Professional Development Programs

There's something for everyone in this year's schedule. Check out a list of the many workshops we're offering, and check back frequently for information about sessions, speakers and dates and times.

Friday, Aug. 28
Times: 9:15 a.m. | 10:45 a.m. | 2 p.m.
Click to see the lineup for: Thursday | Friday | Saturday

Half-Day Training Workshops Sunday, August 30 | 9 a.m. In addition to regular convention programming, these half day programs are available. Advance registration is required. Limited space available. Follow this link for additional details, including locations, speaker information and bios. — Homesteading in Cyberspace: Staking a Claim and Moving In — Search Engine Optimization and Web Analytics: How to Connect Great Journalism with the Greatest Possible Audience — Beyond the Spreadsheet: How to Look for Trends and Patterns in your Database — Basic Web Video Also on Friday Journalism Expo 8 a.m.-5 p.m. | Sponsored by Demand Studios What’s not in here? Besides the registration and information desk, you will find the Internet Café, BookMart (where you can find great books on journalism as well books authored by our conference speakers), exhibitors and vendors, a complimentary massage, the Electronic Petting Zoo and the Career Center. In the Career Center, you'll have the opportunity to speak with Life Coach Isha Cogburn, get your writing critiqued, have your resume and clips reviewed by journalism professionals, sign up for a one-on-one consultation in the Freelancing Fare, and to meet with someone from Demand Studios. Opening Business Session 8:30-9 a.m. Convention delegates will hear candidate speeches for the 2009-10 Board of Directors. Any additional nominations must be made during this meeting. Mark of Excellence Awards Luncheon Noon-2 p.m. | $45 See what top student journalists around the country are accomplishing. Hear from Lara Logan of CBS News’ 60 Minutes about how she accomplished so much in her journalism career at such a young age. Click here for more details. Session, Tour and Refreshments at Eli Lilly 2-4:45 p.m. No matter which beat you cover in your reporting, learning about Lilly is an opportunity to explore one of Indianapolis’ oldest, largest and most esteemed companies. The afternoon offers three unique experiences. Click here for more details. Super Session: The Importance of International Coverage 3:15-4:30 p.m. More information coming! Regional Meetings 4:45-5:45 p.m. Attend your region’s meeting to find out more about SPJ activities in your area. Regional Director elections will also be held. Sigma Delta Chi Awards Reception 6:30-8 p.m. | $40 The Sigma Delta Chi Awards recognize the best in professional journalism in 53 categories, covering print, radio, television, newsletters, photography, online and research. The reception will pay tribute to this year’s winners for outstanding work in 2008. Click here for more details. Ethics Hold ’em 6-8 p.m. Come hungry and greedy, because you'll eat and drink for free while playing SPJ's version of Texas Hold'em — and you'll subversively learn SPJ's vaunted Code of Ethics at the same time. Don't know how to play poker? Professional dealers will teach you. Also find out how to acquire some of these special decks so you can host your own tournament back home. Friday Night Fun: Battle of the Bands 8 p.m. Click here for more details.

9:15-10:30 a.m.

Save the Cheerleader: New Media Managers
Part of the New Media Track
Description: Content Manager, New Media Producer, Web Editor, Internet Director — we have many names, but we are all the same in many respects. We are the innovators, the early adopters, teachers, instructors and most of all — cheerleaders — for the Web in our newsrooms. Learn how to transform your newsroom into Web enthusiasts and learn ways to “manage up,” behaviors you can practice which will earn you recognition from your senior management.
Speaking: Hilary Sizemore, interactive content manager, Barrington Broadcast Group
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Hilary Sizemore, interactive content manager, Barrington Broadcast Group
Hilary Sizemore is Barrington Broadcasting Group's interactive content manager. She manages the day-to-day online news operations of the company's 25 television stations that are based in 14 markets throughout the nation, from Columbia, South Carolina to the far reaches of Marquette, MI.

Prior to joining Barrington Broadcasting she worked for Quincy Newspapers Inc., as an assignment editor at WKOW in Madison, Wisconsin and at WXOW in La Crosse, Wisconsin as an internet director and assignment editor. Beijing, China was called home for several years while she consulted for the People's Daily & Market Daily newspapers.

She graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison with a master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communications.



Past Presidents’ Roundtable
In recognition of SPJ’s Centennial Celebration
Description: Hear some of SPJ’s past national presidents share their wisdom and experience about SPJ’s significant role in the development of the journalism community.
Moderating: Paul Davis, SPJ President 1988-89



The REAL Art of Interviewing
Description: Getting a one or two-sentence sound bite from someone is one thing but getting a high-profile or hard-to-interview subject to really open up for a lengthy article, expose or feature series is a whole other story. In fact, it's THE story. Whether the subject is a politician, an actor, an inmate, a sports star, a Fortune 500 executive or a murder suspect, getting someone to provide more than one-word answers, shrugs or canned responses written by a publicist is the difference between a ho-hum story and a piece that will have people noting your byline.
Speaking: Betsy Model, freelancer
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Betsy Model, freelancer
A former NPR/BBC correspondent, Betsy Model has produced more than one thousand articles or news segments in her career. An award-winning journalist, she has contributed to more than thirty domestic (US) and international outlets with assignments as varied as editors’ needs. From on-the-scene, breaking news reports to celebrity cover stories, from investigative reporting on social issues and international crises to the latest trends in lifestyle — including luxury travel, design, food and wine — Betsy has a passport (and a Rolodex) that reflects work on every continent in the world.

