Re: Follow up to today's all hands meeting
Christina Teoli
All:
That was a good meeting today. The site continues to get better. Now we need to concentrate on the core things that we want to have looking really great and fully populated at beta launch when the academic year begins in September. Those sections are:
News – obviously.
Pro-Con.
Crime.
Join the Jury.
The importance of these sections is not only that they are central to our mission; with the obvious exception of News, the above sections have a much longer shelf life; things won’t look outdated a day after they post. This is very important to Law Street’s outward face.
News is rolling along, doing fine in the hands of Ashley and the DC team.
Crime and JTJ are in the capable hands of Kevin and Winston respectively. JTJ is looking a lot better. Crime will also start to look a lot different very soon.
That leaves Pro-Con. Robb is our lead here, and he has perfected the format. What we now need are 100 excellent Pro-Con pieces on law and policy. I’ve asked Robb to create a list of at least that many – you all have already contributed ideas, and we welcome more. Tomorrow he will circulate the list. Feel free to add to it. This is to ask each of you to sign up for at least eight Pro-Cons from that list, and to make completing them your Number One priority. Blogs, the Rundown, etc. are a lesser priority at this point. You can put those on hold while completing Pro-Con. This will also give every one of our Content Development Specialists a chance to bank eight bylines – because the pieces, as you have seen, will be signed.
Robb can help with a style sheet and also can assist with posting – it’s fast – once you create the content.
I hope you agree this makes sense. I know it does. Robb will be following up with a group email to all of you.
Onward! jaj
John A. Jenkins
jjen...@politicalintelligencegroup.com
Visit: www.johnajenkins.com
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My latest book: The Partisan: The Life of William Rehnquist
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John Jenkins
Christina, you are correct, we need each team member to complete 8 Pro-Cons before the summer is over (but in order to get them all posted in essence this means asap). Building out a priority. If the 8 Pro-Cons-per-team-member can be done coincident with keeping Digests updated, I'm all for that. I agree we don't want big gaps in Digest.
Off Hours and Money: Definitely want some content there. I have Davis and Salome listed as the leads from yesterday's meeting.
Thank you for this question. I am copying everyone in DC on this as well. jaj
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 9:36 AM
To: John Jenkins; nyd...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Follow up to today's all hands meeting
Chelsey Goff
John Jenkins
Yes. That is what I am saying. Chelsey said it better. jaj
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 10:08 AM
To: John Jenkins
Cc: Christina Teoli; nyd...@googlegroups.com; Christina Jenkins; Davis Truslow; Kevin Rizzo; Amelia Cui; Keith Brassil; Ashley Powell
Christina Teoli
Pro/Con Style SheetHere I will explain the formatting and shortcode by going through the Debt Ceiling Pro-Con.First part of the section is separate into two columns: Pro and Con:
Pro and Con is bolded and center and it is heading 2
Shortcode: <h2> </h2> You will need to put it before and after the <strong> & </strong> - You may need to go back into the Visual and re-center it
[one_half]
Pros
Raising the debt ceiling is the logical next step. Action is better than inaction and come September a decision will need to be made regarding the debt ceiling. In the words of the White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, "We are the United States; we do not default."
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Cons
Many believe that the debt ceiling can not and should not be raised without making significant cuts to federal spending. Another round of debt ceiling crisis and government shutdown would be a travesty and the American people will not put up with it.
[/one_half_last]
The second part is the Discussion section - Same style as Pro Con above
The Discussion section will be 1-2 paragraphs detailing the issues in Plain English - You can analyze both sides of the issue here.
You may hyperlink to articles you find within this section or you may save it all later for the Resources section - Up to you which is the best way to convey the information.
Discussion
Some people say that the decision to raise the debt ceiling is merely a procedural one and that Congress has an obligation to prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt. If the United States doesn't raise the debt ceiling, it will default on the national debt. A default by the United States could be potentially devastating not only to the US economy, but also to the global economy. When raising the debt ceiling was debated in Congress in July 2011, the United States came very close to default - closer than the nation had ever come before. As a result, the nation's credit rating was downgraded for the first time. Another incident involving the debt ceiling could reduce the US credit rating yet again, which can have negative effects for investors and citizens. If Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling, the federal government would have to shutdown. A shutdown would leave thousands of employees without an income and reduce the government's efficiency among other things.
Others say that it is irresponsible for the government to continue borrowing money and raising the national debt. Raising the debt ceiling can be seen as approval of the federal government's current levels of spending. Congress can try to prevent the increase of the debt ceiling as a way of sending a message that the current levels of spending will not be tolerated. Even the most ardent opponents of the federal government's spending do not want to see the nation default on its debt. However, the debt ceiling can be seen as a leverage point that can lead to dramatic changes to America's fiscal policy such as a Balanced Budget Amendment or an overhaul of the tax code. The United States national debt seems to increasing at an incredibly rapid pace. Elected officials feel like they have a responsibility to the country and to future generations to put an end to the federal government's spending by withholding the debt ceiling.
The Resources section of Pro-Con includes all of the videos and links you can find regarding your topic.
There are 3 main sections you should always include: Primary Resources; Videos; and On the Web (This can be separated into pro and con links - See Immigration Pro/Con)
Depending on how many videos you have you can determine how many columns you would need to put them in. The most I think should be done are three columns. Also, embedding the video works much better than just copying and pasting the link.
Resources
PRIMARY RESOURCES
The Facts About the Debt Ceiling Crisis
VIDEOS
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[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
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[one_half]
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[one_half_last]
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ON THE WEB
[one_half]
Huffington Post: Media Coverage of Debt Ceiling Crisis
CNN Money Coverage on Debt Ceiling Crisis
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
A New Method for the Debt Ceiling
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Feature Image courtesy of The Huffington Post
If you have any questions about this please feel free to contact me.
