From paidcontent.org:
The LA Times is cutting 80 jobs as it closes an Orange County printing plant as it tries to reduce costs further. The paper will rely on just one printing facility, the paper reported.
Over the past year, a number of newspaper publishers have achieved a degree of profitability mainly by lowering expenses, as opposed to growing revenue. The ability to maintain profitability diminishes over time, since there are only so many printing plants to close and only so many staffers than can be laid off, while still being able to operate a newspaper.
With less and less big items to cut, the Tribune Company paper is also looking to rein in expenses by not publishing Monday business section as a stand-alone. It will also shrink the width of the newspaper to 44 inches from 48 inches. To balance things out, the paper is creating a separate section for breaking news called LATExtra, which will publish Monday through Saturday.
The year’s barely gotten started but there have already been at least 431 newspaper jobs lost, according to Paper Cuts. The site counted 14,861 layoffs for 2009, slightly less worse than the prior year’s the 15,984 newspaper jobs that were slashed.
The latest layoffs at the LA Times comes nearly a year after it cut 300 positions—70 of which were in editorial—and folded the local news stand-alone section into the front section.
As for the paper’s parent company, last month, Tribune’s bankruptcy court judge allowed current management more time to come up with a reorg plan to emerge from Chapter 11, rejecting challenges from its creditors who tried to wrest control from the current management team under Chairman Sam Zell and Randy Michaels, who went from COO to CEO.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Freelance Writing's Unfortunate New Model
From the Los Angeles Times:
Freelance writing's unfortunate new model
With many outlets slashing pay scales, the well-written story is in danger of becoming scarce. The hustle is just beginning for new and seasoned freelancers.
By James Rainey
Trails.com will pay $15 for articles about the outdoors. Livestrong.com wants 500-word pieces on health for $30, or less. In this mix, the 16 cents a word offered by Green Business Quarterly ends up sounding almost bounteous, amounting to more than $100 per submission.
Other publishers pitch the grand opportunities they provide to "extend your personal brand" or to "showcase your work, influence others." That means working for nothing, just like the sailing magazine that offers its next editor-writer not a single doubloon but, instead, the opportunity to "participate in regattas all over the country."
What's sailing away, a decade into the 21st century, is the common conception that writing is a profession -- or at least a skilled craft that should come not only with psychic rewards but with something resembling a living wage.
Freelance writing fees -- beginning with the Internet but extending to newspapers and magazines -- have been spiraling downward for a couple of years and reached what appears to be bottom in 2009.
The trend has gotten scant attention outside the trade. Maybe that's because we live in a culture that holds journalists in low esteem. Or it could be because so much focus has been put on the massive cutbacks in full-time journalism jobs. An estimated 31,000 writers, editors and others have been jettisoned by newspapers in just the last two years.
Today's reality is that much of freelancing has become all too free. Seasoned professionals have seen their income drop by 50% or more as publishers fill the Web's seemingly limitless news hole, drawing on the ever-expanding rank of under-employed writers.
Low compensation
The crumbling pay scales have not only hollowed out household budgets but accompanied a pervasive shift in journalism toward shorter stories, frothier subjects and an increasing emphasis on fast, rather than thorough.
"There are a lot of stories that are being missed, not just at legacy newspapers and TV stations but in the freelance world," said Nick Martin, 27, laid off a year ago by the East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Ariz., and now a freelancer. "A lot of publications used to be able to pay freelancers to do really solid investigations. There's just not much of that going on anymore."
Another writer, based in Los Angeles, said she has been troubled by the lighter fare that many websites prefer to drive up traffic. A new take on any youth obsessions ("Put 'Twilight' in the headline, get paid") has much more chance of winning editorial approval than more complex or substantive material.
The rank of stories unwritten -- like most errors of omission -- is hard to conceive. Even those inside journalism can only guess at what stories they might have paid for, if they had more money.
Media analyst and former newspaper editor Alan Mutter worried last month about the ongoing "journicide" -- the loss of much of a generation of professional journalists who turn to other professions.
Writers say they see stories getting shorter and the reporting that goes into some of them getting thinner.
A former staff writer for a national magazine told me that she has been disturbed not only by low fees (one site offered her $100 for an 800-word essay) but by the way some website editors accept "reporting" that really amounts to reworking previously published material. That's known in the trade as a "clip job" and on the Web as a "write around."
