SPJ national update III: Spying is good; less news is good; and nips and perqs. The House on July 8 refused to block the USA Patriot Act where it facilitates spying on people's reading habits. GOP leaders kept the vote open 23 minutes as they persuaded about 10 Republicans who initially supported the roll-back to change their votes. Rep. C.L. Otter, R-Idaho, an advocate of the defeated provision, told reporters: "You win some, and some get stolen." See here. Last year on the Medicare overhaul, House GOP leaders held the vote open three hours until they got their way. An administration investigation into that law confirms there was an effort to keep its costs from Congress and the public. See here. ... Approximately 460 Voice of America staffers signed a petition accusing its Broadcasting Board of Governors of "dismantling the nation's radio beacon" piece by piece and broadcasting "less news, information and analysis to fewer countries for fewer hours in fewer languages." More here. ... The New Yorker reported in its July 26 edition that members of all four branches of the U.S. military can get face-lifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and nose jobs for free. "Anyone wearing a uniform is eligible," the chief of plastic surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio told the magazine. Between 2000 and 2003, military doctors performed 496 breast enlargements and 1,361 liposuction surgeries on soldiers and their dependents, the magazine said.
SPJ national update IV: DeLay lawyers up; facilitate FOI; and the best kind of spontaneity -- staged. Following a trail blazed by both his president and vice president, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has retained not one, but three lawyers to defend him in a congressional ethics probe and an ongoing investigation into Texas' 2002 legislative races. See here. ... The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press on July 27 urged the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., to clarify the standard for when government agencies must more quickly process FOI requests. More here. ... Remember those jubilant Iraqis toppling Saddam Hussein's statue April 9, 2003, after he had been chased from Baghdad? Now the U.S. military admits that it conceived the stunt with the help of a fast-thinking Army psychological operation. See here.
SPJ national update V: The networks, the Times, CBS -- they all roll over. U.S. news networks agreed to censorship of certain images of Saddam Hussein's court appearance June 24. Even before the hearing began, CNN and Al-Jazeera, the pool camera crews, were told to disconnect their audio equipment. ... Institutional failures at The New York Times enabled a "cunning campaign" by those who wanted the world to believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the paper's ombudsman says. Daniel Okrent said some stories pushed the Pentagon line so aggressively, "you could almost sense epaulets sprouting on the shoulders of editors." The Times now admits that it did not question Iraq WMD assertions before the war strongly enough partly because it "did not listen carefully" to those who raised those doubts. See here. ... CBS, which bowed to conservative heat on its TV miniseries "The Reagans," was the big winner of this year's Jefferson Muzzles given by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. CBS also refused to air a 30-second Super Bowl commercial from GOP-critical Moveon.org, while allowing erectile dysfunction ads and Janet Jackson's halftime hoo-ha.
==================================================
PEOPLE & PLACES
Need a speaker for your next meeting? The newly created Speak Freely links Tarrant-area groups with speakers eager to make funny, serious, motivational or just informational presentations at no charge. Pick a topic: "The Dog of My Nightmares: A Humorous Tale (Tail)," "Becoming a Marketing Guerrilla," "Nine Big Mistakes Investors Make." And that's just the short list. More at speak-freely.info. ... Entries from the UTA Shorthorn and Renegade magazine are finalists for three national Mark of Excellence awards, the highest honor SPJ gives for student media. Winners will be announced at the SPJ National Convention in September. ...
The Wise County Messenger parlayed the work of Skip Nichols, Lisa Davis, Robert Morgan and Joe Duty into first place in eight of nine categories and second in the ninth and won sweepstakes in recent West Texas Press Association competition. Messenger publisher Roy Eaton received the Harold Hudson Memorial Award for his contributions to the newspaper industry. Hudson, who died in 1991, was the publisher of the Perryton Herald and, like Eaton, a past president of both the Texas Press Association and the National Newspaper Association. ...
The Star-Telegram took home two firsts (Chris Kelly, Tim Madigan), a second (Ken Parish Perkins) and a third (Andrew Marton), and Heather Svokos, who starts working at the paper this month, won a third place for short features in Division II in the recent American Association of Sunday and Features Editors national writing competition. The S-T's division had more than 1,800 entries. ...
Cancer Care Services, an agency that provides direct post-diagnosis assistance to cancer patients and their families, has been chosen over 15 other local nonprofits to receive assistance with PR strategy in the coming months from Greater Fort Worth PRSA. PRSA members are invited to contact the other 15 organizations if they can help. To volunteer, reach Julie O'Neil at (817) 257-6966 or j.oneil@tcu.edu. ...
The nonprofit Texas Inmate Services (mission statement: "Inmates helping inmates to make the transition from prison to the 'free world,' breaking the cycle of crime and incarceration for inmates, ex-offenders and their families") is strengthening its Board of Directors and desires to have a board member with PR experience. Founded in 1997, the organization is enjoying growing community support and recently obtained a $220,000 HUD grant for a transitional housing program. More from board member Tim Stevens, (817) 922-9724 or smetzs@prodigy.net.
