eChaser: November 2011 / p3

BOOKS

Star-Telegram Watchdog columnist Dave Lieber, who usually helps solve other people’s problems in his Friday/Sunday feature, shows how he dealt with his own problem in his new book, “Bad Dad.” As part of his columnist duties, Lieber investigated an area police department and its city government for a dozen years. His stories helped lead to the recall of council members, removal of a city manager and the resignation of a police chief only one day after his hiring was announced. No surprise that Lieber had few friends there. In that same town, in 2008, he took his then-11-year-old son to a McDonald’s. When his son misbehaved, Dave told him to walk home, less than a mile away. When Dave returned, police were waiting. He was arrested and charged with two felony counts. Now “Bad Dad” shares the rest of the story. “Good Morning Texas” calls the book “fantastic.” KVIL-FM: “An extraordinary story. An extraordinary book.” Fort Worth Weekly: “Fascinating, full of humor, drama.” More on the book and all things Lieber at baddadbook.com.

===========================================================

PEOPLE & PLACES

The TCU Schieffer School of Journalism is the new home of the Associated Press Fort Worth bureau. AP Fort Worth correspondent Angela Brown, in 2004 the Texas Associated Press Media Editors’ Reporter of the Year and twice a recipient of a Fort Worth SPJ First Amendment Award, will be headquartered in the Convergence Center in TCU’s Moudy Building. According to the AP, only one other academic journalism program, at the University of Missouri, hosts a bureau; the Schieffer School is a division of the TCU College of Communication. For more than half a century, the Fort Worth bureau was in the downtown Star-Telegram office. The bureau’s legacy includes coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, numerous international news events and recently the Fort Hood shootings and the Texas Rangers’ federal bankruptcy case. ... Still on University Drive, the Strategic Communication program in the TCU Schieffer School of Journalism has received a $50,000 grant from The Century Council, a not-for-profit organization funded by distillers to fight drunken driving and underage drinking. The grant was awarded based on an approach to educating peers on the symptoms of alcohol poisoning, as presented in a submission to the 2009 American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition. More than 140 teams participated in NSAC. The Schieffer School also is one of the first four schools to receive visiting j-business professors next spring under a $1.67 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. The five-year program ultimately will create 11 visiting professorships at 11 schools.

===========================================================

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Carol Murray, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

From everything I heard and saw during the 2011 PRSA Digital DFW Communications Summit, the seminar was a huge success for both the Fort Worth and Dallas chapters. And we have the Statue of Liberty to thank.

On a boat ride to the statue during the PRSA Leadership Rally in June 2010, I met Rachel Hedstrom, then president-elect of the Dallas chapter. Rachel and I agreed that our chapters could benefit by occasionally joining forces, and we committed to make that happen in 2011. The result was a joint tour of Cowboys Stadium and networking in July and the recent information-packed communications summit in Las Colinas. Members from both chapters have greatly benefited from the collaboration.

That’s a bit ironic considering that Nov. 10 we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Greater Fort Worth Chapter — when we officially split from the North Texas Chapter! Being separate has enabled both chapters to better serve their members and strengthen the profession throughout North Texas. Coming together now and then gives us the best of both worlds. Thank you, Lady Liberty. (And I hope to see you all Nov. 10.)

-----

OVER & OUT

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

There are a number of good lines in Lou Brooks’ Star-Telegram obituary, but this might be the best: “Although diminutive in size, Lou Brooks was a bigger than life character.” Maybe it was the company she kept. Gov. Ann Richards, Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, Fort Worth Mayor Bob Bolen — she campaigned for them all. She campaigned tirelessly, too, for Fort Worth SPJ; the organization’s former executive secretary, she was among its most loyal fans. She continued to pay chapter dues even after she moved to Houston, where she was an assistant librarian at St. Francis Episcopal Day School, entertaining the children with stories from her days as a women's rights marcher and Texas political insider. Her last e-mail to me was Dec. 6, 2010. “Sure miss all of you,” she wrote. “I'm still working and having a ball.” Everything she did, she did with gusto. She was charming and strong-willed, spirited and capable. She died Sept. 22; she was 84. She came home to Fort Worth to be buried. Mike Cochran: “I remember Lou as a lovely, energetic and generous lady who for years was the heart — and maybe the soul — of Fort Worth SPJ.” Precisely. ...

Fort Worth SPJ is looking for professionals to mentor students in the UTA chapter. The program will be flexible, with interaction and activities decided by the participants. One of the students, for instance, says she would like to shadow her mentor as often as schedules allow. UTA faculty adviser Kim Pewitt-Jones will match the professional with the student. Contact her at 817-480-1229 or kim56@tx.rr.com. ...

Applications deadline is Nov. 14 for the Sports Journalism Institute’s 2012 installment, June 1-8 at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Students will complete an eight-day class followed by paid internships in newsrooms across the country. Start here. ...

SPJ has joined the Association of Health Care Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors in a letter protesting the removal of a public data file on doctor performance by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. The academic community is now in the fight for access to this important information, and new SPJ president John Ensslin has written a blog post on the subject. Speaking of Ensslin, he covers local government for The Record in Bergen, N.J., and plans to focus his efforts as president on chapter health and membership. Read about his installation at the Excellence in Journalism 2011 conference in September. And speaking of that, here’s the wrap-up.

Caught my eye. CBS reporter says White House official cursed at her over story. ... Perry officials spark revolt after doctoring environment report. ... Could a new shipping route through the Arctic reduce global emissions? ... Scientists discover virus that kills all grades of breast cancer ‘within seven days.’ ... Climate change jeopardizes the world’s water infrastructure. ... Lead climate change skeptic scientist admits global warming is real. ... Meet the zero-energy robot that can walk just like a human. ... Pavegen tiles harvest energy from footsteps. ... Asia pays watery price for overdevelopment. ... How climate change could impact computer hardware. ... Comfort shoes with embedded GPS to keep track of Alzheimer's patients. ... Social project uses pop bottles to provide indoor lighting for the poor. ... Hertz launches electric bicycle rental scheme In London. ... The LifeStraw makes dirty water clean.

Closing words: "What I grew up with was, if there's an unmet need in the world, you try to meet it, and if there's a problem, you try to solve it." — Hedda Bolgar, who at 102 still works four days a week as a psychotherapist in Los Angeles

Closing words II, Tea history division: “The reason that we fought the Revolution in the 16th century was to get away from that kind of onerous crown, if you will.” — Texas Gov. Rick Perry, saying the American Revolution took place two centuries before it actually did

Closing words III, I’ll see your Rick and raise you a Joe: “His mom lived in Long Island for 10 years or so. God rest her soul. And although she's — wait, your mom's still, your mom's still alive. Your dad passed. God bless her soul." — Vice President Joe Biden on the mother of Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who is very much alive