One down, one to go — political conventions, that is.
Minot will host this year’s GOP state convention on March 28-29, and I will be there. However, as I reported last week, no GOP state officials seeking re-election plan to attend.
Many incumbents point to issues at the convention two years ago, including disputes over seating delegates from Dickinson and efforts by supporters of then-independent congressional candidate Rick Becker to intentionally spoil ballots — actions that denied Julie Fedorchak the nomination. Fedorchak ultimately went on to win the primary.
I planned to post live updates from the Dem-NPL convention earlier this month, but had some technical issues. This time, the live blogging function should work, so you can follow along with the convention right here on news.prairiepublic.org.
Once the candidates are firmed up after the convention, we will start to contact the parties and the candidates about debates. It could be a very busy fall if all works out.
Driver’s License Scam Story
Story ideas sometimes come from unexpected sources. To wit: The story about the traffic ticket scam this week.
I was talking with a friend, a former prosecutor, when his phone buzzed with the scam notification about an overdue traffic ticket. When I saw the message said “contact the NDDMV,” I knew that couldn’t be right. North Dakota does not have a separate Department of Motor Vehicles — it’s handled by a division of the state Department of Transportation. First clue. The second clue was that DOT did not send texts about unpaid tickets, it sends letters.
Enterprise Stories
In April, I will facilitate a panel at the Midwest Broadcast Journalism Association Conference in St. Paul, Minn., about finding “enterprise stories.” It’s one thing to follow up on press releases — that’s a normal part of reporting. But the bigger challenge is finding news when the press releases don’t come. One of my mentors always used to say to me, “In your drive to work every day, you should be able to come up with four to six story ideas.” That has always stuck with me.
And if you ever have a story idea, our news team would like to hear it. You can contact us at info@prairiepubic.org.
