The MOE contest honors the best in journalism among college students. Region 4 first-place winners compete nationally against the winners from SPJ’s 11 other regions.

Region 4 had 473 contest entries this year, more than any other region of SPJ!

We will be mailing certificates to students who were unable to attend the event in Cleveland.

Duplicate certificates can be ordered from SPJ for $2.20 per copy, plus postage, by contacting awards coordinator Lauren Rochester at awards(at)spj(dot)org. You also can contact Regional Director Jeremy Steele at jsteele(at)spj(dot)org.

Journalists, students and educators from Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, which form Region 4, will gather for the annual spring meeting which is open to all journalists, including those not affiliated with SPJ.

High-profile, accomplished journalists speaking at the conference include Jim Schaefer, part of the Detroit Free Press team whose coverage toppled Kwame Kilpatrick, the former Detroit mayor, and  won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, and Regina Brett, a columnist at The Plain Dealer who twice won first-place National Headliner Awards. The two are among more than two dozen professional journalists, educators and entrepreneurs providing skills training for anyone who plays a journalistic role in any form of media.

“Our theme is `Rise Up in Cleveland’ to emphasize steps journalists and other communicators can take to chart their own course if they have lost jobs in the media or wish to aim for the stars with their own venture,” said Tony Kozlowski, conference chairman and SPJ Cleveland Pro board member. “I’m especially excited about our hands-on training program for students and young professionals at The Plain Dealer to begin the conference at 1:30 p.m., April 9, followed by the opening reception, 7 p.m., at the world famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.”

“We’ll have a well-rounded program for people with a variety of interests,” said Clifford Anthony, president of SPJ Cleveland Pro. “Writers, photographers, editors and broadcasters who work in varied roles will be able to choose from an agenda that includes training in using public records for investigative reporting to using social networking technology.”

The PD sessions begin at 1:30 p.m. April 9 at The Plain Dealer, 1801 Superior Ave. For others attending the conference, it begins at 7 p.m. April 9 with a reception at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum at North Coast Harbor in downtown Cleveland. Programming begins at 8 a.m. April 10 at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown, 127 Public Square. The conference includes the Region 4 Mark of Excellence Luncheon, where student journalists receive awards for superior work, at 12 noon, April 10.

For more details and registration, go to http://spjclevelandregion4.eventbrite.com/. Earlybird fees (by March 20) for SPJ members are $70 for students and $80 for professionals, and $10 more for non-members. Registration is also available after 3 p.m. Friday, April 9 and beginning at 7 a.m. the day of the conference. Hotel rooms are available at the Marriott at a special conference rate of $89 per night, plus local taxes and fees, for a limited number of reservations made by March 22. The discounted rate may be extended, depending on room availability. The entrance to the hotel is at West Mall Drive and East St. Clair Ave.

Since 1909, the Society of Professional Journalists has delivered continuing education, professional services, journalism and open government advocacy while encouraging the free practice of journalism and high standards of ethical behavior. The Cleveland Chapter of SPJ joined the fray in 1950 and is one of the 10 largest chapters of the nation’s largest membership organization for journalists. The national organization’s website is www.spj.org. The Cleveland Pro Chapter’s website is www.spjcleveland.org/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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.