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My online portfolio

http://about.me/kszalewicz

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Chicago’s May Day protest 2014

#cccmayday1 #chimay #cccmay1

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Chicago's mayday protestors #cccmayday1

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Q&A – Steve Rhodes, The Beachwood Reporter

Q: Can you tell me how is it: working for a start up vs working for a more established company?

A: Sure. It's both more terrifying and more exhilarating. There are all kinds of start ups. For me a start up was me and a bunch of my friends and a not a whole a lot of money. It's like we were a start up with silicon valley investment or like the new Glenn Greenwald start up or something like that, so the main thing though is that as a start up you lack resources and kind of a support structure that a company in our work for Chicago Magazine and theChicago Tribune and Newsweek and when you work for a company you don't have to worry about even little things like having enough pens and notebooks - you have an infrastructure. But at the same time, the positive side of working for a start up is just that you can essentially do what you want. You don't have to do things that you'd rather not most of the time. You don't have to work with people whom you don't like working for. You don't have to follow orders that are absurd, so I'd say those are the differences.

Q: How can a young entrepreneur raise money to fund a project?

A: What I learned is just how people do that, because I didn't come from that kind of background, so it was a new territory for me. The most successful ways that young entrepreneurs get money is either to have been born into a wealthy family or have wealthy friends or benefactors. I wish very badly that it was a more meritorious system. It's incredibly frustrating, because I was not born into a wealthy family. I've never had any money and my friends don't have any money, but what I've seen all around me is people that have access to capital which is money, so what I've learned is that the first thing that people do, I started studying entrepreneurialism and going to forums and subscribing to email newsletters to learn that side of business, and what I learned that the first thing that most people do is what they call a friends and family round. That's a round of fund raisings in which you go to your friends and family (laugh) and a lot of people come out of that round with thousands of dollars. For someone like me, a friends and family round will get me about 20 bucks, so there is that. And the second thing is ethnicity of a great idea and you really think that it can be profitable. It's extremely difficult to get that idea in front of possible funders, so again you just have to try attend every event that you can, so people are really into the networking. You know, there are other ways to raise money that are used a lot in journalism projects of course - like soliciting donations and offering memberships and that kind of things, so the way that you'll raise revenue as an ongoing business, but the way to initially raise money as an entrepreneur is very difficult and most of the kinds of rugs to riches stories are really false. I mean people forget that Bill Gates for example grew up in a wealthy family. A lot of those people who say that they grew up with nothing actually had wealth around them - in one way or another, so for someone like me who doesn't have that I think that you just have to enlist others in your passion and so for me - my whole pitch was to tell people that if we all pull together we will all basically create our dream jobs. That does not necessary raise money, but it does help kind of attract coworkers or other people who become invested.

Q: How would you describe your idea, "The Beachwood Reporter" in terms of getting funds: was it a really hard process in general?

A: I would say it's been half hazard. It's been up and down and it's been never ending, so I started with my own personal savings. I saved money for a couple years, knowing I was going to do this, so I had $25,000 and then at the end of the first year of existence we took in a few thousands dollars in advertising and donations an various things. We got a lot of pro bono services from people like some legal help, accounting help - people willing to do that. But then, at the end of our first year a fan of mine - a reader who've been reading me since I was at Chicago Magazine - we've become friendly and him and a buddy of him decided to make an investment, so they've put in $30,000 dollars. Now, that's a small investment that I am talking about. Other projects around town are getting a million bucks from the McArthur foundation, but for me that funded a year or two essentially and then I did get like a $35,000 grant from the Chicago community trust one year, so that funded another year. And then, I was doing some freelance work and kind of had a partnership with NBC Chicago to blog for them and do some cross posting and so on, so that funded me for another year or a year and a half. That's just kind of the way it's gone. I've had to ruin my sterling and credit bathing and I've had to take more freelance work, because the whole business side of things was never really enough to pull together in a way that I've had hoped, but like I've said it's really frustrating. This company is existing for eight years and I've seen a lot of other ventures around town get hundreds of thousands if not over a million dollars in funding and flame out. It kind of drives me nuts to think about what I feel I could of done with money like that, given that I've survived and put out a product that's editorially successful, so I guess the real answer is not that it happens quickly or slowly. It's that it's continuing. Finding resources continues to be an issue.

