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Facebook and SPJ are committed to creating opportunities for journalists everywhere to learn about the ways Facebook tools can help create and share incredible works of journalism, as well as engage the public in the stories about their communities.
Arkansas SPJ is hosting a FREE training at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan 25 at the Darragh Center, 100 S. Rock St.
• How Journalists Can Best Utilize Facebook and Instagram
• Connect With Your Audience Using Facebook Live
• Immersive Storytelling With 360 Video and Photos
• Facebook Safety for Journalists
• Get Started with CrowdTangle
• Content Discovery and Social Monitoring with CrowdTangle
• Use Facebook Groups to Engage Your Audience
To register for this free training email jellis@arkansasonline.com or text (501) 533-0565
SPACE IS LIMITED • SIGN UP TODAY
Our trainer is Lynn Walsh, an Emmy award-winning freelance journalist who has worked in investigative, data and TV journalism at the national level as well as locally in California, Ohio, Texas and Florida. Based in San Diego, she is a past national president of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Project Manager at the Trusting News project, where she’s helping to rebuild trust between newsrooms and the public.
GET SOCIAL find her on the following
Facebook @LynnWalshJournalist
Twitter @lwalsh
Instagram @lynnkwalsh
In an effort to extend its reach, Arkansas SPJ traveled more than 750 miles in the span of just over a month to bring Get the Scoop … and Check the Facts, a traveling ice cream social, to about 110 student journalists and professionals outside the Little Rock metropolitan area.
Speakers shared stories about how they got big scoops, ideas about how to cultivate sources on a beat and the importance of checking the facts. The tour included visits at the following:
• Henderson University in Arkadelphia at noon Oct. 30 at The Oracle newsroom with speaker Ginny Monk, projects reporter at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Arkadelphia had recently lost its local newspaper. Fortunately, a new paper has emerged. There were about 30 people in attendance.
• University of Central Arkansas in Conway at 1:40 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1 at The Echo newsroom with speaker Debra Hale-Shelton, a reporter in the ADG’s Conway bureau. She has since joined SPJ. There were about 25 people in attendance.
• Arkansas State University in Jonesboro at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26 in The Herald newsroom with George Jared, an author and investigative journalist who has written two true-crime books about stories he covered as a reporter at the Jonesboro Sun, and Sarah Campbell-Miller of Arkansas Business. There were about 12 student journalists in attendance.
• Harding University in Searcy at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27 in the TV studio with speaker Tracy Whitaker of the Searcy Daily Citizen. There were about 20 in attendance.
• Arkansas Tech University in Russellville at 1 p.m. Dec. 3 in the Doc Bryan Student Services Center with speakers Tammy Keith of the ADG and Drew Brent of The Russellville Courier. There were about 22 in attendance.
The chapter didn’t make it to Lyon College in Batesville as it had planned, but has hopes to try to get there next semester as well as present the ice cream social in Little Rock, its regular stomping grounds. There are still plenty of scoops.
Society of Professional Journalists — Arkansas Pro Chapter Instructions for scholarship application Application Deadline is March 29, 2019
Applications will be reviewed after all the necessary documents have been received. Only those applications and supporting materials emailed or postmarked by the March 29, 2019, deadline will be considered.
Besides the application, you must submit:
1. An essay about your career aspirations and any personal information deemed relevant
(500-word maximum) to demonstrate your writing ability.
2. Two letters of reference, one from a person familiar with your abilities.
3. A transcript of college grades through the Fall 2018 semester.
4. Three examples of your work and any other relevant information.
Please note: All application information will be held in strict confidence. Applications are destroyed after a decision is reached and announced.
Scholarships will be given only to a sophomore, junior, or senior attending
an Arkansas college or university during the 2019-20 school year. An applicant must be
majoring or minoring in a journalism, public relations, or an associated communications emphasis. Each scholarship will be awarded to a full-time student on the basis of need,
academic achievement, and distinguished ability in media-related fields.
Mix and mingle with fellow journalists at Arkansas SPJ’s Ugly Sweater Holiday Jingle at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 109 & Co. bar and lounge, 109 Main St. in downtown Little Rock. Tickets can be purchased HERE or at the door for $15 and include hors d’oeuvres and libations. Prizes will be given for the best ugly holiday sweaters.
On Oct. 30, The Herald of Har-Ber High School in Springdale published “Athlete transfers in question,” a painstaking investigation of football players’ transfers to a rival high school.
