David Cuillier, the Freedom of Information Committee chairman for the Society of Professional Journalists, will give an open access workshop at the invitation of The Northern Light, a student media organization at the University of Alaska Anchorage, at noon Friday, June 24 in Room 201A in the Professional Studies Building on the UAA main campus, 3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage, Alaska. All working members of the media are invited to attend.

Cuillier has been an SPJ newsroom trainer since 2005. He researches and teaches classes in accessing public records at the University of Arizona School of Journalism in Tucson. He is the co-author of “The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records.”

The Northern Light publishes a newspaper weekly during the school year and twice a month during the summer session in addition to a website year-round. It has won accolades on the state and national level.

For more information or to register for the workshop, contact Paola Banchero at the Dept. of Journalism and Public Communications at the University of Alaska Anchorage at 907-786-4194 or via email.

Last month I had the privilege to attend the First Amendment Free Food Festival, hosted by the student SPJ chapter of Western Washington University. The event was held mid-day on Thurs., May 12 in a common area known, ironically, as Red Square. Here SPJ volunteers passed out free pizza to students who were willing to give up their First Amendment Rights to enter the restricted zone. More than 100 students actively handed over the rights, while at least a dozen others refused, walking off without pizza.

For more coverage of the event, visit the links below:

The Western Front

WWU SPJ Student Blog

Photo by Dana Neuts

Photo by Dana Neuts

For more photos, visit Facebook.

The Society of Professional Journalists has named the national winners of the 2010 Mark of Excellence (MOE) contest. Congratulations to all of our winners, but particularly to our Region 10 winners.

–> 2010 National MOE Winners

In addition to these winners, regional winners of the MOE awards were announced in April and certificates were distributed at the April 9 regional conference in Richland, WA.

–> 2010 Regional MOE Winners

Please join us in congratulating these students on their impressive work.