the working press

n The Working Press n Friday, Aug. 28, 2009

Student staffCristina Boccio

Arizona State UniversityDesigner

Julieta ChiquilloTexas Christian University

Copy editorAmanda Dolasinski

The Ohio State UniversityReporter

Breanna GaddieNorthern Kentucky University

PhotographerJoan Khalaf

University of Texas at ArlingtonCopy editor

Rashawn MitchnerHoward University

Copy editorJackie Palochko

Ithaca CollegeReporter

Meagan RaceyUniversity of North Carolina at

Chapel HillReporter

Andrew SeamanWilkes University

DesignerJosephine Varnier

Virginia Commonwealth UniversityReporter

Nicole VilloriaUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas

PhotographerEmory Williamson

University of LouisvilleReporter

Professional staffDori Hjalmarson

Lexington Herald-LeaderEditor, The Working Press

Joe GrimmMichigan State University

J. Ben KellyThe Clarion-Ledger

Danese KenonThe Indianapolis Star

Billy O’KeefeSociety of Professional Journalists

Tony PetersonSociety of Professional Journalists

John P. StamperLexington Herald-Leader

Reginald A. StuartThe McClatchy Co.

Eunice TrotterThe Indianapolis Star

The Working Press

SPJ Timeline: 1909-2009ComPiled by JulieTA Chiquillo

• 1909: Founded as Sigma Delta Chi at DePauw Univ., Greencastle, Ind.

• 1912: First national con-vention, Greencastle, Ind.; first issue of the organiza-tion’s magazine, Quill.

• 1913: First Wells Memorial Key award, the highest honor bestowed on a member, pre-sented to Laurence H. Sloan.

• 1910: Campus chapters founded at Univ. of Kansas, Univ. of Michigan and Denver Univ.

Reporter, freed from iran, to speakSaberi, once charged with espionage, to share her story

Roxana Saberi, the freelance journalist imprisoned in Iran from Jan. 31 to May 11, will be the key-note speaker at the Mark of Excel-lence Awards Luncheon at noon today.

An Iranian-American journalist born in New Jersey and raised in North Dakota, Saberi was charged with purchasing alcohol, an illegal act in Iran. Charges were changed, however, to reporting without cre-dentials. In April, she was offi-cially charged with espionage and sentenced to eight years in prison.

An Iranian appeals court eventu-ally overturned Saberi’s sentence but forbade her from reporting in Iran for five years.

Chris Vachon, Society of Profes-sional Journalists co-interim ex-ecutive director, said she when she explained to Saberi that she would be speaking to college students, the 32-year-old journalist agreed.

by JACqueline PAloChkoThe Working Press

EUSTACIO HUMPHREY Freelance journalist Roxana Saberi, who was imprisoned in iran from Jan. 31 to may 11, will speak at the mark of excel-lence Awards luncheon at noon today. Saberi was charged with espionage and sentenced to eight years in prison. her sentence eventually was overturned.

“The experiences that she went through at such a young age will make her a great speaker,” Vachon said.

Lara Logan, CBS chief foreign affairs correspondent, had been scheduled as the keynote speaker, but canceled her visit when offered a reporting opportunity in Afghanistan.

Vachon said SPJ closely followed Saberi’s case and tried intervening three times to advocate for her re-lease.

A dual citizen, Saberi lived in Iran for the past six years and freelanced

for the BBC, National Public Radio and Fox News.

Saberi, a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Jour-nalism, represented North Dakota in the 1997 Miss America pageant.

“We’re thrilled and honored that she agreed to come and speak,” Va-chon said.

The luncheon recognizes the work of student journalists and their ad-visers. The luncheon will be in the Grand IV room at noon. Tickets are required and can be purchased for $45 at the registration desk.

“We're thrilled and honored that she agreed to come and speak.”

~ Chris Vachon, SPJ interim co-executive director

"I recommend that people not get jailed during lunch time," said Neil Ralston, Legal Defense Fund com-mittee member.

Ralston was a having a difficult time raising bail money for LDF’s Jail ‘n' Bail game, which aims to collect funds for the account. LDF raises thousands of dollars every year to help journalists who need legal assistance and push for First Amendment protection legislation.

People pay $5 to arrest a friend, who must remain in jail for an hour or raise $100 to be released.

Steve Geimann, Sigma Delta Chi Foundation president, joined Ralston in jail after being charged with failure to yield to an oncom-ing editor.

— Julieta Chiquillo

While other convention attend-ees will be at the President’s Instal-lation Banquet on Saturday night, others plan to attend a “Tweetup” instead.

