My mom used to take my sister and I crawdad fishing. It's definitely a core memory
Correspondent at APM Reports with Sold a Story. Alum: NBC News, Carolina Public Press, The News Tribune, Skagit Valley Herald. FOIA and transparency enthusiast, data digger. notiFOIA founder. Pulling back the curtain on ██████████. kmartin@apmreports.org
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My mom used to take my sister and I crawdad fishing. It's definitely a core memory
I've ordered takeout from Med Deli and picked it up from their temp location on Franklin Street many times. It appears takeout is paused due to the imminent reopening of it's prime location though.
Annunciation shooter appeared to have fascination with mass killings
Good grief
"For 50 years, we’ve been mapping a timeline of progress of our high school system, and we’re going to have a big blank," @agamoran.bsky.social recently told @apmreports.org https://www.apmreports.org/story/2025/08/21/trump-cancels-survey-of-high-schoolers
NAEP is one of the few education initiatives Trump has vowed to preserve. But the administration has slashed staff responsible for keeping tests up to date. And the board overseeing the assessment has eliminated more than a dozen tests, citing “cost efficiencies.” www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...
Hooray for breakfast pizza!
That entire album is amazing
I had an editor who kept a bottle of wild turkey at his desk in the mid 2000s, so yeah.
That might be a verbatim quote from when I found the chocolate
I didn't realize it was there until I got back to the newsroom and gave it to an editor to dispose of
I've never been offered money (that I know of, I can be pretty dense sometimes) but one time a woman had her landscaper leave an unreasonable amount of luxury dark chocolate in the back seat of my old Ford Taurus
Multiple complaints from faculty, administration, staff and students. Why was nothing done again? apnews.com/article/kohb...
Wow. This is fantastic.
Paging @seanrobinson1e4.bsky.social
Nursing homes are designed to care for patients with physical infirmities. But nationwide, 1 in 5 residents has been diagnosed with a serious mental illness — conditions few of the facilities are equipped to handle. By @egawthrop.bsky.social: www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...
And of course, now that you must put your destination in before requesting a ride, Uber drivers now know where you live.
Uber isn't a dating app. These people are just trying to get to where they are going. Sheesh.
From the article: Ms. Nilles said that about 75 percent of the 400,181 reports were “less serious,” such as making comments about someone’s appearance, flirting or using explicit language.
It's key to remember, this is only reported SA and misconduct. The actual figures are likely much higher. As a reporter who covers sexual assault, I am not at all surprised. SA and misconduct is much more common than anyone wants to believe.
Uber received a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct in the United States almost every eight minutes on average between 2017 and 2022, sealed court records show, a level far more pervasive than what the company has disclosed. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/b...
New on #LabNotes www.apmresearchlab.org/blog/how-abn... by @craigstetter.bsky.social
Source: "I saw another snake in my garage and thought of you"
Ohhhnooooo! Are you ok?
So when I ask for records, I sometimes say "I'd like the documents or records that contain this information" and then describe the information in detail. That can get you somewhere!
Every now and then you get a government official who calls or writes back saying "Hey we don't have that, but we have this other thing that has the information you want" but never count on that. It's sometimes impossible to know what docs a government has.
Government officials can truthfully say "We don't have a document called that" if it doesn't exist. That's how a lot of reporters get tripped up when using state and local FOIA. They ask for docs in the colloquial name or term, but the government doesn't have that document in that way.
Because people don't name their documents that way. Jeffrey Epstein probably didn't create a document called "The Epstein List". The only people calling it that mean it colloquially: We want a list of people who did these terrible things. Sure, government officials probably know what you mean.
Happy #FOIAFriday and good morning. Let's talk about records and what they are called. By way of example, let's talk about the Epstein List. If you FOIA for "The Epstein List" I'd be surprised if you get a response, especially if government officials don't want you to have it. Why?
Wild Kingdom outside my home office
Here's @katereports.bsky.social on the impact of her reporting on Illinois hospitals. Full story: www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...
I'm watching The Bear and btw, Carmy can't make a phone call from inside a Farraday cage. In this TED talk I will...
