Into the Lion's Den

It’s been two weeks since my introduction to SPJ. I’m still alive, so that’s a promising sign.

 

To say it’s been a whirlwind tour is an understatement.

 

The adjustment is going well, all things considered (although noticeably absent are Robert Siegel, Michele Norris and Melissa Block).

 

However, I feel after two weeks that I’ve finally got my mind wrapped around what to do here at the prestigious Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Center.  Write and or coordinate SPJ Leads. Gather material for Quill’s SPJ Report. Send out thousands upon thousands of e-mail messages about our upcoming convention. (You can still register…act now!) That’s easy enough to master, thanks mostly to the outgoing communications guru, Alyson, who made my first week very manageable.

 

I’ve got the skill set down. Getting organized is another story. It takes more than going to Office Depot and Staples. (BTW – that easy button stuff is a load of hogwash!) On my desk, which is tidy relative to previous workstations, there are a number of Post-It notes. They may seem strewn about to the untrained observer, but each plays its part in helping me keep track of various important tasks. “Check the ethics hotline every morning!” warns one. “Get Clint and Dave’s (respectively our president and president-elect) schedule to Chris when finalized” warns another. I should have made a note to remind me what I’m scheduling for Clint and Dave. Haircuts? Yoga lessons? Eh, it will come.

 

Chris (the same person to whom I’m supposed to deliver the all-important “schedule”) recently remarked about the cleanliness (or lack thereof) of my car. “It’s rather dusty,” she said (and she was speaking about the inside).

 

“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that,” I said rather coyly. “I’ve been in the mountains for 6 weeks. Haven’t gotten around to cleaning it out.”

 

[Side note: Apparently the mountains of eastern Washington, aside from splendid beauty, are chock full of Pepsi bottles and Arby’s curly fries. I have no other explanation for how those items got in my car.]

 

But that’s why I’m a little disorganized. I’ve yet to snap out of the world of camping and the Northwest and into the world of journalism and communications. My job here started about 72 hours after my other job (in the mountains of Washington, mind you) ended. There’s nothing like a straight shot across the country in a dusty, albeit dependable, Corolla to pump you up for a desk job. I rolled into Indianapolis late on a Wednesday night after a marathon race across the country and over a month sleeping in a tent. I started work at 8 a.m. Thursday morning. 

 

So please forgive the aura of disorganization should you encounter it in person. Don’t worry, the essential work will proceed. The press releases will get out on time, SPJ Leads will get to your e-mail inbox and to the Web, and Quill will be delivered to your mailbox on time with great content (thanks to the awesome new managing editor, Amy, who started the day before me).

 

One of these days I’ll get around to dusting out the car. But that will have to wait until after the upcoming convention. (Act now! You can still sign up!)

From Washington State to Indiana: Snaps for Summer FOI Internship Experience

When they said I would be the Pulliam/Kilgore Freedom of Information intern, they really meant FREEDOM OF INFORMATION intern because I am now bursting with information about FOI issues. I did not start the summer with a grand FOI background. Throughout my internship I learned what FOI issues include, how important it is that journalists and the general public pay attention to these issues, and what great stories journalists can do using FOIA.

 

I had to research, research and research, but eventually I felt comfortable that I knew what had gone on this year with FOI. I am so grateful for the help of two FOI masters, SPJ’s FOI committee chair Dave Cullier and National Freedom of Information Coalition executive director Charles Davis, who both helped me understand different FOI issues and answer questions (as most journalists, I had a lot of them!). I also want to thank the rest of the SPJ FOI committee and everyone who took the time for me to interview them and help me understand the different issues going on nationally and locally.

 

I really hope when this issue comes out the stories will not only be entertaining to read but will also be informative for everyone. I tried to make them as “how-to” as possible, so each person picking up this FOI issue of Quill could leave with at least one new journalism tip.

 

This internship was a different experience for me since I was not only focusing on FOI issues, but I was also writing for a magazine. Joe Skeel, my editor for the summer (who was always there to listen and give constructive comments), helped me understand that this would be a lot different from my newspaper internships. The pace was slower than that of a newspaper, but Joe and Chris Vachon always had some other assignments I could work on when I was waiting for interviews or had finished writing my stories.

 

I should probably add that this internship gave me some new life experiences as well. I am from Washington State and have never lived in a “big city” like Indianapolis. To top it off, I decided to not destroy my car by driving it here and took the bus everywhere in Indianapolis. I think everyone should have to take the bus at some point. It’s a great option for those wanting to save gas money or be more environmentally friendly. However, I will say that it can be a humbling and at times intimidating experience. But I’m pretty sure if I could make it the whole summer riding the bus, anyone can do it. I will be returning to the Evergreen State I love so much but have enjoyed this experience in Indianapolis (especially thanks to Alyson who, among many things, allowed me to have my first experience with a deep-fried Snickers bar).