Tweetup, a meeting organized by convention attendees using the so-cial networking Web site Twitter, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Loughmiller’s Pub and Eatery.

But there’s a problem — a Loughmiller’s bartender said the nearby restaurant is closed Sat-urdays. Organizer Ron Sylvester said he is in talks with Lough-miller’s management. He said the group wants more participants so they can assure the manager of ad-

equate attendance.“I don’t have the money,” Sonya

Smith, a Tweetup organizer, said of the $65 banquet. “This is an in-

formal, free get-together.”Sign up for the Tweetup at

spj100.eventbrite.com— Emory Williamson

The buzz about #SPJ100

BREANNA GADDIE/The Working Press To get more updates follow the SPJ convention at http://twitter.com/search?q=%23SPJ100.

Tweetup now

Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 n The Working Press n

• 1916: Change from an hon-orary fraternity, with mem-bership based on accom-plishment, to professional

fraternity, with membership based on a particular field of professional education.

• 1921: First professional chapters founded in Milwau-kee, Seattle, Detroit, Des Moines and Chicago.

• 1926: First Code of Eth-ics adopted, borrowing from that of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

• 1928: First national head-quarters opened, 836 Ex-change Ave., Chicago, Ill.

Optimism was on tap along with an open bar at the opening night reception Thursday night at the Eiteljorg Museum of American In-dians and Western Art.

“It’s the best time to be in jour-nalism,” said Sue Porter, vice pres-ident of programs at the Scripps Howard Foundation. “It’s not just an evolution; it’s a revolution. That’s what I’m hearing here.”

n n nAccording to a 1970s document

– on display at the Harper Memo-rial Fund Auction on Thursday night – outlining the society’s policy on national conventions, the board of directors opposed ac-cepting contributions from non-media organizations. Times have changed that. Eli Lilly & Co. and Geico are two sponsors for this year’s convention.

n n n“I was a little disappointed the

galleries weren’t open tonight,”

Reception talk: dogs, money and fire eatingwriter Debra Krol said. “I edit the publications for the Heard Muse-um in Phoenix, so I came to com-pare. But I freelance also, just like everyone around here.

“When Heard has an event like this, we give tours,” she said.

n n nOne student journalist has an un-

usual fall-back skill. Fire eating.Larissa Kirsten Larivee, from

Minnesota State University, Mankato, eats fire at the Minne-sota Renaissance Festival. She has been attending and re-enacting at the festival since she was 4. She said she was taught fire eating by the Guinness World Record holder for eating 68 torches in one min-ute.

Larivee is running for campus representative on the SPJ Board of Directors. No word on whether there will be a demonstration at the convention.

n n nRodney Muhumuza, of Uganda,

is baffled by one thing in the Unit-ed States: Americans’ obsession with their pets.

“Americans love their dogs more than they love themselves,” Muhu-muza said. “There’s a recession

and unemployment, but people are still taking care of their dogs.”

A reporter for the Kansas City Star, Muhumuza said he has en-joyed the convention. He is a recipient of the Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship, which brings in aspiring journalists from develop-ing countries around the world.

n n nThe largest single donation for

SPJ’s Legal Defense Fund Jail-N-Bail fundraiser came from John C. O’Connell.

Well, it’s not exactly his money. O’Connell, executive editor of Herald Community Newspapers, made the $500 donation on behalf of the Press Club of Long Island chapter of SPJ.

The money from the New York-based group is something O’Connell believes is imperative for SPJ.

“This is what we ought to be do-ing,” he said.

ComPiled by JulieTA Chiquillo, AmAndA dolAsinski, JosePhine VArnier, emory WilliAmsonThe Working Press

browsing items up for auction, lee Ann harper mingles with sPJ convention attendees on Thursday at the eiteljorg museum.

NIKKI VILLORIA /The Working Press

Former sPJ presidents irwin Gratz, robert leger and david Carlson enjoy an evening of mingling and fundraising for the sPJ opening night reception and harper memorial Fund Auction.

NIKKI VILLORIA /The Working Press

Money from the new Terry Harper Memorial Fund will go to scholarships to help journalists at-tend SPJ programming, President Dave Aeikens announced Thurs-day night before an auction fund-raiser benefitting the fund.

Harper, SPJ’s executive direc-tor, died June 2 after a long ill-ness. He left $10,000 to SPJ and Sigma Delta Chi Foundation. The $13,865 raised in the auction at the Opening Night Reception Thurs-day will add to $9,000 SPJ has raised to supplement Harper’s gift. Separately, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has donated $10,000 to the fund.

by AmAndA dolAsinskiThe Working Press

Auction items included a collec-tion of front pages of newspapers announcing Barack Obama’s pres-idency and two tickets to a taping of “The Colbert Report.”

