APME opens membership to university journalism educators, students

The Associated Press Media Editors invites college journalism educators and students to be part of our efforts to promote journalism excellence. For the first time, our 79-year-old organization of newspaper and website editors is offering associate memberships to journalism educators and students.

We've made this move because we think partnerships are critical to the future of journalism in the 21st century. We want to work with the best and the brightest who share our ideals. We also have opened membership to broadcasters, as we work to unite media efforts.

Here's some of what we offer for your membership:

-- A new annual contest to recognize the collegiate Innovator of the Year. This is a way to get recognized for your cutting-edge work and to learn from what others are doing.

-- Discounted training opportunities. We have three webinars on social media credibility scheduled in the next three months and the popular APME NewsTrain sessions scheduled in selected cities.

-- Discounted registration for our annual conference. Our convention Sept. 19-21 in Nashville offers first-rate training and networking with professional journalists. Your membership pays for itself, reducing conference registration fees from $350 to $200. Photo managers are part of our conference, so we offer both traditional and multimedia training.

-- Access to the top editors in the country. Our APME editors offer mentoring for aspiring journalists and collaboration opportunities for educators.

Membership costs only $150  for journalism educators and $50 for students. Until May 1, we also offer a 2-for-1 deal. If you join, a colleague or fellow student may sign up for free.

You may learn more about our organization at www.apme.com. Also, please feel free to contact our journalism committee chairman, Victoria (Texas) Advocate Editor Chris Cobler, directly at ccobler@vicad.com with any questions or suggestions for our organization.

We look forward to working with and learning from you. We appreciate your help in distributing this invitation to your colleagues and students.