It has taken me all month, but I think I’ve created a simple and powerful reading list for Black History Month.

As February comes to a close, let’s take a look at some of the books people passed on to me about race reporting.

The Race Beat (Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff) –Roberts and Klibanoff tell an amazing collection of stories that paint a broad picture of how journalism changed the face of the U.S. during the civil rights movement. However, I suggest you take notes as you read. There are a lot of people mentioned in the book and it can get confusing.

The Authentic Voice: The best reporting on race and ethnicity (Arlene Notoro Morgan, Alice Irene Pifer and Keith Woods) – The Authentic Voice is actually a textbook, but is a great tool for journalists who want to create culturally sensitive articles. One great feature about this book, besides the companion DVD, is that it can apply to all cultures. The book includes some of the best articles and reports from various media on race and ethnicity.

Race: How blacks & whites think & feel about the American obsession (Studs Terkel) – A professor passed this book onto me as she was packing up her office last year. The book was nothing like I expected, because it is conversations with ordinary Americans about their views on race. While the book is almost 20 years old, I can’t imagine the thoughts have changed much. You can also listen to Terkel’s interviews at StudsTerkel.org.

Obviously this is not an extensive list, but I want to encourage you all to add your own suggestions to the comments section.

I hope you take some time as we move on from Black History Month to pick up a book. You may not just improve your reporting. You may also become more culturally sensitive in your daily lives, too.

My car is in there somewhere... I think.

Good Friday morning to you all!

I woke up to about 15 inches of snow and high winds, and I just finished digging out my car of the driveway. I imagine that my friends in the Northeast are also digging out from this “snowicane.” So, whether you are in the warmth of the West Coast or the frozen tundra that appears to be the East Coast, please enjoy these links!

• Valerie Strauss, an education writer from The Washington Post, has an interview with David Carr, a media and culture writer for The New York Times, on her blog. Carr talks about his unconventional schooling and his opinions on education. You can also follow Carr on Twitter @carr2n
• The National Society of Newspaper Columnists has encouraging results to a survey they sent out last month about what they are doing now. The NSNC summed up the results as, “hanging in there.” However, the good news is that of the 19% that said they were “former columnists,” none mentioned having to move into public relations or advertising.
• The Huffington Post wants college students to work for free and take part in a “citizen journalism unit.” TheWrap’s Dylan Stableford discusses the situation and has some reaction from The Huffington Post. Personally, I’ve had eight journalism internships throughout my college career and I received some sort of compensation for each one: travel expenses, college credit, etc. My belief is that no one should take an internship where they are not compensated, or and no one should work for free. I have a whole economic theory behind it, but I won’t bore you with that.
• The San Diego Union-Tribune has an article on an interesting, but troubling situation at the University of California San Diego. A controversial television show prompted the organization that bankrolls the campus’ student media to hold funding from all of the school’s 33 outlets.
• Hilary Fosdal, chair of SPJ’s Digital Media Committee and the interactive content manager for Barrington Broadcasting Group, has a great blog post on a website that helps you make charts – amazing charts! Thanks to Hilary!
• Andy Schotz, chair of SPJ’s Ethics Committee, sent out a call for nominations. See what the award is here.
• And we are profiling Virginia Tech’s chapter of SPJ this week. You can find out all about them here!
  

  That is all for this week. Check back next week for more posts, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @CampusCopy!

  Have a great weekend!
  ____________________________________________________________
  Andrew M. Seaman is a senior communication studies student at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He is one of SPJ’s student representatives on the national board and you can follow him on Twitter @aseaman06.

Happy Friday to you all!

We have a short, but quality list for all of you this week.

Hope you enjoy!

• Journalism and the World: The SPJ International Journalism Blog has a post by SPJ Region 7 director Holly Edgell. She talks with Yves Colon, Missouri J-School graduate and faculty member who is currently working as a reporter in Haiti.
• Virginia Tech has decided not to impose sanctions against the Collegiate Times, the campus newspaper. The Roanoke Times reports that the issue involved the paper’s policy to allow anonymous users to post comments to their website. Here is something that might help during these types of arguments: Immunity for Online Publishers Under the Communications Decency Act.
• The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will be turning over some records and over $10,000 in legal fees. The Journal Sentinel reports that the school newspaper sued the university and a school official while seeking documents. As part of a settlement, the school will turn over the documents and pay the paper’s legal fees.”
• I can’t imagine someone plagiarizing a Wall Street Journal article and publishing it on a popular blog for The New York Times and think they would get away with it. However, Zachery Kouwe of the Times appeared to do just that. Robert Thomson, the editor in chief of the Journal, informed the Times through a letter. Kouwe says that he has never knowingly plagiarized and knows that the accusations are serious. He resigned soon after.

“There was no general news release about this particular story and the Journal’s coverage was informed by original reporting and a meticulous review of legal files related to the case of Mr. Bernard Madoff.” – Robert Thomson


• The best thing that I have read all week is a profile of Roger Ebert and his famous “two thumbs up” in Esquire. And guess what? He liked it, too!

And while you are online… Check out the Texas State University Society of Professional Journalists

Good Friday evening to you all!

I am sorry that this week’s The Weekly Index is late, but my computer kept having meltdowns throughout the day, and I kept losing the post. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to type this introduction.

I’ve pulled together a pretty good list of news and links for you all this week.

