PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Heather Senter, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
Summer is in full swing, and the pace has slowed just enough for everyone to catch a breath and maybe even enjoy a few vacation days. The PRSA board is taking a break from meeting this month, but programs VP Marc Flake hasn't slowed down a bit. He booked an incredible speaker who's sure to draw a crowd at the regular July meeting. Peter Roussel is a former White House deputy press secretary and served under Presidents Ford, Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
I hope to see everyone at the July luncheon -- and bring a friend!
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PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
Richard Maxwell, IABC/Fort Worth
Happy New Year! "But it's only July." Ah, but each July begins the IABC/Fort Worth fiscal year, and it invariably ushers in change. Due to popular demand, we will now meet the fourth Tuesday, starting with this month's luncheon and program on the 26th. Hopefully this schedule won't conflict with as many holidays. Also, I would like to introduce our 2005-06 board: Ken Roberts, VP programming/director of professional development and president-elect; past-president Tim Tune, District 5 senior delegate; Julie Trowbridge, treasurer; Michael Agnello, marketing and communication chair; Paul Sturiale, membership chair; Betsy Boyett, Bronze Quill chair/webmaster; and Denny Pelham, e-newsletter chair. In addition to being your president, I am District 5 junior delegate.
I am excited about this blend of returning veterans and newcomers. We all look forward to another great year. Please let us know how we can make your chapter better. Some ideas should emerge from the recently completed online member survey. Our goals for 2005-06 are to increase both membership and meeting attendance. If you know folks who might be interested in IABC, give their name to membership chair Paul Sturiale, or better yet, bring them to a meeting.
A special thanks to Star-Telegram columnist Jim Reeves for his keynote presentation at the annual Bronze Quill luncheon June 7. Those of you who were there know what a great time we had. The winners are here. And don't forget that Silver Quill entries are due Monday, July 11. For details go to iabcusd5.com and click "Enter Silver Quill."
Lastly, couldn't make it to the International IABC Conference in D.C.? Incoming chairman Warren Bickford, ABC, assembled a team of bloggers that reported directly from the conference. Dubbed the coffee press corps, the bloggers offered session summaries, event highlights and loose talk from the hallways at IABC's biggest event in years. Check it out at blogs.iabc.com/chair/.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
How soft has journalism gotten? This soft. ...
Thanks, Wes Turner, for letting us borrow Amon Carter's boat for Splash Day, July 23. You know you're invited to join us on the Eagle Mountain bounding main. And good work, Richard Maxwell, who just became IABC/Fort Worth president and already has brought in an eChaser ad from the T. I do admire people who make good things happen. ...
One more: How do we love Julie Grimes? Let us count the ways. The SPJ deputy executive director is the best thing to happen to the society, ever, and on June 14 she celebrated 10 years at national headquarters. You have a question, she has the answer. Some little detail is off-kilter, she'll fix it. Her patience, grasp of logistics and understanding of the human condition were invaluable when Fort Worth hosted the convention in the challenging summer of 2003. Let's hear it, loud and long, for Julie. ...
One was a prominent educator and textbook author in his eighth decade, a TCU graduate ('37) and former Star-Telegram reporter, SPJ executive officer 1960-62 and journalism chairman successively at TCU, West Virginia U., the University of Kansas and University of Georgia; the other was an athletic, vibrant makeup and wig specialist, 31 and eager for tomorrow. Both died last month, he in an Athens, Ga., hospital and she of apparent heart failure soon after beginning her three-mile morning walk in St. Louis. Dr. Warren Agee, 88, "was passionate about everything, but especially journalism," said granddaughter Kelly Stimpert. "He felt that if you live on this Earth, you should do something to pay it back." Likewise, Janet Dromgoole, the daughter of former Star-T staffers Glenn Dromgoole and Dr. Maggie Thomas, chose not to coast through life. A business/journalism Baylor graduate, she traveled with theatrical productions on and off Broadway and opera companies in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Cleveland and Fort Worth. She completed the New York Marathon in 2000. She was to be wed Aug. 6. Surely the accolades awaited Janet, as they had already found Dr. Agee. SPJ awarded him its highest honor, the Wells Key, in 1973 and in 1987 gave him its Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award. He received the 2001 Distinguished Leadership Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, of which he was president in 1958. Late in his career, he helped establish two newspapers in Nigeria. Always we want more time, and always, I suppose, we get precisely the amount allotted. Warren Agee and Janet Dromgoole -- they strode purposefully into each new day. They filled their time exceedingly well. ...
Good for us. The Sigma Delta Chi Foundation last year gave $23,243 to support the Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists, spearheaded by the Chicago Headline Club and Loyola University Chicago's Center for Ethics and Social Justice. Among the things the AdviceLine and its leaders accomplished in 2004: a mailing to 5,275 newspapers that included a poster and 16 copies of AdviceLine wallet cards, and an updated web site allowing journalists to download posters and wallet cards. The mailing generated requests for 84,400 additional cards. ... Also at SPJ national, Quill magazine has introduced a "Generation J" column for young professionals. Contact Holly Fisher at hfisher@spj.org for guidelines and deadlines. ... And SPJ helped design an online course on freedom of information laws featured at the recently launched News University. NewsU is an e-learning center that helps journalists through self-directed training. It's a project of the Poynter Institute and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Closing words: "If her name is Carol Keeton Rylander Strayhorn, where did the four sons named McClellan come from?" -- Lloyd Goodman, UTA Sudent Publications ... "I am really baffled by [Chuck] Colson and Gordon Liddy lecturing the world about public morality. Both of them went to jail after being convicted of misbehavior surrounding the Watergate cover-up. ... As far as I'm concerned, they have no standing in the morality debate. [Pat] Buchanan is a little different because he hasn't done time, but I'm not ready to be part of his indignation." -- Ben Bradlee
Closing words II, G.W.B. & the Pharisees bracket: "I know the party line. You know, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army, five-star generals, four-star generals, President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld: The Iraqis will be ready in whatever time period. But from the ground, I can say with certainty they won't be ready before I leave. And I know I'll be back in Iraq, probably in three or four years. And I don't think they'll be ready then." -- 1st Lt. Kenrick Cato of Long Island, N.Y., who sold his share in a database firm to join the military full time after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks ... "President Bush welcomed Vietnam's prime minister to the White House today. He promised the prime minister he would travel to Vietnam next year. That is, unless his dad can get him out of it." -- Jay Leno
