Tom Stites

Democracy nut. Journalism nut. Founder and president of Banyan Project ( Editor for International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

@EdSunspot The cover story is a interview/profile by the late polymath Sy Johnson, photographer, writer and Charles Mingus’s longtime arranger. The entire magazine is available on screens at many academic libraries.

[Robert Beatty @EdSunspot]

Carla Bley on the cover of Jazz Magazine, Spring 1978. Incredible cover design by Bob Delboy

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

My new speech reframes the future of journalism and democracy: What matters is informed and engaged civic life. If sustainable forms of pre-web business models can manage, great. But new models will likely be needed, and it's time to get going: https://t.co/ouVAXukGa1

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

I relish this compliment from protoblogger and polymath @Doctorow, and now he has added nice words about my new speech, whose point is that civic health is the goal, not saving old news business models:
https://t.co/ouVAXukGa1

[Cory Doctorow NO LONGER ON TWIT TER @doctorow]

There's no question that things are messed up right now, but Astra and people like her shine out like beacons of hope. 17 years ago, self-described "democracy nut" @TomStites gave one of the seminal lectures on the role news media play in democracy:

https://t.co/pyUcoqnJbc

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[Tom Stites @tomstites]

Yuck, still. Wishing you a quick recovery from here.

[Wynton Marsalis @wyntonmarsalis]

Last night I joined @RealTimers with @BillMaher to discuss the intersection of #jazz and #politics. Check out an excerpt from the episode

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

What humans need from a news story for the facts to get through: hope, agency and dignity. Thanks to Amanda Ripley for this fine essay showing how this is possible. Read it and smile. If you're a journalist, pay attention! https://t.co/K0T75Oinne

[Banyan Project @BanyanProject]

This is a triumph for bottom-up community journalism, the foundation for models that can serve and engage communities where current models fail. Congratulations, City Bureau! Onward!

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

@cgoodwoman Exactly the pattern in Ferguson, Mo.

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

Hear, hear!

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

Fight for cleaner air and protect vulnerable communities from harmful pollutants! Please join me in signing @CRAdvocacy petition and tell the EPA to support #CleanerTrucks this #EarthDay
https://t.co/de0r8zNUpy

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

Tell the FCC you want clear and transparent internet pricing! #FightforFairInternet

https://t.co/Eizj1tKncM

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

@DMoKreis @nhpr I'd sure alert NHPR that they've hired a firm that uses tactics that repels potential donors. They may have done this unwittingly, which is scary, or think it's a good idea, which is self-destructive.

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

This is great news about crucial research, thanks to Medill.

[Medill Local News Initiative @LocalNewsIni]

Medill Visiting Prof. Penny Abernathy is working with the school and the Medill Local News Initiative on an update of her pioneering local news deserts research that was cited in last night's 60 Minutes segment. We expect to publish that data this spring.
https://t.co/qpMyCmYU7C

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

@dankennedy_nu I read it all the way to the end, learning from every paragraph. This offers crucial knowledge of the dangerous tangle the world is in.

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

@LocalNewsIni @TimAFranklin The reason for news deserts is a classic market failure. There are three classic responses to market failures: government, cooperatives or nonprofits step in. Nonprofits have entered the fray, but where is the support for news co-ops?

[Steve Paul @sbpaul]

Same could be said about the art of editing, or not, newspapers. @KCStar

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

Hear! Hear!

[tssneegrlnaooi @generationloss]

The reason we started doing municipal treatment of water was to stop the spread of cholera. We now think of access to clean water as a human right. If covid is going to be endemic, shouldn’t we view clean air as a human right as well, and require homes & businesses to provide it?

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

@generationloss Hear, hear!

[Tom Stites @tomstites]

@mysterycuts @KohlSlaugh Next year will be half a century since he died. Perhaps just the right band could be assembled to play a tribute at the grave.