eChaser: April 2006


	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 Balcom Agency Barr Printing Bass Performance Hall Business Wire The Collegian, Tarrant County College District DFW Printing Co. Fort Worth Business Press Fort Worth Transportation Authority Fort Worth Zoo Helping Restore Ability InterStar Marketing and Public Relations Jesse Hornbuckle Photography Joe T. Garcia's Mexican Restaurant The Keller Citizen Magic Video Optimist, Abilene Christian University PR Newswire PRSA Creative Consultants SIG Reasons Group, Inc. Robert Hart Studio The Shorthorn, UTA Star-Telegram TCU Daily Skiff Trinity Railway Express The University of Texas at Arlington VMS Weber Shandwick Worldwide Wise County Messenger Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations April 2006 Journalism Educator to Keynote First Amendment Awards Dinner How do reporters do First Amendment journalism in the new age? Sree knows. Sreenath Sreenivasan, dean of students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and co-founder of the South Asian Journalists Association, will keynote Fort Worth SPJ's 3rd annual First Amendment Awards and Scholarship Dinner, Saturday, April 15, at Cacharel in Arlington. Winners of the chapter's 2006 First Amendment Awards will be announced, along with university and high school recipients of the Gridiron and Lina Davis scholarships. Sreenivasan is a specialist in news media convergence, teaching journalists to work in multiple formats such as print, TV, radio and online. A weekly columnist for Poynter.org, for 10 years he advised Columbia's SPJ chapter and was named the national Faculty Adviser of the Year in 1998. In addition to being dean of students at Columbia, he runs the university's new media/web journalism program. He can be seen regularly on WABC-7 in the New York City area, he guest hosts segments of "Asian America" on PBS, a nationally syndicated English program on Asian American affairs, and he's the Web Geek for Popular Science's "Geek Chorus." Time & date: cash bar opens 6 p.m., dinner 6:30 Saturday, April 15 Place: Cacharel, 2221 E. Lamar Blvd., Brookhollow Tower Two; from Fort Worth or Dallas, off I-30 go north on Ballpark Way, east on Lamar, look for tall building on left next to Arlington Hilton Cost: $50; $475 table of 10 Menu: Pecan-crusted chicken breast served on a bed of basil whipped potatoes with oven-dried tomatoes and asparagus; Cacharel house salad tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette; warm rolls and butter, tea, coffee and, for dessert, the remarkable Cacharel chocolate soufflé RSVP by April 13: Kay Pirtle at mkpirtle@yahoo.com =================================================== Blazing the trail ... MARTHA HAND BROWN, 1923-2006 She interviewed such famous people as Winston Churchill and Clark Gable and Burgess Meredith, and she called John Steinbeck friend. She was the first female reporter in the Washington, D.C., bureau of the Gannett newspaper chain and sat in on news conferences with Franklin Roosevelt. After joining Gannett, she got to know Roosevelt, and when Churchill came to America, she asked FDR if she could please have an interview with the British prime minister. She was fresh out of Arlington and all of 20 years old, if that. She could handle any kind of news story at a time when most women reporters were stuck in the society section. "She could be charming in one minute," recalled her colleague, former Star-Telegram managing editor Phil Record, "and tough as nails in the next." In a 50-year career, she covered every beat except sports in Washington, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington, where she worked for the Arlington Journal while she was 16. She attended North Texas Agricultural College (now UTA), Columbia University on scholarship and UT Austin. She was one of the first women editors in the Dallas bureau of the Associated Press. Martha Hand Brown died March 18. She was 83. She had been called a pioneering Texas journalist who blazed trails for women reporters. And that she surely was. =================================================== MEETINGS Next at IABC/Fort Worth ... Program to be announced. Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, April 25 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 RSVP by noon April 21: Julie Trowbridge, julie.trowbridge@c-b.com ----- Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ... Writing Well to Get Reporters' Attention -- and Respect Paul Harral, Star-Telegram editorial page editor, and J.R. Labbe, deputy editorial page editor, jump the fence for a day to share journalism's best writing secrets with PR flacks, er, pros, during a PRSA professional development seminar, "The Write Stuff," April 12 at the Petroleum Club. The half-day seminar will impart advice and humorous (now) accounts of seriously bad stuff reaching the editor's desk from among local PR ranks. Want more? Stay for lunch. Harral and Labbe are the noon program, too. Time & date: seminar 9-11:45 a.m., lunch noon-1 p.m. Wednesday, April 12 Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets Cost: seminar and luncheon, members $55, nonmembers $65, students $30; seminar only, members $35, nonmembers $45, students $15; lunch only, members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20 RSVP by noon April 7 =================================================== STRAIGHT STUFF The simply huge Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference of the Southwest, sponsored by the Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at UNT, returns July 14-16 to the Hilton DFW Lakes in Grapevine. More info next month, or, if you can't wait, go here. ... Do you know what bloggers are saying about your company? Do you subscribe to a podcast? Is your web site interactive? Local experts Eric Naiman with Jumpin' Tex Media and Brian Oberkirch at WeblogsWork will outline the latest techno-trends at the Fort Worth Chamber's half-day wiki-workshop Thursday, May 11. More info next month. Remember, that's May 11. Mark your PDA. ... Worth a reminder: The TCU Schieffer School of Journalism's second annual Schieffer Symposium, with Bob Schieffer, Jill Abramson, Larry Kramer, Judy Woodruff and Len Downie, will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 5, in TCU's Brown-Lupton Student Center Ballroom. Call (817) 257-5976. ... The D/FW Network of Hispanic Communicators' scholarship reception brunch will be Saturday, April 22, at Los Vaqueros Restaurant on Fort Worth's North Side. Inquire at email@dfwhispanic.org. ... Application deadline is May 1 for the $500 Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award for a student SPJer who has demonstrated service to the First Amendment. The $500 must be used to attend the 2006 national conference. Send documentation, one-page biography, résumé and three recommendation letters to SPJ/Lewis First Amendment Award, 3909 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, Ind. 46208. Robert Lewis was SPJ national president in 1985-86 and national FOI chair from 1978 to 1983. Call Heather Porter at (317) 927-8000, ext. 204. ... The Urban Communication Foundation is offering $5,000 for excellence in reporting, analysis or commentary on urban issues. Nominations will be accepted until May 1. E- listra@optonline.net. ... Postmark deadline is July 1 to apply for the Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing. The $75,000 award covers courses, travel or other