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The Milwaukee Pro Chapter is stirring back to life. The chapter presented a program on crime reporting on February 28 that drew a large crowd. "More than 100 people attended, so it was literally standing room only — mostly J-students, a few law students and many others," according to Tony Anderson, of the Wisconsin Law Journal. On February 25 the Minnesota Pro Chapter teamed up with Minnesota Public Radio to hold a forum examing the present state of journalism, the effect of new media on mainstream media (MSM), and ethical issues related to the evolving forms of communication. Audio of the event was broadcast live, and it was also blogged live. Meanwhile final preparations are underway for the Midwest Journalism Conference which will be held in Minneapolis on March 28 and 29.  February 2008 The Minnesota Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is planning a public forum at 7 p.m. on the evening of February 25 on the topic of ěstandards and ethics for online journalism.î This event will be held at Minnesota Public Radioís UBS Forum in downtown St. Paul. Dan Gillmor, director of the new Knight Digital Media Center at Arizona State Universityís journalism school, will be speaking at the forum. Gillmor was a business/technology columnist for the San Jose Mercury News from 1994 to 2004. He is the author of the 2004 book, We the People: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People. Bob Collins, senior editor of online news for Minnesota Public Radio, will moderate the discussion. A panel of Journalists will discuss crime coverage in Milwaukee. "Feeding the Media Beast: Crime Coverage in Cheese Country," will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 28, in Room 103, Johnston Hall, Marquette University. Moderated by Tony Anderson, managing editor of the Wisconsin Law Journal, the journalists will discuss challenges facing journalists in reporting crimes; dealing with law enforcement personnel, court officials and the legal community; and whether or not too much emphasis is spent on crime coverage by the media. The session is sponsored by the Milwaukee chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and hosted by the Marquette University Department of Journalism and its student SPJ chapter. The panel includes: John Diedrich, federal reporter at The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Tom Held, general assignment reporter The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Martin Hintz, author of "Got Murder? The Shocking Story of Wisconsin's Notorious Killers;" and E. Michael McCann, who served as the elected District Attorney of Milwaukee County for 38 years (1968-2006). The St. Cloud State University chapter is looking forward to a panel on "How people of color are portrayed and covered in the local media." The panel is set for 3-4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 26 in the Atwood theatre on the SCSU campus. The student chapter at Minnesota State University-Mankato had its first meeting of the semester on February 5th to go over goals and plans for the semester. A media tour to the local newspaper and television station is planned. Planning is also underway for a student forum on student drinking. It is an important topic at MSU-Mankato. A media panel, a bar owner and the Student Affairs director will participate and students will be invited to attend. Details of the Region 6 Midwest Journalism Conference, March 28 and 29, are now posted online at http://www.midwestjournalism.com. January 2008 Minnesota Professional Chapter On November 27th, The Minnesota Pro Chapter held a program entitled Covering Minnesota’s Hmong Community: The culture, the community and the challenges in covering America’s largest Hmong population. The panelists included: — Ilean Her, Executive Director, Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans — Curt Brown, Reporter, Star Tribune — Pakou Hang, Political Activist & Community Leader — Wameng Moua, Editor, Hmong Today — Lynda McDonnell (moderator), Executive Director, ThreeSixty St. Cloud State University (Minnesota) The fall semester ended with a fund raiser, selling pizza to SCSU students. The chapter also met to plan upcoming spring semester events, including a First Amendment Forum, which will be held in April. On February 26 the chapter plans a diversity event, discussing how local media cover minority populations. University of Wisconsin-Madison A major event planned with the UW Broadcasting Club was cancelled due to inclement weather and the fact that the speaker's 2 year old son got very ill and had to be rushed to the emergency room. The event is being rescheduled for the spring semester. Planning is also underway for the Ethics Week event in April. