SPJ national update II: A win for net neutrality; and after secrecy series, number of sealed court files goes to zero. Telecommunications giant AT&T made a concession to federal regulators in early January that could help preserve the internet as an engine for innovation and competition. In order to win FCC approval for its $84.5 billion buyout of BellSouth, the reconstituted Ma Bell agreed to not offer for two years "any service that privileges, degrades or prioritizes" any data transmitted over its broadband network. In other words, AT&T guaranteed net neutrality -- giving web services equal access to internet users. The only exceptions are for AT&T's new TV service and the managed networks it sells to businesses. More here. ... To kick off Sunshine Week 2006 last March, The Seattle Times published an report showing that an astounding 1,378 cases that came before King County, Wash., judges were sealed in their entirety -- nearly all of them improperly. The Times filed motions to unseal 18 of the worst examples, including cases involving an alleged pedophile priest, a state employee accused of molesting juveniles at a youth lockup and several medical malpractice suits. On Dec. 31, the Times reported on the power of the press to shame government into working transparently: Since the series was published, not a single case has been sealed in King County courts. More here.
SPJ national update III: No troop interviews, but it's OK to cheer; and WP drops demand to see White House visitor logs. On the day after unveiling his decision to order 21,500 more troops to Iraq, President Bush joined the Fort Benning, Ga., chow line with camouflage-clad soldiers as some of them prepared to return to war. And to ensure that no discouraging words were heard, Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, the base commander, prohibited the 300 soldiers who had lunch with the president from talking with reporters. Bush was saluted smartly and applauded politely, but it was hardly the rock-star reception he typically gets at military bases. Not counting the introduction of dignitaries, he was interrupted by applause just three times in 30 minutes -- once when he talked about a Medal of Honor winner from Fort Benning, again when he pledged to win in Iraq and finally when he repeated his intention to expand the Army. More here. ... The Washington Post has retreated from a legal battle with Vice President Cheney by dropping a lawsuit demanding Secret Service logs of visitors to his office and residence. In October, a district court judge in the capital, Ricardo Urbina, ordered the Secret Service to comply with the request, but six days before the election, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the order. The administration and the Secret Service quietly signed an agreement last spring amid a major lobbying scandal declaring that records identifying visitors to the White House complex are not subject to public disclosure. The existence of the memorandum of understanding was not revealed until last fall. More here and here.
SPJ national update IV: The Army feels their pain; and Iraq threatens arrest of police officer. The Army on Jan. 5 said it will apologize to the families of about 275 officers killed or wounded in action who were mistakenly sent letters urging them to return to active duty. The letters went out a few days after Christmas to more than 5,100 Army officers who had recently left the service. About 75 of the officers had been killed in action, and about 200 were wounded in action. The Army did not say how or when the mistake was discovered. ... The Iraq interior ministry acknowledged Jan 4 that an Iraqi police officer whose existence had been denied by the Iraqis, the U.S. military and conservative news outlets is in fact an active member of the force, and he now faces arrest for speaking to the media. The police captain, Jamil Gholaiem Hussein, was a source for an Associated Press story in late November about the burning and shooting of six people during a sectarian attack at a Sunni mosque. Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf initially said there was no such police employee as Capt. Jamil Hussein but later said that Hussein is an officer assigned to the Khadra police station, as the AP reported. More here and here.
SPJ national update V: Lawmakers consider bolstering student-press rights; and journalists ask for protection in Iraq after six killed in a week. The First Amendment rights of high school and college journalists are up for debate in Washington state, as lawmakers consider whether young scribes should have the same free-press rights as their professional colleagues. Democratic Rep. Dave Upthegrove has introduced a bill that would ensure student journalists aren't censored; it also would prohibit public schools or universities from disciplining or firing an adviser for refusing to censor students. More here. ... The Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders on Jan. 18 urged Iraqi authorities to increase security efforts after, it said, six journalists and media workers were killed in less than a week. "Although many others fall victim to the daily violence ravaging Iraq, journalists are for the most part deliberately targeted because of what they do,'' Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. "Those responsible must be found and punished, or else these killings will continue."