• Caitlin Barnett has, what I consider, a very inspirational post about the decision a lot of young journalists have to make on SPJ’s Generation J Committee blog. There is also a great discussion going on in the comments, too.
• Andy Schotz has a post on SPJ’s Ethics blog about an unfortunate struggle going on at Virginia Tech. The school is threatening to withdraw funding over anonymous posts on the paper’s Web site.

Silencing a student newspaper is a drastic step, beyond disrespectful. It’s Draconian. ~ Andy Schotz

• Devin Banerjee, the former editor-in-chief of the Stanford Daily at Stanford University, was picked as the 2010 Daniel Pearl Memorial Journalism Intern. He will work in one of the Wall Street Journal’s foreign bureaus this summer.
• Jeff Bercovici of DailyFinance.com writes about web reporting and why it sometimes leads to errors.

A single huge story can vault a new site into instant legitimacy — think about how TMZ became a household name overnight after it broke the news of Mel Gibson’s anti-Jewish tirade. The Times and CNN don’t have to worry about garnering name recognition. They’ve already made their reputations. ~ Jeff Bercovici

• Michael Schudson, a noted journalism educator, spoke at the University of Southern California last night on “Entrepreneurship and the future of news.” Here are his prepared remarks.

My vision is less than utopian also because one of the sorts of social heterogeneity that I believe useful for a society is a heterogeneity of competence based on specialization and expertise. ~ Michael Schudson

• They like him, they really like him! Mark Zuckerman, a former sports writer for The Washington Times, raised enough money to cover spring training this year. In fact, he raised over $4,000 more than he needed! Here is his thank you.

  This week, let’s take a look at the campus chapter at the University of South Florida – here!

  That is all for this week. Check back next week for more posts, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @CampusCopy!

  Have a great weekend!
  ____________________________________________________________
  Andrew M. Seamanis a senior communication studies student at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He is one of SPJ’s student representatives on the national board and you can follow him on Twitter @aseaman06.

Tara Puckey and Andrew Seaman, SPJ’s student representatives, will travel to the Big Apple for the College Media Advisers National Convention from March 14 to 16.

They will have a table in the exhibit hall, be making rounds in a few of the workshops, and talking to student journalists from across the nation.

The CMA National Convention is the largest spring gathering of student journalists in the world. Attendees have a chance to talk to industry leaders, participate in workshops on various topics, and check out New York City.

Will you be making the journey to the CMA National Convention? Do you want to have an SPJ meet up? Let us know!

Greeting SPJ campus members!

Please accept my sincerest apologies for slacking on the blog this past week. A mixture of school work, newspaper work, freelance work, and dental work led to zero downtime this past week.

However, never fear! I am back with an extra long list of items that will keep you busy for days to come!

So, let’s get started.

• The new issue of the Quill is out and it is AWESOME! You may want to check out the article on how to capture HD video with your SLR camera by Jeff Achen. 
• Quill’s Managing Editor Scott Leadingham has a great post on how to keep up with SPJ chapters across America using Twitter! Scott also links to a post by Monica Guzman, a SPJ member and Seatlepi.com reporter, on how to keep up with other tweeple using the same method. 
• Join Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and reporter Tom Hallman, Jr. for his Narrative Writing Workshops in DC or Santa Clara, Calif. in April and May! 
• Looking for something directed specifically to young journos? Try SPJ’s Reporters Instituteat The Poynter Institute in Florida! Applications are due March 1. 
• Want my job? As a national board member, I mean. Find out how here. 
• I had an amazing experience as an intern for The Working Press in Indianapolis during the national convention last year, and now you can have the same experience in VEGAS! Find out how to apply here. I cannot say enough about my experience with The Working Press. I made great friends and gained great pages for my portfolio. 
• The Nieman Foundation at Harvard University asks the question: What is journalism school for? Read the post here. 
• The Public Relations Society of America has, what I consider, a really cool post about the AP Stylebook. 
• Jason Fry, from the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, has a great post about how writing for the web is different, and how it isn’t. 
• Emily Sweeney, or Spikey Em- SPJ member, reporter at The Boston Globe, and a fellow 2009 Ted Scripps Leadership Institute Graduate – has a great post on SPJ’s Net Worked blog about how to edit a video in Windows Movie Maker in 7 easy steps! 
• Spikey Em also has a post on seven cool social media tools for journalists. 
• Andy Schotz, president of DC’s Pro Chapter and chair of SPJ’s Ethics Committee, has a post on SPJ’s Code Words blog about some new ‘boundaries’ for social media. 
• The Student Press Law Center reports that a proposed amendment to Maryland’s shield law includes… Are you ready for this? COLLEGE JOURNALISTS! Read SPLC’s report here. 
• Martin Moore, director of the Media Standards Trust and a 2008 Knight News Challenge winner, has an interesting postabout the universal principles that guide journalism. The post is housed at the PBS MediaShift Idea Lab.

Also, I want to start providing links to some of our campus chapters. Let’s start with our chapter at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Check out their great Web site here.

Let’s take a look at a very amusing video posted to their website. The description on YouTube is, “A group project performed for an ethics course at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. The assignment was to come up with a journalist’s oath.”

Maybe we can ask for an encore at the Region 1 conference. Have a great weekend!
____________________________________________________________
Andrew M. Seamanis a senior communication studies student at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. He is one of SPJ’s student representatives on the national board and you can follow him on Twitter @aseaman06.