In response to the dedicated work of these student journalists, school officials demanded the story be removed from The Herald‘s website, suspended the paper’s publication and threatened to terminate adviser Karla Sprague. School principal Paul Griep had asked Sprague to provide him with a copy of the article prior to publication, and in keeping with journalistic practices, she refused.
We, the Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, stand in solidarity with The Herald‘s students and adviser, who were exercising their First Amendment rights and journalistic responsibility to cover a topic of utmost importance to their school and district, and we condemn the censorship of the article.
The district has since allowed the article to be republished online following “continued consideration of the legal landscape,” according to a statement released by the district Dec. 4.
The Arkansas Student Publications Act provides guidelines for student publication policies; protects free expression of school-sponsored student publication; recognizes the journalistic values of truth, fairness, accuracy and responsibility; and provides exemptions in cases of obscenity, libel, invasion of privacy, and clear and present danger.
While Arkansas is fortunate to have the existing law, we believe this instance of censorship highlights the need for stronger protections for student journalists. We support the work of New Voices U.S.A. to fill in the gaps of the Arkansas Student Publications Act, including explicit protection for advisers who follow the law, protection for collegiate journalists, and explicit release of liability for schools that follow the law.
In addition, we appreciate the Student Press Law Center’s commitment to defending The Herald and other student publications.
As observed nearly 50 years ago in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” We proudly support student journalists across the state, and invite student papers to contact us if we can be of service.
In solidarity,
The Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
Arkansas SPJ will present the first President’s Diamond in the Rough Award to a Greenbrier Eastside Elementary student who started his own school newspaper at the chapter’s Diamond Journalism Awards, set for 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25.
Israel Bollinger, who was a fourth grader when he helped create What’s Up Eastside, works with a staff of second through fifth graders to make the monthly publication, Eastside Elementary Principal Mandi Dunlap said.
The 10-year-old, now a fifth grader, said he got the idea to start the paper while reading The Awesome, Almost 100% True Adventures of Matt & Craz by Alan Silberberg. The characters in Silberberg’s book had a school paper, which made Bollinger realize that his school lacked one – a problem that he soon solved.
“I couldn’t help but be impressed by this kid’s gumption,” Arkansas SPJ President Jennifer Ellis said of Bollinger’s accomplishment.
Israel Bollinger, 10, holds a copy of the newspaper, “What’s Up Eastside,” he started at Greenbrier Eastside Elementary in January. Arkansas SPJ will present Bollinger with the first President’s Diamond in the Rough Award at the chapter’s Diamond Journalism Awards, set for 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25 at the Flying Saucer in Little Rock. Photo courtesy of Jason Bollinger
After a conversation with Principal Dunlap, and the recruitment of about 16 elementary students, the publication started production in January.
“Israel had asked me about it back in the first semester and I began to think about how to make this happen,” Dunlap said.
Sherry Hogg, the school counselor, helps the students during their 30-minute daily production time. The students compose their stories in Google Docs, the principal said, and printed copies are distributed throughout the school.
“This has been a great creative outlet for a lot of students,” she said. “They not only learn literacy skills of writing articles, but also the power of networking with a group to produce a product! The kids absolutely love this!”
Students voted to name the paper What’s Up Eastside and decided on its topics together. Bollinger’s favorite part of the paper is the “Crackups” section, which features jokes from students.
The staff at Greenbrier Eastside Elementary’s school paper, “What’s Up Eastside,” are hard at work. The paper was started by Israel Bollinger, third from left, in January when he was a fourth grader. He will receive the President’s Diamond in the Rough Award from Arkansas SPJ Thursday. Photo courtesy of Mandi Dunlap
Bollinger plans to continue working on the publication for the rest of the school year.
“I really like working on the paper,” he said. “It’s fun.”
In the future, he said he might even start a middle school newspaper if next year’s campus doesn’t have one. And he’s looking even further than that.
“I think that when I grow up I want to be an entrepreneur and maybe own a newspaper,” he said.
Bollinger said he had been surprised by the media attention to him and the paper, and that he was excited to receive the Diamond in the Rough award.
“It’s going to be quite an honor,” he said.
Bollinger’s parents, Kerrie and Jason, have also been surprised by all the interest. Jason Bollinger said that his son has many good ideas and that, just as importantly, he sees them through.
“He sees a problem and he works to fix it,” he said.
Join Israel Bollinger and this year’s Diamond Journalism Award winners from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25 in the private party room downstairs at the Flying Saucer in Little Rock, located at 323 President Clinton Ave. Tickets are $15 and include heavy hors d’oeuvres and libations.
For more information on the event and Arkansas SPJ, visit the chapter’s website and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