A partial list of media clients include NPR, Cigar Aficionado, Forbes, BBC, Wine Spectator, Trend, Sun, Spa, Internationalist, Wine Enthusiast, Destinations, Law & Politics, Robb Report, Seattle Times, Biography, Desert Living, Phoenix, Luxury Living, News Tribune, Estates West, Santa Fe New Mexican, Las Vegas Magazine, Better Homes and Gardens, Seattle Homes and Lifestyle, Country Music Magazine, Adam, Private Air, Stratos, Olympian, Ritz-Carlton, Worth, Seattle Magazine, Orange Coast, Frontier, Alaska Air, Palm Beach Illustrated, Naples Illustrated, Metropolitan Living, AOL Time Warner, Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles, Nicklaus, Tycoon, China Air, Qantas and many others.



Ethics on Call
Description: With the turmoil in the journalism community these days, ethics becomes even more important. As a result, resources for journalists when it comes to ethical decision-making are imperative. The Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists has been answering calls from journalists seeking guidance on ethics issues since 2001. Actual ethics cases handled by the AdviceLine will be discussed and members of the audience are asked what ethics advice they would have given the troubled journalist. The speakers will share the advice that was actually given in the cases described.
Speaking: Casey Bukro, co-founder, Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists; James Burke, chair, Loyola University Chicago Center for Ethics Outreach Advisory Board
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Casey Bukro, co-founder, Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists
Casey Bukro was inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame in June (June 20, 2008) in ceremonies held in Chicago.

Bukro, who serves on SPJ's national ethics committee, was cited by the International Press Club of Chicago for outstanding contributions to Chicago journalism in a career that spanned 45 years with the Chicago Tribune, the last seven years as the newspaper’s overnight editor. He was described as a ‘’groundbreaker’’ and the nation’s first full-time environment reporter.

Bukro retired from the Chicago Tribune on June 15, 2007.

Bukro pioneered in environmental reporting and in 1970 became the first full-time environment specialist at a major metropolitan newspaper in the United States. He interviewed President Richard Nixon the day he was named environment editor, later environment writer.

The groundbreaking ‘’Save Our Lake’’ series explored Great Lakes pollution and in 1967 earned him the Tribune’s Beck Award, the paper’s highest honor for reporting. ‘’Save Our Lake’’ triggered a flurry of legislation and ushered in a new era of in-depth, public service investigations at the Tribune.

The series was a contender for the Pulitzer Prize.

Bukro created the Tribune’s environment beat.

The beat expanded into energy, natural resources and toxic chemicals. Bukro covered the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, Times Beach and Love Canal toxic waste stories and the Bhopal, Chernobyl and the Alaska oil spill disasters.

Bukro worked for the Tribune’s metropolitan, national and finance departments, and in the Lake County bureau as reporter, rewrite man and assistant city editor positions.

In 1981, he won a Tribune contest and two ounces of gold for naming ‘’Freedom Center,’’ the new printing plant.

He served as the Society of Professional Journalists midwest regional director from 1974 to 1983, served as national ethics chair and in 1983 was awarded the Wells Key, the society’s highest honor. He was cited for writing the society’s code of journalism ethics.

Bukro graduated with bachelor and master degrees from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and was elected to the Kappa Tau Alpha national honorary journalism society. In 1998, he received the Northwestern University Alumni Association’s alumni service award for 17 years of volunteer service to the university.

Before transferring to Northwestern University, Bukro spent two years at University of Illinois Chicago, where he won championships in boxing and weightlighting.

Prior to joining the Tribune, Bukro was a reporter, rewrite man and radio desk editor for the City News Bureau of Chicago. Before that, he was Jefferson County chief for the Janesville Gazette, Janesville, Wis.

Bukro is a former president of the Chicago Headline Club, a professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He was the club’s ethics chair from 1995 to 2007. In 2001, he co-founded the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists, a hot line that gives ethics guidance to journalists. AdviceLine is a partnership between the Chicago Headline Club and Loyola University Chicago.

Bukro has received awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Chicago Audubon Society, National Headliner Club, Illinois Public Health Association, Izaak Walton League and the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Bukro intends to travel during retirement, and got a good start in 2007 by traveling to Paris, wilderness backpacking in the high Sierra mountains of Yosemite National Park and Spain. He will pursue his passion for downhill skiing in the winter and riding his BMW motorcycle during the summer.



Are Journalists Paranoid about Mental Illness?
Description: How much blame should the news media accept for the shambles of America's mental health care system and the continuing scourge of youth suicide? Are journalists afraid to cross the taboo lines of privacy and family tragedy? Our session will consider the proposition that this major news story is typically covered by the wrong journalists. The media track record on this story suggests that community journalists in particular have done little to heed the SPJ Code of Ethics that charges journalists to give voice to the voiceless.
Speaking: David Chartrand, journalist-author; Dr. Scott Poland, Center for Psychological Studies and Coordinator of Suicide and Violence Prevention Office, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Click for speaker information
David Chartrand, journalist-author
Kansas City journalist-author David Chartrand serves on SPJ’s national First Amendment Committee.

He has written extensively about mental health and public education. His upcoming book, “Angels in the Park,” examines the track record of American schools and communities in saving the lives of depressed and suicidal youth.

Chartrand’s humor and commentary have been distributed by Universal Press Syndicated and carried in such publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Atlanta Constitution and his hometown daily, The Kansas City star. In 2002, he received a First Place award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Chartrand’s A Father’s Letter to Santa, which first appeared in The Wall Street Journal on Christmas Eve 1993, has been included in anthologies of the most memorable Christmas essays of all time.

