From Sree's challenge to journalists to leave their comfort zones, to Hadassah Schloss' moving speech to the challenges to our civil rights and open-government tradition revealed in the stories honored by the First Amendment Awards, the evening served up food for thought that was as intriguing as anything on the menu.
It also provided an inspiring showcase of the diversity and excellence within the profession.
Emcee Rebecca Bosquez of CBS 11, a graduate of the UTA journalism program, ran the show despite being 8 1/2 months pregnant. Former UTA Student Publications director Dorothy Estes and SPJ chapter vice president Angie Summers handed out $12,000 in Lina Davis Scholarships and $7,000 in Texas Gridiron Scholarships to 15 college and three high school students, including students at two Arlington high schools and seven universities.
Reporters at the Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Weekly and San Antonio Express News took home First Amendment Awards, recognizing journalism that highlights the threats to open government and open records in the U.S., helps open the corporate books and gives voice to the voiceless and downtrodden. An SMU student team, led by former Pulitzer Prize winner Craig Flournoy, took student honors for an investigative story, published by the Dallas Observer, on a dangerous and dilapidated dorm at UT Dallas.
Perhaps the most entertaining moments came from Schloss, this year's winner of the Open Doors Award (and 1996 recipient of the Foundation of Texas' James Madison Award). The Texas attorney general's cost rules administrator talked about her work helping citizens obtain government records as inexpensively as possible. But her remarks also included hints at her fascinating background, including meeting her husband after having him in her gunsights as a member of the Israeli army.
Open government, Schloss said, isn't about voting. True democracy, she said, consists of being able to stand up to government, and question it, and request answers, without fear of retribution.
"Never quit asking, 'Why?' " she said. "And never accept, 'Because.' "
It was, said Flournoy, a previous recipient of the Open Doors Award, the best acceptance speech he ever heard.
Lina Davis Scholarship winners:
Casandra Haynes, Arlington High School
Fatima Hirsi, Sam Houston High School
Kevin Duncan, Sam Houston High School
Andrew Lynch, University of Missouri
Daniel Johnson, UTA
Alicia Kania, UTA
Kevin Bueker, UTA
Marcela Gonzalez, UTA
Texas Gridiron Scholarship winners:
Sarah-Jane Sanders, Staley and Beverly McBrayer Scholarship, Mary Hardin Baylor U.
Hoon Ok, Jack Tinsley Scholarship, UTA
Lindsey Bever, Donna Darovich Scholarship, TCC
Kimberly Barrett, Joe Holstead Scholarship, Sam Houston State U.
Kevin Bueker, Texas Gridiron Scholarship, UTA
Chuck Kerr, Texas Gridiron Scholarship, St. Mary's U.
Christina Laney, Texas Gridiron Scholarship, Sam Houston State U.
Tracie Morales, Texas Gridiron Scholarship, UTA
Alfredo Valenzuela, Texas Gridiron Scholarship, Our Lady of the Lake U.
Melissa Winn, Texas Gridiron Scholarship, UTA
First Amendment Award winners:
Defending the Disadvantaged -- Yamil Berard, Star-Telegram
Use of Public Records, General News -- Peter Gorman, Fort Worth Weekly
Use of Public Records, Investigative -- John Tedesco, San Antonio Express-News
Reporting on Open Government -- Julian Aguilar and Dan Malone, Fort Worth Weekly
Opening the Books -- Mark Horvit, Star-Telegram
Student Work -- SMU Investigative Reporting class
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PEOPLE & PLACES
Count UTA Shorthorn exes Tom Fox, Michael Ainsworth and Brad Loper among the newsroom honorees toasting and being toasted when The Dallas Morning News won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photography for its visual narrative of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. The winning entry was a portfolio of 20 photos, depicting the storm's fury and its human aftermath, by Ainsworth, Fox, Loper, Melanie Burford, Barbara Davidson, Michael Mulvey, Smiley N. Pool and Irwin Thompson. Three of the photographers were waiting in the path of the hurricane when it struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29. Others replaced them as the drama unfolded, and the newspaper had a continuing presence there until November. The announcement marked the eighth time the newspaper has won journalism's most prestigious award, the fourth time it has done so for photography. ...
SPJ member Derik Moore's student Alexis Chernosky took first place in news writing, besting students from District 9-4A through 16-4A, and also placed second in editorial writing at Region II UIL competition. She advances to the state competition May 4 in both categories. ...
UTA Shorthorn copy editor Erika Nuñez received an American Copy Editors Society scholarship April 20 during the opening session of the ACES national conference in Cleveland. She and four other winners from the University of Missouri, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and UT Austin won out over nearly 30 applicants. The judges came from the Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Los Angeles Times, The Wichita Eagle and Contra Costa Times. "Erika understands the language, savors nuance, works to improve. Other students want to go to Padre Island for spring break. She'd rather go to ACES," wrote former Shorthorn newsroom adviser John Dycus. ...
1999 UTA grad and recent eChaser advertiser addition Jason Croft served as producer and director of photography for "Youngster," a film shown at the Mann Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and at the Deep Ellum Film Festival in November. ...
UTA's The Shorthorn has received top honors in the two state competitions that mean the most -- the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association and Texas Associated Press Managing Editors. Also, TIPA recognized Renegade as the best magazine in the state, and theshorthorn.com as the best online paper in the state. Individual UTA winners at TIPA included Mark Roberts, Sara Bookout, Drew Campbell, Megan Wright, Reneé Gatons, Kevin Bueker, Whitney Shropshire, Heather Ann White, Tracie Morales, Jordan Taylor, Alex Pierce, Tiffany Murphy and Brandon Wade. ...
The Star-Telegram's Mitchell Schnurman has been named one of the nation's top 2006 business columnists by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. He was one of three columnists chosen from among newspapers with circulations of 250,000-375,000.
Baby daze! Star-Telegram Keller ISD reporter Kelly Melhart Richey and husband Todd welcomed Ethan James Richey at 3:50 a.m. April 26.
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GET A JOB
Partners Together for Health, the foundation for JPS Health Network, seeks a 10-hours-per-week grant writer who knows how to construct prize-winning proposals. Degree in journalism preferred, but PR, marketing and English majors welcome. Grant-writing experience preferred, too, but more important focus is interviewing and organizational skills to gather facts, then "sell" on paper in a clear, concise and convincing style. Plus do it on deadline without hemorrhaging. Apply at jpshealthnet.org, or send résumé to partners@jpshealth.org, fax (817) 534-2410. ...
The Sun News, a 50,000-circulation newspaper in Myrtle Beach, S.C., seeks a copy editor with one to three years of newspaper copy editing experience. Slot experience preferred. Send résumé and cover letter to Cassidy Strader, copy desk chief, at cstrader@thesunnews.com. ...
Rolling Stone magazine, in conjunction with MTV, seeks aspiring journalists to work as full-time, paid staff writers this summer in New York. MTV will tape the interns' experiences for a series. Working with the magazine's top editors, the young reporters will hone their writing skills and secure interviews with major musicians, politicians and power brokers. More at rollingstone.com.
