Citizen Journalism Academy Has Bloggers and Journalists Talking Shop

Ah , Yes , the main stream press, always looking for that angle at attacking bloggers or picking those who violate their censored way of doing business.

For many bloggers, such as myself,blogging is still a way to bypass the main stream media so as to effect social change. Newspapers despise the new media simply because they can not control what is written, and are no longer in control of how it is written and their efforts at buying themselves into access and advertising is dwindling , simply because the people have now proven that the main stream press , for all it is worth, is very biased. Bloggers have proven this over and over again. Bloggers now have the same protections as the main stream press. Shield laws, protection from libel, as long as it is the truth that has been disseminated. We are not accountable for the words of those who comment on our blogs , only those things we say.

One rule of thumb I use before I post anything, is if I can defend it in a court of law. Many times I have posted about sex offenders out of control in skid row , a community advocate who was selling pornography in front of a school for homeless children, how the not for profits do not protect us from the heat by not providing insulation between the brick walls in our apartments, how the million dollar heating system in the building I live in does not function properly, etc. AS long as it can be proven truth in a court of law; I can write about it.

In the case of sex offenders, after the posts on the one in my building , the LAPD began to do their registrations check the way they should have. When that sex offender was appointed to the board of the neighborhood council he then became fair game. AS a an appointed official under the city charter , he was a city official. Then once he was off the board of the neighborhood council I waited for him to take me to court. Most of those who I have written about will not take me to court as long as I have those others willing to testify. They will say things like it is a waste of time to sue a poor person , or even one person who could have his court costs waved , also did not take me to court. Why? because, in a court of law the truth is our defense against accusations of libel. And this person would be exposed in a court of law as well as probably being arrested since he is still subject to sex offender registration. So I wait for the court cases that never come, only because in the cases I speak of, they are backed by the truth, and many who have been violated by those who I have written about willing to testify.

The other reason the main stream media despises us is because we have the ability to remove the offending articles right away or edit them quickly. Newspaper print media can not do that , they would have to write a retraction the next day , but the damage is already done.

I wish I could have gone to learn more , but there are court cases all over the internet you can read about. The war over credibility continues. As long as I am not getting paid by certain entities I can have a biased or unbiased opinion on my blog.

One person constantly brags to me about writing for blogdowntown. Because of the nature of my part of the community I can not nor ever will want to write for blogdowntown, it would destroy my credibility on the issues I speak about. My readership may not be as big as blogdowntown's, but when I go to my sitemeters, I see that those whom need to read my posts and hear from someone who actually lives in skid row are reading. I have the isp's memorized by heart. City , county, state , federal , even the pentagon reads my blog ever since I began writing about PTSD and also the NEW GI BILL for post 9/11 veterans.

There are plenty of resources out there to learn about the laws when it comes to journalism,, and bloggers will continue to be attacked. I mean, look at Rodericks blog , as far as I am concerned there is no opinion there, no calls for social change , I don't read that blog, simply because he attacked many bloggers across the city when he first started ,. but simply because it is just a regurgitation of news from different sources.

The name of the game for getting readers is to refer other links , so newspapers who have online papers love people like Roderick.

When those readers whom I target, approach me and tell me that my blog is a great resource for the issues I write about: this is all I need to keep me going.

I had been really thinking about Eric's blog lately and how he has chosen what battles he will fight and compared them to mine. Mine are very controversial; his fights are controversial but to a lesser extent do not upset or offend the efforts at revitalization of downtown. The recent articles on Pershing square, the dodger shuttle, etc. But Eric still does not stop using his blog as a community building tool in certain instances. Dialog is important in community building efforts. I get a disability pension as a result of My service in the military , thus I can tackle whatever issue I need to. Others can not do so for fear of losing their jobs, or their so called credibility if the stance is unpopular. I base my success on if there are any changes that I have made for my community , not on how often the main stream press quotes me or uses me as a source, if that happens, my credibility starts to wane.

AS a member of the skid row community I have had to tackle dialog that was not popular. I have had to expose even the non profit housing providers , using their own words from periodicals and university studies to unmask their attempts at keeping skid row streets filthy and law and order out of this community. Once the strategy was exposed as truth and not hearsay conspiracy nut case theory , things began to change ; the efforts of the business community began to focus on how to help that one developer to acquire housing monie after understanding the whole strategy was to keep property values down by opposing change here in skid row so as to acquire these buildings.

Community building is tough. I have had many successes in my community building through blogging ,and even the yahoogroup on newdowntown. I will continue. We have a long road ahead of us. My successes are awesome, miracles in themselves. I have one more challenge and hopefully I will be through.

I have spent much of my time writing about not just housing the homeless and sick and mentally ill , but also about making sure they stay housed, by providing the services onsite to do so.. The below quote from the LA Downtown News proves,, once again, that the powers that be are reading my blog, ( The isps that I see and the domains of those networks also prove they are reading) specifically the money for the nurse that Skid Row Housing Trust will be getting is what I write about.

The grants, announced June 19, are intended to help get homeless people off the streets permanently, Lara said. "These are the organizations who are already doing good work," she said. "What our funding is really helping people do is to do it even better so clients can stay housed." Lamp Community, which was awarded $49,500, plans to add a life coach to its staff; A Community of Friends, which received $45,500, plans to bring on a substance abuse specialist; and Skid Row Housing Trust, which was awarded $50,000, will hire a licensed nurse, Lara said.