-of-work Americans who are no longer counted as unemployed.

With the Senate having once again failed to pass an extension of unemployment benefits, Lowrey also chronicled the nine-month battle over the extension, breaking the fight up into four rounds. In each, Democrats struggled to muster 60 votes as Republicans cited deficit fears to oppose the popular legislation. Following the publication of the piece, MSNBC invited Lowrey onto The Ed Show to discuss her reporting on the tortuous — and ultimately fruitless — effort to extend benefits to the unemployed.

Berlin-based contributor David Dagan reported on Europe’s rejection of President Obama’s call for economic stimulus at the recent G-20 Summit. Obama, struggling at home to persuade Congress to inject more capital into the economy, hit a similar wall among European leaders in Toronto — and the consequences for the U.S. economy could be dire. In order to fully recover, the United States needs to boost its exports, Dagan reported, but without measures to boost demand in Europe, a double-dip recession is still possible.

Florida

The Florida Independent’s (TFI) Tristram Korten conducted an investigation into the independent gubernatorial campaign of Bud Chiles, revealing Chiles’ worsening financial situation as well as lawsuits in which he is currently embroiled. The piece was widely read, and was included in a roundup of campaign info compiled by a lobbyist resource website. Pulling back for a more strategic look at the Chiles’ campaign, Korten posted a second piece about how Chiles’ decision to run as an independent forced longtime family and friends to choose between supporting him or the party his father — a legendary Democratic politician — helped build.

Travis Pillow used the opportunity of a Clean Energy Summit being held in Orlando last week to detail the political obstacles facing proponents of renewable energy in Florida. Pillow first live-blogged the summit itself, offering a series of short, sharp observations before stepping back to analyze lawmakers’ unwillingness to take bold steps to make Florida a leader in renewable technology. Pillow found that many legislators are “torn between politically powerful utilities and their frustrated customers.”

Pillow also reported on a state Clean Energy Congress that met last week and voiced support for a special legislative session to place a permanent ban on offshore drilling on Florida ballots this November. Pillow documented why those calls are falling on deaf ears: House leadership doesn’t see it as a priority and has the ability to kill the idea, no matter how many people support it.

TFI contributor Dan Sweeney investigated one of the major organizations fighting to defeat Amendment 4, a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution which would give citizens an up-or-down vote on changes to their local government’s comprehensive land use plan after those changes have been reviewed by the city or county commission. Sweeney found that the staff and funding behind Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy, the main group opposing the amendment, is so deeply tied to developers and the Republican Party that it simply cannot be extricated from those interests. The piece was widely circulated by those supporting the amendment statewide.

Michigan

Eartha Melzer reported on new Department of Justice (DOJ) guidelines on state compliance with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The DOJ is requiring all states to offer voter registration at every agency that gives public aid to residents. The state of Michigan, after losing two federal lawsuits in the last few years over illegal voter purges, is not in compliance with those requirements, Melzer discovered, likely limiting voter registration among the poorest and most vulnerable citizens.

Melzer also reported on Ruth Johnson, a Republican candidate for Secretary of State who has been stirring fears of non-citizens voting in Michigan elections. State and local elections officials told Melzer that there is no problem with foreign citizens voting in the state. Political observers said Johnson’s fear-mongering seems to be part of a larger pattern of Republican candidates in the state taking advantage of the current anti-immigrant fervor being stoked in order to win support within the party.

Todd Heywood reported on a ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court the day before it overturned a state rule that forbid insurance companies from using credit scores to determine the cost of auto insurance. State insurance regulators and activists reacted very strongly to the ruling, pointing out that insurance companies could actually charge more to someone with a perfect driving record and bad credit than to someone with a drunk driving conviction but perfect credit. Legislation has been introduced that would change this practice, but Republicans have prevented it from coming to a vote, Heywood reported.

Heywood also reported that Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a leading candidate to be Michigan’s next governor, acknowledged he’s a member of the Family (aka the Fellowship), a secretive Christian group with ties to governments all over the globe — including some of the world’s most brutal dictators. Hoekstra admitted in an interview with Heywood that he dined at the infamous C Street House’s weekly members meeting and that he has traveled abroad at Family expense. In late 2003, Hoekstra took a nearly $8,000 trip to Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories funded by the Family’s International Foundation. “The work these guys do on these trips is foreign policy. It’s dangerous stuff,” Jeff Sharlett, an expert on The Family, told Heywood.

