[CW:MONTHLY] Endorsements: A Journalistic Obligation?

By Mallary Jean Tenore
Courtesy of The Poynter Institute

When members of The Concord (N.H.) Monitor's editorial board met to assess the 2008 presidential candidates, they reached a unanimous agreement: Mitt Romney should not be the next president.

So the paper published an anti-endorsement on Dec. 22, calling Romney a "phony" and "a disquieting figure who sure looks like the next president and most surely must be stopped."

One week later, the paper ran its traditional endorsements, encouraging readers to vote for John McCain and Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's New Hampshire presidential primaries.

Despite research challenging the effectiveness of endorsements, many news organizations embrace the tradition because, as they see it, endorsing candidates is a journalistic obligation to readers.

Complete Story

[CW:MONTHLY] NewsU: Dealing With Difficult Conversations

Manager or not, you've found yourself having a difficult conversation with someone in the past, and you know it's a lot like walking a tightrope. It can be scary.

With proper preparation, execution and follow-up, you can approach even the toughest conversations with confidence. In News University's "Dealing with Difficult Conversations: A Guide for Managers and Others," Jill Geisler will arm you with the tools you need to get from start to finish.

Enroll at www.newsu.org/difficultconversations and take the free course on your schedule. It will take just an hour or two to complete.

And just in time for the early presidential caucuses and primaries, NewsU has added a special section to "Understanding and Interpreting Polls" for elections polls. Click here to enroll now.

NewsU (www.newsu.org) offers more than 50 focused, interactive courses that appeal to journalists at all levels of experience and in all types of media. NewsU is funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The program is a project of The Poynter Institute, a leader in journalism training.

Dealing with Difficult Conversations: A Guide for Managers and Others

[CW:MONTHLY] How to Relaunch Your Career in the New Year

By Caroline Levchuck for Yahoo! HotJobs

Was 2007 a professional bust for you? Was your career stuck in neutral? Never fear, the new year is here, and with it comes endless possibilities for growth, upward mobility, and more.

Deborah Brown-Volkman, a certified professional coach, says, "What's great about the new year is that it's like a do-over. You've completed the last year, and now you can start all over again."

Complete Story

[CW:MONTHLY] Sunshine Online

The Sunshine Campaign's focus on bringing open government to the 2008 elections - from president to city council - provides great opportunities for online creativity, particularly if you're planning special online packages and pages for Sunshine Week, March 16-22. In addition to showcasing the collection of work your organization does this year, there are opportunities to re-post or link to past stories, either from earlier Sunshine Weeks or that were developed using open government resources. You also can create great graphics and interactive tools, such as FOIA letter generators, step-by-step guides to how to get information and even searchable databases.

The Sunshine Week site, www.sunshineweek.org, will host a number of online resources in its Tool Kit. There are things you can use this year, as well as links to some of the great work that was done in previous years to inspire you.

Among the online resources that will be launched in the next several weeks: an online database of news articles about where the major party candidates stand on open government, including the responses of those who replied to our survey on the issue; Web ads in English and Spanish; and other materials such as logos and opinion columns. All Sunshine Week materials posted on our Web site can be used free of charge by any participant, unless otherwise noted.

Sunshine Week and the Sunshine Campaign also have created pages in Facebook. You can show your support by joining the cause and/or becoming a fan. The main page is at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9019387811.

Let us know what you're doing so we can show others, and also consider whether your work (such as graphics or a video) might be something participants nationwide could use as well. All work is fully credited to its creators. And of course, please share your ideas with Sunshine Week the team by contacting coordinator Debra Gersh Hernandez at dghernandez@asne.org.

[CW:MONTHLY] Get the Job

Looking for a new job? Curious about what's out there? Be sure to check out these recent posts to NLGJA's members-only online job board. You can view full descriptions for these job announcements and many more in a variety of media categories by visiting NLGJA's Job Board in the Members Only section of our Web site. Also available are announcements about fellowships, award opportunities and training programs.

