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Revision as of 22:10, 10 February 2008
, 22:10, 10 February 2008Rescued GFDL article deleted from Wikipedia in January 2008
Justin_McLachlan:
'''Justin McLaughlin''', also bylined as '''Justin McLachlan''', is a West Virginia [[Investigative journalism|investigative journalist]]. Justin grew up in [[Connellsville]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="connellsville1">[http://web.archive.org/web/20041017011226/www.hstvnews19.com/justin.html Herald Standard Biography], accessed [[July 23]], [[2007]].</ref>
McLaughlin earned a 1st place columnist award from the [[West Virginia Press Association]] and his series on the failed sewer system also won a public service award from the WVPA and resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement after five-years of litigation. <ref name="awards">[http://www.timeswv.com/archivesearch/local_story_217214013.html Times WV state’s ‘Newspaper of the Year’], accessed [[May 28]], [[2007]].</ref> He currently writes the Campus Buzz column for the [[The Dominion Post (Morgantown)]], bylined as McLachlan instead of McLaughlin.<ref name="heraldStandard3">[http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18749859&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=468520&rfi=6 Wikinovel among projects for former area residents], accessed [[August 26]], [[2007]].</ref>
==Work as a Journalist==
Most recently, McLachlan was a [[Times West Virginian]] reporter, though he has also contributed to [[CNN]] and the [[New York Times]]. Prior to coming to West Virginia, he worked for the [[Uniontown]], [[Pennsylvania]] [[Herald Standard]] and its sister television station, HSTV.<ref name="heraldStandard-1">[http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18749859&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=468520&rfi=6 Wikinovel among projects for former area residents], accessed [[August 26]], [[2007]].</ref> He decided to become a reporter after being selected to work for [[Channel One News]] in [[Los Angeles]] while still in high school.<ref name="connellsville2">[http://web.archive.org/web/20041017011226/www.hstvnews19.com/justin.html Herald Standard Biography], accessed [[July 23]], [[2007]].</ref> He spent several years after that as a writer for [[About.com]], a [[New York Times]] Company.<ref name="about.com">[http://web.archive.org/web/20010419183047/kidsnews.about.com/kids/kidsnews/mbiopage.htm About.com Biography], accessed [[July 23]], [[2007]].</ref> According to the [[Washington Post]], McLachlan worked in the second Bush White House in the press office in 2003.<ref name="whitehouse">[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/04/26/BL2005042600494_5.html The Minority Leader, The Washington Post (bottom item)], accessed [[July 22]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name="whitehouse 2">[http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2006/03/undressing_room.php Unfair Park, The Dallas Observer, ''Undressing Room''], accessed [[July 22]], [[2007]].</ref>
==Education==
===Taylor University===
McLachlan graduated from [[Taylor University]] in [[Upland]], [[Indiana]] with a degree in journalism in 2003.<ref name="connellsville">[http://web.archive.org/web/20041017011226/www.hstvnews19.com/justin.html Herald Standard Biography], accessed [[July 23]], [[2007]].</ref>
===West Virginia University===
McLachlan will complete a Master of Science in Journalism from WVU in 2008.{{Fact|date=July 2007}}
==Online work==
{{Original research|date=September 2007}}
===Fifteen Minutes===
As a [[blogger]], McLachlan has continued much of the reporting he started at the Times West Virginian, including a series of articles on the state's Division of Juvenile Services.In 2006, after covering the [[Sago Mine Explosion]], McLachlan wrote a [http://fifteenminutes.box-fire.com/2392/west-virginia-mine-explosion-m personal story] about his time there on the blog. Passages were included in the official Wikipedia entry on the blog and picked up on Metafilter. He also used the blog to expose a Maryland organization that claimed non-profit status when it hadn't received recognition from the IRS and revealed that that author of a controversial, profanity-laced, homophobic fundamentalist blog called ''Dying in Christ'' was really a [[West Virginia University]] student.