ways to enrich knowledge of a public interest issue. Looks like a typo, but it's not. Entries must be in English. See spj.org. ... Entries are due April 17 for the South Asian Journalists Association competition for South Asian journalists and students in the U.S. and Canada. More at saja.org. ... Student journalists will earn $2,500 during a 10-week commitment to write, copy edit or take pictures for a black-owned newspaper, write as a correspondent for Black College Wire or be a content editor for the Black Collegian magazine web site. Included is an expenses-paid trip to Nashville for additional j-training. Several interns also will cover the National Association of Black Journalists convention and job fair in Indianapolis for Black College Wire. Contact Jean Thompson, jelainethompson@aol.com or (646) 638-2032. IABC local update: Technology author and consultant Jerry Stevenson will present "Communicating in the Future Tense: Critical Trends and Technologies Communicators Need to Know" at the Tuesday, April 11, IABC/Dallas luncheon. More here. PRSA local update: Danielle Ezell, APR, principal of Oklahoma City-based 20 Hats; Suzi Prokell, owner of Prokell Publicity in Aledo; and Nancy Farrar of Farrar Public Relations in Fort Worth will discuss "Growing Your Independent Practice: How to Build a Business that Works for You," a PRSA Independent Practitioners Alliance teleseminar, at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 26. Sandra Brodnicki of Brodnicki Public Relations will moderate the panel. Not every independent wishes to grow an agency, the organizers note. "Understanding and actually working your own business model, instead of just paying lip service to it, will allow you to create an effective marketing and branding strategy that delivers results. Are you a strategist or a tactician? A deal maker or account maven, or a little bit of both? This seminar will address the financial issues, fees, billings and budgeting independents face regardless of their structure and discuss relevant business development techniques." More here. Ezell and Brodnicki tag-teamed at the 2006 PRSA Southwest District Conference to present "Going It Alone: Success Stories from Independent Practitioners." Brodnicki and Farrar co-chair GFW PRSA's Independent Practitioners SIG. PRSA local update II: "Reputation Management for Reputation Managers" at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, and "Develop an Approval Process that Doesn't Drive You Nuts," 2 p.m. Thursday, April 13, top national PRSA's teleseminars docket this month. GFW PRSA will pay for members to participate if enough express interest. E- membership chair Marc Flake at mflake@tarrantcounty.com. PRSA local update III: Denise Angarola Fernandez, president/CEO of the Julden Group, will share the secrets of "buzz marketing" at the Dallas PRSA Pro-Am Day luncheon and program Friday, April 7, at the Park City Club, 5956 Sherry Lane. More here. SPJ national update: Can this be America?; how Florida treats a patriot; Bush would have his war, memo asserts; and plagiarism foils WaPo columnist. During the past five years, 469 cases in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., have been tried in secrecy. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press searched the court's entire civil and criminal docket for that period, ending Dec. 30; 18 percent of nearly 3,000 criminal cases were not docketed. More here. ... When Leon County elections supervisor Ion Sancho uncovered security flaws in Diebold voting machines, GOP officials in Florida could have praised him for working to ensure a fair election. But do you think they did? Do you really? More here. ... In a two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, President Bush made clear to British Prime Minister Tony Blair that he would invade Iraq without a second U.N. resolution condemning the country, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, says a confidential memo about the meeting written by Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times. More here and here. ... "I'm there to do opinion. That's what I do," said Ben Domenech, 24, a former Bush administration aide hired by washingtonpost.com to present a conservative view. "I'm not a journalist." Well, no kidding. Shortly after this statement, faced with plagiarism accusations, Domenech resigned. More here and here and here. SPJ national update II: AP chief loses Vermont job; incompetence embraces the FBI; and journalist deaths highest since World War II. Christopher Graff, 52, who headed the Associated Press bureau in Montpelier, was fired March 22 after posting a column by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt. For the last two years, the AP has prepared a package of Sunshine Week stories in which media organizations advocate openness in government. Leahy wrote the highly critical column for the American Society of Newspaper Editors. More here and here. ... A case management system to help fight terrorism could cost $500 million, dwarfing the $170 million the FBI sank into a project that it jettisoned a year ago, a watchdog group says. Meanwhile, many New York FBI agents don't have an Internet-ready phone or even a government e-mail account. "We have real money issues right now, and the government is reluctant to give all agents and analysts dot-gov accounts," the man in charge of the FBI's 2,000-employee city office told the New York Daily News editorial board. More here and here. ... Eighty-four reporters and media staffers have been killed in the Iraq war, Reporters Without Borders announced March 21, the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In contrast, 63 journalists were killed during 22 years of conflict in Vietnam, the Paris-based media advocacy group added. The International Federation of Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists reached similarly grim conclusions, though with different figures. More here and here. SPJ national update III: Iraq base funding smacks of extended stay; advance workers impersonated reporters; and Oregon paper seeks wiretap docs. Military planners say they want to withdraw American troops from Iraq in the coming year, yet an emergency spending bill overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives in late March with $67.6 billion more for the war effort, including money to build large bases there. More here. ... The White House says it will discipline two Secret Service men who masqueraded as Fox News reporters while scouting locations for a March 8 presidential visit to the Gulf Coast. More here. ... The company that publishes The Oregonian in Portland wants U.S. District Court in Oregon to unseal documents in a pending case that alleges the Bush administration illegally intercepted international phone conversations between the co-director of an Islamic charity and his lawyers in the U.S. More here. SPJ national update IV: Wal-Mart blogs a little PR; FEMA won't reveal names of hurricane-aid recipients; and White House trains sights on media leaks. Brian Pickrell recently posted a note on his Web site attacking state legislation that would force Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health insurance. It was the kind of comment the giant retailer might write itself. And, in fact, it did. More here. ... The AP and three major media companies on March 6 joined the fight to force the Federal Emergency Management Agency to produce names of people who got federal aid after the 2004 hurricanes in Florida. Inequities and fraud have been alleged in the distribution of more than $1.5 billion in assistance. At least 26 people have been charged with filing false FEMA claims in South Florida. More here. ... The Bush administration, seeking to limit leaks of classified information, has launched initiatives targeting journalists and their possible government sources. The efforts include FBI probes, a polygraph investigation inside the CIA and a warning from the Justice Department that reporters could be prosecuted under espionage laws. More here. SPJ national update V: Doh!; NY Times sues Defense Department over spy records; Michigan State U. students go online; blogs exempted from campaign finance limits; and two wins for the student press. Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances). But more than half can name at least two members of the "Simpsons" cartoon family. More here. ... The New York Times sued the Department of Defense on Feb. 27, saying the government has refused to release records related to its domestic warrantless telephone surveillance program. More here. ... MSU instructor Bonnie Bucqueroux believes that her students are the future of journalism, and she's looking to prove it with SpartanEdge.com, a student-run alternative to the university's main newspaper web site. More here. ... In a 6-0 vote, the Federal Election Commission left unregulated almost all political activity on the Internet except for paid ads. Perhaps most important, the FEC effectively granted exemptions to bloggers, allowing them to praise and criticize politicians just as newspapers can, without fear of federal interference. More here. ... Illinois Central College has stated its commitment to First Amendment rights for student journalists by removing staff handbook language giving the adviser "veto power" over decisions by the editors of The Harbinger. And with a unanimous vote and an apology, a northwest Illinois suburban school board allowed the distribution of a student newspaper that had been censored because it criticized a board member. More here and here. =================================================== PEOPLE & PLACES A five-year fight on behalf of press freedom on college campuses has hurt Margaret Hosty's bank account and her progress toward a teaching degree, but it hasn't dimmed her fiery outlook. "It's important for people to see that our rights are not as protected as we think," she said at UTA's E.H. Hereford University Center in March. Instead of the government being by and for the people, she said, "we're becoming a government for the government." Read the story here. ... They're loving JPS at the Texas Public Relations Association. The JPS Health Network's Casablanca-themed "Evening at the Academy Awards" press kit won a TPRA Best of Texas Silver Spur at the TPRA awards competition in Austin in January. A brochure promoting the JPS Mom and Baby Special Services program received bronze, and a merit designation was given for TV and print coverage on the Pyxis BioID Biometric Security System. Other local winners: Jerrod Resweber, Bill Lawrence, Tracy Sturrock, Monica Feid, Cheryl Rios, Jack Keller, Judy Everett Ramos, Kay Barkin, Margaret Campbell, Elizabeth Clark, Springfield Lewis and Kay Jackson, who won in the most categories -- six. ... TCU's Neeley School of Business has named the Balcom Agency as its advertising and marketing agency of record. Balcom's campaign will roll out in the fall. The agency also is creating newspaper advertising, radio spots, billboards and online ads for the Neeley M.B.A. programs. ... The UTA Shorthorn is a finalist for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's Gold Crown, arguably the premier national award for college publications, and for the SPJ Region 8 Best Daily Newspaper award. UTA's Renegade is a finalist for the Western Publications Association's Maggie Award for best college magazine. Andrew Campbell, Mark Roberts, C.J. Patton, Kevin Bueker, Heather Ann White and Sara Bookout are finalists in SPJ Mark of Excellence individual categories for work published in The Shorthorn. The SPJ awards will be presented at the Region 8 conference April 28-29 in Oklahoma City. ... The Star-Telegram's Ellen Alfano, Celeste Williams, Cody Bailey, Michael Currie, Monique Miller, Jill Johnson, Andrew Marton, John McAlley and Mark Hoffer won in the Society for News Design's 27th annual international competition. More than 14,000 entries were received from 46 countries. ... The Star-T is yet again an Associated Press Sports Editors "Triple Crown" winner, marking the eighth consecutive year that the paper has made the Top 10 in at least one of the three APSE categories -- daily, Sunday and special section. Plus, the S-T was the only section (among the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, et al.) to win the Triple Crown in the highest circulation category. =================================================== GET A JOB The Monitor -- a 50,000 daily, 55,000 Sunday a.m. paper in the Rio Grande Valley -- seeks a general assignment/beat reporter. Fluency in Spanish is a plus, but not a requirement. Send cover letter, résumé and work samples to editor Steve Fagan or metro editor Henry Miller at The Monitor, 1400 E. Nolana Loop, McAllen 78504. ... There's a senior web producer opening at KDFW Fox 4/KDFI 27. E- résumé to resumes@kdfwfox4.com. ... News copy editors with metropolitan copy editing experience are needed at the Houston Chronicle to slot, edit and/or design pages in a paginated environment. E- résumé to news editor at jan.jordan@chron.com. ... Cognizant Technology Solutions seeks marketing managers in health care, media and entertainment, and ERP. Location: Dallas, Chicago or Teaneck, N.J. Send résumé to anji.siragusa@cognizant.com. =================================================== NEW MEMBERS IABC ... Shari Shaver ... Mick Doherty, Texas Health Resources ... Annette Kearns, Countrywide Financial Corp. =================================================== COMINGS & GOINGS Additions ... at the S-T: '97 Boston College grad and former Knight Ridder intern Raul Vasquez, now full time in Northeast photo Promotions ... at the S-T: versatile Mari Estrella, from city editor in Arlington to deputy features editor downtown Shiftings ... at the S-T: Dennis Neighbours, joining the news copy desk after stints elsewhere on the third floor ... Pat Stroope, returning to the copy desk full time ... Trish Rodriguez, her chef husband's exotic-lands career cut short (or at least reoriented) by Hurricane Wilma, back as features editor ==================================================== PRESIDENT'S CORNER Holly Ellman, Greater Fort Worth PRSA What a tremendous experience the March 2-3 PRSA Southwest District Conference was. Lots of opportunity to network with 240 attendees, plus hear presentations from the top PR professionals in the country, all in beautiful downtown Fort Worth. The conference launched over lunch with three speakers involved in the communication effort during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina. Following that, various breakout sessions were capped by a fun social event under the Reata dome. The second day was filled to the brim with terrific presentations, including new technology and the gnome from Travelocity. The chapter owes a debt of gratitude to our own Tracy Sturrock and Ashley Antle, who co-chaired the