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Meeting during the fall semester, chapter members heard from Henry Lippold, professor emeritus of journalism and former SPJ adviser, and former SPJ chapter president Adam Stapel. A forum was held with local media professionals on “Getting a Job in Journalism.” Members also screened “Good Night and Good Luck,” which was followed by a discussion of journalism in the movie. In November, the chapter teamed up with the Western Wisconsin Press Club to host a public panel discussion entitled “Covering Disasters.” At its December meeting, the chapter elected former Vice President of Print Journalism Tara Bannow as chapter president to fill the position left vacant by the graduation of Nathaniel Shuda. Minnesota State University — Mankato Meetings during the fall semester included a discussion panel on ethics. Goals for spring 2008 include selecting new officers, attending the Regional Conference, and touring media facilities such as local newspapers and television stations. September 2007 The Milwaukee Pro Chapter has been reactivated after almost a decade of inactivity. The first meeting of the newly reactivated chapter was August 23rd. Elections were held: Tony Anderson is president; Carlos Laack is treasurer; Brandon Lorenz is secretary. The leadership team held a planning meeting August 27th. Advisors at both UW-Milwaukee and Marquette have expressed an interest in teaming up with the pro chapter on future projects and building mentoring opportunities for their students. The board has cited this as a priority to get young people involved early and to help energize the chapter by keeping them involved following graduation. The Minnesota Pro Chapter has planned a program for Tuesday September 25 called How to Write a Book ... and Get it Published. A number of present and former journalists who have written books are on the panel. The Minnesota State University student chapter met Sept. 11, 2007, with pizza and information for potential new members. Students planned some fall events, including a "pizza with the professors" night, an informal sit-down with mass comm professors, a resume and cover letter workshop, and a fundraiser on Nov. 5 at a local retail establishment. The St. Cloud State student chapter started the year with a booth in the SCSU Mainstreet event where all student organizations recruit new members. Additional recruiting is being done with the new journalists entering the Mass Communications program. The University of Wisconsin-Madison student chapter held its first meeting on Monday, Sept. 17th. Over 30 students attended, and discussed programming plans for the coming school year, including a resume’ workshop and roundtables with professional journalists. The next meeting will be held Wednesday evening September 26th with special guest speaker, national SPJ president Christy Tatum. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student chapter scheduled its first meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 18th. June 2007 After reviewing the annual reports from Region 6 student chapters I’m pleased at the chapters that are providing outstanding programming for their members. We have some outstanding ones in our region. However, only two chapters rated four star ratings. One three star chapter was down a star from last year. Two chapters rated two stars and one rated one star. The one star rated chapter was a tentative rating because it appeared as if the online reporting system accepted an incomplete report. Only the name of the chapter adviser and chapter president was recorded. Another chapter reported that it had filed online but no report was recorded for that chapter. So it appears as though there may be some issues with the online reporting system. I met today with the president of the Madison Pro Chapter to discuss some ideas for getting more people actively involved in the chapter. The chapter leans heavily towards older journalists and ex-journalists with many years of experience and there’s a great need to find a way to get younger journalists plugged in so they can benefit from SPJ’s many professional development opportunities. One of our decisions was to set up a meeting with the new adviser for the UW-Madison Student Chapter, to see if we could find some mutually beneficial collaboration opportunities. May 2007 Student chapters wrapped up their school year with special programming and, in some cases, elections of new officers. University of Wisconsin — Eau Claire Elections were held at the May meeting. Nat Shuda, President Tara Bannow, VP of Print Chris Baylor, VP of Broadcast Megan Peterson, Secretary Kate Wiersema, Treasurer University of Wisconsin — Madison The UW-Madison chapter’s Ethics Week program featured a round table on investigative journalism. Local professional journalists talked about how they carried themselves through investigations for their stories. New officers were chosen and Kelly Schlict is the new president of the UW-Madison chapter for 2007-2008. St. Cloud State University The SPJ chapter at SCSU set three goals for 20067-2007: promote greater participation in SPJ, organize and execute compelling SPJ programs and raise awareness of the SPJ organization. SPJ membership nearly doubled, the chapter helped co-coordinate and host ten events and more than twenty speakers were brought in to educate SCSU students and faculty about SPJ. To recognize journalism ethics the chapter reviewed the movie “Broadcast News.” In