eChaser: October 2008 / p2

PRSA local update VI: “The Power of One: One Idea, One Connection, One Day” will drive PRSA Dallas’ Annual Communications Summit, Friday, Oct. 17. Info here.

SPJ national update: U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on Sept. 20 ordered Dick Cheney to preserve a wide range of the records from his time as vice president. Cheney and the Bush administration were sued to ensure that presidential records are not destroyed. The decision is a setback for the administration in its effort to promote a narrow definition of materials that must be safeguarded under the Presidential Records Act. More here. ... The electronic newspaper, a large portable screen that is constantly updated, figures in the dreams of newspaper publishers everywhere. Plastic Logic on Sept. 8 introduced its version of the idea: a lightweight plastic screen that mimics the look, if not the feel, of a printed newspaper. More here.

SPJ national update II: Valor in print journalism. Hurricane Ike blew the roof off Galveston’s daily newspaper and reduced its equipment to a single cellphone, but the Galveston County Daily News never missed an edition. The Daily News printed its Saturday edition Friday in advance of the storm, and editor Heber Taylor was blogging as the eye of the storm passed over Galveston Island and the natural gas that powered the generator was cut off. The power went out as Taylor put the period to his last sentence: “We are about to lose contact.” More here. The Times-Picayune of New Orleans did not deliver a print newspaper for three days because of Hurricane Gustav and had been without power for a day, but the staff remained in the paper’s main building, working with a generator and essentially producing a full edition for its web site. More here.

SPJ national update III: Squeezed for profits, news media companies no longer push for access to information as they once did, a panel of Denver journalists said at a National Press Club forum Sept. 9. “The media seems less and less willing to fight back and to challenge government authority in a legal sense,” said Brian Maass, who leads the investigative team at Denver’s CBS 4. The government has gotten “pretty canny in knowing” that with financial pressures “there’s less fight in the media to battle for information.” More here. ... A Montana district judge ruled Sept. 3 that the state shield law protecting reporters from disclosing anonymous sources also protects the identity of anonymous commentators on a newspaper’s web site. Judge Todd Baugh granted a motion by The Billings Gazette to quash a subpoena filed by Russ Doty, a 2004 candidate for the Public Service Commission. More here.

SPJ national update IV: When students returned to classes Aug. 18 at Macon (Ga.) State College, they found the bins of their student newspaper, The Matrix, empty, but with former editors nearby distributing copies of an independent paper. Rising tensions led the editorial board to resign in May, but many of the students planned to return to the paper as writers. Trouble began when a new publications coordinator was hired about a year ago. Former editor Jenny Murr said that when she approached Ray Lightner, the publications coordinator, about adding new distribution bins, he said the newspaper was not good enough. More here.

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PEOPLE & PLACES

Mary Dulle, APR, Fellow PRSA, has been appointed director of internships at the TCU Schieffer School of Journalism. A past president of Greater Fort Worth PRSA, she also served as president of IABC Fort Worth and is a member of Fort Worth SPJ. ...

SPJ named TCU’s Image one of the top three collegiate magazines in the nation. Image was announced a 2007 finalist in the Best Student Magazine category at the Sept. 6 Mark of Excellence Awards luncheon at the SPJ national convention in Atlanta, Ga. SPJ awards a first place and two finalist awards in the national competition; the magazine took first place in Region 8, which comprises Texas and Oklahoma. Image was the first-place MOE winner in 2006 and a national finalist in 2005. Ky Lewis was editor in chief for fall 2007 and Darren White in spring 2007. ...

Golden Acres Genetics, a custom seed solutions company in Waco, has selected the Hondo Group as agency of record. Hondo VP Susan Foster will direct the account. Formed in 1999, Golden Acres Genetics is a family-owned company providing farmers with custom seed treatments, packaging, agronomic tools and a variety of hands-on client programs.

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GET A JOB

The Killeen Daily Herald seeks a reporter/copy desk-page designer. Apply online or e- résumé and a cover letter to personnel@kdhnews.com. More journalism jobs here. ...

The Dallas-based National Athletic Trainers’ Association seeks a full-time web designer. Requirements include a bachelor’s degree in computer science, communications, graphic design or related field, plus web site development experience. E- cover letter and résumé Larry Commons, larryc@nata.org.