January 2008
MEETINGS
Does Brainstorming Really Work? How to Get the Most
Out of the Creative Process in Groups
You have a difficult problem that begs for a creative solution, so you invite a
bunch of people to a brainstorming session. Will this produce the best possible
answers? Not likely, says Dr. Paul Paulus, dean of the UTA College of Science.
Decades of research show that group brainstorming is only half as effective as
brainstorming in more individualistic ways. Why? Blame it on the quagmire of “groupthink.”
Groupthink tends to occur when the group dynamics feature amiability; a
powerful, opinionated leader runs the group; group members operate under
stress; they are strongly influenced by a desire for social conformity; and
there is no explicit decision-making procedure.
Paulus has spent the past 15 years studying group creativity, and he will share
his views at the January meeting on achieving productive ideas from your teams
and stakeholders.
Time & date: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20 (online add $1)
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Brand This (Again): A Look Inside One PR Practitioner’s
Journey Through a National Re-branding Campaign
Emily Callahan oversees the communications and events teams for Susan G. Komen for the Cure,
the world’s largest breast cancer organization. She will walk attendees at the January
meeting through the nonprofit organization’s recent re-branding, with a focus on the research, planning and execution that
made the campaign a success.
She will also offer insights and best practices applicable to any organization.
In attendance will be members of the Tarrant affiliate for Komen for the Cure,
as well as Komen board members.
The meeting will be the third Wednesday this month.
Time & date: 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16
Place: Petroleum Club, Carter-Burgess Plaza, 777 Main St., 39th floor
Parking: $2.50 in parking garage at Seventh and Commerce streets
Cost: members $25, nonmembers $30, students $20
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The ‘Roids of Summer: Drugs and Major League Baseball
Did your favorite baseball player turn up in the Mitchell Report on drug users,
both alleged and admitted? Did your best fantasy league slugger grace the pages
of Jose Canseco’s inject-all locker-room best-seller (it sold well at Jose’s house)?
Star-Telegram columnist Jim Reeves would rather be covering sports, but this is what professional sports has become — congressional hearings and finger-pointing and lawyered-up denials. How do Hall of Fame voters like Reeves keep from turning Cooperstown into the
Hall of Shame? It’s a question the 700-odd ‘Fame voters must ask as more and more suspected cheaters become eligible.
That’s the challenge: How much evidence is necessary to keep someone out of the Hall
who might, on the surface, deserve inclusion? Reeves will relate his own
struggle with the issue and how the Mitchell Report, because of the
restrictions it faced, barely scratched the surface of what was happening in
baseball.
Time & date: mingling 6 p.m., eats around 6:30, then the program Wednesday, Jan. 16
Place: Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant, 2201 N. Commerce St.
Cost: $15 members, $20 nonmembers, $5 students
Menu: Joe T.’s famous family-style enchilada dinner
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STRAIGHT STUFF
The DFW Writers’ Workshop is celebrating its 30th anniversary with its biggest event ever, the
DFW Writers Conference, Feb. 23-24 at the Grapevine Convention Center. Candace Havens, author of the “Charmed” series (“Charmed & Dangerous,” “Charmed & Ready”) and entertainment critic for the Dorsey Gang on 96.3 KSCS, will keynote and
likely share a tale or two on her interviews with celebrities including Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon and George Clooney. Complementting her will be a full lineup of writers and agents: SPJ heavies Paula LaRocque, KERA commentator and former Dallas Morning News writing coach; Paul LaRocque, freelance writing coach; and Carmen Goldthwaite, writing instructor at SMU and TCU, plus Rosemary Clement-Moore, author of “Prom Dates From Hell”; A. Lee Martinez, author of “The Automatic Detective” and “Gil’s All Fright Diner”; Britta Coleman, author of “Potter Springs”; William Manchee, author of the Stan Turner mystery series, most recently “Act Normal”; Kara Lennox, author of more than 50 contemporary romance novels, most recently “One Stubborn Texan”; Shanna Swendson, author of “Damsel Under Stress,” “Once Upon Stilettos” and “Don’t Hex With Texas”; Sarah Mensinga, TV animator and illustrator; Dave Lieber, Star-Telegram columnist known as the “Yankee Cowboy”; the multimedia poets Threadbare Art Collective; Mitchel Whitington, author of “The Art of the Press Kit”; and literary agents Doris Booth, Paul Levine, Jim Donovan and Elaine Spencer. More at dfwwritersconference.org. The DFW Writers’ Workshop is a nonprofit organization devoted to helping writers get published. It meets
for read-and-critique sessions at 7 p.m. every Wednesday at the Ruth Millican
Center, 201 Cullum Drive, Euless. Visitors age 18 and up are welcome. ...
