Rethinking the Menu in The Biggest Little City

The city of Reno, which harbors a reputation for being a dusty casino town with dining options limited to all-you-can-eat casino buffets and musty steakhouses, has seen an impressive number of new restaurants call this city home in recent years. Could a food renaissance change the way the public perceives Reno?

Driving east on Interstate 80 from Truckee, the Reno skyline doesn’t look much different than it did 15 years ago. The lights from the high-rise casinos shine bright and the billboards pointing travelers in the direction of loose slot machines and all-you-can-eat lobster buffets are aplenty. This archetypal view of the city hides the fact that that Reno is on the brink of something great: a gastronomic revolution.

In the last decade, the city has seen an impressive number of new restaurants, an emergence of support for local food, and more “foodies” calling Reno their home.

“People used to go to Reno mostly for shopping and maybe cheep ethnic food. They had some dive spots, but nothing world class,” says Billy McCullough, the owner and head chef of Dragonfly Cuisine in Truckee, 30 miles west of Reno. “Nowadays, there are some really great restaurants down there, and people are willing to make the drive and go check it out. ”

Up-and-coming restaurants can transform the character of a city. They can rejuvenate neighborhoods, making rougher ones more alluring, and attract a host of new businesses and residents. In recent years, restaurants have helped transform parts of Oakland, Calif. Once a city known only for its crime-heavy headlines, some Oakland neighborhoods are now vibrant dining destinations.

The creation of Edible Reno-Tahoe, a quarterly publication that promotes and celebrates the abundance of local foods in the Northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe region, is documenting the changes in the Reno food scene. The magazine highlights locally grown foods, eating locally and promotes all of the things that will help to make Reno and the surrounding area a true culinary destination.

“There is a food renaissance happening in Reno now,” says Amanda Burden, Editor of Edible Reno-Tahoe. “There are several factors contributing to this. Because of the poor economy, many people have lost their jobs and are looking for employment and have decided to follow their hearts and open a restaurant.”

Reviving Downtown

In Reno, there is no better example of a restaurant that could change a city than Campo. Step inside Campo, Mark Estee’s new downtown Italian eatery on the Riverwalk, and the feeling of change is instant. The lighting is dim, and the smell of the wood-fired pizza oven overwhelms the senses. The bar and the dining room are packed to the brim. Campo has been open for less than a month, and reservations are already hard to come by.
“The whole experience was great. I felt like I was in San Francisco,” says local food blogger Sophie Karadanis, a Reno native. “The atmosphere was so unique, so hip. It’s always busy; unlike anywhere I’ve been in Reno. And the food, phenomenal.”

Prior to opening Campo, Estee worked at world-renowned San Francisco restaurant Gary Danko and a host of other well-known eateries in the Lake Tahoe area. A few years ago, when the right timing presented itself, Estee decided to make the move to Reno. “I fell in love with this city, I feel love with this spot, the windows, the city feel. I wanted to do pizza, I wanted to do pasta and I wanted it to be affordable. I hoped to bring a level of knowing where your food comes from.”

One clear indication to Estee that Reno was a town on the brink of a food insurgency: Whole Foods. “If you look at any great city or neighborhood that is changing food wise, there is always a Whole Foods in the middle of it and it’s always busy. When there’s a busy Whole Foods, you know that people don’t mind spending the money on good food that and that they care where their food comes from. You can do the math.”

“For the longest time Reno has been a second tier city with gaming as the main focus. The casinos are very important to Reno, and they’ve done a lot of great things here in the past. But, if you’re going to really grow a city, you need great restaurants. My goal, is to grow Reno into a top tier food city,” Estee says.

Estee says he hopes that Campo’s success will inspire other restaurateurs to bring their business to Reno, “By coming down to Reno and doing what I am doing with Campo, I hope I am showing other restaurateurs and people that it can be done.”

Why Reno?

Reno’s unique location makes the city an optimal place for restaurant owners to open new businesses.

“Northern Nevada has tremendous access to farmers all year round,” Estee says.

Local food is often fresher than food coming in from outside the area; it’s also less expensive for restaurants to purchase, creating better profits. Reno is also home to the Great Basin Community Food Co-Op; a community owned grocery store that supports local farmers and sustainable growing and manufacturing practices.

Reno was one of the cities in America hardest hit by the recession. And Reno’s two major industries, gaming and tourism, took a huge blow. The upside to this? Discounted real estate.

“Because of the deprived economy, buildings are cheaper to buy and lease,” says Burden. “Some people are hopping on the chance to nab buildings at low prices and are opening second and third locations as well.”