Dr. Scott Poland, Center for Psychological Studies and Coordinator of Suicide and Violence Prevention Office, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Dr. Scott Poland is Coordinator of the Suicide and Violence Prevention Office at NOVA Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Poland is a nationally recognized expert on school crisis, youth violence, suicide intervention, self injury, school safety, threat assessment, parenting and the delivery of psychological services in schools. He served on the President’s Roundtable on Youth Violence and has testified about the needs of children before the U. S. Congress. He is a founding member of the National Emergency Assistance Team for the National Association of School Psychologists and serves as the Prevention Director for the American Association of Suicidology.

Poland has led numerous national crisis teams responding to school shootings and suicides. He is a Past President of the National Association of School Psychologists and was the Director of Psychological Services (1982-2005) for a large Texas school district that received state and national awards for its psychological services. Poland was twice named the most outstanding school psychologist in Texas.



Visual Communications
Part of the New Media Track
Description: An "Alternative Story Form'' looks for the best and most effective way to present information to time-strapped readers. It goes beyond the traditional inverted pyramid style of writing a story for print and online. Collaboration across the newsroom is a must. This workshop will show you the top 10 ASFs and tips on how to spread the word in your newsroom.
Speaking: Rick Crotts, Sunday sports and business editor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Rick Crotts, business section editor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rick Crotts joined the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1995, starting as the Sports Design Director. He then moved into News Art Manager position in 2001. The following year, he added Presentation Editor to his duties. As Presentation Editor, Rick was responsible for the design and look of the AJC. As the AJC moved to using more alternative story forms, Rick compiled a catalog of over 65 ASFs, with an explanation on how to create each. He also wrote the papers design stylebook.

In March 2008, he became the Business Section Editor. Rick works closing with reporters, editors, designers and graphic artists, using his talents as a visual journalist to help the reinvention of this important section.

For the past seven years, he has been teaching visual thinking and alternative story form courses online and in person for designers, editors, reporters and photographers for newspapers in the Cox chain around the country. Rick also teaches visual communication, and desktop editing and publishing courses at Georgia State University as an adjunct professor. He has also taught Visual Journalism courses the University of Georgia. Rick has worked as a design consultant for UGA's student newspaper, the Red & Black, and papers in Alabama.

He has talked to numerous college groups over the years about visual thinking, design and the importance of alternative story forms. During his 26 years in the newspaper industry, Rick as been in design leadership positions at the St. Petersburg Times, Orlando Sentinel, Detroit News and Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Fla.). He has received numerous SND awards for design excellence, as well as many individual state and national design honors. Rick graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in journalism.



10:45-11:45 a.m.

The Truth About Freelancing: How to Run a Profitable Writing Business
Part of the Career Center Track
Description: Shifts within the news business are prompting many journalists to strike out on their own as freelance writers, bloggers and columnists. And it’s not a bad option. Better work/life balance, higher pay and greater fulfillment are all within reach for skilled journalists with the knowledge and work ethic to pursue them. This session will teach the ins and outs of running a profitable writing business. You’ll leave with a strong grasp of the diverse ways freelancers make a living from pitching articles and blogging for dollars to ghostwriting books and selling information directly to consumers. You’ll also learn seven secrets of profitable freelancing, and only one of them has to do with writing.
Speaking: Maya Payne Smart, Freelancer
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Maya Payne Smart, Freelancer
Maya Payne Smart is a freelance writer who has written hundreds of articles for newspapers, magazines and websites. Her 2009 clients include Black Enterprise, Black MBA, BusinessJournalism.org, CNNMoney.com, Essence and Heart & Soul. She also is the author of several how-to guides on topics ranging from business writing to cutting everyday expenses for Quamut.com, a Barnes & Noble Publishing venture. She serves on the board of governors of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and leads its freelancer initiative. Smart has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.



Chester B. Wells Lecture Series
In recognition of SPJ’s Centennial Celebration
Description: Join Wells Key winners as they discuss past challenges of the organization and the importance of YOUR future involvement in SPJ.
Speaking: Dr. Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver, Wells Memorial Key Honoree 1987



War Stories: America's Coverage of the War in Afghanistan
Description: The war in Afghanistan is now in its eighth year. Forty-one nations including the United States are in Afghanistan under NATO's International Security Assistance Force. Until recently, coverage of the war in Afghanistan lagged behind coverage of the conflict in Iraq. Is Afghanistan the forgotten war? Does the press coverage of the war in Afghanistan convey the multinational cooperation of the mission? What has the media and by extension, the American public, learned from the coverage of the war? Are other stories such as the rebuilding and stabilization of Afghanistan being overlooked? This session will take a closer look at how reporters can get a more comprehensive picture of the war in Afghanistan from a group of speakers representing international, journalistic and military perspectives.
Moderating/Speaking: Carl Prine, reporter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and board member, Military Reporters and Editors
Speaking: Colonel Dave Lapan, director, Department of Defense Press Office; Peter ter Velde, journalist, NOS News
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Colonel Dave Lapan, director, Department of Defense Press Office
Colonel Dave Lapan currently serves as director, Department of Defense Press Office, The Pentagon, Washington, DC. He previously served as director and deputy director of Public Affairs, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.

Col. Lapan enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1980 and served as an air traffic controller and UC-12B crew chief before being selected for the Enlisted Commissioning Program. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of Marines in April 1983.

Col. Lapan transferred to the Marine Corps Reserve in 1987. He was assigned to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro (CA), working in airfield operations, and was recalled to active duty during Operation Desert Storm.

