APME Student Newsroom

New formats, old habits are lessons from Va. Tech

By Carrie Dindino
Gazette Staff

The April slayings on the Virginia Tech campus underscored the need for posting information fast and in sometimes unfamiliar formats, journalists said at Friday's APME session on lessons learned from the tragedy.

It also prompted some editors to push reporter to suppress the urge to fully report their stories before sending them on.

"It is described as the first real multimedia event," said Carole Tarrant, editor of The Roanoke Times. "No one asked why would we put this on the Web. They asked how fast can we put this on the Web."

Publishing quickly requires reporters who are cross trained, and it requires cooperation between news agencies, the panelists said.

On the morning of April 16, 33 people died on the campus of Virginia Tech, including student Cho Seung-Hui, who shot himself after shooting 32 others.

The first two were shot in a dorm at 7:15 a.m. About 2 hours later, Cho killed 30 others in Norris Hall, and wounded 15.

"After 10 o'clock we switched to updating information on a blog," said Peggy Bellows, managing editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "Before 11:30 a.m. the reporter (Joe Macenka) had updated the blog more than 30 times," she said.

"Later, we took the blog entry and turned that into a story for our print extra."

By the end of the day the staff at the Richmond-Times Dispatch had updated their blog more than 50 times, she said.

Bellows stressed the need for reporters to move quickly.

"Make it good enough and get back in the field," she said.

This was a message echoed by all the panelists.

"There cannot be any delay, because if there is, (readers) will go somewhere else," said Christopher Ritter, online director for the Collegiate Times, the independent student-run paper at Virginia Tech.

This became an issue for Ritter and the Colligate Times when their main server crashed around 11 a.m., he said. The website had to be completely rebuilt from the bottom up that morning, to allow for the constant update of information, Ritter said.

To handle the intense traffic, Ritter said he had to borrow hosting space from the university as well as get the site's provider to upgrade its Web space to the maximum availability. Editors also had to turn off their content management system and drop an archives search, he said.

Technical issues weren't the only problems journalists faced while covering the massacre.

Josh Meltzer, staff photographer at The Roanoke Times, arrived at Virginia Tech the day after the shootings. He got to the campus two hours before the scheduled press conference, but the press room was already packed, he said.

"I immediately decided to skip the press conference," he said. "As visual and multimedia reporters, there was no way we could get a good shot or compete with all the satellite trucks."

Instead Meltzer, and the reporters with him, decided to focus on more visual stories. One of the reporters who was using a camcorder for the first time found students on campus that were giving out free hugs.

"It was important in helping the community heal," he said.

Reporters need to know how to use cameras, and photographers need to be able to take notes, Meltzer said. He stressed the need for every reporter in the newsroom to be able to produce a multimedia story.

Meltzer himself switched roles while covering the massacre and collected audio during a candlelight vigil for the victims. The sound of mourners singing "Amazing Grace" was mixed with photos from other Roanoke Times photographers to produce a moving slideshow, he said.

"The viewer is just experiencing. It gives them a chance to step back from the mass of information and updates," he said.

Being cross trained is not always enough, though, in a breaking news situation, Bellows said.

"Lean on your friends. It is going to be harder than you think."

Reporters from the Richmond Times-Dispatch had a three-and-a-half-hour drive to Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Va. Though they had laptops to edit and send still photos, they didn't have a way to transmit video, Bellows said.

Bellows said the paper contacted a local television affiliate in Roanoke. The station let the print reporters use their editing equipment, she said. It was one of many cooperative arrangements worked out between the news agencies covering the story, she said.

New board elected

APME Board election winners:

At-Large Directors:

• Peggy Bellows
• Jon Broadbooks
• Adell Crowe
• Maria Lettman
• Jan Touney
• Mark Bowden
• Joe Garcia

Small Newspaper Director:

• Bob Heisse

Online Director:

• Jim Brady

Keeping minority staffers just as hard as hiring them

By Danielle Ulman
Gazette Staff

Newspapers once struggled to recruit minority reporters, but today the industry is struggling to retain them.

Journalists of color are leaving the industry much faster than those entering, said panelists at Thursday's APME/UNITY summit "Improving Diversity Through Better Retention."

