ASPA Fall-Winter Newsletter 2011

Dr. Jennifer Greer, UA Journalism Department Chair, [email protected] Cummings, ASPA Director, [email protected] Parsons, Director EmeritusMeredith Qualls, Graduate Assistant

ASPA celebrates diamond anniversary!

ASPA News

A newsletter for media advisers and studentsVol. 24, Issue 1 • Fall/Winter 2011

Online registration for State Convention, onsite

and carry-in competitions is available at

www.aspa.ua.edu.

2011-12 ASPA OfficersPresident, Melissa Dixon (Oak Mountain)Past President, Erin Coggins (Sparkman)Vice President, Connie Nolen (Pelham)Secretary, Nikki Minoso (Vestavia Hills)

Published by the University of Alabama department of journalism

75-year festivities include lunch, dance, book and awards dinnerCome celebrate ASPA’s 75th

anniversary, also known as the diamond anniversary, with us at our annual State Convention Feb. 17-18, 2012.

It’s been years since the planning began, and it’s finally here! We hope advisers and their staffs will come join us for this special time in ASPA’s history.

This year’s convention will feature a special luncheon with the Alabama Press Association, with Washington Examiner reporter (and

former reporter for The Associated Press) Alan Blinder as the speaker. Students can meet and mingle with publishers and editors from around the state.

The annual awards will be ac-companied by dinner this year, followed by an M-Rave event in Ferguson Center. Each State Con-vention attendee will receive a book about ASPA’s 75-year history.

Register at aspa.ua.edu. (Full State Convention details on the fol-lowing pages.)

Do you have students in need? Apply for a $20 scholarship sponsored by the Alabama Press Association. Email ASPA Director Meredith Cummings at [email protected] and simply explain the student’s need.

M-Rave will host our late- night fun on Friday night Feb. 17 following the awards dinner.

M-Rave wants “to spread the philosophy of PLUR: Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. Easy to follow, simple to understand, and it makes the world a better place,” accord-ing to Daniel Morriss, a senior at

Vestavia Hills High School.M-Rave also raises and donates

proceeds from its events to the American Cancer Society, assisting in halting the disease of cancer in its tracks and saving lives.

Thanks to Vestavia Hills High School for sponsoring this event.

M-Rave: Peace. Love. Unity. Respect.

75-year Anniversary Committee Chair, Jennifer Supri (Vincent Middle High School)

ASPA News Vol. 24, Issue 1 • Fall/Winter 2011

Convention basicsState Convention will be held Feb. 17-18 at The University of

Alabama. Registration begins at 8 a.m. Friday at Ferguson Center on campus. Sessions will run from 9 a.m. to noon. The Alabama Press Association/ASPA luncheon will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Ferguson Ballroom where students and teachers can meet and mingle with newspaper publishers and editors from around the state. Sessions will resume from 1:30-5:30 p.m. The ASPA annual awards and dinner will be at 5:30 p.m. Later that night is an mRave event. Saturday’s intensive, hands-on sessions will take place at Reese Phifer Hall from 9 a.m. to noon with optional tours in the afternoon. For more details and a full schedule visit aspa.ua.edu.

State Convention costs

• $38 for Friday, which includes ASPA 75th anniversary book, lunch with Alabama media professionals, dinner and mRave event.• $22 for Saturday’s intensive, hands-on labs.• On-site competition: $10 per person.• Board members and first-time advisers attend free.• Add $25 for ASPA membership (per publication) if not a member.• Late fee of $5 will apply to registration after Feb. 10.

aBring your principal for free: Schools are encouraged to invite the principal to attend all or part of the convention. aStudent-led sessions: No adults allowed, student-led sessions on how to work with your publication/broadcast staff (for editors and managers only), and how to make yourself heard in your news-room. aSaturday’s hands-on sessions are set in the UA College of Communication and Information Sciences labs and feature hands-on and individual instruction. We have expanded our Sat-urday offerings even more this year!aBring your student newspapers, lit mags and yearbooks to share

with other students and advisers! We will have a publication swap table outside session rooms for teachers and students to share their media.aMore carry-in contests! We have added more carry-in contest

catgeories. Check online for a list of categories, or simply register online. Carry-in rules are at aspa.ua.edu on the “Contest and Critiques” tab.

This year, back by demand:Hotels

Check our website for a list of ho-tels in the area. We have rooms at the following hotels blocked off at a reduced rate while they last. Mention ASPA when you call:

• Hotel Capstone (http://www.hotelcapstone.com/) $115 plus 15% lodging and tax.

• Hampton Inn on Harper Lee Drive (hamptoninn1.hilton.com) $99 plus plus 15% lodging and tax.