"The definition of reportage has become really loose," said the writer, also a book author, who didn't want to be named for fear of alienating employers. "In this economy, everyone is afraid to turn down any work and it has created this march to the bottom."
One Los Angeles woman who also requested anonymity writes frequently for women's magazines and fondly recalls the days when freelance pieces fetched $2, or even $3, a word. Though some publications still pay those rates, many have cut them at least in half. And story lengths have been reduced even more drastically.
The writer, who once could make $70,000 a year or more, said she is now working harder to bring in half that much. "It's just not a living wage anymore," she said.
Los Angeles freelancer Tina Dupuy gained acclaim last year when she posted a YouTube video to shame editors at the Tampa Tribune into paying her $75 for a humor column on the "birthers" -- the political activists who contest President Obama's U.S. citizenship.
Up for a challenge
She said many other papers have stopped paying for opinion columns altogether --narrowing op-ed contributions at some papers to those already in syndication or those with day jobs at chambers of commerce, corporations, think tanks and the like.
"These corporate-sponsored pieces threaten to push people like me out," Dupuy said.
That's not to say that she is getting out of the business. After an earlier career in stand-up comedy, Dupuy has learned to hustle and to be "psychologically very adept at rejection."
It can be challenging, but Dupuy makes a living. "For someone who had to drive for hours to get to a gig -- to get $100 and a beer bottle thrown at them -- this is heaven," she said.
Indeed, relative newcomers like Dupuy or those who have spent their careers as freelancers -- like Matt Villano of Healdsburg, Calif. -- sound much more resilient about the revolutionary changes in publishing than the former staff writers and longtime freelancers.
The 34-year-old Villano -- whose outlets include the San Francisco Chronicle, Fodor's travel guides, Casino Player and Oceanus magazines -- said some writers struggle because they have fuzzy, arty notions about their work. They need to act more like small business people, Villano said, diversifying their skills and the outlets they write for.
Despite the endless hustle, Villano said he would not give up a career that has taken him from whale watching in Maui to the baccarat tables of Las Vegas. "I like the diversity," he said. "I like doing it on my own terms."
Villano strikes me as considerably more resilient, and sunny, than most people who write for a living. To make a go of it, the majority will require not only his flexibility, but a return of a more stable financial base for journalism.
With the advertising-driven income in a state of disarray, the source of future freelance dollars remains in doubt.
Philanthropic, nonprofit sites (ProPublica) will take up some of the slack, while other new models (Spot.Us) ask consumers to make micro-payments to put writers on specific local stories. Other websites (True/Slant) pay bonuses for stories and commentary, with writers getting paid more as they deliver bigger audiences.
It's hard to say if any, or all, will succeed. But the sooner they can take the free out of freelance, the better. Until they do, we can only imagine what we'll be missing.
Freelance writing's unfortunate new model
With many outlets slashing pay scales, the well-written story is in danger of becoming scarce. The hustle is just beginning for new and seasoned freelancers.
By James Rainey
Trails.com will pay $15 for articles about the outdoors. Livestrong.com wants 500-word pieces on health for $30, or less. In this mix, the 16 cents a word offered by Green Business Quarterly ends up sounding almost bounteous, amounting to more than $100 per submission.
Other publishers pitch the grand opportunities they provide to "extend your personal brand" or to "showcase your work, influence others." That means working for nothing, just like the sailing magazine that offers its next editor-writer not a single doubloon but, instead, the opportunity to "participate in regattas all over the country."
What's sailing away, a decade into the 21st century, is the common conception that writing is a profession -- or at least a skilled craft that should come not only with psychic rewards but with something resembling a living wage.
Freelance writing fees -- beginning with the Internet but extending to newspapers and magazines -- have been spiraling downward for a couple of years and reached what appears to be bottom in 2009.
The trend has gotten scant attention outside the trade. Maybe that's because we live in a culture that holds journalists in low esteem. Or it could be because so much focus has been put on the massive cutbacks in full-time journalism jobs. An estimated 31,000 writers, editors and others have been jettisoned by newspapers in just the last two years.
