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 Writer's Week Society of Professional Journalists
Cleveland Pro Chapter Newsletter
March 24, 2013
Deadline For Next Edition: March 28
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| President's message |
And the Black Hole Award winner is ...
 | | Cheryl D'Mello |
While Ohio journalists look forward to the Region 4 Conference in Dayton, the national SPJ Freedom of Information Committee announced the 2013 winner of its third annual Black Hole Award: Oklahoma State University.
Oklahoma State was nominated by the Student Press Law Center for, among other things, its failure to abide by the federal Clery Act in not notifying students, the public or even its local police department that university officials knew a serial sex offender was on campus. When asked why, OSU officials cited confidentiality requirements in FERPA - the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act.
According to Don Meyers, SPJ FOI committee member, "Using a federal education privacy law that pertains to grades to keep the campus in the dark about a sex offender who appears to be predatory is the textbook definition of egregious."
The Black Hole Award highlights the most heinous violations of the public's right to know. By exposing such abuses, SPJ's FOI committee seeks to educate the public about their rights and calls attention to those who would interfere with openness and transparency.
Previous recipients of the Black Hole Award include the Georgia, Utah and Wisconsin legislatures and the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry. It works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists, and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.
Did you know that you can nominate local violators too? So please continue the vigil.
Sincerely,
Cheryl D'Mello
President
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This Thursday !
CDPUG tackles Cyber Security
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What are the top threats to our cyber safety?
Join Tom Suhadolnik, Lead Engineer at enCompass Group LLC at this month's CDPUG meeting as he covers the top 10 concerns he believes you should consider as you create.
- Backup and Disaster Recovery
- Battery Backup and Surge Protection (it's not only the power cable that can cause problems)
- Denial of Service Attacks
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| EIJ Scholarships - Apply Now! | 
You may be able to attend EIJ 2013 in Anaheim and have your registration covered!
Excellence in Journalism offers 3 different types of scholarships for qualifying applicants to attend the conference.
Terry Harper Memorial Scholarships:
Up to 5 scholarships are available to SPJ members. Deadline to apply is April 29.
Diversity Leadership Fellows Program:
SPJ is committed to increasing diversity throughout the Society including within national committees the national board of directors. Those who win a fellowship gain are immersed in education as well as spj and part of that is attendance at the annual conference. Application deadline is April 29
Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award:
The Lewis family has contributed an award that helps a student SPJer to attend. The winner will be someone who has shown outstanding service to the First Amendment through journalism. Application deadline is April 29
For more information and to join SPJ click here
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Press Club: Adapt to
a cross-platform world
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Join the Press Club of Cleveland for a series of workshops geared to help you adapt to a cross-platform news and information world.
Once a month, Mastering Multi-Media Communications will offer a group learning experience led by a working media professional and designed to teach the skills you need to master cross platform communications.
When
- Using Tools of the Trade - Wednesday, April 10, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
- Managing Multimedia -- and Yourself - Wednesday, May 1, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
- Building a Cross-Platform Strategy - Wednesday, June 5, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m
Where Stay tuned for location information
Cost Press Club members: $80 per workshop / $300 for all 4 workshops
Non-members: $125 per workshop / $450 for all 4 workshops
Non-members can save by joining the Press Club of Cleveland and pay the member cost to attend.
For more information and to register Click Here
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Ohio's SPJ awards go online
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Now you can enter Ohio's SPJ awards contest, Ohio's Best Journalism 2013, online! That's right, starting this year, to enter you can simply click here and submit your best work in a variety of categories. No more paper entry forms, copying, manila folders, envelopes, shipping.
The awards honor print, broadcast, trade, online and college journalism published or broadcast in 2012, for the best work serving the public interest and protecting press freedom. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. April 14.
You don't need to be an SPJ member to enter but you do get a $5 discount on your entry fee if you are. To qualify for the SPJ member discount, you will have to provide the SPJ member number of the person who did the work. In the event of a team project, at least one member of the team must be an SPJ member to qualify for the SPJ member discount.