"We're at a crisis point," said Jeanne Mariani-Belding, national president of the Asian American Journalists Association.

The APMEA joined with UNITY: Journalists of Color last year to investigate what both groups perceived to be a mounting problem. They held a series of roundtable discussions with 50 journalists of color with newsroom jobs or who newly left careers in journalism.

What they found at four roundtable sessions in Delaware, Florida, Arizona and Ohio surprised Karen Magnuson, outgoing president of APME.

Each roundtable discussion had at least one participant who was considering leaving journalism.

"I'm very frustrated with the fact that many talented journalists of color appear to be leaving the industry," Magnuson said.

The percentage of journalists of color dropped from 13.87% in 2006 to 13.62% in 2007, according to an American Society of Newspaper Editors' annual employment survey.

While in 1994, editors hired nearly 600 minority reporters for their first full-time newsroom jobs. By year's end, 698 journalists of color had left journalism for other careers.

The losses may not seem large, but minorities make up more than 30% of the American population, a number not mirrored in newsrooms.

"The newsrooms of the future are not going to survive if we do not accurately reflect what's going on in the country," Magnuson said.

Panelist Rafael Olmeda, assistant city editor of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, said minorities leave journalism for a variety of reasons, including a lack of recognition for their work in the newsroom, low salaries and fewer opportunities to move into senior management positions.

"It's not just about money," he said, "although that is important."

Many panelists complained that they often get saddled with the minority beat.

"You don't have to be Hispanic to cover Hispanic issues," Olmeda said. "We can do more than cover ourselves."

At least one panelist disagreed: After bouncing from one newsroom job to another, covering black issues suits her best, she found.

"I have wanted to leave the industry," said Karlayne Parker, The Sun of Baltimore's assistant features editor and editor of the newspaper's African-American lifestyle section UNISUN.

"Now I'm very happy in what I do," she said. "Should that change, I can't say that I'll stay."

Editors vote to impose $150 dues

By Dan Lamothe and Kenneth R. Fletcher
Gazette Staff

Members voted unanimously Friday to assess APME editors $150 per year in dues, the first time the association has attempted to collect dues in its 74-year history.

The decision was approved in a show of hands by the roughly 50 editors at the organization's annual business meeting Friday and will take effect Jan. 1.

APME leaders said they hope to raise about $40,000 in the first year, $75,000 by 2009 and $120,000 by 2012.

Newspapers that do not pay the dues would still be members of the APME, but editors who do pay would be entitled to benefits including a copy of the association's magazine, discounts on conference registration and contest entries.

The organization has about 1,600 member newspapers, but only 250 of them are expected to pay dues and participate in events in the first year. The association hopes to double its dues-paying membership in a few years.

Board members said the money will help professionalize the organization, which has only one full-time employee. Among the goals: Hiring a staff for fund-raising, budgeting, and outreach efforts.

"This will help us have a strategic start to our five-year plan," APME President Karen Magnuson told editors after the vote Friday.

The decision brings APME in line with several other professional organizations, including the National Association of Black Journalists, the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Each charges at least $72 per year, with the ASNE charging up to $675 for newspapers with a circulation of at least 50,000.

Andrea Buck, managing editor of the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune, said she has mixed feelings about the dues structure.

"For smaller newspapers, it's a difficult amount of money for them to come up with," she said. "At the same time, this organization needs to be supported and funded."

Members of the board of directors said this week they considered a tiered structure that would have charged small-circulation newspapers less but considered implementing it too difficult.

Election '08: Early start leaves time for innovative coverage

By Anju Kaur
Gazette Staff

WASHINGTON - The most unusual presidential election in history will require journalists to cover it in the most innovative ways, panelists said at Friday's APME session "Election 2008: Get Ready It's Sooner than You Think."

Although by January the media may be worn out from covering the campaigns, "remember this contest will be new to the voters," said Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA TODAY. Right now, people are just thinking of school, Thanksgiving and Christmas. "They will tune in at the beginning of the year."

And when they do, Page said, put the election in context for your state. Ask: "What are candidates looking to get from my state?"

Among Republicans, Huckabee may emerge as the "dark horse" because he has huge support from evangelical Christians, Page said. "The front runners are unacceptable to the base."