Q: What was your general vision before launching "The Beachwood Reporter"? Did you have a business plan or an idea that you wanted to introduce?

A: The real business plan was that I've never thought that a site like "The Beachwood Reporter" or a general interest local news site could ever generate enough revenue to support full-time stuff, so in kind of looking at the business models that worked and continue to work - it appeared to me that the real answer was to have a stable of sites - whether you want to say niche or niched sites or verticals or whatever term you want to use. Ironically, this is actually the model that newspapers used to exist on. The metro section has never, ever been profitable when it was in print. With online journalism, we should really refer to sections as much, even though they're still organized this way, but even the sports section - and I think that a lot of people will be surprised - never really derived a lot of revenue. They've had a lot of ads. The way that the newspapers made money was - in addition to classified ads was really through speciality sections - the sections that made your Sunday papers so thick: the real estate section, the transportation section, the travel section - because these are all really ad-friendly and that's how they kind of drove the revenue. The metro section - the actual real news was actually subsidized by these other sections. In the 70s, the New York Times famously saved itself from financial disaster by finally creating those types of sections that you see today. They didn't always have the Arts & Entertainment sections and all of the other sections that they have in a Sunday's paper. I saw that this is what appeared to work on the internet as well when I looked at the company like Gawker that operates in a lot of subject areas and there was a company back then called Weblogs, Inc. which has something like a 100 different blogs about things like food you'd find in a vending machine and a real off-beat things. They sold themselves to AOL for $25 million which at the time was a lot and I continued to see that seems to be the way that a lot of internet projects are successful, so my idea was to have six-seven-eight other sites that would be the revenue producing sites that would subsidize the real reporting and commentary that I really wanted to do at the Beachwood and I have the ideas for those other sites and I still have them, but I've never been able to find the right business and/or technology partner to really ramp up any of those sites. I mean, it's hard enough doing everything I do what I do to keep this going, that really will require more resources and a partner and I've just not ever been able to find that. That was the vision and it remains the vision if that would ever happen. I don't know if it ever really will. It's been eight years, but that was the original idea.

Q: How is "The Beachwood Reporter" operating now? Is it mostly funded by grants and donations or is it getting revenue through ads?

A: It doesn't cost a whole lot to run "The Beachwood Reporter". I mean a hosting fee every month. The whole stuff are volunteers and it's basically my freelance work right now. I've had one grant that run out and I have one investor that's still with me, but there is no more money that is going to come from that. We used to sell a few thousands dollars a year in advertising, but we really haven't tried to sell advertising in the last couple of years. I work really hard on it everyday, but in a certain sense it's on cruise control and I just earn money through a lot of other kinds of outside projects as best as I can until I will figure out what to do next.

Q: Where do you see "The Beachwood Reporter" in the future?

A: I either see in in Brooklyn (sighs) or maybe existing just as a tumblr for me and my friends to just keep writing or shutting down. I don't know if I really see much of the future at this point. I mean that I am gonna keep it going as long as I can, but I've became pretty convinced that I am not gonna be able to the kinds of things that I wanna do by staying in Chicago, so I am really thinking about a future in New York or possibly even LA and the Beachwood maybe will still exist as a tumblr or hopefully the ideas that I've had for it - I can transfer to some other project on the coast, but I am not optimistic about the future of the Beachwood here in Chicago, except only in so far that I am still trapped here in the city. That's basically my view on that…

Q: Why can't you see the future of "The Beachwood Reporter" in Chicago?

A: Well, I've been here doing the Beachwood for eight years, and I haven't found the right kind of partner or like I've said business or technology partner. I haven't found a right kind of support here and I just don't thing that it's gonna be found. I've run out of the string here and I don't think Chicago is still a very parochial city and it's not the kind of city that I think it's gonna support a project like this. In a place like New York, you have more of a critical mass of a certain kind of reader, a certain kind of talent. There is actually a shortage of technology talent in Chicago. I mean, I've read many articles, lamenting the lack of programmers here and it doesn't mean that they're not a lot here, but they're not enough. When Groupon has to go all over the country to find people to bring in and WBEZ - there is a big hullabaloo in there, because they're new CEO comes from Washington and that caused a little bit of backlash by people here, because it's someone who's got experience in digital. People here are saying: "Oh, you couldn't find anyone in Chicago that had a right kind of digital experience. You must not been looking hard enough.", but I am here to tell you: like who? Look around the city. The Sun-Times? When Michael Ferro bought the Sun-Times he was supposed to be some kind of a digital genius, despite the fact that his history didn't show it and that thing is a freaking mess digitally. Where would you go for digital talent in Chicago on that level? Because I don't see anyone really employing it. I mean outside of maybe some of the people at the Trib on a digital side, but who else? I mean, I just can't think about anyone else just doing anything in this city where you'd head hunt from to say that they're digital geniuses. I just don't think that's the environment that we have here…

