APME UPDATE   AUG. 23, 2106

     

SAVE THE DATE:

Aug. 25 -- Deadline to apply for NewsTrain Diversity Scholarship

Sept. 12-15 -- ASNE-APME Leadership Conference in Philadelphia

Sept. 30-Oct. 1 -- NewsTrain in Murfreesboro, Tennessee 

Oct. 1 -- Deadline to apply to host a NewsTrain 

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APME Public Service Initiative Grants Awarded

Newspapers in Illinois and Pennsylvania have won the Associated Press Media Editors’ Community Journalism Public Service Initiative. The announcement celebrates the fifth year the smaller-newspaper initiative has awarded grants to media companies that have a website and serve a metropolitan area (MSA) of 100,000 or fewer people.

The Journal-Standard of Freeport, Ill., won for a second consecutive year, this time for its “Freeport Fish Tank” project on its crumbling downtown. The other winner is The Daily Item of Sunbury, Pa., which won for its project on heroin and prescription drug abuse crisis in its community.

“While several news organizations have tackled projects on similar issues, we felt both The Journal-Standard and The Daily Item showed fresh approaches to the projects,” said Joe Hight, chairman of APME judging panel. “We also were impressed by their records of project development and depth. We felt they were both examples to all news organization of how important these types of projects are to their communities.”

Because of generous grants from the Park and APME foundations, the initiative will award grants of $2,500 to each newspaper, plus expenses for representatives to attend the upcoming ASNE-APME conference in Philadelphia. The Park Foundation of Ithaca, NY, also funded last year’s $2,500 grants that will help the news organizations to finish their projects.

Winning projects use print and/or digital platforms, and include social media and/or a mobile strategy. Projects should be considered entrepreneurial and have the potential to be used elsewhere, including by a larger media company. 

Other previous grant winners have been the Star-Tribune of Terre Haute, Ind., for its project, “A City on the Brink: Terre Haute’s Financial Crisis;” The Enid, Okla., News & Eagle for "Under Pressure" about the city’s lack of services for poor parts of its city; The Sedalia (Mo.) Democrat for "Meth at the Crossroads"; and The Daily Citizen of Beaver Dam, Wis., for "Mental Health on Hold."

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APME Membership Renewal-Conference Discounts Offered

Join up and get big savings! If you want to become a member of APME or you need to re-up, this is your chance to save two ways!

For a limited time, get a $50 discount on your regular membership, which also gives you a $100 discount for the conference, Sept. 11-14. Or, maximize your savings for the future and become an APME Lifetime Member. You get $100 off the membership and then save on all conferences and award entries going forward.

All you need to do is join or renew and apply the discount code “2016lifetime” for the Lifetime Membership or “2016newsleaders” for the other professional membership options. Then register for the conference after you are logged in to earn the $100 member discount on conference registration.

Click here to register for the conference. Lunch tickets are $40 each for Monday and Tuesday, and a limited number of tickets are available for the Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Phillies baseball game at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13. Tickets can be reserved for $32 when you register.

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Deadline Thursday for NewsTrain Scholarships; Early Bird Deadline Coming Up

Thursday, Aug. 25 is the deadline to apply for a diversity scholarship to attend the NewsTrain digital-skills workshop in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Sept. 30-Oct 1. Successful applicants have their $75 registration fee waived, but pay their own travel expenses.

Journalists, journalism educators and journalism students from diverse backgrounds are invited to apply for diversity scholarships by Aug. 25 athttp://bit.ly/MurfreesboroNewsTrain.

Haven’t registered yet? Save some bucks and register by Sept. 1 at $75 for two days of training, light breakfasts and lunches. The price jumps to $85 on Sept. 2. Register here:http://bit.ly/MurfreesboroNewsTrain.  Discounted rooms at $109/night are available. Murfreesboro is 39 miles south of Nashville. Hope to see you there!

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WATCHDOG REPORTING

Boston Globe: Medical examiners can be a jury of one

Denver Post: Heroin leaves mark in rural areas of Colorado

Sun Sentinel:Pythons have taste for deer, birds, even alligators

Des Moines Register: School bus stopping law backfiring

Baltimore Sun: Public defenders juggle heavy caseloads

Minneapolis Star Tribune: American Indian families broken apart

Tulsa World: Suicide rates in Tulsa among highest in nation

Philadelphia Inquirer: Big real estate deals dodging taxes

Seattle Times: Chaos, trash and tears in flawed homeless sweeps

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sex offenders forced onto streets by ordinance

Read more

 

EDITORS IN THE NEWS: Donahue, Kaiser, Jenkins

  

OPEN RECORDS, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION, FIRST AMENDMENT

AP: Illinois AG orders emails disclosed, refuels privacy debate

News outlets fight for release of mass shooting 911 calls

Wisconsin reporter sues lawmaker over electronic records

Pennsylvania Attorney General steps down

Read more

  

INDUSTRY NEWS

The Tennessean to sell longtime Nashville offices

VMS publisher heading to El Paso

New Tribune owner says Huntsman Sr. will have role at paper

Provo newspaper Daily Herald sold to West Virginia company

Rochester, Minnesota, management to split duties

Gawker's Nick Denton out of the 'news and gossip business'

More cuts are coming to newspapers owned by GateHouse Media, Poynter reports.

Tampa Bay Times sells Highlands Today to owners of Sun Coast Media Group

West Yellowstone News to stop publishing in September

New York Times shuts down NYT Now smartphone app

Read more

 

IN MEMORIAM: Curry, Milner, Williams