Posts by Connecticut SPJ

College journalists reporting in the Information Age

A free one-day conference on the ethics and responsibilities of reporting is open to all college students and instructors.

The conference, being held at Colby College on Oct. 27, is hosted by Goldfish Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement, along with the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting.

For more information and the brochure, please click here.

Boston Globe announces 2014 internship program deadline

The Boston Globe runs one of the top internship programs in the nation, giving 10 interns the opportunity to work as reporters, as well as photographer, designer or copy editor.

The 12-week paid internship places reporter-interns in our Metro, Business, Living/Arts, and Sports departments; the photo intern shoots stills and video for all sections, the design intern creates sections fronts and information graphics for print and online, and the copy editing intern works on local, national, foreign and business copy. We provide guidance and direction, as well as a writing coach dedicated to the interns. Globe interns produce every day and finely polish their journalism skills over the summer.

The application deadline is Nov. 1. More information on the program and an application can be accessed from our website:www.bostonglobe.com/newsintern.

Ethics Code Revamp, Shield Law Goals for New SPJ National President

Incoming national SPJ President David Cuillier will lead an effort to update SPJ’s Code of Ethics and continue the push for a federal shield law.

Culilier,was was elected by SPJ members in August, outlined his goals in a recent blog post.

“We’ll have a lot of other work to do this year, including development of new resources to foster diversity in journalism, creating new practical training platforms online and in-person to help journalist improve their skills, continue discussion about whether to change the name to the “Society for Professional Journalism,” and help build scholastic journalism to nurture future journalists,” Cuillier wrote in the post. “I will blog about all of this more in the weeks and months to come.”

Click here to read more at his blog.

EIJ 2013 from CT SPJ

Three executive board members from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists are representing our chapter during this weekend’s Excellence in Journalism conference in Anaheim, Calif. Immediate Past President Cindy Simoneau, President Jodie Mozdzer-Gil and Secretary Ricky Campbell are all in attendance and will serve as delegates during business meetings.

A few things you should know:

  • For regular updates on the conference, follow along on Twitter. Journalists throughout the country are using #EIJ13 to continue the conversation for the rest of the world to see.
  • The Region 1 convention will be held in Boston this year on April 25 and 26. For more information, visit spjr1c.org.
  • As a member of SPJ, you can vote in the national elections online. Visit this link to learn more about the candidates and to cast your vote.

We’ll keep you updated on the blog, our Facebook page and on Twitter. Stay tuned!

-Ricky Campbell, secretary CT SPJ

Patch Layoffs Hit Connecticut Editors

Some ofpatch-logo1 Connecticut’s 67 Patch hyper-local new sites will be affected by layoffs at the AOL company, the Hartford Courant reported Friday. The layoffs, which will occur through October, will include editors for Berlin, Ellington-Somers, Enfield, Montville, New London and Rocky Hill, according to the Courant.

Read more at the Hartford Courant.

Connecticut Post Staffer Receives SPJ Fellowship

From the Connecticut Post:

Hugh Bailey, assistant editorial page editor for the Connecticut Post, has been awarded the Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing.

The prestigious fellowship awards $75,000 each year to an outstanding editorial writer or columnist to help broaden his or her journalistic horizons and knowledge of the world. Bailey plans to learn how mid-size cities, both here and abroad, have converted and incorporated abandoned industrial sites from their past, both brownfields and old buildings, into contributing features of 21st century life.

Read more at the Connecticut Post

Courant Columnist Tom Condon Wins National Press Award

From the Hartford Courant:
August 06, 2013

condonHartford Courant journalist Tom Condon has been named the winner of a national award for his writing about cities.

Condon, a columnist and deputy editorial page editor, is the 2013 winner of the AEJMC Gene Burd Urban Journalism Award, given annually to recognize “high-quality urban media reporting, critical analysis and research … in urban life and culture.” The award is named for longtime journalist and journalism professor Gene Burd, and is a joint venture of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the country’s largest membership organization of journalism educators, and the Urban Journalism Foundation, which supports a variety of city-related programs.

Read more on the Hartford Courant site.

CBA’s DeCesare appointed to co-chair of legislative FOI committee

The Connecticut Broadcasters Association released the following regarding the legislative-mandated task force aimed at public records legislation:

Connecticut Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, Jr. has appointed longtime broadcaster Don DeCesare to be a Co-Chair of a new 17 member Task Force on public information and privacy, the body mandated by the 2013 Legislature’s public records legislation. DeCesare of Norwalk, Conn. is a Past-President of the Connecticut Broadcasters Association and one of two members of that organization to be named to the Task Force. He will serve as Co-Chair with State Rep. Angel Arce of Hartford, who was appointed to that position by the Connecticut Speaker of the House of Representatives, Brendan J. Sharkey.

