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Ress to receive 2016 George Mason Award

Posted in Awards, George Mason Award, Journalism, Updates, tagged , , on October 12, 2016|

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Robyn Sidersky
President, Virginia Pro Chapter SPJ
Phone: (954) 296-4407
Email: robyn.sidersky@gmail.com
www.spjva.com

 Buy tickets here.

Ress to Receive 2016 George Mason Award

 

RICHMOND, VA – (Oct 12, 2016) – Dave Ress, an investigative reporter with The Daily Press (Newport News), has been selected as recipient of the 2016 George Mason Award by the Virginia Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists.

The Mason award, established in 1964, is presented annually to an individual for outstanding contributions to Virginia journalism. It is named for the principal author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the forerunner of the Bill of Rights.

Ress will be honored during a luncheon Sunday, Oct. 30 at Riverwalk Restaurant, 323 Water St., Suite 1-A, Yorktown. Ticket information will be available soon at www.spjva.com.

Ress has spent more than two decades in Virginia newsrooms. His efforts to press lawmakers and public officials on public information, records and transparency issues is matched by his willingness to share what he has learned.

“His extensive knowledge of FOIA has been invaluable in his job for The Daily Press – but even more invaluable is David’s willingness to share this knowledge with reporters across the Commonwealth,” wrote Betsy Edwards in her nomination letter. “His commitment to open government will make a real difference in how the Freedom of Information Act in Virginia is applied in years to come.”

Past recipients of the award include journalists, educators, attorneys and others who have made lasting impacts in Virginia. Recent recipients and more information are available at https://spjva.com/2015/02/01/the-george-mason-award/.

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SPJVA to launch mentoring program

Posted in Journalism, Updates, tagged , , , on September 1, 2016|

The Virginia Pro Chapter of SPJ is launching a mentoring program for the fall. Our goal is to match journalism students with professionals throughout the state. Fostering the next generation of journalists is part of SPJ’s mission and we hope to support that through this program.

We ask students and professionals to fill out the applications below so that we can make the best matches. We ask that each pair check in at least once per month, and arrange at least one in-person or Skype meeting.

Students: apply here.

Professionals: apply here.

Have questions? Contact Bob Bennett, the mentoring program coordinator, at bobfox61@yahoo.com.

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SPJVA to award five scholarships to students to attend Excellence in Journalism Conference

Posted in Chapter business, Journalism, Society of Professional Journalists, Updates on June 7, 2016|

Five student journalists in Virginia will have the chance have their registration paid for to attend this year’s Excellence in Journalism Conference, being held Sept.18-20 in New Orleans.
Any college journalist in Virginia who is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists may enter to have their registration covered to attend the conference. One of the highlights of this year’s event is a question and answer session with The Washington Post’s Marty Baron, who is portrayed in the movie “Spotlight.”
To enter, students should write a 200-word essay explaining why they deserve to attend and what they’ll learn from the conference.
The deadline to enter is July 15, 2016. Entrants should email their essays to Greg Gilligan, business editor at The Richmond Times-Dispatch and an SPJ Virginia Board Member. Send essays to ggilligan@timesdispatch.com. Along with your essay, please include a few clips showing that you are a student journalist, along with your name, school, phone number, email, and mailing address.
The state’s professional SPJ chapter is sponsoring the scholarships.
The winners will be notified soon after.

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Call for Nominations: 2016 George Mason Award

Posted in Chapter business, Journalism, SDX Educational Foundation, Society of Professional Journalists, Updates, tagged , on May 18, 2016|

The Society of Professional Journalists, Virginia Pro Chapter, seeks nominations for its 53rd George Mason Award, to be presented in September 2016.

The annual award recognizes a person in Virginia has done something extraordinary for journalism and the public: reporting and writing that has righted a wrong, caused a sea change in attitudes, changed a law, started a watchdog group that exposed violation of the public trust, defended a reporter or news organization from unjust persecution, forced a reluctant government to make the people’s business public, mentored young reporters who went on to outstanding careers, or some other specific, noteworthy accomplishment.

Past winners have included reporters, columnists, editorial writers, publishers, broadcast station owners, attorneys, directors of public interest organizations and professional development associations, among others. They have worked for organizations large and small.

SPJ Virginia Pro named the award for Mason, Virginia’s “forgotten founding father,” because he risked lifelong friendships and personal fortune by insisting that the fledgling United States protect freedom of the press and the other civil liberties by enacting a Bill of Rights. He was born in Fairfax County in 1725, helped frame the Virginia Constitution and in 1776 wrote its Declaration of Rights, the first authoritative formulation of the doctrine of inalienable rights. Mason’s work influenced Thomas Jefferson in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

The chapter has presented the George Mason Award annually since 1964 to journalists and others who have supported freedom of the press and made significant contributions to Virginia journalism. It expresses the esteem of SPJ members, who are committed to ethics, freedom of information, education and legal defense of reporters in the practice of journalism. The award plaque carries Mason’s conviction regarding the role of the press: “Freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of Liberty and can never be restrained but by despotick governments.”

Nominations should be made in letter form, complete with reference to supporting information, to the chapter’s George Mason Committee chair, Robyn Sidersky and sent to robyn.sidersky@gmail.com.

Deadline for nominations is June 30, 2016.

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Join SPJVA for happy hour in Norfolk

Posted in Journalism, Programs, Updates on May 10, 2016|

Join the Virginia Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for happy hour at Jessy’s Taco Bistro in Ghent (328 W. 20th St.) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Here’s a recent food review of Jessy’s.

Paul Fletcher, the national president of SPJ and the publisher of Virginia Lawyers Weekly, will be visiting from Richmond.
You get the drinks, and The Pilot will get the appetizers.
Have questions? Get in touch with chapter president Robyn Sidersky at robyn.sidersky@gmail.com.

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SPJVPA16: ‘Disturb the Peace and Get it Done,’ Post Reporter Tells Journalists

Posted in Conferences, Journalism, SPJ Region 2, Updates, tagged on April 10, 2016|

By Matt Chaney

tr_shapiro

T. Rees Shapiro

Rees Shapiro, the keynote speaker at the SPJ Region 2 Spring Conference, advised journalists to get out of the office, report from the ground and talk to people face to face.

Shapiro, an education reporter for The Washington Post, emphasized how getting out, going places and relating to people on a personal basis helped him cover important stories on college campuses across Virginia.

Without being there, he said, he could never have provided some of the first eyewitness accounts of the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech, gotten interviews with the family and close friends of murdered University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, or written the story that first cast doubt on the now-discredited Rolling Stone story about a supposed gang rape at U.Va.

(more…)

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SPJVPA16: Case study in tragedy: WDBJ

Posted in Conferences, Journalism, SPJ Region 2, Updates, tagged on April 10, 2016|

By Alyssa Sims

“Don’t listen to what we have to say here and be afraid,” Kelly Zuber, news director of WDBJ in Roanoke, told a mix of veteran journalists and journalism students attending the VPA/SPJ joint conference on Saturday (April 9).

Zuber spoke at a panel about the impact that the shooting of WDBJ reporter Alison Parker and photographer Adam Ward had on the journalism community. Parker, 24, and Ward, 27, were killed while doing a story last August by a disgruntled former station employee.

(more…)

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