ASPA will collect PennieS (we’ll tAke other money, too!) from eAch School in A conteSt At StAte convention. All money collected will go to the Student PreSS lAw center, which helPS our StudentS And teAch-erS throughout the School yeAr. the School with the moSt money winS A Prize! look for the jAr with your School’S nAme on it when you Arrive.

BRING YOUR PENNIES TO STATE CONVENTION!

Over the past four years, APA has included journalism students from Alabama colleges and universities in its winter meetings. The meeting in 2012, however, will be different.

APA’s 2012 Journalism Summit will be held in conjunction with the Alabama Scholastic Press Association’s 75th anniversary celebration in Tuscaloosa in February. Publishers and editors from Alabama’s daily and weekly newspapers will rub shoulders with high school students from across the state.

“We are excited and honored to have the opportunity to learn together with ASPA delegates,” APA’s executive director Felicia Mason said. “The energy of veteran news men and women combined with innovative, young minds will be dynamic.”

APA has long supported ASPA through the Journalism Foundation with grants and scholarships. “We want to continue and grow our involvement with ASPA,”

Mason said. “It is our link to high school journalism. This joint meeting will give newspaper folks the opportunity to learn from future readers and future employees.”

Mason said the interaction with high schools students will help newspapers as they plan for the future. “We have to build readers from the younger generation for the future of our industry,” she said. “Whether the readers of the future consume news online, on mobile devices or in print, we want them to be educated and armed with credible information.”

The event will also give APA delegates the opportunity to visit with high school newspaper advisers from across the state. It is important for local newspapers to partner with high school papers

to get students off to a solid start. Newspapers can support advisers in so many ways once the relationships are established.

The programs will benefit newspaper staff members, whether they have been on the job for years or they are just

learning the trade. The basics of conducting an interview, writing a headline or outlining a story never change, but with the rapid changes in technology, there are new processes available all the time.

“We hope APA and ASPA delegates will come away from this event with a renewed enthusiasm for their local high school papers,” Mason said.

Mason is the Executive Director of the Alabama Press Association.

Vol. 24, Issue 1 • Fall/Winter 2011 ASPA

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are just around the corner, and all of us are deep into this year’s publications.

While you are trying to maintain some sort of sanity through the deadlines while somehow still teaching your assigned classes, have you ever wondered if you are on the right track? Maybe you need a seasoned adviser to review your publications to offer some helpful hints.

This is exactly why journalism

critiques can be so helpful.

If you haven’t entered your publications for a critique or contest, I encourage you to do so. The deadline is late December, and the process couldn’t be easier.

Plus, you will receive a wealth of accolades,

suggestions and sound advice to push your publications to the next level.

National advisers who’ve spent years in the trenches will help

you kick it up a notch, guide you toward correct journalistic styles, and offer updates on the latest publication trends. You might even place in the contests!

Your staffs work hard and deserve the recognition. Log onto the ASPA website and click the tab for critiques. Send in your materials and then join us at our 75th anniversary in February as we announce the contest and critique results.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all in Tuscaloosa this February.

Dixon is ASPA Board President

Contest and critique deadlines coming up!

Melissa Dixon

APA delegates excited about joining ASPA

Felicia Mason

Q: How would you summarize the changes in the media industry over the last decade?

The biggest change has been in the way news is distributed, or communicated. Twitter, for instance, has become a major outlet for breaking news, with quick headlines and links to in-depth stories. The Internet is maturing to the extent that it’s been a force in media for years now. But during the past 10 years, the Internet has extended its reach through mobile platforms, including smart phones and tablets. The good news for journalists is that content is needed for all of these platforms and sites. Journalism is as important as ever. But it’s the distribution system that has changed. Print still has a place, but it’s no longer the prime place for breaking news. The news must be distributed instantly now, and it doesn’t wait for the next morning’s newspaper.

Q: With more than 30 years in the magazine and newspaper industry, what do you think is the most important skill for journalists to have today?

I still believe the most important skill is solid reporting and writing. Beyond that is to learn every thing you can about the different platforms out there, and how to transfer news gathering and writing skills to each one of them. This means you have to know something about video, still photography,

writing for the Internet and how to use social media to communicate. And then you need to make sure you keep up with all the new technology. Things are rapidly advancing in our industry.

Q: Of the people you interviewed while working for USA Today, who was the most memorable?

This is hard to say because USA Today gave me access to interview so many interesting people. I look back on those days as a great adventure. I got to interview musicians like Mick Jagger and Ringo Starr, and movie stars like Morgan Freeman. I interviewed TV personalities like Andy Griffith, novelists like John Grisham, and politicians/presidents that included Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and George Herbert Walker Bush.