Among Democrats, "Clinton seems quite unflappable, though Obama will continue to challenge her," Page said. "Edwards is fading away."

Look for a third-party candidate to emerge, she added. Because the campaigns started so early, there is time for a well-known, self-financed candidate, such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, to emerge.

"Voters want no surprise in this election," said David Westphal, editor of the McClatchy Washington bureau. They are weary of 9/11 and weary of politicians' promises. They are wondering what President Bush's compassionate conservative promises were about, he said.

Westphal suggests media emphasize accountability and truth in candidate statements.

His paper is also developing a database, www.sunshineweek.org, which will show the truthfulness of statements about government openness, secrecy and privacy. It will also have a list of questions on these issues that he would like all journalists to ask candidates at every opportunity. "This is a critical issue for democracy."

"Be skeptical on the talk of campaigns because we were so badly led," said George Condon, bureau chief at Copley News Service. He especially remembered being spun for two hours by the Dean campaign after his "scream" moment to get the media to continue to write about him.

Don't just listen to the younger voters coming out for Obama; older people are also more likely to come, Condon said.

Presidential elections have evolved since 1976 when Condon first began covering them. Newspapers are a "shrinking news hole," he said. "Things are not getting into newspapers, but they are getting into websites."

But newspapers have to consider what people are looking for on their websites, Condon said. Readers won't go to a local paper's website for national news. Local papers should continue to cover the local delegation, but be innovative. Reporters should follow candidates around, shoot video and put it online. Reporters should do online chats and blogs for stories that don't make it to print.

"People will go for that and it will sell ads too," Condon said.

"The onslaught of media has not tired voters," Westphal said. "This election has so many manifestations, it's not just guns and butter."

Diversity losses mount in newsrooms

Diversity Session
By Arelis Hernandez

Across the country, newsrooms are losing minority journalists at an alarming rate to industries outside journalism, leaders of national minority journalists' organizations said at Friday's APME/UNITY Summit.

The changing newsroom, they say, has put diversity issues on the back burner for editors.

Maintaining diversity through retention was the main topic of a video clip shown at the session that featured round-table discussions airing the grievances of Latino, black, American Indian and Asian journalists.

Panelists raised specific factors and concerns behind the mass exodus and provided a handbook of tips to assist editors in their quest to retain journalists of color.

Often, according to the clip, these journalists feel generally underappreciated, becoming frustrated by a lack of access to senior editors, opportunities for promotion, and recognition in the news product.

“When I feel as if the work I am doing is valuable and contributing to the community in the broadest sense,” said Arizona State University lecturer James Garcia, “then I’m happy, because I’m bringing something new to the table.”

Rafael Olmeda, president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, said it’s an issue of respect and visibility. He said many journalists of color are encountering newsrooms that don’t value the benefits they bring.

Panelists said the loss of minority journalists translates into a loss in readership and a threat to the credibility and accuracy of national newspapers.

“There is a pipeline issue,” Garcia said. Diversity must be a priority to have balanced coverage of diverse communities, he said. “This dramatic deficiency is making our job harder to do.”

APME President Karen Magnuson said she hoped the session was the beginning of a dialogue. "Newsrooms are not going to survive if we don’t accurately reflect our communities,” she said.

Anonymous postings harmful? Editors: yes; readers: no

By Raechal Leone
APME Gazette

An overwhelming majority of editors and the public agree the content on news Web sites is just as credible as what they read in newspapers, according to highlights of a study released Friday.

They also agree it's beneficial that users share responsibility with journalists for the accuracy of content on a news site.

But the survey showed disagreement among editors and readers on whether anonymous postings should be allowed on news Web sites - with the editors surveyed voicing a stronger desire than the public for readers to give their real identities in their posts.

More than 60% of the editors surveyed said it would be harmful to good journalism to invite users to participate without using their real identities; only 43% of the readers surveyed said it would be harmful.

The study, conducted by the Associated Press Managing Editors and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism, had surveyed about 300 readers and 665 editors nationwide through mid-September.

The anonymity topic prompted the liveliest exchanges at Friday's session, with panelists weighing the value of anonymous posts to discussions for safety reasons against the value of having contributors give their names for credibility's sake.