The Amy Foundation Writing Awards recognize writing that presents in a thought-provoking manner the biblical
position on issues affecting the world. Articles must have been published in a
secular, non-religious publication and must be reinforced with at least one
scripture passage. First prize is $10,000. Deadline: Jan. 31. ...
SPJ is accepting entries for the New America Award, which honors public service journalism collaborations with ethnic media that
explore an issue of importance to immigrant or ethnic communities. Entries must
have been published or broadcast in 2007, must be in English or provide English
translations, and be postmarked by March 3. Info from Heather Porter at (317) 927-8000, ext. 204, or hporter@spj.org. ...
Entries are being sought for the $75,000 Grantham Prize for Excellence in Reporting on the Environment, which is given for coverage produced and distributed in the United States or
Canada between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2007. Postmark deadline is Jan. 14 for book
entries and Feb. 14 for all others. Send entries to the Grantham Prize
administrator at the Metcalf Institute, URI Graduate School of Oceanography,
Narragansett, R.I. 02882. Contact Sunshine Menezes, (401) 874-6499 or sunshine@gso.uri.edu.
IABC local update: IABC chair Todd Hattori, ABC, will discuss “Building Your Brand Using IABC Resources” at the Dallas IABC meeting Tuesday, Jan. 15. Info here.
PRSA local update: Mark this down — 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 21, professional development workshop and monthly meeting on
new media/social media with a noted author. Details next month.
PRSA local update II: Angela Jeffery, APR, the editorial research vice president at VMS, will discuss “PR Works: Linking Media Coverage to Business Outcomes” at the Dallas PRSA meeting Thursday, Jan. 10. Details here.
SPJ national update: FCC eases media ownership standard; and judge rules White
House visitor logs are public documents. The FCC, overturning a 32-year-old
ban, voted Dec. 18 to allow broadcasters in the nation’s 20 largest media markets to also own a newspaper. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., vowed to introduce legislation to overturn the changes. John Sturm, head of the Newspaper Association of America, called the move a “baby step,” adding that “the record clearly points to full repeal of this rule.” More here. ... White House visitor logs are public documents, a federal judge ruled Dec.
18, rejecting a legal strategy that the Bush administration had hoped would get around public-records laws and let White
House guests remain a secret. More here.
SPJ national update II: New Republic disavows Iraq diarist’s reports; and NBC decides to run conservative-group ad. After nearly five
months of criticism, the New Republic said the magazine had lost faith in the
Army private who wrote of wartime cruelty in Iraq. “We cannot be confident that the events in his pieces occurred in exactly the
manner that he described them,” editor Franklin Foer wrote of the dispatches by Scott Thomas Beauchamp. “Without that essential confidence, we cannot stand by these stories.” More here. ... NBC reversed course Dec. 8 in favor of a conservative group’s ad thanking U.S. troops. The ad asked viewers to remember the troops during
the holidays and then guided viewers to the Freedom’s Watch web site, which NBC initially said was too political. More here.
SPJ national update III: Obama Muslim story “not a deliberate ‘smear job’ “; and
who needs the police when you’ve got mom? Stories about rumors are tricky and easily misconstrued. A Nov. 29
Washington Post story and headline that explored Barack Obama’s “connections to the Muslim world” and rumors that he is Muslim were met with a swift internet reaction that left
some staffers stunned at its ferocity. Even Post editorial cartoonist Tom Toles was “so upset” that he took the unusual step of taking shots at the story in an editorial-page
cartoon. More here. ... A single mother put police and journalists to shame in their attempts to
unravel the reappearance of canoeist John Darwin by using a simple Google search. The woman found the picture that apparently
shows Darwin with his wife in Panama City in July last year. More here.
SPJ national update IV: Parts of Patriot Act thrown out; and FISA court
withholds warrantless wiretapping documents. A federal appeals court ruled Dec.
10 that some portions of the USA Patriot Act dealing with foreign terrorist
organizations are unconstitutional because the language is too vague to be
understood by a person of average intelligence. More here. ... The nation’s spy court said Dec. 11 that it will not release its documents regarding the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court,
in a rare on-the-record opinion, said the public has no right to view the
documents because they deal with the clandestine workings of national-security
agencies. More here.
