eChaser: February 2005


	Welcome to our newsletter ... Society of Professional Journalists, Fort Worth Professional Chapter Public Relations Society of America, Greater Fort Worth Chapter International Association of Business Communicators, Fort Worth Chapter eChaser archive [graphics format] We appreciate our advertisers! Advanced Mobility Systems Barr Printing Bass Performance Hall DFW Printing Co. Esperanza's Bakery Fort Worth Business Press Fort Worth Zoo Friends of the Fort Worth Public Library Helping Restore Ability Immotion Studios InterStar Marketing and Public Relations Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Food Restaurant Jubilee Theatre North Texas Daily Optimist, Abilene Christian University Pancho's Mexican Buffet PR Newswire PRSA Creative Consultants SIG The Shorthorn, UTA Star-Telegram TCU Daily Skiff Tony Roma's The University of Texas at Arlington VMS Weber Shandwick Worldwide Wise County Messenger Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations February 2005 MEETINGS Next at IABC/Fort Worth ... Bottom-line Branding Scott Yaw, managing director of Cincinnati-based Deskey Integrated Branding, has the floor Feb. 1 to discuss ways to put your brand on success. Attendees at the February luncheon will learn how to develop a 10-step plan to focus their organization on the profit prize and will see why brand-driven marketing wins and sales-driven tactics lose. Yaw is credited with creating the global branding system for 3M's Post-It Notes; developing Tide Liquid's self-draining cap, the package that revolutionized the category; and helping DeWalt power tolls become a global brand with more than $1 billion in sales. Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1 Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets Cost: $20 members, $25 nonmembers, $12 students RSVP: Julie Trowbridge at trowbridgeja@c-b.com ----- Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ... Ten Things You Can Do to Increase Your Media Success Expect a lively and frank discussion with Barbara Griffith, former WFAA-TV Fort Worth bureau chief, on how public relations professionals can improve media coverage for their clients. She'll come loaded with examples of the good and the bad -- and promises not to name names. She will also describe the changing landscape of local TV news and how it can work to the PR pro's advantage. For this month only, the meeting is on a new day -- Pro-Am Day -- and there's $3 off the regular student meal cost. PRSSA members from TCU and Abilene Christian U. will participate in the annual "Mystery Tour" of workplaces and then join members and guests for lunch. Time & date: 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18 Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets Cost: $20 members, $23 nonmembers, $15 students RSVP by noon Feb. 11: rsvp@fortworthprsa.org ----- Next at Fort Worth SPJ ... Jan. 20, 2005: Behind the Scenes on Pennsylvania Avenue From hand warmers to horse forklifts to skirmishes between Sen. Trent Lott and the White House, pulling off the 2005 presidential inauguration was a mammoth and intriguing effort that kept a 700-strong military team hopping in downtown D.C. Shadowed by the U.S. Capitol and under lock-tight security, the Joint Task Force-Armed Forces Inaugural Committee handled the military ceremonial support that ushered George W. Bush back into office. Despite tireless planning, there were glitches. A long-winded Lott kept Bush captive at the congressional luncheon, delaying the parade and leaving the Army and University of Texas Band idling in freezing weather for more than two hours. A bus broke down, four female streakers displayed their opposition to wearing fur, and, of course, it wouldn't be a Republican inauguration without at least one burned flag. The day wasn't dull, nor were the calamities that led up to it. Journalist Penny Cockerell, a Navy reservist, served on the JTF-AFIC team that supported the inauguration. She'll tell you the stories as you digest this American rite of passage. Time & date: mingling 5:30 p.m., eats around 6, program follows Wednesday, Feb. 23 Place: southern half of the ballroom cantina at Joe T. Garcia's Mexican food restaurant, 2201 N. Commerce St., Fort Worth Cost: $13 members, $18 nonmembers, $5 students; cash bar; just to hear the program -- free Menu: Joe T.'s legendary family-style enchilada dinner RSVP: Kay Pirtle at mkpirtle@yahoo.com =================================================== STRAIGHT STUFF Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James B. Stewart, editor at large for Smart Money magazine and a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, will discuss his latest book, "DisneyWar: The Battle for the Magic Kingdom," at a noon luncheon Wednesday, March 30, at the Fort Worth Club, 306 W. 7th St. Stewart is the author of three bestsellers, including "Den of Thieves" and "Bloodsport." He received Time magazine's best 9/11 book award for "Heart of a Soldier: A Story of Love, Heroism and September 11." He earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 while at The Wall Street Journal for his reporting on the stock market crash and insider trading. InterStar Marketing & Public Relations is coordinating his appearance. Proceeds benefit SPJ scholarships. For information, call Julie Cooper at InterStar, (817) 332-6522. ... The Fort Worth Journalism Project, a TCU-SPJ high school workshop , rolls out its third edition Saturday, Feb. 26, on the TCU campus. E- Mark Horvit, mhorvit@star-telegram.com, for details or to volunteer. ... The SPJ Region 8 conference will be March 18-19 in San Antonio. More from Travis Poling, tpoling@spj.org, (210) 250-3241. ... Bill Kurtis and fellow A&E producer Scott Richardson, Leonard Pitts of The Miami Herald and Diana Sugg of The Baltimore Sun will headline the Midwest National Writers Workshop in Wichita, Kan., May 21-22. Details at kansas.com. ... Dottie Gandy, author of "Choose! The Role That Choice Plays in Shaping Women's Lives" and "30 Days to a Happy Employee," promises laughter, inspiration and insight into making wise choices (even if they're spur of the moment) at the IABC/Dallas luncheon Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the Crowne Plaza North Dallas Hotel, 14315 Midway Road in Addison. More here. ... Applications are due March 15 for the first American University/Center for Public Integrity Fellowship in Investigative Journalism. The recipient will be a full-time grad student at American starting in September and will work 15-20 hours a week on center projects. Fellows receive tuition and a $2,000 monthly stipend. Applicants must have at least four years professional experience. More here. ... Ole Miss is offering producers, reporters and editors a chance to learn more about covering nonprofits. Funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the June 16-20 program at the U. of Mississippi's Oxford campus offers an in-depth analysis of tax returns and financial data, nonprofits 101, philanthropy 101, regulations, etc. A sub-theme this year is women and minorities in philanthropy. Twenty journalism fellows will be accepted; travel expenses and tuition are covered. Contact Burnis Morris at brmorris@olemiss.edu or (662) 801-0948, or visit www.jour.olemiss.edu. PRSA national update: Judith Phair, APR, Fellow PRSA, the president and chief executive of PRSA national for 2005, criticized syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams