COMINGS & GOINGS
Exits ... at the S-T: investigative reporter Jennifer Autrey, joining her husband, John Forsyth, in New York, where he's on The New York Times copy desk ... page designer and Abilene Christian U. grad Amanda Reiter, to the Ventura (Cal.) County Star ... longtime part-time copy editor John Dycus, who was just really tired of working Friday nights
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READING MATTERS
For those at opposite ends of the spectrum ...
"The Exception to the Rulers" /
In "Exception to the Rulers," award-winning journalist Goodman exposes the lies, corruption and crimes of the power elite -- an elite, she asserts, that's bolstered by large media conglomerates that obscure the truth. Her goal is "to go where the silence is, to give voice to the silenced majority," and she's fond of quoting Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Goodman hosts the national radio and TV show Democracy Now!, which began in 1996 and is said to be the largest media collaboration in public broadcasting in North America.
"Do As I Say (Not As I Do)" /
Liberals talk a good game -- progressive taxes, affirmative action, greater regulation of corporations, increasing the inheritance tax, stricter environmental safeguards, consumer rights -- but do they practice what they preach? Author Schweizer looked at the tax returns, real estate documents, business and investment patterns, court depositions, and hiring practices of everyone from Michael Moore and Al Franken to George Soros and Barbra Streisand, and all, he says, are adept at avoiding taxes, invest in the very industries they denounce, and abandon environmental causes when those causes impinge on their own property rights. Schweizer's conclusion: Liberal principles that don't work for individuals have no place in shaping national policy.
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RESOURCES
Add Powerreporting.com, edited by Bill Dedman, to the journalist's toolbox. Several individuals from Columbia Journalism Review helped compile a portion of the site's links to reporting resources. Example: Under "Top 100 Sites," you'll find information about ordering "A Journalist's Guide to Covering Bioterrorism," a Radio and Television News Directors Foundation publication. The site is a collection of information and tools from many sources, including individuals, companies and the government.
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PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
Richard Maxwell, IABC/Fort Worth
Want your organization to go from good to great? Then I hope you were with us last month when management consultant and Amazon.com book reviewer Robert Morris reviewed "Good to Great" by Jim Collins. Now on to this month -- Oct. 25, to be exact -- when IABC/Fort Worth past president Robin McCasland from Texas Instruments will speak on "Strategic Planning for Dummies." Join us at the Petroleum Club at 11:30 a.m. for networking and an informative professional development program.
Here's a contest you can sink your teeth into. If you're an IABC member and you refer someone who submits a membership application in October, you will receive a $25 gift certificate for an area restaurant and be entered in a drawing to win a free year's IABC membership or the cash equivalent. Visit membership VP Paul Sturiale at paulsturiale@yahoo.com for details.
We want to welcome IABC past international chair and Hurricane Katrina survivor Charles Pizzo to the area. To help Charles and other IABC members affected by the disaster, IABC international established a relief fund. If you donate during October, IABC/Fort Worth will match your contribution. We'll be taking donations at the October meeting, or send checks to IABC/Fort Worth, P.O. Box 17033, Fort Worth 76102.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
Mike Cochran, no stranger to fun, rated the '02 chartered-bus excursion to the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas one of the chapter's best meetings ever. Think we can't boil up that much enjoyment one more time? Just watch. The bus holds 43, and more than half the spaces are already taken for the junket Oct. 22 (and that's with no publicity). When the bus is full, it's full. You don't want to run along beside. E- executive secretary Kay Pirtle at mkpirtle@yahoo.com -- she'll save a seat for you. ...
SPJ added its name to a letter sent to the chairman and ranking minority members of the House Intelligence Committee, who will hold meetings to discuss "leaks legislation." The letter states in part: "Media organizations are keenly interested in preserving free discussion of important public issues of the day, while preventing legitimate harm to national security. We want to continue the dialogue with you and your colleagues and with the intelligence community to explore remedies to the problems and challenges."
Closing words: "We're talking about a couple thousand of the brightest minds on the planet now warning about global warming. What will be the big event that is going to test the theory? Are we going to wait for that occurrence? Isn't there a point that we don't want to test the theory against? Governments today have access to remarkably good scientific advice. They ignore it at the peril of their own populations." -- Sir David King, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser
Closing words II, G.W.B. & the Pharisees bracket: "Louisiana is a city that is largely under water." -- Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff ... "Of course it will. It's a blot. I'm the one who presented it on behalf of the United States to the world, and [it] will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It's painful now." -- former Secretary of State Colin Powell to Barbara Walters on whether his assertions to the United Nations about Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction -- assertions that were untrue -- will tarnish his reputation ... "I don't know how many innocents I killed with my mortar rounds. In Baghdad, I had days that I don't want to remember. I try to forget." -- Hart Viges, formerly with the 82nd Airborne Division, at a presentation at American University in Washington ... "Maybe you know something I don't know. I've been working." -- President Bush to reporters when asked to comment on FEMA director Michael Brown's abrupt resignation ... "The time has come that the American people know exactly what their representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined and dined by special interest groups? Or are they working hard to represent their constituents? The people, the American people, have a right to know. ... I say the best disinfectant is full disclosure, not isolation." -- Tom DeLay, Nov. 16, 1995
