The Cleveland Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is busy planning for this year’s spring regional conference, which will be held Friday and Saturday, April 9-10 in downtown Cleveland.

Registration information, as well as details on hotel accommodations, now is online, and further details about conference programming soon will be available. I will post information here to the Region 4 blog, as it becomes available.

In addition to great professional development programming for student and professional journalists, the spring conference also is where we’ll honor the best college journalists in our regional Mark of Excellence Awards. Judging is currently under way in this contest.

As is tradition, students who have won awards will be notified ahead of the conference to allow them time to plan to travel to our Mark of Excellence Awards luncheon, which will be held on the Saturday, April 10. We do not announce places or specific awards until the luncheon. First-place winners of the regional contest compete with winners in SPJ’s other 11 regions to decide the national winners, who will be recognized at the national conference in Las Vegas in October. I hope to see you all in Cleveland!

Judges are busy sorting through hundreds of entries in the regional level of SPJ’s Mark of Excellence contest. Judging will continue through February.

The awards honor the best work by college journalists in 2009. Winners of the Region 4 contest will be honored at the regional spring conference, April 9-10 in Cleveland.

Students who have won an award will be notified ahead of the conference to allow them to plan for travel to Cleveland for the awards luncheon, which is part of the conference on Saturday, April 10. Students are not notified of details of their awards – just that they have won an award.

Awards will be mailed to winners who do not attend the spring conference after the event.

First-place winners at the regional level go on to compete in the national Mark of Exellence contest against the first-place winners in SPJ’s other 11 regions. The national winners will be honored at SPJ’s national convention in Las Vegas in October.

SPJ Region 4 honored winners of the 2008 regional level of the Mark of Excellence contest in Columbus, Ohio, on April 4 as part of its regional spring conference.

First-place winners in the regional round of the contest compete in a national round of judging against winners in SPJ’s other 11 regions.

Students who did not attend the Columbus conference will have their certificates mailed to them.

Duplicate certificates can be ordered from SPJ’s national headquarters for $2.18 each, plus shipping. Contact awards coordinator Lauren Rochester at lrochester@spj.org to order duplicates.

If you’ve found a typo on your certificate and did not return it to regional director Jeremy Steele at the conference, please contact him at jsteele@spj.org immediately.

SPJ’s Region 4 includes Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.

Winners in the 2008 Region 4 Mark of Excellence contest are listed here.

Dick Hendrickson, a member of the Cleveland chapter and adviser of the John Carroll University chapter, left SPJ’s national convention in Atlanta with two honors.

Region 4 director Jeremy W. Steele awarded Hendrickson the Virginia Frizzi Regional Director’s Award for his work for the region. The honor is named for Ginny Frizzi, a longtime former regional director who created the award to recognize a member whose contributions bettered Region 4. The award was reinstituted in 2007 by then-RD Kevin Smith.

Hendrickson helped lead the charge when the Ohio chapters reorganized their statewide awards program last year. With his leadership and the help of his Ohio SPJ peers, the contest was deemed a success despite numerous obstacles.

He also was honored by SPJ with the Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Professional Member Award. Read SPJ’s press release here.

Winners at the regional level of SPJ’s Mark of Excellence contest were honored this past weekend at the Region 4 conference in Pittsburgh. The Mark of Excellence Awards honor the best in college student journalism.

Region 4, which includes Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, received 377 entries from students at 18 colleges and universities.

First-place winners from Region 4 go on to compete in the national round of judging against winners from SPJ’s 11 other regions.

To: Journalists and Concerned Citizens

From: The West Virginia University Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Kellen Henry, President

Re: Petition on Behalf of Reporters Toni Locy and James Stewart who face contempt charges for protecting their confidential sources in the Steven Hatfill case.

Please consider signing, circulating and mailing the attached petition to Judge Reggie B. Walton as quickly as possible.

This document urges the Judge Walton to reverse his decision to hold former USA Today reporter and West Virginia University professor Toni Locy in contempt of court for refusing to reveal confidential sources. He has threatened to levy large fines against Locy that may not be paid by Gannett or any other source. Judge Walton also could hold former CBS reporter James Stewart in contempt in the same matter. (Read related post at the SPJ LDF blog).

Please FAX completed petitions to Judge Walton at the number below and mail the original, signed copies to him at the address below. If possible, please keep a record of the number of signatures you collect and send that information to: Professor Bonnie Stewart, WVU SPJ Chapter faculty advisor (304-293-3505 Ext. 5417 or bonnie.stewart@mail.wvu.edu)

Chambers of Judge Reggie B. Walton’s contact information:

• Telephone Number: 202-354-3290
• Fax Number: 202-354-3292
• Address:

United States District Court for the District of Columbia
E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse
333 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001

Two Region 4 chapters have received grants to help put on 2008 Ethics Week programming, during the week of April 21-27.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania SPJ, $450
Program Name: “News Media in Indiana, Pa.: Of Whom, By Whom, Form Whom?”
Description: The program will be a journalism symposium at which local news-media representatives will join a panel to address the title question, discuss issues related to it and answer questions from a moderator and from students and citizens from the campus and surrounding community. The chapter’s objectives are to illuminate the work of professional journalists in the community, to shed light on the pressures they face on the job and to invite citizen appreciation for and constructive criticism of their performance.

Central Ohio Pro, $550
Program Name: “Grey Matter: Working in a freebie culture”
Description: We life in a freebie culture, from free doughnuts to game tickets. Are all gifts to be refused? Is there a grey area? The Central Ohio Act Independently Ethics Program will: Give analysis of real life examples; Provide ethical insight from both journalists and public relations professionals; Encourage group discussion with the panel.

Read about more programs across the country here.

The Metropolitan Detroit Chapter has launched a slick new Web site, put together by new chapter webmaster Celeste Filiatrault, of the Oakland Press.

Re-elected President Steve Raphael also reports a new schedule for the chapter’s annual Journalist of the Year Awards. Deadline for entries is Feb. 28 with the awards banquet in April.

The board of the Queen City Professional Chapter has voted to change its name to
the Greater Cincinnati Professional Chapter, a name board members said better represents the group.

Cincinnati picked up the nickname, “Queen City,” by the 1820s, according to the Cincinnati Historical Society Library. Residents proud of the city’s development dubbed it the “Queen of the West.”

The name change requires approval of the executive committee of SPJ’s board of directors, which grants chapter charters. The executive committee next meets in January.

Get more info on the chapter from its December newsletter.