Q: I've recently looked at builtinchicago.org and some other websites to look at the local entrepreneurs. How would you describe Chicago's entrepreneurs? Are we successful as a city?

A: I don't know. Everything is so relative. When Groupon is your big prize, I am not a big fan. So I have to say: "Wow! That's the big saying you have to show the world?" Someone said to me a long time ago that Chicago is still a CowTown at heart and I believe it - despite kind of the glitz and now we have world class restaurants and the theater scene all that stuff. It is true: Chicago does have those things, but it's still a CowTown: it's still very cautious, parochial; no one wants to offend anyone - everyone want to be friends, so there is a huge lack of critical thinking, so to me - I don't find it to be an inventing entrepreneurial culture. I mean, I don't know what is. I can imagine a place like Austin, Texas being way more interesting or Boston or even probably a place like Seattle. I think that they are just different cultures. And the politics here - the political culture here doesn't help and the political bleeds into everything else. The political culture here is built on clouds, but that's how everyone else behaves too , even in the newsrooms that decry it. It's not really a meritorious culture. There is so many J. B. Pritzkers around town - there is one. Where else do you go? And he doesn't know anything about the digital news space. He knows about other kinds of technology, so I don't know - maybe it's better than other places. I can't say because I haven't lived anywhere else for 25 years, so I don't know the global view, but I read a lot about this stuff and I am pretty much convinced that we're not nearly as great as some people here think we are.

Q: In your opinion: is it easier for new entrepreneurs to enter the scene now, comparing it to the past decades?

A: It's easier in media for sure simply because… even ten, fifteen or twenty years ago I wouldn't of been able to just start my website, so in that sense the barriers of entry are much lower. That's just one of the awesome things about the internet and it's probably easier to do than the days when would start their own newspapers, because you'll have to pay for the news print and get it printed somewhere and then deliver it, distribute. I think that it's easier to me to start something in the media work and have it work, but it's still gonna work only for a limited number of people - which is fine. It shouldn't work for everybody, because not everybody puts out a product worth being successful, but I think that it is easier. Coming out of college, when I came out of college in the late 80s, you went and worked in some small town newspaper and tried to work your way up the chain, but now - you can come out of college and start your own project or launch on to a start up or do something and stay in the big city - if that is what you want. So I do think that the positive side of it for sure. I am kind of a digital evangelist for journalism. I think that digital journalism is way superior to print journalism, even thug I came out as as an old school newspaper guy. I think digital journalism is way superior, but the unfortunate part is still how the resources are distributed and that a lot of people who were so slow to come to the internet and in some way still despise the internet and wish things were like they were in the old days. A lot of those people are still the people that are deciding things like grants and investments and that sort of thing, so that kind of gets in the way. New thinking isn't really welcomed. People kind of jump on the fads. That's why for a long time, all of the sudden - money got poured into citizen journalism, which was always kind of a wank and hundreds of thousands of dollars - millions really - just locally in Chicago - not to mention the rest of the country were poured into failed citizen journalism projects and they hyperlocal became the big thing, which is also a wank in my view and just millions of dollars wasted on that kind of thing. Or just millions of dollars going to something like The Chicago News Cooperative. They had an agreement to partner up with The New York Times. They've never had a business plan, but James O'Shea able to walk in to MacArthur and walk out with a million dollars without a business plan. A guy who when he was a Tribune managing editor was a huge obstacle to their digital efforts. He hated the internet, so those are the kind of obstacles that still exist. Getting rid of that mindset is what we need to do in Chicago, but in the overall sense - it's absolutely easier to do your own thing these days.

Q: What kind of changes would like to see here in Chicago? Would you like to see more input from the city or more openness to new ideas from people?

