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Advanced Mobility Systems
Advanced Mobility Systems
August 2006
MEETINGS
Next at IABC/Fort Worth ...
Printing Pointers: Getting the Most from Your Print Jobs
Dealing with printers can be a big responsibility, but most communication professionals lack a printing background. Binding, finishing, stamping, varnishing, selecting inks -- it can be overwhelming.
Learn at the August IABC meeting how to develop project specifications and distribution plans and production schedules, plus how to integrate sustainability into project design, thus benefiting both the client and the environment.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: $25 members, $30 nonmembers, $18 students
RSVP by noon Aug. 18: julie.trowbridge@c-b.com or iabcfortworth.com/paypal.htm
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Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ...
Marketing to American Latinos, Part II
Nationally acclaimed speaker Dora Tovar returns to GFW PRSA to further discuss best practices and the pitfalls to avoid when developing a PR campaign with cultural facets. She will outline well-developed campaigns that are relevant to Hispanics and that capture the interests of this fast-growing consumer segment.
In particular, she will discuss Oscar Mayer through a case study of Kraft Foods North America. She will share strategies such as ensuring that an organization has relevant grassroots initiatives, and how to approach integrated marketing. Bring questions for a spirited Q&A session.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9; lunch at noon
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: $25 members, $30 nonmembers, $20 students
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Next at Fort Worth SPJ ...
And on the Twelfth Month of the Fiscal Year, They Rested
Professional development programming resumes Wednesday, Sept. 20, at Shady Oak Barbeque & Grill in Arlington. Details next month.
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Flagons, ho! You are invited, all of you, to sample a smorgasbord of wines from Australia, Argentina and Chile at a wine tasting from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at the Rebecca Low Sculptural Metal Gallery and Studio, 7608 Camp Bowie W. (Spur 580). "We think this will be a wonderful opportunity for PRSA, IABC and SPJ members to meet other young professionals in the Fort Worth area and discuss common interests and share ideas as well as taste some great wine. Bring a friend!" says Lindsey Tyler of the sponsoring World Affairs Council. RSVP by Aug. 3 to 817-212-2696 or intern_ftworth2@dfwworld.org.
PRSA local update: Brian Oberkirch from Weblogswork.com. will discuss blogs and wikis and the implications for independent PR practitioners at the Independent Practitioners SIG meeting Friday, Aug. 18, at the Four Star Coffee Bar, 3324 W. Seventh St. Info from Nancy Farrar with Farrar Public Relations at 817-937-1557 or nancyh829@aol.com. ... Chapter members are needed to grab a paint brush and sign on for the annual inner-city rejuvenation project Cowtown Brush Up from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7. Contact Richie Escovedo, the chapter's community service chair, at rescovedo@mansfieldisd.org.
PRSA local update II: Greater Fort Worth PRSA is offering two teleseminars this month. In the first, at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8, "Media Maven" Margo Mateas will provide suggestions to hone public speaking skills, including how to get an audience to "eat out of your hand" and how to master fear and prevent going blank on the podium. Register by Aug. 4. The second teleseminar, at 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31, will explain how to develop a communications plan for an avian flu outbreak. The session will help PR pros identify the questions they should ask to prepare for a pandemic. Register by Aug. 28. If enough members commit to attend a teleseminar, the chapter will pay for it and find a place to hold it. Contact Marc Flake at mflake@tarrantcounty.com. More here.
PRSA local update III: John Bourke of Bourke & Associates in Dallas will discuss "Crucial Confrontations: Influence, Relationships and Results" at the Dallas PRSA luncheon Thursday, Aug. 10. More here.
