NAHJ Sees Membership Drop by 36 Percent
"The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is facing a budget crisis after seeing its membership drop by 36 percent," the student-produced Latino Reporter reported NAHJ convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
"According to a preliminary report, the association’s membership has fallen to 1,400 from 2,200 members in 2008.
"Students now make up 40 percent of NAHJ’s membership.
In a separate story, Marissa Lang reported, "Attendance at The National Association of Hispanic Journalists exceeded expectations, and staff members said they ran out of conference bags for registrants.
”We were hoping for 700 [participants]. Anything above that was a bonus,’ Kevin Olivas, NAHJ Parity Project director, said. ‘We knew because of the economy and severe cutbacks that the turnout would be much lower than we normally get. That’s why the emphasis has been on training or developing skills to become entrepreneurial.’
"Ivan Roman, NAHJ executive director, said there were more than 850 registrants, panelists and speakers. Of those, 530 were paid registrants. All 795 bags, stuffed by NAHJ staff and board members, were handed out.
"The bags were recycled. The food portions were small. The lines for drinks were more than five minutes long."
- Jose Romero blog:¬†WEPAAAA!!!! I’m back from Puerto Rico
7 Journalists Detained Covering Honduras Coup
"Honduran troops detained seven international journalists covering the aftermath of a military coup Monday, freeing them unhurt a short time later. The government also took at least two television stations off the air and interrupted the broadcasts of others," the Associated Press reported from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
"At least 10 soldiers, most with rifles drawn, arrived at the hotel where journalists from The Associated Press and the Venezuela-based television network Telesur were staying and unplugged their editing equipment in an apparent attempt to stop their coverage of protests in support of deposed President Manuel Zelaya.
"One of the Telesur journalists was speaking on a telephone at the time of the detention, and AP’s Nicolas Garcia saw a soldier lightly slapping her hand so she would hang up.
"Garcia, an Argentine videojournalist, and Esteban Felix, a Peruvian photographer, and two Nicaraguan assistants were loaded into a military Land Cruiser, with another military vehicle following close behind. Also detained were Telesur journalists Adriana Sivori, producer Maria Jose Diaz and cameraman Larry Sanchez."
3 Images: http://www.usatoday.com/marketing/brand_mkt/splash/jackson/images/magazine_cover.jpg Caption: ‘ http://www.usatoday.com/marketing/brand_mkt/splash/jackson/images/special_edition.jpg USA Today special edition
Jet, USA Today Produce Jackson Commemoratives
Jet magazine and USA Today are among the first to put out special Michael Jackson editions, the two publications announced on Tuesday.
"From exclusive photos of The Jackson 5 with the late John H. Johnson," founder of Ebony and Jet magazines, "to Michael’s celebration of Thriller’s 25th anniversary, this collector’s edition is sure to be a fan-favorite," according to a release from Johnson Publishing Co. The July 20-27 issue is due out Thursday, a departure from Jet’s normal two-week lead time.
"The company made a commitment to get this issue out as quickly as possible," spokeswoman Chelsea Whittington told Journal-isms.
‘The relationship between the Johnson and Jackson family spans decades. They’d visit our offices, and there was a very special business relationship between my father, John H. Johnson and Michael. Our publications have covered Michael and his siblings since the launch of their phenomenal careers. When I think about the many significant topics we’ve covered over the years that helped shaped African-American culture, Michael Jackson certainly ranks among the most popular and memorable,’ Chairman and CEO Linda Johnson Rice says in the magazine.
USA Today annoucned it has produced a 96-page glossy-format commemorative edition titled ‘Michael Jackson: King of Pop’ ($6.99) that is now available for sale on newsstands. It features nearly 100 full-color images.
¬†A 40-page tabloid sized special edition titled ‘Michael 1958-2009’ ($4.95) will also available on newsstands, the publication said, until July 27. The edition provides reporting by the Life section’s reporting staff and music critics, including highlights from the Sunday, June 28, tribute to Michael Jackson from the 2009 BET Awards.