I had the chance to meet stars like Madonna, and even got to spend part of spring training with

the Los Angeles Dodgers. But the most memorable stories truly, were the ones where I traveled to small towns and interviewed ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I always enjoyed just sitting down and talking to people in a barber shop, a restaurant, or sitting on a porch at their house.

Q: How important is high school journalism in the scope of the media at large?

High school journalism helps build a foundation that will serve journalists well throughout their career. It’s very important, and will put young journalists ahead of their fellow students when they enter college. If you want to become a writer, for instance, then start writing now. There is no substitute for working at your craft. It doesn’t happen by accident. Learn the basics in the classroom, and then go out and practice what you’ve learned.


Blinder, Mayfield to headline ConventionMayfield worked for USA Today, edited several magazines

Mark Mayfield edited House Beautiful, Traditional Home, Southern Accents and Art & Antiques. He also worked for 10 years as a writer and editor at USA Today, along with various other reporting jobs, including two years at United Press International.

I speak with some authority, since I am almost 75 years old. I am just two years younger than ASPA, which celebrates its diamond anniversary in 2012.

I’ve been involved with ASPA since 1983, for more than a third of its history. I was state director in 1987 when we celebrated the 50th anniversary. I never thought about the possibility of being around for ASPA’s 75th.

I certainly didn’t think about writing the history that I was living at the time, but that’s exactly what I’ve been doing this year. Jennifer Greer, journalism department chair, asked me to develop a written summary of our organization.

It’s been an interesting research project, digging through records of good years and bad years, even one period labeled “confidential” to minimize some intra-university squabbling over program details. I

re-experienced some of the joy and some of the stress of my 10-plus years as director when I revisited my old files.

My most pleasurable discovery was that a journalism professor I had in 1961,when I was an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, had preceded me by more than 40 years as coordinator of the Alabama High School Press Association. He served for a short time, then left to fight in World

War II. I was about a year old then. Cool, huh?

You’ll find a wartime letter in the booklet ASPA is producing in celebration of the 75th birthday. Dated January 1942, the letter announces cancellation of the spring convention due to “the status of the United States in this titanic world struggle.” Activities resumed in the late ‘40s.

Other memorabilia traces the history of ASPA and what was trending during each decade.

I recall tossing out Red Hots at Fall Regional Workshops to promote the Red Hot and Gold 50th convention in 1987. How the students scrambled for those little packets of candy! Imagine the scene if I could fling out diamonds at the celebration in February.

Parsons is ASPA Director Emeritus


Alan Blinder, University of Alabama alumnus, will be the luncheon keynote speaker this year at State Convention. Blinder currently works at The Washington Examiner, and formerly as a reporter for the American Press in Lake Charles, La., where he covered business and state government.

He also covered three branches of government for the Washington bureau of Hearst Newspapers and the Houston Chronicle.

Blinder gave us a preview of his keynote speech, which will deal with the importance of accuracy in times of crisis.

“In a world that demands

instant information, journalists too often sacrifice accuracy in the interest of speed,” Blinder wrote. “That’s always wrong, but the journalistic sin is compounded when you mislead an audience that is

already vulnerable.”Blinder certainly understands

this “journalistic sin,” and the importance of accurate information, a lesson that he learned when covering the Tuscaloosa tornado for the Associated Press last April. In high school, Blinder didn’t have a news-paper, so instead he wrote for the school’s literary magazine. He was also on the student council and

debate team. While his journalism career

did not stem from scholastic journalism, Blinder began writing for The Crimson White, the campus newspaper in college, and interned with multiple papers before graduating.

“I’ve always wanted to tell people about what happened in our world and why it matters to them. Journalism is the best gig imaginable. Every day, we witness the best and worst of the human experience, and then we get to share the story with the world,” Blinder said. “It’s cliche, but journalists have a front row seat for history. It’s a remarkable privilege and responsibility. And it’s usually a lot of fun.”

ASPA/APA luncheon to feature D.C. reporter

75th Anniversary history, planning has taken years

Alan Blinder

Marie Parsons

Calling all seniors and advisers: We have $4,000 for budding scholastic journalists

ASPA will give four awards this spring for high school seniors who work with scholastic media of any type. Seniors can compete to be named overall journalist of the year, the state’s top scholastic feature writer, and the state’s top editorial or opinion writer. Seniors can apply for one, two or three of the awards with a single portfolio. Winners of the three competitions, in addition to receiving $500, will be considered for a $2,500 J.B. Stevenson college scholarship to major in journalism. To be considered for the awards, seniors must have at least a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and have participated in high school journalism for at least a year. Applicants may be involved in any media activity – newspapers, yearbooks, literary magazines, other magazines, broadcasting and Web-based journalism.

