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Spot NewsVol. 15, No. 7 MARCH 2009

A publication of the East Tennessee Chapterof the Society of Professional Journalists

www.etspj.org

Environmental journalismconference coming March 2

SEE FROM THE PRESIDENT, PAGE 2

From the presidentBY MIA RHODARMER

ETSPJ

RHODARMER

SEE CONFERENCE, PAGE 2

DETJEN

As journalists we often

hear from our readers andviewers that we focus toomuch on the bad news andnot enough on the goodnews.

Some days that is prob-ably true. But, we alsoknow bad news sells, andwe all must sell our product, whetherits print or broadcast, in order to stay inbusiness. My circulation manager and Ioften look at the number of paper saleson certain days and review what was in

the headlines. Most of the time it was thebad news that sold the greatest numberof papers.

This past Monday (March 2) during atribute to Paul Harvey, I heard a rebroad-cast of one of his shows discussing thatvery topic. He gave examples of newspa-pers that tried to print nothing but goodnews but soon went out of business. So,people can tell us they want more goodnews, but they will continue to buy thebad news.

In many ways we are the face of ourcommunities, so that means our report-ing should be as diverse as the places welive. But as journalists we dont createthe news, we report the news, and somedays, just as in our personal lives, thereis more bad news, and other days there ismore good news.

Speaking of which, is there any goodnews lately for the news media business?with news of media companies going

The East Tennessee Soci-ety of Professional Journal-

ists will be host for WritingGreen: An EnvironmentalJournalism ConferenceFriday, March 27, in Knox-ville. The conference willtake place in the banquethall above Calhouns on the River from 9a.m. to 5 p.m. Panelists will discuss envi-ronmental issues in Southern Appalachiaand provide journalists tools for coveringthe environmental beat.

Environmental issues are inherentlycomplex and often contentious, and to

be reliable reporters, journalists need tounderstand the natural systems at risk, theinterplay of impacts and the perspectivesand interests of the many involved stake-holders, said Randall Gentry, director ofUTs Institute for a Secure and SustainableEnvironment. The institute is a co-sponsorof the conference. By presenting a rangeof expert perspectives, this conference willhelp advance journalists understandingof the science and policy behind many ofour regions most pressing environmentalconcerns, he said.

Jim Detjen, director of the Knight Centerfor Environmental Journalism at MichiganState University, Lansing, will deliver thekeynote address at lunch.

The conference is co-sponsored by theInstitute for a Secure and Sustainable En-vironment and University of TennesseesEnvironmental Studies Program. Cost forthe conference is $15 for SPJ members andstudents and $20 for nonmembers. Regis-tration fees include lunch and conferencematerials. Registration deadline is March20. Cost at the door is $30. The conference

is open to the public. One can regionline at http://etspj.org/environmenconference/registration.

Session I, Introduction to Envirmental Issues in Southern Appalac

will provide journalists an overvof water, air, energy and transportatissues. Panel members are Dr. RanGentry, director of the Institute for a cure and Sustainable Environment (ISSJonathan Overly, executive director, ETennessee Clean Fuels Coalition; andSteven Smith, executive director, SouthAlliance for Clean Energy (SACE). John Nolt, UT professor of environmeethics, will moderate the panel.

Session II, Environmental Law Policy, will help journalists answer to

questions about evaluating independresearch and navigating through thephabet soup of environmental law. Pamembers are Professor Dean Rivkin, College of Law; Dr. Christian Vossler,professor and ISSE program leader energy and environmental policy reseaand Don Barger, senior regional direcNational Parks Conservation AssociatAmy Gibson, director of developmand policy research at the Baker Cenwill moderate.

http://www.etspj.org/http://etspj.org/environmental-http://etspj.org/environmental-http://etspj.org/environmental-http://www.etspj.org/

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Mia Rhodarmer, presidentJean Ash, first vice president

and communications coordinatorElenora E. Edwards, second vice president/

Golden Press Card Awards and Spot Newseditor

John Huotari, secretary and immediate pastpresident

Dorothy Bowles, treasurer and FOI chairmanJohn Becker, membership chairmanMichael Grider, program chairmanAmanda Womac, diversity chairman and

student liaisonKristi Nelson Bumpus, ethics chairmanCatherine Howell, Georgiana Vines, at large;Adina Chumley, ex officio

ETSPJ Officers and Board of Directors 2008-09

From the presidentFROM PAGE ONE

- Spot News

ConferenceFROM PAGE ONE

On the FOI battle lines

ankrupt, newspapers closing, employeeseing laid off or put on furlough, having

And those of us who are still working,ven under less than ideal circumstances,

re left thinking, At least I still have a

Because of all the media attention theews business has been getting, I ametting more and more questions fromur readers who want to know how theewspaper business is going and what is

Or people are asking why our paper hashave spent a lot of time explaining the

correlation between advertising and the

I dont know how we break this cycle we

is less money to spend and thus businessesare forced to lay off even more people or-help save jobs and create more sales taxits important for journalists to help peopleand businesses understand the roles theyA stronger economy is good news we all

Session III, The Energy Beat Coal inAppalachia, will focus media coverage ofthe recent coal ash spill in Roane Countyand issues surrounding the use of coal in Dioxide Information Analysis CenterBill Kovarik, professor of journalism atRadford University and editor ofAppa-lachian Voices

Session IV, Application of Environ-

mental Journalism, will show journalistshow to craft the environmental story forare Rikki Hall, editor,Hellbender Press;Scott Barker, environmental reporter,News Sentinel, Knoxville ; and Anne Keil,