 

I want to end by noting how lucky we SPJ members are to have such a competent staff who really do care about SPJ (it’s true…I’ve heard them say it!). They work full-time to make sure SPJ offers its members the resources they deserve and that our organization has a good reputation nationally and locally. They deserve a lot of credit for any notable things we accomplish as an organization, so if you ever have a question about something SPJ related do not be scared to contact them because they do want to help.

 

Stay classy Indianapolis,

Breanne Coats

A Farewell from the 2008 Archibald Communications Intern

Before working at SPJ, I knew what I would call an average amount about the First Amendment and Freedom of Information Act. I had done the readings and wrote the research papers for my Communications Law class at college, and, as an aspiring journalist, I believed in the importance of shield laws and journalists being allowed to inform the public no matter the circumstance. But was I passionate enough about those beliefs to even bat an eyelash when I read or heard that a journalist’s First Amendment rights were violated? Definitely not.

 

Most of the responsibilities I held as the Archibald Communications Intern were ones I was expecting – my anal retentive, perfectionist gene forced me to read SPJ’s Web site description of the position at least 10 times before my first day. I was well aware I would be writing press releases, working daily with local and national media, updating the Web site and editing copy for various SPJ publications. And I felt extremely prepared to do it all. What I was not prepared for was my transformation into the educated and passionate journalism advocate that I am today.

 

After roughly two and a half months of writing press releases about the federal shield law bill and researching freedom of information issues like it was my job – I was in charge of communications, after all – it finally hit me how important and essential having protection from revealing confidential sources and information really is to being the best public servant a journalist should be. Journalism is not just about reporting the daily happenings that anyone can see or hear about. It’s also about dedicating significant time and energy to informing the public about social injustices that the average person cannot, which sadly doesn’t happen too often these days with journalists doing more jobs with less people and less time to do them in. It’s vital to the industry that, when journalists do have the resources to do investigative research, one thing they don’t have to worry about is having to turn down sources with vital information for fear that they or their sources will be jailed, fired or worse for sharing their knowledge with the public.

 

Now I can’t say that my time at SPJ has made me want to shift my focus in the journalism industry to reporting hard hitting news that will change the world as we know it – that’s just not my style. I’m still an entertainment news girl, no matter how many eye rolls or disgusted faces Joe (aka Quill editor and my supervisor this summer) gives me for that passion. However, in my future career as an entertainment journalist, I will now be able and willing to confidently assist myself or my fellow journalists if I or they ever stumble upon a First Amendment violation from the education SPJ has granted me this summer. And although many may think that type of violation will never mix with my world of reporting on the latest Hollywood gossip, I would have to argue that the Watergate scandal would have been breaking entertainment news, so you can never say never.

 

On a side note, I want to take time to thank everyone on the staff and all those SPJ members across the country who were so willing to help me get the best and most educational experience I could out of my internship this summer. I have learned a great deal and am now determined to be the biggest journalism advocate in the entertainment news business – I have a feeling Joe will sleep better knowing this is so. If you ever have an opportunity to work with the amazing staff at SPJ headquarters or any of SPJ’s chapter leaders across the country, please don’t pass it up. I’m very glad I didn’t.

Thanks for stopping by SPJ,

Alyson Ahrns

Just when you think you are out...

When I left the newsroom nearly four years ago to join SPJ’s staff, I said goodbye to the flying bullets associated with deadline reporting, last-second page proofs and story rewrites at the 11th hour.

 

On to the tranquil waters of magazine publication ‑ where we set our own deadlines weeks in advance in order to avoid such calamity.

 

Or, so I thought.

 

Fast forward to Thursday, July 24.

 

The day started innocent enough, with a task list long enough to keep me busy, but not so long that I felt buried. The day’s biggest jobs: check the Quill proofs from the printer and help get SPJ Leads (our weekly e-newsletter) ready to go and out the door by 5 p.m.

 

As planned, the e-mail alert arrived in the morning to let me know the Quill proofs were ready to be reviewed. We do it all online now with this super-cool (I think that the technical term) proofing system.

 

SPJ communications intern Alyson Ahrns was putting the finishing touches on Leads.

 

Life was pleasant, and I was finally going to have some time to work on those things that I had put off for a few days: getting offices ready for new employees, developing a plan to better communicate with members, edit some convention messages that were to be distributed, etc.

 

A quarter way through checking Quill, at about 11:30 a.m., the bomb fell in the form of an e-mail from SPJ president Clint Brewer.

 

“SHIELD LAW EMERGENCY: ALL HANDS ON DECK!” the subject line read.

