eChaser: December 2010 / p2

PRSA local update: Forty PRSA members and other area professionals started their day Nov. 18 with Star-Telegram editorial director J.R. Labbe describing the changing landscape at the newspaper’s editorial areas. At a Q&A breakfast co-sponsored by the Independent Practitioners SIG and the Balcom Agency, Labbe gave a candid look at the new rules of engagement for PR pros seeking to secure space in the op-ed and news pages. The digital age is having an impact. Business as usual? Not hardly. Balcom’s PR director, Margaret Ritsch, APR, organized the session, and Cockrell Printing donated refreshments.

PRSA local update II: This month’s Board of Directors meeting has been rescheduled from Dec. 2 to Monday, Dec. 13, to accommodate the transition from the outgoing to incoming boards. Outgoing president Tom Burke will announce details.

PRSA local update III: Standing reminders. Have something to say? Be a speaker at a North Texas PRSSA chapter meeting. E- Kevin Williams at kw757@yahoo.com. ... The DFW Communicators Job Bank lists full-time, part-time and internship positions in PR, media affairs, advertising/sales, event planning, graphic design, marketing, and corporate and employee communications throughout North Texas. Employers who are members of the participating organizations may post a job listing for $50; the cost for nonmembers is $75. Nonprofits get a 50 percent discount. Each posting runs three weeks. Greater Fort Worth PRSA receives a portion of the proceeds when a member marks his or her membership status on the submission form. More from Jerrod Resweber at jresweber@webershandwick.com. ... Stay on top of emerging trends and industry news, extend your network while increasing your knowledge, and keep learning and stay competitive. Any practitioner with at least two years in the field is eligible for membership in the world’s leading organization for PR professionals. Those with fewer than two years experience or who recently graduated from college and were active in PRSSA may join as an associate member. More from membership guru Carol Murray at cmurray@fwmsh.org or 817-255-9408.

SPJ national update: How investigative journalism is prospering in the age of social media. ... The Texas Tribune: Texas considers Medicaid withdrawal. ... The Federal Communications Commission is pushing back its scheduled December open meeting from Dec. 15 to Dec. 21 — a six-day change that gives the agency extra time to decide its next move on net neutrality. All eyes have been on the agency amid speculation it might seek to adopt new rules this month that would require internet providers to treat all web traffic equally. Each of the potential GOP chairmen of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC, warned the agency to back down. More here and here and here.

SPJ national update Ii: A Cairo newspaper peddler’s route through a city of change. Just wonderful writing. Treat yourself. ... From Gawker.com: Media Matters has called former Washington Times editor John Solomon a “frequent purveyor of conservative misinformation” with a “history of distortion”; ThinkProgress calls him a “shoddy” reporter; Talking Points Memo said his pursuit of Harry Reid for a variety of purported ethical lapses in a series of AP stories relied on “key distortions and omissions.” Now Solomon has been named executive editor of the Center for Public Integrity, one of the country’s oldest and largest nonprofit investigative news organizations. ... Credit outlook for newspapers worsens.

SPJ national update III: How The Guardian is pioneering data journalism with free tools. ... Are Android phones the best option for journalism students? ... The curriculum committee for the UNLV Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies voted to suspend the program’s entrance exam. The school has traditionally required the exam to test writing ability and basic technical competence based on skills gained in pre-journalism core classes. The program’s possibilities for accreditation might be diminished as a result of the move. More here. Meanwhile, a University of Colorado at Boulder announcement that it may discontinue its journalism school in favor of a new media entity ignited the expected panic. More here and here.

SPJ national update IV: Why students continue to enroll in journalism schools. ... More major media companies are looking for ways to find cheap content. Thomson Reuters, Cox Newspapers and Hachette Filipacchi have run articles supplied by Associated Content, one of several companies, including Demand Media and AOL’s SEED, that mine reporting from masses of freelancers for as little as $5 a story. More here. ... How to combine web skills and journalism experience. ... How can SPJ remain relevant in the internet age?

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NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS

PRSA ... Kathleen Copeland, Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains

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