• Tampa Tribune Seeks Statehouse Reporter in FL


• WCVB-TV Seeks News Anchor/Reporter in MA


• SNL Energy Seeks Reporter in VA


• Wisconsin State Journal Seeks Data Reporter in Madison


• Southern Poverty Law Center Seeks Journalist for Intelligence Project in AL


• KRTV Seeks News Anchor in MT


• New LGBT Magazine Seeks Freelancers Familiar With Long Beach, CA


• KIMA-TV Seeks Sports Anchor/News Reporter in WA


• KTVU-TV Seeks Dayside Executive Producer in CA


• Newsday Seeks Assistant Opinion Pages Editor in NY


• Advertising Age Seeks Copy Editor in NY

Login by visiting nlgja.org/membership/members_only.htm and entering your username and password in the fields provided. Your username is the first letter of your first name followed by your entire last name. Your password is the membership ID number printed on your NLGJA membership card. If you need assistance logging in or if you have misplaced your membership card, please contact NLGJA Membership Services Coordinator Brian Salkin at bsalkin@nlgja.org or 202-588-9888, ext. 10.

[CW:MONTHLY] The Click List

Play Misty for Me: The Media on The Moment
By Megan Garber, Columbia Journalism Review
In less than twenty-four hours, it got so much attention that it ceased to need an explanation. ABC News is now calling it, simply, 'The Moment.' In caps. Yep - that (slightly) choked-up voice, those (slightly) misty eyes: Hillary Clinton's Shocking Display of Emotion.

The Portrait from Iraq - How the Press Has Covered Events on the Ground
Project for Excellence in Journalism
What image of war did journalists - challenged with reporting events from Iraq - portray to the American public in the first 10 months of 2007? What role did violence play in the coverage? Who did reporters rely on for information? A new study of Iraq war coverage addresses these questions.


Checkbook Journalism Revisited: Sometimes We Owe Our Sources Everything
By Robert Boynton, Columbia Journalism Review
In November 1970, Esquire published one of the most memorable covers in its history. Illustrating "The Confessions of Lt. Calley," the first of three articles about the man who, with his platoon, murdered hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai, it consisted of a photograph of Calley, in uniform and grinning broadly, surrounded by four adorable Asian children.

So You Want to Be a Columnist?
By Alex Beam, Boston Globe
A few weeks ago I met Suzette Standring, a syndicated columnist whose work appears in The Patriot Ledger and elsewhere. Standring is one of those people who lists her accomplishments at the bottom of her e-mails: "Humorist, Writer, Speaker; Immediate Past President, National Society of Newspaper Columnists." It is not by accident that my e-mails trail off into blank space.

Cisco to Bring Social Networking to Big Media
By Marguerite Reardon, CNET News
Cisco Systems has software in the works that will help large media companies build interactive and social networking into their properties, The Wall Street Journal said Tuesday.

[CW:MONTHLY] Member in the Spotlight: Zamná Ávila

After several years as a reporter at the Reno Gazette-Journal, NLGJA member Zamná Ávila is moving home to Southern California to help start an exciting new project.

In December 2007, he was hired as an editor for a niche publication, Clout magazine, that will launch in February-March 2008. Clout will be a new and sophisticated magazine for the LGBT community in the Long Beach area. It will include entertainment, fashion, home décor, gardening and landscaping, travel, dining, legal and relationship advice, and success profiles.

Ávila's first day on the job was December 24, 2007. While Clout is still in the planning stages, the magazine is already seeking flexible freelancers who are familiar with Long Beach and surrounding communities, and who have great work ethics and skillful writing techniques.

Interested in getting involved? E-mail Zamná Ávila at zamna_avila@yahoo.com for more information.