“We’re excited about this oppor-tunity to create a lasting tribute to him,” Aeikens said.

memorial to fund scholarships

harper


• 1926: First Code of Eth-ics adopted, borrowing from that of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

• 1928: First national head-quarters opened, 836 Ex-change Ave., Chicago, Ill.

Grieve job loss, and then move onBy AmAndA dolAsinskiThe Working Press

After getting laid off, it’s OK to sit on the couch in pajamas and eat a pint of ice cream every day for a week — as long as there’s a dead-line on the pity party.

Each of the three guest speakers at the “Burned Out, Laid Off or Bought Out?” program Thursday has been laid off in the past year, and each has moved on to continue successful careers.

Isha Cogborn was downsized from The Dow Chemical Co. in February. She took her time to grieve, then got down to business.

“I had decided, long before I was laid off, when the time came, I wasn’t going to work for any-body else ever again,” she said. “I wasn’t going to work a 9 – 5 living somebody else’s vision.”

Cogborn is now a life coach and speaker at the Epiphany Institute, Cogborn’s own coaching program for professionals and emerging leaders. She encourages those who have been laid off to take time to grieve and then revisit the positive times, such as winning awards. A person’s talent, ability, passion and experiences, what she calls “the tale of the TAPE,” are the qualities that can set the person apart.

“They’ll give you an unfair, competitive advantage,” she said. “A layoff can be a do-over. Em-brace that.”

It took Holly Fisher a little bit longer to come to peace with her company’s decision to lay her off. Five minutes before 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, the two top bosses called her in for a meeting. She walked out unemployed.

“I called my husband and said, ‘I’m going to be late. I have to clean up my desk − I don’t have a

job anymore,’” she said.Once she let herself grieve, she

picked herself up. Fisher updated her resume, bought a domain name and ordered business cards. She informed sources whom she had become close to while working at SC Biz News that she was on the job market. Fisher found various freelancing assignments that way.

“Think of how you want to pack-age yourself,” she said. “There are a lot of things you can do and stay in communications.”

Mark Scarp had more time to prepare for his layoff. In October, he was told he would be one of about half of the East Valley Tri-bune reporters laid off, effective Jan. 1. He realized he needed to stay in touch with his former col-leagues at the Phoenix newspaper to get ahead.

“It’s up to you to raise your pro-file,” he said. “The place where most people know where to find you isn’t where you are anymore. Let them know what you’re doing and that you’re on the job market.”

Scarp is now an adjunct profes-sor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journal-ism and Mass Communication.

• Take time to grieve, but set a deadline.• Revisit your track record.• Create a plan of attack (up-date resume, get a Web site, print business cards).• Do traditional networking.• Add yourself to online job boards such as Facebook and LinkedIn.• Let people know you’re on the job market; use past contacts.• Recognize a layoff as an op-portunity in disguise.

Advice from experts


• 1934: The fraternity cel-ebrated its 25th anniversary but also lost its national headquarters to a fire.

• 1935: SDX Awards start-ed as Distinguished Service Awards.

• 1942: First historic site in journalism marked by SDX, Vermont Gazette, Benning-ton, Vt.

• 1948: First fellowships awarded to Erwin Canham, Barry Faris and Harry J. Grant.

• 1959: 50-year convention, Indianapolis.

Benjy Hamm is reading the news and he isn’t happy.

Headlines and stories claim the demise of the newspaper industry, but Hamm said that’s not true.

Hamm and journalists Ryan Craig and Rama Sobhani dis-cussed a bright spot within the newspaper industry: community newspapers.

“It’s absurd,” said Hamm, Land-mark Community Newspapers LLC editorial director, in an in-

Community journalism toutedSmall newspapers called 'incredibly strong'

Ryan Craig, editor and publisher of Todd County Standard in Elk-ton, Ky., speaks about small newspapers and their impact within the community Thursday during "The Bright Spot in Traditional Journalism: Community Journalism."

EMORY WILLIAMSON / The Working Press

By EmoRy WilliAmSonThe Working Press

terview before the Thursday ses-sion. “These community news-papers are extraordinarily strong. Newspapers are in good shape; the economy is bad, but community newspapers will be strong for a time to come.”

The panel discussion, moder-ated by Al Cross, Institute of Rural Journalism and Community Issues director, highlighted the impact community newspapers have in their areas.