Verify Your SPJ Member Number: To look up your SPJ Member Number, go to this link or call Linda Hall, SPJ membership director, or Tara Puckey, SPJ chapter coordinator, at (317) 927-8000
To become an SPJ member or renew an expired membership, go to this link.
Upload Formats Accepted: The site permits entries in 31 formats, to accommodate text, images, video, and audio data. The complete list of formats you may use is: .aiff, .au, .avi, .doc, .docx, .flv, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .m4v, .mp3, mp4, .mpg, .mpeg, .mov, .pdf, .ppt, .ppts, .psd, .rm, .snd, .swf, .tif, .tiff, .url, .wav, .wma, .wmv, .xls, .xlsx and .zip.
For more information and to enter click here and good luck!
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Porter Scholarship open for entries!
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Are you a graduating high school senior in Cuyahoga, Lake, Ashtabula, Lorain, Medina or Geauga county?
Are you in the top third of your class?
Are you passionate about journalism and communications?
Talk to your teacher or administrator about submitting your name for the Porter Scholarship. One candidate is nominated from each school every year. The winner gets a $4,000 scholarship: $1,000 when you enter any college you choose in the U.S. and $1,000 each of the next three years, as long as you maintain satisfactory grades.
Last year's winner, Carolyn Crowcroft, is now at the University of Missouri's school of journalism
The deadline to apply is April 6.
Click Here for more information
Click Here to download an application
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AMSJA Writer's Conference "Fire Up Your Writing Career"
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Registration is open for the American Society of Journalists and Authors 42nd Annual Writers Conference: Fire Up Your Writing Career.
Explore subjects central to freelance writing and network with other professionals. Learn from New York Times bestselling authors including A.J. Jacobs, Deborah Blum, Amy Hill Hearth, D.T. Max. Meet editors from publications and publishers that include Slate, Bon Appetit, Outside, The New Yorker, The Atavist, New Republic, Simon & Schuster, Random House, St. Martin's Press
This year's conference offers 40 instructional and informational sessions include finding new work, breaking in to new markets or genres, technology and social media topics, honing your craft skills, protecting yourself legally and financially, and even fiction topics. Mentoring is available too.
When: Friday and Saturday, April 26-27. Where: The Roosevelt Hotel, 45th Street at Madison Avenue, New York City For more information and to register Click Here |
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| Job opportunities |
Thanks to Kelly Blazek for her dedication and commitment in seeking out many of the jobs posted below.
To receive Kelly's full newsletter (we only excerpt media-related jobs) see the separate box headlined Cleveland Job Bank at right.
Freelance Reporters - Midwest Energy News, a Minnesota-based nonprofit news organization, is looking for freelance reporters in Ohio. We offer competitive pay and flexible deadlines. Business and/or science background is a plus. Contact editor Ken Paulman at paulman@fresh-energy.org
for more information.
MOBILE JOURNALIST -The Sioux City Journal, an innovative and award-winning news operation, is seeking a mobile journalist for our digital-first newsroom. We offer an exciting environment in which to grow and leaders who will demand your best work. We've won multiple national and state awards for our journalism, including being named Newspaper of the Year by the Local Media Association in 2012 and earning a first-place finish in the National Newspaper Association's General Excellence contest in 2010. Editor & Publisher named us one of "10 That Do It Right" in 2009 and 2013. Sioux City, with a metro area population of 123,000, is home to an abundance of parks and trails, not to mention a plethora of activities along the Missouri River. Our historic downtown district hosts a vibrant arts community. A beautifully refurbished theater and new events center attract national touring acts and Broadway productions. Our schools are terrific and our streets are safe. Sports enthusiasts can enjoy three minor league teams (hockey, indoor football, baseball).The right candidate for this opening will be able to cover breaking news using a variety of tools, including photo, video and social media. This reporter will aggressively pursue breaking and spot news, act as a vigilant watchdog for our readers' interests and be able to tell a good story. Our next reporter must understand journalism is changing rapidly and have the desire and skills to adapt. Contact Chris Coates, managing editor of news and sports, at ccoates@siouxcityjournal.com for more information.
Apply Here The Sioux City Journal is a Drug-Free Employer. The Sioux City Journal and Lee Enterprises, Inc. are Equal Opportunity Employers.