Estee adds: “My general feeling is that Reno is on an upswing, and we need the whole community to come together. There is a lot of unemployment here, tough times are falling upon a lot of members of the community, and the idea is that by bringing in restaurants like Campo, which is relatively inexpensive, it gives people a place to come and have fun, and shake of those doldrums.”

Other Players

Dish Café & Catering, 4th Street Bistro, and the Old Granite Street Eatery are just a few restaurants that buy and serve almost entirely local, organic, and humanely raised food. These are the kinds of places where Burden sees the biggest changes in Reno diners. “Diners yearn for smoke-free, gaming-free, smaller restaurants that serve healthy, local, natural, and delicious food,” she says. “So new restaurants have popped up to accommodate that desire.”

Justin Owen, owner of the Old Granite Street Eatery, saw a void in the Reno restaurant scene and jumped to fill it. “With Old Granite Street, we wanted to offer diners a place that was casual, affordable and comfortable. We were trying to hit a market we thought was untapped at the time and serve as much local food as possible.”

Owen had seen what food did to Nevada’s other major metropolitan area, Las Vegas, and knew that he wanted to go in another direction. “With Las Vegas, you saw a big insurgence of all of these well-known celebrity chefs making their name inside the casinos, selling their food for a high dollar,” he says.

“In Reno, you can get great food, made by local chefs, at a great price, outside of a casino,” Owen adds. “All of these factors, combined with Reno’s close proximity to so many great activities and everything else Reno has to offer, why wouldn’t you want to go out to eat in Reno?”


Foodies and Farmers Markets

The Urban Dictionary defines a foodie as, “A person that spends a keen amount of attention and energy on knowing the ingredients of food, the proper preparation of food, and finds great enjoyment in top-notch ingredients and exemplary preparation.” New York City and San Francisco are two examples of places that are often described as “foodie towns.” Reno might be next on that list. Foodies run rampant in this city, Tweeting about their experiences and sharing recommendations with other like-minded food aficionados.

“Foodies are searching for something that’s more unique. They’re not looking for all-you-can-eat for $4.99. They put a lot of time and thought where they eat and with that they get something that’s a lot more magical,” says Kristy Crabtree, creator and owner of the Website RenoFoodies.com.

Crabtree sees the recent influx of smaller, locally oriented restaurants as vital piece of the puzzle, “I hope that they succeed. With all of the restaurants, such as Bowl, 4th Street Bistro and Campo, it’s nice to see people enjoying finding those places and seeking them out.”

“A lot of the new restaurants are very community driven,” she says. “The organic and locally grown side of it is so alluring. Eating at a restaurant that serves locally harvested organic food is more appealing than going to a fine dining restaurant or to a steak house like Harrah’s or something of that nature.”

During the warmer months of the year, The Northern Nevada area plays host to six to seven famers markets each night of the week. Besides the produce, there are vendors offering a variety of food, drink, crafts, and other products. Thousands of people attend this market every week. These markets don’t only benefit the public; they also play a part in restaurants. According to Owen, “Local farmers see that restaurateurs and chefs would much rather buy locally and they try to meet the demands and supply to them as much as they can.”

The Casinos Adjust

To stay relevant in this changing environment, the casinos have had to give a little more thought to the quality of the food and the presentation. Sterling’s Seafood Steakhouse inside the Silver Legacy has been the top rated restaurant in Reno on Yelp for over a year, but that hasn’t helped commerce. “Business has gone down about 50% in the last 5 years,” says Morgan Shecklen, who has worked at Sterling’s for over 8 years. “Because of the change in the economy, we have been forced to become more profitable. Sink or swim. People are still going to dine out. They just are going to be more selective and expect more.”

While Sterling’s may have five stars on Yelp, it’s the restaurant’s downtown neighbors that are hopping on the local food bandwagon in an effort to stand out.

“Casinos cater to the tourist masses who visit our town, for the most part. They aren’t as concerned with the distinction of touting local and natural food. However, there are two standouts. Atlantis Hotel Casino has Bistro Napa, which is almost all organic, and Eldorado Hotel Casino has owners and an executive chef who care about good, natural, fresh food,” says Burden.

To Owen, the casinos are helping smaller restaurants in the area thrive. “A lot of what is happening with the food scene in Reno has to do with people’s aversion to casinos. They don’t want to walk by gamers, smokers and the typical casino clientele to get to the restaurant. Heaven forbid you have to use the restroom during your meal, you’re forced to walk through the smoke filled casino floor past the slot machines. It’s not very appealing.”