Cross said community news-papers typically have less than 30,000 circulation.

“Community journalism is rela-tionship journalism,” Cross said. “People want that product, and it’s the only source of authoritative news.”

Hamm said the key to commu-nity newspaper success is a strong, close connection with loyal read-ers, the staff’s community vis-ibility and a focus on local level events.

It makes “people feel like they have to read it,” Hamm said.

The outlook for the newspaper industry, however, looks anything but bright.

According to graphicdesignr.net/ papercuts, a blog counting U.S. journalism layoffs, almost 13,500 jobs have been cut in 2009.

Other newspapers, like the Ann Arbor News, cut all employees and stopped publication.

The two largest papers in Hamm’s home state, the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky. and the Lexington Herald-Leader, have cut nearly 100 employees since March. But Hamm showed several community newspapers like the Citrus County Chronicle in Florida and the Carroll County Times that have thrived.

Many community newspapers increased circulation despite a struggling economy, large media market competition, locations in areas of high unemployment and newspaper price increases.

Freelance journalist Susan McK-ee said she came to the session because of “intellectual curiosity” and lauded the interactive, person-al relationships created through community newspapers.

“You’re writing about people you know and things that matter,” McKee said. “It’s nice to see these small newspapers thriving.”

Today, 4:45-5:45 p.m.

Region 1 ……………..…… CAPITOL I, LOBBY LEVEL States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hamp- shire, New Jersey, New York, Central and Eastern Pennsylvania Region 2 …………………. CAPITOL II, LOBBY LEVEL States: Delaware, D.C., Maryland, North Carolina, VirginiaRegion 3 ………………… CAPITOL III, LOBBY LEVEL States: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, East TennesseeRegion 4 ……………...…... GRAND I, SECOND FLOOR States: Michigan, Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, West VirginiaRegion 5 …………………. GRAND II, SECOND FLOOR States: Illinois, Indiana, KentuckyRegion 6 ………………… GRAND III, SECOND FLOOR States: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin Region 7 ………………….. CHAMBER, LOBBY LEVEL States: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, NebraskaRegion 8 …………………….. CAUCUS, LOBBY LEVEL States: Oklahoma, TexasRegion 9 …………………… CABINET, LOBBY LEVEL States: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, WyomingRegion 10 ………………….. COUNCIL, LOBBY LEVEL States: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, WashingtonRegion 11 ………………... CONGRESS, LOBBY LEVEL States: Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii, Guam, Northern Marianas IslandsRegion 12 ...………… SENATE I & II, SECOND FLOOR States: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Western Tennessee

Attend your region’s meeting to find out more about SPJ activities in your area. Regional director elections will also be held for regions 2, 3, 6, 10, 11 and 12.

Regional meetings

Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 n The Working Press n

• 1960: Sigma Delta Chi re-organized from a fraternity, a campus-based group, to a professional society, which

does not require ties to a col-lege or university; regional system established with 11 regions.

• 1961: First full-time Quill editor, Clarence O. Schlaver.

• 1966: Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award first given to A.L. Hig-ginbotham, Univ. of Nevada.

• 1969: Decision to admit women made at San Diego convention.

Board may choose executive director soonBy MeAgAn e. RAceyThe Working Press

The Society of Professional Journalists’ new executive director may be chosen by November, an SPJ officer said during the board of directors meeting Thursday.

The executive director search committee conducted phone in-terviews during last week with 20 of the original 180 applicants. The eight-person committee chose fewer than 10 finalists Thursday. Personal interviews with the final-ists will take place during the next month. The committee will then make a recommendation to the full board, which will make the final decision.

“We are very excited about the quality of people we have inter-viewed for this position,” said Ha-

git Limor, SPJ secretary-treasurer and search committee co-chair. The new executive director will charter a course for SPJ at one of its most important times in history, she said.

Former Executive Director Terry Harper died June 2 after a two-year battle with brain cancer.

The board, officially meeting for the last time this year, also:

• Restored the power of the pres-ident to appoint committee chairs. A 2007 motion set committee term limits at five years, but that policy violated SPJ bylaws by limiting presidential authority. Only con-vention delegates may change bylaws, which give the president power to “appoint and assign du-ties to committees that the presi-dent deems necessary.”

• Revised chapter reporting stan-

dards and how chapters are ranked. Regional directors will now have to contact professional chapters for quarterly reports. The chapters still must submit annual reports. Criteria for chapter rankings now take into account economic condi-tions.