Award winners will be announced at the ASPA State Convention in Tuscaloosa (Feb. 25-26) and will be invited to the University of Alabama in March to be recognized at the Clarence Cason Awards Banquet. Winning work will be featured on

the ASPA Web site.The competitions are as follows:

Journalist of the Year This award recognizes the most

outstanding graduating scholastic journalist. Journalists will submit five examples of their best work that demonstrate the quality and diversity of reporting, writing, photography, design or production. The Alabama Journalist of the Year will represent the state in the national Journalism Education Association contest during the spring national JEA/NSPA convention.

Rick Bragg Award for Feature Writing

The Bragg award will be given to the senior who has demonstrated excellence in feature writing throughout his or her high-school career. To enter, a student will include at least three examples of feature writing.

Rick Bragg is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his work at The New York Times, and a professor in UA’s Department of Journalism. He is a recipient of the Clarence Cason Award, the Department of Journalism’s annual prize for nonfiction.

Bailey Thomson Award for Editorial Writing

The Thomson award will be given to the senior who has demonstrated excellence in editorial or opinion writing. To enter, the student’s portfolio should include at least three examples of editorial or opinion writing.

The late Bailey Thomson was a prize-winning editorial writer for the Mobile Press-Register, and a professor of journalism at UA. Thomson was also a recipient of the Clarence Cason Award. The winners of the three awards will compete for the following scholarship:

J.B. Stevenson Scholarship This scholarship honors the late J.B. Stevenson, the son of John Stevenson, publisher and editor of The Randolph Leader in Roanoke, Ala. J.B. Stevenson made a lasting impression on the journalism community while in middle school and high school. The Alabama Press Association Journalism Foundation will award this $2,500 college scholarship to one of the three recipients above. The winner must plan to major in journalism.


ASPA to award four outstanding seniors awards at State Convention

Winners will be invited to attend March 1 Clarence Cason Awards

at NorthRiver Yacht Club

How to apply

It’s easy to enter! Applicants submit one portfolio to apply for any or all of the three awards. The portfolio should include a completed entry form, a transcript, the number of work samples indicated above for each award, three letters of recommendation and a self-analytical evaluation of the student’s “journalistic life,” using his or her most creative form. See full details at www.aspa.ua.edu under the “Contests” tab. The deadline is Jan. 27 for all award entries.

Congrats to Tori Caudill of Sparkman High School in Madison, who received fifth place in the news photo of the year competition Nov. 19 in Minneapolis at the National Scholastic Press Association Convention for her photo, at right, of North Alabama tornado devastation.

Kudos also to The Northridge Reporter, which received first place Best of Show for 8-page newspapers at the NSPA Convention, the highest the newspaper has ever placed in this contest. Three Northridge Reporter students received na-tional awards: Sara Beth Hartley won an Honorable Mention for feature writing, Alex Hauser won an honorable mention for review writing, and Jane Yu won an honorable mention for her Editorial Cartoon.


ASPA had over 400 middle and high school students and their advisers from almost 30 schools attend the workshop sessions in Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery and Mobile Sept. 12-16. Local experts rounded out the sessions at each stop around the state, from broadcast to print journalists, poets and magazine editors. Make plans now for next year’s Fall Regional Workshops to be held Sept. 12-16. For more Fall Regional Workshop photos, visit our Facebook page!

(Clockwise from top: Students in Huntsville on the air at WLRH radio; The Road Show team – yearbook session leader Lynn Strause, ASPA Director Meredith Cummings and writing session leader Laura Hunter; In Mobile, students conduct interviews during broadcast class.)

2011 Fall Regional Workshops were a hit

Congratulations to our national winners!

ASPA has received a $5,000 grant from the NEA Foundation for its mentoring program to help new advisers! If you are interested in being a mentee, go to aspa.ua.edu and click on “Links and Resources.”

A man and his children walk down the street of the Lockhart Community following the April 27 tornadoes that ripped through the state of Alabama.

The University of AlabamaASPA NewsAlabama Scholastic Press AssociationBox 870172Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0172

Nonprofit OrganizationUS Postage PaidTuscaloosa, ALPermit 16

Happy 75th anniversary ASPA!

See you at State Convention Feb. 17-18, 2012!

The Newsletter for media advisers studentsVol. 24, Issue 1 • Fall/Winter 2011

ASPA News

ASPA Fall-Winter Newsletter 2011

Documents

Transcript of ASPA Fall-Winter Newsletter 2011