Category: Events

Events

Can’t We All Get Along?

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Let’s foster better relations between the media and the spokesmen/women for the agencies we cover!

We all have those stories — “The PIO never got back to me!” or “That reporter misquoted me!”

Can’t we all get along?

Sometimes it seems like we can’t. Let’s get together and hear from both sides.

What works well and what doesn’t? What do you wish that spokesman would do to make your job as a reporter better? Spokesmen, what do you wish reporters would realize about what you do?

There will be a panel discussion, but most of the session will be an open discussion with everyone in attendance.

Journalists and PIOs are invited to this important discussion!

Panelists include:
* Bill Sadler, Arkansas State Police
* Jennifer Godwin, City of Little Rock
* Amy Webb, Department of Human Services
* Steven McClanahan, Little Rock Police Department
* Fredricka Sharkey, University of Central Arkansas
* Benjamin Hardy, Arkansas Times,
* Drew Petrimoulx, KARK
* Claudia Lauer, The Associated Press

Visit us on Facebook to RSVP!

Can't We all Just Get Along

Chapter Business, Events

Cocktails, a contest and good conversation

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The Society of Professional Journalists, Arkansas Pro Chapter will host a cocktail mixer this Thursday, Aug. 27, from 5:30 until whenever at 109 and Co., 109 Main St., Little Rock, Ark. Come meet your fellow Arkansas journalists and enjoy a few specialty cocktails!

See the flyer below for more info. A big thank you to board members Jennifer Ellis and Chelsea Boozer for planning this!

mixer

#SPJdesk Contest

Events, Uncategorized

Mel White Entertains Journalists at SPJ Banquet

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Mel White, freelance journalist for National Geographic publications, regaled the audience at the Arkansas SPJ banquet on Thurs. May 10, with stories of his travels to remote and  extreme landscapes.

Ark.SPJ board member Eric Francis with speaker Mel White.

The Arkansas Pro chapter of SPJ also honored several journalists with at the culmination of its annual contest. This year, 33 reporters, editors, photographers and designers received first-place awards for their outstanding work.

White shared photographs and clips from his long history with National Geographic, including images from far-flung locales in New Zealand, Yemen, Alaska, and Brazil, among others. He credited good fortune for his ongoing rapport with National Geographic editors, but added with a smile, “I also turn my stuff in on time, and I can spell.”

Mel White, left, takes questions after the 2012 SPJ banquet

Cathy Frye won the award for Journalist of the Year, for her series on heat stroke in football practices and associated deaths in Arkansas. Sarah Morris of the Stuttgart Daily Leader won Outstanding New Journalist. Debra Hale-Shelton won first place for Reporting on FOI Issues, and the Northwest Arkansas staff of the Democrat-Gazette won the award for Community Service.

Full results are available under the “Contest” tab above.  Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all those who made the banquet a success!

Events

Arkansas Press Women Conference This Saturday

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If you’re in northwest Arkansas this weekend, Arkansas Press Women is holding a conference on the theme of media literacy.

There will be sessions on Web-savvy branding, the new Crystal Bridges museum, and presentations by Lisa Thompson of NWA Newspapers and John Brummett of the Arkansas News Bureau.

Registration is $35, including lunch, or $20 for students and teachers.

More info here.

Events

Arkansas SPJ Honors State’s Journalists

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Media watchers in Arkansas heard from NPR’s Debbie Elliott this Wednesday, at the annual banquet honoring the winners of the Arkansas Pro SPJ chapter’s journalism contest.

Elliott, who has covered Congress and anchored Weekend All Things Considered, has returned to her native Alabama to live and work. She told the assembled group that she loves reporting in the field but grapples with the added demands of producing stories in several formats besides radio.

‘It’s something I think a lot of us are dealing with these days,” she said. “When do you put down the microphone and pick up the camera?”

Elliott also shared pieces that she has produced in conjunction with the Oxford American magazine, based in Conway, Arkansas, with video modules added to stories produced for NPR.

Dozens of awards were handed out to Arkansas journalists, including:

Best Use of FIO: Debra Hale-Shelton, Arkanas Democrat-Gazette
Best Spot News, TV: Marci Manley & Stacy Smith, KNWA
Best Feature, Div I Newspapers: Democrat-Gazette NW Staff
Hard News: AP Staff
Outstanding New Journalist: Chad Day, Democrat-Gazette

Full results are available under the “Contest” tab above. Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all those who made the banquet a success!

Events

#ARWX Panel Set For Saturday

by arkansasspjLeave a Comment on #ARWX Panel Set For Saturday

One of the most useful times to use social media is during a natural disaster. It’s also one of the most fraught.

This Saturday, Arkansas SPJ is hosting a forum on the use of social media during natural disasters.

We’ll be talking about how best to use Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and live streaming during disasters, when many residents are without electricity and are looking at their phones for information.

We’ll also being talking about how to verify whether the information you see on social media is correct. Continue reading “#ARWX Panel Set For Saturday” →

Events

See the Farkleberry Follies One Last Time

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If you’ve never had a chance to see the legendary Farkleberry Follies, or if you’d like to reminisce about the show, you’ll get chance this Thursday.

The Butler Center is screening the video “Hello Folly! A Brief History of the Farkleberry Follies” the the Main Library downtown at 6:30 p.m.

The legendary skits skewering Arkansas politicans and newsmakers were produced by journalists as a fundraiser for SPJ. 

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Craig Douglass, Bill Lancaster and Ben Combs, skit creators and performers for some of the shows.

The screening is free, but you’ll get a copy of the video if you make a donation of $25 or more to the Butler Center to continue programs like this one.

Events

Reminder: Carol Griffee Tribute

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Just a reminder, in case you missed the first post, that the Arkansas Press Women is holding a tribute to Carol Griffee this evening at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in the River Market district. 

Carol didn’t want a “memorial,” but I guess journalists are known for pushing the limits.

The tribute lasts from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. There’ll be light refreshments and, I’m sure, a lot of good stories.

Events

Panel Tackles Social Media and Natural Disasters

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Arkansas SPJ is announcing two great events for Saturday, June 25th, for anyone who has to cover natural disasters.

And really, after this spring’s tornadoes, isn’t that all of us?

First, we’re hosting an episode of the national online radio program “Studio SPJ” at 11:00 a.m. on the topic of social media and disaster coverage.  Guests include:

  • Karen-Lee Ryan, Director of Online Content at the Nashville Tennessean, which was nominated for a Pulitzer for its coverage of local floods last year.
  • Rick Smith, who works with the National Weather Service out of the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla.

Then, we’re doing an in-person panel at 2:00 p.m. at the Cox Creative Center in Little Rock. Continue reading “Panel Tackles Social Media and Natural Disasters” →