SPJ national update: Keeping FEMA incompetence under wraps; soldiers have their say; and in California, one-party consent not enough when taping calls. Less than a week after Federal Emergency Management Agency security guards told reporters who were interviewing Louisiana residents in FEMA trailers to leave, the agency reversed course. The incident, reported July 15 by The Advocate in Baton Rouge, sparked protest among journalists after FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Rodi told the newspaper: "If a resident invites the media to the trailer, they have to be escorted by a FEMA representative who sits in on the interview. ... That's just policy." Revised policy allows media unescorted access to the trailer parks, lets reporters interview residents and, if invited, enter residents' trailers. If a public information officer is not available, that cannot be used as a reason to deny access to the trailer park, according to the policy. More here and here. ... J.P. Borda started a blog during his 2004 National Guard deployment in Afghanistan to keep in touch with his family. But when he got home, he decided it was the mainstream media that was out of touch with the war. He found that hundreds of other troops and veterans were blogging, and many focused on a common enemy: journalists. So Borda started a web site, Milblogging.com, to organize as many blogs as possible by country, military branch and subject matter. The site, which links to more than 1,400 military blogs worldwide, was recently bought by Military.com, a site catering to soldiers. More here. ... Callers from out of state may not secretly record phone conversations with California residents -- even if the practice is legal in the caller's state -- because the California law was designed to protect the state's residents from just such an occurrence, the state's supreme court ruled. More here.
SPJ national update II: Texas school enlisted to weaken FOIA; pressure on CPB never lets up; and FCC combing air tapes for dirty words. The Defense Department is sending St. Mary's University School of Law $1 million to study ways to limit the scope of the Freedom of Information Act, a landmark open government law that celebrated its 40th anniversary July 4. Jeffrey Addicott, who heads the school's Center for Terrorism Law, said the yearlong project intends to find ways to rewrite the law to prevent terrorists from getting sensitive information about water, sewer, electricity and transportation systems. Addicott is a frequent commenter on Fox News and a former senior legal advisor to the Army's Special Forces. More here and here and here and here and here. ... Less than a year after the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was forced to resign amid charges that he injected Republican partisanship into the agency, President Bush has nominated to the nonprofit's board a television sitcom producer who describes himself as "thoroughly conservative in ways that strike horror into the hearts of my Hollywood colleagues." The nomination of Warren Bell, executive producer of ABC's "According to Jim" and a contributor to the online edition of the conservative National Review, raises the concern that he would revive the sharp political debate that engulfed the system last year. More here. ... The FCC has requested football and NASCAR tapes from broadcasters that might include vulgar remarks from unruly spectators, coaches and athletes at live sporting events. "It looks like they want to end live broadcast TV," said one executive. "We already know that they aren't afraid to go after news." In a March decision, the FCC found that the CBS news program "The Early Show" violated indecency rules because of a profane slip-up, but a fine was not issued because the incident occurred before new rules were instituted. More here.
SPJ national update III: Creator of plagiarism detection software catches columnist cribbing; and media had wide access in Vietnam War. John Barrie, the creator of a leading plagiarism-recognition system, says he found at least three instances of "textbook plagiarism" in Ann Coulter's "Godless: the Church of Liberalism" after he ran the book's text through the company's digital iThenticate program. He also says he discovered verbatim lifts in Coulter's weekly column, which is syndicated to more than 100 newspapers. Barrie, CEO of iParadigms, said one 25-word passage from the "Godless" chapter titled "The Holiest Sacrament: Abortion" appears to have been lifted nearly word for word from Planned Parenthood literature published at least 18 months before Coulter's 281-page book was released. A separate, 24-word string from the chapter "The Creation Myth" appeared about a year earlier in the San Francisco Chronicle with just one word switch -- "stacked" changed to "piled." More here and here and here and here. ... The ability to report the Vietnam War without censorship was unlike anything that has been seen since, AP correspondents who covered the conflict said at a reunion. "We had relationships with officers and generals that are totally foreign to reporters trying to cover Iraq today, absolutely in a fantasy world," said Peter Arnett, who spent 13 years in Vietnam for the AP from 1962 to 1975. "The military was remarkable in Vietnam -- they not only didn't try to censor us, they made every accommodation to us," added Richard Pyle, 1970-73 Saigon bureau chief. "There's never been a situation quite like that anywhere." More here.
