Zorn headlines ‘10 convention

Eric Zorn, an editorial page columnist for the Chicago Tribune, will be the keynote speaker at the 27th Annual ICPA Convention Feb. 19-20 at Chicago’s Double Tree Hotel Magnificent Mile Hotel.

Zorn, who also writes a blog, writes on a wide range of topics. A longtime columnist, Zorn is a University of Michigan graduate, where he was a senior editor on the Michigan Daily.

Other speakers at the annual two-day convention will include veteran journalists leading sessions on new media, photography, reporting, law and film criticism, among other topics.

Register for ICPA conference

Eric Zorn is keynote speaker for the Illinois College Press Association’s annual conference set for Feb. 19-20 in Chicago. In addition, students will receive hands-on, practical advice from Chicago journalists in sessions that run both days. On Saturday at noon, we will have the awards presentation that honors the exceptional work from student-journalists across the state. To attend, you can click here and download a PDF registration form.

Sulski to be honored for lifetime service

Former ICPA President Jim Sulski (above right), a newspaper adviser and journalism professor at Columbia College, died Jan. 7 after a three-year battle with cancer. Sulski will be honored during the award banquet Feb. 20. The ICPA honored Sulski for his service to the college press this fall by giving him a meritorious service award.

ʻShootʼ Chicago back again

Two dozen student photojournalists attending the 27th Annual ICPA Convention in Chicago will get the chance to spend a day shooting the city.

In its 18th year, the “Shoot Chicago” competition will allow one photographer from each ICPA member newspaper registered for the convention to shoot a subject in Chicago. The winners may have their photographs displayed at the banquet.

To participate, shooters must register for Shoot Chicago 2010 selection no later than 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19, at the Double Tree, the convention hotel.

To qualify for participation, a student must

Newsday seeks interns

New York’s Newsday is seeking both spring and summer interns to work as an editorial assistant, as a multimedia journalist, and as a Web designer.

Newsday offers internships for college students who are preparing for careers in print journalism.

These internships will introduce students to the newsroom and will give the students the opportunity to work on daily stories. Interns work two days a week. These reporter internships are for goal-oriented self-starters who have basic interviewing, research, writing and typing skills. A car is necessary for this internship.

Click here to learn more and to download an application.

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State seeks students’ records from Northwestern journalism class

Cook County prosecutors have issued subpoenas to Northwestern University professor David Protess, requesting that he hand over student grades and private emails from an investigative reporting class that concluded a man on death row may be innocent.

Northwestern’s lawyers have already filed a motion to quash the subpoenas. A judge may act on this request today in regards to the latest class project of the Medill Innocence Project.

Protess and his students spent three years investigating the case of Anthony McKinney, who has served more than 30 years of a life sentence for killing a security guard.

Illinois college media win national journalism awards

Illinois college media excelled at the national collegiate journalism convention, winning more than 20 awards for exceptional journalism last weekend in Austin, Texas.

Columbia College

Three Illinois schools earned ACP Pacemakers in the four-year college non-daily division – The Columbia Chronicle (Columbia College), F News Magazine (School of the Art Institute of Chicago), and the Chicago Maroon (University of Chicago). The Pacemaker, sometimes called college journalism’s Pulitzer Prize, is earned for consistently solid coverage across a full year.

Two schools were finalists in the Pacemaker’s four-year daily newspaper division – Northern Star (Northern Illinois University) and Daily Northwestern (Northwestern).

Eastern Illinois University’s DenNews.com earned a Pacemaker in the online division for four-year dailies, while the University of Illinois’s the217.com earned one in the ‘other’ category. The DailyIllini.com was a finalist in the four-year daily online division while the Columbia Chronicle Online was a finalist in the four-year non-daily online division.

Kass: Be a reporter first

Jody Warner/Columbia Chronicle

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass, keynote speaker at this year’s convention, urged college journalists to report first, blog later. “What kind of bloggers get hired?” he asked. “The kind that report.”

A few other suggestions:

• Talk with your notebook closed, not open as if you’re cop. (“A notebook is not a weapon,” he said.) Deal with people at a human level before breaking out a pad.
• Notice the smaller details, something that establishes a journalist’s voice.
• Get new information for readers (and verify all the facts). “If you get the facts wrong the first time, I wouldn’t use you again,” he said.
• As a young journalist, don’t bother veteran journalists trying to do their jobs. Instead, keep your ears open, your mouth shut and “work your ass off” for the first five years – including weekends.
• Don’t try to befriend sources – especially if they’re politicians. 
• Verify facts. Is it a boulevard or a place? What was the victim’s occupation? What are the correct spellings and addresses of people who get arrested or injured?

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Chicago State editor, adviser at odds

The Student Press Law Center reports the editor of Chicago State University’s student newspaper was told his paper would not get printed.

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Welcome to ICPA

Welcome to the Illinois College Press Association’s new – and developing – blog site. Send suggestions and questions to jgisondi@gmail.com.
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