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Vol. 3, No. 9 November 2018
Inside this issue:
-What’s Ahead: SPJ DC and friends invited to events this week *
-Dec. 3 program: Free Press, Foreign Journalists: World of free speech
-Recognizing long-term SPJ DC Pro members
-SPJ partnerships with Google, Facebook still training journalists
-SDX Foundation of Washington accepting donations
-Updates on current class of SDX-DC scholars
-National SDX Foundation changes name to align with SPJ
-* A little more information about two programs DC Pro invited to
-Plan to enter the Dateline Awards contest in 2019
-Some ways you can be involved in the DC Pro chapter
-Calendar of upcoming DC Pro, journalism-related events
WHAT’S AHEAD . . .
Coming up this week:
By Monday, Nov. 26 — Don’t forget to fill out the survey national SPJ is doing regarding use of paid sponsorships for programs at national conventions. A reminder email sent Nov. 20 links to the survey, too.
For a detailed look at the controversy that precipitated this survey and the work of a related task force, see Region 2 Director Andy Schotz’s blog here. (A program Dec. 7 in D.C. not affiliated with SPJ is in partnership with the Charles Koch Institute.) DC Pro member Robert Becker is serving on the Sponsorship Task Force.
Wednesday, Nov. 28 — SPJ DC invited to D.C. Open Government Coalition happy hour, 6-8 p.m. See RSVP details here.
Thursday, Nov. 29 — SPJ DC invited to PR firm Burness-sponsored lunch discussion on “Local Journalism and Democracy.” See RSVP details here.
Saturday, Dec. 1 — Freedom Forum Institute program 2-4 p.m. on “Sports Writers: Are We Also the Enemy?” See RSVP details here.
Keep reading for details and more chapter news . . . .
Photo by Calvin Hanson on Unsplash
Monday, Dec. 3
Free Press, Foreign Journalists:
Conversation about free speech outside the U.S.
SPJ DC Pro’s Foreign Press Liaison Committee presents a discussion on Monday, Dec. 3, about the free press in other countries, led by some journalists who have worked there and experienced it first-hand. The event was in the works before news of Saudi citizen and U.S. journalist Jamal Khashoggi‘s disappearance began to spread in early October, but the situation as it has unfolded now serves as a powerful backdrop for the talk about how other countries view and define free speech and a free press.
Don’t forget to register for this evening event! It starts at 6 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Georgetown, in Blake Hall, at 3240 O St. NW, Washington, D.C. There is no charge, but advance registration is required. Registration information is available here.
Speakers include Raza Ahmad Rumi, director of Park Center for Independent Media and an editor of the Daily Times English-language Pakistani newspaper. He also helps run a self-described new-age citizen journalism website in Pakistan and is a visiting professor at Cornell. And Mahir Zeynalov, chief editor of The Globe Post. Turkey’s government targeted him for publicizing corruption. Moderator is DC Pro member and Foreign Press Liaison Committee co-chair Selma Khenissi, recently of The Georgetowner newspaper.
Have questions or suggestions? Email the chapter at spjdcchapter@gmail.com.
RECOGNIZING LONG-TERM SPJ DC PRO MEMBERS
A number of DC Pro Chapter members (and some SPJ national members who haven’t joined the chapter but are in the area, so are recognized with the chapter when national SPJ allots delegates to the national conventions for DC Pro) have membership anniversaries that fall on five- or 10-year intervals in 2018. We’re planning an event in late January for the chapter membership, and those on the following list who are able to attend will be given special recognition then.