SPJ national update IV: White House courts author of incendiary -- and false -- column on Jews in Iran; and CBS poll finds trust in media. Josh Marshall's TPMMuckraker.com reports (May 31): "Two weeks ago, Amir Taheri published an op-ed in Canada's National Post about an Iranian law that forced Jews to wear a yellow stripe. The story, reminiscent of Nazi Germany, quickly provoked outrage, but was just as quickly revealed to be a total fabrication. It also ran in the New York Post. Apparently this is just the sort of reliable advice that President Bush needs. Yesterday, Taheri had a face-to-face with the President as one of a small group of "experts' on Iraq that visited the White House. According to Press Secretary Tony Snow, the experts were invited to the White House for their 'honest opinions' on Iraq." ... A recent CBS "Evening News" found that 63 percent of respondents had "at least some confidence" in the stories reported by the press while 69 percent generally believe stories to be accurate. The number of respondents who said they believe that stories reported by the media are accurate match exactly the results from a 1994 CBS News poll -- 69 percent. Asked how often the media tells the truth, 59 percent said all or most of the time. More here.
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Governments May Soon Restrict Access to Birth Records
by Meghan E. Murphy
Early next year the federal government will release proposed regulations that journalists anticipate will restrict access to birth and death records.
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is drafting minimum standards in response to a mandate in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The standards are intended to prevent identity theft, and states would be required to implement them.
While journalism groups agree that identity theft prevention is important, SPJ's Sunshine in Government Initiative asserts that restricting access to these vital records would impede the work of journalists, medical researchers, genealogists and archivists.
When Indiana officials accidentally swapped the identities of two Taylor University students involved in a car accident, death records and the coroner's report were essential to determining how the mistake occurred. Reporters also use birth and death records for fact checking. For medical researchers, the documents are imperative for tracking trends in human health, including infant mortality rates and disease clusters.
The SPJ group said states already can protect citizens' identities and open records by offering informational copies of birth and death records. After reviewing motor vehicle licensing procedures in every state, the initiative found that certified copies of birth certificates are required nationwide. The same is true for obtaining a Social Security number.
But informational copies can be used to obtain birth certificates, said Garland Land of the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information System. Once a terrorist obtains a birth certificate, Land said, it can be used to obtain a passport, credit card or driver's license. Land said the NCHS hopes to achieve a balance between security and access.
The initiative noted that by 2008 states will be required to implement strict procedures to authenticate identity documents. These procedures should make it impossible for anyone to use an informational birth certificate to obtain genuine documents. In fact, a very small percentage of complaints about identity theft contend that identifying documents were faked. In 2005, 2.7 percent of identity theft complaints included forged or illegally issued driver's licenses, Social Security cards or other government documents. The majority of complaints were for credit card, bank and telephone or utility charges.
"The U.S. government makes a lot of noise about preventing identity theft, but restricting or removing access to these basic public records is not the answer. It's just a smoke screen," said SPJ president David Carlson. "If Washington truly wants to solve this problem, enacting some real regulations about how businesses -- and government employees -- can use, trade, sell and even carry around Americans' personal information on laptops would have much greater success. So would enacting truly severe criminal penalties for anyone caught using another's identity or credit card or enforcing existing laws that make it illegal to use Social Security numbers for identification.
"Birth and death records are among the most basic of public records. They are used by children trying to track their birth parents, by families researching their genealogy, by scientists tracking health trends, by journalists, and in a hundred more legitimate ways. Restricting access to them to solve identity theft is like closing up an entire library because a book was stolen."
The draft regulations are expected to be issued by January. A 60-day public comment period will follow. To provide comment, mail letters to Delton Atkinson, Division of Vital Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, 3311 Toledo Road, Room 7315, Hyattsville, Md. 20782.
Meghan E. Murphy is the editor of the Clear Creek Courant in Idaho Springs, Colo., and a member of the Colorado Professional Chapter of SPJ.
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PEOPLE & PLACES
Jessica Ashby-Satterfield has been promoted to public relations specialist II at AmeriCredit. She has been with the auto finance company 2 1/2 years. ...