Mark Steel, manager and Maitre’d at Bistro Napa inside the Atlantis Casino just south of downtown Reno, isn’t too concerned about some of the newer, smaller restaurants opening up around town. In fact, he thinks that the casinos have a leg up in the competition, “Restaurants come and go, it’s the toughest businesses there is. Anyone will tell you that in the restaurant business, it’s all about location. Being inside a casino and close to the convention center, there isn’t a better place to be in Reno.”

Could a food renaissance change the way the public perceives Reno? Only time will tell. But it can’t hurt. “I think it may change some people’s perceptions. But that’s a tough perception to change, especially when we are up against all types of media portraying us at a rundown casino town,” says Burden.

For Campo’s Estee, the answer is simple. “Food could absolutely change people perceptions about this city,” he says. “I already see it happening. Great restaurants breed great chefs, great chefs breed even better restaurants, better restaurants breed more customers, more customers bring in more money and there you have it; a revitalized economy.”

*****

Take a look inside Campo, Reno's Newest Restaurant:



Where should you go to get a taste of what Reno has to offer? Check out this interactive map below:


View Reno: Where to Eat on a larger map


Want more information about Reno’s food scene? Follow these key players on Twitter:

Amanda Burden, Editor of Edible Reno/Tahoe @EdibleRenoTahoe






The Great Basin Food Co-Op @GreatBasinCo_op





Whole Foods, Reno @WFM_Reno





Mark Estee, Chef/Owner of Campo @CAMPORENO





Kristy Crabtree, Reno Foodie @gowestward





Nancy Horn, Owner of DISH Cafe & Catering @Nancydishingup

Map: Where to Eat in Reno

View Reno: Where to Eat in a larger map

This is the start of the map. The name will change and I'm going to add personalized comments for each location.

November 17, 2011: Extracting Thesis Statements

Story: What is I.B.M.’s Watson?

Thesis: Watson, IBM’s artificial intelligence computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language, processes information with speed far superior to that of the average human. However, the new form of artificial intelligence cannot match the human brain’s ability to contemplate subjective answers.

Story: A Solitary Jailhouse Lawyer Argues His Way Out of Prison

Thesis: In 1995 Chris Collins was convicted murder. Over a decade later, after years of arduous investigating in an effort to prove his own innocence and countless setbacks, Collins left prison a free man.

Podcast: Dreaming of Plastic Crates in Haiti:

Haiti has had more than its fair share of problems since a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the country nearly two years ago. Fixing even the simplest of these problems hasn’t been easy. Could addressing poor post harvest techniques, such as the way the mangos are transported in plastic crates, help improve the lives of some of the poorest people on earth?

Discovering a New Side of Reno One Bite at a Time

Driving down highway 80 from Lake Tahoe, the Reno skyline doesn’t look much different than it did 15 years ago. The lights from the high-rise casinos shine bright and the billboards pointing travelers in the direction of loose slot machines and all you-can-eat Lobster buffets are aplenty. But if you look closer, you will find that Reno is on the brink of something great: a gastronomical revolution. For years, Reno has been considered something of a culinary dump, a city of free buffets and generic casino steakhouses. The city has often faced an unfortunate negative stigma that is more or less due to a lack of understanding about the area. But all that is about to change. Recently, the city has seen an impressive number of new restaurants and an emergence “foodies” calling Reno home.

“I used to not look at Reno as competition, the foodies on vacation from the Bay tended to not wander over state lines,” says Billy McCullough, the owner and head chef of Dragonfly Cuisine in Truckee. “Nowadays, you hear more and more about these great new places opening and people driving down to Reno to get dinner while on vacation. That never happened 10 years ago.”

Finalized Thesis with Possible Interactive Elements

Thesis Statement: The city of Reno, which harbors a reputation for being a dusty casino town with dining options limited to all-you-can-eat casino buffets and musty steakhouses, has seen an impressive amount of new restaurants call this city home in recent years. Could a food renaissance change they way the public perceives Reno?

Outline:

Interviews/ Investigations:
-Sterlings Seafood/ Steakhouse
-Loulu's, Chef Troy Cannan
-Amanda Burden, Editor, Edible Reno Tahoe
-Sophie Karadanis, farmers market vendor

• The city has often faced an unfortunate negative stigma that is more or less due to a lack of understand about the area.

• For much of its history, Reno has been considered something of a culinary dump: a city of free buffets and generic casino steakhouses.




POSSIBLE MEDIA COMPONENT: ANIMATED TIMELINE using vuvox.com showing the history of Reno’s restaurants and culture as it pertains to food.