A: I would like to see less input from the city itself. I think civic data movement and the civic hackers are way too aligned with the city government here and they are way too cozy with city government and so they do a lot of projects and people brag about that. One: they don't have real utility for actual, real people. Two: they're propaganda props that allow the mayor to say: "Hey look, we put all of this data online." The data that isn't useful to anybody, but meanwhile - you can't get any information out of the city - the information that you want through the Freedom of Information Act and that sort of thing. And then, it ties up those resources, because those technologists are just - I think that they fall so in love with those data sets, but they're not thinking like a journalist - meaning that they don't think about answering questions, interpreting the data and serving the readers and citizens. That's a different mindset, so I wish that those people and the technologists would devote themselves more to journalism, which is different - to working with the journalists rather than kind of working with the politicians. I mean, that like the antithesis of what someone like me does. That will be one thing from one standpoint and then from the standpoint of the foundations - like MacArthur and McCormick, I just see them sending millions of dollars out of the door to projects, like the ones that I've mentioned, that make no sense that they are operating in a really old school mentality. They need more people in those foundations who are the actual, real media thinkers, who actually know something about online media and news and don't just kind of pretend or follow the trends and the fads, so the foundation community could step up. I don't really know how you're gonna the investor community to take more risks, cause they're not really into risk taking. That's the emphasis of what they do, but I wish that overall that the community would think more about content, not tools - technological tools are really great, but the end of the day journalism is about content and it's about changing the way we think of how we do the content. It's not about just putting a newspaper article online. We're still in the age of shovelware - with newspapers. 99% of the newspaper articles that are online these days don't even have links which is just astounding to me. I've been harping about it for about 8 years. There still hasn't been a change of mindset, despite the rhetoric that you hear. All of those things add up to in my mind Chicago being a very discouraging place. I'd like to see all of those people to get a clue, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Q: Can you think about any tips that you could give to young entrepreneurs?

A: I don't know if I really have any tips. It might be to ignore people's advice. I've read all of the tips and advices for entrepreneurs, all of the subscribe email newsletters. I don't know if I read many books, but I know that I've read a couple. I started reading The Wall Street Journal small business section and all of that stuff and I noticed that a lot of people are an awful lot of money dispensing advice which is kind of a racket, because a lot of the advices - when you really look at the advices and tips that the consultants say - they really are odd. Some people say: "Do this first" and some other people say: "Never do that first" and I just don't think that there is a formula or a template. For some people is like "You have to have a business plan", but as I went along I found that the thing with start ups now is to not have a business plan. It's really about the story that you tell. What's more important is to just do it, cause then you have a business instead of a plan, because business plans are essentially a made up numbers. I see a lot of conflicting advices. I read about success stories and the pattern is never really the same. The route that people take is just so different. For some people it's just like: "You know what, for the first three years I just did nothing, but this business. I gave up my entire outside life" and then you read someone else's and they say: "The key was that I kept the balance in my life and if I haven't done that I would of burned out" or "You can't obsess too much about what you do or you're gonna start making bad judgements." I just don't think that there is a formula, so I just think you just have to be you. To succeed or fail being you. At least that way if you fail, you failed your way and you don't have to have second thoughts like "Gee, I wish that I just would of done it the way I wanted. I wonder if that would of worked." I would just say: be you. You can listen to advice and read other people's stories because they can give you good ideas here and there, but I wouldn't try to follow anyone else's steps. People seem to think that there is a pattern for some weird reasons. My whole life, I've been reading a lot about management tips and leadership styles and all of that stuff. You can learn some things. You can learn some little tricks, but ultimately - you can't change who you are, so what you have to do is try to maximize the parts about who you are to the situation to make it work the best. I think about different editors that I've had and some succeed, because they are really firm and almost stern. When it suits their personality and they're successful - working with you that way, then that can work, but they are some people who behave that way and it can be alienating and not very communicative and not nurturing. And then they are some editors that really care about you as a person and they really are highly communicative and personable and that kind of thing. That can work work for some people, but then for some editors who have that style that's counterproductive, so it's not that one style is better than another. I think it's that they are a lot of different management leadership styles - just like they are a lot of different entrepreneurial styles and I think that the key is to be yourself and then try to learn how being yourself works best. So if you have a stern personality don't try to be a touchy feely editor, but try to learn how that kind of management style works best and add some of those things to your repertoire. You might recognize that you can have that style, but here are some of the things to watch for, so that every once in a while

you're gonna have to communicate better or whatever the case may be. I guess that's what I would say: instead of adopting a style onto yourself, try to put yourself in a style if that makes sense...