Two of five reader participants on the panel said they have changed their names in online posts to thwart cyber stalkers.

Panel moderator David Ledford, executive editor of The News Journal in Delaware, asked panelists what would happen if newspapers required all posters to use their real names.

Panelists said the rule wouldn't keep away unruly posters; it would merely motivate them to find ways around the rules, such as using fake names, they said.

"There is an issue of personal safety," said panelist Jaymi Helen Cook, a corporate paralegal from Wilmington, Delaware, who posts regularly on The News Journal's Website, delawareonline.com. "Because you can't enforce (the rule to use a real name) and you can't make it legitimate, it's a moot question."

Michael A. Brown Sr., a city councilman from Wilmington said journalists should take seriously their role of providing a credible forum.

"The opportunity is there for someone to say some dangerous things and get away with it," Brown said.

But Cook argued for anonymous posts. She said that readers realize comments contributed by those sources and content provided by journalists are different.

"There is no implication that your paper is endorsing anything that's on those boards," she said.

Users tend to recognize trolls, or habitual users who are out to disrupt an online community, non-journalists on the panel said.

Ledford asked panelists whether other users can effectively "shout down" someone who's out to pollute the message boards.

"Most of the time that's possible, but that's the reason we have teachers in classrooms," said Christina Crapanzano, a senior at Boston University and former executive editor of the independent student newspaper there.

In the study findings, about 73% of the editors and 71% of the public who participated said they trusted information on news Websites as much as in print.

However, public participants were more likely than editors to say they trust the Web more than print. About 12% of the public and 3% of editors gave that response in the telephone interviews.

APME hatched the idea for the study after hearing editors say they wrestled with the issue of the credibility and their online operations, said Carol Nunnelley, APME's projects director. "Many of the editors said they felt mostly on their own in making the tough decisions."

People in the conference audience also got to participate: They voted electronically on some of the questions from the study.

The APME audience voted on whether they would leave several comments posted on a news Website.

Some 74% of audience voters said they would leave up a posting about Al Sharpton's recent visit to Jena, La., that included "Black people hate white people."

Some 84% of audience voters would leave up a post about a governor's trip to Sweden that was not disclosed until after she left. "This PIG needs to go," the post said.

About 53% of voters said they would leave up a post speculating whether a local political official is gay.

$18,000 raised for APME Foundation

Editors raised about $18,000 in APME's live and silent auctions, according to Suki Dardarian, APME Foundation president.

The donations are still being tallied but the number will only grow, Dardarian said. The president said she was pleased with the total, which she said is among the highest in APME conferences.

"People have been saying that in addition to feeling good for supporting the organization, they also had fun," Dardarian said. "It's exciting for me. We all had a lot of fun."

The National Press Club was the perfect setting for the auction, she said. "It created an environment for us to just present the items well and give people an opportunity to linger and an excuse to linger and stay aournd and spend some money," Dardarian said.

-- Marissa DeCuir

Despite budget cuts, award winners deliver quality

By Michael Walsh
Gazette Staff

Newsrooms nationwide are producing quality journalism, despite budget cuts and funding shortages, said APME President Karen Magnuson. And the industry must work even harder to continue the trend toward excellence, she said.

At the APME awards luncheon Friday, Magnuson encouraged "a new beginning" and "renewed sense of purpose" for journalists and editors during a ceremony that recognized work from papers across the nation.

"There's no getting around the budget cuts  but it's time to stop the bleeding in our nation's newsrooms," Magnuson said. "We must work harder to avoid more newsroom cuts."

Blogger critics of the industry, she said, should be cooperated with and listened to, not scorned.

"We're listening more closely to our critics, including bloggers," she said. "Let's learn from them."

Despite the doom-and-gloom reports about the financial state of the industry, "new revenue is starting to replace the revenue lost from traditional sources," Magnuson said.

Newspapers have a tremendous responsibility to the public, Magnuson said. She cited The Washington Post's coverage of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"Who would tell that story if newspapers didn't?" she asked. "Probably no one."

The Post's coverage of Walter Reed netted it the APME public service award for papers with a circulation of more than 150,000.