65 Years
David Mazie
60 Years
Frank Aukofer
Frank Quine
50 Years
Herbert Berkowitz (Wilmington, North Carolina)
Norman Brewer
Joe McElveen
55 Years
G. Stuart Nixon (Midlothian, Virginia)
50 Years
Carl Sessions Stepp
45 Years
Jim Bohannon
Sue Kopen Katcef
Sandi Kozel
Gary Nurenberg
Jerry Ostroff
Leonard Sanderson (lifetime SPJ member)
James Schoonmaker
40 Years
Maurine Beasley
Barbara Hines
David Simonson
30 Years
Colleen Cotter
Stephenie Overman
Robert Peck
Thomas Pfeifer
20 Years
Suellen Medd (Uniontown, Ohio)
15 Years
Donald West
10 Years
Ben Leubsdorf
Pat McGrath
5 Years
Catherine Bond
Carole Feldman
Jackie Jones
Andrea Mitchell
SPJ partnerships with Google, Facebook still training journalists
National SPJ, in its collaboration with the Google News Initiative, held about 20 training session as part of its national road tour on “Covering and Protecting Your Elections” that wrapped up before the November mid-terms. DC Pro Chapter members participated in the one held in Washington at Google offices. Now the Initiative is focusing on Teaching Tools for Universities.
National SPJ is also in a training collaboration with Facebook, called the Facebook Journalism Project. Chapters can request the free training sessions, led by paid instructors who are journalists such as past national SPJ president Lynn Walsh and others with journalism expertise.
Walsh also is the new chair of the national SPJ Ethics Committee, and stepped down from the SDX Foundation (now known as the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation) so there would not be the appearance of a conflict of interest, as the foundation funds the SPJ collaboration with Facebook.
Just for contrast, here is a link to an interesting story posted on the WTOP.com website Nov. 24 in which some journalists are saying that the spread of fake news at the hands of tech giants have created a public health crisis. In it, journalist Bob Sullivan is interviewed and gives his characterization of fake news as “an addiction, one that platforms like Facebook and Google are fueling by targeting vulnerable people.”
For more information about the Google News Online Training Center, click here.
SDX Foundation of Washington accepting donations
The SDX Foundation of Washington is the SPJ-DC Pro education arm, which provides scholarships for promising undergraduate students at D.C. area colleges and universities who intend to enter the journalism profession after graduation.
As most journalists know, many veterans in the profession have taken buyouts or been laid off over the last decade, and technology has changed the media landscape immensely. With the First Amendment also being assaulted in especially visible ways under the current administration in Washington, it is as important as ever to encourage the next generation of reporters and editors.
If you are interested in making a donation to an educational 501(c)3 organization this year, consider making one to SDX-DC. All of the funds raised by the foundation are used for scholarships. The board is all-volunteer and SPJ-DC Pro covers the administrative expenses.
In addition, one-third of each SPJ-DC member’s annual dues is dedicated to the SDX Foundation’s scholarship fund.
Contact SDX Foundation President Reginald Stuart at 301-879-0085 or rstuart5@juno.com about making a contribution.
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SDX-DC’s Scholarship Committee consists of John C. Henry, Evelyn Hsu and Darlene Superville of the SDX Foundation of Washington, D.C., board of directors, and April Bethea, an at-large director on the SPJ DC Pro Chapter board of directors. The committee will be interviewing applicants and selecting awardees for the next academic year’s scholarships in the spring of 2019. Maura Judkis, a 2005 SDX Foundation scholarship awardee while she was a student at George Washington University and a current SDX-DC board member, had led the scholarship committee for the past several years.
Bethea and Hsu also serve on the board of the national Society of Professional Journalists Foundation, formerly known as the SDX Foundation (until the vote at the foundation’s meeting at EIJ18 in Baltimore). The SDX Foundation of Washington is not related to the national Foundation, but funding journalism education is a general shared goal of the two entities. See a little more information about the national Foundation elsewhere in this issue of Dateline.
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Updates on current class of SDX-DC scholars
Current scholars for the 2018-2019 academic year updated the SDX Foundation of Washington board of directors on their activities earlier this fall.
