Al's Morning Meeting

As USA Today pointed out in November:

State and federal inmates do not have direct access to computers. However, some have used written correspondence with friends or family members to set up and maintain Web sites and e-mail accounts to air grievances, solicit legal assistance and express political views.

The story went on to say:

John Boston, a prisoners' rights advocate in New York, says inmates' use of the Internet -- albeit indirectly -- represents a matter of simple free speech that should be protected.

However, Andy Kahan, director of Houston's crime victims office, says some of that speech, potentially viewable around the world, could reinjure victims.

"It's like getting (harmed) all over again," Kahan says.

[...] A federal appeals court in California two years ago sided with an inmate who was barred under state prison regulations from receiving printed copies of Internet-generated documents through regular mail. Prison authorities feared that the materials could contain coded messages.

In Arizona, prisoners' rights groups successfully challenged a state law that once banned inmates from exchanging written mail with Internet service providers or establishing profiles on Web sites through outside contacts.

The Arizona law, overturned in 2003, called for additional disciplinary sanctions against inmates if they were found to have corresponded with Internet providers or requested that "any person access a provider's Web site."

The Arizona Department of Corrections, according to court documents, had imposed sanctions against at least five inmates "because their names appeared on Internet Web sites."

My Poynter colleague Meg Martin found a lot of reporting on this and related issues:

• Advocacy groups 

• Britain's Telegraph newspaper 

• Red Herring 

• ZDNet Government 

• Criminal Justice Online forum

• The Associated Press

• WebProNews 

• KTRK-TV Houston

GPS Thefts

I bought my wife a global positioning system for Christmas. These pricey little devices are becoming favorites for thieves.

I got this link from Tom Zuppa, assistant managing editor for local news at The Sun in Lowell, Mass.

Paw Care in Cold Weather

Hey, while some of you are doing the cold-weather stories this week, don't forget the problems cold weather can cause for pets. Salt, used to melt ice, can cause dog paws to dry and crack. A little baby oil or even cooking spray on the paw pads works wonders.

Farm Bill Fight

At the end of this year, the 2002 Farm Bill, which is actually a collection of farm bills, will expire. This is the bill that sets up crop and land-use subsidies, and allows some farmers to collect millions of dollars each year.

The Environmental Working Group makes it easy for you to see, even down to the ZIP-code level, who is getting farm subsidies. Farmers get subsidies when prices for subsidized crops fall below a set level. Lately, crop prices have been fairly high, so fewer farmers will get government money for them.

An Associated Press story says cuts in the 2008 Farm Bill are likely, and big cuts are possible.

The Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World covers this story, which is of intense interest in the nation's sixth largest farm-subsidy-receiving state.

The paper says:

In general, farm subsidies have received criticism, especially with the agriculture economy performing better than five years ago. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns has indicated the Bush administration will propose leaner farm assistance.

But Kansas and Douglas County farmers say they are confident new legislation will include enough important policies for agriculture in the state, particularly for protection during tough times.

"In my lifetime, there's been several occasions when we've had price increases but they haven't lasted. That's why it's so important to have that federal safety net," said Kansas Agriculture Secretary Adrian Polansky.

Here is a glimpse of how much farm subsidies mean in your state -- and the states where "farmers" collect the most money (Click here for a complete listing from the Environmental Working Group.):

Rank	State	Total USDA Subsidies (1995-2005)
1.)	Texas	$14,861,391,700
2.)	Iowa	$14,777,910,789
3.)	Illinois	$12,409,858,086
4.)	Nebraska	$9,657,945,776
5.)	Minnesota	$9,528,117,465
6.)	Kansas	$9,047,847,412
7.)	Arkansas	$7,202,309,101
8.)	North Dakota	$7,044,698,004
9.)	Indiana	$6,084,512,666
10.)	California	$5,939,327,534
11.)	Missouri	$5,686,357,494
12.)	South Dakota	$5,563,157,705
13.)	Mississippi	$5,443,137,629
14.)	Ohio	$4,417,898,430
15.)	Wisconsin	$3,945,988,008

So many of you have told me that you want to see more examples of multimedia projects that your newsroom can learn from. So today, I am starting something new on Al's Morning Meeting. Every day I will include a multimedia item for you. I will not just focus on the huge projects that take days of production and teams of folks to produce, although I won't ignore them either. Mostly I am looking for an example of online multimedia that expands the journalism of the legacy media.

I want to start with this unusual first-person piece from The New York Times. Roberta Smith uses her expertise to explain some paintings to an art illiterate like me. It is such a simple, easy explanation. It uses still images highlighted and cropped in simple ways to guide your eye around a painting, explaining what each part of the painting means. It is a nice use of personal expertise, simple video and interaction.