===Wikinovel===
McLachlan launched [http://wikinovel.box-fire.com Wikinovel], a collaborative novel similar to Wikipedia, based on another creation: [http://wikiworld.box-fire.com Wikiworld]. Wikiworld is collection of short stories based on the same, collaboratively written characters and settings.<ref name="heraldStandard">[http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18749859&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=468520&rfi=6 Wikinovel among projects for former area residents], accessed [[August 26]], [[2007]].</ref>
"For his projects, McLachlan outlines the story in 'beat sheets' before Wikinovel's contributors start writing and instructs them to stick to basic themes. 'I think people need to follow some kind of plan,' he says. McLachlan has also started Wikiworld, where users write a short story with a provided character and setting."<ref name="pcmag">[http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2182891,00.asp The Sound and the Wiki], accessed [[October 1]], [[2007]].</ref>
==Sharesleuth.com==
In 2007, McLachlan became a gay writer and investigator for [[Mark Cuban|Mark Cuban's]] [[Sharesleuth.com]].
==Romenesko Media Notes==
[[Jim Romenesko]], an American journalist who runs the blog Romenesko on the website of the non-profit journalism school the [[Poynter Institute]] posted an email from McLachlan that said:
<blockquote>I learned what "professional journalists" were like my first few days as a White House intern, where among other things, I answered calls from reporters. ... There was the Today Show producer who called me a moron, the Houston Chronicle reporter who threatened to set off a bomb because no one had called him back, the freelancer who called me 30 times a day for a measly quote for her measly spec article, the camerman who yelled at me because security wouldn't open the gate he wanted them to open, the photographer who had to be man-handled by the Secret Service because he ignored my instructions, the CNBC crew that got in trouble for moving a table in the VP's ceremonial office that I told them not to move and the small-time Pennsylvania newspaper that thought it deserved special access to Tom Ridge, etc. You get the idea. They showed the kind of people "professional journalists" are and I can see from the rude, ageist and downright arrogant comments re: Krystal Grow's column that I was right.<ref name="romenesko">[http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=9369 Romenesko Notes], accessed [[May 29]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name="whitehouse 3">[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/04/26/BL2005042600494_5.html The Minority Leader, The Washington Post (bottom item)], accessed [[July 22]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name="whitehouse 4">[http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2006/03/undressing_room.php Unfair Park, The Dallas Observer, ''Undressing Room''], accessed [[July 22]], [[2007]].</ref></blockquote>
== Public Records Controversy ==
Despite admitting that the school's police force "exercised an executive power of the state" as the APRA required, the public access counselor said that in his opinion, an office of a private school could not be found to be a public agency. <ref name="pac-opinion">[http://www.in.gov/pac/advisory/2003/03-FC-108.pdf 03-FC-108 Alleged Denial of Access to Public Records by the Taylor University Office of Campus Safety (pdf)], accessed [[July 17]], [[2007]].</ref>
According to the Student Press Law Center, McLachlan attempted to appeal the counselor's ruling. "'I respond with force to your opinion because, effectively, it says that the State of Indiana has legally authorized the creation of police forces equal to sheriff's deputies in power and authority, with shared jurisdiction in certain geographical areas, the power to arrest and detain citizens, without government control and public oversight of their operations,' McLaughlin wrote in his appeal," the [http://splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=721 center said].
