eChaser: March 2009 / p2

PRSA local update III: Looking for a job in PR? Or perhaps you’ve already learned the ropes but need a little encouragement. For anyone with five years or fewer in PR, the Nu Pros SIG offers resources geared specifically to you. More from Nu Pros chair Lacey Douglas at lacey.douglas@twc.state.tx.us.

PRSA local update IV: PRSA members, go to prsa.org, log in to MemberNet and make sure your information is current. PRSA national has old information on some job titles and e-mails. This listing also serves as the chapter directory.

SPJ national update: From the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia: ”Stay calm.” ... A rant heard ‘round the ‘net (and Matt Lauer has a question). ... A federal judge Feb. 20 ordered the Treasury Department to respond to a Fox News Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to the financial bailout. Treasury may release the documents or withhold records under exemptions to the law, which Fox could later challenge. Bloomberg News has a similar FOIA suit against the Federal Reserve for bailout-related information about the collateral that banks are posting for loans. The web site GovernmentAttic.org has posted correspondence related to Bloomberg’s FOIA request. More here.

SPJ national update II: No Arabs on Obama’s communications team. ... Washington Post fact-checkers found zero mistakes in George Will’s error-filled climate change denial column. More here. ... Ben Sargent takes the buyout. ... A federal shield law that would protect reporters from testifying about confidential sources was reintroduced in the Senate on Feb. 13, just two days after shield legislation was reintroduced in the House. The Senate bill, S. 448, is similar to a shield law that cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2007. Like the House bill, it has exceptions for national security, terrorism and when reporters are eyewitnesses to a crime. More here. Meanwhile, Kansas lawmakers say not in our backyard.

SPJ national update III: Independent journalism emphasizes public access. ... Personal identifying information such as names of victims, birthdates of criminals and the addresses where crimes are committed will now be kept secret in Phoenix. Criminal suspects will be reported by name, age and race, but no date of birth or address. One of the reasons: to protect criminals from identity theft. More here. ... ”It’s a sad, sad time for FOI and for journalism as a whole when the best and most dedicated are expendable.” ... America’s most revered newspaper is latest to be hit by financial woes.

SPJ national update IV: A number of newspapers are likely to default on their debt and go out of business this year, leaving several cities with no daily paper by 2010, the Chicago-based Fitch Ratings says in a report on the outlook for U.S. media and entertainment. (The Rocky Mountain News already went under.) Fitch rates the debt of the McClatchy Co. and the Tribune Co. as junk, with serious possibilities of default. McClatchy owns the Star-Telegram. More here. ... Public Citizen launches FOIA litigation clinic for nonprofits.

SPJ national update V: Britain’s vanishing newspapers. ... From Stephen Stark, a six-step road to revival for the local paper. ... Google funds a bailout for reporters. ... USA Today: “We don’t mess with what works.” ... About a month after the district superintendent shut down the Faribault (Minn.) High School student newspaper, student journalists were taking their stories to the internet. The owner of a company that creates web sites for student publications offered Echo editors a free site. More here. ... The coming golden age of journalism.

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PEOPLE & PLACES

Dr. Kay Colley, assistant professor of mass communication at Texas Wesleyan University, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication. The organization consists of faculty members at institutions of higher education who work to strengthen journalism and mass communication teaching, research and service in the southwestern United States. She will serve a two-year term. ...

Glenda Thompson, president of Gestures Marketing Communications, has received the 2009 Quest for Success Award from the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce. Quest for Success began 25 years ago as a local extension of the Miller Brewing Co.’s national program to recognize the contributions of black Americans. Miller’s Gallery of Greats calendar highlighted black entrepreneurs. Thompson, a Greater Fort Worth PRSA board member, has operated Gestures Marketing Communications for six years. In 2008, under her leadership, PRSA’s Diversity Committee received national recognition from PRSA national. ...

Wanted: Texas authors. Literary blogger Cheryl Nason is adding a “Texans Only” section to her site, dallasbookdiva.com. In addition to downloadable mp3 interviews on the blog, she also writes profiles and book reviews. To have her consider your book, send her a review copy. ...

Star-Telegram columnist Dave Lieber’s Summer Santa, which bills itself as the children’s charity with no overhead, has completed its most successful year since its founding in 1997. Its all-volunteer staff spent $75,000 in donations to send 291 children to summer camps, compared to 240 in 2007. ...

Linda Jacobson, APR, has been appointed to the board of Fort Worth’s Hip Pocket Theatre. Founded in 1976, the Hip Pocket is celebrating 32 years as one of the city’s most innovative theatre companies.