[kamilmobile]

Aereo Supreme Court Case

Recently, Aereo Supreme Court case has been heavily discussed and covered by the news. The case started with Aereo, a startup company that allowed people to view and record over-the-air TV broadcasts over the Internet. Aereo was launched in New York back in 2012 - and it became controversial weeks after it was introduced as broadcasters sued Aereo, saying that Aereo was streaming their content without permission. The copyright infringement case ended up in the Supreme Court as Aereo disagreed, saying that their customers were just renting individual antennas that allow them to watch content that they are legally entitled to view.

The case was heard by the Supreme Court this Tuesday. The case was extremely important because it relates to the Internet economy. During the hearing, the Supreme Court expressed skepticism directed towards Aereo. As oral arguments were taking place, the justices asked how Aereo compared to other services as they wanted to know it Aereo was a cable service, a record store or something completely different.

Paul Clement, a representative from ABC, which sued Aereo said that in his view Aereo claims to help its users with managing what already belongs to them, but in reality: they give their customers stuff that they did not own before. Clement said that worrying about legal implications for cloud storage was not a main issue to solve, because cloud storage is different from what Aereo provides.

Malcolm Stewart from the Obama administration echoed Clement's words, pointing out what there is a difference between a company that provides content in the first instance and the company that gives its consumers access to content that they already have (ex. Amazon Cloud Player or Dropbox).

Aereo's attorney, David Frederick spoke sat as the justices wanted him to confirm that thousands of tiny antennas that Aereo owns were introduced in order to avoid paying fees to broadcasters. Frederick refused to acknowledge that, saying that using thousands of tine antennas helped Aereo with scaling its service up quickly.

The justices did not buy Frederick's words as Chief Justice John Roberts said that companies often tend to circumvent legal prohibitions with their technological models.

Frederick emphasized that Aereo was renting antennas and video recording equipment to its customers, so the customers were the ones who made copies of programs and privately viewed them, therefore any liability related to unauthorized copies would go back to the customers - not to the company.

In conclusion, the justices were not willing to overturn Cablevision, a court decision that established the legality of modern cloud computing services back in 2009. The justices pointed out that the Cablevision decision became settled law, so any potential arguments based on Cablevision would result in different results for Aereo, so it looks like some justices are willing to rule against Aereo in a way that would not seriously endanger the cloud economy.

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Some of the questions that I'd like to ask

How would you define a successful entrepreneur?

How did you come up with your idea of starting…?

Do you have any tips for young entrepreneurs?

What kind of people do you serve?

How can a young entrepreneur get his/her idea funded?

What characters traits are needed in order to stay successful in business?

What were some of the challenges that you had to face before launching your idea?

How would you describe Chicago's entrepreneurs? Are we successful as a city?

Is it easier for new entrepreneurs to enter the 'scene' now in your opinion?

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Chicago local news & entertainment entrepreneurs

Before researching local entrepreneurs, I thought that Chicago has a strong scene of creative people who specialize in news & entertainment. However, my hypothesis was quite wrong - as I initially thought that News & Entertainment entrepreneurs are on the rise in Chicago. I've started my research on Built in Chicago, moving it to google afterwards. Notable entrepreneurs include Newser, a company founded in October of 2007. Newser currently has 9 total employees, 5 of which are locally employed. Newser focuses on choosing the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of sources, reducing them to a headline, two paragraphs and a picture. The company works well to some people, as not everyone has time and energy to read complete stories. Patrick Spain is an executive chairman of Newser lives in Chicago. Spain has a very rich professional background - from being a co-founder of Hoover's, Inc. to being the CEO of High Beam Research.

Time Out Chicago can be described as one of the most successful, privately held companies that focus on news and entertainment. Time Out currently has 74 employees that work together in order to bring everything that relates to Chicago - from weekly events to daily news.

From what I've found out. Time Out does not cover just the Windy City - it covers many large cities around the world. Laura Baginski is an editor for Chicago's Time Out.

