"There is no crisis to which academics will not respond with a seminar."
--Anonymous
HOOSIER STATE PRESS ASSOCIATION NEWSROOM SEMINARS
DEC. 4, 1999, INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
SESSIONS ATTENDED:
"200 Good Ideas for the Year 2000"
"Where Are We Going? The State of the American Newspaper"
Awards Banquet
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SPJ NATIONAL CONVENTION
OCT. 3-5, 1999, INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
FEATURED SPEAKERS (partial list):
Marja Mills, Internet reporter, Chicago Tribune Interactive
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NATIONAL WRITERS' WORKSHOP
MAY 1-2, 1999, INDIANAPOLIS, IND.
FEATURED SPEAKERS (partial list):
Susan Ager, columnist, Detroit Free Press
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Site: Indianapolis Marriott East
Moderated by Bob Zaltsberg, editor, Bloomington Herald-Times
Julie Metzger, managing editor, Marion Chronicle-Tribune, discussed ways her newspaper had tried
tried to accommodate its readers, many based on reader surveys -- e.g., reducing the size of the
weekly TV booklet by removing the daytime listings and placing them inside the daily paper.
Jerry Greenburg, editor, Elkhart Truth, talked about measures his paper had taken to "humanize" its
product -- e.g., adding human-interest features and sections to relieve the "heaviness" of standard
news stories and news pages.
Featured speaker Tom Kunkel from American Journalism Review focused on the alarming trend of turning
U.S. newspapers into "commodities," specifically citing the strategy of Thomson Newspapers to "create"
clusters of mediocre papers" (e.g., in Wisconsin) to "achieve regional dominance" and "limit the number
of community voices." Kunkel characterized this trend as "the Sam's-Clubbing of America."
Kunkel told the audience of newspaper editors and reporters: "Here's a news flash for you: The American
newspaper industry has reached one of the most critical junctures in its 300-year history."
He also noted that there were positive signs for the newspaper industry as well, including increased news
space in many metro newspapers, more diverse newsrooms, and evidence that predictions of the death
of the American newspaper at the hands of the Internet are greatly exaggerated.
"This new world order may well offer a great opportunity for our industry," Kunkel added,
"if we remember what got us here -- writing, in-depth reporting, better variety of entertainment."
Numerous reporters, editors, and photographers won awards in the HSPA contest, including, I should note,
several Franklin College journalism graduates (and, in all fairness, at least one of my former students at
Ball State). The Blue Ribbon Newspaper awards for overall excellence went to the Angola Herald-
Republican, for weeklies, a sister paper to the Johnson County Daily Journal in Franklin, and the Marion
Chronicle-Tribune, for dailies (and where I spent 18 years professionally), edited by Metzger, a former
student of mine at Ball State. Can we say the "glow of reflected glory"? (Probably shouldn't, but it was
pretty hard to resist right then.)
Site: Westin Hotel
www.spj.org/indy99/index.htm
Michael Goodwin, editorial page editor, New York Daily News
Manny Garcia, City Hall reporter, Miami Herald
Michael A. Hiltzik, business writer, Los Angeles Times
Jerry Ceppos, vice-president/news, Knight Ridder
Linda K. Foley, president, The Newspaper Guild
Mark B. Rosentraub, author, "Major League Losers"
Vince Gonzales, correspondent, CBS Evening News
David Boardman, Pulitzer Prize-winning assistant managing editor, The Seattle Times
Seymour M. Hersh, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Mark Fuhrman, author & former L.A. police detective
Sponsored by Indianapolis Star-News and The Poynter Institute
www.starnews.com/nww/
Richard Aregood, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer, Newark Star-Ledger
Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar, The Poynter Institute
Leon Dash, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, The Washington Post
Bob Dotson, Emmy-winning reporter, NBC News
Jon Franklin, Pulitzer Prize-winning feature writer, The Raleigh News & Observer
Tom French, Pulitzer Prize-winning feature writer, The St. Petersburg Times
David Hawpe, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial director, The Louisville Courier-Journal
Sandra Tsing Loh, humorist, author & NPR commentator
Jacquelyn Mitchard, novelist, "The Deep End of the Ocean"
Malcolm Moran, sportswriter, The Chicago Tribune