October 2010 Spot News

8/6/2019 October 2010 Spot News

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/october-2010-spot-news 1/8

Ford, UT’s associate athletic

director for media relations; and

Jimmy Stanton, UT’s associate

athletic director for

communications. Brent Hubbs of

volquest.com has also been invited.

WATE-TV reporter Don Dare, a

member of the board of directors

Spot News VOLUME 17, NO. 2 OCTOBER 2010

A publication of the East Tennessee Chapter

of the Society of Professional Journalists

http://etspj.org

Panel discussion will focus on

media access to sports programsWhen:When:When:When:When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26

WhereWhereWhereWhereWhere: Auditorium, third floor,

Communications Building,

University of Tennessee cam-

pus. (Ground floor if coming in

from Circle Park.)

PPPPParararararking:king:king:king:king: In Circle Park, Lot 9 or

metered spaces along Volun-

teer and Phillip Fulmer Way

Regional Conference tentatively set for Nashville, March

The question of access to

athletics departments was all over

the Internet after behind-the-scenes

video of former University of

Tennessee head football coach Lane

Kiffin’s Jan. 12 departing press

conference became a YouTube

sensation.

Now some key players in that

video will address sports reporting

and access to sports programs at a

panel discussion at 7 p.m. Tuesday,

Oct. 26, in the Communications

Building auditorium on the UT

campus.

Participating will be Bill Shory,

news director for WBIR-TV; Phil

Kaplan, executive sports editor for

the Knoxville News Sentinel; Bud

of ETSPJ, will moderate the

panel.

Shory was recognized earlier this

month with the 2010 SPJ Ethics in

Journalism Award for taking a

stand on the right of the media to

film and report the Jan. 12 press

conference. He and Dare, who won

a Sigma Delta Chi investigative

reporting award for “Protecting

Patients,” a story he did with Dave

Wignall, both received awards at

the Society of Professional

Journalists’ national convention in

Las Vegas the first week in

October.

For more information, contact

Elenora Edwards, 865-457-5459 or

[email protected].

At SPJ’s national convention earlier

this month, Region 12 director Sonny

Albarado announced that Nashville

will host the 2011 Region 12

conference, probably March 26

(though Albarado noted that the date

may change). The venue hasn’t yet

been chosen, Albarado said.

At the regional meeting during the

national covention, Albarado also

reported on action by SPJ’s National

Board cracking down on chapters

that don’t meet minimum

requirements. Two chapters were put

on probation, and three have been

termed “inactive.” National is also

working on “star” rankings for

student chapters to make them more

in line with how professional

chapters are ranked.-- Jean Ash



publisher’s support helped unlock

discoveries and answers.

“I learned to write queries and

use database managers that the IRE

uses,” Gilbert said. “It’s kind of like walking into a room that you

never knew existed and looking

around and realizing all the

different things you can do with it.

It really opened up a lot of different

frontiers for my own reporting and

was an important part of the

reporting that ended up being this

series.”

In Gilbert’s case, the newly

acquired reporting tools yielded both analysis and answers.

“Instead of just raising the

potential for it, I was actually able

to answer the question, ‘Where is

actual compliance,’” he said. “I

didn’t have to take anyone’s word

for it; you let the data talk.”

COMING UPCOMING UPCOMING UPCOMING UPCOMING UP

Oct. 26:Oct. 26:Oct. 26:Oct. 26:Oct. 26: Program on

media access to

sports programs, 7

p.m., UT Communica-tions Building audito-

rium

NoNoNoNoNovvvvv. 30:. 30:. 30:. 30:. 30: ETSPJ Holiday

Party, Cherokee Bluff

Clubhouse

MarMarMarMarMarch 25-26:ch 25-26:ch 25-26:ch 25-26:ch 25-26: Tenta-

tive date for Region 12Conference, Nashville

FFFFFeb. 28:eb. 28:eb. 28:eb. 28:eb. 28: Deadline for

Golden Press Card

Award entries

(details coming soon!)

April 29:April 29:April 29:April 29:April 29: Golden Press

Card Awards banquet,L&N Station

TTTTTO BE ANNOUNCED:O BE ANNOUNCED:O BE ANNOUNCED:O BE ANNOUNCED:O BE ANNOUNCED:

November’s program

will provide training on

social media and

ethics. Watch your e-

mail and etspj.org forinformation.