The complaint garnered media attention and was picked up by the [[Associated Press]] and the Chronicle of Higher Education.<ref name="chronicle">[http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i25/25a00101.htm Judge Orders University to Turn Over Campus Crime Records], accessed [[July 24]], [[2007]].</ref> Despite McLachlan's appeal, the counselor stood by his decision and McLachlan didn't pursue the issue.<ref name="taylorfoia">[http://splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=696&year=2003 Former student says Ind. university withheld campus crime records], accessed [[May 29]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name="taylorfoia2">[http://splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=721&year=2003 Ind. official says private university's police are not subject to open-records law], accessed [[May 29]], [[2007]].</ref>
Later McLachlan won a complaint filed against the Grant County Sherrif's department over records about Taylor University it tried to withhold.<ref name="grantcountyfoia">[http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage Taylor graduate learns importance of open records, by Gail Koch for ''The Muncie Star-Press, (March 19, 2005)], accessed [[May 29]], [[2007]].</ref>
==External links==
*[http://fifteenminutes.box-fire.com Fifteen Minutes]
*[http://wikinovel.box-fire.com Wikinovel]
==References==
<div class="references-small"><references/></div>
'''Justin McLaughlin''', also bylined as '''Justin McLachlan''', is a West Virginia [[Investigative journalism|investigative journalist]]. Justin grew up in [[Connellsville]], [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="connellsville1">[http://web.archive.org/web/20041017011226/www.hstvnews19.com/justin.html Herald Standard Biography], accessed [[July 23]], [[2007]].</ref>
McLaughlin earned a 1st place columnist award from the [[West Virginia Press Association]] and his series on the failed sewer system also won a public service award from the WVPA and resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement after five-years of litigation. <ref name="awards">[http://www.timeswv.com/archivesearch/local_story_217214013.html Times WV state’s ‘Newspaper of the Year’], accessed [[May 28]], [[2007]].</ref> He currently writes the Campus Buzz column for the [[The Dominion Post (Morgantown)]], bylined as McLachlan instead of McLaughlin.<ref name="heraldStandard3">[http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18749859&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=468520&rfi=6 Wikinovel among projects for former area residents], accessed [[August 26]], [[2007]].</ref>
==Work as a Journalist==
Most recently, McLachlan was a [[Times West Virginian]] reporter, though he has also contributed to [[CNN]] and the [[New York Times]]. Prior to coming to West Virginia, he worked for the [[Uniontown]], [[Pennsylvania]] [[Herald Standard]] and its sister television station, HSTV.<ref name="heraldStandard-1">[http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18749859&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=468520&rfi=6 Wikinovel among projects for former area residents], accessed [[August 26]], [[2007]].</ref> He decided to become a reporter after being selected to work for [[Channel One News]] in [[Los Angeles]] while still in high school.<ref name="connellsville2">[http://web.archive.org/web/20041017011226/www.hstvnews19.com/justin.html Herald Standard Biography], accessed [[July 23]], [[2007]].</ref> He spent several years after that as a writer for [[About.com]], a [[New York Times]] Company.<ref name="about.com">[http://web.archive.org/web/20010419183047/kidsnews.about.com/kids/kidsnews/mbiopage.htm About.com Biography], accessed [[July 23]], [[2007]].</ref> According to the [[Washington Post]], McLachlan worked in the second Bush White House in the press office in 2003.<ref name="whitehouse">[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/04/26/BL2005042600494_5.html The Minority Leader, The Washington Post (bottom item)], accessed [[July 22]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name="whitehouse 2">[http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2006/03/undressing_room.php Unfair Park, The Dallas Observer, ''Undressing Room''], accessed [[July 22]], [[2007]].</ref>
==Education==
===Taylor University===
McLachlan graduated from [[Taylor University]] in [[Upland]], [[Indiana]] with a degree in journalism in 2003.<ref name="connellsville">[http://web.archive.org/web/20041017011226/www.hstvnews19.com/justin.html Herald Standard Biography], accessed [[July 23]], [[2007]].</ref>
===West Virginia University===
McLachlan will complete a Master of Science in Journalism from WVU in 2008.{{Fact|date=July 2007}}
==Online work==
{{Original research|date=September 2007}}
===Fifteen Minutes===
As a [[blogger]], McLachlan has continued much of the reporting he started at the Times West Virginian, including a series of articles on the state's Division of Juvenile Services.In 2006, after covering the [[Sago Mine Explosion]], McLachlan wrote a [http://fifteenminutes.box-fire.com/2392/west-virginia-mine-explosion-m personal story] about his time there on the blog. Passages were included in the official Wikipedia entry on the blog and picked up on Metafilter. He also used the blog to expose a Maryland organization that claimed non-profit status when it hadn't received recognition from the IRS and revealed that that author of a controversial, profanity-laced, homophobic fundamentalist blog called ''Dying in Christ'' was really a [[West Virginia University]] student.