Today's reality is that much of freelancing has become all too free. Seasoned professionals have seen their income drop by 50% or more as publishers fill the Web's seemingly limitless news hole, drawing on the ever-expanding rank of under-employed writers.
Low compensation
The crumbling pay scales have not only hollowed out household budgets but accompanied a pervasive shift in journalism toward shorter stories, frothier subjects and an increasing emphasis on fast, rather than thorough.
"There are a lot of stories that are being missed, not just at legacy newspapers and TV stations but in the freelance world," said Nick Martin, 27, laid off a year ago by the East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Ariz., and now a freelancer. "A lot of publications used to be able to pay freelancers to do really solid investigations. There's just not much of that going on anymore."
Another writer, based in Los Angeles, said she has been troubled by the lighter fare that many websites prefer to drive up traffic. A new take on any youth obsessions ("Put 'Twilight' in the headline, get paid") has much more chance of winning editorial approval than more complex or substantive material.
The rank of stories unwritten -- like most errors of omission -- is hard to conceive. Even those inside journalism can only guess at what stories they might have paid for, if they had more money.
Media analyst and former newspaper editor Alan Mutter worried last month about the ongoing "journicide" -- the loss of much of a generation of professional journalists who turn to other professions.
Writers say they see stories getting shorter and the reporting that goes into some of them getting thinner.
A former staff writer for a national magazine told me that she has been disturbed not only by low fees (one site offered her $100 for an 800-word essay) but by the way some website editors accept "reporting" that really amounts to reworking previously published material. That's known in the trade as a "clip job" and on the Web as a "write around."
"The definition of reportage has become really loose," said the writer, also a book author, who didn't want to be named for fear of alienating employers. "In this economy, everyone is afraid to turn down any work and it has created this march to the bottom."
One Los Angeles woman who also requested anonymity writes frequently for women's magazines and fondly recalls the days when freelance pieces fetched $2, or even $3, a word. Though some publications still pay those rates, many have cut them at least in half. And story lengths have been reduced even more drastically.
The writer, who once could make $70,000 a year or more, said she is now working harder to bring in half that much. "It's just not a living wage anymore," she said.
Los Angeles freelancer Tina Dupuy gained acclaim last year when she posted a YouTube video to shame editors at the Tampa Tribune into paying her $75 for a humor column on the "birthers" -- the political activists who contest President Obama's U.S. citizenship.
Up for a challenge
She said many other papers have stopped paying for opinion columns altogether --narrowing op-ed contributions at some papers to those already in syndication or those with day jobs at chambers of commerce, corporations, think tanks and the like.
"These corporate-sponsored pieces threaten to push people like me out," Dupuy said.
That's not to say that she is getting out of the business. After an earlier career in stand-up comedy, Dupuy has learned to hustle and to be "psychologically very adept at rejection."
It can be challenging, but Dupuy makes a living. "For someone who had to drive for hours to get to a gig -- to get $100 and a beer bottle thrown at them -- this is heaven," she said.
Indeed, relative newcomers like Dupuy or those who have spent their careers as freelancers -- like Matt Villano of Healdsburg, Calif. -- sound much more resilient about the revolutionary changes in publishing than the former staff writers and longtime freelancers.
The 34-year-old Villano -- whose outlets include the San Francisco Chronicle, Fodor's travel guides, Casino Player and Oceanus magazines -- said some writers struggle because they have fuzzy, arty notions about their work. They need to act more like small business people, Villano said, diversifying their skills and the outlets they write for.
Despite the endless hustle, Villano said he would not give up a career that has taken him from whale watching in Maui to the baccarat tables of Las Vegas. "I like the diversity," he said. "I like doing it on my own terms."
Villano strikes me as considerably more resilient, and sunny, than most people who write for a living. To make a go of it, the majority will require not only his flexibility, but a return of a more stable financial base for journalism.
With the advertising-driven income in a state of disarray, the source of future freelance dollars remains in doubt.
Philanthropic, nonprofit sites (ProPublica) will take up some of the slack, while other new models (Spot.Us) ask consumers to make micro-payments to put writers on specific local stories. Other websites (True/Slant) pay bonuses for stories and commentary, with writers getting paid more as they deliver bigger audiences.