SPJ national update VI: One year after Colbert, WH correspondents play it safe; and bloggers draw hard-right radio station's ire. After last year's White House Correspondents Association dinner host Stephen Colbert drew sharp reaction to his searing satire of President Bush, event organizers chose aging impersonator Rich Little for the April event. "My approach is to try to make it a comfortable venue that is enjoyable, funny and interesting. But you don't want to offend anyone," said C-Span's Steve Scully, president of the White House Correspondents Association. He cited the slogan for the Washington Gridiron Dinner -- "Singe, don't burn." Little said organizers made it clear they don't want a repeat of last year's controversy. "I won't even mention the word 'Iraq,' " he said, adding that he has been promised a tour of the White House and an introduction to the president. Little was a favorite of the Reagan administration. More here. ... A San Francisco talk radio station pre-empted three hours of programming Jan. 12 following a campaign by bloggers who recorded extreme comments by several hosts and passed on digital copies to advertisers. The lead blogger, who goes by Spocko, said that he and other bloggers had contacted more than 30 advertisers on KSFO-AM to inform them of comments made on the air and to ask them to pull their ads. In response, ABC Radio Networks, which owns KSFO and which in turn is owned by the Walt Disney Co., sent letters to the site's service provider, demanding the clips be taken down from its servers. The provider complied, raising the issue of what constitutes fair use of copyrighted material by a critic. More here and here.
SPJ national update VII: Student editor says she was told not to publish crime log; and Grambling reverses on student paper. The editor of the student newspaper at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas says a school vice president pushed her not to publish the police crime log or other stories perceived as negative. Senior political science major Rachael Ball, La Mecha's editor, said Judy Cordova, vice president for student affairs, urged her not to publish the police blotter on the grounds that it casts the university in a negative light. Ball said Cordova also rejected a story about a campus security officer who was arrested on suspicion of cocaine trafficking. More here. ... After a torrent of criticism from media organizations, Grambling State University on Jan. 29 dropped its requirement that the student newspaper submit all of its stories to a faculty adviser for editing. The requirement was called unconstitutional by a national organization of campus newspaper advisers, and ill-advised at best by other groups. More here.
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PEOPLE & PLACES
Two former presidents of Fort Worth SPJ were among the first four persons named to the Texas Press Foundation Newspaper Hall of Fame on Jan. 20 in Houston. The late Staley McBrayer and Wise County Messenger publisher Roy Eaton were inducted along with Dallas Morning News founder A.H. Belo and Andrews publisher James Roberts, who started a newspaper group that includes papers in Granbury, Azle, Springtown, Vernon, Lamesa, Brownfield, Hereford and other West Texas cities. More than 30 persons were nominated by Texas publishers to be the first inductees. McBrayer's award will be housed at Texas A&M University at Commerce where he graduated and where a school of printing is named in his honor. Both Eaton and McBrayer were longtime members of the Texas Gridiron Club. ...
Chesapeake Energy Corp. has been named to Forbes' Platinum 400 list of America's Best Big Companies and was further identified as the best managed company in the oil and gas operations category in the magazine's Jan. 8 issue. The Platinum 400 list was compiled from more than 1,000 corporations having at least $1 billion in revenue in the most recent fiscal year and included both American and foreign corporations that have a significant presence in the U.S.
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GET A JOB
The UNT Health Science Center seeks a coordinator for all educational methods and materials in its continuing education program. Requirements include any combination of high school graduation or GED and five years experience in needs assessment, program development, marketing or outside revenue generation, plus experience in Microsoft Office, database management and hotel negotiation, site and vendor selection, and the ability to work unusual hours. Must be able to travel on short notice. Salary commensurate with experience. Apply at unthscjobs.com. ...
