Hi. My name is Thomas Hedges, and I work as the Capitol Hill correspondent for The Real News Network. I have a mountain of story ideas in my head, and as a young reporter in the nation's capital and as someone who began his journalism career two years ago working with Ralph Nader, I've been exposed again and again to the injustice and fraud that is very characteristic of Washington politics nowadays.Since then I've struggled to materialize those stories. But with no corporate funding and no advertising at The Real News it's been tough translating all of those narratives into video. For example, at the moment I'm working on a piece about how the Pentagon doesn't get audited. Even though it's been required to by law since 1990, it keeps on getting extensions. That's more that $600 billion, or half of our discretionary budget yearly, that is never accounted for.To produce a hard-hitting piece on the issue, I need to do proper research, I need to do original reporting, I need to arrange for interviews, I need to develop contacts, I need to travel, shoot and edit the material that I get in a timely manner. It's difficult to do that with limited resources and staff. At the same time, it's quite rewarding, because I know I'm not beholden to the special interests that dictate the way journalism is done at other news outlets.That's why viewers like you are so important not only to The Real News, but to me. I care about bringing you the truth. Help me do that.
wibiya widget
Blogger templates
Popular posts
-
It looked like the setting for a mock legislative session: Instead of desks and nameplates on the floor of the Minnesota House, there wer...
-
t took nearly 20 minutes for David LaPorte, director of the North Star Bicycle Festival, to weave the story of how close the event came...
-
In my neighborhood of South St. Anthony Park in St. Paul, we tend to treat our alley like a woonerf. That’s not an autocorrect you’re r...
-
WASHINGTON — One night every summer, Democratic and Republican members of Congress trade their suits and ties for cleats and gloves ...
-
This past Wednesday WikiLeaks published 17 different documents related to a secret trade deal known as Trade In Services Agreeme...
-
Republican state Sen. Dave Thompson had been noticing it throughout the Legislative session: a growing fissure between urban and Greater...
-
On Monday, February 2, an international coalition of scholars, journalists, and filmmakers sent a letter to President Obama to e...
-
The word “detour” comes from the French, meaning “to turn away” or “change direction.” But it can also mean “evasion” or “excuse,” and ...
-
If the House Republicans have their way, Boeing, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin would be the big winners of last week's...
-
Reports of elder abuse are cresting as baby boomers’ parents age and their sometimes sketchy offspring and other opportunists navigate an...
Friday 5 June 2015
Thomas Hedges and the Struggle to Cover Capitol Hill
Posted by
uk and usa trends
,
at
23:03
Hi. My name is Thomas Hedges, and I work as the Capitol Hill correspondent for The Real News Network. I have a mountain of story ideas in my head, and as a young reporter in the nation's capital and as someone who began his journalism career two years ago working with Ralph Nader, I've been exposed again and again to the injustice and fraud that is very characteristic of Washington politics nowadays.Since then I've struggled to materialize those stories. But with no corporate funding and no advertising at The Real News it's been tough translating all of those narratives into video. For example, at the moment I'm working on a piece about how the Pentagon doesn't get audited. Even though it's been required to by law since 1990, it keeps on getting extensions. That's more that $600 billion, or half of our discretionary budget yearly, that is never accounted for.To produce a hard-hitting piece on the issue, I need to do proper research, I need to do original reporting, I need to arrange for interviews, I need to develop contacts, I need to travel, shoot and edit the material that I get in a timely manner. It's difficult to do that with limited resources and staff. At the same time, it's quite rewarding, because I know I'm not beholden to the special interests that dictate the way journalism is done at other news outlets.That's why viewers like you are so important not only to The Real News, but to me. I care about bringing you the truth. Help me do that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)