• Voted to establish an endow-ment for the Terry Harper Memo-rial Fund. The proceeds will fund scholarships for SPJ members to attend SPJ professional develop-ment programs. The memorial fund committee is working out the scholarship process and amounts. Members have raised about $9,000 so far.

• Decided to create an online SPJ Career Toolkit. Holly Edgell, Re-gion 7 director, said plans for the toolkit include up-to-date career training sections, a professional

Meagan Racey/ The Working PressPresident elect Kevin Z. Smith (right) presents a gift to President Dave Aeikens (left) during the board of directors meeting Thursday in the State Room at The Westin Indianapolis.

advice blog, a guide to finding free resources and building multimedia

Help raise money for SPJ’s Legal Defense Fund — and have fun doing it!

File “charges” against convention-goers!Send them to “jail”!Raise “bail” for a good cause!

platforms, links to journalism job sites and a resume clinic.


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The U.N. projects world population will reach 9+ billion by mid-century and has called

for a 100 percent increase in world food production by 2050.

According to the U.N., this doubled food requirement must

come from virtually the same land area as today.

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1 Green, R. et al. January 2005. “Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature.” Science 307.5709: 550-555; and Tilman, D. et al. August 2002. “Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices.” Nature 418.6898: 671-677.

2 “World Agriculture: toward 2015/2030.” 2002. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome. Accessed 12/8/08. <ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/004/y3557e/y3557e.pdf>.

Elanco and the diagonal color bar are trademarks of Eli Lilly and Company.Q 2009 Elanco Animal Health. All rights reserved.AI 10751 (08/09)

• 1970: Student representa-tives added to board struc-ture.

• 1971: Caroline Ross Pokrzywinski becomes first woman elected to the board.

• 1972: Mark of Excellence Awards established.

• 1973: Organization name changed to Society of Pro-fessional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi.

Three seconds is all the time it takes for a recruiter to search the deep Web and uncover drunken frat party photos and blog posts cursing out professors.

With the help of a powerful on-line people finder, human resource departments are finding publicly available information not boasted about on resumes.

Spokeo is a Web site more re-cruiters are relying on to get the inside scoop on potential employees — and all they need is an e-mail address.

After getting a head’s up from a former employee at a Kentucky television station, 2009 Bowling Green State University graduate Matt Horn set restrictive privacy limits on his Facebook profile.

The broadcasting grad said he was an intern with the station in college when a then-employee told him to clean up his profile before his interview.

Horn was a step ahead, though. He’d already heard that human resource executives scour social networking Web sites, so he made sure to never post any question-able material online.

“I made all of my pictures pri-vate except my profile pictures, which are professional anyway,” Horn said. “I’ve gone through all of my comments and stuff that could be viewed as inappropriate, and I deleted all of them.”

The latest research, completed in 2007, shows about 35 percent of recruiters perform Google searches to review potential em-

ployees. About 34 percent of the time that search leads to a decision not to hire the candidate.

The Ponemon Institute at ponemon.org, a Michigan-based research center that administers independent surveys regarding privacy issues, conducted the survey to find out how many hu-man resource executives search the Web to get candid informa-tion about potential hires. The research looked at public and

private corporations and govern-ment agencies, among others, and determined that about 23 percent of recruiters scanned social net-working sites, such as Facebook or MySpace. About 21 percent of the time, employers read through blog posts.

Sue Murphy, association man-ager of the National Human Re-sources Association, said she predicts there will soon be laws with guidelines for employers to follow when performing interest searches.

She said employers need to be careful with searches and how they use that information.

“If I see a recent college grad hanging upside down drinking

out of a keg, I can’t discriminate because it has nothing to do with on-the-job duties,” she said.

Murphy warned employers about understanding the legal-ity of conducting a search and re-maining objective.

Her advice is to interview first and then get permission to do a background check.

Murphy also teaches part time at Daniel Webster College in Nash-ua, N.H., and she gives her stu-

dents tips about preparing for an interview. They include cleaning up their Web sites and using dif-ferent e-mail addresses for person-al and professional information.

The powerful people finder, Spokeo at spokeo.com, actually started out as a social network ag-gregation system.

In 2005, four roommates from Stanford University created it so users could simplify their digital lifestyles.

The foursome realized Internet users tend to claim their e-mail address as a common identifier. When all the sites were linked, they were uncovering massive amounts of information quickly.

“We realized we created some-

Keeping tabs on social networks

“If I see a recent college grad hanging upside down drinking out of a keg, I can’t discriminate because it

has nothing to do with on-the-job duties.” ~ Sue Murphy,

National Human Resources Association

thing very powerful,” co-creator Harrison Tang said.

