Society of Professional Journalists
Improving and protecting journalism since 1909

SPJ's board of directors is convening in Indianapolis on Saturday, April 26, but all members are invited to participate in the discussion online. SPJ.org will host a livestream of the event starting at 9 a.m. ET, and materials for the upcoming meeting are available here for download.

ALL members are encouraged — before and during the meeting — to ask questions and discuss the issues in the comments section. The board will be following the discussion thread while the meeting takes place.

The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for excellence in journalism. Judges chose the winners from 1,800 entries in categories covering print, radio, television and online. The awards recognize outstanding work published or broadcast in 2013.

Click here to see a list of winners and view their work.

Sigma Delta Chi Awards Banquet: Join Us!
The Society of Professional Journalists cordially invites you to attend the Sigma Delta Chi Awards Banquet. Follow this link to get the details and purchase tickets to the event.

SPJ is committed to bringing you training and tools in all areas of journalism.

In this day-long workshop, you'll get practical, skills-based professional development that will help you be a better journalist.

Our next installment of JournCamp will take place May 16 in San Diego. Registration is open now.

Journcamp Recaps:
— Nashville, January 2014
— Minneapolis, November 2013
— Washington, D.C., June 2013
— Chicago, January 2012

Excellence in Journalism 2014 is now open for business! You now can register online for the conference, as well as reserve tickets to special events, right here.

See you in Nashville on September 4!

Additional details
— Register online
— EIJ14 website
— Registration Rates
— Schedule at a Glance
— Conference Highlights (so far)
— Hotel and Travel Information
— Exhibitors and Recruiters in the Journalism Expo
— Making the most of your stay in Nashville

SPJ’s Spring Conferences are day-long professional development meetings bringing area journalists, students and journalism educators together in one place to hear from industry experts on a wealth of topics. Get available details — including announced dates, locations and contacts — right here.

April 25
Region 1: Boston, Mass.
Region 7: Overland Park, Kan.

Code Words Blog: Latest Entry

When the 2013 Excellence in Journalism National Convention ended in Anaheim, Calif. last August, the work of the SPJ Ethics Committee really began. Tasked with revising the 1996 version of the Society’s code, the 18-member committee wasted little time getting philosophically engaged. How much should we change? Shorter? Longer? Specific? More general? Keep, change or add to the guiding principles? What’s missing as we march into 2014 and beyond? >Continue reading Ethics Code Revisions – Our First Draft [Updated]

More from Code Words:
– Ethics Code Revisions – Our First Draft [Updated]
– Quill Flashback: 21st-Century Journalism Requires 21st-Century Code
– Quill Flashback: The Current Code is Inclusive and Flexible
– The value of an ombudsman
– The price of plagiarism

The March/April 2014 issue of Quill is now online. Stories include:

– From the President
– Ten with Liz Wahl
– Citizen Code
– Says Who?
– Member Profile: Lindsey Cook
– Guidelines on Anonymous Sources
– Digital Media Toolbox
– Education Toolbox
– Revising the Code of Ethics: What’s going on?
– FOI Toolbox

To see all stories, follow this link.

Results are rolling in for the 2013 Mark of Excellence Awards regional competitions! Regional winners were or will be announced at each region's respective spring conference. Once your region's results become available, you will be able to access them using the links below.

– Region 2
– Region 3
– Region 4
– Region 5
– Region 6
– Region 8
– Region 9
– Region 11
– Region 12

The Mark of Excellence Awards honor the best in student journalism. The awards offer categories for print, radio, television and online collegiate journalism. Entries are first judged on the regional level. First place regional winners advance to the national competition. National winners will be showcased on spj.org.

Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia provide journalists with a “reporter’s privilege,” protecting them if a state government seeks to make him or her reveal confidential information, including the identity of a source. Some states have statutes, known as “shield laws,” and some provide the protection through case law.

There is absolutely no protection at the federal level. It’s time to pass a federal shield law.

Find out more — including how you can help us right now to raise the shield — by visiting our shield law page.

EIJ14 Scholarships and Fellowships: Apply now

Terry Harper Memorial Scholarships: Terry Harper passed away in 2009 after a two-year battle with brain cancer. In honor of Terry’s efforts to improve SPJ and the entire journalism community, the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation set up a memorial fund following his death. With a generous outpouring of support, the Society can now proudly provide up to four scholarships to SPJ members to attend its annual convention. Applications due May 12, 2014.

Diversity Leadership Fellows Program: As we face the many challenges of an evolving industry, strengthening SPJ’s diversity efforts is more important than ever. The goal of the Diversity Leadership Fellows program, ultimately, is to increase the diversity participation of SPJ members within national committees and on the national board of directors. As part of the program, we bring fellowship recipients to the convention to begin a year-long immersion and education program. Applications due May 12, 2014.

Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award: From the generosity of the Lewis family, the award is given each year to a student SPJ member who has demonstrated outstanding service to the First Amendment through the field of journalism. The award assists a student with his/her attendance to SPJ's annual convention. Applications due March 21, 2014.