for promoting the No Child Left Behind Act without revealing that his comments were paid for by a PR agency under contract to the government. In a statement here on the PRSA web site, she says that "as public relations professionals, we are disheartened by undisclosed 'pay for play' tactics" and that such practices violate the PRSA Member Code of Ethics. The Department of Education paid a company owned by Williams $240,000 to promote the law. ... Following the tsunami tragedy in South Asia, the American Red Cross needs PR professionals to serve as volunteers with the PRSA/American Red Cross Power of Two program. The organizations established the outreach after 9-11. More here and also at redcross.org. PRSA local update: Friday, March 4, GFW PRSA will hold its monthly meeting at the Texas Public Relations Association's 2005 conference, "Challenge of Culture, Chaos and Change," at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Dallas. The T has offered free passes on the Trinity Railway Express and DART light rail for transportation to and from. The "PR Express" will depart the majestic T&P Station on Lancaster at 9:15 a.m. and leave that afternoon from Dallas' Union Station at 1:30; the trip takes about an hour. Park free at the T&P. More from Marc Flake at mflake@tarrantcounty.com or (817) 884-2535. And for more on the March 4-6 conference, visit TPRA.com. Rob Allyn, the architect of the Dallas Cowboys' Arlington campaign, is the featured speaker. PRSA local update II: The Education SIG will meet for lunch (dutch treat) at 11:45 a.m. Friday, Feb. 4, at Crescent City Beignets off I-30 and Hulen Street to plan this year's meetings and for everyone to get to know each other outside a formal program setting. ... Then there's happy hour at Pegasus restaurant, 2443 Forest Park Blvd., 5:30ish Friday, Feb. 25, to celebrate Mary Dulle's retirement. ... The PRSA Southwest District conference will be Feb. 10-11 in Albuquerque, N.M. More from Chad Perry, APR, (505) 925-8547 or cperry@unm.edu. PRSA local update III: Concerning the chapter's special interest groups, ever wonder who's in charge of what? Here's the list: Education SIG, Chris Smith, chris.smith@tccd.edu; Health Care SIG, Kelly Strzinek, kelly.strzinek@heart.org; Independent Practitioners SIG, Sandra Brodnicki, sandra@brodnickipr.com, and Nancy Farrar, nancyh829@aol.com; Master's SIG (for PR practitioners who are APR or have 15-plus years experience), Andra Bennett, APR, abennett@fortworthchamber.org; Nu Pros (PR practitioners with up to five years experience), Phil Beckman, pbeckman@star-telegram.com. SPJ national update: Almost too painful to see; can't report what you're too scared to see; the United States is losing ground in Iraq; and if we don't talk about it, maybe they'll forget it's there. Within minutes of the monster tsunami striking land, news coverage flooded TV screens around the world, revealing the depth of professionalism in the South Asian Journalists Association, CNN's staying power at disaster reporting, the heartache of an internet search for loved ones. Days later, the images linger. More here and here and here and here and here and here. ... A year ago, reporters generally were able to interview Iraqis on the capital's streets and travel across the nation. Now, because of deteriorating security, they can hardly go out in Baghdad, much less the rest of the country. More here. ... Have some numbers from Knight Ridder: U.S. military fatalities in Iraq, up from about 17 a month just after President Bush declared major combat over May 1, 2003, to 82 per month now; U.S. soldiers wounded by hostile acts per month, up from 142 to 808, same time period; mass-casualty bombings, up from zero in the first four months of the American occupation to 13 per month now; electricity production, below pre-war levels since October, largely because of sabotage, with 6.7 hours of power daily in Baghdad in early January, according to the State Department. "The trend lines we can identify are all in the wrong direction," said Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, a Washington policy research organization. "We are not winning, and the security trend lines could almost lead you to believe that we are losing." But there are bright spots. In the Sadr City section of Baghdad and the southern town of Najaf, the scene of intense fighting last year with Shiite Muslim rebels, millions of dollars are pouring into reconstruction. Both places are now relatively peaceful. More here. ... Not a word on Iraq. The president's inaugural address Jan. 20 contained 2,000 words of passion and promise for his second term, but no direct mention of the war that could sink it. More here. SPJ national update II: Surf's down; yep, that could be a distraction; and it's our party, you'll pay if we tell you. A group that defends civil liberties on the internet has filed an FOI request with the Department of Justice to determine if the government is secretly gathering information on citizens' surfing habits. The request states: "The DOJ has refused to answer the public's very simple question: 'Can the government see what I'm reading on the web without having to show probable cause?' Yet the public's interest in an answer to that question, which implicates the most profound constitutional rights, is inestimable." More here. ... Lloyd Brown, the Florida editorial page editor who resigned Nov. 2 after being accused of plagiarism and sexual harassment, has quit his new job as a speech writer for Gov. Jeb Bush. In a resignation letter, Brown said he didn't want to be "a distraction from the important work" Bush is doing. A Times-Union internal review found plagiarism in editorials that Brown, 65, wrote. More here. ... District of Columbia officials say the administration is refusing to reimburse for most of the costs associated with the inauguration, forcing the city to divert $11.9 million from the $240 million in homeland security grants awarded because the city is among the places at highest risk of a terrorist attack. A spokesman for Republican Rep. Thomas M. Davis of Virginia: "It's an unfunded mandate of the most odious kind. How can the District be asked to take funds from important homeland security projects to pay for this instead?" More here. SPJ national update III: Media rules unchanged; a petri dish for terrorism; and third columnist caught with hand in Bush till. The administration will not ask the Supreme Court to allow a set of controversial rules to take effect that would have loosened restrictions on how large media conglomerates can grow. The decision disappointed big media companies that had lobbied heavily in support of the rules and pleased those who had fought to keep tighter rein on how much control one company should have over TV, newspapers and radio stations in individual markets. More here and here. ... The Iraq war has created a training and recruitment ground for a new generation of "professionalized" jihadists, and the risk of a germ weapon attack is steadily growing, an in-house CIA think tank said in January. The dispersion to other countries "of the experienced survivors of the conflict in Iraq" will mutate al Qaeda into a volatile brew of extremist cells and individuals, according to the report by the National Intelligence Council. More here and here. ... One day after the president ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to push administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire emerged. Michael McManus, a marriage advocate with a column appearing in 50 newspapers, was hired by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage plan. More here and here and here. SPJ national update IV: Only candidates who can afford guards have their names publicized; and guess that war wasn't necessary after all. Twenty Iraqi women who were candidates in the Jan. 30 elections told a congressional delegation last month that they were afraid to be identified as candidates. "One was kidnapped, one had her son killed trying to protect her, and one resigned from a candidate list after her husband and children were threatened," said Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., one of four lawmakers who met with the women in Amman, Jordan. "We heard it was a war zone but didn't realize how dangerous it is." More here. ... The hunt for exotic weapons in Iraq quietly ended nearly two years after President Bush ordered troops to disarm Saddam Hussein. Four months after Charles A. Duelfer, who led the weapons hunt in 2004, submitted an interim report to Congress that contradicted nearly every pre-war assertion about Iraq made by Bush, Vice President Cheney and other administration officials, a senior intelligence official said the findings will stand as the Iraq Survey Group's final conclusions and will be published this spring. More here. SPJ national update V: Opposition to Gonzales growing; newspaper consolidation an "American tragedy"; and Republicans a bit uneasy around ethics. The first Latino Air National Guard officer appointed as an adjutant general in the United States, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Melvyn Montano, has joined retired Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others opposed to White House counsel Alberto Gonzales becoming attorney general. "Given Gonzales' record, senators who are afraid to vote against his confirmation for fear of being labeled anti-Hispanic are doing themselves and their constituents a grave disservice," said Montano, a Vietnam veteran who served 45 years in the military, including 18 years in a command position. A letter signed by a number of retired officers criticizes Gonzales for his role in approving memos arguing that the United States could ignore portions of the Geneva Conventions and that some forms of torture "may be justified" in President Bush's war on terror. "It is clear that these operations have fostered greater animosity toward the United States, undermined our intelligence gathering efforts and added to the risks facing our troops serving around the world," the officers wrote of the administration's detention and interrogation policies. More here and here. ... The possible sale of Pulitzer Inc., owner of the Arizona Daily Star, to a larger media chain has renewed an argument over what a newspaper amounts to in this country. "Newspapers are not just any other kind of business. They're about manufacturing journalism and democracy, not just computer chips or steel," notes Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Digital Democracy. More here. ... A day after backing off a rules change that would have allowed an indicted congressional leader to retain his post, the House of Representatives on Jan. 4 adopted a separate change that will make it harder to pursue ethics probes of members of Congress. The vote was 220-195 along party lines. Meanwhile, prosecutors investigating questionable campaign fundraising in Texas by political associates of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, have gained the cooperation of two contributors in their inquiry. More here and here. ----- How Free is Our Information? Fort Worth SPJ is looking for partners -- journalists at daily and weekly newspapers and the AP, freelancers, web writers -- to commemorate FOI Day, March 13. A team of local newsgatherers will conduct an FOI audit the following week to determine how well local government bodies comply with freedom of information laws. The team will request documents that reflect basic governance -- who's locked up in jail? who's spending what money? -- documents that the public would clearly understand should be available. Participants will be trained beforehand, and forms will be created to assure that the inquiries are uniform and the responses accurately reported. News organizations that assist with the audit will receive the results and be encouraged to use the information as the basis for further reporting. News outlets in Florida first observed FOI Day. Now a coalition of organizations has turned it into a national effort. "Open government and open records benefit all Americans and are not just a concern of journalists," said Northeast Star-Telegram editor Larry Lutz, immediate past president of the SPJ Fort Worth chapter. "We want our readers to know that access to information about government is being threatened." For more information or to sign on, contact Lutz at larrylutz@yahoo.com. =================================================== PEOPLE & PLACES The UTA newspaper, The Shorthorn, again is a finalist -- twice -- for the Gold Crown award given by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. In order to get detailed critiques for the academic year that ended last August, separate Crown entries for the fall '03 semester, editor Caren Penland, and spring '04 semester, editor Amber Tafoya, were submitted. The Shorthorn is a finalist for both semesters. Winners will be announced at the Spring National College Media Convention in New York in March. ... Hand it to these people. Star-Telegram Stock Show editor Sonny Bohanan and correspondent Amanda Rogers placed second in the Stock Show's celebrity goat-milking competition, putting the squeeze on a number of radio-station favorites. =================================================== GET A JOB Partners Together for Health, the foundation for JPS Health Network, is in the market for a special events coordinator. Degree in communications, PR or marketing preferred, along with experience in special events and fundraising. Must be organized, a multi-tasker and immune to occasionally hectic environment. Contact Janet Neff, (817) 920-7305 or jneff1@jpshealth.org. ... Stanford U.'s Department of Communication seeks a journalist to teach graduate-level courses in the 2005-06 academic year. Send a cover letter, résumé and the names of three references by March 15 to Lokey Visiting Professor Search Committee, c/o Sarah Wilson, Department of Communication, Building 120, Room 110, Stanford, Calif. 