 

Word had just come down from our lawyers in Washington, D.C. that the Senate would be taking the shield law bill (which SPJ has been pushing since 2005) to the floor for a vote as early as Monday (although it hasn't happened yet - stay tuned).

 

My to-do list exploded, and suddenly, I was buried. We needed to get the word out to journalists across the country: The Shield Law vote is coming, the Shield Law vote is coming!

 

President Brewer outlined the scope of the media blitz:

 

• Alert all SPJ members and leaders in states whose senators were still on the fence. We wanted them to make contact with their senators, and get their friends and peers to do the same. Our hope was this last grassroots push would swing those undecided senators to our side.

 

• Call the editorial departments of the some of the largest newspapers to let them know a vote was coming, and to express our hope they wrote editorials to support the bill and encourage their readers to contact their senators.

 

• Reach out to editorial page writers, columnists, publishers and broadcast producers to let them know about the vote and encourage them to discuss the importance of the shield law in their pages on over the airwaves.

 

• Finally, we were to distribute an op-ed written by President Brewer to editorial departments nationwide.

 

Off we went.

 

Alyson immediately began crafting messages for all of the audiences. Meanwhile, I finished the job of proofing Quill, which was no easy task this month because of some production goofs we made on our end. In the end, we resent several pages.

 

As Alyson continued to work on the messages, I edited SPJ Leads (which Alyson completed earlier in the morning) and passed it off to our other summer intern, Breanne Coats, for a final edit. I then turned my attention to the messages Alyson was working on.

 

At about 2:30, we began blasting the country with alerts, messages and phone calls. Alyson spoke with folks from the New York Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald and the Los Angeles Times. She left message with a few other major dailies. Alyson shared our position, and she followed up with a fact sheet and SPJ’s talking points about the proposed shield law.

 

At the same time, I began sending messages to our members, encouraging them to contact their senators. We sent messages to SPJ chapter leaders and national board members to encourage them to talk to their members.

 

Once the phone calls were completed, Alyson began blasting SPJ’s message to editorial page writers in the targeted states.

 

One hour later, Round 1 was over.

 

We sat and waited for calls from those we just reached. We received a few messages from board members and other volunteers that they did indeed reach out to their senators. And, of course, we waited for that message asking “Doesn’t anyone edit this stuff before you send it out? I would expect more from a journalism organization!”

 

Meanwhile, our ever-competent graphic designer, Andrew Farkas, chipped in and put together SPJ Leads.

 

At 4 p.m., we received Clint’s op-ed, which was to be sent to editorial page editors, columnists, publishers and producers around the country. By 5, the piece was edited, approved and out the door.

 

Shortly after that, Breanne, Alyson and I checked SPJ Leads to make sure all the links worked at that it met the standard of a professional journalism organization.

 

It was 5:30 p.m., and I felt like I had been put through the ringer. Alyson and Breanne looked much more vibrant than me…but they are still young. All I wanted was an overflowing, cold beer and a quiet corner.

 

In roughly 5 hours of work, we spread SPJ’s message to 15,000 journalists. The full impact of that day is really impossible to measure. We have no way of knowing how many people contacted their local senator. Our news aggregators turn up a lot of “pick-ups,” but not all.

 

What we do know, is that since our media blitz at least 100 news outlets – including the biggest in the country – have written about the need for a shield law. Maybe they planned to do so all along, maybe not. But we can rest comfortably knowing we did our best to make that happen.

 

And rest I did!

 

Now, we wait for the vote.

My favorite Quill

When you have the time to sit for a while, do yourself a favor and open the June/July awards issue of Quill. You will be glad you did.

Hands down, the awards issue is my favorite of the year. It contains brief profiles of all the Sigma Delta Chi Award winners. Reading about their amazing work makes me proud to call them peers. But more than that, it inspires me. And I can't wait to meet all of them this weekend at the SDX Awards Banquet in Washington, D.C.

In a time when the public rates journalists, lawyers and car salesmen equally on the "trust" scale, it's easy to lose sight of the important role we play. Most of us try to remind ourselves that what we do is as vital to our community and country. But sometimes, we tune out our own voices.

Well, this issue screams it loud and clear: WHAT WE DO IS IMPORTANT!! OUR COMMUNITIES AND COUNTRY NEED US, EVEN IF THEY DON'T REALIZE IT!

In the pages of the annual awards, you will see exactly why they need us. Without us, Joe Public wouldn't know the house he wanted to buy was once a Meth factory; he wouldn't know that many of the household products he buys has dangerous chemicals in them -- and nobody is doing anything about it. Without us, Charlestown, S.C., would still be sending firefighters into action with inferior training and equipment; and child care providers in Washington state would still be operating with little to no oversight.