• Unique and not necessary positive factors have always drawn people to the area.
-Examples being the “divorce business” and gambling.

• The creation of culinary focused publications such Edible Reno Tahoe is a step in the right direction.



• The recent influx of local farmers markets to the area.
-Possible interview of farmer’s market vendor

POSSIBLE MEDIA COMPONENT: Photo slide show using Picnik.com

• Examples of other cities that have been changed for the better by food
-Possible interview with food critics from one these cities, and their thoughts on how food can change the way that a city is perceived.

Other digital opportunities to enhance the storytelling or create interactivity that I would like to use:

Google Maps-create an interactive map that showcases the locations of old new restaurants in the area who are helping to change Reno’s food culture.

A Photo Story-Photos of diners, restaurant owners, chefs, food and drinks from all over the city.
-I’d like to use this idea to showcase the variety that Reno has to offer.

Go Hoosiers! (What's a Hoosier?)

Revised Claudia Hanson blog posted below. Since I am in Bloomington, IN this weekend, I figured I'd include a little Hoosier pride in this post in honor of it being Homecoming.

*****
Claudia Hanson: Building a Better Reno

Claudia Hanson may be a key player in the changing the face of Reno, but walking into her home, you’d never know it. The house is a warm and inviting place; the sounds of children playing echo from the upstairs and a fire burns in the wood stove. Hanson’s life is not filled with scandal or uproar, but she is a city official who has a story worth telling.

Claudia and her husband, Nate, have called Glenshire, a small community situated on the Truckee River between Truckee and Reno, their home for the past eight years.

Hanson was raised in Marin County, outside of San Francisco. After graduating High School, she attended California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo, where she studied architecture. Following her graduation from Cal Poly she had a quick stint in the Peace Corps. Upon returning from overseas she started working for the City of Reno and has been there almost consistently ever since.

Claudia began as a Junior Planner working mostly with zoning and special use permits. Over the years, she has seen many changes in her department, most notably in the size of her staff. Like just about every city in the U.S., Reno has faced numerous budget cuts and layoffs have been abundant. When Hanson started she was one of 21 staff members; today, there are only eight.

“Not getting laid off in the past three years,” is one of Hanson’s major accomplishments, she said with a laugh.

Today, her official title is Planning and Engineering Manager. On a given day she proofs and edits staff reports, works on current housing developments, ordinance developments, creates parcels, adjusts boundaries, reviews bonds, secures agreements, and presents staff reports. She is hard working and passionate about her job, a sentiment that is often reiterated by those who are part of Claudia’s life in both a personal and professional capacity.

When speaking to Claudia’s husband, Nate, it is clear that not only is Claudia a committed wife and mother, she also does phenomenal work for the city. Nate is his wife’s biggest fan. “She does one hell of a job. It’s a tough one, he said. The couple celebrated their 12-year wedding anniversary this past year and are very supportive of each others professional endeavors. Nate finds the most interesting aspect of his wife’s career, “her ability to quickly rise into a leadership role.”

Other than not losing her job, Claudia is most proud of the work she has done introducing mixed-used developments to the city.

“It’s good for gentrification, is more centrally located and allows for the less sub-division developments,” she said.

A fairly new concept in the Reno area, mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Brining more mixed-use areas into downtown Reno could bring many positive changes to the area and make downtown a much more efficient area.

In addition to be a hard worker, another attribute Claudia embodies, which is echoed by her friends, family and co-workers, is her kind nature and gracious tendencies. Claudia’s best friend, Michelle Prestowitz, whom she met at a dinner party in 2003, is a champion of Claudia both personally and professionally. Michele also works in the public sector for the Truckee River Watershed Council. In addition to having children that are the same age, Michele said that she was, “attracted by Claudia’s combination of wit, intellect, enthusiasm for the outdoors, and ability to call it like she sees it.” Michele’s high praise for Claudia continues when she speaks of Claudia’s ability to thrive in a male dominated industry.

Claudia is “just a really impressive person, someone who understand herself and stays true to her values,” Michele said. “Someone you feel can really get things accomplished, but not too big for her britches.”

Donald Naquin worked under Claudia as a landscape architect for the City of Reno until last year, when the time came to cutback on staff the city laid him off. Although Donald is still slightly resentful about his early termination, when he speaks of Claudia, there is a clear change in his tone. During their time working together, Claudia and Donald operated side by side on a wide array of projects, including all the major commercial and industrial projects developed in the city. Some of the well known projects they worked on were the Summit Sierra Shopping Center, ReTrac Land Use, and Cabelas. He still has fond memories of his time working with Claudia that date back to some of their first meetings together.

