See the winning entries

Along with the listing of all NINA award winners from Oct. 21, we've now also added links so you can view most of the first-place entries. Here's the main results page.

Shield laws, schmield laws

Keep an eye on this story. If Cook County prosecutors are successful in subpoenaing reporting records from a Northwestern University journalism class, that's very bad news for journalism and the First Amendment. Basically, prosecutors are claiming that student journalists are not real journalists and thus not protected by shield laws.

News flash: Tough market for J grads

Well, this is no good. Not surprising, but the numbers are still jarring. The Annual Survey of Journalism & Mass Communication Graduates shows that just 60 percent of 2008 grads had found full-time employment six to eight months after graduation. that's down from about 70 percent in 2007.

And I don't even want to hear about this year's grads.

Webinar, and a NINA discount

NINA members are invited to take part in a Poynter Institure NewsU Webinar: Facebook for Journalists.

Instructor: Ellyn Angelotti
Date: Nov. 12, 2009
Time: 1-2 p.m. Central time
Link: http://www.newsu.org/courses/course_detail.aspx?id=nwsu_facebook09
Cost: $24.95 ($14.95 after NINA discount)

If you're going to take part, contact me for your discount code.

Info from Poynter:
What will I learn?
Facebook isn't just for personal status updates and reconnecting with
high school friends; it's also a valuable journalistic tool. Facebook
in your news organization can reach new readers, enhance storytelling
and engage an online audience. In this one-hour Webinar we'll explore
ways other news organizations are using Facebook, potential business
benefits of Facebook and ethical challenges.
In this one-hour Webinar you will learn how to:
* Develop a Facebook strategy for your news organization
* Avoid common ethical potholes
* Use Facebook to find sources
* Build relationships with your audience
* Start conversations with your audience

MORE INFO

Fake AP Stylebook

Check out the Fake AP Stylebook on Twitter. Good stuff. Sample entries:

• The distinction between "thee" and "thou" depends on which Ren Faire troupe you belong to, you big nerd.
• The numbers one through ten should be spelled out while numbers greater than ten are products of the Illuminati and should be avoided.
• If you do not have an interviewees' full title, use their most defining physical trait (e.g. "Alan Hayes, fat guy, said...")
• You may not say "no one could have suspected..." until you have interviewed everyone on planet Earth.

NINA winners

NINA 2009 contest results are now posted here. Congrats to the winners!

NINA registration deadline approaches

A reminder that tomorrow -- Wednesday, Oct. 14 -- is the registration deadline for next Wednesday evening's NINA Fall Conference. All info and registration forms can be found HERE.

Note: I do NOT need to have your check in hand by this Wednesday. I just need the registration form so we get an accurate count. Checks may either be mailed to me or handed to me at the Oct. 21 event. If, however, we receive registrations and then someone is a no-show, we will still need to bill you.

Hope to see you next week. We have a great keynote speaker in George Papajohn from the Chicago Tribune, and we have a boatload of awards to give away.

Madigan to speak at FOIA primer Nov. 4

Press release:

Using FOIA in 2010

How to use the Freedom of Information Act – especially important because of the revisions that will take effect Jan. 1 – will be the topic of the eighth annual First Amendment Forum at 3 p.m.. Wednesday, Nov. 4 at IIT-Chicago Kent College of Law's Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Courtroom, 565 W. Adams St. (between Clinton and Jefferson streets).

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who led the drive to open more government records, will address the forum. Her FOIA specialists will explain the details of the revisions.

IIT-Chicago-Kent’s new Center for Open Government will be the host. Sponsors include the Chicago Headline Club, Chicago Journalists Association and International Press Club of Chicago, all the long-time co-sponsors of the annual forum.

All journalists and the general public are invited to attend the forum because of its importance to everyone. It is free and will last approximately two hours.

For more information:
Susan S. Stevens, Chicago Headline Club FOI vice president

Gwen Osborne, IIT-Chicago Kent, director of public affairs

Register for Fall Conference!

Reminder: Wednesday, Oct. 14 is the deadline to register for the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association’s Oct. 21 Fall Conference awards dinner. Our keynote speaker is George Papajohn, Associate Managing Editor/Investigations and Consumer Watchdog, Chicago Tribune. He’ll talk about the continued necessity of watchdog reporting, at all sizes of newspapers, in an age of economic uncertainty.

In 2007, George directed the Tribune’s "Hidden Hazards" project, which uncovered dangerous children's products and won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. That series led to a major overhaul of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. He has worked on investigative projects at the Tribune for 10 years, and helped edit the paper's Pulitzer-winning project on air travel called "Gateway to Gridlock" in 2000. He is co-author of "Murder of Innocence," an investigative account of a schoolhouse shooting.

All info about the conference, including the registration form, can be found HERE. We need an accurate dinner count by the end of the day Wednesday, Oct. 14. If your check arrives a few days behind your registration form, that’s OK.

No Olympics for you

So, did Chicago-area media cross from journalism to boosterism in support of the Olympic bid?

And where exactly is that line?