It's hard to say if any, or all, will succeed. But the sooner they can take the free out of freelance, the better. Until they do, we can only imagine what we'll be missing.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Paid Communications Internship Available
Hiring Communications Intern
Grace Brethren International Missions (office beside the Gordon Center) is seeking to hire a Communications Intern for the Spring Semester.
Use your communications skills for the Kingdom! You will assist GBIM’s Communication Officer in mobilizing men, women and children to the Great Commission through web, video and print media.
You will help with major projects, develop some projects on your own and assist the IMC team in other areas as needed. This paid internship lasts through the Spring semester. We will work with you to plan your work hours with your class and break schedule.
View the ministry description or download an application below or contact Jennifer Christenberry at jchristenberry@gbim.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 574-268-1888, ext. 28 for more information.
IMC Internship Ministry Agreement
Title: Communication Intern
Purpose of position: to assist in the Communication department while being mentored in ministry attitudes and skills.
Responsible to: Jim Folsom
Relates closely with: Janelle Armstrong
Main areas of responsibility:
•In the Communications department:
•Assist in projects as assigned by Jim. These could be in writing, graphic design and/or communication administration
•Assist in general office tasks as needed.
Main requirements:
•Self motivated person who is dependable and takes initiative to accomplish tasks and projects.
•Able to organize and care for many different and competing details and projects, creating and effectively using systems to assure timely follow-up
•Able to adjust creative efforts to fit parameters set by those giving direction
•Skills in graphic design and/or writing.
•Adequate skills in typical communications software.
•Comfortable interacting with people on the phone and in person
•Able to flex and rework projects and plans as conditions and needs change
Time Requirements: 10 hours per week, worked in a consistent schedule. Schedule to be developed with Supervisors.
Application available for download at www.gbim.org.
Grace Brethren International Missions (office beside the Gordon Center) is seeking to hire a Communications Intern for the Spring Semester.
Use your communications skills for the Kingdom! You will assist GBIM’s Communication Officer in mobilizing men, women and children to the Great Commission through web, video and print media.
You will help with major projects, develop some projects on your own and assist the IMC team in other areas as needed. This paid internship lasts through the Spring semester. We will work with you to plan your work hours with your class and break schedule.
View the ministry description or download an application below or contact Jennifer Christenberry at jchristenberry@gbim.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 574-268-1888, ext. 28 for more information.
IMC Internship Ministry Agreement
Title: Communication Intern
Purpose of position: to assist in the Communication department while being mentored in ministry attitudes and skills.
Responsible to: Jim Folsom
Relates closely with: Janelle Armstrong
Main areas of responsibility:
•In the Communications department:
•Assist in projects as assigned by Jim. These could be in writing, graphic design and/or communication administration
•Assist in general office tasks as needed.
Main requirements:
•Self motivated person who is dependable and takes initiative to accomplish tasks and projects.
•Able to organize and care for many different and competing details and projects, creating and effectively using systems to assure timely follow-up
•Able to adjust creative efforts to fit parameters set by those giving direction
•Skills in graphic design and/or writing.
•Adequate skills in typical communications software.
•Comfortable interacting with people on the phone and in person
•Able to flex and rework projects and plans as conditions and needs change
Time Requirements: 10 hours per week, worked in a consistent schedule. Schedule to be developed with Supervisors.
Application available for download at www.gbim.org.
Monday, January 4, 2010
A View From Great Britain
In spite of the gloomy talk about the fatal decline of newspapers and even after my abrupt departure from the Evening Standard, I am optimistic about 2010.
Of course doom-laden sentiments seem convincing. Sales are plummeting, advertising yields head south and the under-30s are unwilling to buy papers. The first result of newspapers in retreat is space being squeezed, then good writers and critics are fired and editors demand an inappropriate measure of cheeriness. At the sharper end where newspapers earn their reputation, the long shadow of Schillings falls across every editor's desk as undemocratic libel laws make investigative journalism a hazardous and potentially punitively expensive business.
And worst of all, unsavoury characters who call themselves proprietors withhold investment, imagination and inspiration to regalvanise a tarnished industry.
But there is hope on the horizon. Newspapers have always shown an amazing ability to adapt and survive. Over the past century, journalists – tough, ingenious and canny – have reinvented newspapers battered by taxes, censorship, paper shortages and trade union restrictions. With undying love for their craft, they stubbornly resist surrender.
