SPJ Western Washington

Journalists have heard all of the buzzwords: multimedia, visual communications, new media and social networking. But do you truly know how to use these technological advances?

The Society of Professional Journalists is ready to help you become the kind of versatile journalist every newsroom wants. You can’t afford to miss the 2009 SPJ National Convention and Journalism Conference that offers over 50 sessions that will train you to develop a bulletproof career and build your multimedia toolkit. Sign up today!
Taking place in SPJ’s home base of Indianapolis Aug. 27-30, the 2009 Convention will address the most serious industry concerns and offer your career a lifeline. It’s up to you to register today and take control of your future!

You can look forward to sessions that range in topic from learning multimedia to debating ethics to building careers. Look forward to:

· Learning about the top 10 Alternative Story Forms that are sure to draw in time-strapped readers to your Web site. Read more about it here.

· Finding out how to conduct investigative journalism projects, even when your boss has cut your resources, time and travel budget. Learn how to find collaborators you trust, how to split tasks and what pitfalls you can avoid.

· Using blogging to create your portfolio. Keep up with Web-savvy editors who are looking for journalists who can do it all! Find out more here.

Don’t forget to explore Indy’s thriving city, full of culture, sports and, of course, SPJ’s national headquarters!

What are you waiting for? Sign up today! Take advantage and save by registering before Aug. 2. Get the special SPJ rate at the Westin Indianapolis Hotel by signing up before Aug. 5, and make sure to pre-register before Aug. 16! For more information on convention events and how to register, visit the SPJ 2009 Convention Web site.

Don’t forget to tell your members all about the convention! Use your social media pages like Facebook and Twitter to share information and link to SPJ’s Web site. And if you’re not a member of SPJ’s Facebook group, don’t forget to join!

We hope to see you in Indianapolis!

After a busy year at SPJ, we are taking the month of July off for press clubs. Stay tuned for more information for the next press club event to be hosted by incoming SPJ Secretary Linda Thomas, a freelance broadcast and print journalist. More info. to be posted here - and on our Google calendar (SPJWash) - soon!

Every year the local chapter of SPJ holds an election to fill vacant board seats and to usher in new leadership. This year’s ballots are being mailed today, June 14, 2009, to every active SPJ member who is assigned to our chapter. The ballots will be mailed via first class U.S. postal mail. Votes must be cast and received by Monday, June 29, 2009 to be counted. Only one vote per member is permitted.

Here is a sneak peek at this year’s board slate:

Officers’ positions (one-year terms):

President:  Hilary Reeves, Managing Editor, Business Examiner
Treasurer:  Ursula Reutin, News Director, KIRO Radio
Secretary:  Linda Thomas, Freelance Broadcast and Print Journalist

Board members (two-year terms unless otherwise noted):

David Volk, Freelance Writer
Monica Guzman, News Gatherer, SeattlePI.com
Breanne Coats, Associate Editor, Business Examiner
Clay Holtzman, Staff Writer, Puget Sound Business Journal
Jim Simon, Assistant Managing Editor, The Seattle Times  (one-year term)
Paula Marmion, Manager of Special Projects, Q13 News (one-year term)

Click here to view the full board slate, including bios.

In addition to these positions, the 2009-2010 board also includes past-president Dana Neuts, Freelance Journalist and owner of Virtually Yourz, and Sharon Salyer, Health & Social Issues Reporter, The (Everett) Herald. The position of past-president does not require election, and Salyer is completing the second year in her two-year term.

If you have any questions or do not receive your ballot in the mail, please contact current president Dana Neuts.

A free workshop for visual journalists who have been laid off or who are students of the field will be held July 30-Aug. 2 in Ventura, Calif. Participants will document the local community and produce multimedia projects in a 24-shoot followed by two post-production workshop days. Information:

Was there an error on your trophy or certificate? Want to order a duplicate? Below is the trophy and certificate reorder form. Please mail forms back to me, along with payment, if necessary, before Monday, June 22.

SPJ Award Reorder Form

Thanks to all who made Saturday’s banquet a success! For those of you who won an award but did not attend, you may pick up your trophies and certificates at The Seattle Times’ front desk during regular business hours starting today and ending Monday, June 15.

Award pickup:

The Seattle Times

1120 John Street
Seattle, WA 98109

Monday June 1-Monday, June 15

Questions? Need to make shipping arrangements? E-mail me at hreeves@businessexaminer.com. If special arrangements for shipping have not been made by June 15, leftover trophies and certificates will be discarded.

Tonight we are proud to have announced the Society of Professional Journalist’s 2008 Excellence in Journalism Awards at the Western Washington Pro Chapter’s Annual Awards Banquet. Held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington, the event drew more than 200 journalists, editors, staff, scholarship winners and guests to the gala evening.

Five $2,000 scholarships were awarded to students studying journalism. In addition, the SPJ board held a Silent Auction and Raffle to benefit future scholarships. The event was hosted by Dave Ross and Tom Tangney of KIRO Radio and featured special entertainment by Shane Cobane, traffic reporter-turned Elvis.

During the evening, two special awards were given. The June Anderson Almquist “Courage in Journalism” award was presented to Michael R. Fancher, who retired from The Seattle Times in 2008 after 20 years as executive editor. The Susan Hutchison Bosch award was given posthumously to Leonard J. Hansen because he embodied the characteristics Bosch brought to journalism during her short life:  intellectual honesty, a deep understanding of people and their problems, abiding fairness, grace, perseverance and quiet courage.

Of particular note are this year’s General Excellence award winners:

Magazines:   Washington Law & Politics

Nondaily Newspapers:  The Peninsula Gateway

Small Dailies:  Skagit Valley Herald

Mid-Sized Dailies:  The Olympian

Large Dailies:  The Seattle Times

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!

Download a copy of the Awards Booklet here!

A special thank you to everyone who made tonight’s event possible, including Nathan Adams of Studioopolis who so graciously donated his time to put together the awards booklet for us. Thanks, everyone!

Have questions? Contact Dana Neuts.

From Media Bistro’s Revolving Door Newsletter dated March 6, 2009:

“Working in the media industry has been depressing lately, but it could be worse: While more than 7,000 media types lost their jobs in the first two months of 2009, more than 70,000 workers from the retail and automotive sectors found themselves out of work during the same time period. Probably not much of a comfort to our unemployed friends, but worth noting nonetheless…”

We’ve got five scholarships available, each worth $2,000, but you must apply by March 28.

Four of the scholarships will be awarded to undergraduate students majoring in journalism or communications at two-year or four-year colleges in the state of Washington. Awards are for the 2009-2010 school year.

A fifth scholarship is being offered in recognition of the many professional contributions made by Seattle journalist June Anderson Almquist. The award is for the 2009-2010 school year. Applicants for this scholarship are limited to female undergraduate students majoring in editorial journalism at the University of Washington.

For complete details, see our scholarships page.