DeCesare is President and General Manager of WLIS-AM in Old Saybrook, Conn. and WMRD-AM in Middletown, Conn. A journalist for more than four decades, he spent 20 years at CBS Broadcasting in New York and globally. At CBS, DeCesare went from editing radio broadcasts to overseeing television news coverage and senior management. He served as Chair of the Connecticut Broadcasters Association from 2005 to 2007. During that time, the Association led the successful effort to adopt a strong Shield Law for Connecticut. A founder and past Treasurer for CT-N, DeCesare also is a member of the Media Center Advisory Board at Middlesex Community College. He has contributed opinion pieces to a variety of publications.

The other member of the Connecticut Broadcasters Association to be appointed to the task force is Klarn DePalma, the organization’s current Chair. DePalma is Vice President and General Manager of WFSB-TV 3 Hartford, Conn. and WSHM-TV 3 Springfield, Mass. He also oversees the National Sales team for the Local Media Group of the stations’ parent company, Meredith Corporation. The Cheshire, CT resident joined WFSB as a Sales Account Executive in 1993 and became the station’s Local Sales Manager in 1998. In 2002, he rose to Director of Sales of both WFSB and WSHM and, in 2005, was promoted to Vice President and General Manager for both stations. DePalma serves on the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut Science Center and the Channel 3 Kids Camp, and is a faculty member at Howard University.

DeCesare and DePalma were two of four media members appointed to the task force by the Connecticut Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (CTSPJ). They are joined by journalists Brian Koonz, Metro Editor for the Connecticut Post in Bridgeport, and Jodie Mozdzer Gil, President of the Connecticut SPJ Board and Assistant Professor of Multimedia Journalism at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, CT.

The Task Force totals 17 members. Other members include a representative from the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information (CCFOI) and the Executive Director for the FOI Commission, as well as legislators, attorneys, and representatives of law enforcement. The legislation creating the Task Force calls for it to produce a report, including recommendations, to the Legislature by January 1, 2014.

Since its establishment in 1955, the Connecticut Broadcasters Association has been a respected industry leader in legal, governmental, education and community issues on both the State and National levels. Members include broadcast TV stations, radio stations, vendors and companies with a business interest in broadcasting, educational facilities, and individuals with involvement in the broadcasting industry. For more information about the association, visit www.ctba.org or call (860) 305-2038.

Elect your new National SPJ members

Delegates at the 2011 national convention approved a bylaws change that transforms the way SPJ elects members of its national board. In the past, candidates were selected by chapter delegates. Now, elections are inclusive of all members — one member, one vote.

To find out more about the candidates, to vote and for more information, visit: https://www.spj.org/elections.asp

CT job listing: Visiting Journalist at Manchester High School

Visiting Journalist at Manchester High School

Overview

Manchester High School is seeking a visiting journalist to help shape all elements of MHSRedline (our school website), its companion print newspaper (called The Harbinger) and our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Vine accounts, while drawing on other resources (including our yearbook, photography and broadcast journalism classes) as we create the best high school communications operation in the country.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

You would work with our students, helping them

  • understand the role of journalism/journalists in the 21st century.
  • write timely, accurate and compelling news and feature stories
  • shoot photographs and video that are revealing and entertaining
  • learn the importance of ‘digital first’ as we share content in real time through social media
  • create strategies to build our audience across all platforms
  • edit and design our newspaper
  • make discoveries that keep us on the cutting edge

Time commitment

This is a grant-funded position that lasts from August 2013 to June 2014. You would be expected to assist our journalism teacher during two classes each week from Aug. 29 (our first full day of school) through late January, and then once a week from February through June.  (The class meets from 12:35-2:05 p.m. every other day, so visits typically would be either M/W or T/Th depending on our rotating schedule cycle.) You would be expected to attend occasional school events such as the Homecoming Parade, Miss MHS Pageant, perhaps a prom. You would also be expected to be available on an at-least-checking-email basis nights and weekends, as we are an 18/7 operation.

Experience & qualifications

Applicants should:

Have journalism experience, both print and digital

Be savvy with social media

Be familiar with WordPress and Camayak

Applicants must:

Love working with high school students

Have high standards and integrity

Compensation

$10,000

Application instructions

Please send resume and a cover letter to mgeary@manchesterct.gov

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.