SPJ national update V: Utah’s top court ponders journalist shield law; and case lays bare the media’s reliance on Iraqi journalists. The Utah Supreme Court is considering what
experts say would be one of the strongest rules in the country shielding
reporters from prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges who would punish them
for refusing to reveal confidential news sources. More here. ... Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi photographer who had a hand in the AP’s 2005 Pulitzer Prize for photography before being jailed without charges by the
U.S. military, finally had a day in court. But his story, which highlights the
unprecedented role that Iraqis are playing in news coverage of the war, is
really just beginning. More here.
SPJ national update VI: Student’s punishment for writing a “terroristic threat” in his notebook upheld; and is America tolerating Muslim hate speech? School
administrators were justified in punishing an El Paso high school student who
wrote a violent story in his notebook, a federal appeals court ruled Nov. 20 in
a decision that free-speech advocates fear could expand officials’ power to censor student expression. A Montwood High School sophomore was
suspended for three days in August 2005 after Assistant Principal
Jesus Aguirre discovered “My Nazi Diary Based on a True Story,” written in the form of a first-person diary, which described the growth of a
neo-Nazi party at high schools in the Socorro Independent School District,
culminating in a Columbine-style shooting at graduation. The student and his
parents maintained that the story was fictional. More here. ... Talk-show host Michael Savage in October telling his listeners that Muslims should be deported and making
rude comments about what they could do with their religion did not create the
furor that knocked radio icon Don Imus off of MSNBC and CBS Radio after he denigrated a black women’s basketball team. That leaves many Muslim-Americans suspicious that Americans
have a double standard when it comes to Islam. “My sense is that you could say anti-Muslim comments that you could never get
away with saying, for example, as anti-Jewish comments,” said Stephen Wessler of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence in Portland, Maine. “There’s a much greater public level of acceptance of denigrating Muslims.” More here.
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PEOPLE & PLACES
You can lick us, but you can’t keep us down. U.S. postage stamps honoring American journalists Martha Gellhorn, John Hersey, George Polk, Ruben Salazar and Eric Sevareid will be available for purchase nationwide this spring. The first-day-of-issue
dedication ceremony will take place at the National Press Club in Washington,
D.C., as part of activities highlighting the press club’s 100th anniversary. Gellhorn (1908-98) covered the Spanish Civil War, World War
II and the Vietnam War in a remarkable, groundbreaking career. During World War
II, she stowed away on a hospital ship in the D-Day fleet and went ashore as a
stretcher bearer. She was married to
Ernest Hemingway. Hersey’s (1914-93) most famous story, which some proclaim the greatest work of
journalism of the 20th century, describes what happened when the U.S. dropped
an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Polk (1913-48) was a talented young CBS
correspondent who filed hard-hitting radio bulletins from strife-torn Greece
after World War II. He was working on reports of corruption involving U.S. aid
when he disappeared. His body was found a week later; the circumstances of his
death remain a mystery. Salazar (1928-70) was the first Mexican-American
journalist to have a major voice in mainstream news. His writings in the Los
Angeles Times and segments at KMEX-TV on the Chicano movement in the 1960s
added richly to the historical record. While in Los Angeles covering a Vietnam
War protest, he was shot in the head and killed by a tear gas projectile fired
by a deputy sheriff. Sevareid (1912-92) was a writer for the New York Herald
Tribune and later a broadcast journalist for CBS radio recruited by
Edward R. Murrow. He covered World War II, reporting on the approach of the Germans to Paris,
the exodus from the city and on life in London during wartime. In 1943, en
route to China, he parachuted from a disabled plane and eventually emerged from
the jungle on foot. Journalists Murrow, Ernie Pyle, Walter Lippman, Henry Luce, Nellie Bly, Ida Tarbell, Ethel Payne, Margueritte Higgins and publisher Adolph Ochs also have been commemorated on stamps.
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GET A JOB
The city of McKinney seeks a part-time graphic designer for project work. Send résumé and samples to marketing director CoCo Good, cgood@mckinneytexas.org.
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NEW MEMBERS
PRSA ... Amanda Churchill, Fort Worth ISD ... Jennifer Eggleston, Fort Worth ISD ... Donald Ellis, Fort Worth ISD ... Melia McFarland, EECU ... Sarah Anne McDaniel-Langhorst, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport ... Kara Lyn Peterson, Americredit
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PRESIDENT’S CORNER
Laura Van Hoosier, APR, Greater Fort Worth PRSA
What’s on your New Year’s resolution list? If you’re like me, a few of the items mirror pledges from past years. I call those my “rollover list.” I’m determined to stay true to most of my resolutions, but I’m realistic that I may need to fine-tune a few far-reaching hopes.
