Phil Williams, an
outstanding investigative reporter at WTVF in Nashville,
just aired a series of
stories about the military recruiting tons of soldiers who have troubled
pasts. He explains that last year, one out of every
five recruits needed a waiver exempting that person from some rule that might have prevented him or her from joining the Army. Already Williams' reports have resulted in a call for a congressional inquiry.
Williams describes recruits who have diagnosed personality
disorders, drug and alcohol charges, and more. WTVF went undercover, and when the
undercover producer told three Army recruiters that he was on Zoloft, an
antidepressant, the producer was encouraged not to disclose that fact. One
recruiter even told the producer how to sneak antidepressant medication into
boot camp.
Child Abuse and Troop Deployments
The stress of war reaches far beyond the battlefield. There
is reason to believe that troop deployments also are connected to a rise in
child abuse, most commonly involving the spouse who is left behind abusing the child.
It would be worthwhile to check with family courts to see how many cases related to military deployment flow through these days.
USA
Today reports:
[A] study among military families shows that reports
of emotional, physical and sexual abuse and child neglect peaked during the
main deployment of troops to Iraq.
When deployments began, reports of abuse quickly jumped from 5 in 1,000
children to 10 in 1,000.
The study found that victims were typically age 4 or younger and
the abuser was usually the parent who remained at home while a spouse was deployed.
Military families had lower rates of child maltreatment than civilian families
before war. The study found that abuse rates soared when parents were sent to
active duty.
"Among military personnel with at least one dependent, the
rate of child maltreatment in military families increased by approximately 30 percent
for each 1 percent increase in the percentage of active-duty personnel departing to or
returning from operation-related deployment," according to the study, in
the May 15 issue of American
Journal of Epidemiology [...].
"The
stress of war extends beyond the soldier and the military personnel to impact
the family," said lead researcher Danielle Rentz, now an epidemiologist at
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Join Al for a Live Webinar
So many of you have told me you want this, and now, I am excited to invite you to join me for a live, interactive Webinar from 2 to 3 p.m. EDT May 21. You must register by noon Friday. Just click here to sign up and learn more.
I will be showing you how I mine the Internet to find
information, story ideas and resources fast.
This is an inexpensive and easy way for Poynter's NewsU to
help train journalists, students and teachers without you ever having to leave
your desk (Or in the case of my international readers, without having to get a
visa!). Set a monitor up in a conference or classroom, and you can train the
whole shooting match for 10 bucks -- such a deal.
I suspect this is just the beginning of what will become
many of these kinds of Web-based Poynter training sessions. I can't wait to see you online!
Safe and Well Site
In time for the height of tornado season and the beginning
of hurricane season, the American Red Cross now has a "Safe and Well List" Web site. Victims of disaster can register their names and
contact information on the site, and others around the world will know they are
safe and well. The database is searchable by name, street, phone numbers and
such. What a great idea. Of course relief centers will need to have computer
terminals to input this information. Since the middle of March, more than 1,000 people have signed up. Amazing how much trouble there is in the world,
huh?
Gas Station Media
Hey, I know you need something to take your mind off the
fortune you are pumping into your gas tank. Increasingly, gas stations are
presenting multimedia on their pumps.
A student of mine from Houston
recently told me he produced mini-newscasts for gas pumps. (I assume there will
not be stories about record oil-company profits or rising prices on the pumpcasts.)
Now, ESPN
says it has struck a deal to distribute programming to gas station pumps. I
was surprised by a line in the press release that refers to "digital gas station
media."
Here are some CNBC stories on this topic.
Here are a number
of news stories about the idea.
Watch
this fun version of "Pump Cast News."
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
