D.C. ethics bill includes Open Government Office

The D.C. Council Dec. 20 took its final vote on sweeping ethics reform legislation that includes establishment of an Open Government Office to oversee and enforce the Open Meetings and Freedom of Information acts. Council Member Muriel Bowser (Ward 4), chair of the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment, introduced the bill in late November.

It is unclear when the Open Government Office will begin operation because the bill must be signed by the mayor and sent to Congress for review. The earliest the new law could take effect is late March, but then several events must occur, including appropriation of funding for the new board and appointment of board members.

Newsletter publisher will supervise chapter's Dateline Awards

      Joel Whitaker has taken on the position of Contest Coordinator for the DC Chapter's prestigious Dateline Awards for excellence in journalism. He succeeds Brooke Kenny, who resigned from the paid position after four successful years running the competition.

      Whitaker, of Burtonsville, Md., is publisher of Kane's Beverage News and other online newsletters covering the beverage industry. He was an officer of the New Jersey Pro chapter of SPJ and has experience with awards competitions in the newsletter industry. In addition, he is the treasurer of the National Press Club. Kenny, of Greenbelt, Md., directs recreation programs at a retirement community in Kensington, Md.

      The Dateline Awards are handed out at the DC Pro Chapter’s annual banquet, usually held in early to mid-June. The contest coordinator takes on the part-time responsibility of soliciting and coordinating entries, collecting entry fees, organizing volunteer judges, processing judges’ choices and announcing competition winners in a news release. Most of the work takes place from January through mid-June. -- Steve Taylor

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D.C. Pro again part of SPJ's national essay contest

      After a year off, the D.C. Pro chapter is again taking part in SPJ’s national high school essay contest in 2012.

      The topic will be: “Why is it important that we have news media that are independent of the government?” http://www.spj.org/a-hs.asp

      SPJ chapters across the country will have local winners. A national winner will be chosen from the local winners and will receive a $1,000 scholarship.

      Second place will get a $500 scholarship and third place will get a $300 scholarship.

      The winner in the D.C. region will receive two free tickets to the chapter’s annual Hall of Fame dinner in June.

      The contest is open to public, private and home-schooled students in grades 9 through 12 in Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and Maryland.

      Essays should be 300 to 500 words, typed or neatly handwritten, double-spaced and must be accompanied by the official contest form.

      Mail entries to: Andy Schotz, 615 Bentley Court, Hagerstown, MD 21740. Do not send them so that a signature is required for delivery.

Past president of SPJ-DC chapter coordinator 2012 MOE contest

      Andy Schotz, the past president of the D.C. Pro chapter, will be coordinating Mark of Excellence contest judging this year in Region 2.

      The Mark of Excellence Awards are for student journalists, who will submit entries by the end of January.

      Judging is expected to take place from February to April.

     Schotz has had good response from chapter members who want to volunteer to be a judge -- including some of the 2011 judges -- but he can always use a backup list so if you are interested please email him at LawnGyland@aol.com. 

      MOE contest categories are listed at here. It will be easier to match judges to categories if you list a few categories you’d like to judge. 

Celebrating the holidays and recognizing some longtime members

      The SPJ-DC chapter’s holiday party Dec. 5 brought together longtime members with some newcomers and a few journalists-in-training, including some students from Howard University. The setting was the Gordon Biersch brewery in downtown D.C. –- a repeat location for the chapter that has proved to be a popular draw. The crowd numbered at least 30. While there was no formal program, chapter president Julie Asher took the opportunity to present year pins to those members marking a milestone in their SPJ membership in 2011.

      The national SPJ office had forwarded a pin and a letter of recognition for 16 chapter members; the letter highlighted what was happening in the country the year the members joined SPJ, thanked them for contributions to the organization and noted that SPJ’s mission “is needed now more than ever.” Those on hand to receive pins were: 35 years, Mary Crowley, an newsletter editor and former SPJ-DC chapter president (1989-90), and John C. Henry, retired from The Associated Press; 15 years, Tony Spence, director and editor-in-chief of Catholic News Service; and 10 years, Amy Reinink, freelancer and current SPJ-DC chapter board member.

Georgetown student had 'renewed purpose' after attending convention on Thomas scholarship

      In 2011, the D.C. Pro chapter revived its Helen Thomas Scholarship, a $500 stipend to help a local student SPJ chapter send one or more of its members to the national conference. In addition, the chapter also added a bonus award: a free early-bird conference registration, a $225 value, thanks to two free registrations the chapter won in a contest to see which SPJ chapters recruited and retained the most new members in one year. Allison Brennan received this year’s Helen Thomas Scholarship and free registration.

