July 2009 Archives

Covering the Obama Administration

Politifact: Obama Meter
St. Petersburg Times site tracks President Obama's campaign promises. The site is a spinoff of the 2008 Election's Truth-o-Meter.

Whitehouse.gov
The official page.

U.S. Government 2010 Budget
President Obama's proposed fiscal year 2010 budget.

Recovery.gov
Track who gets what in the 2009 economic stimulus package.

Stimulus Watch: Keeping an Eye on Economic Recovery Spending
Find, discuss and rate shovel-ready projects that benefit from recovery spending.

Social Government
This site tracks ways that local, state and federal government use social media.

AskSam.com: Obama Speeches Archive
This site has a deep archive of Barack Obama speeches from 2002 to the present.

2009 Transition and Inauguration

Carroll Publishing Transition Tracker
A great site that tracks changes in appointed and elected government officials.

New York Times: Most-Used Words in Presidential Inaugural Addresses
From 1789 to the present.

Change.gov
Obama's transition web site.

SourceWatch Encyclopedia: Presidential Transition Resources

Council for Excellence in Government: Presidential Transition

The White House Transition Project
Program formed in 1997 to ease the transition between presidents. Includes resources from policy organizations, scholars, etc.

General Services Administration: Presidential Transition
Provides the services and facilities needed for the new administration's official duties. Helpful in tracking technology needs and other improvements (and costs) a new administration may have.

CNN: Interactive Inauguration Event Map

ABC News: Inauguration Site

ABC News: Obama's Cabinet

Inauguration Blog

Bartleby: Inauguration Speeches of Past Presidents
Searchable database of speeches.

History Matters: FDR's 1933 Inauguration Speech
Famous speech by Franklin Delano Roosevelt given in Washington, D.C., March 4th, 1933. "We have nothing to fear ... but fear itself."

Government Accountability Office: 2009 Congressional and Presidential Transition

Library of Congress: Presidential Inaugurations
"I Do Solemnly Swear . . .": Presidential Inaugurations is a collection of approximately 400 items or 2,000 digital files relating to inaugurations from George Washington's in 1789 to George W. Bush's inauguration of 2001. This presentation includes diaries and letters of presidents and of those who witnessed inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses, broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet music.

Obama's Office of Urban Policy
Citizens can contribute ideas on policies to improve cities.

Library of Congress: Inauguration Dates
Great for quick reference.

infoPlease: Inauguraton File
A treasure trove of facts and background, including media coverage, famous addresses, inaugural trivia, and life after the presidency.

Federal Citizen Information Center: National Contact Center
A great resource for anyone covering the federal government. The site includes phone and hotline numbers to various agencies, Congressional phone directories, contacts for cabinet departments, etc.

U.S. Government Press Release Sites
A clearinghouse of agency press releases and announcements.

Government RSS Library
USA.gov's RSS feed for news releases, agencies, etc.

WikiPedia: Inauguration Day
Includes history and traditions with the ceremony.

Poynter.org: Inauguration Resources List

WikiPedia: Inauguration Day
Scroll to the bottom of the page for a chronological chart of details of details from past ceremonies.

TeacherVision: History of Presidential Inaugurations

Truman Library & Museum: Inauguration Quiz

MSNBC: Mayors' Cries to Help for Obama
Survey, presented as an image map, of advice to Obama from mayor's of large and small U.S. cities.

TeacherVision: History of Presidential Inaugurations

MSNBC: Estimating Large Crowds
Steve Doig of Arizona State University uses a process to estimate large crowds. He uses Obama's Presidential Inauguration as an example.

Executive Branch

Whitehouse.gov
The official page.

National Archive: George W. Bush Public Papers
Searchable database that complements the printed volumes.

Library of Congress Executive Branch Links
One-stop shopping for government agencies (many of the links are listed below, by the way). This page is just a set of links to government agencies and are organized by the departments they're governed by.