And the best proprietors, who have never been in the business merely to pocket vast fortunes, back their editors and journalism and discover new ways to reshape the business. Lord Rothermere and David English did it with the Daily Mail. Rupert Murdoch did it at Wapping. Jonathan Rothermere proved with Metro that targeted freesheets can be profitable.
Since then, Murdoch has fallen flat on his face by waging the London freesheet war. And his defeat ignites my confidence for the future. In general, freesheets are losers. Readers want quality journalism.
Murdoch, newspapers' greatest champion, is paving the way. His "paywall" revolution is the only existing solution to the internet threat and the slide towards amateur "journalism". I know that I would happily pay a £25 per annum subscription to the Guardian online with its 24/7 comment and media and arts coverage. Mail Online's mix of celebrity and vulgarity is already an addiction for millions.
Strangely, News International sites are the weakest, with no USP, but no doubt James Harding and John Witherow will fix that. A new, leaner model of newspaper with paid-for digital content will emerge, allowing original journalism, the lifeblood of newspapers, to thrive once again as we finally pull out of recession. A bonus would be if MPs have the courage to reform the libel laws to favour searching journalism. Expos̩s Рand I don't mean sex scandals Рwould flourish. And sales would follow.
Cut loose from editing London's last paid-for newspaper, I am occupied with my new life as a portfolio woman, busy with boards, charities and the task I have set myself for the next six months, to visit every arts organisation in London that receives Arts Council funding. And will I reapply for the chair of the London Arts Council? You bet.
• Veronica Wadley is the former editor of the London Evening Standard
Of course doom-laden sentiments seem convincing. Sales are plummeting, advertising yields head south and the under-30s are unwilling to buy papers. The first result of newspapers in retreat is space being squeezed, then good writers and critics are fired and editors demand an inappropriate measure of cheeriness. At the sharper end where newspapers earn their reputation, the long shadow of Schillings falls across every editor's desk as undemocratic libel laws make investigative journalism a hazardous and potentially punitively expensive business.
And worst of all, unsavoury characters who call themselves proprietors withhold investment, imagination and inspiration to regalvanise a tarnished industry.
But there is hope on the horizon. Newspapers have always shown an amazing ability to adapt and survive. Over the past century, journalists – tough, ingenious and canny – have reinvented newspapers battered by taxes, censorship, paper shortages and trade union restrictions. With undying love for their craft, they stubbornly resist surrender.
And the best proprietors, who have never been in the business merely to pocket vast fortunes, back their editors and journalism and discover new ways to reshape the business. Lord Rothermere and David English did it with the Daily Mail. Rupert Murdoch did it at Wapping. Jonathan Rothermere proved with Metro that targeted freesheets can be profitable.
Since then, Murdoch has fallen flat on his face by waging the London freesheet war. And his defeat ignites my confidence for the future. In general, freesheets are losers. Readers want quality journalism.
Murdoch, newspapers' greatest champion, is paving the way. His "paywall" revolution is the only existing solution to the internet threat and the slide towards amateur "journalism". I know that I would happily pay a £25 per annum subscription to the Guardian online with its 24/7 comment and media and arts coverage. Mail Online's mix of celebrity and vulgarity is already an addiction for millions.
Strangely, News International sites are the weakest, with no USP, but no doubt James Harding and John Witherow will fix that. A new, leaner model of newspaper with paid-for digital content will emerge, allowing original journalism, the lifeblood of newspapers, to thrive once again as we finally pull out of recession. A bonus would be if MPs have the courage to reform the libel laws to favour searching journalism. Expos̩s Рand I don't mean sex scandals Рwould flourish. And sales would follow.
Cut loose from editing London's last paid-for newspaper, I am occupied with my new life as a portfolio woman, busy with boards, charities and the task I have set myself for the next six months, to visit every arts organisation in London that receives Arts Council funding. And will I reapply for the chair of the London Arts Council? You bet.
• Veronica Wadley is the former editor of the London Evening Standard
Banned Words of 2010
From Time magazine:
Say No More: The Banned Words of 2010
By Dan Fletcher Saturday, Jan. 02, 2010
A new year means a chance to leave some of the tired words and phrases of 2009 in the past. At least that's the theory of the wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University, who released their 35th annual (deep breath) List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.