94305-2050. ... Contact Nicole Brock at (704) 367-1998, nb@ljausa.com, or Larry Polsky, lp@ljausa.com, for info on an internal communications manager position at a Dallas-area division of a worldwide company specializing in missile defense, homeland defense technology and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. ... Author Sandra Kay Parker has written a book about corporate greed with plenty of twists and turns, and she's looking for a freelance editor (with a satirical sense of humor, she says) to review the manuscript. Contact her at tquigley@earthlink.net or (928) 445-5001. ... The 50,000-circulation Joplin Globe in southwest Missouri seeks a county reporter and photographer. For the news position, contact metro editor Carol Stark, cstark@joplinglobe.com or (417) 627-7278; for the photo job, contact Gary Castor, gcastor@joplinglobe.com or (417) 623-3480, ext. 7266. Send materials to The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, Mo. 64802. (Thanks to new Globe reporter and TCU grad Melissa DeLoach for the tip.) ... They're hiring at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- sports presentation editor, crime reporter, city beat reporter and page designers. Send a letter of interest, résumé and 8-10 work samples to Kathleen L. Pellegrino, Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33301, (954) 356-4536, kpellegrino@sun-sentinel.com. =================================================== COMINGS & GOINGS Exits ... at the S-T: Northeast reporter and Northeastern U. grad Leila Fadel, joining the Knight Ridder Iraqi bureau in mid-May; she'll be on the team there for about two months ==================================================== PRESIDENT'S CORNER Heather Senter, Greater Fort Worth PRSA Think back to your last few months before college graduation. Regular visits to the career center, attending job fairs, circling ads in the paper, sending your résumé on job web sites. How did you land your first job out of school? Was it through the friend of a friend, a job posting, surviving several rounds of interviews? It's a tough obstacle to overcome, but one of the most rewarding. Local and national chapters of PRSSA, the student society, and PRSA provide resources to help students build a bridge to a career. Locally, we actively support the TCU and ACU PRSSA chapters. Our members speak at PRSSA meetings and provide mentoring opportunities as well as internships. On Friday, Feb. 18, PRSA welcomes visitors from the TCU and ACU chapters for the annual Pro-Am Day. These eager and talented students are already on the right track, and by giving up a morning to go on a "Mystery Tour" of area businesses and organizations, they'll get the inside scoop on the world of PR. Following the tour, they'll join us for lunch at the Petroleum Club. Let's all put ourselves in their shoes and offer encouragement during our short time together. You could be the stepping stone to a rewarding career. Hope to see you at Pro-Am Day! ----- PRESIDENT'S COLUMN Tim Tune, IABC/Fort Worth ABC, BBC, CNBC, DBU, EDS. Looks like a Wall Street ticker or alphabet soup. But each group of characters represents a brand, and every company and organization has one, strong or not. The strongest, of course, form the foundations of their organizations. There is power in the brand. Helping organizations get the most power out of their brand is Scott Yaw's specialty. A key player with the integrated branding firm Deskey in Cincinnati, Ohio, he will present "Bottom-line Branding" at the IABC/Fort Worth meeting Tuesday, Feb. 1. Scott has extensive expertise spanning brand planning, product launches, end-user research, sales strategy, and naming and identity development. His clients have included Proctor & Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Newell Rubbermaid and Nestlé. Have an identity crisis? You won't after this meeting. ----- OVER & OUT John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ Former SPJ national president Georgiana Vines had this to say when Dan Christensen received the 2004 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award for reporting on secret court cases in the U.S. District Court in Miami: "Dan Christensen's work on behalf of the First Amendment is an excellent example of one journalist's dedication to exposing secrecy that is becoming all too common." Christensen, who writes for the Miami Daily Business Review, broke the story in March 2003 of Mohamed Bellahouel, an Algerian-born U.S. resident who was detained secretly for five months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said that to her knowledge, "no other case filed with the Supreme Court has been handled with such excessive secrecy. Only through Christensen's reporting did the public have any idea what the case was about." This is the same Dan Christensen who will address Fort Worth SPJ's First Amendment Dinner on April 9. Details in due time, but save the date. Some speakers you just want to hear. Others you need to hear. Christensen is both. ... This is what we have to look forward to. Penny Cockerell spent the last six months helping plan the coronation. Everything she saw and did, you and I didn't. Which is why we'll all be at Joe T.'s on Wednesday, Feb. 23, to hear the tales and see the slides. ... And this is what we've lost. http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/01/20/closed20.htm. It's not too early to start thinking about the national convention, Oct. 23-25 in Las Vegas, Nev. SPJ offers internships to 12 student staffers for The Working Press, the daily tabloid of the convention. Writers, photographers and designers may apply at spj.org/convention_twp.asp. ... At least 18 members of the Alliance of Independent Journalists, an Indonesian group affiliated with the International Federation of Journalists, died in the tsunami disaster. The organization is offering support to victims' families and to its surviving members. Contact AIJ president Eddy Suprapto at eddy6@yahoo.com. Closing words: "If editors corrected quotes, Yogi Berra would be just another pretty face." -- Star-Telegram ombudsman David House ... "I tried to call the director-general of the meteorological office, but his phone was always busy. I tried to phone the office, but it was a Sunday and no one was there." -- Samith Dhammasaroj, former chief of the Thailand meteorological department, on his frantic attempts to generate an alert that might have saved thousands of lives; he said he was sure a tsunami was coming as soon as he heard about the massive Dec. 26 earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island that measured magnitude 9.0, the world's biggest in 40 years ... "Get some devastation in the back." -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to a photographer taking pictures of Frist and his aides just before their helicopter lifted off from near a pile of tsunami debris ... "Ted is understandably bitter, having lost his ratings, his network and now his mind. We wish him well." -- a Fox News spokesman on Ted Turner calling Fox a propaganda tool of the administration and indirectly comparing the Fox News Channel's popularity to Adolf Hitler's popular election to run Germany before World War II; Turner spoke before a standing-room-only crowd at the National Association for Television Programming Executives conference last month, frequently drawing loud applause and laughter Closing words II, world at war division: "I feel a strange kinship with Michael (Moore). They're trying to pit us against each other in the press, but it's a hologram. ... There was some very expert, elliptical editing going on (in 'Fahrenheit 9/11'). However, what the hell are we doing in Iraq? No one can explain to me in a reasonable manner that I can accept why we're there, why we went there and why we're still there." -- Mel Gibson ... "The Iraqi elections, rather than turning out to be a promising turning point, have the great potential for deepening the conflict." -- Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser to President George H.W. Bush ... "I got back to the White House, and Laura said, 'What did you say that for?' Well, it was just an expression that came out. I didn't rehearse it." -- President Bush on his getting Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" remark six days after 9-11