More than 1 million users log into Spokeo every month to search more than 40 social networking Web sites, Tang said.

It takes as little as three seconds to yield results. All an employer needs is an e-mail address, which most candidates include on their resumes.

Tang said Spokeo will find any publicly posted information, in-cluding pictures, videos and blog posts. It cannot, however, break through privacy filters.

“(Spokeo) can find it more than any other search engine because it searches the deep Web, which Google doesn’t,” Tang said. “Google does a poor job search-ing for people. We’re trying to im-prove that.”

The Web site launched about three years ago and has been growing since.

Tang said he just added a section for law enforcement profession-als and would eventually like to throw in another section to search companies.

Horn maintains profiles on Face-book and Twitter and said he un-derstands why recruiters would want to check those accounts out before an interview.

“It’s the simple fact that if you’re going into broadcasting, you have to keep a good public appear-ance,” he said.

“I think if you’re going to get a job, you have to represent the company."

By AmAndA dolAsinsKiThe Working Press

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Are you a freelancer? Do you cover courts, cops, prisons or the law? Are you sitting on a great story but need a hand? The Carnegie Legal Reporting Fellowship Program and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University is here for you … WHAT THE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM PROVIDES:

- Subsidies of up to $3,000 for out-of-pocket reporting and research expenses.

- Research and reporting assistance by top-notch undergraduate journalism students.

- An expense-paid trip to campus in Syracuse, N.Y., to present findings from your reporting project in a public lecture or classrooms.

Applications must be postmarked by October 5, 2009. For more information, complete guidelines and an application, visit:

http://newhouse-web.syr.edu/legal/ or contact: Roy S. Gutterman Director, the Carnegie Legal Reporting Program S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications

Syracuse University (315) 443-3523 or [email protected]

Are you a freelancer? Do you cover courts, cops, prisons or the law? Are you sitting on a great story but need a hand? The Carnegie Legal Reporting Fellowship Program and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University is here for you … WHAT THE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM PROVIDES:

- Subsidies of up to $3,000 for out-of-pocket reporting and research expenses.

- Research and reporting assistance by top-notch undergraduate journalism students.

- An expense-paid trip to campus in Syracuse, N.Y., to present findings from your reporting project in a public lecture or classrooms.

Applications must be postmarked by October 5, 2009. For more information, complete guidelines and an application, visit:

http://newhouse-web.syr.edu/legal/ or contact: Roy S. Gutterman Director, the Carnegie Legal Reporting Program S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications

Syracuse University (315) 443-3523 or [email protected]

Fighting for your right to know,

one story at a time.


• 1987: Code of Ethics revised.

• 1978: Pulliam Fellow-ship first awarded to Ross MacKenzie, Richmond, Va., News-Leader.

• 1979: First female presi-dent elected, Jean Otto; first Distinguished Campus Ad-visers named: Paul Atkins,

Merrill Bankester, James Highland, Robert Warner.

• 1984: 75-year convention, Indianapolis.

CONVENTIONfrom Front Page

Even after hundreds of news-room layoffs, only 10 journalists have taken advantage of the free membership offered by the Soci-ety of Professional Journalists.

SPJ launched a dues waiver pro-gram, which grants six months free membership to recently laid off members who can’t afford to renew their membership. SPJ lost 1,400 members in the past year. Current membership is 8,400.

For receiving the membership extension, SPJ requires five hours of volunteer time.

Joe Skeel, SPJ interim co-exec-utive director, said he thinks the low number of participants may be because laid-off journalists are angry.

“Many feel like the career they’ve dedicated themselves to has turned its back on them,” Skeel said. “Some see SPJ as un-necessary because they’re going to leave the industry altogether.”

SPJ sent out an e-mail to mem-bers, posted the program infor-mation on its Web site and issued press releases when the program initially launched in April.

Secretary-Treasurer Hagit Li-mor admitted that SPJ needed to do a better job of publicizing the program and the prospects for the future of the industry.

“People are just assuming that the jobs won’t be back,” she said. “Yes, there may not be the same jobs back, but there are different jobs in journalism out there.”

According to an American So-ciety of News Editors census to which 66 percent of U.S. daily newspapers responded, 5,900 newsroom jobs were lost in 2008, reducing employment in that in-dustry by 11.3 percent. Television news experienced a 4.3 percent de-cline in employment by shedding 1,200 jobs in 2008, according to a Radio-Television News Directors Association and Hofstra Univer-sity survey.

Limor said she thinks many are simply opting out of journalism after being laid off.