Washington Post Watergate Archive
The Post put up this archive site in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Watergate scandal. Site includes a chronology of events, bios of key players, articles, reforms and transcripts of chats with Bob Woodward and Ben Bradlee.

Department of Energy
Another database of nuclear accidents.

Department of Commerce

Department of the Treasury

Notable Names Database
More than 20,000 bios of famous people.

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Agriculture

Department of Education

Department of Labor

Department of Transportation

Department of the Interior

PBS: The American President

Sunlight Foundation: Online Foreign Agent Lobbying Database
The Foreign Agent Registration Act requires the Justice Department to maintain detailed reports of lobbying firms hired by foreign governments and by organizations. Just select legislators from a menu and it will show their records, lobbyist ties, etc.

Presidents of the United States

Past Inaugural Addresses

Presidential/Congressional nominees history
Information about all nominees (received, rejected, confirmed) for the current session of Congress. It gives names, position for which the individual was nominated and the status of their nomination.

C-SPAN: Nixon Tapes 1971-73

Presidential Libraries

University of Texas: Woodward and Bernstein Watergate Papers

Findlaw: Chronology of Congressional Sex Scandals

Polizine: Biggest Political Sex Scandals Ever

HuffingtonPost: America's Top Political Sex Scandals

Journalism.org: What Scandals Make the Biggest News?

The Presidential Debate Blog

Museum of Broadcast Communications: History of Presidential Debates

Commission on Presidential Debates

PBS: The American Experience - The President
A great interactive video site that lets you pick a question that a past president will answer in a video. (Examples: "How Influential is the First Lady?" and "How Do You End a War?"

Poynter.org: Backgrounding Gerald R. Ford

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
Links, documents, photos, news announcements, statements, etc.

Gerald R. Ford Historical Photographs
Links, documents, photos, news announcements, statements, etc.

White House Museum
Unaffiliated with the government, this site gives a tour, stats, details about the building and surrounding area.

JournalismJobs.com
Has current listings searchable by state.

Inserttexthere.com
A great listing of journalism jobs, many focusing on newspapers and magazines.

Investigative Reporters and Editors' Job Bank

JournalismCareers.com

News Jobs Network
Newsletter and job listings. Editing and writing jobs for the US, Canada, and the UK.

Detroit Free Press Jobs Page
Joe Grimm's great site offers super examples and tip sheets on writing cover letters, resumes and more. Helpful to journalists at all levels.

Job Links
A great alphabetical collection of job links. Newspaper, broadcast, advertising, etc.

JobSearchNews.com
A news feed of top articles on the job market, including global job market news, job search newsletters and job search blogs. It's not a journalism job-hunting site, but it has many helpful tips that apply to journalists.

Career Advice by Reader's Digest

International Association of Business Communicators

LA Times/Tribune Company Jobs

Cox Newspapers Jobs Page

ASNE's Careers in Journalism

MediaBistro.com's Jobs Page

CopyEditorJobs.com

American Society of Business Publishing Executives Jobs Board

IWantMedia.com's Jobs Page

SunOasis.com: Global Media Job Openings
A great site for writers, editors and copy editors. Internships, media resources and more.

Landmark Communications
Hiring for The Weather Channel, The Travel Channel, various TV stations and Virginia newspapers in Norfolk and Roanoke.

New York Times Company

Journalism Fellowships in Child and Family Policy

ReligionWriters.com Jobs Bank

Ogden Newspapers Jobs Database

U.S. Department of Justice

IRS.gov

FBI.gov

Drug Enforcement Agency
Good stats and research tools.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Good stats and research tools.

A Guide to the U.S. Federal Legal System: Web-Based Publicly Accessible Sources

Oyez: U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia Database
Hundreds of hours of audio materials delivered through a free player available from Real.com as well as summaries of cases before the court, organized by year.

On the Docket
Includes a current listing of pending cases, dates for scheduled oral arguments, the questions presented to the Court and citations for the lower court.

Pacer's U.S. Courts
Search district and bankruptcy courts.