Legacy.com is a company founded in Evanston, IL. It was founded in January of 1998. Statistics found on Built in Chicago can tell us that the company is quite powerful, as the number of its employees exceeds a 100 and it's funding sums up to $6.5 million. The company can be described as an online media company which collaborates with more than 800 newspapers from all over the world - providing ways for readers to express condolences - in addition to sharing remembrances of loved ones.

Stopher Bartol is the CEO of legacy.com

[kamilmobile]

Social Media Audit

My Facebook profile can be described as quite completed, although I did not fill out my 'about me' section in many details. For example, I did not fill out my 'job' window, because I don't feel like it is relevant for everyone to know where I am working. My school sections are pretty much filled out, but I did not fill my 'relationship' field, because I don't see it as necessary for the internet to know. I am mostly using Facebook for interacting with people that I know, expanding my connections in terms of creating music, writing and reading. I tend to prefer Facebook because it is a helpful tool as it allows me to reach my friends from all over the world. It is easy to use. It is convenient and it is handy and fast! Jake Malooley - a managing editor from Chicago Reader could not be found on Facebook, but he is a journalists whose social media presence I admire. My Google+ account was created as soon as I began using my gmail, but honestly - I am not a big fan of Google+ in general since it was always extremely hard for me to use google's social platform. I am extremely used to Facebook and almost all of the people that I know are on Facebook, so tend to avoid checking my google+ as nobody follows me there. I've set it up and completed the profile so people could reach me somehow by googling my name, but other than that I do not have any goals related to Google+. Jake Malooley seems to share my point of view on google+ as his profile was recently removed (or the url that was supposed to lead to his google+ profile does not work anymore). My instagram account nick is not my real name, because I use it mostly for socializing with my friends. I currently have 101 followers them and the profile is set as private, therefore I have to accept who can follow me. I want to keep it like this, because I don't treat my instagram profile as something public, therefore I do not specifically look at the number of my followers etc. On the other hand, I've recently realized that I should make it a little more public, since I do not act in a bad way on instagram and I do not post anything bad that could harm me in any way. I want to keep using instagram because it is a really good tool - not only in terms of sharing pictures, locations and stories with my followers, but I also treat it as my personal journey - as many pictures and captions bring me back to the past. My goals on instagram circulate around taking better pictures, posting pictures from my journeys, sharing pictures of what interests me etc. Jake Malloley from Chicago Reader does not have a personal instagram account (unless he has it under just his first name etc, so it is hard to talk about him and his connection/interaction with instagram). Looking at my youtube account did not bring me to many conclusions - as I've been using it mostly for college-related assignments and things. I don't have a lot of views on my account and honestly - I don't have any goals related to my youtube account, unless I will decide to do something related to youtube. My music account is different from my school one, so as soon as I'll have a concrete vision, I'd create a new account and work on it. Jake Melloley is mostly a print reporter/writer, so he does not have a youtube account under his real name. My tumblr account related to my mobile journalism class, so I only post things related to the course there. I owned a personal blog before, but I've decided to make it private, because I was not relating to the stuff that I've been posting there over the last couple years. Tumblr is still a relatively new platform for me, but I don't see how I'll use it in the future, as I'd like to depend on two/three platforms plus my website instead of maintaining all of those social platforms. None of my friends is on tumblr. A few of them prefer wordpress, so I don't have any goals of using tumblr in the future - unless something will change and I'll want to post my stories there. As of now, I'd rather create my own website and do it there. Jake Melloley from Chicago Reader does not have a tumblr… Twitter has been an extremely useful tool to me, but I need to admit that I have not used twitter before coming to Columbia. I mostly use twitter to keep up with current news, but I also retweet and post stories that are interesting to me. As of now, I only have 33 followers, but I hope that this number will increase as I will begin engaging in conversations with people there. I want to use this social media platform because it allows me to stay up to date with the people, institutions and news outlets that I follow. I am aware that I still need to work on my twitter account. Jake Malooley has a much stronger twitter presence, having a total of 706 followers.

Finally, I should start thinking about getting my linkedin account...

Jake already has one.

