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President John Ensslin takes the oath of office administered by outgoing President Hagit Limor, above. A session on social media drew a crowd.
Photos by Colleen Clement
SPJ Detroit members attend national conference in New Orleans
SPJ Detroit Pro board members Colleen Clement, Jerome Vaughn and Ann Zaniewski just returned from the 2011 Excellence in Journalism convention in New Orleans. More than 1,200 people from across the country participated, making the first joint conference with SPJ and the Radio Television Digital News Association a huge success!
Professional development sessions covered topics such as real-time reporting with social media, creating multiplatform stories, becoming a “public records ninja” and money management for freelancers.
Here are some of the conference highlights:
-CNN host Soledad O’Brien spoke to a packed room about what it takes to break into the field and her experiences covering Hurricane Katrina.
- Andy Carvin, NPR’s social media strategist, gave attendees an inside look into his social media coverage of the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.
- Jeff Fager, chairman of CBS News and executive producer of “60 Minutes,” shared his thoughts about reporting and multimedia platforms.
- CBS Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Lara Logan was honored with the John F. Hogan Distinguished Service Award, while Linda Ellerbee of Nickelodeon’s “Nick News with Linda Ellerbee” received the Paul White Award.
We’re already looking forward to our regional conference, scheduled for March 23 and 24 in East Lansing, and next year’s national convention in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Contributed by Ann Zaniewski
Click here for more on the national SPJ conference.
Jim
Press, former president of Chrysler LLC and former board member for
Toyota, joined Pulitzer Prize-winning business reporter Joe White of The
Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg LP forensic accountant Tom Contiliano
for an SPJ Detroit business reporting workshop at Crain Communications Oct. 24. Press advised journalists "do your homework" by getting background on a potential story before you interview. White pointed out that anyone can get raw facts free on the internet -- it's the reporter's job to help people connect the dots. Contiliano advised reporters to "follow the money - it's not that hard to do."
Journalists learn fundamentals of business reporting at SPJ workshop
Pictured are: Tom Contiliano, right; Joe White, far right, and Jim Press, below.
Photos by
Donna Remer
Journalists attend SPJ 'law school' at OU
More than 50 reporters, producers, editors and students
attended the March 3, 2012, Law School for Journalists
workshop at Oakland University. They learned tips for covering
courts from the people who know them best: judges, attorneys
and veteran court reporters.
Speakers included Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian K.
Zahra; Robert Agacinski, grievance administrator for the
Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission; Marcia McBrien,
public information officer for the Michigan Supreme Court;
Oakland Circuit Judge James Alexander; Oakland County
Probate Chief Judge Linda Hallmark; Kirk W. Tabbey, chief judge
of 14B District Court; Larry S. Royster, chief clerk/research director for the Michigan Court of Appeals; Attorney L. Pahl Zinn; Judge Michael Talbot; Timothy A. Baughman, chief, Appellate Division of the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office; Rick Pluta, managing editor, Michigan Public Radio and state bureau chief of Michigan Radio Network; and Joe Swickard, Detroit Free Press staff writer.
The event was co-sponsored by the Michigan Supreme Court Office of Public Information, Oakland University Journalism, SPJ Detroit and OU's SPJ chapter.
Photo by Colleen Clement
SPJ Detroit workshop teaches on-camera skills
A television workshop pushed journalists out of their comfort zone.
The journalists, mostly print and online writers with a few TV
journalists thrown in the mix, were able to practice being on camera.
WXYZ-TV in Southfield hosted the workshop put on by the Society of
Professional Journalists. The workshop kicked off with an informal
conversation with 7 Action News reporters Tom Wait
and Anu Prakash. More photos on our Facebook page.
The power and the pitfalls of social media
was a topic for Detroit journalists on Thursday, March 29, at The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press Academy. Speakers were: David Ashenfelter, James Stewart, Kevin Hardy and Brandon Chestnutt.
Photo by Colleen Clement
Detroit media recently toured
SANG base in Macomb County
If you missed it ...
Click here for a list of potential feature stories
at Selfridge.
Click here for information on the process of
developing a story about Selfridge.
Click here for a comprehensive list of contacts.
At right: Members of the media interviewed 127th Wing
commander Col. Michael Thomas.
Christine MacDonald is Detroit's Journalist of the Year!
The announcement was a highlight of SPJ Detroit's News Fest 2012 held April 18.
Ross Jones of WXYZ-TV is Young Journalist of the Year.
Ken Kish of the Macomb Daily earned the Lifetime Achievement award.
Stephen J. Nesbitt earned the top Laurain Scholarship.
The Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists named two “Journalists of the Year” and awarded 166 Excellence in Journalism honors to metro area journalists at its annual banquet April 18 in Troy.
The chapter also presented a lifetime achievement award to Ken Kish, managing editor of The Macomb Daily, and awarded scholarships to six journalism students.
Christine MacDonald, of The Detroit News, won SPJ Detroit’s “Journalist of the Year” honor. Her reporting in 2011 uncovered abusive practices in Wayne County government, excessive spending in the Detroit library system, and abuses in Wayne County land tax sales.
Ross Jones was named “Young Journalist of the Year.” A producer and reporter for WXYZ-TV’s investigative team, he had key roles in breaking the Wayne County severance scandal story and uncovering issues involving county courts and the Detroit Public Schools. Other finalists for Journalist of the Year were Heather Catallo, WXYZ-TV, and Donna Terek, The Detroit News. Other finalists for Young Journalist of the Year were Kimberly Mitchell, Detroit Free Press, and Lindsey Smith, Michigan Radio.
The chapter’s $2,500 Lawrence Laurain Scholarship was awarded to Stephen J. Nesbitt, a University of Michigan junior. The award is named for the late newspaper editor and SPJ chapter president. Other scholarships went to Katrease Stafford, Eastern Michigan University; Paige Pearcy, University of Michigan; Daniel Ray Dumas and Litterene Beatrice Katcher, Wayne State University, and Rokeyta Roberson, Michigan State University.
The SPJ Detroit Excellence in Media awards were presented for outstanding journalism in Detroit metro area publications, broadcast and internet media during 2011. Winners are selected in various categories including news and sports reporting, column and editorial writing, photography and graphics. A complete list of the winners is on the chapter’s website, www.spjdetroit.org.
This year's contest received over 425 entries from Detroit area news media. Winners were selected by the Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists.
SPJ Detroit honors best of 2011
Above: SPJ Detroit’s Young Journalist of the Year, Ross Jones of WXYZ-TV, and Journalist of the Year, Christine MacDonald of The Detroit News, at SPJ award ceremony. Below: Ken Kish, managing editor of The Macomb Daily, received SPJ Detroit’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Photos by Eileen Harned
