Graduates shortchanged

Charles Hayes has posted a terrific opinion piece this week on the First Amendment Center's Web site. He argues that high-school seniors are graduating this month "with little or no idea about what it means to be a free, active and engaged citizen in a democracy."

The reason? Censorship in a multitude of forms, usually attributable to cowardice.

... the widespread practice of censoring the political and religious views of students simply because their speech might offend someone or might be controversial contradicts everything schools are supposed to teach about freedom of expression.

Anyway, it's a persuasive argument that schools can't very well teach the First Amendment and then not let their students practice it. Great fodder for local columns or editorials. Or, simply send a copy to your local school administrators.

Deadline: Will Newspapers Survive?

Here's a press release about a very worthwhile event coming up on June 12 in Chicago. Thanks to Dirk Johnson for pulling this together:

In a story that hits too close to home, a panel of prominent Chicago journalists will gather on June 12 for a candid discussion about whether newspapers can survive in the Internet age, with circulation falling and advertising shrinking at almost every big paper in America.

It is hard to imagine life without newspapers. But the bottom line rules. And the question begs: Is print news the horse-and-buggy of the 21st Century communications world?

In a rare and candid conference, award-winning Chicago journalists have agreed to sit down and face the tough questions about what the newspaper business needs to do to survive. The program is set for 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on June 12 at the offices of Mayer Brown LLP, 71 S. Wacker, 33rd Floor. Guests are invited to gather afterward at the Billy Goat tavern, where beer, wine or soda will be compliments of the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association (NINA), one of the sponsors of the event.

The panelists:
Mark Brown, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times; Bill Adee, Assistant Managing Editor for Innovations for the Chicago Tribune; Monroe Anderson, EbonyJet columnist who formerly worked for Newsweek, the Tribune and WBBM-TV, and served as press secretary for the late Chicago Mayor Eugene Sawyer; Cindy Dampier, former Chicago Bureau Chief for People magazine and currently an editor for the Chicago Tribune; Jim Slonoff, publisher and co-owner of The Hinsdalean; Tom McNamee, editorial page editor of the Chicago Sun-Times; and Eileen Brown, director of innovations at the Daily Herald. The moderator will be Dirk Johnson, a former bureau chief for The New York Times and Newsweek magazine who teaches journalism at Northern Illinois University.

The event is being sponsored by NINA, Chicago Headline Club and Northern Illinois University. Mayer Brown has donated the office space. According to building security policy, people who plan to attend must send an e-mail to Kathy Catranbone at chc.kathy@gmail.com by June 10.

2008 NINA contest

2008 NINA newspaper contest materials have been mailed to members. (I accidentally just typed "NINJA Contest," which I guess we could also do sometime and would be impressive.)

In the meantime, here's everything you'll need for the newspaper contest:
Contest rules and categories
Entry form
Plaque authorization form


Everything's also available on our Web site. Note the postmark deadline for entries: Monday, June 30.

Newsroom innovation

In her "Teaching Online Journalism" blog today, Mindy McAdams forwards 10 tips for fostering newsroom innovation. These are worth circulating in your own newsroom.

Getting a job in journalism

In the midst of a lot of doom-and-gloom talk about the future of journalism, we are graduating a dozen or so students next week who want to get into the biz. Yesterday, I watched a NewsU Webinar called "Getting Your First Journalism Job," by Colleen Eddy of the Poynter Institute and Joe Grimm of the Detroit Free Press. Here are a few notes:

Cover letter
The cover letter MUST address the employer’s needs – not yours. If you are answering a job posting, take note of the qualifications they list and then use the cover letter to show them how you match those qualifications.

Practice a phone script – never get caught off guard if someone calls you back. Have a quick speech ready for when they say, “Tell me about yourself.”

Resume
One of the biggest attention-getters you can have on your resume is experience in multimedia journalism. If you or your paper has won awards and you’ve contributed to that effort, make sure that’s on your resume.

Other resume tips:
- Action verbs that show results achieved and a demonstrated growth pattern
- Clean, clear presentation – judicious use of white space, 11-12 point font (10 point is too small to be read easily by anyone over about 40)
- 1 page, unless you have 10 or more years of experience
- Your name at the top, in big, bold type
- Permanent e-mail and phone number
- A professional-sounding e-mail address
- Test your resume to be sure it photocopies well

An objective is not recommended. It can disqualify you if it’s too specific. Specific objectives are best left for the cover letter. Instead, use a summary line: a dynamic statement about yourself and your best selling points. Example:
"A proven journalist with a record of success in print reporting, editing and multimedia work. Strengths include newsroom management experience and investigative reporting skill."