Despite tireless planning, there were glitches. A long-winded Lott kept Bush captive at the congressional luncheon, delaying the parade and leaving the Army and University of Texas Band idling in freezing weather for more than two hours. A bus broke down, four female streakers displayed their opposition to wearing fur, and, of course, it wouldn't be a Republican inauguration without at least one burned flag. The day wasn't dull, nor were the calamities that led up to it.

Time & date: mingling 5:30 p.m., eats around 6, program follows Wednesday, Feb. 23

Place: southern half of the ballroom cantina at Joe T. Garcia's Mexican food restaurant, 2201 N. Commerce St., Fort Worth

Cost: $13 members, $18 nonmembers, $5 students; cash bar; just to hear the program -- free

Menu: Joe T.'s legendary family-style enchilada dinner

RSVP: Kay Pirtle at mkpirtle@yahoo.com

===================================================

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James B. Stewart, editor at large for Smart Money magazine and a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, will discuss his latest book, "DisneyWar: The Battle for the Magic Kingdom," at a noon luncheon Wednesday, March 30, at the Fort Worth Club, 306 W. 7th St. Stewart is the author of three bestsellers, including "Den of Thieves" and "Bloodsport." He received Time magazine's best 9/11 book award for "Heart of a Soldier: A Story of Love, Heroism and September 11." He earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 while at The Wall Street Journal for his reporting on the stock market crash and insider trading. InterStar Marketing & Public Relations is coordinating his appearance. Proceeds benefit SPJ scholarships. For information, call Julie Cooper at InterStar, (817) 332-6522. ...

The Fort Worth Journalism Project, a TCU-SPJ high school workshop , rolls out its third edition Saturday, Feb. 26, on the TCU campus. E- Mark Horvit, mhorvit@star-telegram.com, for details or to volunteer. ... The SPJ Region 8 conference will be March 18-19 in San Antonio. More from Travis Poling, tpoling@spj.org, (210) 250-3241. ... Bill Kurtis and fellow A&E producer Scott Richardson, Leonard Pitts of The Miami Herald and Diana Sugg of The Baltimore Sun will headline the Midwest National Writers Workshop in Wichita, Kan., May 21-22. Details at kansas.com. ... Dottie Gandy, author of "Choose! The Role That Choice Plays in Shaping Women's Lives" and "30 Days to a Happy Employee," promises laughter, inspiration and insight into making wise choices (even if they're spur of the moment) at the IABC/Dallas luncheon Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the Crowne Plaza North Dallas Hotel, 14315 Midway Road in Addison. More here. ...

Applications are due March 15 for the first American University/Center for Public Integrity Fellowship in Investigative Journalism. The recipient will be a full-time grad student at American starting in September and will work 15-20 hours a week on center projects. Fellows receive tuition and a $2,000 monthly stipend. Applicants must have at least four years professional experience. More here. ... Ole Miss is offering producers, reporters and editors a chance to learn more about covering nonprofits. Funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the June 16-20 program at the U. of Mississippi's Oxford campus offers an in-depth analysis of tax returns and financial data, nonprofits 101, philanthropy 101, regulations, etc. A sub-theme this year is women and minorities in philanthropy. Twenty journalism fellows will be accepted; travel expenses and tuition are covered. Contact Burnis Morris at brmorris@olemiss.edu or (662) 801-0948, or visit www.jour.olemiss.edu.