“When I first met Claudia she and some other planners took the time to put me in a car and take me around the city to look at past, present and future projects, the entire time asking my opinion on what I thought and what I might have done differently to improve the look of the projects,” he said. “As a new employee it made me feel that my opinions would be valued and that I was welcome.”

Even though loosing his job was tough for Donald, he made sure to note that to this day he and Claudia remain great friends.

The last time Claudia was interviewed, she was being questioned by a Reno Gazette Journal reporter about “risqué” strip club signage in downtown Reno. Strip clubs and casinos aside, Claudia is happy to be helping develop Reno in to a thriving city, “as long as there are positive changes being made, I’ll sleep well at night.”

Claudia Hanson: Building a Better Reno

Walking into the home of Claudia Hanson, one would never know they are walking into the home of a woman who is one of the key players in changing the face of Reno. Claudia and her husband Nate have called Glenshire, a small community situated on the Truckee River between Truckee and Reno, their home for the past 8 years. It is warm and inviting place; the sounds of children playing echo from the upstairs and a fire is burning in the wood stove. Claudia’s life may not be filled with exciting scandal and uproar, but she is a bright woman who has a story worth telling.

Claudia Hanson was raised in Marin County, outside of San Francisco. After graduating High School, she attended California Polytechnic, more commonly known as Cal Poly, and majored in Architecture. Following her graduation from Cal Poly she had a quick stint in the Peace Corps and upon returning from overseas she started working for the City of Reno and has been there almost consistently ever since. Claudia began working for the City of Reno as a Junior Planner working mostly with zoning and special use permits. Over the years, she has seen many changes, most notably in the size of her staff. When she first began in the planning divisions there were 21 staff members, today, there are only 8. Just like every other town in America, The City of Reno has faced numerous budget cuts and layoffs have been abundant. When asked about the most significant milestones in her career, Claudia jokingly remarks, “Not getting laid off in the past three years.”

Today, her official title is Planning and Engineering Manager. On a daily basis, you will find her proofing and editing staff reports, working on current [housing] developments, ordinance developments, creating parcels, adjusting boundaries, reviewing bonds, securing agreements, and presenting staff reports-just to name a few. She is extremely hard working and passionate about her job, a sentiment that often reiterated by those who are part of Claudia’s life in both a personal and professional capacity.

When speaking to Claudia’s husband Nate, it is clear that not only is Claudia a wonderful wife and mother, she also does phenomenal work for the City of Reno. When questioned about what Nate thought of Claudia’s choice in career, he emphatically replied, “She does one hell of a job. It’s a tough one.” The couple celebrated their 12-year wedding anniversary this past year and are very supportive of each others professional endeavors. Nate finds the most interesting aspect of his wife’s career, “her ability to quickly rise into a leadership role.”

Other than not being laid off in the past three years, Claudia is most proud of the work she has done introducing mixed-used developments to the city, “It’s good for gentrification, is more centrally located and allows for the less sub-division developments.” A fairly new concept in the Reno area, mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Brining more mixed use areas into downtown Reno could bring many positive changes to the area and make downtown a much more efficient area.

In addition to be a hard worker, another attribute Claudia embodies which is echoed by her friends, family and co-workers is her kind nature and gracious tendencies. Claudia’s best friend Michelle Prestowitz, whom she met at a dinner party in 2003, is a champion of Claudia both personally and professionally. Michele also works in the public sector for the Truckee River Watershed Council. In addition to having children that are the same age, Michele remarked that she was, “attracted by Claudia’s combination of wit, intellect, enthusiasm for the outdoors, and ability to call it like she sees it.” Michele’s high praise for Claudia continues when she speaks of Claudia’s ability to thrive in a male dominated industry and notes that Claudia is, “Just a really impressive person; someone who understand herself and stays true to her values- someone you feel can really get things accomplished, but not too big for her britches.”

Donald Naquin worked under Claudia as a landscape architect for the City of Reno until last year, when in lieu of recent cutbacks, the city laid him off. Although Donald is still slightly resentful about his early termination, when he speaks of Claduia, there is a clear change in his tone. During their time working together, Claudia and Donald operated side by side on a wide array of projects including all the major commercial and industrial projects developed in the city including Summit Sierra Shopping Center, ReTrac Land Use, and Cabelas. He still has fond memories of his time working with Claudia that date back to some of their first meetings together, “When I first met Claudia she and some other planners took the time to put me in a car and take me around the city to look at past, present and future projects. The entire time asking my opinion on what I thought and what I might have done differently to improve the look of the projects. As a new employee it made me feel that my opinions would be valued and that I was welcome.” Even though being loosing his job was tough for Donald, he made sure to note that to this day he and Claudia remain great friends.