Don’t put references on your resume. Employers don’t need them yet and it wastes space. Put them on a separate sheet.

A copy of your most recent performance review can serve as a reference, if you don’t want your current employer to know you’re looking for another job.


Clips
If you want to e-mail clips to someone, don’t send image files. They’re too big for some e-mail systems. The best solution is to send links.

A story written for a class is not worth sending if it was never published anywhere. The standard is published clips.

Build your own Web site, with links to your best work. This not only shows your clips, but also shows you can build a Web site.

The interview
Do your homework. Know about the employer, the leadership team, the competition, the company’s print and online history.

Be ready to answer questions like these:
- What are your strengths?
- What’s your biggest weakness?
- Have you ever failed at an assignment? How did you learn from it?
- Tell me about a time you tried and failed.
- Have your values changed over time?
- What’s the ideal job for you?
- Where do you need to improve?
- Have you ever been fired?
(look for opportunities to talk about how you learned from a mistake)

Ask your interviewers for their business cards.

After the interview
- Write an immediate e-mail thank-you note
- Then send a hand-written thank-you note. Those are difficult to ignore, and few people do them.
- After a few days, call or e-mail. “I’m interested. What can I expect next?”

Negotiating
You have a window: after they make an offer and before you accept it.
Get all the info you can, then take a little time before you say yes or no.
Know what’s negotiable: pay, vacations, moving costs, start date, training.
Know what’s probably not negotiable: insurance, retirement plan.


Resources
Joe Grimm’s “Ask the Recruiter” column
Colleen Eddy’s “Colleen on Careers" column

Sex, ads and blow-up dolls

I'm usually not a big fan of Tribune sports columnist Mike Downey, but today's offering is priceless. It's about the Sun-Times' outrage over the White Sox and their blow-up dolls, while at the same time the paper's sports section runs ads for strip clubs, escort services and the like.

... If you are going to condemn a baseball team and its manager for offending the public's taste, then your own house better be squeaky clean.

Does a newspaper weaken its moral authority by the types of ads it accepts? In the eyes of its journalists, probably not. But in the eyes of its readers, I think the answer is yes.

Audio ethics

An interesting ethical question came up this morning when one of our reporters interviewed the university president. The reporter used a digital voice recorder, and of course asked permission to record the interview. At the end, he asked the president if he minded the Star putting part of the interview online as an audio file. The president declined, and said he would have spoken differently had he known the interview might be put on the Web.

So the question is, are "print" reporters legally or ethically obligated to tell a source exactly how an audio recording might be used? My gut reaction is yes, ethically, because we're still at a stage in journalism where if a reporter is not from a TV station or radio station, sources expect to see only a print version of the story. I'm interested in hearing other thoughts on this, though.

2008 NINA contest

In case you're wondering, materials for the 2008 NINA contest will be mailed to member newspapers in the next week or so, and also will be posted here. The period for eligible entries is May 1, 2007, to April 30, 2008. Categories will be basically the same as last year. Entry submission deadline will either be June 23 or 30. Full details soon.

Citizen Journalism Academy

This could be a great opportunity for stringers. Here's part of the press release. Follow the link for more. Note that the registration deadline is this Saturday.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Society of Professional Journalists will launch the first of three Citizen Journalism Academy programs May 17 at DePaul University in Chicago.
The workshop will teach citizens how to practice accurate and ethical journalism. The Society aims to help participants understand how such practices could increase reach and reputations within a specified community and around the world.
“As people are practicing journalism through blogs, Web site production and interaction with sites maintained by mainstream news organizations, they’re contributing to the daily news cycle while influencing how community members get their news and perceive the world around them,” said SPJ President Clint Brewer. “SPJ sees this as an opportunity to help citizen journalists by arming them with the tools they will need to be an effective citizen journalist or community watchdog.”
Topics in these one-day workshops will explore:— Journalism ethics. The new-media landscape is rife with dilemmas for anyone wanting to report accurately, fairly and outside the bounds of special interests.— The basics of media law. The same longstanding laws concerning libel, slander and access to people and information apply to 21st-century news-gatherers.— Access to pubic records and meetings. Public information can add substance and value to every news story. But knowing where to look for it can be tough.— Standard and responsible reporting practices. With media ethics and law in mind, how else should news-gatherers approach sources?— The use of technology. We'll show you an array of tools you could start using — or continue using even more effectively.
The program will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost to attend the Citizen Journalism Academy is $25, which includes lunch and course materials. For more information about this program or to register, visit SPJ's Citizen Journalism Academy page. Please note, the registration deadline is May 3 and seating is limited.