addition, students of SCSU had the opportunity to meet and listen to media critic Jeff Cohen. The founder of FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), Cohen spoke of the media bias leading up to and during the war in Iraq through his inside view at CNN, MSNBC and FOX News. For the 2007-08 school year, print journalist Aaron Swenson will take over as president, sophomore Kevin Hurd will assist him as vice president, junior Amber Ness will be secretary and outgoing president Jenna Lee Wundrow will continue participating in the role of treasurer. Minnesota State University-Mankato An Ethics in Journalism Week program was held on April 25th, featuring New Yorker columnist and investigative reporter Mark Danner, discussing war reporting from Iraq. Faculty adviser Ellen Mrja reported attendance about 200, giving good exposure of SPJ to MSU-M and Mankato community residents. Attendees included Minnesota State Representative Ruth Johnson. The most interesting ethical problem presented by Danner was a very real and practical one: how to report from a war zone while ensuring the safety of reporters, photographers, technicians? The situation in Baghdad has deteriorated so completely, Danner reported, that most news people never even leave their hotels anymore. Instead, a television stand-up shot might be sent from their hotel rooftops, with a lighted mosque in the background to make it appear as if the reporter is on the street. Danner says one of the major television networks actually pays a major mosque to keep its dome lit for necessary evening television shots, another questionable ethical tactic. The new MSU-M chapter officers for 2007-2008 include: Kiki Polizin, president; Paige Schuette, vice president; and Corey Butler, secretary-treasurer. MSU’s officers for 2006-2007 — President Emmeline Elliott, Vice President Janelle Fischer and Secretary/Treasurer Garret Felder — graduate this month. April 2007 Chapter Reactivation The most exciting news in the region is that efforts are underway to revive the Milwaukee Pro Chapter, which has been dormant for more than a half dozen years. The Milwaukee Chapter has contributed several national leaders to SPJ and hosted a national convention in years past. A group has formed to focus on reviving the chapter and a letter has been drafted to SPJ President Christie Tatum requesting reactivation. We are excited about getting Milwaukee active again. Region 6 Annual Conference The Regional Conference was held on March 23-24 in Minneapolis and was an unqualified success, due once again to the partnership between SPJ, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Minnesota Associated Press, the Radio Television News Directors Association, the National Press Photographer’s Association and the National Television Academy. The turnout exceeded 330 professional and student journalists. SPJ also partnered with the Foundation for American Communications and the Committee for Concerned Journalists to present some outstanding morning plenary sessions at the conference. FACS arranged an alternative energy forum featuring two national experts, professors Robert Kaufman of Boston University and David Tilman of the University of Minnesota. CCJ was represented by veteran broadcast journalist Wally Dean, who helped attendees work through an exercise in separating important news from less significant fluff. In addition there were afternoon workshops covering a wide variety of journalism-related issues. Investigative journalist Steve Perry, until recently editor of the Twin Cities weekly City Pages, gave attendees at the Mark of Excellence Award Luncheon a candid assessment of the current state of journalism. MOE awards were handed out to several dozen top student journalists. During the conference I was able to meet with a student at the UW-Whitewater to discuss revitalizing the journalism chapter on the Whitewater campus. The SPJ regional meeting during the regional conference had its turnout limited by a heavy morning fog that delayed arrival of some who were traveling to the conference that morning. Nonetheless seven chapters were represented and each chapter reported on their latest activities. National secretary-treasurer Dave Aeikens gave a report on national issues. Ethics Activities A number of chapters are preparing programs for the observance of Ethics in Journalism Week in late April. The Minnesota Pro Chapter is partnering with the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law to present a program on April 24th entitled, “When Tragedy Strikes, What is the Media’s Role?” The public is invited to the program, which is being held on the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities campus. On April 25th, Minnesota State University at Mankato is presenting a speech by Mark Danner, longtime staff writer for the New Yorker, discussing issues raised by his recent book, “The (Secret) Way to War.” The SPJ Chapter at St. Cloud State University actively participated in the Regional Conference — a number of SPJ members won awards and their TV station won the award for best newscast. Last Friday (April 13) SCSU’s SPJ chapter