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SPJ Leads | 11/21/2012
Happy Thanksgiving! We have some pre-holiday notes for you.

By Christine DiGangi, SPJ Communications Department

Hello, SPJ members. Please note that the SPJ headquarters in Indianapolis will be closed until Monday, Nov. 26. Whether you're working or traveling to spend time with loved ones, we hope you have a splendid and safe Thanksgiving.

ESSAY CONTEST JUDGES NEEDED

At this point, you have received some information about SPJ awards, and you can always learn more by visiting the awards website. But the Society hopes to reach beyond professional and college journalists to fulfill its mission of improving and protecting journalism.

We need judges for the SPJ National High School Essay Contest, and we hope your chapter will volunteer!

The topic for the essay is "Why is it important that we have news media that are independent of the government?" Please email awards@spj.org or call 317.927.8000 if your chapter wants to help out.

ADDRESSING THE GENERATION GAP

The online radio program "Studio SPJ" will feature a 30-minute conversation with author and professor Paula Poindexter on Friday, Dec. 7 at noon EST. She will discuss changes in Millennials and the way they engage with news sources. Poindexter wrote a book on the subject.

To learn more about Poindexter and the radio program, you may read this news release on the SPJ website. Listeners can tune in for the live program and call with questions, and the show will be available as a podcast after the live episode concludes.

ATTENTION, CHAPTER LEADERS!

Do you have questions about awards? Want to check in with another local chapter across the country about a diversity program they recently held? Curious to know how other chapters structure their boards? We've got a forum just for you - SPJ Leader Central. Participate in polls, start new discussions, share documents or simply receive a daily digest summary at the end of each day.

To request access, email Chapter Coordinator Tara Puckey or reach her via phone at 317.927.8000 ext. 215.

Take note: The deadline for this round of chapter grants is Dec. 5. Apply online.

SPJ WEB ROUNDUP

In case you missed it, here are a few good reads and tools from the SPJ community:

— "Love of Many Kinds: A Journalist's View of Conflicting Responsibilities During the Israel-Gaza Conflict" by Genevieve Belmaker, Quill contributor

— "Talking Free Speech from Outside a 'Free Speech Zone'" by Sonny Albarado, SPJ President

— "6 Things to Do When They Just Won't Call You Back" by Lynn Walsh, SPJ Generation J Committee Chair

— "Utah to permit television cameras in court" by Donald W. Meyers, SPJ Region 9 Director

FUN TIMES WITH ... OBITUARIES?

Join SPJ's South Florida Pro chapter for a writing exercise that's as valuable as it is unconventional: SPJ Death Race. In an event early next year, the chapter will give an obituary-writing workshop where the obituaries will be judged by the "deceased" themselves. Details are in the works, but you can reserve your spot by sending Region 3 Director Michael Koretzky an email.

LAST WEEK'S QUIZ 

Tom Casey, a reporter at the Hudson (NY) Register-Star, was fired after a dispute with an editor over a budget-meeting story Casey wrote. What was the nature of the disagreement?

Answer: Tom Casey was fired "after he refused to allow his byline on a budget meeting story that had two paragraphs inserted by an editor, who apparently wanted to create controversy for an editorial,"according to the journalism blogger Jim Romenesko.

And the winner is ... Jan Ziff, who works for Sound*Bytes radio show. Jan is also a member of the Valley of the Sun Pro chapter.

THIS WEEK'S QUIZ

Why was the cover of the Nov. 21 New York Post controversial?

Submit your answer to Christine DiGangi.