Each session will be followed by a ques-

For more than 30 years I have had a keennterest in government transparency at bothears, I have served on state press associationommittees dedicated to maintaining open-ess, conducted research and monitored pro-osed legislation concerning public records

resented me its Freedom Award for my worklmost 22 years ago, Ive served on FOI and-

everal years ago, and I serve on its founding

o the statutorily-created Advisory Committee

Records Counsel, housed in the state comptrol-

exposure to date to the thinking, concerns and

Five ACOG appointees represent groupsthat typically work for transparency in state-

agencies subject to the open records and open members come from the state attorney general-

-secret, but one might think so, listening to Webstreaming of our 11 meetings during the past

Some examples:expended on providing access as yet another

better things to do with their time than respondnot allow charges toinspect records, regardless of how much time

looking at a public document; they want a

did not require -- labor charges in additionto charges for printed or electronic copies ofthe rationale that custodians are paid a salary,the other ACOG members maintained that

SEE FOI BATLLE, PAGE 3

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ETSPJ publishes Spot News in papeand PDF versions. To subscribeone should contact Jean Ash

communications coordinator, ajeanash@comcast.net. The PDFversion is available at www.etspjorg, the chapter Web site.

Letters to the Editor Policy:The boardencourages letters to the editor oSpot News. Like letters policies amost newspapers, we ask that lettersbe limited to 200 words or less. Theywill be subject to editing for spaceand content. Send e-mail to ETSPJcommunications@gmail.com.

Spot News2008-09 editor

Elenora E. Edwards

eleedwards@aol.com

(865) 457-5459

Spot News

Covering race and diversity

taxpayers shouldnt foot the bill for time spent ACOG debate is a policy that allows requestorsto receive most material for 15 cents per pageand no labor fee so long as it doesnt take athe meter continues running if redaction time

salary of all employees used on the request;

in electronic format for easier analysis withoff-the-shelf statistical software, but somerecords custodians fear unfair or erroneousmanipulation of data, thus preferring to printpractices policies adopted by ACOG leavesthe format to the discretion of the custodian,but those non-binding policies also advisecustodians to strive to respond to all records

records as a source in producing watchdog-on-government stories, but records custodiansfear the release of personnel records may placegovernment employees at risk of retaliation

In addition to an up close and personal viewdemonstrated a couple of other truisms: A

several years ago was that some recordscustodians lacked knowledge of their duties last year charged the OORC with providingeducational outreach on both the records and Generally speaking, these educational presen-tations simply explained what the acts havemeant since they became law, but recordscustodians and other public employees pre-viously unschooled in this material reactedwith fear and loathing that their duties werebeing expanded or that they might be heldlegally responsible if they inadvertentlyreleased exempted material or met without

Advocates of transparency won the battlefor increased education for public employees,but we may lose the war as public employeeswith raised consciousness of their duties nowlost a similar war last year after the victory Backlash from the Knoxville News Sentinels

win led open government forces to abandonattempts to strengthen the Sunshine Act in the

At this writing more than 40 bills that po-tentially would limit information availableto the public have been introduced in the

On the FOI battle linesFROM PAGE 2

News media have come a long way since

the days of segregation in the Unitedlong way to go, according to three panel-titled Different Faces: How the media -

Saadia Williams, former executive direc-tor of the Race Relations Center of East -

Ive seen change, but I must say toyou that all of that change came with -self took part in several well-known civil

Remembering a time when African-Americans in news stories were not giventhe same courtesy titles used to refer toCaucasians, he challenged the media to

issue with the way blacks are portrayed inthe news media, suggesting that showingmugshots of accused black criminals be-fore theyve been tried by a jury of theirpeers taints the publics view black peoplestop showing images of accused criminals,

no matter their race, until after their trials

that they may just not understand the power -

around terminology used when news me-

|

She suggested using the word undo

experience is becoming similar to African-American experience, and only the words and nomenclature u

She said most immigrants in the UnStates illegally are otherwise law-abid

taught everybody was here legally,

All of the panelists agreed that netive images of minorities not only shthe views and opinions of others, but also have a negative impact on memb

If you never see anything positive (ab

mailto:jeanash@comcast.netmailto:communications@gmail.commailto:eleedwards@aol.comhttp://www/http://tn.gov/comptroller/openrecords/forms.htmhttp://tn.gov/comptroller/openrecords/forms.htmmailto:communications@gmail.commailto:jeanash@comcast.netmailto:eleedwards@aol.comhttp://tn.gov/comptroller/openrecords/forms.htmhttp://www/

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1802 Pinoak Ct.

Knoxville, TN 37923

March 27Writing Green,conferenon environmental issues, with panelsair, water, energy and soil/land in EasTennessee, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Calhouns the River. Discounted registration throMarch 20.March 30ETSPJ board, 9 a.m., LoApril 3-4SPJ Region 12 Spring Coference, Little Rock, Ark.April 30 National town hall meetingnews media ethicsMay 15Golden Press Card Awardsbanquet, The FoundryJune 5-7Ted Scripps Leadership Intute, IndianapolisJuly 18Front Page FolliesAug. 27-29National SPJ Conventio100th anniversary observance, India-napolis

Photos from covering race program Feb. 26

PHOTOS BY ELENORA E. EDWARDS

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

- Spot News

(Photo at right)After the program, Saa-dia Williams chats with-two who attended theprogram.

VELAZQUEZ MIDDLEBROOK WILLIAMS

rom left, ETSPJ program chairman and program moderator Michael Grider, Loida Velazquez,Rev. Harold Middlebrook and Saadia Williams

Attendees at the program on news media coverage of race