About SPJ's new Speakers Bureau and Journalism Education Series
I am very excited about SPJ's new Speakers Bureau and Journalism Education Series. We have received highly supportive feedback about this new initiative. My thanks to many SPJ members who have volunteered their time to deliver instruction. I invite all members interested in supporting this project to contact me.
Pasted below is information about the Speakers Bureau's structure and the presentation of the Society's first Journalism Education Series, which will be delivered at MarketWire offices across the country next year. It is the hope of SPJ leaders that the Series also will be presented to various trade and civic groups.
Given some questions posed by SPJ members, I must note that a column by Chicago media critic Michael Miner appearing in the Chicago Reader provides an interesting look at these projects. There are, however, a couple of points/inaccuracies in that column I consider it very important to clarify/correct:
1. The proposal SPJ's national board approved 15-4 is vastly different than the proposal reviewed by directors and National Ethics Committee members during the Society's most recent national conference in Chicago (Otherwise, I can assure you the Journalism Education Series deal with this wire company would not have been approved). MarketWire Vice President Paolina Milana did not explain those differences to Mr. Miner, but SPJ's National Ethics Committee Chairman Gary Hill and I did spend time trying to walk Mr. Miner through the profound differences between the differing versions of these proposals. If you'd like to know more about the differences, contact me. I'm happy to explain them.
2. The column's hardcopy edition states Milana is a "longtime friend" of mine. The implication is that my relationship with her prompted this deal. While I like Ms. Milana very much, I want to make very clear that I have met with her in person fewer than five times that I can recall and have never met or corresponded with her outside the context of SPJ or the Chicago Headline Club, SPJ's largest local chapter. After speaking with Mr. Miner about this inaccuracy, he promptly had the term removed from the online edition of the column, stating in an e-mail to me, "I'm not sure where that idea came from."
JOURNALISM EDUCATION SERIES: AS TO BE PRESENTED BY SPJ AND MARKETWIRE
Summary
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) will develop a series of programs to educate public relations practitioners on the Society's core missions, such as: Journalism ethics, the free flow of public information, the importance of diversity in the media.
Market Wire, the United States' third largest wire distributor of press releases, will pay for the development of this curriculum, which SPJ will own and control fully. Because Market Wire is paying for the development of this curriculum, the curriculum will not be made available to Market Wire's competitors (meaning other PR wire service providers) during the term of this agreement, which is one year.
During the term of this agreement and afterward, SPJ is free to modify this curriculum as the Society sees fit for the purposes of educating other entitites and organizations.
Timeframe
The first program will be held in 2007 at a location mutually agreed upon by SPJ and Market Wire. Subsequent locatins will coincide with cities where Market Wire has a presence.
SPJ will select program instructors and develop the program's curriculum.
General Program Overview
SPJ will devleop up to six 90-minute programs, including resource materials that will be provided to each participant. These programs will be managed by SPJ and will be led by experienced journalists -- and other experts in areas of journalism, such as media ethics and media law -- identified by SPJ.
This series of programs developed by SPJ will include the following elements:
- An explanation of SPJ's ethics code
- Information about the importance of presenting a diversity of sources in the news
- Information about the mechanics of the Freedom of Information Act. How to file FOI requests. Information about which documents are open for public inspection. Information about public documents that do not fall under the protection of various laws, such as HIPPA and the Buckley Amendment.
- Hands-on, practical exercises that engage participants and draw them into larger discussion.
- Resources (i.e. handouts and downloadable digital files) that relate to specific topics.
Each program will include up to two SPJ-appointed leaders and one SPJ staff member onsite at the event.
Programs will be open to anyone of Market Wire's choosing and will include a nominal, per-person registration fee. SPJ will collect all proceeds from registration fees.
SPJ staff members will handle the coordination, event planning and on-site execution of the events.
The SPJ Speakers Bureau Committee ("the committee") will determine the following: program curriculum, trainer selection, resources to be distributed to program participants (to be devleoped and/or approved by program leaders)
The committee will correespond regularly to finalize program plans.
Promotion
SPJ will allow Market Wire to state on promotional materials for these specific events that the programs have been devised, and will be presented, by members of the Society of Professional Journalists. The committee must approve all promotional materials concerning the programs before distribution.
SPJ may announce its services as a "Journalism Education Series" provider in any way it chooses.
SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS SPEAKERS BUREAU
The Society of Professional Journalists Board of Directors establishes with this proposal a Speakers Bureau.
The Speakers Bureau will serve as a vehicle to spread SPJ’s message about its core mission to working journalists, academia, student journalists as well as organizations and industries outside of the media.
With this proposal, the SPJ Board of Directors recognizes the value of spreading SPJ’s message about the importance of ethical journalism, diversity in the media and freedom of information and press freedoms to both journalists and non-journalists.
The Speakers Bureau will also serve as a fund-raising operation for SPJ, with revenue derived from charging speaking fees for SPJ sponsored media experts, charging fees to audiences and pursuing grants.
Sales of the Speakers Bureau and its services will become the responsibility of the national officers and SPJ headquarters staff.
Management
Day-to-day operations of the Speakers Bureau – logistics, fees and pursuit of business – will fall to the headquarters staff.
National officers will become involved with pursuing grant opportunities for the Speakers Bureau.
The President shall establish a five member Speakers Bureau Committee to find speakers, vet speaking requests and establish curriculum.
Curriculum
In general, the Speakers Bureau will focus its efforts on speaking engagements that allow speakers to speak to the core missions of SPJ:
- SPJ’s ethics code.
- The importance of diversity.
- Freedom of Information issues at the federal and state level.
Practical applications for journalists and members of the media may also be included in appropriate settings as deemed fit by the Speakers Bureau Committee.
Revenue & Expenses
Revenue from the Speakers Bureau will become part of SPJ’s overall revenue stream and included as part of the annual SPJ operating budget.
Compensation for speakers will come on a case-by-case basis, with SPJ leaders encouraged to work on a volunteer basis on behalf of the Speakers Bureau as part of their overall efforts to support SPJ.
National staff should make sure speaking engagements whether based on a long-term contract or on an individual basis break even and preferably show positive revenue for SPJ in most instances.
National staff will have the discretion to negotiate contracts, set speaking fees, speaker honoraria and audience fees. Long-term contracts with speakers and long-term contracts with organizations seeking speakers will require the approval of the Board of Directors. The Board will take into consideration the opinion of the Speakers Bureau Committee, but that opinion is non-binding to the Board.