Find us onFind us onFind us onFind us onFind us on

FFFFFacebook:acebook:acebook:acebook:acebook:

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Pulitzer-winning reporter

gives talk...and gives

back to journalismGilbert speaks to ETSPJ

group, and announces

generous donation

SEE GILBERT, PAGE 8

When Bristol Herald Courier

reporter Daniel Gilbert began

researching a source’s tip about

local natural-gas royalty

mismanagement, winning his

newspaper a Pulitzer Price for public service reporting was hardly

his objective. Rather, he wanted to

find out whether energy

corporations were in non-

compliance of depositing funds

into state-controlled escrow

accounts set up to pay Southwest

Virginia property owners.

He found his answer, which

resulted in legislation to help

landowners collect funds. And he picked up a Pulitzer, as well as a

National Journalism Award, along

the way.

Gilbert, 28, spoke Sept. 23 to an

audience of about 30 at an ETSPJ-

sponsored event. He described the

investigative tools that led to his

award-winning eight-part series.

“I kind of knew the questions I

wanted to ask and the data that Ihad access to, but I didn’t really

know how to do it in a

comprehensive way,” Gilbert said.

He said he and his editor lobbied

the newspaper’s publisher to fund

Gilbert’s participation in a six-day

Investigative Reporters and Editors

boot camp, held three times a year

at the University of Missouri.

According to Gilbert, the



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Celeb columnist gives the Vegas ‘scoop’

SEE CLARKE, PAGE 8

“Sin City’s Ace Insider,”columnist Norm Clarke, is

on the speed-dials of mostdoormen, bouncers, valetsand strippers in Las Vegas,who tip him off to whichcelebrity is doing what, andwhere. Clarke held hisaudience in rapt attentionat the 2010 SPJConvention Oct. 4 in LasVegas during his session,“Five things to do in Vegas before you leave.” But he

told the group a lot morethan that.

Clarke has been the“gossip columnist” for TheLas Vegas Review-Journalfor more than a decade,and it’s a far cry from his

previous journalism career with the Associated Pressin Cincinnati, San Diegoand Los Angeles. He alsoworked at the now-closedRocky Mountain News.

He’s sensitive about, butresigned to, the “gossip”moniker, saying he workshis celebrity beat seriouslyand professionally andwith a bit of humor.

“I approach it like a copreporter or a regular

reporter,” he said. “Youhear it, you chase it, andyou’ll get a great story.”Asked how he prepares for a celebrity interview,Clarke said there’s nosecret formula: “I Google

the person.” And sincethey’re always promotingtheir next project, “you can

always ask about that.” Helikes to ask celebs for their

favorite Vegas story.“Sometimes the simplestquestions hit gold,” he said.

He reminisced about the“old days” in Vegas whenthe Rat Pack dominated theentertainment scene andtold some stories aboutSinatra, JFK and the Mob.The current celeb he wouldmost like to interview in-depth is Lady Gaga. “She

really fascinates me. Is shemanufactured? Are thosereally her quotes? Is sheanother Madonna? Is shereally sharp, or what?”




Responding to the

current journalism job

market, SPJ convention

planners offered a

profusion of sessions

aimed at business aspects

of full-time freelance

writing. Two of the

sessions that I attendedfeatured highly successful

“free-agent writers”- one

claiming net income of

more than $100,000 last

year - who emphasized the

business aspects of

freelancing.

Maya Payne Smart and

Matt Villano described

strategies that they credited

with building comfortableannual incomes for them

over the past several years.

Each pointed out that good

reporting and writing are

essential, with reporting

skills taking precedence over

writing. Among the advice

they offered for serious

freelancers:

• Think like anentrepreneur, which

involves marketing

yourself to find clients,

consistently producing

good work, budgeting,

invoicing clients, and

collecting payments.

• Build a brand by

creating an identity for

yourself and your work.

Smart says she

distributes a one-page,

forward-looking resume,

rather than a detailed work

history, and avoids time-

consuming traditional

query letters in favor of a

short letter of introduction

that focuses on what shecan offer a potential client.