[kamilmobile]

O’hare Blue Line Train Crash Story (Update #4)

http://www.nbcchicago.com/traffic/transit/CTA-Blue-Line-Service-to-Resume-at-OHare-Sunday-253065971.html?fullSite=y&_osource=SocialFlowTwt_CHBrand Finally, the most recent story which relates to O'Hare Blue Line crash focused on the station itself, saying that CTA restored Blue Line service between the O'Hare and Rosemont stations. Normal service at O'Hare International Airport Station was restored on Sunday, so it took almost a week to repair the station after a crash that took place on Monday. Rail service was restored around 2 p.m. on Sunday. The crash caused nearly $6 million in equipment damage, but luckily nobody was fatally injured. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/03/31/blue-line-station-at-ohare-gets-first-rush-hour-test-since-crash/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter The story, published on CBS Chicago on Monday focused on the station itself, adding that since the O'Hare International Airport station reopened the service has been relatively smooth - as no delays or other problems were reported. Reopening the station influenced the commuters who happily returned to normal traveling schedules after having to rely on bus shuttles between Rosemont and O'Hare that were operating for six days during which the station was closed due to repairs. The story went back to the crash, adding that when and why it happened, providing a number of people that were injured. The National Transportation Safety Board stated that the crash caused a $6 million in damage to the train - not specifying how much damage was caused to the station. The malfunctions of an automated brake systems are still being discussed and investigated, so as on right now - we still do not know exactly what happened on the technical side. The train derailed and smashed into the escalator, so as of right now - the damaged escalator was replaced by a wooden staircase which will be eventually replaced by a brand new escalator. During the repairs, CTA also installed a wooden barricade at the end of the center platform, where the train jumped the tracks, which could be described as another safety device. As a result of the crash, the CTA reduced the speed limit for trains entering the station from 25 mph to 15 mph, moving the track trip system further from the end of the track, giving trains more room to stop in cases of emergencies. Finally, it became known that at least five people who were hurt in the crash filed lawsuits against the CTA, seeking financial damages to reimburse them for their hospital costs and injuries.

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O’hare Blue Line Train Crash Story (Update #3)

http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/Train-Operator-Behind-OHare-Crash-Identified-252975611.html The CTA Blue Line operator who admitted falling asleep at the controls had a very chaotic and intense work schedule that definitely played a role in the crash that happened at Blue Line O'Hare station on Monday. The operator was finally identified as a 25 year-old Brittney T. Haywood from Chicago. Haywood had worked nearly 70 hours in the seven days before the accident. She suffered injuries to her back, neck and legs during the accident. The follow up story, published by NBC Chicago earlier today makes us aware that Haywood has been charged with crimes in the past, including domestic battery in 2006, reckless conduct in 2008, another domestic battery and damage to property in 2010, and misdemeanor gambling in 2013. All of the charges against Haywood were dismissed. The transit union that represents Haywood, and all motormen in CTA is focused on working conditions, so Haywood's past was not discussed. During the news conference which was held yesterday, Robert Kelly, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308, said that Haywood was an extra board member, an operator which fills in for other operations, taking various hours and shifts in any given week. As Haywood's schedule changes daily she has to call in order to find out about her next shift. Prior to the crash, she worked Saturday evening until 4:30 p.m. and started again on Sunday at 8 p.m. Haywood confessed that she was dealing with personal issues during her 16-17 hour break. Haywood began working for CTA as a motorman about 60 days ago, but she was with the company for the past year, working as a flag man. Kelly said that Haywood's "strange" and "inconsistent" hours caused the crash. The CTA officials accused Kelly of providing false and misleading information in order to divert the attention away from his union. The information given by CTA stated that Haywood worked not nearly 70 hours, but 55 hours in the seven days preceding the incident. During the conference, CTA officials replied that the operator requested additional hours and it was her right, based on the collective bargaining agreement. Kelly replied that the incident torn Haywood into pieces and he will support her with the union, fighting the CTA if it will seek to fire her. Kelly pointed out that the safety mechanisms failed, so it was not only the operator's fault. As the blame game continued, the O'Hare station will reopen this weekend, according to CTA officials. Here is another story about the blame game between CTA and the Union, published by CBS Chicago http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/03/28/blame-game-between-cta-union-continues-in-wake-of-ohare-train-crash/ The coverage is detailed, newsworthy, current and informative to the audience in my opinion. As more stories are being written, we are finding out more details about what caused the crash that happened at O'Hare. Many important details have been added since my last update (ID of the operator, facts about her, 'the blame game'). Many important pieces of the puzzles are still missing. What caused the failure of the safety mechanisms? Is the operator available for an interview? Are there any other operators that work similar hours - filling in for other operators, having a chaotic schedule? The details found in both of the stories add a lot of knowledge about the entire topic, but more details are needed in order to get a completed picture...