hosted the 35th Annual First Amendment Forum. Over 200 people attended as New York Times Reporter Ira Berkow discussed the relationship between reporters and athletes. To mark Ethics Week next week the SCSU chapter is showing "The Shattered Glass" and hosting a dessert bar. The Madison Pro Chapter is in the midst of a series of brown bag lunches with visiting professionals who are part of the Journalists in Residence program at the University of Wisconsin. The opening program in the series, with former Washington Post national political reporter Jim VandeHei drew a standing room only turnout. VandeHei is the managing editor of a new news website called The Politico, which focuses on national politics. March 2007 The Minnesota Pro Chapter is deep into a cameras in the courts campaign. KARE 11 TV news anchor (and former Minnesota SPJ President) Rick Kupchella and attorney Mark Anfinson are leading the charge to change the state's rules regarding the use of cameras and other recording equipment in courtrooms. Unlike in Wisconsin, Iowa and North Dakota, any litigant in a Minnesota court proceeding — the prosecutor or defense — can ban cameras and recorders. For the past three decades it's effectively been an all out ban because all the sides never agree. SPJ and more than 20 other organizations and individuals signed a letter to the state Supreme Court. Anfinson filed the petition to the court on Monday. The new language would keep the decision solely with the judge. The letter, petition and all the proposed language is on the Minnesota Pro Chapter web site. As soon as Minnesota State University-Mankato students return from spring break, between 5-10 SPJ members will be working on the project with the Mankato Free Press on area soldiers in the Middle East. They’ll be creating a database first of all known information; then students will begin constructing the individual stories of each soldier. Also, MSU-Mankato chapter adviser Ellen Mrja is working with a handful of journalists at the Mankato Free Press to start a pro chapter of SPJ for southern Minnesota. They plan to petition to be accepted as a satellite chapter of the Minnesota Pro chapter, which they probably are reading for the first time here! Hot off the press! The St. Cloud State University SPJ Chapter has officially elected the 2007-08 executive board! During the first week of April, speaker Jeff Cohen will address, "Fairness & Accuracy: War Coverage." On Friday, April 13th, they will host the 35th Annual First Amendment Forum, titled "Sports Wars: Reporters & Athletes, Should they be on the same team?" A variety of speakers from the St. Cloud Times, SCSU Athletic Dept., MN Twins, NY Times and ESPNU — will discuss sports violence, corporate pressures, ethics and objectivity. The UW-Eau Claire campus chapter's March meeting featured two recent graduates, the editor of the Eau Claire paper, and the new news director of the local NBC affiliate, discussing preparations/approaches to landing a job in both print and broadcast newsrooms. This week I met with pro-track graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and encouraged them to get involved with the UW-Madison student SPJ chapter. The chapter has traditionally been run by and for undergrad students but the grad students would find it a great complement to the professional skills and journalism issues classes that they are taking, and provide additional experiences not available through their classes. The Region 6 Conference is coming up in one week, February 23-24, at the Holiday Inn Select in Bloomington MN. The Region 6 Conference is one of SPJ's largest Regional Conferences, because it's a collaborative effort with the Northwest Broadcast News Association (NBNA), The National Press Photographer's Association (NPPA), the Radio Television News Director's Association (RTNDA), Minnesota Associated Press, and the National Television Academy. Friday morning's in-depth (3-hour) session is on energy, presented by the Foundation for American Communications. The morning starts on “The World’s Oil Supply and Gas Pump Prices” with Robert Kaufmann, Ph.D., Center for Environmental Studies, Boston University. It's followed by: “Home Grown Alternatives — Ethanol and Biomass” with G. David Tilman, Ph.D., Regents Professor of Ecology, McKnight University Presidential Chair in Ecology, University of Minnesota. Saturday morning's in-depth (3-hour) session is with Wally Dean, a 40-year broadcast news veteran who is director of broadcast initiatives for the Committee of Concerned Journalists. In addition there are workshops each afternoon. Further details can be found by following this link. February 2007 The Region 6 Regional Conference, otherwise known as the Midwest Journalism Conference, is coming up March 23-24 at the Holiday Inn Select in Bloomington, Minn. We hope you'll join us. Here are some brief updates about SPJ happenings throughout the region: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Heidi Bohl, the chapter's president, reports that the new semester brought a couple of leadership changes. Bohl was elected president when Evan Perrault (thanks for