On Thursday, June 7, SPJ’s regular membership radio program, “Your SPJ Membership” welcomed a few guests to talk about how journalists can reach out to help and support other journalists in the wake of a disaster.

Program host, and National Membership Chair Sarah Bauer welcomed Mark Pitsch, Assistant City Editor of the Wisconsin State Journal and President of the Madison Pro Chapter, and SDX President Steve Geiman as guests.

You can listen to the full episode online now: http://bit.ly/jalrnj.

Providing Assistance

More than 20 members of the Joplin Globe staff (from a staff of 117) were directly affected by the May 22 tornado.  If there are other SPJ chapters, or individuals interested in contributing to the relief effort, the Missouri Press Association has established a disaster fund through the Missouri Press Foundation.

Tax-deductible donations can be sent to the Missouri Press Foundation, 802 Locust St., Columbia, MO 65201

Or, to donate online, please visit: www.mopress.com.

Reporting Resources

If you are a journalist covering a disaster in your community, check out resources in SPJ’s Journalist’s Toolbox:

http://www.spjvideo.org/jtb/archive/weather/
http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/archive/public-safety/

More on Covering Disasters with Social Media

Tune into Studio SPJ on Saturday, June 25 at noon Eastern when the Arkansas Pro SPJ chapter hosts a discussion of how to cover natural disasters using social media.

During the recent series of catastrophic floods and tornadoes, many reporters have turned to programs like Twitter to help them explain and tell breaking news stories in the wake of disaster.

Guests for this program will include Karen-Lee Ryan of the Tennessean in Nashville, who coordinated social media coverage that was part of their Pulitzer-nominated work on local floods.

Our other guest will be Rick Smith of the National Weather Service in Oklahoma. He moderates the NWS Twitter account for his offfice and has dealt with everything from tornadoes and flooding to snow and ice storms.

The half-hour program will be hosted by Kelly MacNeil of public radio station KUAR in Little Rock and president of the Arkansas Pro chapter.

To listen to the program live or archives of past shows, visit www.blogtalkradio.com/spj.