[CW:MONTHLY] The Round Up

Online Trainings

Cleaning Your Copy
News University

HD Radio Workshop Webcast
National Association of Broadcasters

International Reporting Basics
News University

Journalism 2.0: How to Survive & Thrive
J-Lab

Math for Journalists
News University

Raising Hell: A Citizens Guide to the Fine Art of Investigation
Center for Investigative Reporting

Courses & Seminars

Mapping Data for News Stories
January 11-13, Columbia, MO
Investigative Reporters and Editors

Leadership for New Managers
January 13-18, St. Petersburg, FL
Poynter Institute

Media Academy
January 13-18, Cambridge, MA
Maynard Institute

Online Storytelling with Audio & Images
January 13-17, St. Petersburg, FL
Poynter Institute

Investigative Journalism 101
January 16, West Hollywood, CA
Mediabistro.com

Back to Basics: Editorial Workshop
January 17, Mobile, AL
Alabama Press Association

Feature Writing for Magazines
January 17, New York, NY
Mediabistro.com

Take the Byte Out of Technology
January 17-19, Dallas, TX
Texas Press Association

WPA Winter Convention
January 17-19, Caper, WY
Wyoming Press Association

Audio & Video Quick Course
January 18-19, Cerritos, CA
Society for News Design

Story Forms Boot Camp
January 18-19, St. Petersburg, FL
Society for News Design

Rocky Talk: The Art of Conversation
January 22, Denver, CO
SPJ-Colorado Pro Chapter

Governmental Affairs Day
January 23, Sacramento, CA
California Newspaper Publishers Association

Online Writing: Words that Click
January 27-30, St. Petersburg, FL
Poynter Institute

Award & Fellowship Programs

Best Practices: Editorial and Commentary in Cyberspace
Deadline, February 1, 2008
Fellowship applications are now being taken for this special seminar in which the National Conference of Editorial Writers joins with the Knight Digital Media Center to explore interactive models for community opinion. Participating journalists will seek to identify models for online commentary and opinion that promote civic engagement. The conference will be held at the Knight Digital Media Center , USC Annenberg School for Communication, Los Angeles , CA.

Call for Entries: Religion Reporting Awards
Deadline: February 1, 2008
The Religion Newswriters Association invites journalists to enter its contests recognizing excellence in religion reporting in the news media. Nearly $10,000 in prizes is awarded in eight contest categories.

Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers
Deadline: January 18, 2008
The award, which carries a $10,000 prize, was established through gifts for an endowment by members of the Taylor family, who published The Boston Globe from 1872 to 1999. For the first time, second and third place finalists will receive $1,000 each. The purpose of the award, which is administered by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University , is to encourage fairness in news coverage by America ’s daily newspapers.

Fellowship for Education Reporting
Deadline: January 31, 2008
The fellowship is open to journalists, educators, and education policy researchers who are interested in creating significant works of long-form education journalism. The fellowship combines course work in residence at Columbia University with intense individual help with each fellow’s project on some aspect of education in the United States.

Knight Fellowships
Deadline: February 1, 2008
The Knight Fellowships is accepting applications for its 2008-2009 fellowships program. Fellowships are granted to 12 U.S. journalists who have already accomplished a lot and are ambitious to do more. Candidates must have seven years professional experience and be currently working full-time as journalists. Fellows receive a stipend of $60,000, plus Stanford tuition and supplements for housing, child care, health insurance and books. All activities of the program are open to spouses and partners of Fellows. Fellowships include a stipend of $60,000 and Stanford tuition.

California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships
Deadline: February 13, 2008
Program participants will learn about health trends, policy innovations and political conflicts involving health care. Fellows will emerge with a broader and more nuanced awareness of immigrant health, health disparities, access to care, farm worker health and the nation’s frayed safety net.

Metcalf Institute Diversity Fellowships in Environmental Reporting
Deadline: March 18, 2008
The Metcalf Institute Diversity Fellowships in Environmental Reporting are offered to five traditionally under-represented minority journalists with U.S. citizenship interested in studying marine and environmental science and developing environmental reporting skills. Participants partake in a one-month independent study at the University of Rhode Island with a nine-month reporting assignment covering environmental and science-based news at one of five news outlets. The Diversity Fellowships, which are intended to increase quality environmental reporting and diversity in newsrooms around the country, are supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation and each includes a $34,000 stipend and limited travel reimbursement.