The Associated Press Media Editors Association condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the actions of the Justice Department in seizing phone records of The Associated Press.
In condemning this action, APME joins the Society of Professional Journalists, the Radio Television Digital News Association and many other journalists across the country.
"In a continuing witch hunt for leaks and whistleblowers, the Obama administration has chosen to trample the First Amendment,” said APME President Brad Dennison. "Freely tossing around the word ‘transparency,’ as this administration is prone to do, does not make it so. This action clearly demonstrates that President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. have absolutely no interest in an open and transparent government.”
2013 APME Journalism Excellence Awards – Deadline extended to May 24
APME is accepting entries for its 2013 APME Journalism Excellence Awards, which honor superior journalism and innovation among newspapers, radio, television and online news sites across the United States and Canada. The awards seek to promote excellence by recognizing work that is well-written and incisively reported.
There are four changes this year: The Digital Storytelling category is taking a more feature approach to multimedia storytelling. The Public Service Award now carries a $1,500 prize for the Overall Winner of the three divisions, as awarded by the APME Foundation. There are also more clear definitions in the Innovator of the Year categories. And the First Amendment Awards offers a $1,000 prize for the overall winner in the Sweepstakes Award, now named the Tom Curley Sweepstakes Award in honor of the retired president of The Associated Press who championed these rights. The award is sponsored by the APME Foundation.
Four of the categories offer monetary awards: the Seventh Annual Innovator of the Year Award for newspapers, the Public Service Awards, the Fourth Annual Gannett Foundation Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism and the First Amendment Awards.
All awards are presented for journalism published or launched between May 1, 2012, and April 30, 2013.
The deadline for entries is May 24, 2013
The entry fees are $75 per entry for APME members and $100 per entry for non-members.
The awards will be presented at the APME annual conference Oct. 28-30 in Indianapolis, and are linked on the APME website. The finalists of the newspaper Innovator of the Year will present at the conference, and the winner will be selected by conference attendees.
NewsTrain will be in New York City on June 6-7 for a two-day workshop on covering disasters and tragedies, including how to help staff cope with the emotional toll of such stories.
NewsTrain is sponsored by APME and this workshop is hosted by The Associated Press in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia and the Mid-Atlantic; New York Daily News; Asbury Park Press, Neptune, N.J; The Press of Atlantic City; New Jersey Press Association; The Record of Woodland Park, N.J.; New Jersey APME; Digital First Media/Journal Register Co. in Conn.; The Philadelphia Inquirer; the Philadelphia Daily News; the Albany (NY) Times Union; the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle; 1010 WINS, CBS Radio New York; The Observer-Dispatch, Utica., NY; the New York State Associated Press Association; CUNY Graduate School of Journalism; The News Journal of Wilmington (Del.); the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma; the Asian American Journalists Association.
Location: The Associated Press headquarters, 450 W. 33rd St., New York, NY.
Registration: Cost is $75 for the workshop and food service.
Musicians Bill Lloyd, left, and Don Henry, center, finish of the song "Wake Up Little Susie" along with Ken Paulson, president and CEO of the First Amendment Center, right, during a performance of Freedom Sings, a musical program by the First Amendment Center, as a part of the APME NewsTrain at the Old State Capitol, April 29, in Springfield, Ill. The event featured pieces of music that had been banned or censored along with a discussion of how music was used for social change.
NewsTrain kicked off its 10th anniversary year with a great first event in Springfield, Ill. In all, 90 journalists and students attended workshops held this week.
Freedom Sings (at right) performed at a 10th anniversary event at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site. Among the guests were Abe and Mary Todd Lincoln. See photos from this event by clicking here.
The campaign hopes to reach NewsTrain alumni and supporters across the United States and Canada. NewsTrain is still going strong, and this is the year that we hope people can give back.
Can you support NewsTrain with a $100 or more donation? If so you'll become a NewsTrain ambassador and you'll be recognized online, in the APME News magazine and at the APME conference in Indianapolis in October.
If not $100, can you give a smaller donation to NewsTrain? All donations are tax deductible and will go toward keeping NewsTrain strong for many more years.
The Spring 2013 issue of APME News might be described as our "Extreme Makeover” edition! In keeping with our mission to deliver ideas and inspiration from the media platforms of our members, you will enjoy reading the firsthand accounts by editors involved in a variety of transformations including the new print format of The Columbus Dispatch, the retooling of the website of The Roanoke Times and an innovative digital storytelling approach by the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, N.Y. You can also read one editor’s account of Gannett’s digital "turbo charge” efforts.
You can help lead the news industry during one of the most exciting and challenging times in its history.
The Associated Press Media Editors is assembling a slate of directors to serve on its national board. The slate will fill four openings on the 21-member board and be voted on during the APME's national conference Oct. 28-30 in Indianapolis. There will be one position each for a small-newspaper, online, broadcast and at-large director.
To nominate yourself or a colleague for the board, please email APME elections committee chairman Chris Cobler at ccobler@vicad.com. The deadline for nominations is June 1.
The elections committee will review and respond to all nominations.
APME is an association of editors at news organizations in the United States and Canada. It works closely with The Associated Press to foster journalism excellence and to support a national network for the training and development of editors who will run multimedia newsrooms in the 21st Century.