In 1993, he resumed his undergraduate studies and graduated with honors from the Pennsylvania State University with a B.A. in Journalism and Humanities. He also spent two years as assistant press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, the largest agency in Pennsylvania state government.

In 1996, as a Reserve officer, Col. Lapan was assigned to the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, serving as public affairs liaison to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies for the 1997 Presidential Inauguration.

Returning to full-time active duty, he was assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, where he served as head of the Media and Plans branches, from 1997 - 2000.

From 2000-2003, Col. Lapan served as press officer in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, The Pentagon, where, among other duties, he was Public Affairs liaison to U.S. Central Command during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

From 2003 — 2006, he was assigned as Public Affairs Officer, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, NC. In 2004, he served as PAO for Combined Joint Task Force — Haiti during Operation Secure Tomorrow and in 2005, served as PAO for Multi-National Force — West during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

His formal military education includes Air Traffic Control "A" School and Defense Information School. He is a graduate of the Air War College and distinguished graduate of the Naval War College.

His personal decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal (3), Joint Service Achievement Medal and the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

Carl Prine, reporter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Carl Prine joined the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in 2000 as an investigative reporter after working as a war correspondent overseas for several publications, including the Christian Science Monitor. He has won local, state and national awards for his work, including a probe that explored security at major chemical plants in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. A former Marine, he quit journalism in 2005 and enlisted in the Army National Guard, serving in the 1-110th Infantry in Anbar Province. While deployed, the Associated Press in Pennsylvania awarded him "Best in Show" for his writings about injuries in the NFL. He rejoined the Tribune-Review in late 2006 and routinely conducts investigations into national security, professional sports and other controversial issues. In 2007, he was featured in a two-part PBS Expose series on investigative journalism.

Peter ter Velde, journalist, NOS News
Peter ter Velde is a reporter for NOS News, the Dutch national television and radio network. He has reported from many wars — and crisis areas such as Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, Haiti and Indonesia. From 1996 to 2001, he was an Israel based radio correspondent for NOS.

Ter Velde has reported on the Dutch mission in southern Afghanistan since 2006, when the Netherlands began its mission in Uruzgan. He's reported both as an embedded and unembedded journalist and has interviewed Taliban fighters in Uruzgan.

At the end of 2008, he wrote the book 'Kabul & Kamp Holland," an exploration of the daily life of the many different ethnic groups living in Afghanistan that combines the history of Afghanistan, and looks at the Dutch mission in Uruzgan.



A Bulletproof Career
Part of the Career Center Track
Description: Whether you're job hunting, been laid off or are just worried you could be next, this session is for you. Hear news managers explain how they make the cuts, what recruiters are looking for and what advice a career counselor can provide.
Speaking: Dan Bradley, vice president news, Media General; Ernest Sotomayor, assistant dean, Career Services, The Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University; Virgil Smith, vice president/talent management, Gannett Company, Inc.
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Virgil Smith, vice president/talent management, Gannett Company, Inc.
Virgil L. Smith earned his Bachelor of Science and Master’s degree from the University of San Francisco.

He began his newspaper career in 1971 at The Sacramento Bee, where he held a number of positions including circulation manager and personnel director before moving to the Fresno Bee (California) as the director of consumer marketing and chief labor negotiator in 1984. In 1991 he joined the Gannett Company as associate publisher in Stockton, California; and was named president and publisher in 1992 before serving as the assistant to the senior group president of the Gannett Pacific Group in Reno, Nevada. In 1996, he served as president and publisher of the Asheville, Citizen-Times (North Carolina) for ten years. In September 2006 he was appointed to his current position of Vice President for Talent Management for the Gannett Company.

He has earned numerous professional and community awards, including being named one of the top three managers in Gannett and awarded a Gannett President’s Ring.

He received the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce Partners in Education “Volunteer of the Year Award for his work in establishing the Asheville-Buncombe Education Coalition. He is a former Chairman of the Asheville-Buncombe VISION. He received the Eighteenth Annual Adult Dr. King’s Legacy of Peace, Justice and Community Award, from the Asheville Buncombe Community Relations Council and The Asheville Buncombe Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, for his work in the community that exemplified the work of Dr. King. He received the Robert L. Mason, Distinguished Service AWARD by the North Carolina Association for Community Education; the Children First 2000 Service Award for Early Education, and received the Asheville Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Beat the Odds Community Award for dedication and commitment to educating Children. Virgil was named “Man of the Year” in Stockton, California by the Esquire Club; was named “Alumnus of the Year” for Leadership Fresno (California). The Asheville Citizen-Times was awarded the Gannett Company Diversity Award, Public Service Award and was named a “Gold Medal” newspaper for 2003. The Gold Medal award is presented annually to the top six newspapers for journalistic excellence in the Gannett Company. The Citizen-Times earned the Diversity Award again in 2005. Most recently Virgil was awarded the annual Ida B. Wells Award for Diversity and the Asheville-Buncombe Community Relations Lifetime Achievement Award.

Industry affiliations or board positions include: former board member and former President of the National Association of Minority Media Executives; member of the National Association of Broadcasters Foundation board, former board member of Newspaper Association of America, where he currently serves on the Public Policy Committee and NAA Foundation Board. Memberships in the National Hispanic Journalism Association, National Association of Black Journalists, Asian American Journalism Association, and is Chairman of Gannett’s Leadership and Diversity Council.