“We want to let them know you can still have that passion,” she said.

Limor said it’s important that members continue to have access to the tools and training SPJ pro-vides and not leave the business.

By JOAN KhAlAFThe Working Press

Few members use SPJ dues waiver10 unemployed professionals get extension

“It’s just a blip,” she said. “If we stick with it through these rough times, we will find our way out the other side.”

For Sarah Wright-Killinger, the program couldn’t have been of-fered at a better time when she fell victim to layoffs at Yahoo in May.

The former Yahoo News product manager is currently a web strat-egy consultant for Global Green, a nonprofit organization pushing for more sustainable buildings and cities. Wright-Killinger, of Los Angeles, said she appreciates how SPJ is helping during this difficult time for the media.

“A lot of people are jump-ing ship, and journalism jobs are shrinking by the minute,” she said.

The SPJ board of directors met in April in Greencastle, Ind., and approved the dues waiver pro-gram.

SPJ also took other steps to help journalists without jobs. The orga-nization is offering one-day regis-tration at the national convention, which saves attendees about 45 percent in registration fees. About 35 people took advantage of the one-day registration.

“When the chips are down, we’re here to offer a helping hand,” Li-mor said.

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Print journalists lost in 2008 at 66 percent of American dailies

Total SPJ members

who left in 2008

SPJ members using

dues waiver program

To be eligible for a dues waiver, an applicant:

•Recently received membership renewal notice but has not re-newed it due to finances.

•Was laid off from full-time me-dia job and has yet to secure an-other full-time job. Freelancers are not eligible.

•Must commit to volunteer five hours to SPJ.

Where to findthe waiver form:

www.spj.org/waiverrequest.asp

We did know it was going to be lower. We just didn’t know it was going to be this much

lower.~ Ivan Roman,

National Association of Hispanic Journalists

“Obviously, with a bad year, we had to be conservative with mon-ey,” she said.

But for other national journalism conventions, the economy meant sacrifices.

The American Society of News Editors canceled its 2009 conven-tion scheduled for April 26-29 in Chicago. In a February press re-lease, then-President Charlotte Hall cited the challenging times faced by ASNE members as the reason for the cancellation.

The National Association of His-panic Journalists looked for spon-sorships between October 2008 and March 2009, a difficult time for the economy. NAHJ brought in $400,300 in sponsorship money for its June 24-27 convention in Puerto Rico. Ivan Roman, execu-tive director, said NAHJ brought in about $600,080 in 2008 and $805,000 in 2007. Roman said membership was down 36 percent this year, dropping from 2,200 to 1,400.

“It’s been a bad year,” Roman said. “We did know it was going to be lower. We just didn’t know it was going to be this much lower.”

Roman said some previous sponsors simply did not have the money to give. The NAHJ found sponsorships from Continental Airlines, State Farm Insurance and the U.S. Army. SPJ found spon-sorships from the Pulliam fam-ily, Gannett Foundation, Eli Lilly & Co., Demand Studios, Scripps Howard Foundation, The Dart So-ciety and Geico.

The National Association of Black Journalists also found sponsorships from nontraditional sources. Karen Wynn Freeman, executive director, said Target was one of the biggest sources of mon-ey for the Aug. 5-9 convention in Tampa, Fla.

“Small businesses don’t have the money to give us,” Freeman said.

To save money, NABJ cut some

costs. Instead of printing, the pro-gram book was available online only.

About 1,495 attended the NABJ conference, a lower number than in previous years. According to a 2008 NABJ press release, atten-dance at that year’s convention was 2,000.

“Attendance was slightly down,” Freeman said. “But we also scaled the convention down cost wise to save us money.”

Vachon said she thinks one rea-son attendance and sponsorships are up for SPJ this year is because of the focus on new media and interesting programs, such as the career center, a seven-step career-enhancement program. But at the NAHJ conference, multimedia and careers were also the focus.

NAHJ also spent more money than what it usually spends on having wireless Internet connec-tion installed in all the conference rooms so more multimedia train-ing could be offered, even though NAHJ cut back on audio, visual and printing. Despite the focus on multimedia, however, 750 people attended the conference.

“We only made a meager profit,” Roman said.

Sponsors that have contributed to the conventions have made an impact on the conferences.

“We know that times are tough,” Freeman said. “But the fact that these sponsors support us sends a strong message.”


• 2001: SPJ unveiled its newly enhanced Web site with features.

• 1988: Name changed to Society of Professional Journalists.

• 1990: National headquar-ters moved from Chicago to Greencastle, Ind.

