REMINDER: Membership Appreciation Meeting Jan. 27
The holidays are behind us, the weather has turned briefly milder and the SPJ DC Pro Chapter Membership Appreciation Meeting is set for this Saturday morning at 10:15 a.m. Have you responded that you will join us?
We have some business to take care of:
— A vote on the proposed Constitution and Bylaws amendments (through revisions).
— Recognizing 2017 membership anniversaries for those hitting 5- or 10-year marks. (Keep reading for honorees’ names.)
And just as importantly, throughout the meeting we hope your presence will help us all give a nod to the achievements in transparency and high ethical standards the Society has accomplished through its members’ combined efforts. Working together and working for all journalists, whether they are SPJ members or not, has made our profession stronger. Come and get to know your fellow chapter members.
Read more details here.
WHEN: 10:15 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Jan. 27
WHERE: Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, Bethesda, Maryland
DIRECTIONS: Near exit of Bethesda Metro stop
RSVP: online here or email: spjdcchapter@gmail.com
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE!!
Here are the SPJ membership milestones among chapter members in 2017:
65 years — Bruce Harrison
60 years — James Golden
45 years — Kathy (Kay) George, Kenneth Jost
40 years — Betty Cole Dukert
35 years — John Nuhn
30 years — Dan Kubiske, Bill McCloskey, Myrna Wahlquist
25 years — Willie Schatz, William Theobald
20 years — Ann Augherton, Randy Showstack
15 years — Andy Schotz, Steve Taylor
10 years — Carla Bundy, Steve Goodman, Robert Higginbotham
5 years — Theo Emery, Christopher Farrell, Christina Kielich (ASSOCIATE), Sally Kubetin, Christine Lawrence, Wayne Rash
Maybe your 5- or 10-year anniversary milestone will be in 2018?
Don’t Forget: Dateline Awards contest now open
Get some recognition for your best work from 2017. Be sure to enter the SPJ DC Pro annual Dateline Awards contest. We are now accepting applications from print and broadcast media outlets and freelancers throughout the D.C. metropolitan area. All entries must be submitted online through the BetterBNC website and are due March 2, 2018. The fee is $30 per entry, and with online payments, there is a $2 processing fee per entry added.
Winners and finalists will be honored at the chapter’s Hall of Fame and Dateline Awards dinner June 12, 2018, at the National Press Club.
If you have any questions about the competition, email Chris Slattery, Dateline Awards Contest coordinator, at spjdatelineawards@gmail.com
Thinking about a run for office for 2018-2019 chapter year?
If you are interested in being considered as a candidate to run for the DC Pro chapter board for the 2018-2019 chapter year, the deadline for self-nomination is Feb. 1. Officer positions are president, vice president, recording secretary, corresponding secretary and treasurer. Of the six at-large board seats, three are up for election each year, unless a seat has been vacated before the term ends, in which case that seat would be up for election for the year remaining in the term. Currently, there will be three two-year terms and one one-year term on the next ballot. Send an email expressing interest to spjdcchapter@gmail.com, and it will be forwarded to Stephenie Overman, chair of the Nominating Committee.
DC Pro represented at j-organizations joint happy hour
Kicking off 2018 with a toast to journalism, DC Pro joined members of the White House Correspondents Association, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Reporters Without Borders and the National Press Club for drinks in the club’s bar Jan. 4. Dubbed the “Press Freedom Happy Hour” by host NPC, the event was designed to recognize the successes and challenges of journalists in the past year and to give those gathered a networking opportunity.
Chapter leaders report that the networking was productive. Vice President Alice Ollstein shared information about DC Pro and its programs. With many journalism interests represented, ideas for potential future joint efforts and programs of the chapter with the other groups naturally bubbled up. Among them: the federal shield law and helping journalists learn about their rights and responsibilities. The groups hope to make this at least an annual gathering. More about programs that come out of this collaboration will be shared as they evolve.
Coming soon . . . a Google NewsLab training session
We’ll have details soon for a training session in February on how to use Google tools in your news gathering and storytelling. Stay tuned for more details via email, Twitter and Facebook.
Region 2 Conference in April
With a whiff of spring in the air, the Region 2 conference comes to mind. Region 2 Director and DC Pro chapter member Andy Schotz reports it will be held April 13-14 near Richmond, Virginia. It will be a joint conference with the Virginia Press Association, as was done a few years ago. We don’t have further details at the moment, but they’ll be coming soon. Please note the weekend is one week later than we have listed in the Upcoming Events calendar in earlier editions of Dateline Online.
DC Pro member’s transparency campaign in the news
DC Pro Recording Secretary Kathryn Foxhall, a freelance writer who is on the national SPJ Freedom of Information Committee and is spearheading the chapter’s signature issue, “Censorship by PIO,” assisted Scientific American’s Charles Seife with an article about federal agencies’ attempts to control the flow of scientific information to the media. She’s even quoted in the article!
2018 CALENDAR for UPCOMING DC SPJ Chapter EVENTS
Jan. 27 DC Pro Chapter board meeting, 9 a.m., Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, Room West-A, Bethesda, Maryland. Followed by:
Jan. 27 DC Pro Chapter Membership Appreciation Meeting, 10:15 a.m., Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, Room West-A, Bethesda, Maryland. (Directions and RSVP options listed in top story of this issue.)
mid-February Freelance group meeting, noon to 1 p.m., National Press Club
Contact Stephenie Overman, saoverman@gmail.com for the date.
April 13-14 Region 2 conference in Richmond, Virginia, area, with Virginia Press Association
May 10 SDX Foundation of Washington board meeting, noon, McClendon Room, National Press Club
June 12 Annual Dateline Awards/Hall of Fame Dinner at the National Press Club. Reception 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. We will honor 3 outstanding journalists who have spent at least 25 years working in Washington media. Contact HOF Nominating Chair Steve Taylor (juxta747@gmail.com) with any names you wish to submit for consideration.
June 21 informal happy hour at National Press Club with chapter leaders, national SPJ board and SDX board members in town for the Sigma Delta Chi Awards dinner the following night at the National Press Club
June 22 national SPJ’s Sigma Delta Chi Awards dinner, 6 p.m. cocktails, 7 p.m. dinner, National Press Club