Six area newspapers took Sweepstakes in the Texas Press Association's statewide Better Newspaper Contest in June. Winning top honors were the Waxahachie Daily Light, Wise County Messenger in Decatur, Mansfield News Mirror, The Community News in Aledo, the Springtown Epigraph and the Alvarado Star. Across the Dallas County line, top honors for large weekly papers went to Park Cities People in Highland Park.
TCU grad Jerry Tidwell, publisher of the Hood County News in Granbury, will become president of the National Newspaper Association at the group's annual convention in Oklahoma City in October. Tidwell is a native of Andrews, and what is it about Andrews High School being a training ground for newspaper men? Marshall Day, publisher of the Gatesville Messenger, is the fourth AHS graduate to lead the Texas Press Association. Day joins publishers Roy McQueen, Snyder Daily News; Larry Crabtree, Vernon Daily Record; and Tidwell as president of the Texas Press Association, Texas' largest newspaper trade group.
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GET A JOB
Tarrant County College seeks a coordinator of public information to work in the Fort Worth district office. Requirements excellent interviewing, writing and editing skills, knowledge of media relations and the ability to speak and write Spanish fluently. Desired qualifications include experience and understanding of internet/intranet strategies and technologies, including e-newsletter production. Must have a bachelor's degree in communications or journalism. Minimum annual salary $39,850. Apply at tccd.edu/career. For more information call Chris Smith, 817-515-5211. ...
Find the latest job postings -- editing jobs in Ohio and New Jersey, a reporting gig in Tennessee -- at the SPJ Job Bank. Only members may view these leads, but anyone may post openings for free.
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NEW MEMBERS
PRSA ... Kelly Drawdy, City of Arlington ... John Gonzales, Nolan Catholic High School ... Rhonda Hughes, Wixted Pope Nora Thompson and Associates ... Victoria Keegan ... D.J. Latham, National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame ... Laura Mayberry, Burleson Area Chamber of Commerce ... Robert Ogle ... Remekca Owens, Fort Worth Zoo ... Nicole Recker, Northeast Tarrant Chamber of Commerce ... Lisa Ross, LJR Group ... Katherine Shelton, McCormick
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COMINGS & GOINGS
Additions ... at the S-T: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ex and southern Missouri native Traci Shurley in Arlington, covering general assignments with an emphasis on community and grassroots organizations
Promotions ... at the S-T: Anna Tinsley, to the national/foreign desk to localize national and foreign stories and to work with Maria Recio on covering the Texas congressional delegation
Exits ... at the S-T: education reporter Kelly Melhart Richey, after more than six years in the Northeast newsroom, to the Fort Worth school district, teaching sophomores, juniors and seniors to pass the TAKS test; the new job will give her more time with her daughter and baby son
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PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Holly Ellman, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
As we're learning to compete in a global market, we recognize the need to sometimes approach things differently. Last year, Dora Tovar gave us Part I of marketing to the American Latino community. At the August meeting we will hear Part II, where Dora will present case studies of successful campaigns.
Speaking of successes, our special interest groups are meeting a lot of needs. On Aug. 1 at Texas Wesleyan, Tracy Syler-Jones' Education SIG heard a fascinating panel of education reporters from the Star-Telegram, The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Business Press. The July 21 meeting of the Independent Practitioners SIG, headed by Nancy Farrar and Sandra Brodnicki, discussed contracts and pricing, and the group members shared winning strategies. The Independent Practitioners SIG, now in its fourth year and boasting 84 members, meets 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. the third Friday of each month at the Four Star Coffee Bar west of downtown. The chapter has other SIGs for health care, professionals new to PR and those who have worked in the field for 15 or more years. Take advantage of this free way to increase your knowledge and your network.
Our chapter has experienced some changes on the board of directors. Tracy Sturrock, who co-chaired the Southwest District Conference this spring with Ashley Antle, has moved to Virginia. Laura Squires, APR, will fill the position until December. Lisa Orr has taken Laura's position as professional development chair and is planning the second seminar for this fall. Recently, June Norman, APR, left the workforce to stay home with her two daughters and resigned as assembly delegate. Julie Hatch, APR, was elected to fill her position until the end of the year.