PRSA national update: Judith Phair, APR, Fellow PRSA, the president and chief executive of PRSA national for 2005, criticized syndicated columnist Armstrong Williams for promoting the No Child Left Behind Act without revealing that his comments were paid for by a PR agency under contract to the government. In a statement here on the PRSA web site, she says that "as public relations professionals, we are disheartened by undisclosed 'pay for play' tactics" and that such practices violate the PRSA Member Code of Ethics. The Department of Education paid a company owned by Williams $240,000 to promote the law. ... Following the tsunami tragedy in South Asia, the American Red Cross needs PR professionals to serve as volunteers with the PRSA/American Red Cross Power of Two program. The organizations established the outreach after 9-11. More here and also at redcross.org.

PRSA local update: Friday, March 4, GFW PRSA will hold its monthly meeting at the Texas Public Relations Association's 2005 conference, "Challenge of Culture, Chaos and Change," at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Dallas. The T has offered free passes on the Trinity Railway Express and DART light rail for transportation to and from. The "PR Express" will depart the majestic T&P Station on Lancaster at 9:15 a.m. and leave that afternoon from Dallas' Union Station at 1:30; the trip takes about an hour. Park free at the T&P. More from Marc Flake at mflake@tarrantcounty.com or (817) 884-2535. And for more on the March 4-6 conference, visit TPRA.com. Rob Allyn, the architect of the Dallas Cowboys' Arlington campaign, is the featured speaker.

PRSA local update II: The Education SIG will meet for lunch (dutch treat) at 11:45 a.m. Friday, Feb. 4, at Crescent City Beignets off I-30 and Hulen Street to plan this year's meetings and for everyone to get to know each other outside a formal program setting. ... Then there's happy hour at Pegasus restaurant, 2443 Forest Park Blvd., 5:30ish Friday, Feb. 25, to celebrate Mary Dulle's retirement. ... The PRSA Southwest District conference will be Feb. 10-11 in Albuquerque, N.M. More from Chad Perry, APR, (505) 925-8547 or cperry@unm.edu.

PRSA local update III: Concerning the chapter's special interest groups, ever wonder who's in charge of what? Here's the list: Education SIG, Chris Smith, chris.smith@tccd.edu; Health Care SIG, Kelly Strzinek, kelly.strzinek@heart.org; Independent Practitioners SIG, Sandra Brodnicki, sandra@brodnickipr.com, and Nancy Farrar, nancyh829@aol.com; Master's SIG (for PR practitioners who are APR or have 15-plus years experience), Andra Bennett, APR, abennett@fortworthchamber.org; Nu Pros (PR practitioners with up to five years experience), Phil Beckman, pbeckman@star-telegram.com.

SPJ national update: Almost too painful to see; can't report what you're too scared to see; the United States is losing ground in Iraq; and if we don't talk about it, maybe they'll forget it's there. Within minutes of the monster tsunami striking land, news coverage flooded TV screens around the world, revealing the depth of professionalism in the South Asian Journalists Association, CNN's staying power at disaster reporting, the heartache of an internet search for loved ones. Days later, the images linger. More here and here and here and here and here and here. ... A year ago, reporters generally were able to interview Iraqis on the capital's streets and travel across the nation. Now, because of deteriorating security, they can hardly go out in Baghdad, much less the rest of the country. More here. ... Have some numbers from Knight Ridder: U.S. military fatalities in Iraq, up from about 17 a month just after President Bush declared major combat over May 1, 2003, to 82 per month now; U.S. soldiers wounded by hostile acts per month, up from 142 to 808, same time period; mass-casualty bombings, up from zero in the first four months of the American occupation to 13 per month now; electricity production, below pre-war levels since October, largely because of sabotage, with 6.7 hours of power daily in Baghdad in early January, according to the State Department. "The trend lines we can identify are all in the wrong direction," said Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, a Washington policy research organization. "We are not winning, and the security trend lines could almost lead you to believe that we are losing." But there are bright spots. In the Sadr City section of Baghdad and the southern town of Najaf, the scene of intense fighting last year with Shiite Muslim rebels, millions of dollars are pouring into reconstruction. Both places are now relatively peaceful. More here. ... Not a word on Iraq. The president's inaugural address Jan. 20 contained 2,000 words of passion and promise for his second term, but no direct mention of the war that could sink it. More here.

SPJ national update II: Surf's down; yep, that could be a distraction; and it's our party, you'll pay if we tell you. A group that defends civil liberties on the internet has filed an FOI request with the Department of Justice to determine if the government is secretly gathering information on citizens' surfing habits. The request states: "The DOJ has refused to answer the public's very simple question: 'Can the government see what I'm reading on the web without having to show probable cause?' Yet the public's interest in an answer to that question, which implicates the most profound constitutional rights, is inestimable." More here. ... Lloyd Brown, the Florida editorial page editor who resigned Nov. 2 after being accused of plagiarism and sexual harassment, has quit his new job as a speech writer for Gov. Jeb Bush. In a resignation letter, Brown said he didn't want to be "a distraction from the important work" Bush is doing. A Times-Union internal review found plagiarism in editorials that Brown, 65, wrote. More here. ... District of Columbia officials say the administration is refusing to reimburse for most of the costs associated with the inauguration, forcing the city to divert $11.9 million from the $240 million in homeland security grants awarded because the city is among the places at highest risk of a terrorist attack. A spokesman for Republican Rep. Thomas M. Davis of Virginia: "It's an unfunded mandate of the most odious kind. How can the District be asked to take funds from important homeland security projects to pay for this instead?" More here.

