2008 National Convention deadlines are coming up

If you want to attend the 2008 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference for the lowest admission possible, you must act now! Early Bird Registration ends Monday, July 28!

You can compare the savings yourself by viewing the table below, also accessible on our Web site at http://spj.org/c-pricing.asp.

2008 CONVENTION REGISTRATION RATES   (for members)
Early Registration (through 7/28/08): $185
Pre-registration (through 8/22/08): $235
On-site Registration: $285
Registration Fees include admittance to all professional development programs except the Half-Day Workshops on Sunday. Fees do not include meals. Individual meal tickets are available.
Also, don't forget to reserve your hotel room at SPJ's special rate! SPJ's reserved block at the Hyatt Regency is filling up quickly, and once it is filled, the discounted rate is no longer available. Head over to http://spj.org/c-travel.asp to check out SPJ's great deal and reserve your spot!
What are you waiting for? Visit https://www.spj.org/c-register.asp to register online or call Linda Hall at (317) 927-8000, ext. 203, to register over the phone.
We look forward to adding you to the list of 2008 Convention attendees very soon!

 

President attends SPJ National Convention

By Emily Viglielmo

First of all, I want to thank the members of SPJ and the Board for supporting me financially and giving me the opportunity to go to New York City to attend the SPJ National Convention from Sept. 9-11.

I was able to attend several fascinating workshops and panel discussions. One of the panel speakers who appeared at the "Covering America" workshop was Abderrahim Foukara, the New York correspondent for the Al-Jazeera Arabic TV network. Of course, he was asked about the network’s decision to broadcast the beheadings of hostages captured in Iraq by terrorists. I thought this was unfair, because as a foreign correspondent for the network, he had no part in the decision to broadcast the beheadings. Also the question seemed hypocritical, as this was shortly after American TV stations seemed to have no problem broadcasting footage of bloody bodies of Russian children and teachers being dragged from their school in Besla, Russia that had also been attacked by terrorists.

"Getting the Bias Out" was a good discussion of how to more fairly and accurately cover people of color. My only problem with the session was that the focus was more on coverage of African-Americans and Latinos than on Asian-Americans. Such is usually the case with Mainland discussions of diversity — it’s simply an issue of demographics.

Incidentally, the moderator for "Getting the Bias Out" was Sally Lehrman, a freelance journalist from San Francisco who has worked tirelessly to create the "Rainbow Source Book," a guide for journalists to find people to comment on issues affecting minorities. (Go to www.spj.org/rainbowsourcebook.)

Lehrman also was elected as a Director-at-Large during the national convention. She won a contested race with Frank Ucciardo of New York.

Another person from our region who was elected to a national SPJ office was Sonya Smith of the Cal State Long Beach SPJ chapter. She was elected as a national Student Representative.

Irwin Gratz, who is with National Public Radio in Maine, was installed as the new SPJ president.

The highlight of the convention was the rousing keynote speech by Bill Moyers of PBS. He gave a searing attack on the Bush administration’s attempt to stifle freedom of information.

Moyers said other presidents have tried to keep information from the media, "but never has there been an administration like the one in power today – so disciplined in secrecy, so precisely in lockstep in keeping information from the people at large and, in defiance of the Constitution, from their representatives in Congress. The litany is long: The President’s chief of staff orders a review that leads to at least 6000 documents being pulled from government Websites. The Defense Department bans photos of military caskets being returned to the U.S. To hide the influence of Kenneth Lay, Enron, and other energy moguls the Vice President stonewalls his energy task force records with the help of his duck-hunting pal on the Supreme Court. The CIA adds a new question to its standard employer polygraph exam asking, ‘Do you have friends in the media?’"

Moyers also lamented how more and more small newpapers are being eaten up by huge media conglomerates such as Gannett.

"In New Jersey," Moyers said, "the Gannett Chain bought the Asbury Park Press, then sent in a publisher who slashed 55 people from the staff and cut the space for news, and who was by being named Gannett’s Manager of the Year … it won’t be long now before America is reduced to half a dozen major print conglomerates."

Moyers also reminded us why we stay in this business. People may think journalism doesn’t matter anymore, but Moyers said, "Francisco Ortiz Franco thought it mattered. The crusading reporter co-founded a weekly magazine in Tijuana whose motto is ‘Free like the Wind.’ He was relentless in exposing the incestuous connections between wealthy elites in Baja California and its most corrupt law enforcement agencies and with the most violent of drag cartels. Several months ago Francisco Ortiz Franco died sitting at the wheel of his car outside a local clinic -- shot four times while his two children, aged 8 and l0, looked on from the back seat. As his blood was being hosed off the pavement, more than l00 of his fellow Mexican reporters and editors marched quietly through the streets, holding their pens defiantly high in the air. They believe journalism matters."

You can find the entire text of Moyers’ speech at www.spj.org.

Hawaii SPJ