This year's fifteen offenders make up a tech-heavy list. "Tweet" (and any variation thereof) is included, as is "friending" or "unfriending" someone. "App" — as a shortened word for application — is another offender. And at the end of a rough financial year, much of the jargon of economic pain has run its course: "In these economic times," "toxic assets" and "too big to fail" have no place in 2010.
(See the top 10 buzzwords of 2009.)
Some surprising omissions? None of 2009's most overused health care buzzwords were included ("public option," anyone?). But Obama himself makes the list, though only as a prefix — Obamanomics, Obamanation, etc. — as do his "czars." Glenn Beck could need to come up with a whole new vocabulary in 2010. .
The small Michigan university receives thousands of nominations over the course of the year before culling to the most flagrant offenders. Does the list hold any actual power? Some of the banned words from 2008 still crept into conversation last year: "bailout", "Wall Street/Main Street" and "carbon footprint" continue to be abused. Thankfully, "first dude", "maverick" and "game changer" were relegated to the sidelines.
The complete 2010 list:
1. Shovel-ready
2. Transparent/Transparency
3. Czar
4. Tweet
5. App
6. Sexting
7. Friend as a verb
8. Teachable Moment
9. In These Economic Times...
10. Stimulus
11. Toxic Assets
12. Too Big to Fail
13. Bromance
14. Chillaxin'
15. Obama as a prefix
Say No More: The Banned Words of 2010
By Dan Fletcher Saturday, Jan. 02, 2010
A new year means a chance to leave some of the tired words and phrases of 2009 in the past. At least that's the theory of the wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University, who released their 35th annual (deep breath) List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.
This year's fifteen offenders make up a tech-heavy list. "Tweet" (and any variation thereof) is included, as is "friending" or "unfriending" someone. "App" — as a shortened word for application — is another offender. And at the end of a rough financial year, much of the jargon of economic pain has run its course: "In these economic times," "toxic assets" and "too big to fail" have no place in 2010.
(See the top 10 buzzwords of 2009.)
Some surprising omissions? None of 2009's most overused health care buzzwords were included ("public option," anyone?). But Obama himself makes the list, though only as a prefix — Obamanomics, Obamanation, etc. — as do his "czars." Glenn Beck could need to come up with a whole new vocabulary in 2010. .
The small Michigan university receives thousands of nominations over the course of the year before culling to the most flagrant offenders. Does the list hold any actual power? Some of the banned words from 2008 still crept into conversation last year: "bailout", "Wall Street/Main Street" and "carbon footprint" continue to be abused. Thankfully, "first dude", "maverick" and "game changer" were relegated to the sidelines.
The complete 2010 list:
1. Shovel-ready
2. Transparent/Transparency
3. Czar
4. Tweet
5. App
6. Sexting
7. Friend as a verb
8. Teachable Moment
9. In These Economic Times...
10. Stimulus
11. Toxic Assets
12. Too Big to Fail
13. Bromance
14. Chillaxin'
15. Obama as a prefix
Sunday, January 3, 2010
EPA Scholarship App Deadline Approx. Mid-March
I'd like to see at least a half-dozen of our journalism students applying for these. Forms are available at www.epassoc.org -- type "scholarships" into the search box.
EPA offers scholarships to journalism students
EPA awards several scholarships each year to students preparing for a career in print journalism. The amount varies from year to year but grants generally range from $1,000 to $2,500. The awards are announced at the annual membership meeting. The application form is available on-line.
EPA awards several scholarships each year to students preparing for a career in print journalism. The amount varies from year to year but grants generally range from $1,000 to $2,500. The awards are announced at the annual membership meeting.
Candidates must be majoring or minoring in journalism or communications. Preference is given to -- but not restricted to -- students with an interest in the field of Christian journalism.
Recipients must be third- or fourth-year undergraduates or graduate students with at least one year of full-time study remaining when they receive the awards (meaning that most applicants are sophomores or juniors).
Students must be enrolled at an accredited Christian or secular college or university in the U.S. or Canada. Candidates must have maintained a B-average or better.