      She was recommended by Region 2 Director Brian Eckert for her work on launching a new SPJ chapter at Georgetown University. -- Andy Schotz

Here is what Brennan wrote about her experience at this year’s national convention:

      I am poor. I think all students are unless they are very lucky. Therefore, it is a must that I be conservative with my funds. This precludes doing just about anything that is outside my monthly budget, even if they are as valuable to my career development as I found the SPJ conference to be this year (2011) in New Orleans. I sincerely thank the D.C. Pro Chapter of SPJ for the opportunity to attend the SPJ Conference this year on the Helen Thomas Scholarship.

Retirement of Helen Thomas award upheld by convention delegates

      SPJ delegates voted 85-71 in October to uphold the national board’s decision to retire the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award.

      The issue resurfaced at this year’s SPJ convention in New Orleans through a resolution proposing that the award be reinstated.

      A group of SPJ members from various chapters submitted the resolution.

      SPJ created a lifetime achievement award in 2000 and named it after Thomas, a White House correspondent for decades.

      In January 2011, the national board voted 14-7 to retire the award because of the controversy surrounding two rounds of comments Thomas made.

      The first time, in an interview that was recorded on video, Thomas urged Israel to “get the hell out of Palestine” and Jews can go back to other countries. She later apologized.

      The second time, in a speech, Thomas said, “Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by Zionists. No question, in my opinion.”

      Those who supported retiring the award said Thomas’ comments were offensive.

The media and the military: An evolving relationship

      The relationship between the media and the military is always evolving, but many themes persist. In the 10 years since the 9/11 attacks, the strength of that relationship has wavered at times, but both sides recognize the symbiotic nature of the relationship.

      On Nov. 17, SPJ DC Pro and American University’s School of Communication hosted a program discussing how the relationship has changed and how the media and military can help each other.

      The program opened with an “Inside the Actor’s Studio” style Q&A with Georgetown journalism grad student Allie Brennan interviewing Dan Kapavik, a Marine who led 52 Marines during a deployment to Afghanistan. He lost three of his men, a loss that was hard on his unit and on Kapavik as a leader.

      The young Marine discussed his experiences with embedded reporters and his deployment experiences. He said that service members can have vastly different experiences depending on their deployed locations. His unit was involved in a shooting at a detention facility in Afghanistan when two detainees escaped last summer and used a grenade launcher to target an MV-22 Osprey with a 3-star Navy SEAL on board.

Program on journalism ethics brings together press, public

      Roughly two dozen people attended SPJ-DC’s “The Press and the Public,” a panel discussion about journalistic ethics on Oct. 27 in downtown Silver Spring.

      The event, held in the Fenton Room at the Silver Spring Civic Building, aimed to engage journalists and the public in a discussion about the importance of ethical news coverage. It was the last of three programs in DC-SPJ’s “Press and the Public” series, which was funded through a $2,500 grant from the SDX Foundation, the educational foundation of SPJ. All three programs, held at various locations throughout the D.C. area, focused on journalistic ethics, and why ethical news coverage is important.

      The panel discussion was moderated by SPJ-DC board member Amy Reinink, a freelancer who has written for The Washington Post and other media outlets. Panelists included Diana Huffman, a former editor and reporter who currently is the Baltimore Sun distinguished lecturer at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism; Craig Terrill, media specialist for the city of Takoma Park; and David Moon, a Washington-based policy attorney and political consultant, and editor of the Maryland Juice political blog.

Reminder: SPJ's national dues increase Jan. 1

      The dues increase was approved by the SPJ board of directors Sept. 25 at their meeting in New Orleans.

      SPJ-DC chapter members should have received from SPJ’s national headquarters a reminder about the increase and an explanation as to why it was needed. But just to make sure everyone is informed, here’s a list of the new fee structure:

- Pro Members: $3 (up to $75)

- Retired: $1.50 (up to $37.50)

- Household: $1.50 (up to $37.50)

- Post-Graduate: $1.50 (up to $37.50)

- Student: $1.50 (up to $37.50)

- Associate: $4 (up to $94)

      If you have questions here’s a short Q&A about why the increase was put in place and what authority the board had to do so.

ISO: SPJ-DC chapter seeks volunteers, future board members

      Your SPJ chapter is in need of volunteers to help with everything from program planning to membership recruitment/retention to coverage of events for the chapter newsletter. Also, early next year our nominations committee will begin a search for people to serve on the board. If you have a couple spare hours to give to the chapter for committee work or to serve on our board, contact chapter president Julie Asher at jasher@spjdc.org or call her at 202-541-3266. With your help we can make one of the country’s strongest chapters stronger!