Federal Courts Finder
Image map guide to courts from Emory University.

Bureau of Justice Statistics

National Center for State Courts
Research, newsletter, links to other organizations.

Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
This national, public interest law firm offers cutting-edge legal briefs and news on public interest legal issues, including consumer protection, civil rights, and access to justice, plus a unique online database of all accredited law schools and 2,300 public interest groups, sorted by dozens of focus areas.

CNN.com: Supreme Court Candidate Bios

C-SPAN Judiciary and Supreme Court Resources

National District Attorneys Association

Yahoo!: Supreme Court Nominees

PBS Newshour: Supreme Court Candidates
Full of quotes from politicos on who should be named.

PollingReport.com: Supreme Court Candidates
Full of quotes from politicos on who should be named.

Supreme Court Historical Society

Center for Jury Studies of the National Center for State Courts
A Virginia-based nonprofit group.

Supreme Court Collection
A database of upcoming Supreme Court cases compiled by Cornell University.

Syllabi of Current U.S. Supreme Court Decisions

Department of Justice: Office of Solicitor General
Search government briefs filed with the United States Supreme Court.

Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals
Links to the full-text opinions of all 11 U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Federal Laws and Regulations
The National Archives and Records Administration has a database of public laws, presidential orders and more.

Office of Justice Programs

USCourts.gov: Journalist's Guide to the Federal Courts

CourtReference.com
Offers state-by-state links to online court record search services at trial courts and government agencies. Find court locations, other legal services offered and more.

Cornell Law: Courts Federal Law Materials and Judicial Opinions

Court Records Blog
Part of CourtReference.com's site, this blog covers some of the basics of court records, understanding documents, how a court room works, etc.

Free Public Records Directory
Free state court resources.

Cornell Law: State Courts Opinions

U.S. Courts.gov: The Federal Judiciary

FBI's Uniform Crime Reports

Brennan Center for Justice

Office for Victims of Crime

Library of Congress: Sonia Sotomayor Resources
Articles and books by her, congressional documents, cases and web resources by the Supreme Court nominee.

Religion Newswriters Association

National Religious Broadcasters

JournalismNet -- Religion

University of Missouri: Center for Religion, the Professions, and the Public

Pew Forum: Religion Issues in 2008 Presidential Campaign

Library of Congress: Religion and the Government
Takes effect October 2002.

Bread.org: Bread for the World
A world hunger site with religious ties.

Frontline: Faces of Islam
The terrorist attacks have revealed some deep divisions between followers of Islam. This Frontline site examines viewpoints of Muslims around the world after 9/11. Includes video, FAQ and more.

WuzUpGod.com

Christianity Today

Christian Book

SNAP: Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

American Academy of Religion

ReligionSource
From the American Academy of Religion, this site can put you in touch with religion experts and scholars.

iVoteValues.org
Run by Focus on the Family, this site offers online voter registration forms and a database/quiz that links voters to candidates and issues.

ReligionLink: Resources on Supreme Court Ruling on Ten Commandments

Mainstream Coaliton

ChurchSecurity Services
News, guidebooks, tools, profiles of gunmen, etc.

Church Security Member
Safety, training, news, videos on security, etc.

Traditional Values Coalition

Americans United for Separation of Church and State

The Right Site

BeliefNet: Sin Series
Seven deadly sins. Features interactive quizzes.

Campus Freethought Alliance: Godless Americans
More than 50 pieces from the renowned collection.

Write to Inspire
A religion writing site with a nice resources page.

Presidential Prayer Team Media Page
A White House promotional site but it does have some media resources. You must register (it�s free) to log-in to the media page.

TalkIslam.com
A library of sites not affiliated with a Muslim sect or ideology. Links to mosques, news, articles, translation of the Quran.

Gospelmusic.org

National Day of Prayer
Background on the annual May 2 holiday.

AfrikaWorld: Religions

National African Religion Congress

Gospel Communications Network

Girona Cathedral Tour
A cool Flash tour of the French cathedral.