• 1996: New detailed Code of Ethics was adopted.

• 2000: National headquar-ters moved to Indianapolis.

By AmAndA dolAsinskiThe Working Press

For journalists on tight budgets who can’t afford the $45 SPJ lun-cheon or $65 banquet, don’t fret. Check out some of the local restau-rants offering big meals for small spenders.

NIKKI VILLORIA/The Working PressThe Blues Brothers on display at the slippery noodle inn is indiana's oldest bar. The bar is located at 372 meridian st. and hosts live blues music every week.

Slippery Noodle Inn372 S. Meridian St. • Hours: 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday• About .5 mile from the Westin• Dishes: From salads to the Indiana staple: breaded pork tenderloin• Price: Lunches about $10, dinners around $15• Recommendation: Diner Julia Chrisman of Indianapolis suggests the Reuben sandwich. “It’s a fun place to go for younger people,” she said.• Extras: Live music nightly. Manager Rick Schmidt said the basement used to be a stop on the Underground Rail-road and the upstairs a brothel. For a tour, call (317) 631-6974 and ask for Hal.

Ike and Jonesy’s17 W. Jackson Place(317) 632-4553• Hours: 11 a.m.-3 a.m. Monday-Friday, 5 p.m.-3 a.m. Saturday• About .5 mile from the Westin• Dishes: Burgers, sandwiches, salads, wraps and two daily lunch specials• Price: about $10• Recommendation: Manager Doc Wessner said the menu is expanded in the summer and just started to offer wraps. “We’re known for our half pound burgers,” he said. • Extras: DJ and dancing every night starting at 9 p.m.

Red Eye Café250 S. Meridian St.(317) 972-1500• Hours: 24 hours• About .4 mile from the Westin• Dishes: all-day breakfast, finger foods and the country fried steak sandwich.• Price: $4.95 to $10• Recommendation: Manager Katrina Cross said the bis-cuits and gravy is the most popular dish, even at night.• Extras: featured on The Late Show with David Letterman.Two specials featured at ike

and Jonesy's located on Jackson street in downtown indianapo-lis.

NIKKI VILLORIA/The Working Press

• 2004: National committee for freelancers created to serve the growing number of freelance journalists.

• 2005: Launch of SPJ Leads, a weekly e-newsletter sent to all members.

• 2009: 100 years of SPJ celebrated at DePauw Uni-versity; a six-month mem-bership waiver instituted for

a growing number of jour-nalists who have lost their jobs; 100-year convention, Indianapolis.

View interactive timeline at SPJ.ORG

Acapulco Joe’s365 N. Illinois St.(317) 637-5160About .6 mile from the Westin Mexican dishes

Country Kitchen1831 N. College Ave.(317) 926-4476About 2.7 miles from the WestinSoul food

Dick’s Bodacious Bar BQ50 N. Pennsylvania St.(317) 916-9600About .5 mile from the Westin Smoked chicken, ribs

Indianapolis City Market222 E. Market St.(317) 634-9266About .6 mile from the WestinCollection of several restaurants, including Middle Eastern and Italian food

Front Page Tavern310 Massachusetts Ave.(317) 631-6682About .9 mile from the WestinBar eats and drinks

Maxine’s Chicken & Waffles132 N. East St.(317) 423-3300About 1 mile from the WestinWings, fish, omelets

Scotty’s Brewhouse3905 E. 96th St.(317) 574-0101About 22 miles from the WestinBurgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, bar

Steak ’n Shake101 W. Maryland St.(317) 634-8703About .1 mile from the WestinHamburgers, hot dogs, shakes

LOCALS RECOMMEND(BELOW) Bonnie and Darrel Wilson take some time to enjoy The Red Eye Cafe in downtown Indianapolis. (RIGHT) Restaurant and bar Ike & Jonesy's entertains patrons with live music and a DJ. (BOTTOM) The Slippery Noodle Inn is Indiana's oldest bar.

NIKKI VILLORIA/The Working Press



Behind bars for a good cause

Neil Ralston (left), SPJ vice president of campus chapter affairs, and Steve Geimann, president of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation, plead for bail for their release during the SPJ Convention Jail-N-Bail on Thursday. The fundraiser puts journalists behind bars for an hour or until at least $100 is raised for SPJ's Legal Defense Fund.

BREANNA GADDIE/The Working Press

Jail-N-Bail raises cash for SPJ Legal Defense Fund

the working press

Documents

storyroxana saberi

yearold journalist

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chris vachon

lence awards luncheon

great speaker

mark of excel