She posts a complete

resume, list of specialty

areas and work samples on

her personal website or at

WritingCoach.com, which

she operates.

Both speakers

acknowledged the

importance of a personal

website. Smart said thatshe paid a designer $1,000

to design her site several

years ago but advised

against making that

expenditure today, saying

content-management

system templates look just

as good and work as well.

Other suggestions for

brand building includeddeveloping expertise in one

or more specialty coverage

areas. Smart has built a

reputation in small-

business and personal

finance and education,

while Villano specializes in

outdoor and travel writing.

Items as simple as your

photograph on a website,

an engaging URL like

WritingCoach.com, and

distinctive business cards

help set you apart from

other journalists. Blogging

can help create a personal

identity, but neither speaker

thought frequent blogging

produced a good return on

time invested.• One niche, multiple

expressions. In other

words, diversify.

Make the time spent on

research pay multiple

dividends by devising

different angles and stories

for two or more

publications. Also try to

negotiate more money for

writing accompanied by

photographs or other

multimedia treatments.

Other forms of

diversification, especially

for freelancers who

specialize, are writing

books, coaching writers

and editors and speaking

engagements. Both Smartand Villano noted that the

monetary return on time

invested for book

authorship is rarely good,

but a book can build a

freelancer’s reputation and

open doors for other

Sessions detailed freelancing successBuild brand, manage time, use

technology, speakers said

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SEE FREELANCE

PAGE 5



writing assignments and speaking

fees.• Charge professional rates for your

services. Don’t work for peanuts.

Avoid contracting with websites that

want free content or pay pennies per

word. The “Holy Grail” of

freelancing today is $1 per word,

with some publications (almost

always print, rather than online pubs)

paying up to $1.50 per word. Both

Smart and Villano acknowledge thatthey sometimes accept assignments

for less than $1 but usually only if

other factors exist - like a

longstanding relationship with an

editor or expectations of lucrative

future assignments.

When hourly rates are more

appropriate for a particular job, the

going rate ranges from $40 to $60 per

FREELANCEFREELANCEFREELANCEFREELANCEFREELANCEFFFFFrrrrrom Pom Pom Pom Pom Page 4age 4age 4age 4age 4

hour or $500 a day for corporate

clients. Smart and Villano suggested

that freelancers do a cost-benefit

analysis and realistically estimate the

time a job will require before

agreeing to a comprehensive price

and to aim for a total within $40 to

$60 per hour.

• Develop an efficient time-

management system. Smart showed

examples of Excel spreadsheets she

uses to track time she spends on eachcomponent of multiple simultaneous

projects that she is working on, as

well a system for invoicing and

collecting. Villano organizes his

billing and collecting with various

Zoho online applications and uses

toggl.com for time management.

Smart says she saves time by never

researching or writing a complete

story on spec, but she does allow

time on most days for exercise.• Learn about copyright law, good

accounting practices and tax rules

and regulations, and budget for

professional advice when needed.

Consider the pros and cons of

incorporating your business.

• Stay motivated. Earning enough

money to pay monthly bills with

profit left over is strong motivation

for any writer. Start each day byworking on something that will

definitely produce money. Research

subjects and tell stories that you care

about, but be willing to tackle less

inspiring assignments that produce

paychecks. Renting an office and

painting it hot pink helped motivate

Maya Smart, she said.

-- Dorothy Bowles


Local journalists attended

the president’s installation

banquet Oct. 5 at the

National Convention in Las Vegas, at which Bill Shory,

third from right with wife

Michelle, received his Ethics

in Journalism Award. Also on

hand for the dinner, from

left, were East Tennessee

Pro Chapter members

Georgiana Vines, Dorothy

Bowles, Jighsa Desai, and

Jean Ash.




Social media: Ethical standards still applyUsing Facebook and Twitter is a

fast way of gathering and reporting

the news but still requires

verification and journalistic

standards, a panel agreed at the

Society of Professional Journalists’

national convention in Las Vegas.

“Authentication still needs to be

done,” said Elizabeth Donald,

reporter, Edwardsville (Ill.) News-

Democrat. “We need to be making

sure that what Twitter says is true.”

She was one of three speakers ata session, “Mining Facebook,

Twitter, Etc.: The Ethical Side of

It,” during SPJ’s National

Journalism Conference on Oct. 3-5.