conference with Ann Heidger of the Dallas chapter. Special thanks, too, to Lisa Orr and Lauren Burkett, as well as the myriad volunteers who worked the event. Our first professional development seminar of the year is scheduled for April 12 with the Star-Telegram's Paul Harral and J.R. Labbe presenting a writing workshop titled "The Write Stuff." Don't miss this opportunity to learn good writin' from the pros! ----- PRESIDENT'S COLUMN Richard Maxwell, IABC/Fort Worth Greetings and happy Easter season to you, my fellow communicators. We do listen to you, you know, and in a membership survey last year you said you wanted more information about blogs. So our March 28 meeting was a half-day seminar led by Stacy Wilson, ABC, president of Eloquor Consulting in Colorado, on the hot topics of portals, podcasting, "real simple syndication" (RSS) and acquiring the skills necessary to become an effective internal communication consultant. Both the seminar and Stacy's luncheon presentation were well-received. Reminder: The IABC 2006 International Conference, June 4-7 in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, will attract more than 1,400 communicators for a career-altering program that's a true bargain for all that it delivers: 80 targeted sessions, headline-grabbing keynotes, the latest best practices from the experts, and much more. Sign up by May 8 to take advantage of early registration rates. Details at iabc.com/ic. Can't make Vancouver this summer, but maybe Kansas City this fall? The IABC Southern Regional Conference, Sept. 24-26, promises national-caliber speakers at an affordable price and smack in the middle of the beautiful, walkable Country Club Plaza shopping/entertainment district. When your brain is stuffed to bursting with new ideas for getting ahead, take time out at the nearby world-famous galleries and museums, watch the baseball Royals take on Detroit, or enjoy a jumping night life that includes four casinos and jazz and blues to beat the band. The conference will be great, and with you there we've got a masterpiece in the making. Get fired up at kciabc.org/southernconference/. Welcome, new members Mick Doherty, Shari Shaver and Annette Kearns. Thanks for joining IABC. We hope to see you at the April 25 luncheon meeting. ----- OVER & OUT John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ Martha Hand Brown looked like $100,000 in unmarked $20s the last time I saw her, March 8, 2005, at the christening of TCU's Schieffer School of Journalism. She was dressed 'way up, smiling, happy, walking a little slow, perhaps, on the arm of her son, Houston newsman (and UTA Shorthorn ex) Kenny Hand, but that's your right at 82. That's the Martha I knew -- attractive, full of gusto, going places -- and quite the reporter. Good memories. ... Thanks, Lloyd Goodman and UTA Student Publications, for hosting the March SPJ meeting with crusading Illinois student journalist Margaret Hosty. Great crowd, and a double handful of pointed assertions from a woman fighting the fight for press freedom. Let's do it again. ... I have no way to verify this account, but if it's true, it's a disgrace. ... Can't prove this, either. ... I'm betting it was Cleveland. ... Let's see Clinton try this. ... "Boston Legal" to the rescue. ... A factoid to ponder from SPJ national. Journalists are significantly more ethical than the average adult, a recent study found, the newsies being eclipsed only by seminarians, doctors and medical students. Using the results of a questionnaire that asked, "How would you handle this situation?," journalists had an average score of 48.7 on a 100-point scale. What that means: Almost half the time, members of the profession make decisions based on the best quality of ethical reasoning. The seminarians and philosophers scored 65.1, medical students 50.2, practicing physicians 49.2. Junior high school students scored the lowest with 20.0, just below prison inmates with 23.7. Closing words: "It's OK to be sheep, but do understand that the ultimate destination is either a shearing or a slaughter." -- Star-Telegram columnist Randy Galloway, addressing those Dallas Cowboys fans "who faithfully follow the football command of the Valley Ranch herders" ... "The man who enters a library is in the best society this world affords; the good and the great welcome him, surround him, and humbly ask to be allowed to become his servants." -- Andrew Carnegie, who after selling the Carnegie Steel Co. to J.P. Morgan for $250 million would go on to give money to create more than 2,500 libraries in the United States and Britain Closing words II, literary division: "We [humans] are the species that clamors to be lied to." -- Joyce Carol Oates ... "Just to live in the country is a full-time job. You don't have to do anything. The idle pursuit of making a living is pushed to one side, where it belongs, in favor of living itself, a task of such immediacy, variety, beauty, and excitement that one is powerless to resist its wild embrace." -- E.B. White ... "I always wanted to write when I was a kid; it just never occurred to me that you could have a job that didn't involve any actual work. ... I felt it would be fun to have a job like that where you could make stuff up and be irresponsible and get paid for it." -- Dave Barry ... "Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. For all one knows, that demon is simply the same instinct that makes a baby squawl for attention." -- George Orwell Closing words III, from the front lines of war: "Everyone wants to read their view of the war in your story. To me the only issue is whether our stories are real or not. I never got complaints from the people who were involved in the subject matter of the stories. The job of soldiering over there is incredibly difficult. I have tremendous respect for those guys. The criticism completely misses the point. Iraq is on the verge of civil war. Where's the good news?" -- Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post after recently completing a 14-month stint in Iraq ... "Most Iraqis I speak to say, 'Actually, most reporters get it wrong,' that the situation on the ground is actually worse than the images we project on television. ... We'll see more and more reports coming out by the media explaining how they are covering the war, and I think the Bush administration overplayed their hand in trying to blame their problems on the media." -- NBC Baghdad correspondent Richard Engel ... "I've been looking hard, but in two weeks I haven't found an Iraqi optimist. In the summer of 2004, I profiled a band of young artists who braved dangerous roads to get away from Baghdad and paint pretty pictures of the Tigris River. Now they're homebound. There is a similar sense of newfound hopelessness in the faces of the Iraqis I work with. ... It is difficult to communicate just how violent Baghdad has become." -- The New York Times' Jeffrey Gettleman ... "The people of Karabilah hate the foreigners who crossed the border and entered their areas and got into a fight with the Americans. The residents now also hate the American occupiers who demolished their houses with bombs and killed their families ... and now the people of Karabilah want to join the resistance against the Americans for what they did." -- Osama Jadaan al Dulaimi, a tribal leader in Karabilah, a town near the Syrian border that U.S. planes hit with bombs or missiles on at least 17 days between October 2005 and February 2006

