Thanks to Marmian Grimes, president of the Farthest North chapter, for sharing this grim news. Alaska Dispatch Editor Tony Hopfinger was handcuffed – and his evidence erased – on Sunday after questioning U.S. Senator candidate Joe Miller at a public event on Sunday.

This is precisely the reason that the Society of Professional Journalists exists – to prevent such travesties of justice from occurring and to shout them from the rooftops when they happen anyway.

Miller Security Guards Handcuff Editor Following Public Event

For Immediate Release: Is Trust in Journalists an Outdated Expectation? That is the question to be debated by local print and electronic journalists during a free town hall meeting at 6 pm, Thursday, Oct. 28^th, at the 1912 Center in Moscow, 412 E. Third St. Open to the public, the meeting is co-sponsored by the Snake River Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the City of Moscow, the School of Journalism and Mass Media at the University of Idaho, and the Murrow College of Communications at Washington State University.

Invited panelists include Lee Rozen, Managing Editor for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News; Steve Smith, Faculty at UI School of Journalism and Mass Media; Kelcie Moseley, UI Argonaut Editor; Gavin Mathis, WSU Daily Evergreen Editor, Kerry Swanson, NPR Station Manager; and, moderator, Becky Tallent, assistant professor, UI School of Journalism and Mass Media.

At 7 pm the 1912 Center will broadcast the debate between candidates Keith Allred, Ted Dunlap, Jana Kemp, C.L. “Butch” Otter, and Pro-Life for approximately one hour.  After the debate, the panelists will offer a brief analysis regarding coverage of the event, answer questions about how journalists decide what to cover in an election, and what is important to know about how journalists work during election coverage.  The audience will have an opportunity to present their questions to the panelists.

UI students will include a social networking aspect to the event, as well.

The Trust in Journalism Event is the result of a competitive grant the Snake River Pro Chapter received from the national SPJ organization.  The focus is to bring the public and the press together to discuss journalism ethics and why they matter, especially in today’s whirlwind media climate.  SPJ believes such dialogue is critical as the public deals daily with a variety of “news” that’s neither new nor newsworthy, which confuses audiences and makes it difficult for them to identify credible, reliable reporting.

The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation’s most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior.  Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry through the daily work of its about 9000 members; inspires and educates current and future journalists through professional development; and protests First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press through its advocacy efforts.

Interview opp: Becky Tallent, 208-596-9507; Margo Aragon, 208-553-5548

Contact: Margo Aragon
Snake River Pro SPJ
spj.snakeriverpro@gmail.com
208-553-5548

“Journalism Today and Tomorrow” is the theme of SPJ’s Washington College Journalism conference on Saturday, Nov. 6, at the University of Washington in Seattle. The conference is aimed at journalism students at two-year and four-year colleges. The one-day program will feature Seattle area journalists involved in investigative reporting and numerous digital media enterprises.

Co-sponsors are the Western Washington Pro and University of Washington student chapters of SPJ. Sessions will include discussions of ethics and public records relating to campus news coverage. Students will have an opportunity to tour the UW Daily offices and to learn about this innovative campus publication.

Registration (including lunch):
$15 for SPJ members pre-registered by Nov. 4; $20 at the door.
$20 for non-members pre-registered by Nov. 4; $25 at the door.
To join SPJ, see www.spj.org

Sessions run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the UW Communications Building. Registration starts at 8:15 a.m. Parking is $5.

A detailed conference schedule will be provided in late October and will be posted on the chapter website: www.spjwash.org

Send names of registrants with payment to:
Western Washington Pro Chapter, SPJ
P.O. Box 28805
Seattle, WA 98118-8805

Questions?
Contact Oren Campbell
Western Washington Pro chapter education chair
oec@u.washington.edu

I just returned from Las Vegas where our annual SPJ conference was held. Much fun was had by all and enthusiasm was high. At the same time, I am happy to report that we accomplished a lot, and I feel good about the direction we’re going as a group.

Six out of seven chapters were represented at the conference:  Montana (Ian M.); Snake River (Becky T.); W. Washington (Clay H., Cliff D., Oren C.); Oregon (Sara); William O. Douglas (Kristen K. and Paula H). and Inland NW (Mark P. and Pia). Other members from the chapters were represented but these were delegates and/or chapter reps.

For those of you who weren’t able to attend the conference, here’s a quick synopsis of what went down at the regional business meeting:

Inland Northwest update: After several years of lying dormant, the Spokane chapter of SPJ is slowly coming to life, thanks to Mark Peterson and Pia Hallenberg. They are taking their media message on the road by visiting local colleges and universities to talk about the skills needed to make it in today’s social media-savvy world.

Regional conference update: Kristen & Paula updated us on their plans for the regional conference next spring. It will be held at WSU, Richland, Washington in the Tri-Cities April 8-9. Anticipated attendance:  80-100. They brought “save the date” cards and asked for help with programming ideas. We also discussed the idea of the region helping to pay for the annual conference through contest proceeds. The group was in favor of this idea though an official vote was not held. Stay tuned for updates on the William O. Douglas website.

Regional contest: I will contact two outside vendors (besides BNC) for quotes to take our system online. We might go with BNC for now and see what service national rolls out next year and be a test pilot. Chapter responsibilities:  providing contest swap partners by December 1 and a chapter contest coordinator who will be my primary contact during the contest season.

Contest timetable: This will be the same as in past years.

• Rules, categories, etc. to be ready and posted online by 12/31/10
• Promote contest during January
• Entry deadlines for all categories:  mid-February
• Entries to out-of-state swap partners:  March 1
• Entries to be judged by April 1
• Trophies & certs to be done by May 1  (Ian will do trophies again; Ruth will do certificates.)
• 2011 Awards Banquet:  Saturday, May 21 in Seattle and Portland

Regional blog: My goal this year is to keep this updated with news at the regional level as well as at the chapter level. I encouraged chapter contacts to send me news, events and other updates so we can work more closely chapter-to-chapter than we have in the past. Send posts to me via email and I will post them here for everyone within the region to view (Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana).

Regional synergy: I’d like to see us work together more closely, particularly in terms of membership challenges and programming ideas. I believe we can leverage technology to create ready-made, portable programs that can be easily duplicated in other chapters throughout the region. This is particularly important in those chapters that are separated geographically. One idea:  freelance program, All Access Pass, could be tailored to freelancers in other markets. This could be a good pilot for the “program in a box” concept.

Please help me keep this blog alive and well and subscribe to the RSS feed or check back regularly for updates, news and more. I look forward to working with you over the next year!

~ Dana Neuts, regional director