Other panelists were Jerry

Ceppos, dean, Reynolds School of

Journalism, University of Nevada,

Reno, and Stacey Woelfel, past

chair, Radio Television Digital

News Association. Moderator was

Jane Kirtley, Silha professor of media ethics and law, University of

Minnesota.

Donald said her newspaper is

owned by the McClatchy Co., a

newspaper and Internet publisher,

which has no formal code on

dealing with social media. But she

said she feels the standards are

stricter now because reporters

always have to identify themselves

and not misrepresent who they are

under any circumstances.

She also addressed a lingering

question of whether journalists are

compromising themselves if they

“friend” news sources, particularly

politicians.

“To friend doesn’t mean youendorse them,” she said.

Ceppos said he did not believe

journalists should friend sources.

“Yes, you are a journalist 24-7,”

he said. Journalists should not have

signs in their yards for candidates,

he said.

Kirtley said there may be

different ethical standards in the

use of public domain but

journalists should alwaysremember to treat people with

dignity and respect.

A member of the audience asked

if media should use any aspect of a

teenager’s Facebook page as part of

its reporting.

Woelfel said it was important to

verify everything.

“If we maintain standards of

quality, there is an appeal (to) this.

As individuals we have great brand

names. (The public) still trusts us,”

he said.

Kirtley told the group to

remember traditional journalists are

“not the only players now. There

are a lot of content providers whonever heard of codes of ethics and

probably don’t care.”

Woelfel’s Radio Television

Digital News Foundation has

developed guidelines for social

media and blogging, which were

made available at the session. They

give pointers for determining truth

and fairness, accountability and

transparency, and image and

reputation. They are available atwww.rtnda.org/pages/media_items/

social-media-and-blogging-

guidelines1915.php?id=1915.

-- Georgiana Vines

ETSPJ member to coordinate regional 2011 Mark of Excellence Awards

Longtime East Tennessee Society

of Professional Journalists member Jean Ash will coordinate the Re-

gion 12 Mark of Excellence awards

for 2011.

The annual awards honor the best

in student journalism. They offer

categories for print, radio, televi-

sion and online collegiate journal-

ism. Regional award winners will

be honored at the spring conferenceJean AshJean AshJean AshJean AshJean Ash

in Nashville.

First-placeregional

winners are

forwarded on

to the national

competition.

The contest

is open to

anyone en-

rolled in a

U.S. college or university studying

for an academic degree in 2010.

Students who have had full-time,

professional journalism experience,

outside of internships, are not

eligible.

Entries must have been published

or broadcast during the 2010

calendar year.

For information, contact Jean at

[email protected].



It may seem that Gene

Patterson, WATE-TV6

news anchor, and Ariel

Dreher, a freshman

studying journalism at

Pellissippi State Technical

Community College,

would have little in

common other than their

media career paths. Not

so. Both are connected toa Pellissippi State

scholarship established by

the East Tennessee

Society of Professional

Journalists and

administered by the

Pellissippi State

Foundation.

Patterson was recently

the honoree at the Front

Page Follies, a

fundraising dinner,

auction and stage show

that spoofs area

newsmakers. And Dreher

is Pellissippi State’s most

recent student to be

awarded the journalism

scholarship. ETSPJ hosts

the annual Front Page

Follies in order to raisemoney for scholarships to

be awarded to students

such as Dreher.

Were it not for the

professional society’s

honoring and spoofing

media veterans such as

Patterson, local

newcomers to the field of

journalism would have

fewer options for

financial assistance in pursuing their degrees.

Dreher says she hopes

to make her career in

magazines, telling the

stories of others.

Meanwhile, she has her

own unique story: one of

nine children, she is

enrolled at Pellissippi

State simultaneously with

both of her parents.The ETSPJ Scholarship

means a lot to Dreher and

her family, she says.

“I couldn’t believe it

when I was notified about

being selected,” said

Dreher. “To think that

there is a scholarship that

is specialized to my

major, that’s reallycomforting.”

Sarah Lilly is also a

Pellissippi State recipient

of the ETSPJ Scholarship.

Like Dreher, she

expressed surprise and

gratitude when she

learned that she had been

selected for the award.