Minnesota

No candidate in Minnesota history has filed more ethics or campaign finance complaints against opponents than GOP-endorsed gubernatorial hopeful Tom Emmer, Andy Birkey reported. And of Emmer’s dozen complaints — on a range of topics, from challenges about facts in candidate ads to a false conflict-of-interest claim against a political adversary — none have resulted in punitive action. While Emmer’s opponents say he uses the complaints process for political ends, political scientist David Schultz said such practices can only be effective, if used sparingly.

Birkey also followed a big misstep by Emmer: At a campaign event at a restaurant, the Republican called for a cut to the minimum wage for bartenders and waiters, claiming that it’s difficult for business owners when service workers are “earning over $100,000 a year.” He later backpedaled, stating that “tip credits” — a lowering of the minimum wage for tip-earners — aren’t the same as “cutting wages” but instead will help servers and bartenders. Meanwhile, as many in the community expressed surprise at the claim that restaurant workers are raking in six figures, the owner of the restaurant cited by Emmer said, “No way, shape or form did I [tell Emmer] anyone made $100,000.”

Birkey was the only reporter in the state to link the National Organization for Marriage’s anti-gay marriage rally to a St. Cloud church that has placed ads defaming LGBT and Muslim communities in the local newspaper. The church is one stop on NOM’s 20-site tour, which aims to battle the “gay agenda.” The event’s strategist has claimed that gays seek “prostitution, pedophilia, and polygamy.” Hosting the local event is Dennis Campbell, pastor at Granite City Baptist Church. He stirred controversy early this year with an ad that said Muslims want to “destroy the constitution and force the Moslem [sic] religion on the society.” The ad, which prompted a response ad by a local Muslim group, also claimed that, “Moslems seek to influence a nation by immigration, reproduction, education, the government, illegal drugs and by supporting the gay agenda.”

After Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin said that he hoped the Senate could pass a bill extending unemployment benefits “before we go home for the 4th of July,” words that gave hope to millions who face losing assistance during prolonged joblessness, Editor Paul Schmelzer reported that such a vote was not in the offing. According to staffers at the offices of Harkin and Sen. Al Franken, the vote will have to wait until late July. What Harkin meant, a staffer explains, is that “the Senate needs to act on this extension as soon as possible.”

Iowa

IMPACT: After months of reports by the Iowa Independent’s Laura Millsaps about the problems surrounding a federal program designed to compensate former nuclear workers who are sick due to exposure to toxins and radiation, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin formally intervened on behalf of one of those workers, asking the Department of Labor to reopen his case. Harkin also pointed out the many ways in which this particular case illustrates the shortcomings of the overall program.

When GOP gubernatorial nominee Terry Branstad tapped Kim Reynolds to be his running mate, he chose to send her to the counties where his chief rival — social conservative Bob Vander Plaats — had won on primary day. But in an interview with the Iowa Independent’s Douglas Burns, Reynold said she was open to the idea of civil unions if legalized same-sex marriage is overturned. The outcry from evangelical and social conservatives was immediate. They contended it was proof that Branstad did not understand them and that the ticket was not interested in their agenda. By week’s end, some felt Reynolds’ comments could provide Vander Plaats more incentive to re-enter the campaign as an independent.

U.S. Rep. Steve King used testimony by a former DOJ employee about a case of voter intimidation in Philadelphia as proof that his claims that President Barack Obama is a racist are true. King drew fire last month over his statements on a national radio program that Obama has “demonstrated that he has a default mechanism in him that breaks down the side of race — on the side that favors the black person.” Now he says the fact that the DOJ won’t press forward with criminal charges against the New Black Panther Party is proof the administration is “more interested in playing racial politics than in ensuring Americans receive equal protection of the law.”

A resident of Cedar Rapids and a former county Republican leader announced she plans to file a lawsuit against the city for misspent flood recovery money, Lynda Waddington reported. Kathy Potts, a former chairwoman of the Republican Party of Linn County who has made unsuccessful bids for the state House and Cedar Rapids City Council, said city officials are reneging on promises made to flood victims and voters to use a local option sales tax to either buy out or restore flooded homes.

