December 2018 newsletter of SPJ DC Pro Chapter
Vol. 3, No. 10 December 2018
Inside this issue:
-Save Jan. 26 for Members meeting, Long-Time Member recognition
-Dateline Awards contest submissions open Jan. 1
-Program recap: Free Press, Foreign Journalists: State of free speech
-Appreciation: Steve Taylor on covering Geo. H.W. Bush White House
-Program recap: Local journalism and democracy
-Politico’s PJI accepting applications for 2019
-SDX Foundation of Washington accepting donations
-Calendar of upcoming DC Pro, journalism-related events
Save the date! Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019
Membership meeting and Long-Time Member recognition
(This post was updated Dec. 29, 2018, with the Eventbrite URL for RSVP. It can be accessed here.)
DC Pro will meet Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., for a Member Appreciation Meeting and Long-Time Member Recognition, at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, Room West-A, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814.
Start the new year with SPJ friends during our annual recognition of members whose SPJ membership milestones were reached in 2018 – that is, their anniversary years on 5- and 10-year intervals. We have some chapter members with more than 50 years of membership, and some who have been members for five years. And of course, a range of anniversaries in between. The members with the anniversaries are listed in the November issue of Dateline.
If you were honored last year, honor us with your presence again this year! The more the merrier. If you are a new chapter member, and want to just have an occasion to mingle with other members, without a formal program to sit through first, do join us.
We will want to hear from you, about you, at the meeting – so prepare a few remarks about what you’ve gotten out of your years of membership, and the state of journalism today, if you like. Tell us about your career, too. There is so much to celebrate about the past and the future in a changing media landscape.
And since a number of past chapter presidents are among the honorees this year, we also hope to take a bit of time to hear from them some ideas for keeping the chapter active and growing the membership. When the chapter’s financial audit committee met in the spring, one of its recommendations was for the chapter to tap past chapter presidents for ideas. We can make this the first of a series of gatherings for that task – looking ahead to planning other lunch meetings or informal happy hours to continue the conversation.
On Jan. 26, we’ll have some basic munchies for all – nothing too fancy, so if you want to eat lunch as you normally do, that’s fine. This will be mostly about dessert. We thought about a cookie exchange, but to do one of those in the right spirit is fairly complicated. To keep it simpler, we’re suggesting that you think about bringing along something unusual to share – did you get a figgy pudding for Christmas? A fruitcake? Have an extra batch of rum balls made up? Is there an unusual holiday tradition that involves a food from another culture that you want to share? Something that you just loved and want others to love just as much? Get creative – just make sure it’s something that’s actually edible. AND, not too messy. We’ll need to clean up the room before leaving, and don’t want to deal with flaky crusts and sticky syrup on the carpet – not that any of us will intentionally make a mess, of course.
No alcoholic beverages or punch allowed in the facility – but, like we did last year, we’ll have some options for those in the group to choose from for us to repair to a nearby watering hole for happy hour or other munchies.
We’ll be contacting all the longevity members with information, and sending out an Eventbrite for use to RSVP soon.
See information about getting to the B-CC Regional Services Center by various modes of transportation, including the nearby Red Line Metro stop in Bethesda, and free Montgomery County parking on weekends, on this page. Watch for an Eventbrite invitation. It can be accessed here as well.
Dateline Awards contest submissions open Jan. 1
The annual Dateline Awards contest recognizing outstanding local journalism features competition categories for print, broadcast and online media outlets throughout the D.C. metropolitan area. Nearly 60 categories within the various media divisions are recognized in the competition – from breaking news and series to commentary and photography. All entries must have been published in 2018.
Are you searching for your best work to be entered? Even if you don’t enter the 2019 contest, you know others who should. Pass along this information to them. We’re looking for the best coverage of 2018, and need your help in identifying the candidates for competition.
Entries for the 2019 competition will be accepted beginning Jan. 1 online at the Better BNC contest platform here. You do not have to be an SPJ member to enter.
Awards will be presented at the chapter’s prestigious Dateline Awards and Hall of Fame dinner June 11, 2019, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Finalists will be notified in time to make arrangements to attend the dinner.
Watch the Dateline newsletter and your inbox for future announcements about the competition. You may contact contest coordinator Jane Giles at datelinecoordinator@gmail.com with any questions.
What we’ve been doing . . .
Free Press, Foreign Journalists:
Conversation about free speech outside the U.S.
