You know who you are, but when you write for The Sacramento Press, our readers might not. That’s part of the impetus behind today’s site update concerning disclosures. We have added a new section to our “write article” page that pokes and prods everyone from staff to community contributors to disclose personal and professional affiliations to anything discussed in stories. This update goes hand-in-hand with an update to our terms of use policy, which now requires a disclosure in any circumstance where a contributor has a “personal or professional interest in the subject matter of such article.” The interface is clean and simple and is just a text area that allows you to add a short des

Thanks to those of you who came to our Bias in Journalism workshop earlier this month. If you missed it, you can read the recap here. For July, we are excited to announce a new workshop presenter – Sam Amick. With the Sacramento River Cats season well under way, the Sacramento Capitals tennis team starting in July and the buzz building for the next Sacramento Kings basketball season – there will be plenty of sports stories to be covered on The Sacramento Press and on blogs, etc. Amick will teach a workshop on sports writing at the Sacramento Press office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. July 12. Amick is currently an NBA columnist for Sports Illustrated at SI.com. He received his degree in journali

It is every journalist’s duty to provide the facts as they are, but does bias still manage to exist in journalism? This was the question posed by Clare Noonan, editor of 11 East Bay Patch.com sites and speaker at Tuesday’s workshop at The Sacramento Press. While both Noonan and almost all 14 participants answered yes, Noonan said there were ways to pinpoint personal opinion as a reader and avoid it as a writer. In order to provide objectivity, Noonan said that writers should make sure that facts are accurate and that the reporting is fair. Referencing a University of Michigan website, Noonan listed five areas where bias can occur: word choice, omissions, limiting debate, story framing a

What began with an adult beverage and a frustrated Twitter post quickly led to a series of grassroots efforts to keep the Kings in Sacramento.  Radio personality Carmichael Dave, founder of #HereWeBuild, was relaxing in his backyard when he discovered that the Anaheim City Council had voted to pursue efforts to bring the Sacramento Kings to Anaheim.  “I thought this is frustrating and I’m ticked off and I want to let people know,” Carmichael Dave said. “So I tweeted out, ‘Carmichael Dave votes one-to-nothing to issue $200 into a fund to build a new arena. Whose with me?’” Then the explosion happened which soon resulted in the HereWeBuild, HereWeStay and SacDeflated.com campaigns, and th

Thanks to those of you who attended our review writing panel Thursday with Rachel Leibrock, Carla Meyer and Nick Miller. Read the workshop recap here. We will have another workshop this month titled, "Sac Press Tools and Tricks." Geoff Samek, vice president of product for The Sacramento Press, will highlight some of the newer and lesser-known features of the website. Samek will also give a quick overview of important web technologies that come in handy in the current media world. He will answer any questions you may have about the site and its functionality and features. The workshop will be from 6:30 - 8 p.m. May 26 at our office. Badges will be awarded to participants for attending t

With Concerts in the Park kicking off Friday and the California Music Circus season around the corner, there will be lots of opportunities to review shows, both indoors and outdoors. Looking to share your great or not-so-great experiences with others? The Sacramento Press will hold a panel on review writing at our office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday, May 12. Three panelists will teach you the do’s and don’ts of review writing and share some of their own experiences. This is a great opportunity to ask the pros how they review concerts, theater, comedy and other performances. The three panelists are Rachel Leibrock, Carla Meyer and Nick Miller. Leibrock writes about arts and culture for t

Tuesday night, former Sacramento City College journalism professor Doug Herndon taught a workshop that outlined the basics of journalism. Attendees included both local, freelance and aspiring writers. “Journalism is the collecting, writing, editing and publishing of news,” Herndon said. Herndon started with an overview of the fundamentals of being a writer: *Providing information *Story Ideas *News value *Every story needs a hook *What it means to cover a story *The formula and format for journalism When providing information within a story, Herndon said it is important that a reporter weed out any natural bias or personal opinion. “It’s not my place to tell you what I think,” Herndo

Thanks to those of you who came to the "Writing about Wine and Spirits" workshop in March. Read the recap here. We have two journalism workshops planned for April. Clare Noonan will teach a workshop on interviewing techniques at The Sacramento Press office from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, April 7. Noonan has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky. She currently edits 11 East Bay Patch.com sites. She worked at The Modesto Bee for more than 20 years as a reporter for business, news, feature and sports while also copy editing. She also worked as assistant news editor and assistant city editor in charge of the Crime and Safety beat during her time at The Bee. She has be

Local writers and budding wine enthusiasts gathered at the Sacramento Press office Thursday evening for a workshop on how to write about wine presented by author and former Sacramento Bee columnist Rick Kushman. “We generally associate wine knowledge with ‘class’ or as a social status of some kind,” said Kushman as he opened the workshop. “Really, people just want to know what wine to choose for dinner.” As more than 20 eager writers listened and took notes, Kushman gave the class his “Three Rules of Wine Tasting:” * Wear dark colors. * If you love it, you’re right; if you hate it, you’re right. * Always bring a swimsuit. “That last one doesn’t have anything to do with wine, but it see

Do you love talking about food? Do you flip to the food section of the newspaper before even reading the front page? Is a trip to the grocery store an excursion? For all you foodies, bloggers and lovers of Sacramento’s restaurants and food: The Sacramento Bee and The Sacramento Press have teamed up to bring you “Table Talk Sacramento: The region’s food community comes together for an evening of lively discussion.” There will be two panels addressing different topics, including “What Sacramentans Eat” and the quality of local food writing. Chris Macias will moderate the food writing panel. Macias has served as the Bee’s food and wine writer since 2008. The panelists include: Niesha Lofin

The Sacramento Press will be hosting a new workshop for the month of March. We are excited to have our first "Writing about Wine and Spirits" workshop, taught by Rick Kushman. The workshop will be at the Sacramento Press office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday, March 24. Kushman will discuss techniques for writing about wine and touch on how to write about spirits and beer. The primary focus of the workshop will be wine. He will also discuss terms and phrases to avoid when writing about wine or food. Kushman is an award-winning journalist and former columnist for The Sacramento Bee, where he spent two decades. For the last five years he wrote about wine, food and life in Northern California.