SPJ national update III: Media rules unchanged; a petri dish for terrorism; and third columnist caught with hand in Bush till. The administration will not ask the Supreme Court to allow a set of controversial rules to take effect that would have loosened restrictions on how large media conglomerates can grow. The decision disappointed big media companies that had lobbied heavily in support of the rules and pleased those who had fought to keep tighter rein on how much control one company should have over TV, newspapers and radio stations in individual markets. More here and here. ... The Iraq war has created a training and recruitment ground for a new generation of "professionalized" jihadists, and the risk of a germ weapon attack is steadily growing, an in-house CIA think tank said in January. The dispersion to other countries "of the experienced survivors of the conflict in Iraq" will mutate al Qaeda into a volatile brew of extremist cells and individuals, according to the report by the National Intelligence Council. More here and here. ... One day after the president ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to push administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire emerged. Michael McManus, a marriage advocate with a column appearing in 50 newspapers, was hired by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage plan. More here and here and here.

SPJ national update IV: Only candidates who can afford guards have their names publicized; and guess that war wasn't necessary after all. Twenty Iraqi women who were candidates in the Jan. 30 elections told a congressional delegation last month that they were afraid to be identified as candidates. "One was kidnapped, one had her son killed trying to protect her, and one resigned from a candidate list after her husband and children were threatened," said Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., one of four lawmakers who met with the women in Amman, Jordan. "We heard it was a war zone but didn't realize how dangerous it is." More here. ... The hunt for exotic weapons in Iraq quietly ended nearly two years after President Bush ordered troops to disarm Saddam Hussein. Four months after Charles A. Duelfer, who led the weapons hunt in 2004, submitted an interim report to Congress that contradicted nearly every pre-war assertion about Iraq made by Bush, Vice President Cheney and other administration officials, a senior intelligence official said the findings will stand as the Iraq Survey Group's final conclusions and will be published this spring. More here.

SPJ national update V: Opposition to Gonzales growing; newspaper consolidation an "American tragedy"; and Republicans a bit uneasy around ethics. The first Latino Air National Guard officer appointed as an adjutant general in the United States, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Melvyn Montano, has joined retired Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others opposed to White House counsel Alberto Gonzales becoming attorney general. "Given Gonzales' record, senators who are afraid to vote against his confirmation for fear of being labeled anti-Hispanic are doing themselves and their constituents a grave disservice," said Montano, a Vietnam veteran who served 45 years in the military, including 18 years in a command position. A letter signed by a number of retired officers criticizes Gonzales for his role in approving memos arguing that the United States could ignore portions of the Geneva Conventions and that some forms of torture "may be justified" in President Bush's war on terror. "It is clear that these operations have fostered greater animosity toward the United States, undermined our intelligence gathering efforts and added to the risks facing our troops serving around the world," the officers wrote of the administration's detention and interrogation policies. More here and here. ... The possible sale of Pulitzer Inc., owner of the Arizona Daily Star, to a larger media chain has renewed an argument over what a newspaper amounts to in this country. "Newspapers are not just any other kind of business. They're about manufacturing journalism and democracy, not just computer chips or steel," notes Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Digital Democracy. More here. ... A day after backing off a rules change that would have allowed an indicted congressional leader to retain his post, the House of Representatives on Jan. 4 adopted a separate change that will make it harder to pursue ethics probes of members of Congress. The vote was 220-195 along party lines. Meanwhile, prosecutors investigating questionable campaign fundraising in Texas by political associates of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, have gained the cooperation of two contributors in their inquiry. More here and here.

How Free is Our Information?

The team will request documents that reflect basic governance -- who's locked up in jail? who's spending what money? -- documents that the public would clearly understand should be available. Participants will be trained beforehand, and forms will be created to assure that the inquiries are uniform and the responses accurately reported. News organizations that assist with the audit will receive the results and be encouraged to use the information as the basis for further reporting.

News outlets in Florida first observed FOI Day. Now a coalition of organizations has turned it into a national effort. "Open government and open records benefit all Americans and are not just a concern of journalists," said Northeast Star-Telegram editor Larry Lutz, immediate past president of the SPJ Fort Worth chapter. "We want our readers to know that access to information about government is being threatened." For more information or to sign on, contact Lutz at larrylutz@yahoo.com.

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The UTA newspaper, The Shorthorn, again is a finalist -- twice -- for the Gold Crown award given by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. In order to get detailed critiques for the academic year that ended last August, separate Crown entries for the fall '03 semester, editor Caren Penland, and spring '04 semester, editor Amber Tafoya, were submitted. The Shorthorn is a finalist for both semesters. Winners will be announced at the Spring National College Media Convention in New York in March. ...

Hand it to these people. Star-Telegram Stock Show editor Sonny Bohanan and correspondent Amanda Rogers placed second in the Stock Show's celebrity goat-milking competition, putting the squeeze on a number of radio-station favorites.