Colorado

The Colorado Indepenent’s (TCI) Joe Boven carried last week with coverage of the gubernatorial campaign that prompted a pointed exchange between the two competing camps. Covering a small tea party event in Estes Park, Boven reported that Republican candidate Scott McInnis told the crowd that Democrat John Hickenlooper has flip-flopped on the state’s contentious oil and gas regulations, suggesting that the Denver mayor now thinks “we shouldn’t do anything with those rules.” After Boven’s story posted, Hickenlooper’s camp quickly responded with a release setting the record straight that the mayor hasn’t changed his stance. The exchange prompted the Denver Post to cite TCI’s previous reporting (by name), which already had Hickenlooper on the record on this issue back in May.

Meanwhile, Boven caught Senate candidate Ken Buck in an apparent flip-flop of his own. Former Congressman Tom Tancredo recently remarked at a Buck event that President Obama represented “the biggest threat to the United States.” At the time, Buck distanced himself from the remarks and from Tancredo. But two days later at the Conservative Western Summit in Denver, Tancredo reiterated his sentiments, and this time Buck agreed, saying, “There is a lot of truth in what Tom Tancredo says.” After Boven’s story posted, the Buck campaign denied that this constituted a flip-flop, while the state Democratic Party issued a press release condemning Buck’s camp.

David O. Williams reported that money is pouring into the Garfield County commissioner race from outside the area, as Republicans see the seat as key in determining future energy policy in the resource-rich area. The GOP has even commissioned a telephone push poll on the race, reported Williams, who also got one GOP pollster to acknowledge what’s at stake — a controlling hand in the state’s oil and gas policies. Little has changed since 2008, the pollster added. “Because it is Garfield, a lot of the folks who had an interest two years ago obviously still again have an interest,” he said.

Reporting on BP’s Colorado drilling activities, Williams was the first reporter to get comment from the company’s public affairs department on campaign contributions in 2008 — including some that appear to violate the company’s own corporate policy — and a massive federal fine for under-reporting natural gas production in Southwest Colorado. A BP spokesperson defended the company’s policy on both fronts, dismissing the $5.2 million fine as the result of “accounting errors.”

New Mexico

The state Public Regulation Commission (PRC) Tuesday voted unanimously to fine the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) $371,000 for a 2008 incident in which the company failed for two months in 2008 to repair a potentially explosive gas leak in Albuquerque, or even to warn the public of the resulting hazard at the busy intersection of Montgomery Blvd. and Carlisle Blvd. It is the highest fine ever levied by state regulators. The Independent was the first to report on the leak and the cover-up.

Laura Paskus reported that a year and a half after the first of eleven bodies was found on Albuquerque’s West Mesa, there is no sign of progress on a promised memorial to the victims. City Councilor Ken Sanchez says he thought a park, built on land donated by KB Home, would raise awareness of the crime. But he told Paskus he’s still waiting for blueprints for the park that he thought KB would have delivered months ago.

Susana Martinez, Republican gubernatorial candidate and Doña Ana County District Attorney, reprimanded a prosecutor in her office for sending an anti-immigrant joke from a state e-mail account, NMI’s Bryant Furlow reported. The June 9 e-mail, obtained by the Independent, included a joke about a “New Mexican girl” shooting a Mexican and an Arab with a .45 after saying, “In New Mexico, we have so many illegal aliens that we don’t have to drink with the same ones twice.” Immigration has been a major issue in the 2010 election season and Martinez’ opponent, Diane Denish, has said she would have fired the prosecutor.

Furlow also reported that a nuclear waste watchdog group says the state hasn’t done enough to make sure radioactive and toxic waste isn’t leaking from Sandia National Laborotories’ mixed waste landfill. Rebuffed by regional EPA officials, Citizen Action New Mexico now wants agency brass in Washington, D.C. and New Mexico Attorney General Gary King’s office to review the state Environment Department’s regulation of the site.

Good News:

New Chief Justice establishes panel to study wrongful Florida convictions

Florida’s new Chief Justice Charles Canady wasted no time moving forward with establishing a panel to study wrongful convictions in the state, signing an administrative order only one day after beginning his two-year term overseeing the high court.

Labor Unites Behind Immigration Reform

After supporting restrictionist immigration measures for most of their history, labor unions are now pushing for an easier path to citizenship.

Archive of Weekly Emails

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