FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Christine DiGangi, SPJ Communications Coordinator, (317) 927-8000 ext. 205,
cdigangi@spj.org

INDIANAPOLIS — “Studio SPJ” starts another year of Internet radio broadcasts Jan. 3 with three diverse and interesting programs sponsored by local chapters.

Here's the lineup:

On Thursday, Jan. 3 at 1 p.m. EST, the guest will be Jennifer Livingston, a Wisconsin television anchor/reporter who made headlines in October when she responded on air to a viewer who criticized her weight.

This program is sponsored by the SPJ Milwaukee Pro chapter.

On Friday, Jan. 4 at 11 a.m. EST, documentary filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz will join the show. His recent film “Reportero” follows a veteran journalist and his colleagues at a Tijuana weekly newspaper where the drug war has made journalism a life-threatening profession.

Ricardo Sandoval Palos, chairman of SPJ's International Journalism Committee, will interview Ruiz.

On Saturday, Jan. 5 at noon EST, the guest will be Fiona Deans Halloran, a Salt Lake City history professor who has written a new biography of the legendary political cartoonist Thomas Nast.

This program is co-sponsored by the Utah Headliners and SPJ New Jersey chapters.

To listen to any of these programs either live or later as a podcast, click on the following links:

Jennifer Livingston:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/spj/2013/01/03/studio-spj-with-jennifer-livingston

Bernardo Ruiz:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/spj/2013/01/04/studio-spj-with-bernardo-ruiz

Fiona Deans Halloran:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/spj/2013/01/05/studio-spj-with-fiona-deans-halloran

“Studio SPJ” is an ongoing series of conversations with journalists on topics of interest to the profession.

The broadcasts, which started in January 2011, have been attracting a growing audience, according to former National SPJ President John Ensslin, who serves as the program's producer.

The virtual format is similar to a half-hour radio talk-show program. But because they are done over the telephone, chapters can avoid the usual hassles of distance, logistics and finding a venue, Ensslin said.

For example, a program sponsored by the Cincinnati Pro chapter in November so far has drawn 127 listeners.

"I tell folks that if they did an SPJ program in a room on a campus or library that drew 127 people, we'd declare victory," Ensslin said.

Hosting a program on “Studio SPJ” is an option available to any pro or student chapter.

If your chapter has a program you think would make for a good broadcast, contact Ensslin at damon_runyon@hotmail.com or call him at 973-513-5632.

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