your service, Evan) graduated in December. Christina Harris is the chapter's new treasurer, and Dana Kastenson is its new webmaster. During the group's February meeting, senior students Sara Boyd and Sarah Rasmussen shared details about their internships at The Washington Post and KSTP-TV in Minneapolis, respectively. The chapter also discussed several fundraising activities for the semester. Everyone is excited for the chapter's April meeting because Wisconsin state Sen. Pat Kreitlow agreed to speak about the Freedom of Information Act. Minnesota State University-Moorhead Angela Schneider, chapter president, reports: November 17: We had our first annual "J-day." We held a panel of local news journalists discussing politics in the media. Jim Tarbox, our keynote speaker, spoke about his experiences as a reporter and as editor of the History Channel Magazine. Local news organizations (TV, radio, newpapers, etc.) set up booths. February 14: The chapter held a fundraiser called, "Images of Love." People paid $2 for a polaroid photo valentine and a chance to win dinner at an Italian restaurant. Coming up in March: We will host Alicia Strnad, who will speak about her job monitoring blogs and her column about them in the Fargo Forum. She will speak about the ethics of blogging as well. We also will host lawyer Greg Gullickson who will be speaking on campus about Freedom of Information. Minnesota State University of Mankato Ellen Mrja, advisor, reports: "Our chapter will partner with our local daily newspaper, The Mankato Free Press, in a series the paper will be publishing on area soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. Free Press Managing Editor Joe Spear approached us with the project and had his first meeting with students at the Feb. 12, 2006, chapter meeting. Students are excited. And what a great contact to make into the professional practice. "The students are also planning a trip to Minneapolis to view radio, newspaper, TV and magazine outlets. The group will be running a fundraiser, as well, and plans to send representatives to the regional conference." Minnesota Pro Chapter Art Hughes, the chapter's president, reports: "The Minnesota Pro Chapter is preparing for a forum on objectivity, one of journalism's most provocative topics. It will be held Monday, February 26th. Panelists will include Stephen Ward, acting director and associate professor of journalism at the University of British Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism and the author of The Invention of Journalism Ethics: The Path to Objectivity and Beyond; Matt Thompson, deputy online editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune; Thom Fladung, editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press; and Kristin Henning, associate publisher of Rake magazine. The moderator will be Kerri Miller, host of Minnesota Public Radio’s Midmorning show. Co-sponsors of this event include the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law and the Minnesota Journalism Center at the University of Minnesota, the Associated Press, the Minnesota News Council, the Minnesota Newspaper Association, the Northwest Broadcast News Association and the journalism school at the University of St. Thomas. January 2007 Another planning meeting for the Midwest Journalism Conference was conducted Jan. 13 and hosted by WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. Again this year, SPJ is working cooperatively with the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Radio Television News Directors Association, Minnesota Associated Press, the National Press Photographers Association, the National Television Academy and other groups to continue to make this one of the largest and best-attended regional journalism events in the country. The Region 6/Midwest Journalism Conference will feature presentations by Wally Dean, director of broadcast initiatives for the Committee of Concerned Journalists, on television news research and implications for local newscasts; and by the Foundation for American Communications on energy issues. Those sessions will be supplemented by a full schedule of workshops concerning print, broadcast and online journalism issues of interest to both professionals and students. It will be March 23 and 24 at the Holiday Inn Select in Bloomington, Minn. The Minnesota Pro Chapter is in the process of taking entries through February for its Page One Awards, recognizing the best in Minnesota print and broadcast journalism. Upcoming events include a Jan. 22 program on “Muslims in Minnesota” and a Feb. 26 panel discussion on "Objectivity in Journalism". The UW-Oshkosh chapter has submitted a new Mission Statement to the Regional Office, a healthy sign of increased activity. I’m looking forward to hearing more from this chapter in the months ahead. The UW-Eau Claire chapter conducted elections at the end of the year. Heidi Bohl is the new president, succeeding Evan Perrault, who graduated. Nine new members were also initiated. At another meeting near the end of the year, the film "Shattered Glass" was shown, with a brief discussion of some of the ethical issues it raises. The discussion was led by Dr. Mike Dorsher, who teaches Media Ethics at the school. The chapter is also in the middle of revising its constitution. The UW-Madison chapter has been meeting biweekly through the fall semester with topical discussions that range from changing television newscasts, reviews of local newspapers and campus plagiarism. Two major events last semester were an internship fair and a panel on election coverage. Planning is under way for an ethics week panel discussion during April.