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O’hare Blue Line Train Crash Story (Update #2)

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/27/us/chicago-ohare-train-derailment/index.html Following the CTA blue line O'hare crash directed me to CNN's website as I've found out that the train actually went throughout the protective end bumper of its final stop at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, adding that two backup systems did not work as they were supposed to. A fact that the train operator was asleep as the collision occurred cannot be denied as the crash happened at 2:52 am on Monday. A more precised number of those who were injured was reported on CNN recently, reaching 32 people. Luckily, nobody died in the crash. A fact that a driver was a new employee, operating the trains for only 60 days is quite important, looking at the fact that she dozed off at the controls once before - at a Belmont station, passing it while operating the train. A fact that CTA's cameras were observed in order to determine the actual cause of the accident is important, as it was proven that a driver fell asleep before entering the station. Unfortunately, she woke up once the crash happened. A fact that the driver made a fatal mistake is not the only issue, as it became obvious that the brake system failed too. If a driver falls asleep and the controls slips out of his/her hand, the train should stop automatically because of the safety system, but it did not in tis case. A fact that the trim arm was set off the first two 41 feet away from the bumper is extremely important, because there was time to halt the train on time, but it did not happen. More things are being investigated now, as the track's and train's are being closely checked in order to determine why the crash occurred at the first place.

[kamilmobile]

O'hare Blue Line Train Crash Story

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-ntsb-cta-operator-admitted-falling-asleep-before-ohare-crash-20140326,0,2232372.story

A recent news topic that is still covered in the news relates to the CTA blue line crash, which happened this Monday. The O'Hare crash is an example of interesting news because it affects thousands of people - not only the people that were injured, but also thousands of commuters that use the airport and take public transportation to and from it.

As a person who lives in Northwest suburbs, I take blue line to and from school nearly almost every day, so the story affects me directly too. As more details about the crash were revealed, the train operator confessed that she fell asleep right before the crash. The crash happened at the last blue line stop, which is O'Hare and personally - I usually get on and get off at Rosemont - a station which is one stop apart from O'Hare.

On Monday morning, when I was at work, I received a phone call from my grandmother who sounded concerned about the crash. Oddly, my grandmother was never in the U.S. - as she lives in Poland, but she told me that she called me because she knew that it was the same train service that I always take not only to school, but also to the city.

As a nearly 70-year-old, my grandmother does not have internet access at home or the cable TV, but oddly enough - the story about O'Hare train crash was broadcasted and covered over polish public tv channels and radios. This story becomes more interesting as more and more details are being revealed. The operator had one previous accident at Belmont station a few months ago. Certain steps to resume public transportation service at O'Hare airport have to be taken as repairs are conducted and cleaning up is taking place. It'll be interesting to follow this story and see what I'll find out...

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GPS and Reporting

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Scroll kit (team experience)

Working on a group project, dedicated towards Chicago's 177th birthday was challenging due to the fact that we had to use a new platform called scroll kit. Testing scroll kit was not a pleasant experience for me, because I could not set it up the way I wanted it to work because of the number of pages and tools that did not quite work the way I wanted them to work. I appreciate the innovative side of scroll kit, but I did not like it as a platform, because it made me feel more limited - as opposed to platforms that I already know how to use. I understand that a part of being a journalist nowadays requires adapting to new technologies, but I did not find scroll kit as functional as storify, tumblr or even cowbird. As a group, we've gathered a lot information and pictures and grouped our work into subjects (transportation, food, sports & entertainment etc). Putting our work together on the scroll kit page was quite challenging because we had to resize our photographs, struggle with setting a solid background and so on. I generally liked the idea of collaborating with my classmates, but I felt that it was a little overwhelming in terms of jumping into a new platform as we all spent most of our time figuring out how scroll kit worked - as opposed to working on the actual content.

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A Social Media Story storified by Kamil Szalewicz

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Dr. Corey answering questions after his lecture

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Dr. Steven H. Corey, talking about the city of New York and its relationship with garbage dumping