Google News Lab Training

Leading the training will be Abigail Edge (@abigailedge). Abigail is a British freelance journalist based in Denver, covering news, social justice and digital culture. Previously technology editor at Journalism.co.uk, Abigail also spent five years in regional news as a reporter and online editor. She is a board member of SPJ Colorado and leads the Colorado chapter of Hacks/Hackers.

Call for Entries: 2017 Diamond Journalism Awards

Attention professional and student journalists, it’s time to enter the Diamond Journalism Awards!

Sponsored by the Arkansas Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists, the Diamond Journalism Awards recognize outstanding journalism by professionals and students from Arkansas and bordering media markets in Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

Eligible work must have been published or broadcast between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017.

Entries may be submitted starting May 31 and until 11 p.m. CDT, July 14.

Enter online via the Better BNC Media Awards platform, https://betternewspapercontest.com/

For entry rules, contest categories and fee options, go here.

Journalism & Islam: Halal Food For Thought

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Join us for a free halal dinner and frank discussion about how Muslims are covered in the news at home and abroad. When should reporters mention the faith of a source? Are there stories that aren’t being covered? What terms should be avoided and more.

Imam Mahmoud Al-Denawy Hassanein of the Islamic Center of Little Rock will give a tour and share information about Islam. You’ll have the chance to ask questions and mingle with members of the center.

Our hope is that we can learn from each other, and that we come away with a better understanding of how to cover the Muslim community.

RSVP is required. Email Jennifer Ellis at jellis@arkansasonline.com
or text (501) 533-0565.

Women in the Media

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Keynote speaker:

Ibby Caputo is a journalist based in the Ozark Mountains covering Arkansas’ 91st General Assembly for the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network. She was a 2014-2015 MIT-Knight Science Journalism Fellow. Ibby covered health care, transportation, and breaking news as a reporter for WGBH’s Boston Public Radio and WGBH TV. Her work has aired on The World, NPR News, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Marketplace Morning Report, Marketplace Tech, Scene on Radio, Radiotonic, and the BBC’s Short Cuts. Her journalism, essays and photography have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Cape Cod Times, The Times-Picayune, theAtlantic.com, and elsewhere. Ibby received an award for hard news and was part of the team that won an award for investigative reporting, both from The Associated Press. She is an adjunct professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Moderator:

Mariel Ruiz, THV11 meteorologist, will moderate the panel. Mariel joined THV11’s weather team in June 2016. She grew up in nearby North Texas and previously worked in West Texas forecasting the wild weather. Mariel received her Bachelors of Science in Atmospheric Sciences from Texas A&M University. (http://www.thv11.com/about-us/team-bios/mariel-ruiz/296329534)

Panelists:
Gwen Moritz, editor of Arkansas Business. “Gwen Crownover Moritz was born in Conway, reared in North Little Rock and graduated from Harding University at Searcy. She worked at the Pine Bluff Commercial, the Arkansas Gazette and the Nashville (Tenn.) Business Journal, with stints at the Tennessee Health Care Association and the Nashville Bar Association thrown in. Moritz has been editor of Arkansas Business since 1999.” (arkansasbusiness.com/staff/gwen-moritz)

Raven Richard, weather anchor and reporter at THV11. “She joined the THV11 team in May 2016 as a News and Weather Anchor after spending two years in Kennewick, WA as a reporter, anchor, and weather anchor. She is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans with a degree in Mass Communication and a minor in Political Science.” (thv11.com/about-us/team-bios/raven-richard/245118382)

Karen Segrave, Little Rock-based photographer and owner of KES Photo. Karen has more than 20 years of experience as a professional photographer. In 1996, she moved to Arkansas and began working for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette until 2013. Karen said her photo projects have taken her across the street and around the globe.(www.kesphoto.com)

Jill Bleed, breaking news staffer at The Associated Press in Little Rock. A native of Iowa, Jill has lived in Arkansas since 2003, when she moved to Little Rock to work at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. She joined the AP in 2006 and now handles top breaking stories in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. She also serves on the executive committee of the News Media Guild, the union representing workers at AP, UPI, The Guardian US and the Spanish news agency EFE. She holds a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Charlotte Tillar Schexnayder, journalist and former state politcian. “Charlotte co-owned the Dumas Clarion newspaper in Dumas (Desha County) with her husband for more than four decades and served in the Arkansas House of Representatives for fourteen years. She was also president of several associations for professional journalists, including the Arkansas Press Women, the Arkansas Press Association, the National Federation of Press Women, and the National Newspaper Association.” (encyclopediaofarkansas.net)

 

SPJ After Deadline

SPJ After Deadline

SPJAnother deadline has come and gone, so let’s hang out. Society of Professional Journalist chapters across the nation will be doing it.

Connect with your fellow journalists in Little Rock and beyond in a casual, fun and no-pressure atmosphere on Tuesday, June 21, at 6 p.m. at Vino’s in the first SPJ After Deadline event. For more details, see our event page on Facebook.

We will also be celebrating diversity in SPJ and our newsrooms on June 21. Mark your calendars now and help us show the world that SPJ is all about inclusion.

Take a picture of yourself, your co-workers or other SPJ friends and share your photos with us on Twitter and Instagram using #SPJAfterDeadlineand #SPJ4All.

Arkansas SPJ Elects New Officers, Board

The Arkansas Society of Professional Journalists elected new officers and board members at its meeting Wednesday, June 8.

2016-17 officers and board
President, Chelsea Boozer, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Vice President, Jennifer Ellis, ADG
Secretary, Sarah Campbell, Arkansas Business
Treasurer, Kelly P. Kissel, The Associated Press

The board:
Sonny Albarado, ADG
Sydney Hayman, ADG*
Claudia Lauer, AP*
John Lyon, Arkansas News Bureau
Rob Moritz, University of Central Arkansas
Sarah Morris, Jonesboro Sun
Sonny Rhodes, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

NOTE: * = new to the board.

Coming Soon

Diamond Journalism Awards

After a three-year absence from the journalism contest field, the Arkansas Pro Chapter of SPJ returns this summer with the Diamond Journalism Awards.

This is a brand new contest, not just a revival, with more categories and a broader reach.

Taking its name from one of Arkansas’ identities — the Diamond State — the Diamond Journalism Awards will recognize outstanding journalism by professionals and students regardless of format, not just from Arkansas but beyond its borders.

The contest covers work published or broadcast between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016.

You’ll be able to start submitting entries July 1. Entry deadline will be July 27.

More details in a few days.

Sonny Albarado, chapter contest coordinator