The last time Claudia was interviewed, she was being questioned by a Reno Gazette Journal reporter about “risqué” strip club signage in Downtown Reno. While unfortunately this issue appears to still be in the press, there is no doubt that the work Claudia is doing for the City of Reno and her passion for making the city a better place is a much more deserving topic. Strip clubs and casinos aside, Claudia is helping to develop Reno in to a thriving city, one building at a time.

If the photo above of Antipasta Mista (marinated olives, roasted peppers, gorgonzola & fresh mozzarella, roasted garlic, proscuitto, salami & mortadella with grilled toast) doesn't make you salivate then hopefully these ideas to enhance my final project will:

A Photo Story:
Showing who the real “game changers” have been in the Reno food scene.

A List:
Of resources for those who are interested in becoming involved in local food groups and events.

Sound Effects:
The sounds of cooking and eating: the sizzle of butter on a hot pan, the sound of a whisk hitting a bowl, people chewing with simultaneously having a conversation, the sound of a drink being poured.

An Interactive Map:
An easy to use map showing people where they can go to experience new restaurants and new foods- “5 places within 5 blocks.”

A Panel:
A discussion with the consuming public, chefs, restaurant owners and experts about how food can change the face of a city, and how this is happening in Reno.

My Dad Would Be Proud

I come from a long family lineage of lawyers. My dad is a lawyer, a pretty good one at that. He is a member National Board of Trial Advocacy, and has been voted one of California’s “Super Lawyers” for 8 years in a row. A lot of people assumed that I would choose law as a career, but it never interested me. Most of his friends are lawyers, and their children have gone on to become either lawyers or doctors. One is even a brain surgeon-talk about pressure. I thought I was going against the grain by choosing a career as a journalist-apparently they are more similar than I originally thought.

Scott Glogovac, is an attorney at the Reno based firm Burton, Bartlett & Glogovac. In addition to his many clients, Glogovac also represents the Reno Gazette Journal. He came and spoke to our class about how the law and journalism apply to each other and how as journalist we go about requesting and obtaining documents. Prior to meeting Scott, I was unaware that the majority of media companies have lawyers on staff to help gain access to public records. Glogovac remarked that, “The [Reno Gazette Journal] gets a lot of blow back from government agencies,” however that does not negate the essential fact that, “The most important function of the media and reporters to fulfill their role as public watch dogs.” Three principal things in the law that help reporters carry out these duties:

Pubic Records Law
This law exists at both a state and federal level and includes the FOIA, The Freedom of Information Act. The primary purpose of this law is to allow members of the public and media to obtain records. The key provision in this law states that all public books and records of a government entity must be open at all times during office hours to inspection by any person. If the records are requested via email, they must respond in 5 days, and they are allowed to charge a fee for their services. Even though a document is public, if there is some privacy interest in the document, that can outweigh the publics access to the record and then it becomes a private record.

Open Meeting Law
“The Open Meeting Law supports the principle that the democratic process depends on the public having knowledge about the considerations underlying governmental action. The Open Meeting Law requires that most meetings of governmental bodies to be held in public.” Although this law now pertains to the majority of the 50 states, it was enacted in 1960 in Nevada. Specifically in the state of Nevada, it is required that the public have access to have “minutes,” and that the minutes must preserved for 7 years and additionally, the meeting must be recorded by audio. This applies to any government body that exists through taxpayers for funding.

The First Amendment:
Last but certainly not least, Scott discussed the First Amendment, which guarantees the public and the media access to judicial proceedings. If public and media access jeopardizes the accused to a fair trial then there can be limitations places on public and media access. One example Scott gave of this happening was when former NFL player OJ Simpson tried is Las Vegas.

To conclude his lecture, Glogovac pointed out that, “There is no reason why the media can’t cover all three major branches of government.” He explained to our class that government agencies tend to think that the media isn’t fair since they assume that if you’re asking for information, you are going to say something negative about them. And from the perspective of a lawyer, there is a governmental hesitation to cooperate with reporters for the same reasons. However, the “real world” does not tend to be forthcoming about offering information to reporters so we must be persistent.

Note: My parents never actually encouraged me to become a lawyer and are very supportive of my career choice (here's to hoping it eventually leads to a career). I think my parents might Google me, so if you're reading this, thanks!!

