Tuesday, January 12, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPJ Announces 2009 Northwest Excellence in Journalism Contest, Contest is Now Online

Seattle, Washington, January 12, 2010 – Contest organizers in SPJ’s region 10 announced the launch of the 2009 Northwest Excellence in Journalism Contest today. The annual SPJ contest honors the best journalism work in daily newspapers, alternative newsweeklies, nondaily newspapers, magazines, online, radio and television. Each year thousands of entries are submitted, but only the very best receive the top awards.

Open to journalists in SPJ’s Region 10 (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana), this year’s contest offers some significant changes:

1.    Online submission:  Entries in most categories will be submitted via our new online contest system, rather than mailed in. See contest details for exceptions.

2.    Magazines:  The magazine contest is now open to all chapters in the five-state region. Previously, magazine entries were only permitted from the Western Washington Pro Chapter based in Seattle.

3.    Nondaily newspapers: The nondaily newspaper contest is now open to journalists in Alaska, Washington, Idaho and Montana. Previously, only Western Washington publications could enter. (Note: The Oregon-Southwest Washington chapter has its own nondaily newspaper contest and is not participating in the regionwide nondaily contest.)

“This year we’re making a lot of positive changes to the contest. These changes will make entering the SPJ contest easier than ever before while reducing administrative and mailing costs,” regional director Dana Neuts said.

“For the first time, we’re making online submissions possible, and we are expanding the magazine and nondaily newspaper contests to be open to others within the region,” Neuts added. “We’re excited to take the contest to the next level.”

Contest entries may be submitted online starting today through the end of the day on Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, the deadline for entry. Entry fees are $15 each and the contest is open to both SPJ members and nonmembers residing and working in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. For complete eligibility rules and instructions, please visit the SPJ website at http://spj-northwest.org.

As the largest journalism organization in the United States, the Society of Professional Journalists is dedicated to the perpetuation of a free press, promoting the free flow of information, and providing information to the public in an accurate, comprehensive, timely and understandable manner. SPJ also offers continuing education, ethics and diversity training and relevant programs for journalists and the public it serves.

For more information, please contact:

Scott Maben, former regional director, Spokane, WA, (509) 459-5528
Ruth Pettis, contest coordinator, Seattle, WA, (206) 781-8097
Dana Neuts, regional director, Kent, WA, (360) 920-1737

The William O. Douglas chapter of SPJ is hosting a video workshop November 7 & 8 at the Yakima Herald-Republic, 114 N. Fourth St., Yakima, WA  98901.

In addition to the local SPJ chapter, the video workshop is being hosted by the Yakima-Herald and the National Press Photographers Association. The event is also being sponsored by Canon, Apple and ThinkTank.

The Northwest Video Workshop will offer two training options. During a two-day boot camp environment, a large group or “intermediate group” will learn techniques for everyday video interviews, field equipment handling and potential ethical pitfalls during the video production schedule. The second group or “advanced group” of up to 14 participants will work three days to hone existing interview, shooting, audio and editing skills pursuing a real world stories.  The two groups will combine for some of the seminar discussions and sessions.

Overall workshop goals
The sessions will help journalists of multiple skill levels develop time-saving “tool kits” to effectively cover stories while carrying multiple publication responsibilities. This workshop will provide opportunities for journalists to adapt to a rapidly changing industry.  Advanced participants will be accepted by application only by an independent committee.

Trainers
The workshop will include exceptional teachers first and foremost.  Trainers will not all be photojournalists, but will teach skills that photojournalists and reporters are sometimes weak in.  Trainers will cover ethics, building a video shooting tool kit, audio interview for storytelling tool kit, and video editing/output tool kit in Apple Final Cut Pro.

Potential participation cost
The cost will be about $100 each.  This is not a profit making venture, but a break-even training workshop.

Food and accommodations
Food will be provided on site during workshop sessions. Several hotels are within walking distance from the YH-R building and special rates will be obtained for attendees.

For more info., contact chapter president Mai Hoang via email.

Two chapters within Region 10 – Western Washington Pro and William O. Douglas – applied for grants from National SPJ to cover upcoming programs. Both learned last week that they had been awarded their grants.

Western Washington Pro Chapter:  $500 to defray costs of its fall, eight-week continuing education series held at The Seattle Times and the University of Washington

William O. Douglas: $400 to assist with hosting Northwest Video Workshop, a two-day video workshop/bootcamp at the Yakima-Herald

Thanks to National SPJ for helping to support these innovative programs!

Dana Neuts
Region 10 Director

Contact Aric Lane with questions.

The Future of News – Day-long Journalism Workshops

Only 12 days left to register! The Western Washington Pro Chapter of SPJ is co-sponsoring a conference on Saturday, October 10 on the Seattle University campus dedicated to the future of news. Buy your tickets online now!

Sessions include:

- The Future of Newspapers;
- Building Your Brand as an Independent Journalist;
- How is Technology Shaping the Newsroom of the 21st Century?;
- Introduction to Investigative Reporting;
- Online Content Management: Who’s Using What – and Why?;
- Building Independent Online News Sites;
- Career Transitions: Leaving Journalism Behind;
- Covering The Recovery: A Primer On Business Reporting;
- Online Options: CoPress and Stunt3;
- Freedom of the Press: From state sunshine laws to the federal shield law, what’s the status of legal issues impacting journalists in the Pacific Northwest?;
- Can Public Interest PR Help Fill the Information Gap?;
- The Blogging Life;
- Cool Tools;
- User Generated Content: Keeping it Legal, Keeping it Lively; and
- Fair Fight or Copy Right?

Registration is $50 per person; $15 for students and unemployed journalists.

For more information, visit www.thenewsconference.com.

In cooperation with national SPJ, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Hallman, Jr. will teach a full-day of training on Narrative Writing.

Saturday, December 12, 2009
9 am – 4:30 pm
Portland State University

$60 SPJ members
$80 nonmembers

More details can be found at the national SPJ website.

To register, click here.

Don’t just report the story. Tell it like it is.

The Society of Professional Journalists invites early career reporters and front-line editors to step out of the inverted pyramid and into the art of storytelling! Through SPJ’s Narrative Writing Workshops, participants will learn options for reinvigorating the writing craft.

Join Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and reporter Tom Hallman, Jr., from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in one of five Narrative Writing Workshops for a day filled with tips for creating excitement in news stories.

The freestyle conversation with Hallman includes discussion on the following topics:
— Defining narrative writing
— Reporting for narrative
— Long form narrative storytelling
— How you can apply narrative techniques to your daily reporting
— Strategies for your newsroom

Have a special project in the works? Share it! Participants will have the chance to send Hallman a sample of their work in advance of the workshop. Tom will critique the work and discuss it with the rest of the class.

Digital Journalism Portland and the SPJ chapter in Oregon/SW Washington are teaming up to host an informal social hour that showcases local, innovative digital journalism projects.

Thurs., September 24
7 pm
More details here

Welcome to SPJ’s Region 10 blog, called The X Factor (for now). The purpose of this blog will be to share news, regional contest updates, training opportunities and ideas for SPJ members in Region 10 (Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana). If your chapter resides in one of these states and you have information to share with the region, please send it to me via email and I’ll be happy to post it for you. I also welcome your comments to my posts and would love suggestions for a new name.

I look forward to working with you!

Dana Neuts
Region 10 Director
www.spj.org