Executive Director, @BhamWatch. BX native. Always @JSKStanford + #wjchat. Ran @bhamterminal. Fmr @tinynewsco chair. Love ⚾ 👨🌾 ️🌳 🏙️
Birmingham, AL
Joined June 2007
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Considering how much this platform helped me connect with folks, I'm not here much anymore. Look for my username on other platforms, and you'll probably find me.
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About two weeks ago, I checked the
@bhamwatch P.O. box before a board meeting to find the largest single unsolicited donation in the organization's history ($25,000!!!). It's unrestricted and it arrived at a pivotal moment as we consider the organization's future.
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Yesterday marked a decade since @BhamWatch launched here in #bham. I took a moment to talk about its past and what its future could hold. Check it out! birminghamwatch.org/2025/09/…
A quick visit to share the link to @BhamWatch's ElectionWatch 2025 voter guide for today's election in #birminghamalabama - check it out and share it with anyone you think would find it helpful. birminghamwatch.org/election…
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It's not lost on me how many of my "past lives" have converged as part of today's #PressForward announcement. I'm so happy to be connected to so many @tinynewsco members, @LIONPubs, @PHLJournoCollab + @JSKstanford folks because of it!
🎉Congrats to our six @tinynewsco members who received grants from #PressForward: @TheACFocus, @AustinVida, @BlackBeltNN, @Ethiopique202, @Future_Tides, @MnTheoptimist! It's a big confirmation of the importance of diverse news startups.
tinynewsco.org/six-tnc-membe…
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It's big day for @BhamWatch - we're thrilled to receive funding from #PressForward. We're one of 205 newsrooms nationwide (and 3 in Alabama) doing so. birminghamwatch.org/birmingh…
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I've shared some additional thoughts in this open letter I posted to the website a short time ago: birminghamwatch.org/natta-pr…
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My ability to quickly shift focus between two things is being tested right now - a grant deadline AND Sammy's first tooth decides today's the day it wants to start coming in. Heh...
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I've long heard football described as a religion in the South. (If we're honest, several sports can likely be included in that statement.) I'll go one more step and say, as a result, religion is politics and politics is a sport. 1/x
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Two things are constantly on my mind as folks talk about what happens next with the Birmingham-Southern College campus on Birmingham's west side.
First, al.com/educationlab/2023/09/…
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The second is contained in the second half of this piece by the good folks at @ALDailyNews from early May - aldailynews.com/alabama-am-p…
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I should really learn to respect the list of potential answers to "What's not on the 2024 bingo card?" since curveballs will always be possible—today's addition to the list: a cottontail setting up shop in the backyard.
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😲
We have a potential journalism scandal in the making here in Georgia. Last year, UGA established a free First Amendment Clinic for publishers navigating open records and open meetings disputes. They've been a godsend to small publishers like Decaturish.
Earlier this year, they filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Atlanta Community Press Collective @atlanta_press and Lucy Parsons Labs for records related to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, aka Cop City.
Today, we followed up with the First Amendment Clinic on an unrelated records dispute pertaining to the city of Decatur. We were told the FAC's WHOLE OPEN RECORDS DIVISION HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN. We contacted the Press Collective for a comment and they said the clinic had dropped them and the case was transferred to another lawyer handling it pro bono. The Press Collective was told that the dean of the law school was getting pressure over the Cop City suit and shut the clinic's open records division down in response.
We've placed a call/email to the dean asking for more info. For other interested journos, here's his contact info: law.uga.edu/profile/peter-b-…
Stay tuned ....
decaturish.com/2024/02/unive…
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There's a fine line between holding on to something for historical reasons and doing so for nostalgia. We're in a period where we need to be real with ourselves as to which one applies and what it means about what we really want.
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Thanks for the shoutout! I'm excited about the opportunity and looking forward to seeing what's next for AIIJ + @BhamWatch!
👏 Congrats to JSK alum André Natta on becoming the new executive director at The Alabama Initiative for Independent Journalism! birminghamwatch.org/aiij-ann…
If there's anything I've been reminded of this last month, it's how deafening silence is and how meaningful actions and follow-through are. I'm so grateful for that follow-through...
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I thought I was "being all smart" by planning to use my sunglasses post-eye exam today. Then, I realized they're polarized enough that I can't see or do anything on the screens for at least a couple more hours. Argh...
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Check out the 🧵 and then think about who you know that might benefit from the overview/review. Thanks in advance for sharing, regardless of where you end up doing so!
There's still time to register for tomorrow's DocumentCloud 101 session. It starts at 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific - bit.ly/DocCloud101Sept2023
You may ask, "Why might I want to sign up for an overview session?" Glad you asked:
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It was great to see folks at #ONA23, albeit briefly. Hoping to see many of you in a couple of weeks for the next @documentcloud 101 onboarding session bit.ly/DocCloud101Sept2023
There are also a few days left to submit your Gateway Grant proposal. We're accepting them through this coming Thursday, August 31. Reach out if you have any questions or seek feedback + share with anyone you think may be interested! muckrock.com/news/archives/2…
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As promised, I'm in the lobby at #ONA23 with a @documentcloud 👕
Chime and find me!
ALT Black T-shirt with "got docs" with across the front in white and the DocumentCloud logo on the back
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