Jonathan Kandell (junior, George Washington University) – over the summer pursued an unpaid internship with the Future Filmmakers of Tomorrow Foundation, and learned about creating podcasts. His knowledge gained is propelling him to seek a position as a writer and/or producer of podcasts with a trusted news outlet this semester, with his goal to work at Vox. He said he is extremely grateful for the generous financial contribution to his college education from SDX-DC and for the foundation’s commitment to bring out the best in journalism.
Angelique Arintok (senior, George Mason University) – interned during the summer at WDVM in Hagerstown, Maryland, where she learned the fundamentals of broadcast journalism by shadowing the station’s reporters twice a week and developing her own multimedia anchor reel. She aspires to work in community journalism and use multimedia storytelling to uplift the local community. She’s the secretary of the GMU student chapter of SPJ.
Shawna Mizelle (senior, Howard University) – in addition to studying broadcast journalism, she’s involved with student government, serving as a senator representing the School of Communications. During the summer, she explored her political interests when she was a fellow for the Angela Alsobrooks for Prince George’s County Executive campaign, helping with communication strategies, radio and television advertising, and more. She was planning to start applying for graduate school this fall, to be ready to proceed after she graduates from Howard.
Cayla Harris (senior, George Washington University) – had an internship during the summer at the National Press Foundation, running the organization’s social media, assisting with webinars, and helping to plan logistics for journalism training. She continued working during the summer as senior news editor for The GW Hatchet newspaper, contributing blog posts for its online content, such as stories about the end of the federal government’s Title IX investigation of the school and the school’s Alumni Association board ousting its president amid turmoil about the coming merger of it with the school’s Alumni Office.
Beryl Kessio (senior, Howard University) – spent her summer in Alabama, in a small town where she apprenticed with a 70-year-old eccentric artist named Nall – now she is editing his memoir about a boy from Troy becoming an apprentice to Salvador Dali and then contributing his own creations to the world of art. She started a long-term photography project documenting her favorite spots in Huntsville, intending to explore “if/how these spaces evolve with increased development that’s hitting the rapidly-expanding aerospace, technology and defense center of the South.” She’s in San Jose, Costa Rica, for a study abroad semester, focusing on documentary photography to tell stories from there as a blogger for her study program.
National SDX Foundation changes name to align with SPJ
DC Pro Chapter members Todd Gillman, Evelyn Hsu and April Bethea are continuing on the board of directors for the newly renamed Society of Professional Journalists Foundation, the national SPJ arm that funds journalism education initiatives and awards. The name change from the SDX Foundation was the result of a vote during the foundation board meeting at EIJ18 in Baltimore in September.
New to the foundation board is Frank LoMonte, formerly with the Student Press Law Center in Washington and a DC Pro Chapter member during that time, who is now director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida.
Sonya Ross, AP’s race and ethnicity editor who was inducted into the DC Pro Chapter’s Hall of Fame in June, will be serving a second three-year term on the board.
Region 2 Director Andy Schotz, also a DC Pro member, will serve a one-year term on the foundation board. (His blog post of Oct 21 captures more details of the SDX Foundation meeting and other related events during the EIJ18 convention.)
Following the name change, the foundation is now a non-profit corporation, DC Pro member Robert Becker reported at the Region 2 meeting during EIJ18. As such, within eight days, or by early October, the foundation had to start soliciting donations. The foundation board also voted at the meeting during the convention to hire a company with the proper expertise to file charitable registration documents in all states that require it. The estimated initial cost will be around $10,000. The foundation will seek guidance from the firm as to what the continuing costs will be. About three-fourths of states require registration, but each state has different requirements.
Becker is chairman of the national SPJ Bylaws Committee and worked with the foundation on changings its bylaws to transfer the Quill Endowment Fund to the foundation for use in its initiatives. Among the foundation’s initiatives is the Dori Maynard Diversity Leadership Program. Board member Hsu is co-executive director of the Maynard Institute.