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

The University of Texas at Arlington
VMS
Weber Shandwick Worldwide
Wise County Messenger
Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations

April 2006

Journalism Educator to Keynote

First Amendment Awards Dinner

How do reporters do First Amendment journalism in the new age? Sree knows.

Sreenath Sreenivasan, dean of students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and co-founder of the South Asian Journalists Association, will keynote Fort Worth SPJ's 3rd annual First Amendment Awards and Scholarship Dinner, Saturday, April 15, at Cacharel in Arlington.

Winners of the chapter's 2006 First Amendment Awards will be announced, along with university and high school recipients of the Gridiron and Lina Davis scholarships.

Sreenivasan is a specialist in news media convergence, teaching journalists to work in multiple formats such as print, TV, radio and online. A weekly columnist for Poynter.org, for 10 years he advised Columbia's SPJ chapter and was named the national Faculty Adviser of the Year in 1998.

In addition to being dean of students at Columbia, he runs the university's new media/web journalism program. He can be seen regularly on WABC-7 in the New York City area, he guest hosts segments of "Asian America" on PBS, a nationally syndicated English program on Asian American affairs, and he's the Web Geek for Popular Science's "Geek Chorus."

Time & date: cash bar opens 6 p.m., dinner 6:30 Saturday, April 15

Place: Cacharel, 2221 E. Lamar Blvd., Brookhollow Tower Two; from Fort Worth or Dallas, off I-30 go north on Ballpark Way, east on Lamar, look for tall building on left next to Arlington Hilton

Cost: $50; $475 table of 10

Menu: Pecan-crusted chicken breast served on a bed of basil whipped potatoes with oven-dried tomatoes and asparagus; Cacharel house salad tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette; warm rolls and butter, tea, coffee and, for dessert, the remarkable Cacharel chocolate soufflé

RSVP by April 13: Kay Pirtle at mkpirtle@yahoo.com

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

Blazing the trail ...

MARTHA HAND BROWN, 1923-2006

She interviewed such famous people as Winston Churchill and Clark Gable and Burgess Meredith, and she called John Steinbeck friend. She was the first female reporter in the Washington, D.C., bureau of the Gannett newspaper chain and sat in on news conferences with Franklin Roosevelt.

After joining Gannett, she got to know Roosevelt, and when Churchill came to America, she asked FDR if she could please have an interview with the British prime minister. She was fresh out of Arlington and all of 20 years old, if that.

She could handle any kind of news story at a time when most women reporters were stuck in the society section. "She could be charming in one minute," recalled her colleague, former Star-Telegram managing editor Phil Record, "and tough as nails in the next."

In a 50-year career, she covered every beat except sports in Washington, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington, where she worked for the Arlington Journal while she was 16.

She attended North Texas Agricultural College (now UTA), Columbia University on scholarship and UT Austin. She was one of the first women editors in the Dallas bureau of the Associated Press.

Martha Hand Brown died March 18. She was 83.

She had been called a pioneering Texas journalist who blazed trails for women reporters. And that she surely was.

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

MEETINGS

Next at IABC/Fort Worth ...

Program to be announced.

Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, April 25

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

RSVP by noon April 21: Julie Trowbridge, julie.trowbridge@c-b.com

-----

Next at Greater Fort Worth PRSA ...

Writing Well to Get Reporters' Attention -- and Respect

Paul Harral, Star-Telegram editorial page editor, and J.R. Labbe, deputy editorial page editor, jump the fence for a day to share journalism's best writing secrets with PR flacks, er, pros, during a PRSA professional development seminar, "The Write Stuff," April 12 at the Petroleum Club.

The half-day seminar will impart advice and humorous (now) accounts of seriously bad stuff reaching the editor's desk from among local PR ranks. Want more? Stay for lunch. Harral and Labbe are the noon program, too.

Time & date: seminar 9-11:45 a.m., lunch noon-1 p.m. Wednesday, April 12

Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor

Parking: free valet in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets

Cost: seminar and luncheon, members $55, nonmembers $65, students $30; seminar only, members $35, nonmembers $45, students $15; lunch only, members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20

RSVP by noon April 7

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

STRAIGHT STUFF

The simply huge Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference of the Southwest, sponsored by the Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism at UNT, returns July 14-16 to the Hilton DFW Lakes in Grapevine. More info next month, or, if you can't wait, go here. ...

Do you know what bloggers are saying about your company? Do you subscribe to a podcast? Is your web site interactive? Local experts Eric Naiman with Jumpin' Tex Media and Brian Oberkirch at WeblogsWork will outline the latest techno-trends at the Fort Worth Chamber's half-day wiki-workshop Thursday, May 11. More info next month. Remember, that's May 11. Mark your PDA. ...

Worth a reminder: The TCU Schieffer School of Journalism's second annual Schieffer Symposium, with Bob Schieffer, Jill Abramson, Larry Kramer, Judy Woodruff and Len Downie, will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 5, in TCU's Brown-Lupton Student Center Ballroom. Call (817) 257-5976. ... The D/FW Network of Hispanic Communicators' scholarship reception brunch will be Saturday, April 22, at Los Vaqueros Restaurant on Fort Worth's North Side. Inquire at email@dfwhispanic.org. ...

Application deadline is May 1 for the $500 Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award for a student SPJer who has demonstrated service to the First Amendment. The $500 must be used to attend the 2006 national conference. Send documentation, one-page biography, résumé and three recommendation letters to SPJ/Lewis First Amendment Award, 3909 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, Ind. 46208. Robert Lewis was SPJ national president in 1985-86 and national FOI chair from 1978 to 1983. Call Heather Porter at (317) 927-8000, ext. 204. ...

The Urban Communication Foundation is offering $5,000 for excellence in reporting, analysis or commentary on urban issues. Nominations will be accepted until May 1. E- listra@optonline.net. ... Postmark deadline is July 1 to apply for the Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing. The $75,000 award covers courses, travel or other ways to enrich knowledge of a public interest issue. Looks like a typo, but it's not. Entries must be in English. See spj.org. ...

