Defending the People’s Right to Know
National Security Archive director Tom Blanton spoke in 2006 at the 30th
anniversary of the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, the oldest functioning human rights organization in Russia. Blanton, an author (“White House E-Mail: The Top Secret Computer Messages the Reagan-Bush White House
Tried to Destroy”) and former newspaper reporter, has used the Freedom of Information Act to spotlight
the government’s deeds and misdeeds for more than 30 years. He will reexamine high points in
both categories April 11 when he addresses Fort Worth SPJ’s 5th annual First Amendment Awards and Scholarship Dinner at Cacharel in
Arlington.
More here and here.
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MEETINGS
Program topic to be announced.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, March 25
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20 (online add $1)
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The 2008 Political Scene: What It Really Means
The eyes of the nation will be on the Lone Star State on March 4, when the
Democratic and Republican primaries are expected to have a major impact on the
presidential election. Whatever the outcome, Allan Saxe knows what it all means for corporations, citizens and PR pros, and it’s yours for the hearing March 12. You might be surprised at what he says.
Locals have marveled at Dr. Saxe’s views since 1965, when he joined the UTA political science faculty. At 68
years old (aging with considerably more grace than Woody Allen, to whom he once was compared), Saxe remains a keen observer of politics and
has found time to become an author, radio commentator, newspaper columnist and
philanthropist. He has received the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching and the statewide Piper Award for Excellence in Teaching.
He also was awarded the State of Texas Humanitarian Volunteer Award in 1992.
UTA’s baseball field was named for him after he donated a sizable amount for its
renovation.
Time & Date: 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, March 12
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20
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A Well-Armed Media
Who can own a gun, and why should we care? Americans have pondered the question
for centuries. Don’t wait for the Supreme Court to decide. Join Fort Worth SPJ on March 19, when a
panel of experts will offer answers.
J.R. Labbe, Star-Telegram deputy editorial page editor and a gun owner; Marsha McCartney, co-president of the Dallas chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence; and Robert Franklin, Collin County Community College history professor and a Second Amendment
scholar, will focus on the news media’s role in the gun debate.
It’s a discussion that at least one critic thinks is overheated. Ohio State U.
history professor Saul Cornell in his book “A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America” says the “intellectual poverty” of the debate over the Second Amendment should serve as a wake-up call. “It is unrealistic to imagine a gun-free America. Nor is it realistic to expect
Americans simply to accept that inordinately high levels of gun violence are
simply the price of freedom. Both sides in this debate need to back away from
extreme rhetoric.”
And eat a little steak.
Time & date: mingling 6 p.m., eats around 6:30, then the program Wednesday, March 19
Place: Saltgrass Steak House, 2200 E. Lamar Blvd., Arlington
Cost: $15 members, $20 nonmembers, $5 students
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STRAIGHT STUFF
Do you hate cold-calling on stories? Ever wonder how the best reporters
cultivate sources? The next American Society of Business Publication Editors
meeting probes both questions, with Bob Francis, editor of the Fort Worth Business Press, and Cynthia Pharr Lee, president of the PR/marketing firm C. Pharr & Co., offering advice on how to develop sources to help you write great stories,
meet deadlines and get those elusive scoops. The meeting is Wednesday, March 5,
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at Branch-Smith Printing, 120 St. Louis Ave., Fort Worth.
Cost (includes lunch): $20 for members, $25 guests; join ASBPE at the meeting
and get the member price. RSVP: Tonie Auer, 817-925-2013 or tonieauer@gmail.com. ...
It’s a doubleheader at the Writers’ Guild of Texas this month, with Maya Reynolds on understanding the publishing industry, Saturday, March 8, and Pat Saunders on writing query letters and pitching proposals at the regular third-Monday
meeting, March 17. Both sessions will be at the Richardson Public Library, 900
Civic Center Drive, Reynolds from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Saunders 7-8:30
p.m. A Baylor graduate and former high school Latin and English teacher,
computer consultant and textbook/multimedia editor, Saunders is considered an
expert on queries and pitches. Reynolds, herself a former teacher, stockbroker,
social worker and for five years the operations VP for the Dallas County public
mental health system, will address a range of topics, from what agents look
for, to how to decide between a print publishing house and an e-publisher. More
from organizer
Carol Woods.
IABC local update: Phil Johnson, a freelance business writer with more than 20 years experience writing for
Forbes and Fortune 500 companies, will reveal “The Seven Steps to Speechwriting Success” at the Dallas IABC meeting Tuesday, March 11. Info here.
PRSA local update: Through efforts of the 2008 GFW PRSA board, members will have
four big opportunities to give back to the community. In the first quarter of
the year, organizer Glenda Thompson needs members’ time, talents and expertise to provide PR and media relations for the
not-for-profit More Life Festival in May. Reach her at glenda@gesturesmarketing.com. In the second quarter, there’s the Race for the Cure, with Carol Murray as captain of “Team PRSA Pink.” Sign up at http://race.komentarrant.org/goto/PRSA. In the third quarter, PRSA members will stuff backpacks for the Tarrant Area
Food Bank’s Backpacks for Kids program. Chapter volunteers finish out the year with a
workday at a Habitat for Humanity site. Questions? Reach community service
chair Lauren Kwedar at 817-924-2300 or lkwedar@phprinc.com.