The SPJ chapter and regional delegates to EIJ18 also voted to approve an SPJ bylaws change that abolishes the Quill Endowment Fund. It is a two-step vote, with the final decision up for vote at EIJ19 in San Antonio. About $500,000 transfers from the endowment fund to the SPJ Foundation. Becker, in describing what the delegates would be voting on during the convention business session on Sept. 29, said that amount represents about a third of the annual cost of producing Quill magazine.
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OTHER AWARDS/HONORS SPONSORED BY SPJ and SPJ FOUNDATION: In case you missed the coverage earlier, here is a link to archived press releases from national SPJ about other awards and honors announced before and during the EIJ18 convention. Here is a link to the page that describes many of the awards — take note, as some nomination deadlines are coming up soon. Region 2 Director Andy Schotz nominated the winners of the Ethics in Journalism Award, which included a National Public Radio reporting team including reporters in Washington who tackled the uncomfortable job of reporting on allegations of sexual harassment by upper management. And this link will take you to student journalists’ coverage of most all the professional development and newsmaker sessions during the EIJ18 convention.
A little more information about two programs DC Pro invited to …
The D.C. Open Government Coalition is a DC Pro Chapter co-sponsor for an annual March event during Sunshine Week, so chapter members are invited to the DCOGC happy hour on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at the American Bar Association, starting at 6 p.m. There will be a look at the group’s work during 2018 and discussion of strategies going forward to increase attention on the need for open government in the District of Columbia. Topics include access to police body cam videos, supporting independence for the Office of Open Government, and advocating for public access to archival materials, as well as how to update the D.C. Freedom of Information Act.
You should RSVP to Alyssa Doom by Monday, Nov. 26, at alyssajdoom@gmail.com
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“Information is power, and an uninformed public is ill prepared to participate in a democracy.” That’s a tagline for the Thursday, Nov. 29, program “Local Journalism and Democracy” promoted by PR firm Burness, which describes itself as a “global communications firm supporting nonprofits and the people they serve.” They’ve told DC Pro chapter President Jonathan Make they organized this program not for a particular client, but out of civic duty.
Dave Krieger, fired from his job as editorial page editor of the Boulder (Colorado) Daily Camera for speaking his mind, will be joined by Nicco Mele, a thought leader at the intersection of media, politics and policy, to explore the unique value of local community journalism.
Lunch will be provided, starting at noon, and the program goes from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. There is no cost to attend. See more info and RSVP here.
Plan to enter the Dateline Awards contest in 2019
The annual Dateline Awards honor the best of local journalism through the annual contest sponsored by SPJ DC Pro. Contest entries will be work done in 2018, and submissions will begin online in January 2019. We’ll have more information on that coming soon!
Look over your work so far this year, and keep in mind you have the rest of November and December to wrap up and publish any award-worthy projects you have in the pipeline. It’s not too early to be thinking about which stories, tapes and online work you’ll want to submit.
Finalists will be notified in time to make plans to attend the annual Dateline Awards dinner June 11, 2019, where they will learn the results of the judging in an audience of their peers. Here is a list of winners from the 2018 contest.
Want to participate in chapter initiatives?
Have you thought about helping out the chapter with its projects and activities, but don’t feel you have enough extra time to commit to a whole year’s worth of involvement? Consider volunteering for one-time projects such as serving as a contest judge or planning one program or assisting with a program someone else helps plan. There are opportunities to help with both.
CONTEST JUDGES: The chapter contributes judges to the Region 2 contingent of judges in the annual SPJ Mark of Excellence college journalism contest. The judges in Region 2 are assigned entries in another of the 12 regions, with the winners of the categories advancing to the final rounds for the national winners. Judges therefore are also needed for the MOE final round of competition. The Region 2 judges will have most of February to complete their reviews of assigned entries and select finalists and winners. As these competitions are a big boost for the students who enter, judges’ comments on each entry that places are always appreciated.
The chapter’s annual Dateline Awards contest is judged by another SPJ professional chapter in an exchange, so DC Pro will need judges to review the other chapter’s entries in 2019. That judging is usually in late March or April.
