On Kent State's TV2 explaining a story
About
This is the professional website of journalist Doug Brown. I am a graduate student at the Kent State School of Journalism & Mass Communication and plan on receiving a M.A. in Journalism (convergence media) in December 2012. I am a Summer 2012 intern for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
I was most recently an enterprise reporter for the Daily Kent Stater during the 2011-2012 academic year. For the Fall ’11 semester, I was awarded the Lincoln Hackim Award for Excellence in Sports Writing. For the Spring ’12 semester, I was given the Albert Fitzpatrick Award for Excellence in Reporting for my articles looking into Kent State’s athletic department.
Before I enrolled at Kent State, I received a B.A. from Hiram College in 2010, where I was a political science major and the editor-in-chief of the bi-weekly newspaper.
My work
Most of my stories were made possible because of open records laws. Understanding the law is vital in obtaining the information public agencies want to keep private. I’ve read books and taken classes taught by pubic records experts and, through a little trial and error, have learned how to apply the law to get the documents I need.
Recent document-heavy stories include:
- How Kent State used $113,610 of its own money to purchase 23,000 football tickets after the season was over to make up for falling short of NCAA requirements (link) – April 25, 2012.
- How Kent State administrators withheld information from the Board of Trustees that their $1 million donor had previously ran a multi-million dollar Ponzi Scheme (link) – February 12, 2012.
- Revealing the new namesake of the basketball court previously ran a multi-million dollar Ponzi Scheme (link) – January 6, 2012.
- The extensive arrest records of the Kent State basketball team (link) – December 5, 2011.
- A list of positive drug tests from Kent State athletes (link) – October 31, 2011.
- Beer sale records inside the football stadium (link) – October 16, 2011.
My work in the media
From my article about how Kent State bought football tickets after the season was over, published on April 25, 2012:
- Crain’s Cleveland Business: “Confirmation of schools’ ticket shenanigans has arrived“
- StateImpact Ohio: “Kent State finesses ticket purchase to meet NCAA attendance rules“
From my follow up “Cope Court” article, published February 12, 2012:
- College Media Review: “Investigative reporting on campus” (includes link to podcast I did with Dan Reimold of the University of Tampa)
- College Media Matters: “Daily Kent Stater’s Doug Brown reveals administrative cover-up in $1 million donor investigation“
- Jim Romenesko: “Daily Kent Stater and the $1 million gift“
- StateImpact Ohio: “No indication Kent State University trustees knew of million-dollar donor’s troubled past“
From my first “Cope Court” article, published January 5, 2012:
- Jim Romenesko: “Kent State alum pulls $1 M gift after student paper asks questions“
- Columbia Journalism Review: “Audit Notes: Kent State Court, Corporate Taxes, the Communion Wafer Industry“
- Chronicle of Higher Education: “5 minutes with the student journalist who dug up the background of a $1-million-dollar donor“
- Student Press Law Center: “Transparency Tuesday: Can’t beat the SEC – on the football field or in the public record field“
- College Media Matters: “Daily Kent Stater Report on Potential Donor’s Financially Shady Past Earns National Buzz“
- Click here for more links