Pellissippi students ‘thankful’ for scholarships

“I got a letter in the

mail notifying me of the

scholarship,” said Lilly. “Iwas really shocked. When

I first started school, I

was struggling. I’m so

thankful for the

assistance, because I

wouldn’t be able to go to

school otherwise.”

Lilly is also the

recipient of two

additional scholarships

through the PellissippiState Foundation: the

Access and Diversity

Scholarship and another

journalism-oriented

award, the Thomas,

Blocher, King

Scholarship.

The ETSPJ Scholarship,

which has been offered

each fall at PellissippiState since 1996, is

designed for students

pursuing a career in print

or electronic journalism.

To be considered, an

applicant must be a

Tennessee resident and

must submit a

recommendation from a

faculty advisor, teacher or

recognized professional,

such as an employer.

Lilly is interested in

journalism involving

video production. She

says she is drawn

especially to documentary

script writing.

“I so enjoy writing,”

Lilly said. “With a

documentary script, I can

be more creative than if

I’m writing a newspaper

article. My grandmother was a published poet, and

my great-grandfather was

a writer. I just naturally

have a love of writing.”

Lilly also has a love for

Pellissippi State.

“Everyone here goes

above and beyond,” she

said. “Teachers will take

time to help you, even on

their lunch hours. Theytruly care about the

students.

“Being here has

changed my life. It has

given me so much self-

esteem. Now I feel like I

can really do something.”

For scholarship

information, contact

Peggy Wilson, vice president of College

Advancement and

executive director of the

Pellissippi State

Foundation, at 865-694-

6403 or

[email protected]

-- Juli Neil,

Pellissippi State

Recipient ‘wouldn’t

be able to go to

school otherwise’

Ariel Dreher Sarah Lilly



2406 Belt RoadKnoxville, TN 37920

Y Y Y Y Y OUR ETSPOUR ETSPOUR ETSPOUR ETSPOUR ETSPJ BOJ BOJ BOJ BOJ BOARDARDARDARDARD

President:President:President:President:President:

Elenora E. Edwards

President-Elect:President-Elect:President-Elect:President-Elect:President-Elect:

Amanda Womac

SecreSecreSecreSecreSecretartartartartary:y:y:y:y:

Megan Venable Smith

TTTTTreasurer:reasurer:reasurer:reasurer:reasurer:

Dorothy Bowles

BoarBoarBoarBoarBoard memberd memberd memberd memberd members:s:s:s:s:

Patrick Beeson

Mark Boxley

Kristi Nelson Bumpus

Don Dare

Erin Donovan

Matt Shafer Powell

Georgiana Vines

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While the Pulitzer for public

service earned the newspaper a gold

medal, the National Journalism

Award included a $10,000 prize for

Gilbert. He donated the money to the

Institute for Rural Journalism and

Community Issues.“Even before I won anything, I

thought, ‘I’d like to contribute to

other rural journalists’, in small news

organizations, capacity to use skills

like this, so they can open up stories

they couldn’t otherwise get at,’” he

said.

The University of Kentucky, which

houses the IRJCI, matches

endowment donations, and Gilbert’s

money will create a $20,000 Fund for

Rural Computer-Assisted Reporting

(RCAR). The scholarship will help

rural journalists attend similar

workshops, which can cost upward

of $550 per person.

For more information about the

IRE computer-assisted reporting

workshops, visit www.ire.org

-- Elizabeth Hendrickson

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Clarke noted that Las Vegas has been greatly damaged by therecession and that gaming, whichused to provide 75 percent of revenues, is now under 50 percent,replaced somewhat by high-end

shopping.“Not for many decades will LasVegas reach its previous heights,” hesaid.

As the session ended, Clarke pulledout a pair of white gloves from his pocket and put them on. He had wornthem just hours earlier when heserved as a pallbearer in the funeralof Tony Curtis. “Curtis was a guythat you met once, he would hail youand chat; it was never like an

interview. He was like a buddy,”Clarke said.

He described several of the twodozen items placed with Curtis in hiscoffin: a photo of a son who had predeceased him, ashes from his dog,Jack, whom he had rescued from thedesert, a gold coin, a saber, hisfavorite white Stetson hat … and onePercocet.

-- Jean Ash

Documents

October 2010 Spot News