Entries are due April 17 for the South Asian Journalists Association competition for South Asian journalists and students in the U.S. and Canada. More at saja.org. ... Student journalists will earn $2,500 during a 10-week commitment to write, copy edit or take pictures for a black-owned newspaper, write as a correspondent for Black College Wire or be a content editor for the Black Collegian magazine web site. Included is an expenses-paid trip to Nashville for additional j-training. Several interns also will cover the National Association of Black Journalists convention and job fair in Indianapolis for Black College Wire. Contact Jean Thompson, jelainethompson@aol.com or (646) 638-2032.

IABC local update: Technology author and consultant Jerry Stevenson will present "Communicating in the Future Tense: Critical Trends and Technologies Communicators Need to Know" at the Tuesday, April 11, IABC/Dallas luncheon. More here.

PRSA local update: Danielle Ezell, APR, principal of Oklahoma City-based 20 Hats; Suzi Prokell, owner of Prokell Publicity in Aledo; and Nancy Farrar of Farrar Public Relations in Fort Worth will discuss "Growing Your Independent Practice: How to Build a Business that Works for You," a PRSA Independent Practitioners Alliance teleseminar, at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 26. Sandra Brodnicki of Brodnicki Public Relations will moderate the panel. Not every independent wishes to grow an agency, the organizers note. "Understanding and actually working your own business model, instead of just paying lip service to it, will allow you to create an effective marketing and branding strategy that delivers results. Are you a strategist or a tactician? A deal maker or account maven, or a little bit of both? This seminar will address the financial issues, fees, billings and budgeting independents face regardless of their structure and discuss relevant business development techniques." More here. Ezell and Brodnicki tag-teamed at the 2006 PRSA Southwest District Conference to present "Going It Alone: Success Stories from Independent Practitioners." Brodnicki and Farrar co-chair GFW PRSA's Independent Practitioners SIG.

PRSA local update II: "Reputation Management for Reputation Managers" at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, and "Develop an Approval Process that Doesn't Drive You Nuts," 2 p.m. Thursday, April 13, top national PRSA's teleseminars docket this month. GFW PRSA will pay for members to participate if enough express interest. E- membership chair Marc Flake at mflake@tarrantcounty.com.

PRSA local update III: Denise Angarola Fernandez, president/CEO of the Julden Group, will share the secrets of "buzz marketing" at the Dallas PRSA Pro-Am Day luncheon and program Friday, April 7, at the Park City Club, 5956 Sherry Lane. More here.

SPJ national update: Can this be America?; how Florida treats a patriot; Bush would have his war, memo asserts; and plagiarism foils WaPo columnist. During the past five years, 469 cases in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., have been tried in secrecy. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press searched the court's entire civil and criminal docket for that period, ending Dec. 30; 18 percent of nearly 3,000 criminal cases were not docketed. More here. ... When Leon County elections supervisor Ion Sancho uncovered security flaws in Diebold voting machines, GOP officials in Florida could have praised him for working to ensure a fair election. But do you think they did? Do you really? More here. ... In a two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, President Bush made clear to British Prime Minister Tony Blair that he would invade Iraq without a second U.N. resolution condemning the country, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, says a confidential memo about the meeting written by Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times. More here and here. ... "I'm there to do opinion. That's what I do," said Ben Domenech, 24, a former Bush administration aide hired by washingtonpost.com to present a conservative view. "I'm not a journalist." Well, no kidding. Shortly after this statement, faced with plagiarism accusations, Domenech resigned. More here and here and here.

SPJ national update II: AP chief loses Vermont job; incompetence embraces the FBI; and journalist deaths highest since World War II. Christopher Graff, 52, who headed the Associated Press bureau in Montpelier, was fired March 22 after posting a column by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt. For the last two years, the AP has prepared a package of Sunshine Week stories in which media organizations advocate openness in government. Leahy wrote the highly critical column for the American Society of Newspaper Editors. More here and here. ... A case management system to help fight terrorism could cost $500 million, dwarfing the $170 million the FBI sank into a project that it jettisoned a year ago, a watchdog group says. Meanwhile, many New York FBI agents don't have an Internet-ready phone or even a government e-mail account. "We have real money issues right now, and the government is reluctant to give all agents and analysts dot-gov accounts," the man in charge of the FBI's 2,000-employee city office told the New York Daily News editorial board. More here and here. ... Eighty-four reporters and media staffers have been killed in the Iraq war, Reporters Without Borders announced March 21, the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In contrast, 63 journalists were killed during 22 years of conflict in Vietnam, the Paris-based media advocacy group added. The International Federation of Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists reached similarly grim conclusions, though with different figures. More here and here.

SPJ national update III: Iraq base funding smacks of extended stay; advance workers impersonated reporters; and Oregon paper seeks wiretap docs. Military planners say they want to withdraw American troops from Iraq in the coming year, yet an emergency spending bill overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives in late March with $67.6 billion more for the war effort, including money to build large bases there. More here. ... The White House says it will discipline two Secret Service men who masqueraded as Fox News reporters while scouting locations for a March 8 presidential visit to the Gulf Coast. More here. ... The company that publishes The Oregonian in Portland wants U.S. District Court in Oregon to unseal documents in a pending case that alleges the Bush administration illegally intercepted international phone conversations between the co-director of an Islamic charity and his lawyers in the U.S. More here.

SPJ national update IV: Wal-Mart blogs a little PR; FEMA won't reveal names of hurricane-aid recipients; and White House trains sights on media leaks. Brian Pickrell recently posted a note on his Web site attacking state legislation that would force Wal-Mart to spend more on employee health insurance. It was the kind of comment the giant retailer might write itself. And, in fact, it did. More here. ... The AP and three major media companies on March 6 joined the fight to force the Federal Emergency Management Agency to produce names of people who got federal aid after the 2004 hurricanes in Florida. Inequities and fraud have been alleged in the distribution of more than $1.5 billion in assistance. At least 26 people have been charged with filing false FEMA claims in South Florida. More here. ... The Bush administration, seeking to limit leaks of classified information, has launched initiatives targeting journalists and their possible government sources. The efforts include FBI probes, a polygraph investigation inside the CIA and a warning from the Justice Department that reporters could be prosecuted under espionage laws. More here.

