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  Writer's Week  

Society of Professional Journalists

    Cleveland Pro Chapter Newsletter     

Dec. 31, 2014   

 Deadline For Next Edition: Jan. 9, 2015   
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President's message
Journalism highlights and lowlights
for 2014? Please share your ideas 
Rodney Bengston
Rodney Bengston 
  

We're getting ready to close the books on 2014, and I would like to know what went right and went wrong in Cleveland journalism during the past year from our readers' perspectives.

 

Everyone is in the midst of the holiday bustle, but if people can drop me a sentence or two (at the email address below) of their highlights and lowlights - and maybe some wishes for changes in Cleveland journalism scene during 2015 - I will try and highlight some of the feedback in a future column. And people's concerns and wishes for the future might even give us a few ideas for future SPJ programs.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Rodney Bengston

President, SPJ Cleveland  

rodbengston@spcglobal.net       

Pulitzer winner to speak at Jan. 22 event

 

Jim Sheeler  

 

Jim Sheeler, professor of English and media writing at Case Western Reserve University, will headline SPJ Cleveland's next program on Thursday, Jan. 22 at the Market Garden Brewery. The event will begin with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. followed by our speaker at 6:30 p.m.  

 

Sheeler won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing, for a 12,000-word story in the Rocky Mountain News, in which he followed a U.S. Marine Casualty Assistance Calls Officer and the families he worked with during the Iraq war. He later wrote the book, Final Salute, which was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award in nonfiction.  

 

During his career at several Colorado newspapers from 1992 to 2008, Sheeler specialized in feature and obituary writing. He has also authored two books about obituary writing, including Obit:Inspiring Stories of Everyday People who led Extraordinary Lives, and Life on the Death Beat, the latter coauthored with former Plain Dealer reporter Alana Baranick and Steve Miller of the New York Sun.  

 

Youngstown State and LCCC launch journalism degree partnership

Lorain County Community College and Youngstown State University are partnering to train future journalists.

 

Students completing LCCC's journalism courses will be able to move seamlessly into Youngstown State's bachelor's program. Youngstown's journalism courses will be offered online, allowing students to complete their degree without ever having to leave the LCCC campus.  

 

This integrated program will provide significant cost savings for students, said John Crooks, associate provost of the University Partnership program at LCCC.  

 

"The YSU Journalism Program is an excellent addition to the University Partnership and it provides a pathway for those students planning careers in journalism and related fields,"

Crooks said.  

 

Martin Abraham, interim provost at Youngstown State, said the YSU journalism program has been nationally recognized as an excellent training ground for students in critical thinking, information gathering and production skills."I cannot think of too many industries where these skills are not in demand today," she said.   

 

Youngstown State operates an experiential learning initiative, TheNewsOutlet.org, in which students report and produce stories for legacy media organizations throughout Ohio. The News Outlet started at Youngstown State and is now a collaboration among YSU, The University of Akron and The University of Cincinnati.  It has won numerous state and national awards and grants.  

 

For more details about the LCCC-YSU University Partnership contact Patrick Keebler at (440) 366-4841 or pkeebler@lorainccc.edu.

 
Job Opportunities

SPJ HEADQUARTERS IN INDIANAPOLIS

SPJ HQ is searching for a part-time Communications Coordinator in its Indianapolis office. This newly created, part-time position is ideal for: an upperclassmen with lots of internship experience; a young professional looking to get his/her start; or a stay-at-home parent wanting the opportunity to interact with adults, get his/her communications juices flowing and earn some extra cash.
 
Complete details can be found here. Apply by 5 p.m. ET Dec. 15.

 

JOBS LISTINGS FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS 

 

If you're a writer who can handle scientific and technological jargon and translate it into understandable English, or perhaps a graphic designer who can deal with technological topics, you might want to consider technical communication. Here's a site set up by the Society for Technical Communication with job listings in the Pittsburgh area. There is a Northeast Ohio Chapter of STC, which holds regular workshops and programs about technical communication. Find them at neostc.org.  
Events summary

Wednesday, Jan. 14
SPJ Cleveland board meeting
6:30 p.m.
Location to be announced in the next Writer's Week
 
Thursday, Jan. 22
SPJ Cleveland presents
Jim Sheeler
Market Garden Brewery
5:30 p.m. social hour
6:30 p.m. program

 
Novel about reporter's life
in 1960s New York
Book cover, Merims novel
Arthur M. Merims, a chapter member  and retired former owner of Art Merims Communications, has a new novel out about the life of a reporter in New York City in the 1960s. 

Bitter-Sweet, A Reporter's Life, according to the author, "has three love stories, the main one between a wire service reporter and a PR gal. I'm sure it would be enjoyed by many of your current members, some of whom may still remember me. The novel includes  many aspects of any reporters life."

The novel is available online at Barnes and Nobel, Amazon, and iUniverse and costs about $14 in print, Merims says.

Quick Links

 SPJ Job Bank

Join or Renew Membership
(Be sure to scroll down on the application form and sign up for the Cleveland Pro Chapter, as well as the national SPJ)

Fellowships
2015 FASPE
JOURNALISM PROGRAM
FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics), in collaboration with The Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, is now accepting applications for a fellowship that uses the conduct of journalists during the Holocaust and in Nazi Germany as a launching point for an intensive two-week summer program on contemporary journalism ethics.  Fellowships include an all-expenses-paid trip from New York to Berlin, Krakow, and Oświęcim (Auschwitz) where students work with leading faculty to explore both journalism history and the ethical issues facing working journalists today.  All program costs, including international and European travel, lodging, and food, are covered.

 

The 2015 FASPE Journalism program will run from May 24 to June 4.  To be eligible applicants must either (1) be enrolled in a graduate program or (2) be working journalists who completed their undergraduate degrees between June 2010 and June 2014.

 

Completed applications must be received by Jan. 6, 2015.   

 

All FASPE programs are non-denominational and candidates of all religious, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

 

To apply or to learn more about FASPE, visit www.FASPE.info   

Direct any questions to Thorin R. Tritter, Managing Director of FASPE, at ttritter@FASPE.info.


Internships for journalism and communication students
VIRTUAL INTERSHIPS
THE CELEBRITY CAFE

We are looking for dedicated interns who understand the culture TheCelebrityCafe.com embodies. We have nine different internships opportunities; Marketing and Social Media, Business Administration, Research, Copy Editing, Graphic Design and our News, Music, Entertainment and Sports Writing internships.

This is a 12-week internship for students in a virtual office for academic credit only.

 Students are asled to dedicate 15 hours each week. As the online forums for writers grow, we want to continue to guide students to the best of our ability and and help them understand how an online magazine operates, and found that this can not be properly done within our original time requirements.

Additional program descriptions are online here

SPJ helps job seekers and employers to connect

Need a job, internship or fellowship? SPJ is always on the lookout for you. On Twitter, follow @spj_tweets for openings, or share great journalism openings with us when you or your news organization have them by tweeting them to us!

 

Employers: Reach those who are most dedicated to the profession by posting your openings in SPJ's Job Bank. Our members want this info, but we can't share them all. Post in our job bank so that everyone has the chance to see it - for longer than a fleeting tweet!

 

infoaboutusWriter'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 Jackie Mitchell, a reporter for the Cleveland Jewish News and recent graduate of John Carroll University.

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: Rodney Bengston  

  

      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.