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Laurie Mitchell Marketing & Communications
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Laurie Mitchell Marketing & Communications Executive Search
has been retained for the following assignments:
- Director/Interactive&Social Media
- Social Media Manager/Ad Agency
- Channel Marketing Manager/DIY/Big Box
- 2 Marketing Managers/Financial Services
- AD Agency Copywriter/3-6 years experience
- AD Agency Account Supervisor/CPG
- Digital Producer with PM & Web Development experience
- 2 PR Agency Account Supervisors
- Digital Sr. AE/Toledo
- Sr. Digital Art Director/Toledo
To apply for any of these current searches, please email your resume as a single Word file to
www.LaurieMitchellCompany.com
216-292-9936
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Summary
| | There is more information on these events and opportunities below, in articles under this column or the President's Message. For job listings, see lower left; for student internships, see lower right |
THIS THURSDAY
March 28
Top 10 Cyber Security Threats
CDPUG Meeting
6 p.m.
More details below at left
SPJ Region FourSpring ConferenceApril 5-6"Working it Out"University of Dayton. More details below and on registration websiteRegister online here
April 6
Porter Scholarship application deadline
see details below at left
April 10 Press Club of Cleveland Using Tools of the Trade More details below at left
SAVE THE DATE!!! City Club James C. Goodale Apr. 12, noon Author: Fighting for the Press: From the Pentagon Papers to Wikileaks
April 14
Deadline for Ohio SPJ Awards
See more info at left
April 26-27
Fire Up Your Writing Career
American Society of Journalists and Authors
42nd Annual Conference
New York City
Early registration ends March 22
See more below at left
April 29
Excellence in Journalism Scholarships
More information below at left May 1
Press Club of Cleveland Managing Multimedia - and Yourself More details below at left
June 5 Press Club of Cleveland Building a Cross-Platform Strategy More details below at left
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Journalist, publicist Ned Whalen
dies after fall in Arizona
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| We note with sadness the passing of Cleveland journalist Ned Whelan, whose career and achievements were chronicled in two local publications: The Plain Dealer and Crain's Cleveland Business. Please check out those obituaries for more on Whelan's remarkable career as a journalist and publicist.
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Register Now
for Region 4 Spring Conference!!
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Save April 5 and 6 for "Journalism 2013: Working It Out" - the SPJ conference for Region 4, which includes Ohio, Michigan, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
This year's spring conference will focus on journalism's triumphs and accomplishments and how they were attained.
When: 4 p.m. April 5
until 5:45 p.m. April 6
Where: University of Dayton campus
Cost:
SPJ Members - $60
Students- $50
Non SPJ Members - $70
The registration fee covers opening
reception, Friday, April 5, and continental breakfast and lunch on Saturday, April 6.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
and find more information about accommodations, travel and conference schedule
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Readers' Comments
Have mainstream media thrown Bradley Manning
to the wolves? |  |
Have the mainstream media thrown Bradley Manning to the wolves?
SPJ Cleveland member Faith Corrigan has sent us a link to a commentary by Edward Wasserman of the Miami Herald.
The commentary asks if we, the media, used Bradley Manning's contributions and now ignore him as he suffers punishment for telling the truth?
Says Corrigan "This is a serious subject, the soul of journalism."
Check it out for yourselves and see if you agree:
McClatchy Washington Bureau
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Members' Milestones
| Send us your stories, triumphs and adventures. We'd like to share them!
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Writers Without Editors:
How to Edit Your Own Writing
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We can't depend on editors so much any more. Cutbacks have sliced deeply into the jobs of the people who caught our slips of the pen.
Poynter's News University is offering the online course "Writers Without Editors: How to Edit Your Own Writing." It's designed to help us submit work that can be printed without our losing sleep.
Led by Merrill Perlman, a consultant who has 25 years of copy editing and leading copy editors at the New York Times behind her, the course will teach:
- how to avoid the holes in your own work
- how to make sure your work is clear, organized and comprehensible
- how to find more of your your errors in style, flow, grammar and punctuation
- how to fix mistakes quickly and effectively
Held over a period of weeks, the course allows learning on your own time as long as you meet a 3 to 4 hour weekly work commitment.