SPJ national update V: Doh!; NY Times sues Defense Department over spy records; Michigan State U. students go online; blogs exempted from campaign finance limits; and two wins for the student press. Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances). But more than half can name at least two members of the "Simpsons" cartoon family. More here. ... The New York Times sued the Department of Defense on Feb. 27, saying the government has refused to release records related to its domestic warrantless telephone surveillance program. More here. ... MSU instructor Bonnie Bucqueroux believes that her students are the future of journalism, and she's looking to prove it with SpartanEdge.com, a student-run alternative to the university's main newspaper web site. More here. ... In a 6-0 vote, the Federal Election Commission left unregulated almost all political activity on the Internet except for paid ads. Perhaps most important, the FEC effectively granted exemptions to bloggers, allowing them to praise and criticize politicians just as newspapers can, without fear of federal interference. More here. ... Illinois Central College has stated its commitment to First Amendment rights for student journalists by removing staff handbook language giving the adviser "veto power" over decisions by the editors of The Harbinger. And with a unanimous vote and an apology, a northwest Illinois suburban school board allowed the distribution of a student newspaper that had been censored because it criticized a board member. More here and here.

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

PEOPLE & PLACES

A five-year fight on behalf of press freedom on college campuses has hurt Margaret Hosty's bank account and her progress toward a teaching degree, but it hasn't dimmed her fiery outlook. "It's important for people to see that our rights are not as protected as we think," she said at UTA's E.H. Hereford University Center in March. Instead of the government being by and for the people, she said, "we're becoming a government for the government." Read the story here. ...

They're loving JPS at the Texas Public Relations Association. The JPS Health Network's Casablanca-themed "Evening at the Academy Awards" press kit won a TPRA Best of Texas Silver Spur at the TPRA awards competition in Austin in January. A brochure promoting the JPS Mom and Baby Special Services program received bronze, and a merit designation was given for TV and print coverage on the Pyxis BioID Biometric Security System. Other local winners: Jerrod Resweber, Bill Lawrence, Tracy Sturrock, Monica Feid, Cheryl Rios, Jack Keller, Judy Everett Ramos, Kay Barkin, Margaret Campbell, Elizabeth Clark, Springfield Lewis and Kay Jackson, who won in the most categories -- six. ...

TCU's Neeley School of Business has named the Balcom Agency as its advertising and marketing agency of record. Balcom's campaign will roll out in the fall. The agency also is creating newspaper advertising, radio spots, billboards and online ads for the Neeley M.B.A. programs. ...

The UTA Shorthorn is a finalist for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's Gold Crown, arguably the premier national award for college publications, and for the SPJ Region 8 Best Daily Newspaper award. UTA's Renegade is a finalist for the Western Publications Association's Maggie Award for best college magazine. Andrew Campbell, Mark Roberts, C.J. Patton, Kevin Bueker, Heather Ann White and Sara Bookout are finalists in SPJ Mark of Excellence individual categories for work published in The Shorthorn. The SPJ awards will be presented at the Region 8 conference April 28-29 in Oklahoma City. ...

The Star-Telegram's Ellen Alfano, Celeste Williams, Cody Bailey, Michael Currie, Monique Miller, Jill Johnson, Andrew Marton, John McAlley and Mark Hoffer won in the Society for News Design's 27th annual international competition. More than 14,000 entries were received from 46 countries. ... The Star-T is yet again an Associated Press Sports Editors "Triple Crown" winner, marking the eighth consecutive year that the paper has made the Top 10 in at least one of the three APSE categories -- daily, Sunday and special section. Plus, the S-T was the only section (among the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, et al.) to win the Triple Crown in the highest circulation category.

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

GET A JOB

The Monitor -- a 50,000 daily, 55,000 Sunday a.m. paper in the Rio Grande Valley -- seeks a general assignment/beat reporter. Fluency in Spanish is a plus, but not a requirement. Send cover letter, résumé and work samples to editor Steve Fagan or metro editor Henry Miller at The Monitor, 1400 E. Nolana Loop, McAllen 78504. ... There's a senior web producer opening at KDFW Fox 4/KDFI 27. E- résumé to resumes@kdfwfox4.com. ...

News copy editors with metropolitan copy editing experience are needed at the Houston Chronicle to slot, edit and/or design pages in a paginated environment. E- résumé to news editor at jan.jordan@chron.com. ... Cognizant Technology Solutions seeks marketing managers in health care, media and entertainment, and ERP. Location: Dallas, Chicago or Teaneck, N.J. Send résumé to anji.siragusa@cognizant.com.

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

NEW MEMBERS

IABC ... Shari Shaver ... Mick Doherty, Texas Health Resources ... Annette Kearns, Countrywide Financial Corp.

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

COMINGS & GOINGS

Additions ... at the S-T: '97 Boston College grad and former Knight Ridder intern Raul Vasquez, now full time in Northeast photo

Promotions ... at the S-T: versatile Mari Estrella, from city editor in Arlington to deputy features editor downtown

Shiftings ... at the S-T: Dennis Neighbours, joining the news copy desk after stints elsewhere on the third floor ... Pat Stroope, returning to the copy desk full time ... Trish Rodriguez, her chef husband's exotic-lands career cut short (or at least reoriented) by Hurricane Wilma, back as features editor

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

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

Holly Ellman, Greater Fort Worth PRSA

What a tremendous experience the March 2-3 PRSA Southwest District Conference was. Lots of opportunity to network with 240 attendees, plus hear presentations from the top PR professionals in the country, all in beautiful downtown Fort Worth.

The conference launched over lunch with three speakers involved in the communication effort during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina. Following that, various breakout sessions were capped by a fun social event under the Reata dome. The second day was filled to the brim with terrific presentations, including new technology and the gnome from Travelocity.

The chapter owes a debt of gratitude to our own Tracy Sturrock and Ashley Antle, who co-chaired the conference with Ann Heidger of the Dallas chapter. Special thanks, too, to Lisa Orr and Lauren Burkett, as well as the myriad volunteers who worked the event.