Additional Michael Jackson related content can be found at life.usatoday.com and a six-part tribute video called ‘Michael Jackson: A video tribute to the King of Pop,’ is available at mj.usatoday.com.
David Bauder of the Associated Press reported¬†Tuesday that, "Media coverage of Michael Jackson’s death began receding following an extraordinary worldwide outpouring, with the shock wearing off and the pace of new developments slowing.
"The Bernie Madoff sentencing, a presidential speech on energy, U.S. combat troops withdrawing from Iraqi cities and a cable news staple in Dallas – a high-speed car chase -e took time away from the drumbeat of speculation Monday on the cause of Jackson’s death and the future of his children.
"Still, producers at CBS News were hurriedly putting together another prime-time special for Tuesday night on Jackson. NBC News bought the rights to journalist Martin Bashir’s lengthy 2003 interview with Jackson for a Monday-night show, after MSNBC showed it several times over the weekend."
 
Bruce DePyssler (Credit: Raleigh News & Observer)
DePyssler of N.C. Central Wins J-Educators Award
Bruce DePyssler of North Carolina Central University has won the 2009 Barry Bingham Sr. Fellowship, given in recognition of an educator’s outstanding efforts to encourage minority students in the field of journalism, the National Conference of Editorial Writers has announced.
DePyssler is an associate professor of English and Mass Communication who advises the student newspaper the Campus Echo.
In nominating him, Dr. Michele Ware, associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts at the historically black university said, "To be quite frank, our major in Mass Communication would not exist today without Bruce DePyssler’s dedication, energy, and professionalism."
The award is to be presented at the organization’s annual convention, to be held Sept. 23-29 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Since 2000, an honorarium of $1,000 has been awarded the recipient, to be used to "further work in progress or begin a new project."
Journal-isms readers were among those who nominated candidates.
North Carolina Central, located in Durham, N.C., was the focus of national attention in 2006 after allegations that three white players on Duke University’s lacrosse team raped a black student at NCCU whom they hired to strip at an off-campus party. The media drew comparisons between the elite Duke and the nation’s first publicly funded liberal arts college for African Americans. The allegations proved not to be true.
Vanessa Gezari of the St. Petersburg Times wrote a piece then about how DePyssler and the Campus Echo grappled with the controversy.
Six Blacks at Syracuse, N.Y., Paper Take Buyouts
About 25 newsroom employees have accepted buyouts at the Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard, editor and publisher Stephen A. Rogers told Journal-isms, including six African Americans. Newspaper-wide, 80 are leaving, he said, leaving the newsroom with about 350 people.
One of those exiting said the departures leave five blacks in the newsroom. The buyouts are effective at the beginnings of July, August and Septe
mber.
The six African Americans include Saundra Smokes, veteran editorial writer; urban affairs editor Maureen Sieh; sports copy editor Sterling Gray, copy editors Gina Ogden and Gwen Karpeh and editorial assistant Susan Royal.
Rogers, a former board member of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, said, "We’ve had a very strong record with diversity and the fact that the people of color are leaving is a concern for all of us. We believe in having as diverse a staff as we can," and would rehire with that in mind when the economy improves.
Ogden, a copy editor on the news desk, told Journal-isms she was leaving after 18 years in various positions at the Newhouse-owned paper, including assistant managing editor of features, "which was named one of the top 20 features sections in the country two years in a row under my leadership. I moved to the news desk a year ago to care for my young daughter and ailing mother," she said, adding, "I plan to take the summer off and launch a business in the fall with my husband."
Smokes worked at the newspaper for 18 years, then left for eight years before returning in 2003.
"I write editorials (my second stint on the editorial board; was first woman and person of color to sit on the board)," she said in offering a short biography. "I’ve also been a columnist, feature writer and copy editor. (I was supposed to return to full-time column writing in 2003, but liked the anonymous nature of editorials). I wrote a syndicated column for United Feature Syndicate for seven years and contributedg columns to USA Today.
"I plan to spend more time with my 13-year-old and 17-year-old and pursue some writing projects, including finishing a tween book."