State and academic involvement includes board member and chair of the Audit Committee for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation Board of Trustees, board member for the Institute for Advanced Journalism Studies at North Carolina A&T University, University of North Carolina-Asheville Board of Trustees and Howard University School of Communication, Board of Advisors. Military experience includes six -years in the United States Army (Specialist-6) earning perfect scores for physical and written examinations during basic training.

His immediate family includes wife Joann Smith, R.N., PhD at Howard University, and three adult children; Kenneth, Kenya and Rashaad.



Backgrounding Local Health Professionals
Description: While it’s getting easier to check the quality of health care institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis centers, investigating the quality of health professionals, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists, still requires a lot of legwork. This session will focus on the use of public records, court documents and interviews to background the people to whom we trust with our care. Several investigative reports that have done it well will be highlighted.
Moderating: Len Bruzzese, executive director, Association of Health Care Journalists
Speaking: Charles Ornstein, senior reporter, ProPublica; Gina Barton, investigative reporter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Andrew McIntosh, senior writer, The Sacramento Bee
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Len Bruzzese, executive director, Association of Health Care Journalists
Len Bruzzese is the executive director of the Association of Health Care Journalists, an associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism and serves on the executive committee of the Council of National Journalism Organizations. Bruzzese, a founding staff member of USA Today, spent 20 years in daily journalism before entering the nonprofit and academic worlds. He formerly served as deputy director of Investigative Reporters and Editors and is co-author of "The Investigative Reporter's Handbook" (4th ed.). His journalism career included writing, editing and management stints at USA Today, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Miss.), the Pensacola News Journal and Gannett News Service (Washington, D.C.). His final daily newspaper position was as editor of The Olympian in Olympia, Wash.

Gina Barton, investigative reporter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Gina Barton is an investigative reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She has written about dangerous doctors escaping scrutiny. Before joining the Watchdog Team, Barton reported for five years from the federal courthouse. In 2000, Barton was named a Dart Center Ochberg Fellow and spent five weeks reporting in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Before coming to Milwaukee, she worked at The Indianapolis Star, the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune and the Huntington (W.V.) Herald Dispatch.

Andrew McIntosh, senior writer, The Sacramento Bee
Andrew Mcintosh has been a senior writer at The Sacramento Bee since 2005. He came to the United States after a 20-year newspaper career in Canada that included stints as a parliamentary investigative reporter at The National Post and other jobs at The Globe and Mail of Toronto, The Ottawa Citizen and The Gazette of Montreal. He has won three National Newspaper Awards — Canada's highest journalism honor — for investigative reporting, business reporting and spot news reporting and was a finalist three other times. His Bee series that exposed problems with the spotty and patchwork licensing system for paramedics and EMTs in California won the SPJ-Northern California chapter's 2007 Excellence Award for investigative reporting. McIntosh also is the author of “Savvy Sleuthing,” a guide to investigative reporting.

Charles Ornstein, senior reporter, ProPublica
Charles Ornstein is a senior reporter at ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative reporting organization in New York. Until recently, he was a metro investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times. In 2004, he co-authored a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative series on Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, a troubled hospital in South Los Angeles. In 2006, Ornstein, who is vice president of the Association of Health Care Journalists, helped chronicle lapses in the nation's organ transplant system, which triggered a congressional investigation and changes in federal regulations. The coverage garnered several journalism awards. He previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, where he covered health care on the business desk and worked in the Washington bureau. In 1999-2000, he was a media fellow with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, examining the future of the employer-sponsored health insurance system.



Show and Tell
Part of the Career Center Track
Description: Attend a session where the entire room becomes your personal critique panel, or you can just observe the best work of journalists at various levels of experience. This is your chance to show off your best work to colleagues from around the country or show a story on which you wish you'd had their advice. Stories get a ten minute limit. You offer a short description, show the story, and either ask questions or hear comments from those in the room. This is an excellent opportunity to get story ideas you may be able to bring back to your community.

PLEASE NOTE: There are only six 10-minute slots for this one-hour session, and pre-registration is required due to the limited space. Please e-mail Heather Porter to register. Bring your reel in a VHS or DVD format.

Speaking: Hagit Limor, investigative reporter, WCPO-TV, Cincinnati
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Hagit Limor, investigative reporter, WCPO-TV, Cincinnati
Hagit Limor’s other experience with SPJ includes stints as Greater Cincinnati Pro Chapter President and membership chairman; National Membership Committee; National Finance Committee Chair; and board member of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation.

Outside of SPJ, she serves as WCPO-TV's Emmy and national award-winning investigative reporter, but her journey began half a world away. She was born in Israel and moved to the United States when she was eight years old. At WCPO, Hagit is regarded as a "do-it-all" journalist. She's served as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and now helms the award-winning I-Team. Her abilities as a writer and reporter have garnered Hagit dozens of national, state and local awards.

She and videographer Anthony Mirones won First Place in the 2008 National Headliner Awards for "Resurrection", a four-year investigation into pollution from the local international airport. Hagit and Anthony also won a 2008 Emmy Award for "Solid Gold Weddings", a consumer investigation into a wedding video company that brides across the nation claimed did not deliver the videos it promised. Hagit and producer/videographer Phil Drechsler won second place in the 2008 National Association of Health Care Journalists competition, for "Care-less Denials", about lack of access to mental health care by a national insurance company.

Hagit has previously won three separate national Sigma Delta Chi Awards from SPJ, was a national finalist with the Investigative Reporters and Editors Association, and has won other national awards from the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists and the National Headliner Awards.