The deadline for scholarships for the 2008-2009 academic year is March 20, 2009 NOTE: I'm trying to find the 2010 deadline) . You can download an application from this web site as a PDF file. You’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and print the file (it’s a free download).
If you're a publication member of EPA, you can download a public service ad promoting the scholarship program.
EPA offers scholarships to journalism students
EPA awards several scholarships each year to students preparing for a career in print journalism. The amount varies from year to year but grants generally range from $1,000 to $2,500. The awards are announced at the annual membership meeting. The application form is available on-line.
EPA awards several scholarships each year to students preparing for a career in print journalism. The amount varies from year to year but grants generally range from $1,000 to $2,500. The awards are announced at the annual membership meeting.
Candidates must be majoring or minoring in journalism or communications. Preference is given to -- but not restricted to -- students with an interest in the field of Christian journalism.
Recipients must be third- or fourth-year undergraduates or graduate students with at least one year of full-time study remaining when they receive the awards (meaning that most applicants are sophomores or juniors).
Students must be enrolled at an accredited Christian or secular college or university in the U.S. or Canada. Candidates must have maintained a B-average or better.
The deadline for scholarships for the 2008-2009 academic year is March 20, 2009 NOTE: I'm trying to find the 2010 deadline) . You can download an application from this web site as a PDF file. You’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and print the file (it’s a free download).
If you're a publication member of EPA, you can download a public service ad promoting the scholarship program.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Journalism Advisors Trained for Industry Changes
Journalism advisors trained for changes in industry
The buzz around the journalism industry seems focused on a concern that online media will overtake print, thereby challenging long-existing advertising models used to generate revenue. Whatever the outcome turns out to be, writers across the country are finding that the resources for employment are available and interest in the field remains high among young professionals.
To give the industry extra support, a charitable organization called the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation has announced plans to grant the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) more than $4.6 million over the next five years. Specifically, the money will be used to sustain a prominent training program for high school journalism advisors at the Reynolds High School Journalism Institutes around the country.
"In too many instances, youth journalism programs are under stress or marginalized," said ASNE president Martin Kaiser who edits the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "To counter this, institute alums and their students emerge as leaders, making the case that journalism has strong interdisciplinary value, imparts practical life skills applicable to any career and creates a sense of community."
The Reynolds Institutes aim to instruct teachers on the nuances of journalism, focusing specifically on how the First Amendment and news literacy contribute to American democracy, according to the school's mission statement.
During two-week training session, a total of 175 journalism advisors engage in an analysis of topics such as journalistic responsibility, ethical decision-making and news media freedoms.
Over the last three years, more than 400 journalism teachers have received training from the Reynolds Institute, more than half of whom teach at schools in which America's ethnic minority groups represent a majority of students.
A 2007 survey by ASNE showed that minorities accounted for just 13.6 percent of news media employees in the U.S. and less than 11 percent of supervisory roles are filled by minorities.
The buzz around the journalism industry seems focused on a concern that online media will overtake print, thereby challenging long-existing advertising models used to generate revenue. Whatever the outcome turns out to be, writers across the country are finding that the resources for employment are available and interest in the field remains high among young professionals.
To give the industry extra support, a charitable organization called the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation has announced plans to grant the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) more than $4.6 million over the next five years. Specifically, the money will be used to sustain a prominent training program for high school journalism advisors at the Reynolds High School Journalism Institutes around the country.
"In too many instances, youth journalism programs are under stress or marginalized," said ASNE president Martin Kaiser who edits the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "To counter this, institute alums and their students emerge as leaders, making the case that journalism has strong interdisciplinary value, imparts practical life skills applicable to any career and creates a sense of community."
The Reynolds Institutes aim to instruct teachers on the nuances of journalism, focusing specifically on how the First Amendment and news literacy contribute to American democracy, according to the school's mission statement.
During two-week training session, a total of 175 journalism advisors engage in an analysis of topics such as journalistic responsibility, ethical decision-making and news media freedoms.
Over the last three years, more than 400 journalism teachers have received training from the Reynolds Institute, more than half of whom teach at schools in which America's ethnic minority groups represent a majority of students.
A 2007 survey by ASNE showed that minorities accounted for just 13.6 percent of news media employees in the U.S. and less than 11 percent of supervisory roles are filled by minorities.
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