But the biggest winners of the day were Joe Grimm, of the Detroit Free Press, and Wanda Lloyd, of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, who each took home the Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity.

The award was named for the late Robert McGruder, former president of APME and director of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Candidates are nominated for their work in newsroom diversity. Both recipients were given a trophy, along with a $2,500 check, and each spoke about the national importance of diversity.

"Change is what the country is doing," Lloyd said. "In that change we must not forget about diversity."

Grimm agreed, pointing out the importance of keeping the audience in mind, even with the challenges the industry faces.

"(Media) seem to push diversity to the back seat," he said. "If we lose diversity we're going to lose those audiences."

Grimm used his prize money to start an endowed scholarship for college students, which he hopes will grow to $20,000 by next year.

"This really gets me because I really love Bob McGruder," he said.

The Birmingham (Ala.) News won the public service category for medium-sized papers for its series on corruption in Alabama's community colleges.

Coverage of police corruption and incompetence by The Virgin Islands Daily News' won the small-size category award.

The Dallas Morning News and the Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C., won in the International Perspective category for papers with more than 150,000 and between 40,000 and 150,000, respectively.

The Morning News' team of Paul Meyer, Stella Chavez and Lara Solt told the story of sexual exploitation of illegal immigrant children while the Post and Courier's Tony Bartelme and Alan Hawes covered the relationship between China and South Carolina.

Post and Courier Managing Editor Steve Mullins accepted the award for Bartelme and Hawes, who left the conference early, forgoing the lunch of salmon, salad and a berries-and-cream concoction.

"Those boys couldn't wait to get back home to get some shrimp and grits," Mullins said.

The Washington Post's series, "Being a Black Man" won in the large category for online convergence; The Roanoke Times' coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings won the medium-circulation category; and the Lawrence Journal-World topped the small category with the story of mining's legacy in Kansas.

Mike Terry won in the Member Photo Showcase category for his pictures during the Trolley Square Mall shooting in Salt Lake City for the Deseret Morning News.

Fort Myers takes home first Innovator award

By Rob Tricchinelli
Gazette Staff

MoJos, microsites, crowdsourcing and Team Watchdog.

The buzzwords flew, the editors voted, and The Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press won APME's first Innovator of the Year award for its "culture of innovation."

The News-Press was the "head of Gannett's Petri dish," executive editor Kate Marymont said, by experimenting with new types of journalism.

The newspaper tried to establish a "culture of innovation," said Cindy McCurry-Ross, senior managing editor, by making significant changes, such as using MoJos - mobile journalists who carry cameras, digital audio recorders and laptops to find stories on the road - and microsites, a variety of news sources that report at what the newspaper called a "hyper-local" or neighborhood level.

The newspaper also involves members of its community to help gather and shape the news, a process called "crowdsourcing." It has a small band of citizen journalists, called "Team Watchdog," who had expertise in different areas. Many team members are retired, McCurry-Ross said.

"Team Watchdog" was originally called "News-Press Nine," she said, but there were "so many applicants" that the group grew to 20 members and had to find a new name.

The other finalists were The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle.

The Journal-Constitution was nominated for its newsroom overhaul to accommodate the demands of online journalism. The newsroom split into four sections: news/information, enterprise, print and digital. The first two are responsible for content generation, and the second two take care of the finished product.

The online mantra of the Journal-Constitution has become "serve it while it's hot," said Hank Klibanoff, managing editor for enterprise.

"RocDocs," a product of the <i>Democrat and Chronicle</i>, gives online users access to data, maps and investigative reports assembled by the newspaper. Viewers can find a range of information, including Google maps of Rochester-area wineries and toxic dumpsites, and real estate transactions.

Although RocDocs was the hot word from the Democrat and Chronicle, Atlanta's newspaper billed its reorganization as a split into "pitchers and catchers" of news, and The News-Press has news being handled by "collectors and connectors."

Forty-five nominees for the award, from 40 newspapers, were pared to three by a group of former APME board members.

Current members voted for the winner Friday.

What happens in Vegas is APME

APME is hoping that what happens in Vegas next year stays with you. Organizers expect about 1,000 journalists to gather at the Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa from Sept. 7-10, 2008.