She also has won nine Emmy Awards while at WCPO, more than a dozen state Associated Press and SPJ awards, and local SPJ awards.

Hagit received bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University.

At home, she shares life with her husband Jeff, her son Jake, two dogs and two cats.



2-3 p.m.

Writers and Photographers: Use Blogging to Create Your Portfolio
Part of the Career Center Track
Description: Learn techniques and tips to produce your portfolios online and how the portfolios can be used to interact with your audiences. Additionally, learn about blogging services and how to publish your work and your portfolio to your own Web sites.
Speaking: Brent Miller, Freelancer
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Brent Miller, Freelancer
D. Brent Miller is a writer and photographer living in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area. He produces fine art photography for his web site, www.DBrentMiller.com, and writes a travelogue for life ... sometimes on a motorcycle at www.SojournChronicles.com. He occasionally conducts workshops for writing, photography and publishing online. Miller has a body of work in rural issues, has worked for weekly and daily newspapers, written for a motorcycle travel magazine, and is a former professor of journalism and photojournalism. He holds an MA in Communication Studies and an MA in Journalism from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois.



Not Rushing to Print
Description: The Chicago Tribune made a tough decision about whether and when to print allegations about federal authorities pursuing stunning charges of official misconduct against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Besides being part of the story, the Tribune had to weigh whether to honor federal authorities' requests to hold the story because of the risk of jeopardizing the investigation. On the other hand, this was a monumental story that couldn't be kept from the public for long.
Speaking: Bob Steele, PhD, Eugene S. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism, DePauw University; Gerould W. Kern, editor, The Chicago Tribune; Peter Kendall, deputy managing editor, The Chicago Tribune
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Peter Kendall, managing editor, The Chicago Tribune
Peter Kendall is the Deputy Managing Editor of the Chicago Tribune, where he oversees local news coverage. Peter came to the Tribune in 1988 as an intern after working for two years at the City News Bureau and has spent nearly his entire career on the Metro desk. He was a general assignment reporter and the paper's environment writer. In previous editing assignments, he served as the Associate Managing Editor for Metropolitan News, City Editor, and the Tribune's science editor. He has won the Lisagor Awards for business writing and spot news coverage and has shared the Tribune's domestic reporting award twice, for coverage of the trial of U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds and for a series on a strike at Caterpillar. He has a Master’s of Science degree in Journalism from the University of Illinois and a B.A. in English from Reed College.

Gerould W. Kern, editor, The Chicago Tribune
Peter Kendall is the Deputy Managing Editor of the Chicago Tribune, where he oversees local news coverage. Peter came to the Tribune in 1988 as an intern after working for two years at the City News Bureau and has spent nearly his entire career on the Metro desk. He was a general assignment reporter and the paper's environment writer. In previous editing assignments, he served as the Associate Managing Editor for Metropolitan News, City Editor, and the Tribune's science editor. He has won the Lisagor Awards for business writing and spot news coverage and has shared the Tribune's domestic reporting award twice, for coverage of the trial of U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds and for a series on a strike at Caterpillar. He has a Master’s of Science degree in Journalism from the University of Illinois and a B.A. in English from Reed College.

Bob Steele, visiting professor, DePauw University
Bob Steele was a student journalist at DePauw University 40 years ago. Majoring in economics, he was news director of WGRE Radio and Sports Editor and a columnist for The DePauw. In 1968, he became a member of Sigma Delta Chi, The Society of Professional Journalists. Expand bio

Four decades later and after a career as a broadcast journalist and as a journalism educator, Bob has returned to his alma mater. He is the Eugene S. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism through 2014. He teaches courses in journalism ethics as well as seminars for DePauw’s Media Fellows program. Next fall he will teach a Leadership and Responsibility course and a First-Year Students’ Seminar focusing on Values and Storytelling.

Bob also continues his work with The Poynter Institute where he was on the faculty for nearly 20 years, including leading the ethics program for over a decade. He is the Nelson Poynter Scholar for Journalism Values.

He’s worked with professional journalists from across the country and around the world — from reporters and photographers to editors and corporate news executives — on issues of ethics, values and leadership. He taught thousands of journalists in Poynter seminar sessions, conducted workshops at over 100 news organizations and wrote case studies, articles, handbooks and book chapters on journalism ethics issues. His favorite role is what he and his Poynter colleagues refer to as “rabbi” work — coaching and guiding journalists on real-time ethics challenges.

Bob’s full circle journey from and back to small-town Indiana included stops in Phu Lam, Vietnam as an army officer; Bangor, Maine, Green Bay, Wisconsin and Cedar Rapids, Iowa as a broadcast journalist; and Syracuse University and The University of Iowa while earning masters and doctoral degrees.

Through it all, Bob has believed in the power of inquiry. He values questions as a pathway to exploration and understanding. We search for answers, but it’s the questions that are the beginning and the end.

Bob’s wife, Carol, is his soul mate and muse, as well as an associate dean of academic affairs at DePauw.



Jail Time: Facing Subpoenas With and Without a Shield Law
Description: Most states have shield laws, but a lack of a federal shield law threatens to send every journalist to jail. The real ramifications of heavy-handed subpoenas and the need for shield protection, and the tricky task of defining who is covered by shield laws, will be discussed. Additionally, tips will be provided on how to handle a subpoena. Speakers include a former USA Today journalist who faced huge fees and jail time because of no federal shield law, a Nevada reporter who avoided jail because of a strong state shield law, and a blogger who argued for shield law protection because of his journalistic reporting.
Speaking: Toni Locy, former reporter, USA Today and professor, Washington & Lee University; Rick Velotta, reporter, Las Vegas Sun; Waldo Jaquith, a Virginia blogger
Click for speaker information
Toni Locy, Donald W. Reynolds Professor of Legal Reporting, Washington and Lee University
Toni Locy is the Donald W. Reynolds Professor of Legal Reporting at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va. She was a reporter for 25 years, specializing in the coverage of courts and law enforcement.