The next workshop hosted by The Sacramento Press will be on opinion writing. It will be held at our office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Feb. 24. Sacramento Press Editor in Chief David Watts Barton will discuss the importance of backing up your opinion, doing reporting and keeping your column focused. Barton worked at The Sacramento Bee from 1985-2007. He was the pop music critic until 1994 and in addition to writing reviews, he wrote weekly columns called Poplife and The Beat. As editor in chief of The Sacramento Press, Barton writes editorials on a regular basis. Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a governm

The results are in and we’re very excited to announce the winners of The Sacramento Press 2011 Journalism Open. More than 50 community contributors accepted the challenge to commit acts of journalism. In January, 134 entries were submitted, many by writers who are new to The Sacramento Press. Thank you to those of you who participated and those who helped spread the word about the contest. There were three Sacramento Press judges who reviewed the entries and determined the winners: Casey Kirk, Recruitment Manager, Brandon Darnell, Copy Editor and Reporter, and Colleen Belcher, Managing Editor. We were looking for stories with a minimum of two sources, stories that incorporated research

We have two new workshops scheduled for the month of February. The first is scheduled from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Feb. 16 at The Sacramento Press office. JT Long will teach this workshop, titled "Write Smarter." Long is an independent journalist and SEO copywriter for publications such as Engineering News-Record, Comstock's Magazine and PublicCEO. She creates communities by telling stories. Long will discuss how to get the most out of your stories so you can use them in different publications. She will cover how to improve your interviewing skills, so you can gather enough information for multiple stories, how to come up with targeted leads and other tips that will benefit freelancers. Sacrame

The procrastination must come to an end. There are only hours left to enter The Sacramento Press Journalism Open 2011. Entries must be published by 11:59 p.m. You must tag your article open2011. There are hundreds of dollars in prizes waiting to be doled out to the winners. First place prize is $700, second place is $500 and there are cash prizes for photos, too! If you would like to have your article copy edited, it must be sent to journalism@sacramentopress.com by 6 p.m. Any articles sent after 6 p.m. will have to be published without copy editing. One last thing: there are three judges for this year's contest. One of the judges changed from what we announced at the Journalism Open W

The Sacramento Press Journalism Open is well underway and we're very pleased to see new bylines popping up on our site because of the contest.  The contest ends at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 31, so make sure you've posted all of your entries and tagged them open2011 by that deadline.  First place wins $700, second place $500, and there are many other cash prizes, including prizes for best photos. For those of you who have questions about the contest, we will host a workshop Wednesday, Jan. 12 from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at our office. We will be happy to give advice and suggestions on how to develop your story ideas. Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the sa

Many articles posted on our site are a collaborative effort, with one person writing the text and another person taking photos.  This brings up the question of how a photographer can enter his or her photos in The Sacramento Press Journalism Open 2011 if the article has the byline of the writer. To enter your photos from an article with someone else's byline, use this tag: photosyournameopen2011 So if your name is Joe Schmoe, the appropriate tag would be:    photosjoeschmoeopen2011 E-mail support@sacramentopress.com if you have any other questions.

We have a lot to be grateful for at The Sacramento Press. We celebrated our two-year anniversary in October, and we expanded our office over the summer. We are most thankful for our community contributors – you take the cake. Your comments fill in the blanks of questions unanswered. You keep us honest and accurate by pointing out errors. Your thoughts and opinions spark a stream of community dialogue. Your stories and photos document Sacramento’s history in the making. Your firsthand accounts often break stories like the evacuation of the Roseville Galleria Mall or give us an up-close at, say, a fire in Midtown. A lot of what comes in is unexpected: a letter written by Thomas Enterprise

The first Sacramento Press Journalism Open was a success, and we’re ready to do it all over again! We will have some exciting prizes for our top submissions, and your stories could be chosen for our section pages or newsletter for thousands to read and enjoy. Becoming a published writer is easier than you think, and we’re here to walk you through the process and get you committing acts of journalism. I'm David Watts Barton, editor in chief of The Sacramento Press, our area's top hyper-local news website, where we focus on up-close, in-depth coverage of neighborhoods like yours. We aim to spread the traditional habits of good journalism – accuracy, fairness and a diversity of opinion – ac

We're very excited for Max Whittaker's photojournalism talk Tuesday, Nov. 9. The RSVP list is full, and we've set up a waiting list. The last workshop The Sacramento Press will be holding for this year will be Tuesday, Nov. 16, from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Clare Noonan will teach a workshop on research and fact-checking at The Sacramento Press office. The credibility of a writer rests on the research and facts put forth in his or her stories. Journalists are held to the highest accountability when it comes to the accuracy of their information. Fact-checking is a very valuable skill to possess, and Noonan will discuss methods for verifying your research and double-checking the facts in your storie