===Wikinovel===
McLachlan launched [http://wikinovel.box-fire.com Wikinovel], a collaborative novel similar to Wikipedia, based on another creation: [http://wikiworld.box-fire.com Wikiworld]. Wikiworld is collection of short stories based on the same, collaboratively written characters and settings.<ref name="heraldStandard">[http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18749859&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=468520&rfi=6 Wikinovel among projects for former area residents], accessed [[August 26]], [[2007]].</ref>
"For his projects, McLachlan outlines the story in 'beat sheets' before Wikinovel's contributors start writing and instructs them to stick to basic themes. 'I think people need to follow some kind of plan,' he says. McLachlan has also started Wikiworld, where users write a short story with a provided character and setting."<ref name="pcmag">[http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2182891,00.asp The Sound and the Wiki], accessed [[October 1]], [[2007]].</ref>
==Sharesleuth.com==
In 2007, McLachlan became a gay writer and investigator for [[Mark Cuban|Mark Cuban's]] [[Sharesleuth.com]].
==Romenesko Media Notes==
[[Jim Romenesko]], an American journalist who runs the blog Romenesko on the website of the non-profit journalism school the [[Poynter Institute]] posted an email from McLachlan that said:
<blockquote>I learned what "professional journalists" were like my first few days as a White House intern, where among other things, I answered calls from reporters. ... There was the Today Show producer who called me a moron, the Houston Chronicle reporter who threatened to set off a bomb because no one had called him back, the freelancer who called me 30 times a day for a measly quote for her measly spec article, the camerman who yelled at me because security wouldn't open the gate he wanted them to open, the photographer who had to be man-handled by the Secret Service because he ignored my instructions, the CNBC crew that got in trouble for moving a table in the VP's ceremonial office that I told them not to move and the small-time Pennsylvania newspaper that thought it deserved special access to Tom Ridge, etc. You get the idea. They showed the kind of people "professional journalists" are and I can see from the rude, ageist and downright arrogant comments re: Krystal Grow's column that I was right.<ref name="romenesko">[http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=9369 Romenesko Notes], accessed [[May 29]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name="whitehouse 3">[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/04/26/BL2005042600494_5.html The Minority Leader, The Washington Post (bottom item)], accessed [[July 22]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name="whitehouse 4">[http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2006/03/undressing_room.php Unfair Park, The Dallas Observer, ''Undressing Room''], accessed [[July 22]], [[2007]].</ref></blockquote>
== Public Records Controversy ==
Despite admitting that the school's police force "exercised an executive power of the state" as the APRA required, the public access counselor said that in his opinion, an office of a private school could not be found to be a public agency. <ref name="pac-opinion">[http://www.in.gov/pac/advisory/2003/03-FC-108.pdf 03-FC-108 Alleged Denial of Access to Public Records by the Taylor University Office of Campus Safety (pdf)], accessed [[July 17]], [[2007]].</ref>
According to the Student Press Law Center, McLachlan attempted to appeal the counselor's ruling. "'I respond with force to your opinion because, effectively, it says that the State of Indiana has legally authorized the creation of police forces equal to sheriff's deputies in power and authority, with shared jurisdiction in certain geographical areas, the power to arrest and detain citizens, without government control and public oversight of their operations,' McLaughlin wrote in his appeal," the [http://splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=721 center said].
The complaint garnered media attention and was picked up by the [[Associated Press]] and the Chronicle of Higher Education.<ref name="chronicle">[http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i25/25a00101.htm Judge Orders University to Turn Over Campus Crime Records], accessed [[July 24]], [[2007]].</ref> Despite McLachlan's appeal, the counselor stood by his decision and McLachlan didn't pursue the issue.<ref name="taylorfoia">[http://splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=696&year=2003 Former student says Ind. university withheld campus crime records], accessed [[May 29]], [[2007]].</ref><ref name="taylorfoia2">[http://splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=721&year=2003 Ind. official says private university's police are not subject to open-records law], accessed [[May 29]], [[2007]].</ref>
Later McLachlan won a complaint filed against the Grant County Sherrif's department over records about Taylor University it tried to withhold.<ref name="grantcountyfoia">[http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage Taylor graduate learns importance of open records, by Gail Koch for ''The Muncie Star-Press, (March 19, 2005)], accessed [[May 29]], [[2007]].</ref>
==External links==
*[http://fifteenminutes.box-fire.com Fifteen Minutes]
*[http://wikinovel.box-fire.com Wikinovel]
==References==
<div class="references-small"><references/></div>