These winners represent the best journalism of 2007. But, more than that, they show us the impact that great journalism can have on a community.

So, spend some time with Quill....then go make an impact on your community.

Storytelling with Tom Hallman Jr. in Gainesville, Fla.

   On June 14, SPJ held a Narrative Writing Workshop at the University of Florida.  This was the twelfth workshop we’ve held since funding was approved in 2006.  Thirty-four participants joined us for the day of training, which focused on reinvigorating the writing craft.

   The Oregonian’s Tom Hallman, Jr. led the workshop.  Topics including defining narrative writing, narrative reporting and applying techniques to daily reporting were covered.  Three brave participants were at the mercy of the crowd as they shared their work and received feedback. 

   If you’ve ever met Tom, you know that despite all the awards, he’s just a regular guy…laid back, funny and not a bit pretentious.  He’s the kind of guy you can have a Mac vs. PC talk about over cheap Mexican food at Tijuana Flats.  I think his personality is what makes this program work.  People seem to forget that a Pulitzer winner is in front of them and open up about their own struggles and successes. 

At the end of the day, participants completed evaluation forms.  Some feedback included:

 

   “I found the materials easy to understand, and thus will be able to apply it more quickly.  I appreciated that during the workshop, attendants also were invited to chime in on potential solutions.  Tom’s open and unpretentious demeanor set attendants at ease and thus encouraged more discussion than I had expected before coming here.”

 

  “The seminar reassured me of what makes me a good writer-something I hear from editors, co-workers and readers, but have a hard time identifying for myself.”

 

  “I came to his workshop with many doubts about how to approach narrative writing & I am leaving with a tool box of skills and enthusiasm.  Thank you for providing this course.”

 

  SPJ’s Narrative Writing Workshops are funded through a grant from the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation.  Visit our site to stay up to speed on dates and locations for the 2009 series of workshops.   

Scripps Leadership Institute gets the juices flowing

One of the blessings/curses about my job at SPJ headquarters is that I get to see things from the top of the journalism umbrella. Our educational programs, Quill content, membership efforts, public relations and the rest our business is usually conducted from a national perspective.

Of course, that means I often don't get the same view as local SPJ chapters.

That's why I truly love the Ted Scripps Leadership Institute that SPJ conducts every summer. I can't take any credit for the masterful weekend retreat (that goes to Heather Porter and Chris Vachon). I'm really little more than a fly on the wall. But it's one of the few times each year I get to visit with local chapter leaders and hear about all the wonderful things they are doing.

Of course, as is the nature with most retreats, I also get to hear about their frustrations. The great thing is, these frustrations don't seem quite so insurmountable when you realize others out there are feeling the same way. We chatted about great program ideas, ways to include and motivate volunteers and how to improve a chapter's bottom line. We talked about creating a successful leadership ladder and widening our nets for perspective members. You name it...we probably talked about it at some point.

In the coming months, my job is going to evolve a bit. I will be much more involved with membership. And, quite frankly, that means I'm going to more involved with local chapters. I believe the best way to build a lasting membership base is to do so through our local folks.

In my almost four years with SPJ, there seems to be an invisible wall that separates SPJ's national offices and the local chapters. My hope is that we break down that wall and begin to work together.

If you have any questions, concerns or ideas, please don't hesitate to shoot me an e-mail. And I hope that when I need to lean on you, you'll return the favor.

Training in the Newsroom in Greenville, N.C.

   On June 7 and 8, SPJ conducted six newsroom training courses at the Daily Advocate in Greenville, N.C. Staff members from three area Cox North Carolina Newspapers joined us for the training.

   SPJ Professional Development Chair Deb Wenger led sessions on writing for the Web; audio and images for the Web; and creating video for the Web. All three sessions are part of our relatively new multimedia training series.

   When Mike Schwartz, manager of editorial training for COXnet & Cox Newspapers, introduced the program, he commended SPJ for reaching out to our industry, looking for emerging needs, and providing such a valuable and economical training program. In a message after the training, Schwartz wrote that the programming “… was relevant, useful and easily transferable back on the job. If the participants apply what they learned it should move them more quickly into the multimedia world they all must embrace.”

   After the video session, a participant wrote in her evaluation, “… I’m excited about video now rather than dreading that I might have to shoot sometime.” That’s good news for her, for her newspaper and for our profession.

   Speaking of the newspaper, newsroom leaders at the Daily Reflector talked with us after the program about how they could start putting the training to work immediately. They recognized that lessons are often lost if they’re not quickly institutionalized, and they want to ensure that they’ll see their investment pay off in the coming weeks. We’re looking forward to seeing that, too.