Too true
aaron parsley’s incredible, horrifying, somehow beautiful essay about what happened to him and his family last weekend on the guadalupe river is one of the best and most moving things you will read this year (content note: child loss) www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
There's a scam going around claiming you have traffic tickets and asking you to pay the NCDMV to avoid consequences. Look closely at the URL. That's fake. Be careful out there.
It's a gut punch
Mark Hortman loved his kids, playing pool and being “arm candy” for his legislator wife. He was even making a dandelion-picking robot to help with her gardening. www.mprnews.org/story/2025/0...
Big, if true
NBC did a report a few years back looking at access to sexual assault nurse examiners. You can see that here: www.nbcnews.com/health/sexua...
If you are a rape survivor, I see you.
APM Reports was the first in the nation to report these violations and talk to these sources. If public media is important to you, let your reporters know and talk to people about our value.
Turns out patients all across Illinois were being told to travel dozens of miles away when hospitals closer to home can help them. You can read the original report from last year here: www.apmreports.org/story/2024/0...
To put it bluntly, she was furious. The doctor in Cheryl's case told her she couldn't have been raped because she's tall and fat, and that nobody in Anna would use a date rape drug. He then told her if she wanted a rape kit they would have to send her 80 minutes away to a town she didn't know.
I met Cheryl Thompson by sheer luck. Our photographer shot pics of the first victim and her family and by happenstance heard from someone who knew Cheryl and said she wanted to talk to someone about what happened to her in Anna Illinois.
My audio debut (embedded in this article) is worth a listen. Cheryl Thompson wasn't aware the state Senate had passed a law in part inspired by her horrible experience at a hospital after a man sexually assaulted her last year.
Lawmakers have strengthened Illinois’ longstanding sexual abuse survivors law in an effort to ensure patients receive critical care after sexual assault. Reporting by @katereports.bsky.social: www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...
www.cjr.org/analysis/loc...
Have you read "IBM and the Holocaust"? One of my favorite books.
This sounds incredibly interesting
Yay! Way to go!
When I started in journalism 20+ years ago, I was told to "grow a thicker skin" if I wanted to keep covering my beat when an elected official was harassing me (in person!). Now I have quite a few things I would've said or done but back then I didn't have the experience I do now.
If you see someone you know is being harassed online, you should reach out. Otherwise, there’s a good chance they’ll know you saw the harassment and wonder if your silence is a sign that you support or agree with the harasser. This feels like it should be obvious! But most people choose silence.
This is so timely. I'm giving a talk tonight to a group of woman journalists about online harassment. I'm going to include this tip in my talk.
If I die suddenly, I really want my family to just tell people how I died in the announcement. Don’t force people to spend 20 minutes googling.
You aren't allowed to go there without showing what cheese or ice cream you bought.
Managers need to realize it is NEVER worth it to keep an abuser or a predator. It chases away more talent than you know. There is nobody so valuable that you have to put up with this kind of behavior and anyone who hid it who had power to stop it should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.
You are so brave and I'm so sorry.
What a charmer. Sheesh.
NEW! Federal job watch: So far more of a "He-cession" than a "She-cession" Our analysis of BLS data shows a net loss of 15,000 federal jobs for men, compared to 2,000 for women www.apmresearchlab.org/federal-job-... by @egawthrop.bsky.social & @craigstetter.bsky.social
Hilariously, one year, the reporters at one of my workplaces got these incredibly cheap calculators for Christmas. They actually were wrong on many simple math equations.
I'm not interested in being surrounded by sycophantic AI "friends". This sounds disgusting.
www.youtube.com/shorts/QIxpB...
We turned our most recent Sold a Story episodes into a one-hour program for @revealnews.org. You can hear it on public radio stations nationwide this weekend, and here: revealnews.org/podcast/read...
My husband is thrilled.
Why do recipes so underestimate how much garlic you should have anyway?
A relative of mine literally almost bled to death after giving birth because their focus was on the baby after she was born.
It's Monday, Lemon.
Not yet accidentally added to a classified signal chat, but still hoping my FOIAs get answered with that same energy.
Hopefully it's not redacted too much! Grats!