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Partners Together for Health, the foundation for JPS Health Network, is in the market for a special events coordinator. Degree in communications, PR or marketing preferred, along with experience in special events and fundraising. Must be organized, a multi-tasker and immune to occasionally hectic environment. Contact Janet Neff, (817) 920-7305 or jneff1@jpshealth.org. ... Stanford U.'s Department of Communication seeks a journalist to teach graduate-level courses in the 2005-06 academic year. Send a cover letter, résumé and the names of three references by March 15 to Lokey Visiting Professor Search Committee, c/o Sarah Wilson, Department of Communication, Building 120, Room 110, Stanford, Calif. 94305-2050. ...

Contact Nicole Brock at (704) 367-1998, nb@ljausa.com, or Larry Polsky, lp@ljausa.com, for info on an internal communications manager position at a Dallas-area division of a worldwide company specializing in missile defense, homeland defense technology and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment. ... Author Sandra Kay Parker has written a book about corporate greed with plenty of twists and turns, and she's looking for a freelance editor (with a satirical sense of humor, she says) to review the manuscript. Contact her at tquigley@earthlink.net or (928) 445-5001. ...

The 50,000-circulation Joplin Globe in southwest Missouri seeks a county reporter and photographer. For the news position, contact metro editor Carol Stark, cstark@joplinglobe.com or (417) 627-7278; for the photo job, contact Gary Castor, gcastor@joplinglobe.com or (417) 623-3480, ext. 7266. Send materials to The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, Mo. 64802. (Thanks to new Globe reporter and TCU grad Melissa DeLoach for the tip.) ... They're hiring at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- sports presentation editor, crime reporter, city beat reporter and page designers. Send a letter of interest, résumé and 8-10 work samples to Kathleen L. Pellegrino, Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33301, (954) 356-4536, kpellegrino@sun-sentinel.com.

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Exits ... at the S-T: Northeast reporter and Northeastern U. grad Leila Fadel, joining the Knight Ridder Iraqi bureau in mid-May; she'll be on the team there for about two months

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Heather Senter, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

Tim Tune, IABC/Fort Worth

Helping organizations get the most power out of their brand is Scott Yaw's specialty. A key player with the integrated branding firm Deskey in Cincinnati, Ohio, he will present "Bottom-line Branding" at the IABC/Fort Worth meeting Tuesday, Feb. 1. Scott has extensive expertise spanning brand planning, product launches, end-user research, sales strategy, and naming and identity development. His clients have included Proctor & Gamble, Johnson and Johnson, Newell Rubbermaid and Nestlé.

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

Former SPJ national president Georgiana Vines had this to say when Dan Christensen received the 2004 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award for reporting on secret court cases in the U.S. District Court in Miami: "Dan Christensen's work on behalf of the First Amendment is an excellent example of one journalist's dedication to exposing secrecy that is becoming all too common." Christensen, who writes for the Miami Daily Business Review, broke the story in March 2003 of Mohamed Bellahouel, an Algerian-born U.S. resident who was detained secretly for five months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said that to her knowledge, "no other case filed with the Supreme Court has been handled with such excessive secrecy. Only through Christensen's reporting did the public have any idea what the case was about." This is the same Dan Christensen who will address Fort Worth SPJ's First Amendment Dinner on April 9. Details in due time, but save the date. Some speakers you just want to hear. Others you need to hear. Christensen is both. ...

It's not too early to start thinking about the national convention, Oct. 23-25 in Las Vegas, Nev. SPJ offers internships to 12 student staffers for The Working Press, the daily tabloid of the convention. Writers, photographers and designers may apply at spj.org/convention_twp.asp. ... At least 18 members of the Alliance of Independent Journalists, an Indonesian group affiliated with the International Federation of Journalists, died in the tsunami disaster. The organization is offering support to victims' families and to its surviving members. Contact AIJ president Eddy Suprapto at eddy6@yahoo.com.

Closing words: "If editors corrected quotes, Yogi Berra would be just another pretty face." -- Star-Telegram ombudsman David House ... "I tried to call the director-general of the meteorological office, but his phone was always busy. I tried to phone the office, but it was a Sunday and no one was there." -- Samith Dhammasaroj, former chief of the Thailand meteorological department, on his frantic attempts to generate an alert that might have saved thousands of lives; he said he was sure a tsunami was coming as soon as he heard about the massive Dec. 26 earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island that measured magnitude 9.0, the world's biggest in 40 years ... "Get some devastation in the back." -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to a photographer taking pictures of Frist and his aides just before their helicopter lifted off from near a pile of tsunami debris ... "Ted is understandably bitter, having lost his ratings, his network and now his mind. We wish him well." -- a Fox News spokesman on Ted Turner calling Fox a propaganda tool of the administration and indirectly comparing the Fox News Channel's popularity to Adolf Hitler's popular election to run Germany before World War II; Turner spoke before a standing-room-only crowd at the National Association for Television Programming Executives conference last month, frequently drawing loud applause and laughter

Closing words II, world at war division: "I feel a strange kinship with Michael (Moore). They're trying to pit us against each other in the press, but it's a hologram. ... There was some very expert, elliptical editing going on (in 'Fahrenheit 9/11'). However, what the hell are we doing in Iraq? No one can explain to me in a reasonable manner that I can accept why we're there, why we went there and why we're still there." -- Mel Gibson ... "The Iraqi elections, rather than turning out to be a promising turning point, have the great potential for deepening the conflict." -- Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser to President George H.W. Bush ... "I got back to the White House, and Laura said, 'What did you say that for?' Well, it was just an expression that came out. I didn't rehearse it." -- President Bush on his getting Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" remark six days after 9-11