As for professional goals, your 2008 Board of Directors will have a retreat
later this month to map out key objectives. I know for certain that we’re committed to providing meaningful programs alive with information that you
can use — right now.
Take the Jan. 16 (third Wednesday this month) program with Emily Callahan from Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Emily recently spoke to the Tulsa PRSA
chapter and received rave reviews. Special thanks to PRSA member Ashley Wesson Antle for sharing her chapter’s great experiences with Emily.
Also, please add 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Feb. 21 to your calendar. We’re finalizing the details on a not-to-be-missed professional development program
in conjunction with TCU that will center on new media/social media with a
nationally known author. PD chair Lauren Burkett, Dr. Julie O’Neil and I have been dialoguing nonstop for just the ideal presenter.
I’m thankful to all of our board members and committee chairs who will be
volunteering their time to add value to your local membership. Throughout the
year, I’d love to hear your suggestions and requests. Keep my e-mail handy — lauravanhoosier@msn.com. I pledge to get back to you, and come December 2008 I’ll tell you how that exercise plan went!
I hope the New Year brings you happiness, personal and professional success, and
much joy.
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PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
Betsy Deck, IABC Fort Worth
New year, new resolutions, new ideas! In 2008 I resolve to: • prepare my Bronze Quill entry early so I will be ready for the call for entries
during spring break • get my eChaser columns in on time, every time • strive for new and inventive ways to connect the IABC membership.
In my seven years in IABC, I have seen example after example of how this
organization benefits members and nonmembers alike. You already know about the
professional development, leadership opportunities, access to IABC’s Research Foundation and local, regional and international competitions. What
you may not know are how the relationships established through luncheons and by
volunteering on committees are invaluable.
They come back in the form of references on résumés, knowing about job openings before everyone else and knowing a potential new
employer and new friends. If you are not a member of IABC yet, please consider
joining us for a luncheon and see what you think.
Now that I can catch my breath, I want to thank you for your support during
2007. We’ll see you at our first luncheon of 2008 on Jan. 22 with UTA’s Dr. Paul Paulus. He will share his wisdom with our group on how to obtain the most productive
solutions during brainstorming sessions.
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OVER & OUT
John Dycus, Fort Worth SPJ
If you ever have a chance to see Gary Cogill live (vs. taped or on TV), take it. He’s quite a speaker, funny, animated, an encyclopedia of movie lore. A theater major who went to school on a wrestling scholarship, he can do dialect
— good dialect — Shakespeare, rolling stanzas from classic scripts, and throughout, he seems,
how to put this, genuine. He covers Hollywood, but he’s not Hollywood, you know what I’m saying? He added immeasurably to the IABC/SPJ/PRSA book benefit and holiday
romp in December, which, by the way, generated $764 and 402 books for the
readers library at the county hospital. The Coors hospitality room seats 70
people, and 72 signed in. They picked a good night to show up. ...
Note the big blue flyer on p. 2 for the Paul LaRocque- and Jack Raskopf-engineered Careers in Journalism/Mass Communication Conference, Saturday, Feb.
16, at TCU. To register or to help, e- prrock@mac.com. There’s no regular meeting in February, and for a few moments on the last day of 2007
there was no location for the January meeting, either, when Shady Oak Barbeque & Grill in Arlington called with the news that it and the next-door Mexican Inn,
both owned by Chris and Becky Carroll, are closing until the oppressive construction on, by and for the pleasure dome
lightens up. And Star-T columnist Jim Reeves, the night’s speaker, was counting on a robust helping of barbecue, too. Think he’ll accept a plate of Joe T. Garcia’s enchiladas instead? ...
This visually spiffed-up eChaser and the accompanying redesigned SPJ web site
were spurred by a friend’s comment that their predecessors didn’t look “modern.” He was right. Glad he had the nerve to say so. Happy New Year to him and to you
and to truth tellers everywhere.
Closing words: “What people are ashamed of usually makes a good story.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald ... “The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than
that of any other animals. Some of their most esteemed inventions have no other
apparent purpose, for example, the dinner party of more than two, the epic poem
and the science of metaphysics.” — H.L. Mencken ... “If any question why we died, / Tell them because our fathers lied.” — Rudyard Kipling, one of the millions of parents to lose a son in World War I