This was one of the first things you ever said to me when I was learning about spreadsheets at an EWA boot camp you were teaching. I was struggling with some open source spreadsheet (before Google sheets) and you gave me a talking to. I definitely needed it and my career and life is better for it.
Sold a Story has a new mini-series. We found a high-poverty school district where nearly every kid can read well. They’ve been teaching the same way for 25 years. But a new law, inspired by our reporting, put that at risk. All three podcast episodes are out now.
My @owasa-nc.bsky.social high water use notifications are basically when I'm doing laundry (I was out of town last week)
Awwe, so kind! Thank you!
Presentation link here: bsky.app/profile/kate...
Everyone has to start somewhere. This was me more than 15 years ago. Anyone can become a data reporter with motivation to learn. More than 900 journalists are here in Minneapolis with @ire-nicar.bsky.social to become better journalists. Thank you for all you do #nicar25
Really crossing my fingers that Minnesota sushi wasn't a bad life choice.
If you missed Data Reporting for Smaller Teams, you can find our slides here: bit.ly/small-data-j Thank you to @justinmyers.net @junyao-yang.bsky.social and Cody Lilich for a great talk!
Come to Data Reporting for Small Newsrooms in Ballroom 2 at 11:30 am. #NICAR25. I guarantee you'll come away with a few tips on time and boss management. If you are on a small data team - or you ARE the data team - there is something for you.
This was such a fun panel, with @tisha.bsky.social and Andrew Pantazi.
Hello #nicar25! If you missed the beginner class on FOIA, great news! Have a look at our slideshow, which includes links to example records request letters, appeal letters and ways to organize your FOIA filings: bit.ly/beginner-foia Happy #FOIAFriday!
Every reader survey says readers want more feel-good stories, yet they click relentlessly on car crashes and disaster stories. They are way better read than most every feature story.
My @apmresearchlab.org, @apmreports.org & @mprnews.org colleagues and I are looking forward to welcoming/ meeting/ learning from all of you attending #NICAR25 later this week! (Don't worry: It may snow ❄️ Tues/Wed, but most of that should melt off on Thurs☀️)
Don't forget Altavista and Netscape navigator
I think of the sexual assault survivors in my life and all of them could've used more support than they got in their hour of need. Too many people didn't want to take sides.
Lol same
Third graders in Steubenville, Ohio, are among the best little readers in the nation. For nearly 20 years, the elementary schools in this economically depressed area have produced better readers than some of the wealthiest places in the country. www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...
A new episode of Sold a Story is available now. Episode 11: The Outlier There's a school district in eastern Ohio where virtually all students become good readers by the time they finish third grade. How did they do it? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...
I'm in Carrboro also!
Tuesday morning at 9 on MPR News, we'll get an update on the powerful podcast "Sold a Story" and hear about the impact it's having nationally on how children are taught how to read. Reporters Emily Hanford and Christopher Peak join me. www.mprnews.org/episode/2025...
Just saw a post where someone said that use of em dashes (—) was a giveaway that you're using AI for writing. Uh, no. It could just mean you like to use em dashes.
I remember when Spurr erupted when I was registering for high school. My grandmother's flight was canceled!
Kat, I am so sorry to hear about this. I've admired your journalism for years. Such a loss for NBC
There's a lot of 3D printers who are going to be really disappointed
What show is this
“Ask a data journalist about the five things they're most proud of and I'll bet you one of them is something that resulted in a single paragraph done on deadline that made a story better.” www.ire.org/seven-reason... @mattwaite.bsky.social
It's our biggest data journalism event of the year! The 2025 NICAR Conference will feature hands-on classes on Datawrapper, OSINT, campaign finance data, web scraping and so much more. There are also beat-focused sessions and classes for beginners. See you in March! schedules.ire.org/nicar-2025/
Working hard on some deadlines coming up next month. I scheduled a car inspection and panicked briefly about the appointment confirmation that said "January 24." Because my brain thought it was already February. 🤦
I've been thinking about getting back into it, actually...
Someone favorited this post, which was one year ago this week. Let’s we if ChatGPT has improved since then! 1/2