About 20 audience members heard two journalists who fled Pakistan and Turkey warn about the effects on the public of spreading anti-media sentiment, including under President Donald Trump. Authoritarian government or not, journalists in many countries aren’t widely liked, they said, nor are they trusted by most people.
Read more about the Dec. 3 discussion here by Chapter President Jonathan Make, with links to others’ tweets from the event. Thanks to the DC Pro Foreign Press Liaison Committee for organizing the panel and event.
Read The Daily Times’ coverage of the panel discussion here. Panelist Raza Rumi, living in exile in the U.S., is Pakistan editor for The Daily Times. In the article, Rumi “said his job has changed from restructuring articles and checking grammar to ‘policing.’ Thus, ensuring that none of the ‘red line’ topics are mentioned. ‘I check is the article criticizing any state institution or religious radical … that there are no articles or pages that will offend anyone.’”
Appreciation: Covering the George H.W. Bush White House
DC Pro Chapter member Steve Taylor wrote that “What I remember most fondly about covering President George H.W. Bush was laughing.”
Taylor was along on a Thanksgiving 1990 press visit with Bush to Desert Shield troops in Saudi Arabia. See his appreciation on the DC Pro website here. The 41st president died at age 94 on Nov. 30, and was eulogized by son George W. Bush, the 43rd president, in Washington on Dec. 5.
Local Journalism and Democracy
At a Nov. 29 program on the need for vibrant local journalism to uphold our democracy, sponsored by PR firm Burness, which describes itself as a “global communications firm supporting nonprofits and the people they serve,” guests heard “bleak prognostications” for local news, writes Chapter President Jonathan Make in a personal blog post here. Burness said it organized this program not for a particular client, but out of civic duty.
The discussion, held at Busboys & Poets in NoMa, also was videotaped as part of a documentary series “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism at the Crossroads.”
Dave Krieger, fired from his job as editorial page editor of the Boulder (Colorado) Daily Camera for speaking his mind, was featured. He explained that he saw layoffs in Colorado local journalism outlets not as just an internal problem, such as at his paper, but as a news story with broader implications for how the public would be informed so as to carry out its civic duties. He saw capitalism facing off with First Amendment free press rights and responsibilities. Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms have taken the advertising that local newspapers and television stations used to run – along with the eyeballs. And they aren’t adequate purveyors of local news. He recommended a University of North Carolina Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media study on local news.
Nicco Mele, a thought leader at the intersection of media, politics and policy, and director of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, said he has explored whether there is something sinister happening with the running of local news operations out of business or if it’s just “the way the world is going.” Krieger interjected that this is part of capitalism. Mele said he thinks local news “will require local ownership,” especially since the mission is to cover the local community.
Interested in local journalism? STAY TUNED. DC Pro is planning a program on the topic at WAMU 88.5 FM on the American University campus in the spring. Details coming soon.
Politico accepting applications for Journalism Institute
Politico, now accepting applications for its 2019 session of PJI, a 10-day intensive journalism training with opportunities to publish on the Politico website, invites SPJ DC Pro’s broader community to apply or share the information with students or mentees. More than a dozen students are selected each year for this all-expense-paid program, which is offered in partnership with American University and the Maynard Institute. Once the program concludes, two students are invited back for a full-time paid internship in the Politico newsroom. Apply online now here. Applications must be completed and submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 15, 2019.
Year-end charitable contribution?
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.
2019 CALENDAR for UPCOMING DC SPJ CHAPTER EVENTS, OTHERS
Jan. 15, 2019 noon, SPJ Freelance Group lunch meeting, National Press Club. Contact organizer Stephenie Overman at saoverman@gmail.com if you plan to attend.
Jan. 26, 2019 noon to 12:45 p.m., SPJ DC Pro board of directors meeting, preceding a member appreciation and long-time member recognition
Jan. 26, 2019 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., SPJ DC Pro Member Appreciation Meeting and Long-Time Member Recognition, Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, Room West-A, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814. See information about getting there, and free Montgomery County parking on weekends, on this page. Watch for an Eventbrite invitation to RSVP.
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 Holiday Inn Oceanfront, Ocean City, Maryland
June 21, 2019 Sigma Delta Chi Awards Dinner, National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW in Washington, an event hosted by national SPJ and the newly renamed Society of Professional Journalists Foundation (formerly the SDX Foundation)
Sept. 5-7, 2019 EIJ19, San Antonio, Texas
Sept. 10-12, 2020 EIJ20, Washington, D.C.
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
NEXT DATELINE ONLINE DEADLINE FOR COPY is Jan. 12, 2019. Send to spjdcchapter@gmail.com