IRH Assignment #1

1.Pick a local topic worth investigating:
After a week of ongoing searching spanning across the borders of Nevada into California, The University of California in conjunction with San Francisco police have arrested Ernesto Manuel Gonzalez, the suspect in the slaying of the president of a Hells Angels chapter at a Nevada casino. He is being held pending the arrival of police from Sparks, Nev., where he is accused of killing Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew inside a casino on Sept. 23. Sources say that video surveillance footage shows Gonzalez shooting

2.Come up with at least three secondary sources that have previously covered the story locally.

a.Reno Gazette Journal
b.KPIX/ KCBS San Francisco
c.KOLO Chanel 8 Reno
d.KTVN Chanel 2 Reno

3.Find the names of at least three people-either reporters, experts or other sources-who would be worth contacting if you decide to investigate this further.

a.Police Reporter, Jaclyn O'Malley (775) 788-6331 jomalley@rgj.com
b.Kellene Stockwell-KTVN-TV (CBS-2)
c.KCBS/KPIX Reporter- Holly Quan
d.Jimmy Arnett San Jose Hells Angles press contact-SanJose81@hamcsj.com

Charismatic Local: Reporter Frank X. Mullen

Frank Mullen sure does like to tell stories. He likes it so much; he’s managed to do it for a living for the past two decades. Mullen has been with the Reno Gazette-Journal for 20 years and is senior reporter. He has been telling stories for as long as he can remember and is what some people might consider to be a jack-of-all-trades. Prior to telling stories as a reporter, he told stories as a truck driver and as a car mechanic. Standing in a classroom surrounded by a couple dozen new Mac computers and students glued to their laptops and iPads, it’s hard not to think that Frank would have fit in a litter better at a newsroom where typewriters and telegraphs were the norm. He claims to understand Morse code and if you didn’t know any better, you might mistake him for a railroad conductor.

But make no mistake, Frank is a worthy storyteller and respectable reporter. Telling stories as a career is not something that has come easily to Frank, and he warns those interested in pursuing it as a career that it is a skill that he has honed over the years to insure that he is “great at it.”

Frank likes complicated stories, stories that require investigation and makes him ask the question, “what the hell?” Many people think that story telling in 2011 is all about technology, according to Frank, that shouldn’t be the case since you don’t have to depend on technology for the use of your brain.

Frank offers a lot of advice to us inspiring journalist-but most importantly he reminds us to find ways around the roadblocks, to know the experts and to rely on them. It is very hard as a reporter working on a deadline to obtain the knowledge of someone who has ben working in a profession his or her entire life. You simply cannot match them.

He cautions that being a journalist is about being a good reporter and also about feeding the monster-we must have persistence. Lastly, he wants all storytellers out there to know that the most important thing about the story is not the documents or what you find on the internet-the most important thing is the human aspect, “The human story beats the hell out of everything else.”

For more information about Frank check out http://frankxmullen.com/

The Social Journalist: @mchancecnn

“#Rixos crisis ends. All journalists are out! #rixos”

A few weeks ago, we watched the country of Libya begin to breath once again, after years of being suffocated by the regime of Moammar Kadafi'. At the heart of this fight was a group of 35 journalists from around the world, being held inside the Rixos hotel, located in the center of Tripoli. The hotel grounds were surrounded by armed Kadafi' forces who also made their presence known in the lobby and for five days the journalist were told that they could not leave.

One of the journalists hulled up in the Rixos was Matthew Chance, a senior international correspondent for CNN based in Moscow. During his traumatic time being “held hostage” his broadcasted his story and that of his fellow journalist to the world via Twitter. He engulfed Twitter with information, detailing every stage of a situation which many feared would end in disaster-many of the journalist spoke after their release saying that they feared they would eventually be executed or used in some way by the regime as collateral.

Matthew’s tweets allowed his followers and the rest of the world to get a view of the crisis in Libya, and the situation inside the Rixos unlike any other. During a time of such heightened emotions and with so many channels of information to filter through, Matthews tweets were a way to get straight to the facts. He tweeted exactly what was happening, as it happened, not taking into consideration the possible risks he was taking. Additionally, since Kadafi' forces had taken away their telephone access, Twitter was the only way for those being held inside the hotel to communicate with their loved ones.

"I think as you're following somebody, you can really get a sense of what's going on in a more intimate way than virtually any other medium," Matthew told the BBC a few weeks after the event. "I felt that I was communicating with a whole bunch of people who wanted to know more. Twitter offered a much fuller, more intimate look inside the hotel.”

