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Vol. 6, No. 1 February 2001
A publication of the East Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists

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GPC update broadens scope Managers to discuss ethics Newsweek science editor to speak at UT NPR anchor to speak at UT symposium Journalists follow the truth Briefly noted

GPC update broadens scope

Several changes adopted by the SPJ Board this fall will broaden the Golden Press Card awards scope. A new division is now added to several categories called Organizational Communications. This includes a publication or audio/video presentation produced by a corporation, government agency, educational institution or non-profit group. Press releases are not eligible. Members of PRSA and area agencies that have newsletters or create other presentations are invited to submit entries in the Organizational Communications division in several newspaper, broadcast, and editing and design categories. However, only traditional journalism entries will be considered for the Horace V. Wells Jr. Community Service Award. The Work for Other Media category (Number 24), which is designed particularly for free-lance work, adds a division called Visuals to its existing division for written work. The new division

includes page design, informational graphics, art and photo illustrations, photographs or cartoons for print or electronic (including online) media. The Writing division also now specifically mentions work for online media. Finally, the World Wide Web category now specifies that the Web sites main offices must be located in the East Tennessee area as defined in the Entry Rules. The GPC Call for Entries has already been mailed to ETSPJ members and news organizations, but details of the rules and entry form may be downloaded from the ETSPJ website: http://www.korrnet.org/etspj/entry.htm. Entries must be received no later than March 2, 2001. Winners will be recognized at the annual banquet April 27 at the Riverside Tavern. The GPC Awards Revision Committee spent long hours discussing and fine-tuning proposed changes. Its members deserve hearty thanks for making the awards better than ever.

Managers to discuss ethics

Managers of local media will discuss ethics at the February meeting of the East Tennessee Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists at 7 p.m., Feb. 19, in the Crest Room of the University Center on the UT campus. Media and Ethics in the New Age is the topic. Panel members are Bob Benz, director of online content and development for Scripps new media at Digital Crossing; Lara Edge, managing editor of the Knoxville News-Sentinel; Margie Nichols, news director at WBIR-TV, Channel 10; and Brian Trauring, news director at WATE-TV, Channel 6. Dorothy Bowles, professor of journalism at UT, will serve as moderator. Coincidentally, the Chicago Headline Club and the Loyala University Chicago Center for Ethics have established a free hotline for journalists who have questions about ethics. The number is 312-409-3334. The goal is to increase credibility and professionalism in journalism.

Newsweek science editor to speak at UT

Sharon Begley, award-winning science writer and science editor for Newsweek magazine, will speak on Why Science Journalism

Isnt Science at 8 p.m. on Monday, March 5 at the University of Tennessee in the University Centers Cumberland Suite. The occasion is the School of Journalisms annual Alfred and Julia Hill Lecture on Science, Society, and the Mass Media. The lecture is free to the public, and will be followed by a reception and refreshments. Begley began her career at Newsweek 24 years ago, right after graduating from Yale University with a concentration in physics. Less than two years later she received the first of her many writing prizes, the Claude Bernard Award for Medical Reporting. Since then she has won two Page One Awards from the Newspaper Guild of New York, two Global Awards for Media Excellence from the Population Institute, two Deadline Club Awards for best feature reporting in a magazine, and many other honors for her writing. In just the past seven years, Begley has written the cover story for Newsweek 28 times, on subjects ranging from the puzzle of genius to global warming, from the evolution of life to human infertility, and from colliding galaxies to curing cancer. A recent cover story bore this title: Little Lamb, Who Made Thee? Send in the Clones. The Alfred and Julia Hill Lecture series brings distinguished science communicators to Knoxville to speak on important issues in science, society, and the mass media. This endowed lectureship entrusted to the School of Journalism was made possible by a gift from Tom Hill, former publisher of The Oak Ridger, and his sister Mary Frances Hill Holton, in honor of their parents, who founded the newspaper.

NPR anchor to speak at UT symposium

by Bonnie Riechert Political communication will be the focus of two special days of activities planned in Knoxville on Thursday and Friday, March 1 and 2. The UT College of Communications will hold the annual Freedom Forum First Amendment Lecture and Research Symposium featuring Jean Cochran and Jeffrey Dvorkin of

National Public Radio. Cochran, NPR Morning Edition news anchor, will deliver the Freedom Forum lecture at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 1, in the Crest Room of the University Center on the UT campus. A reception will follow the lecture. The Research Symposium is Friday, March 2, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the University Club on Neyland Drive. Faculty members and graduate students will present research papers in the morning. Dvorkin, NPR ombudsman, is the luncheon speaker, scheduled for 11:30. To attend, make out a check to UT for $12 ($6 for students) and send it before Feb. 23 to Diane King, Room 426, UT College of Communications, Knoxville, Tenn., 37996-0347. Additional research papers will be presented following the luncheon. A panel presentation at 3:30 on Friday will feature Frank Gibson, political editor of The Tennessean, and Patricia Freeland, head of the UT political science department. For more details on the program as they become available and to confirm start times for the events, please check the calendar listing on the ETSPJ home page. Members of SPJ are invited to attend.

Journalists follow the truth

by Bonnie Riechert Journalists have a magnificent obsession to follow the truth wherever it leads us, Helen Thomas said at the 2000 SPJ National Convention in October in Columbus, Ohio, as she was accepting the organizations lifetime journalism award created in her honor. I think were in the greatest profession, she added. Helen Thomas is an icon in our business, said Kyle Elyse Niederpruem, 1999-2000 SPJ Board president and an assistant city editor at The Indianapolis Star, and were honored to create a lifetime achievement award in her honor and perpetuity. Thomas, famous for asking the first question at presidential press conferences, began her career in Detroit in the 1940s. She worked for the Washington Daily News, and in 1961, she became

the UPI White House correspondent, a position she retained until her retirement. Thomas was honored at the national convention as the first-ever recipient of SPJs Lifetime Achievement Award. In years to come, the Society will present a lifetime achievement award named for Thomas.

Briefly Noted
Showing off the plaque ETSPJ won at the SPJ national convention for being the top small chapter in Region 3 are from left, seated, Lisa Hood Skinner, Wynne Brown, Sally Guthrie and Jean Ash. Standing are Adina Chumley, Jan Maxwell Avent, Dorothy Bowles and Bonnie Riechert.

Members of ETSPJ express sympathy to Jean Ash whose father, Neil Cumming, died on Jan. 12. Mr. Cumming, 80, lived in Flat Rock, N.C. He helped build many houses for Habitat for Humanity and was a volunteer for Four Season Hospice, which named him volunteer of the year in 1995. For 31 years he worked as a technical assistant with Bell Labs. Services were held Jan. 15. Memorial contributions may be made to Four Seasons Hospice, Elizabeth House, P.O. Box 2395, Hendersonville, N.C. 28793. ETSPJs newest member is Sam Brown, anchor of the morning drive news on WNOX AM/FM, NewsTalk 99, and WSMJ-FM, Smooth Jazz. He also does investigative and feature reporting for the Dick Broadcasting Corporation. Browns e-mail address is sambrown@newstalk99.com.

Updated February 2001 by Sally A. Guthrie