Occasionally, there is a call for judges for another chapter’s competition. If you like judging journalism contests, let us know if you would be interested in being generally on call, too.
Send expressions of interest in serving as a judge to SPJ DC Pro at spjdcchapter@gmail.com. If you’ve judged the MOE contest in the past several years, you’ll be contacted soon to see if you can judge again in 2019, but if you want to firm up your availability now, just send an email.
PROGRAMS: Have a program idea you’d like to work on? Or a topic you’d like to see the chapter take on? Contact Randy Showstack through the chapter email address at spjdcchapter@gmail.com.
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If you want to join SPJ and the DC Pro Chapter, go to this link, select your fee category, remember that DC Pro annual dues are $25, then click on Join Now! in the blue column to the right of the fee list, and fill in all your information, selecting Washington, DC, Pro for your local chapter and filling in $25. Can’t wait to have you on board with us!
Annual chapter elections begin with nominations in February
Considering getting involved on the SPJ DC Pro Chapter board in 2019? There will be at-large board seats up for election, as well as all five officer positions: president, vice president, recording secretary, treasurer and corresponding secretary. If you are interested in being considered for one of the positions, or in filling some open spots currently on the board, contact DC Pro chapter President Jonathan Make at press@warren-news.com.
Not a journalist but would like to support SPJ’s missions?
Are you reading this newsletter, and thinking you’d like to support the missions and vision of SPJ, but you’re not a journalist and may not qualify for membership? Send an email to Linda Hall at national SPJ headquarters (lindah@hq.spj.org) to find out about becoming an Associate. You won’t be a full member, but you can still add your voice.
2018-19 CALENDAR for UPCOMING DC SPJ CHAPTER EVENTS
Dec. 3 6 p.m., SPJ Foreign Press Liaison Committee panel discussion on “Free Press, Foreign Journalists: Conversation about free speech outside the U.S.,” with journalists who’ve worked in other countries. St. John’s Episcopal Church, in Blake Hall, 3240 O St. NW in Washington (Georgetown section)
Dec. 11 noon, SPJ Freelance Group lunch meeting, National Press Club. Contact organizer Stephenie Overman at saoverman@gmail.com if you plan to attend.
June 11, 2019 6 p.m. cocktails, 7 p.m. dinner, Dateline Awards and Hall of Fame Dinner, National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW in Washington
April 5-7, 2019 Region 2 conference Ocean City, Maryland (hotel TBD)
Sept. 5-7, 2019 EIJ19, San Antonio, Texas
Sept. 10-12, 2020 EIJ20, Washington, D.C.
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OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST TO DC SPJ CHAPTER MEMBERS
Dec. 7 9 a.m.-5 p.m., The Future of Speech Online: Understanding Online Communities, one-day symposium sponsored by the Center for Democracy & Technology, in partnership with the Newseum Institute, Charles Koch Institute, and WAMU’s 1A. Speakers and registration information available here. Email CDT at events@cdt.org.
SPJ-DC leadership
President: Jonathan Make
Vice President & Program Chair: Randy Showstack
Treasurer: Amy Fickling
Corresponding Secretary: Amy Fickling
Recording Secretary: Kathryn Foxhall
Immediate Past President: Kathy Burns
Directors
Dee Ann Divis
Kenneth Jost
Ex-Officio
Sue Kopen Katcef – SPJ Vice President for Campus Chapter Affairs
Andrew Schotz – SPJ Region 2 Director
Other Officials of Note
Amy Fickling – Dateline Online (newsletter) editor
Stephenie Overman – Freelance group chair; Nominations Committee chair
Steve Taylor – HOF nominations committee chair
Julie Asher – Dateline Dinner committee chair
This information can also be found here.
NEXT DATELINE ONLINE DEADLINE FOR COPY is Dec. 12, 2018. Send to spjdcchapter@gmail.com