At the start of the crisis, Chance had 700 followers on Twitter. By the time of his release from the Rixos Hotel, this number had grown to 22,000.

My final project-Yes, this is only week 3 of classes.

Thesis Statement: Reno has inspiring and groundbreaking potential, as it moves out of an incubation stage of coolness to a full blown cool status. A town thriving with history, culture, entrepreneurial spirit, and an absurd amount of natural beauty, it is unfortunate that this little city is constantly being short changed. In recent years, the city has seen an impressive amount of new restaurants and cuisines call this city home. Far too many people think of Reno a place for the loose slots and not as a culinary destination. Many cities in the world have changed they way the public perceives them through food-can Reno do the same?

• The city has often faced an unfortunate negative stigma that is more or less due to a lack of understand about the area
• For much of its history, Reno has been considered something of a culinary dump: a city of free buffets and generic casino steakhouses.
• Unique factors have always brought people to the area. Examples being the “divorce business” and gambling.
• The arrival of celebrity chefs to the area such as Charlie Palmer at the Grand Sierra Resort.
• The creation of culinary focused publications: Edible Reno Tahoe.
• The recent influx of local famers markets to the area.
• Other cities that have been changed for the better by food; Oakland, and Ashland OR.
• Can Reno revamp it’s image? Is this necessary? And if so, where does food come into play?

Introductory Post: Why am I perusing a degree in journalism and what are my expectations?

I graduated college in May of 2008, at the beginning of a global financial crisis that some economist say could end up being the worst financial crisis since the great depression. I began looking for career-oriented jobs sometime around February of my Senior year of college. The problem was that there weren’t any jobs that wanted to be found. For over a decade it had been engrained into my brain that education and hard work were the keys to success. What about all of the promises that if I went to college, and received high marks that I could do no wrong? I had always assumed that if I did everything “right,” my dream career would just fall into my lap within moments of receiving my diploma. Wrong.

I took a job in PR in San Francisco because I decided that was better than being unemployed and living with my parents. After my previous internships in Boston, working in tech PR was about as satisfying as sugar free, dairy free ice cream. I lasted a total of 9 months before the company I was working for laid off 70% of their staff due to hard economic times and I found myself back at square one. I then decided to take a year off, move to Tahoe, and ski. After one year of waitressing, I not only yearned for a larger p aycheck, but I craved intellectual discourse as well. I wanted to be around people who were smarter than me and who wanted to teach. I wanted to get back to the heart of journalism. Since the economy hadn’t changed much and the jobs still weren’t there, I decided that going back to school and learning to become a better journalist was a great option. I wasn’t ready to leave Tahoe and the piece of mind that living in the mountains afforded me, so UNR seemed perfect.

So let’s rewind. Why journalism? Growing up I wasn’t allowed to watch TV on school nights. The first time I ever defied this rule, my mom caught me watching the KTVU Chanel 2 10 o’clock news. It fascinated me; for as long as I can remember I found real life more “entertaining” that fiction. I wasn’t sure which part of the industry I wanted to be a part of, but I just knew it was for me. I declared journalism as my major at freshman orientation and the next five years were the best of my life. My first TV production teacher told me I had “promise” as an on air reporter and “knack” for story telling.

My junior year of college I interned at CNN. Those 8 months solidified my decision to work in broadcast journalism. I learned and experienced more during that time then I had during the previous 3 years in school. I went straight from my internship with CNN to New England Cable News where I worked as an assistant to the chief political reporter during the 2008 Primary elections in New Hampshire. Once again, the experiences were priceless and it made me even hungrier on my quest to becoming a reporter.

I hope that my education and time spent as a graduate student at UNR allows me to be the best journalist I can be, and prepares me for whatever happens next in my career. I would love to leave UNR with a greater and more thorough understanding of what it means to be a journalist in the 21st century.

Cupcakes and Commas?

As an assignment for my Journalistic Writing class, I was instructed to create a blog. With very little guidance (aka creative freedom), I decided that I would name this blog after the two things in life that I tend to indulge in: Cupcakes and Commas.

From here on out, this will be a place where I post assignments for the course. Hopefully, they won't contain too many commas and writing them won't drive me to eat too many cupcakes. Am I funny yet?

Happy Labor Day weekend to my one loyal follower-Professor, please be kind.

-Marissa

note: The photo above was taken in Ashland, OR at Larry's Cupcakes.
Flavor: Red Velvet
Scale of 1-10 on the deliciousness scale: 10