Locy was a reporter for USA Today, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, U.S. News & World Report, the Philadelphia Daily News and the Pittsburgh Press. She also covered the U.S. Supreme Court and national legal affairs for the Associated Press.

In 2007 she earned a Master's Degree in the Studies of Law from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Law. Locy also earned a B.S. degree in journalism from West Virginia University in 1981.

Rick Velotta, reporter, Las Vegas Sun; Waldo Jaquith, a Virginia blogger
Richard N. “Rick” Velotta is in his 18th year with the Las Vegas Sun. In his time with The Sun, he has served as business editor and currently is a business writer, focusing on the tourism, gaming and aviation industries. In addition to writing for The Sun, he writes a weekly tourism column and stories for In Business Las Vegas and appears regularly on the “In Business Las Vegas” cable television show as well as “Nevada Week in Review” on Las Vegas’ PBS affiliate. He previously wrote for and edited newspapers in Ogden, Utah; Flagstaff, Ariz.; and Aurora, Colo., working more than 40 years as a journalist.



The Financial Crisis: Did the Media Miss the Story?
Description: From reporting on the housing bubble to describing retirement plans, personal finance has exploded into a major field of journalism in recent years. The financial crisis has only heightened the importance of that coverage. But did the media miss the warning signs of all the troubles on Wall Street? Are we getting the full story on the bailout? This session will take a close look at how this and other areas of personal finance coverage could be improved.
Moderating: Jonathan Dahl, editor-in-chief, SmartMoney Magazine
Speaking: Dean Starkman, managing editor, The Audit; Dan Smith, dean, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University; Russell Pearlman, senior markets editor, SmartMoney Magazine; John Berman, news correspondent, ABC News
Click for speaker information
Jonathan Dahl, editor-in-chief, SmartMoney Magazine
Jonathan Dahl has been editor in chief of SmartMoney magazine since 2006. The magazine, co-owned by Hearst Corporation and Dow Jones & Co., has won numerous awards over the years, serving as “The Wall Street Journal Magazine” of personal finance.

Dahl, who was previously the magazine’s executive editor for two years, has led the SmartMoney team through two redesigns and the creation of several new columns. This year the magazine was honored by the National Headliner Awards for its consumer features and its “Tough Customer” column. Dahl also oversees the magazine’s Web site (www.smartmoney.com), which has won awards for its video programming and financial-crisis HelpLine, created during the crash of 2008.

A 19-year veteran of The Wall Street Journal, Dahl was one of the founding editors of the “Weekend Journal.” He also started the Journal’s first travel column and served as both a senior writer and bureau chief at the paper. His story “Missing in America,” a first-person account of his search for his homeless brother, was nominated by the Journal for a Pulitzer Prize.

A frequent speaker, Dahl has interviewed leading CEOs and been a moderator and panelist at many recent conferences on the economy. He has appeared on such TV shows as Good Morning America and CNBC’s Squawk Box and was a recent guest host on CNBC Reports. His new book, 1,001 Things They Won't Tell You, published by Workman, is scheduled for release in May 2009 and is based on SmartMoney’s long-running “Ten Things” feature.

John Berman, news correspondent, ABC News
John Berman has been at ABC News since 1995, and has appeared on television since 2001. He is a regular contributor to all of ABC's broadcasts, including "World News With Charles Gibson," "Good Morning America" and "Nightline," and also writes for ABCNews.com.

Berman covered the 2008 presidential campaign, following Republican candidates Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney during the GOP primaries, as well as then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in the general election. In 2004, Berman also reported on the presidential candidacy of Gen. Wesley Clark.

In 1999 and 2000, Berman worked as an off-air reporter for ABC News covering George W. Bush's presidential campaign. He logged more hours with then-candidate Bush than nearly any other reporter, following Bush to 45 states from his early fundraisers through his first months in the White House. Our 43rd president even gave Berman a nickname, "Listen Here.".

Berman has covered stories ranging from the war in Iraq to the best way to catch catfish barehanded. He has interviewed newsmakers from Barack Obama to Lionel Richie, from John McCain to MC Hammer.

He was an embedded reporter during the invasion of Iraq and reported on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006. Berman also covered the Indian Ocean tsunami from Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and the steroids scandal in American sports. He was ABC News' lead reporter on the space shuttle's return to flight in August 2005 and the New York City transit strike.

From 1997 to 1999, Berman was the head writer for "World News Tonight With Peter Jennings." He traveled with Jennings to the Columbine school shooting in Colorado, and to Cuba for the pope's historic visit. He also worked with Jennings throughout the impeachment hearings of President Clinton.

Berman was part of the "World News Tonight" team recognized with a 2004 Edward R. Murrow award for best broadcast.

Berman started at ABC News as a desk assistant working the overnight shift in 1995. A native of Carlisle, Mass., he graduated from Harvard University, where he was president of Hasty Pudding Theatricals. He likes the Red Sox. Have a problem with that?