Our first professional development seminar of the year is scheduled for April 12 with the Star-Telegram's Paul Harral and J.R. Labbe presenting a writing workshop titled "The Write Stuff." Don't miss this opportunity to learn good writin' from the pros!

-----

PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

Richard Maxwell, IABC/Fort Worth

Greetings and happy Easter season to you, my fellow communicators.

We do listen to you, you know, and in a membership survey last year you said you wanted more information about blogs. So our March 28 meeting was a half-day seminar led by Stacy Wilson, ABC, president of Eloquor Consulting in Colorado, on the hot topics of portals, podcasting, "real simple syndication" (RSS) and acquiring the skills necessary to become an effective internal communication consultant. Both the seminar and Stacy's luncheon presentation were well-received.

Reminder: The IABC 2006 International Conference, June 4-7 in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, will attract more than 1,400 communicators for a career-altering program that's a true bargain for all that it delivers: 80 targeted sessions, headline-grabbing keynotes, the latest best practices from the experts, and much more. Sign up by May 8 to take advantage of early registration rates. Details at iabc.com/ic.

Can't make Vancouver this summer, but maybe Kansas City this fall? The IABC Southern Regional Conference, Sept. 24-26, promises national-caliber speakers at an affordable price and smack in the middle of the beautiful, walkable Country Club Plaza shopping/entertainment district.

When your brain is stuffed to bursting with new ideas for getting ahead, take time out at the nearby world-famous galleries and museums, watch the baseball Royals take on Detroit, or enjoy a jumping night life that includes four casinos and jazz and blues to beat the band. The conference will be great, and with you there we've got a masterpiece in the making. Get fired up at kciabc.org/southernconference/.

Welcome, new members Mick Doherty, Shari Shaver and Annette Kearns. Thanks for joining IABC. We hope to see you at the April 25 luncheon meeting.

-----

OVER & OUT

John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ

Martha Hand Brown looked like $100,000 in unmarked $20s the last time I saw her, March 8, 2005, at the christening of TCU's Schieffer School of Journalism. She was dressed 'way up, smiling, happy, walking a little slow, perhaps, on the arm of her son, Houston newsman (and UTA Shorthorn ex) Kenny Hand, but that's your right at 82. That's the Martha I knew -- attractive, full of gusto, going places -- and quite the reporter. Good memories. ...

Thanks, Lloyd Goodman and UTA Student Publications, for hosting the March SPJ meeting with crusading Illinois student journalist Margaret Hosty. Great crowd, and a double handful of pointed assertions from a woman fighting the fight for press freedom. Let's do it again. ...

I have no way to verify this account, but if it's true, it's a disgrace. ... Can't prove this, either. ... I'm betting it was Cleveland. ... Let's see Clinton try this. ... "Boston Legal" to the rescue. ...

A factoid to ponder from SPJ national. Journalists are significantly more ethical than the average adult, a recent study found, the newsies being eclipsed only by seminarians, doctors and medical students. Using the results of a questionnaire that asked, "How would you handle this situation?," journalists had an average score of 48.7 on a 100-point scale. What that means: Almost half the time, members of the profession make decisions based on the best quality of ethical reasoning. The seminarians and philosophers scored 65.1, medical students 50.2, practicing physicians 49.2. Junior high school students scored the lowest with 20.0, just below prison inmates with 23.7.

Closing words: "It's OK to be sheep, but do understand that the ultimate destination is either a shearing or a slaughter." -- Star-Telegram columnist Randy Galloway, addressing those Dallas Cowboys fans "who faithfully follow the football command of the Valley Ranch herders" ... "The man who enters a library is in the best society this world affords; the good and the great welcome him, surround him, and humbly ask to be allowed to become his servants." -- Andrew Carnegie, who after selling the Carnegie Steel Co. to J.P. Morgan for $250 million would go on to give money to create more than 2,500 libraries in the United States and Britain

Closing words II, literary division: "We [humans] are the species that clamors to be lied to." -- Joyce Carol Oates ... "Just to live in the country is a full-time job. You don't have to do anything. The idle pursuit of making a living is pushed to one side, where it belongs, in favor of living itself, a task of such immediacy, variety, beauty, and excitement that one is powerless to resist its wild embrace." -- E.B. White ... "I always wanted to write when I was a kid; it just never occurred to me that you could have a job that didn't involve any actual work. ... I felt it would be fun to have a job like that where you could make stuff up and be irresponsible and get paid for it." -- Dave Barry ... "Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. For all one knows, that demon is simply the same instinct that makes a baby squawl for attention." -- George Orwell

Closing words III, from the front lines of war: "Everyone wants to read their view of the war in your story. To me the only issue is whether our stories are real or not. I never got complaints from the people who were involved in the subject matter of the stories. The job of soldiering over there is incredibly difficult. I have tremendous respect for those guys. The criticism completely misses the point. Iraq is on the verge of civil war. Where's the good news?" -- Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post after recently completing a 14-month stint in Iraq ... "Most Iraqis I speak to say, 'Actually, most reporters get it wrong,' that the situation on the ground is actually worse than the images we project on television. ... We'll see more and more reports coming out by the media explaining how they are covering the war, and I think the Bush administration overplayed their hand in trying to blame their problems on the media." -- NBC Baghdad correspondent Richard Engel ... "I've been looking hard, but in two weeks I haven't found an Iraqi optimist. In the summer of 2004, I profiled a band of young artists who braved dangerous roads to get away from Baghdad and paint pretty pictures of the Tigris River. Now they're homebound. There is a similar sense of newfound hopelessness in the faces of the Iraqis I work with. ... It is difficult to communicate just how violent Baghdad has become." -- The New York Times' Jeffrey Gettleman ... "The people of Karabilah hate the foreigners who crossed the border and entered their areas and got into a fight with the Americans. The residents now also hate the American occupiers who demolished their houses with bombs and killed their families ... and now the people of Karabilah want to join the resistance against the Americans for what they did." -- Osama Jadaan al Dulaimi, a tribal leader in Karabilah, a town near the Syrian border that U.S. planes hit with bombs or missiles on at least 17 days between October 2005 and February 2006