November 2006University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee The UW-Milwaukee chapter filed a two-page report filled with fall activities, several involving their partnership with the Milwaukee Press Club. The end of October brought one of their most important events, Speed Interviewing and Professional Media Networking night. Ten professionals representing the print and broadcast media participated. Each professional talked with one student for the eight interval periods allotted. The professionals in attendance each said they found at least one to three possible candidates for internships or jobs. University of Wisconsin-Madison The UW-Madison chapter hosted a panel Nov. 15 covering Wisconsin’s November election and campaign coverage. The panelists were — Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — JR Ross, editor of WisPolitics.com — Zac Schultz of NBC15 News They talked to members about the role of a journalist and their organizations during political coverage, how the coverage from the capitol would change due to a shift in political power and the decisions a news organization makes while covering campaigns. Madison Pro The Madison Pro chapter held a series of brown bag sessions with visiting reporters in late October and early November. The reporters were: — Science reporter Paula Apsell, executive producer of NOVA — Economics columnist Caroline Baum of Bloomberg News — Investigative reporter Walt Bogdanich of the New York Times, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Minnesota State University-Mankato The MSU-Mankato chapter has been meeting every other Monday. One meeting consisted of the annual resume workshop. Another featured part of a session was a panel of journalists discussing coverage of Guantanamo Bay. St. Cloud State University The SCSU chapter meets on the third Wednesday of each month. The first meeting of the year was Media Day, an opportunity for Mass Communication students to learn from five successful, professional journalists from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area representing 3-key media outlets — print, radio and television. The professionals discussed how they entered the journalism field, the challenges they face and how they continue to seek new opportunities in their field today. Speakers included: — Thom Fladung, Vice President and Editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press — Jana Shortal & Scott Goldberg, KARE11-TV Reporters — Kelly Guest, KTLK 100.3 News Radio Host — Frank Vascellaro, WCCO News Reporter and Anchor.
October 2006SPJ has been busy in Region 6 this fall! In September, I traveled to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to speak to students about how they could make the most of their journalism education by supporting SPJ. The chapter, working under the thoughtful leadership of President Evan Perrault, has done a great job of making contacts with potential members and appears to be off to a great start after struggling for a few years. In October, I attended a planning meeting in Minneapolis to assist with planning for the Region 6 spring conference. That event will be held in Minneapolis March 23-24 in conjunction with the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Radio Television News Directors Association and the National Television Academy. Conference planners expect more than 400 people to attend. Also in October, Minnesota Pro chapter President Art Hughes and SPJ’s National Secretary-Treasurer Dave Aeikens explained the need for a federal shield law to radio listeners in Mankato, Minn. The duo appeared on KMSU-FM on the campus of Minnesota State University-Mankato, where they made it clear that SPJ is leading the charge to protect journalists at a time when government officials are working to prosecute them as spies. Hughes and Aeikens’ visit to the Mankato campus also included a session with students. Hughes, a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio, and Aeikens, a reporter for the St. Cloud Times, discussed the changing expectations of reporters and delved into various aspects of online media. “You’ve inspired us to plan a new class on multi-media reporting,” said Ellen Mrja, a Mankato State communications instructor and the student chapter’s adviser. The same day, Hughes and Aeikens also met with students at St. Cloud State University, where they showed young journalists how SPJ could help them get off to a great professional start. Visits to student chapters at the University of Minnesota and the University of St. Thomas are in the works. |
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