Those who show will help celebrate APME's 75th anniversary. APME pushed the conference ahead of its usual October date to accommodate the Society for News Design, a new partner.

And it doesn't hurt to gather just days after each political party's national convention.

That's because APME plans to invite the 2008 presidential candidates to speak.

If you want more details, check out apme.com.

See ya there?

Elections around the corner

Election day 2008 is 13 months away, but the campaigns are already rolling and the first primary is in January.

Editors from several bureaus in Washington, D.C., discussed the upcoming presidential election, how the media are handling the online boom and what they foresee in possible outcomes.

Susan Page, USA TODAY Washington bureau chief, said it's likely the nominees could be decided by Feb. 5, when more than 20 states will participate in a mega primary. After the nominees are clear, there will be a long wait until general election day.

This gap could be a great opportunity for the candidates and media to look at important issues, said Sandy Johnson, AP Washington bureau chief. But, she added, it will likely lead to swiftboat tactics from both sides.

Page said that January, when many people first tune in to election coverage, would be a good time for profiles and big-picture stories.

"Voters want to get as intimate a feel for the next president of the United States as possible," said David Westphal, McClatchy newspapers' D.C. bureau chief.

"The signature of this campaign will be the YouTube campaign, the 24/7 campaign and the most blogging you've ever seen. Voters are hungry to know the candidates."

-- Ginger Gibson

What Virginia Tech taught us

Panelists at the "Multimedia Lessons from a National Tragedy" session recalled their early coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings, adding this became "the first true multimedia news event," as Carole Tarrant of the The Roanoke (Va.) Times called it.

The panel featured Josh Meltzer, also of The Roanoke Times, Chris Ritter of Virginia Tech's Collegiate Times, and Peggy Bellows of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch. They joined Tarrant to discuss what it took to get the story out to people quickly, accurately and respectfully.

Tarrant said newspapers should have a "hit-the-fan plan" in place to manage huge numbers of people accessing their sites during major disasters. Organization and server space should play key roles in this plan said Ritter, the online editor of the Collegiate Times.

The Times' server crashed the morning of the shootings. This sent Ritter and staffers to beg and borrow server space from places like College Publisher and Virginia Tech itself, which had faced similar problems that dreadful morning.

Every person covering a major event must have the proper equipment to do so, both Meltzer and Bellows said. That means reporters might need cameras – video or still – in addition to a laptop capable of sending back content for editing and posting to the Web.

When journalists scramble to get the information out quickly and accurately, they must not forget the public, especially those most affected, panelists said. Readers should have the opportunity to express how they feel or what they saw, Ritter said.

Bellows told of a guestbook placed on the Times-Dispatch site. Its 4,300 pages of entries is still growing.

There is also a place for sensitivity, and chances to move stories in different directions than the print product, panelists said. For instance, during the vigil on the night of April 16, Meltzer and other photographers were initially interrupting those in the crowd to write down their names. Meltzer pulled himself away and began to simply record raw audio, he said.

It allowed The Roanoke Times to produce a moving slideshow using the singing and chants, coupled with pictures of the crowd.

-- David Dinsmore

Diversity an essential, helpful tool in newsrooms

Journalists of color are leaving newsrooms and the newspaper industry as a whole. And recent cutbacks in newsrooms nationwide have only exaccerbated the decrease.

That's the message sent by an afternoon panel led by APME President Karen Magnuson and UNITY President Karen Lincoln Michel. They presented research they have done on the topic.

For the first time ever, APME and UNITY teamed up to do round-table discussions throughout the nation.

Their findings: Some minorities struggle in the news business because many are uncomfortable in newsrooms.

James Garcia, lecturer at Arizona State University, said a former editor told him his column could be cut because the editor wasn't sure who was reading it, if anyone.

"Well, you don't know anyone I know," Garcia said he told his editor.

That's the problem, the panelist said. Newspapers need a diverse newsroom to make sure they have diverse coverage.

-- Marissa DeCuir

In the money

APME President Karen Magnuson discussed the organization's recent successes and future at the APME Awards luncheon Friday.

She told attendees about the board's goal of raising $146,000 this past year, a bar she said she was worried about meeting because of the demanding nature of fund raising and time constraints.