Russell Pearlman, senior markets editor, SmartMoney Magazine
Russell Pearlman is the senior markets editor at SmartMoney magazine, “The Wall Street Journal Magazine” of personal finance. He oversees its investing coverage, playing a primary role both in its stock-picking coverage and its handling of the current financial crisis. In the past year, he has contributed to SmartMoney's first-in-its-field reporting on such varied topics as the problems with variable annuities, the attractiveness of corporate bonds, and the newfound allure of gold.

A well-known figure in the finance world and an eight-year veteran at SmartMoney, Pearlman makes regular appearances to discuss the magazine's features and breaking market news on the nation’s top networks, including CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and Fox News. Each January, Pearlman writes the magazine's "Where to Invest" cover story, its largest-selling issue every year.

Prior to being named senior markets editor in 2007, Pearlman held a variety of editorial positions at SmartMoney and has written about everything from farmland to housing stocks to gambling. Before joining SmartMoney, Pearlman worked at The Times of Northwest Indiana, the Indianapolis News and the St. Petersburg Times. He won several daily-newspaper awards for his coverage of the steel industry in Northwest Indiana.

A native of Chicago, Pearlman received an undergraduate journalism degree and an MBA in finance from Indiana University. He lives in New York City.

Dan Smith, dean, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
Dan Smith was appointed Dean of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in 2005. The school is consistently ranked highly by corporate recruiters, business developers and national business publications, such as Business Week, Entrepreneur and U.S. News & World Report.

Smith joined the Kelley faculty as a professor of marketing in 1996. His research, which focuses on strategic brand management and strategy, has appeared in leading business journals, such as the Harvard Business Review and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Besides teaching, he has been the chair of Kelley’s MBA program, chair of the marketing department, associate dean, and interim dean. Smith also has served as a consultant to many industrial and consumer goods companies, including 3M, IBM, Alcoa, Eli Lilly, Samsung and Saab USA.

He earned a doctorate in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh in 1988, and bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from the University of Toledo in 1980 and 1982. Before coming to Indiana University, Smith was an associate professor at the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh and an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dean Starkman, managing editor, The Audit
Dean Starkman is managing editor of The Audit, the Columbia Journalism Review’s online critique of financial journalism. In the past year, the site has gained national attention for its reviews and features on the media’s coverage of the financial crisis. In an effort to determine how the media performed, Starkman recently spearheaded a team project to read and assemble precrisis coverage from major business-news outlets from 2000 to mid-2007.

Starkman spent eight years at The Wall Street Journal, where he covered white-collar crime and the paper industry and served as national real estate writer, exploring, among other stories, the troubled reconstruction of the World Trade Center. He is also a former investigative chief of The Providence Journal, where as a reporter he helped lead the investigative team that won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Investigations for a probe of Rhode Island’s court system. The series led to the indictment of a former state Supreme Court chief justice and a former House speaker, along with an overhaul of judicial selection methods.

Starkman has also won Associated Press awards for investigative pieces he wrote for Alabama’s The Anniston Star. He is a graduate of McGill University, Montreal, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York.



Your Multimedia Toolkit
Part of the New Media Track
Description: Whether you have zero cash or a few hundred bucks to throw around, we'll share some newsgathering tools that will help you tell your online stories more effectively. Check out what you can do with a Flip or what you can find online for free. See how your cell phone can become a live truck or how to podcast on the cheap.
Speaking: Dave Carlson, trainer, SPJ Newsroom Training Program; Deb Wenger, trainer, SPJ Newsroom Training Program
Click for speaker information
Dave Carlson, trainer, SPJ Newsroom Training Program
Carlson is the Cox/Palm Beach Post professor of journalism and director of the interactive media lab at University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications. In addition to his presidential and academic duties, Carlson is a columnist for American Journalism Review magazine and has held numerous positions at the Gainesville Sun, including copy editor, restaurant critic, new media and design editor.

Carlson holds a bachelor of arts in journalism from Drake University. He resides in Florida with his wife, Jeanne.

Deb Wenger, trainer, SPJ Newsroom Training Program
Deb Halpern Wenger worked in newsrooms for nearly two decades before becoming an assistant professor at the University of Mississippi. Prior to her academic appointments, Deb served as assistant news director at WFLA-TV in Tampa, Fla. She started her career as a small town newspaper reporter in western North Dakota. From there, she took a job as a reporter/anchor at KXJB in Fargo, N.D., moved on to producing at WBBH in Ft. Myers, Fla. and WMUR in Manchester, N.H. then became executive producer at WSOC in Charlotte, N.C.

Wenger conducts multimedia training in newsrooms around the country and is coauthor of the broadcast and online journalism curricula for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Newsroom Training Program. She has been invited to work as visiting faculty for The Poynter Institute and has been a part of the Committee of Concerned Journalists Traveling Curriculum through the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Wenger is co-author of a journalism textbook, “Advancing the Story: Broadcast Journalism in a Multimedia World” and her blog can be found at www.advancingthestory.wordpress.com.



"Big J" in Tough Times
Description: Has your boss cut your resources, time, travel budget? You can still do "Big J" projects. The presenters will share a case study of a huge investigative story involving a multi-state data investigation that uncovered — on the eve of the '08 presidential convention — a potentially huge flaw in our voting system, a flaw that could let millions of people vote more than once. They could not have done it alone. The session will cover tips on how to find collaborators you trust, how to split tasks and pitfalls to avoid.
Speaking: Hagit Limor, WCPO-TV, Cincinnati; Jodi Fleischer, WSB-TV, Atlanta

Click to see the lineup for: Thursday | Friday | Saturday

2009 SPJ Convention
August 27-30, 2009
Indianapolis

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