When:
April 15 to May 3
Applications are due by April 1
Where: Online Here
Cost: $399.00
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| Upcoming SPJ Award Deadlines! | |
Every year SPJ offers so much recognition for exceptional work it's hard to keep track of all the awards. Here's a handy list of upcoming deadlines complete with links.
Upcoming Awards Deadlines
- Wed, Apr 17, 2013: Julie Galvan Outstanding Campus Member Award Postmark Deadline [Awards]
- Wed, Apr 17, 2013: Wells Memorial Key Postmark Deadline [SPJ Awards]
- Wed, Apr 17, 2013: Regional Director of the Year Award Postmark Deadline [Awards]
- Wed, Apr 17, 2013: Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Member Award Postmark Deadline [SPJ Awards]
- Wed, Apr 17, 2013: David Eshelman Outstanding Campus Adviser Award Postmark Deadline [SPJ Awards]
- Mon, Apr 29, 2013: Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award Application Deadline [Awards] [Convention]
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PR Daily's 2013 Nonprofit
PR Awards open for entries
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If you're an in-house or agency PR professional and you work in the government, academic or nonprofit sphere, you qualify for the 2013 Non Profit PR Award.
You can enter your own work, that of your in-house PR team or even your client as long as it was done between Jan. 1, 2012 and April 5, 2013.
There are 23 categories and all are geared to nonprofit organizations. The winner in each category will be awarded:
- a highlighted place in a special edition of PR Daily. You and your organization will gain free exposure to over 800,000 monthly readers!
- a Nonprofit PR Award trophy to demonstrate your excellence to all
- Your choice of free registration to one of over 24 Ragan conferences in 2013 or 2014.
Entering is easy. Just click here to learn more and begin the process!
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| Volunteer Positions | | |
COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST VOLUNTEER
Greater Cleveland Volunteers (www.greaterclevelandvolunteers.org) is a non-profit agency that provides volunteers for over 130 non-profit agencies in Cleveland, one-day community events, literacy tutors and mentors for elementary school students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The volunteer will work with Greater Cleveland Volunteers staff to perform several tasks for the marketing, communications and branding of the organization. The schedule is flexible and some work can be completed off-site.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES: Interview volunteers and partner agency staff and write bi-monthly newsletter articles Assist in the graphic design and layout of the agency newsletter and various print publications Will have the opportunity to assist in other communication needs (social media, promotion and/or special events) Take digital photographs off-site of volunteers in action
POSITION REQUIREMENTS: The individual should be proficient in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Outlook and Publisher) or other graphic design software; digital photography and experience in journalism or other communications writing.
CONTACT: Greater Cleveland Volunteers Dianna Kall Communications and Special Events Coordinator Email here. 216-391-9500 x 115 |
| Internships for journalism and communication students | |
DEVELOPMENT INTERN - CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION Info and apply for this unpaid spring or summer internship here
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Cleveland Job Bank
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Check Kelly Blazek's website for advice on job-hunting and details on jobs
in marketing, public and media relations, development, media, graphics/web design and more. Many of the jobs listed at left are reprinted from Blazek's newsletter.
To subscribe and get the full list (we only excerpt journalism-related jobs),
email Cleveland Job Bank. For more information, go to the website. Also see the website for listings of out-of-town job search websites.
Please Note:
The jobs on Blazek's list are ONLY in communications related occupations.
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 Writer's Week is a service of the Cleveland chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. This e-newsletter is edited by Carrie Buchanan, assistant professor, Tim Russert School of Communication & Theatre Arts, John Carroll University, and assistant editor Elaine Wilson, who is studying editing and design.
Please send news items and job & internship postings to spjcleveland@gmail.com
Street Address: Cleveland SPJ, 4337 Chanticleer Drive, Fairview Park, Ohio 44126-1906
Chapter email: Cleveland@spj.org
President: Cheryl D'Mello
Chapter web site: www.spjchapters.org/cleveland/
The Society of Professional Journalists works to improve and protect journalism. SPJ is dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi and based in Indianapolis, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed public, works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists, and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and of the press.
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