But by the end of the year the board managed to obtain $177,000 in donations from individuals and family foundations, she said. The sum grew from matching grants to a total of $250,000, she said.

Magnuson also discussed what she sees as the future of newspapers, saying that it's "time to stop the bleeding of our newsrooms." She emphasized that newspapers are proving their staying power on the Internet and cited surveys that Internet users are turning to news sites for content more than they were several years ago.

She said that given the need for newspapers and the growing presence online, the industry must work harder to stop newsroom cuts.

-- Ginger Gibson

APME awards

The annual APME awards were presented today at a luncheon to honor the work of reporters, photographers and newsrooms throughout the country.

Awards given at the lunch included:

Robert G. McGruder Diversity Award

Wanda Lloyd, executive editor of The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, was honored for her role as a mentor and leader in promoting newsroom diversity.

Joe Grimm, recruiting and development director for the Detroit Free Press, was honored for his work in recruiting minorities and helping minorities get jobs not only at his own newspaper, but at others as well.

APPM Photography Award

Mike Terry, University of Utah student, was honored for his photo from the Desert Morning News of a police officer kneeling near an injured person in a Salt Lake City mall where a gunman had opened fire.

International Perspective Award

Small circulation: The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier story, "The China Effect," by Tony Bartelne, about the impact China has on South Carolina.

Large circulation: The Dallas Morning News story, "Yolanda's Crossing" by Stella Chavez and Paul Meyer, about the life of one woman who was sexually assaulted by her uncle, brought illegally into the U.S. and forced to work as a prostitute.

Online Convergence

Small circulation: The Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World collaboration, "Mining Legacy: A Scar on Kansas," about the affects of mining on Kansas.

Medium circulation: The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com for coverage of the shootings at Virginia Tech.

Large circulation: The Washington Post and washingtonpost.com for the "Being a Black Man" series, which examined life in the U.S. as a black male.

Public Service Award:

Small circulation: The Virgin Islands Daily News for reporting by reporters Merlin JnBaptiste, Joseph Tsidulko and Tim Fields on corruption in the major crimes unit. The reporting led to an overhaul of the unit and the release of two men wrongfully accused of murder.

Medium circulation: The Birmingham (Ala.) News for a series by Brett Blackledge on corruption in Alabama's two-year community colleges. The series uncovered the ties of state legislators with the community colleges.

Large circulation: The Washington Post articles "The Other Walter Reed" and "Walter Reed and Beyond" by Dana Priest and Anne Hull. The articles examined problems with health care being provided to veterans.

QOTD: Gene Foreman

What single development do you think made the biggest impact on the news industry?

"It's a jump ball between the telegraph and Internet. Both resulted in profound change. The telegraph sped up the news, and of course now with the Internet it's instantaneous. We're seeing a change in how people want their news. It's a broad sweep of history, so it's hard to choose just one."

Gene Foreman, former managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer

-- Marissa DeCuir

Fighting for FOIA

A panel discussion today on the Freedom of Information Act dealt with struggles in seeking and obtaining public documents.

Lucy Dalglish, executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, David Burnham, co-director of the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, and Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice, discussed FOIA in the panel titled, "Protecting the Right to Know in the 21st Century."

The group said the battle to preserve government transparency shouldn't just be fought in the courtroom using lawsuits to argue for withheld records.

"You should be out there editorializing every week," Dalglish said.

Fidell said the public not only needs the information being withheld, but largely agrees with the ideas of open government that were established by FOIA when it was passed in 1966.

"It struck some cord with the American people," Fidell said. "People really believe in the Freedom of Information Act."

Burnham added that the media aren't covering the denial of public information or writing stories when documents are withheld. 

-- Ginger Gibson

QOTD: Robert Blau

What single development do you think made the biggest impact on the news industry?

"The instant access to not just a plethora of sources but raw databases dramatically reshaped not only the business but the world as well."

Robert Blau, managing editor of The Baltimore Sun

-- Marissa DeCuir

At the Mall of Ideas: The Washington Times

The Washington Times booth is exhibiting a prototype program called "Inside Track." The program will provide four pages of content to subscribing newspapers, covering topics like politics and international news.