PrisonFellowship.org
Run by former Watergate convict Charles Colson, this ministry works with churches and community groups to provide fellowship for prisoners and former prisoners.

Google's Religion Directory

Meditation Therapy

Center for Public Justice
A Washington-based team of academic and policy consultants.

Spirituality.com
Features quotes and study guides to Science and Health" by Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science.

The Internet Sacred Text Archive
A religious tolerance and scholarship site that has deep resources on the human race's religious heritage.

Beliefnet: Prayer of the Day

The Fund
A ministry site with job listings, publications, links to schools, etc.

Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Salem Witch Trials Archive
History of the trials, including maps, transcripts, bios of notable people, etc.

Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar Job Search Database
A great job-hunting resource.

Cal Berkeley's Photojournalism Jobs Page

Recent Additions to the Site

MyJobHunter.com

UNC: Sports Journalism Jobs
Created by the Sports Communication Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the site posts job and internship opportunities in sports writing and editing, team marketing, league public relations and other areas.

SPJ Job Bank

Census: July 4 Stories

American University: Fourth of July Celebrations Database
Includes history, facts on the holiday.

CDC: Fireworks Injuries, Facts, Stats
Links to dozens of faiths and practices.

The National Council on Fireworks Safety
Database of state laws, tips, etc.

AmericanPyro.com
Site for the fireworks industry trade that features safety tips.

The History Channel: Fireworks History
Uses video and text to explain celebrations from China to the U.S.

Charity Watchdog
The National Charities Information Bureau offers a "wise giving guide," a quick reference list of groups that meet certain standards and a weekly charity report.

American Association of Fundraising Counsel

Center on Philanthropy
Resources from Indiana University.

National Fraud Information Center
Established by the National Consumers League.

National Freedom of Information Coalition

Hunger in America 2001
Claims to be the most comprehensive study of domestic hunger ever.

Philanthropy.com
An online newspaper for non-profit organizations. Some helpful research and databases. A must-read for reporters covering charities.

Guidestar
Look up budget analysis on non-profit organizations.

National Charities Information Bureau
A good site for tracking spending and income from charities.

IRS: Non-Profits Tax Information
General site for non-profit statistics.

IRS: More on Non-Profits Tax Information
Files for each U.S. state listing the non-profits the IRS is aware of.

FTC Charity Checklist

Maryland Comptroller's Office
The Maryland Comptroller's office has a database of unresolved tax liabilities. Great for tracking promising business types and politicians. Several other states have similar databases, including Illinois.

Internet Public Library: Online Serials
Links to more than 3,000 magazine titles.

American Society of Magazine Editors

Magazines of the Future
The Magazine Publishers of America feature look at how the industry and presentation will change in this Flash presentation.

Magazine Publishers of America

Wooden Horse Magazine Links

Association of Alternative Newsweeklies

InsertTextHere.com

TIME Magazine Cover Search Database
In conjunction with the 80th anniversary of TIME magazine, all of the magazine's covers (around 4,200 of them) are now searchable and can be viewed individually as high-resolution 400x527 images. Some of the topic searches are listed below.

TIME Magazine 80th Anniversary Special

American Society of Business Publication Editors

Life Magazine Cover Collection
Covers from 1936 to 1972.

International Federation of the Periodical Press
Global magazine resources site.

Searcher: The Magazine for Database Professionals
Covers a comprehensive range of issues important to the professional database searcher.

NewsDesign.net
A great design site featuring several articles from various magazines that should be of interest.

MyGazines.com
Encourages people to copy and upload popular magazines on newsstands. Run by an offshore company that's working around digital piracy laws. You can use the site to look up past issues of publications, but there are ethical concerns.

True/Slant.com
Launched in June 2009, True/Slant is an "original content news network tailored to both the "Entrepreneurial Journalist" and marketers who want a more effective way to engage with digital audiences. Contributors, consumers and marketers each have a voice."