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PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
Ken Roberts, IABC Fort Worth
July marked the beginning of a new fiscal year for IABC Fort Worth. Allow me to introduce our 2006-07 board of directors.
City of Euless communications/marketing manager Betsy Boyett is our president-elect and programming chair. Send any ideas for speakers or professional development topics to Betsy at bboyett@ci.euless.tx.us.
Immediate past president Richard Maxwell, the marketing director for the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, is our senior delegate to the IABC Southern Region board. Membership chair Cheryl Hart, owner of Hart Marketing, informs one and all about IABC and how to join this outstanding organization. Contact her at cheryl@hartmarketing.biz.
Other directors are Michael Agnello, marketing and communications chair, a communications specialist at Citi Assurance Services; Julie Trowbridge, treasurer, marketing manager at Carter & Burgess; and Pam Fry, secretary, marketing manager at Freese and Nichols.
Also, Jeff Posey, Bronze Quill chair, internal communications manager at Carter & Burgess; Deena Graves, accreditation chair, principal and owner of bottomLINE Communications; and Colby Horton, webmaster, the Automotive Service Association's manger of web operations.
At-large members are Mike Long, freelance editor and writer; Andrea Scott, communications specialist at Brinker; Tim Tune, RadioShack's online services manager; Jenny Walker, marketing coordinator for the Tarrant Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse; and Amy Yancey with First Command Financial Planning.
Finally, I'm Ken Roberts, and I have the honor of serving as chapter president this year. My paying job is marketing communications manager at Freese and Nichols. Contact me at kmr@freese.com.
Each member of the board is working to ensure that IABC Fort Worth provides value to its members and guests. Feel free to contact us with any suggestions or questions. We look forward to an outstanding year of networking, professional development and fun. For information about our chapter, including programming and events, visit us at iabcfortworth.com.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
The weather cooperated, the fajitas were fine, Jeff Prince picked and grinned for hours (didn't have to twist his arm too hard), Mike Cochran happily told stories on Carolyn Poirot and Jack Strickland's porch into the night, and Amon Carter's boat scooted across Eagle Mountain Lake with timeless agility. That was Splash Day, and I missed it. Always thought I was pretty smart. Might want to rethink that. ...
This from SPJ HQ. According to the San Antonio Express-News: "The constitutionality of the Texas Open Meetings Act, which prohibits elected officials from deliberating public business in private, is now in the hands of a West Texas federal judge. A ruling, which poses the most serious challenge to the Texas Open Meetings Law since it was passed in 1967, is not expected soon. After a one-day trial Wednesday [July 19], U.S. District Judge Robert Junell gave the parties until late September to file additional pleadings." More here. ...
Hooray for Michigan State University's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism for shedding light on a hidden trove of environmental images. The EPA initiated "Project Documerica"in 1971 to record its successes and failures in battling environmental degradation; more than 15,000 images have been tucked away in the National Archives. Graduate student Jeremy Herliczek has created a web site that explains the project's history and features galleries of images of environmental threats. ...
Closing words: "This is the sort of banana-republic intimidation of the press we sneer at when it occurs on other points on the globe. The American public deserves nothing less than knowing what's going on at Guantanamo." -- Charles Davis, co-chair of SPJ's Freedom of Information Committee, on the military's expulsion of four journalists from Guantanamo Bay following the suicides of three detainees ... "News at its best is a wake-up call, not a lullaby, and I'm not in the lullaby business." -- Dan Rather to reporters at Summer TV Press Tour 2006 ... "I had been looking forward to him serving prison time, but the Lord said, 'Vengeance is mine.' Most of that good stuff that everybody gives him [Ken Lay] credit for doing, well, it's awful easy to pass out somebody else's money." -- Charles Prestwood, 67, a longtime Enron employee who lost his $1.3 million retirement savings when the company's stock collapsed