SPJ national update: AP staffers to have their pensions frozen? ... Conservatives and some liberals say NPR went too far in firing longtime
news analyst Juan Williams for saying he gets nervous on planes when he sees people in Muslim dress, and
at least one U.S. senator said he will propose cutting federal funding to the
network. Outraged Muslim groups said Williams’ remarks Oct. 18 on Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor” endorsed the idea that all Muslims should be viewed with suspicion. More here and here and here.
SPJ national update II: Treasury shielding Citigroup as deletions make FOIA meaningless. ... Despite pledges to bring a new transparency to the federal government, the Obama administration has not shown a marked change in how agencies handle Freedom of
Information Act requests, according to a report from the public interest group
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The report said a lack of
staffing and funding were the two greatest impediments to effective FOIA
implementation. More here. Meanwhile, President Obama signed into law Oct. 4 a bill revoking an FOIA
exemption for a broad range of SEC investigations and regulatory acts contained
in the recently passed Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. More here.
SPJ national update III: Claim: Hard news pays off for newspaper websites. ... Republican complaints over the Democratic National Committee filing Freedom
of Information Act requests with the Pentagon on nine potential GOP
presidential candidates are undercut by the fact that such requests are a
fairly routine political maneuver. During the last election, reporter Sam Stein writes, the Republican National Committee did the same thing. More here.
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PEOPLE & PLACES
Richard Connor and his wife, Deborah, have purchased the Fort Worth Business Press — for the third time. Both of the Connors have served at various times as
publishers of the newspaper. Deborah Connor was its last publisher when they
sold the paper in 2007 to concentrate on a daily newspaper company they
founded. Richard Connor was publisher of the Star-Telegram from 1986 to 1997.
...
Greater Fort Worth PRSA member Robert Hastings, APR+M, received the 2010 Lloyd B. Dennis Distinguished Leadership Award at the
recent PRSA 2010 International Conference in Washington, D.C. The award
recognizes an individual who has used his or her public affairs skills to
promote truth, has demonstrated high standards of integrity and honesty in
business dealings, and has helped effect positive change within an
organization. A former Army officer, Hastings is senior vice president of
communications for Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth and was assistant secretary of
defense for public affairs in 2008-2009. ...
Fort Worth SPJ board member Rebecca Guzman Bosquez joined her husband, Vince, at the 8th Annual Lone Star Emmy Awards in Dallas last month. Vince, a
photojournalist for CBS 11, was nominated for his feature story on William Lord, a boy who entertained holiday diners at the Highland Park
Cafeteria with his near-flawless piano playing.
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NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS
PRSA ... Mark Lowther, Southwest Bank ... Shelly Thompson, Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains ... Lenka Wright and Keva Rogers, North Central Texas Council of Governments ... Courtney Sanders, Child Study Center Foundation ... Christy Neilson, Christy Neilson Communications
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Tom Burke, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
MALATYA, Turkey — Congratulations to the officers of Greater Fort Worth PRSA, and thank you to
our chapter’s members. At our annual meeting Oct. 13, we established a quorum and passed new
bylaws. This was a major accomplishment.
And where was I while all of this was going on? Here in Malatya, Turkey, where I’ve been for nearly a month, on a special IBM corporate citizenship and corporate
affairs assignment. Thus, a big thanks is due for president-elect Carol Murray, APR, who presided over the October meeting and will lead the November board
meeting and November monthly luncheon while I’m finishing up the project in Turkey. I look at this as providing Carol a
running start on her presidency in 2011. I’m not sure she shares my perspective!
Also, a big thanks to board member Dan Keeney, APR, who drafted the new bylaws. It was a tedious and thankless job, but as
always, Dan tackled the project with professionalism and a spirit of
collaboration. He delivered. It’s what public relations professionals do.
And it’s what we’re doing in Turkey. I participated in the grand opening of a corporate building
for our project partner. Despite the challenge of “Turkish time,” which means a scheduled 9 a.m. start can quickly warp into a 10 or 11 a.m.
start, and a “go with the flow” attitude, the orchestration was flawless. At the conclusion, the event
coordinator and the PR person exchanged congratulatory hugs and collective
sighs of relief, especially since the opening involved the Turkey state
minister and the governor of Malatya Province. As in the U.S., “all’s well, that ends well in Turkey.”
My visit ends Nov. 14. In some respects, that will be too soon. It has been an
incredible experience. Just like a career in public relations.
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Laura Hanna, IABC Fort Worth
Your organization’s reputation doesn’t just happen. It is the result of decisions that either guide it or misguide
it, depending on who’s leading the charge. Either way, you’ll probably be on the front lines. Believe me, it’s better to be the person leading the charge than the one who gets run over by
it.
IABC’s November luncheon will feature a fascinating discussion on reputation building
and guidance by reputation management expert Bonnie Caver, head of Caver Public Relations in Austin. Visit iabcfortworth.com for details, or see the meeting notice on p. 1.
I have been contacted recently by several IABC members who want to get involved
in the organization’s leadership. They had lots of questions about how they could fit in and whether
their areas of interest might also interest other IABC members. They didn’t realize how easy it is to be active in the chapter. Whether contributing to
programming, working with our student chapter, allocating scholarships or
heading a committee, there is a place for everyone who wants to be involved.
Contact me at 817-531-5810 or
lhanna@txwes.edu to discuss how the chapter can best work with you.
I hope that everyone is busily gathering a pile of books and gift drawing items
for the annual drive to support the readers library at John Peter Smith
Hospital. Our chapter works with SPJ and PRSA to sponsor the communicators
holiday party as a way to collect books, magazines and cash to restock the
library (with an emphasis on books for children and teens). The party is
Wednesday, Dec. 1, so there’s still time to canvass our members and friends for books and attractive auction
items. It’s never too early to start (or to keep a good thing going). See the announcement
at the top of this page.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
We assign more societal import to those folks who favor us than to those who do
not. Take two people of comparable achievement, and the one who likes us just
means more to the world somehow. By this measure, Phil Record was a giant among men, for in addition to his depth and devotion as a husband
and father, journalist and parishioner, he liked me. He was so proud that SPJ
granted me one of its highest awards, named for Howard Dubin, his great friend. He might even have been miffed that no one asked him to
write a recommendation letter. I called him Mr. Record, and he called me pal (“Good talking with you, pal”), and over the years we shared several conversations on topics of the day. He
could wax at length on ethics, and not only as they applied to the newsroom. It’s eChaser policy that an obituary always goes atop p. 1, but p. 1 this time
leads with an advance for a seminar on ethics. I think he would approve.
Good talking with you, pal. Mr. Record, the honor was mine.
Closing words: “I’ll give you the whole secret of short-story writing. Here it is. Rule I: Write
stories that please yourself. There is no Rule II.” — O. Henry
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