Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Donate $80 for APME's 80th year


APME first met as a group in French Lick, IN, in 1933.

Eighty years later we’ll return to Indiana. The Associated Press Media Editors meet in conference Oct. 28-30 in Indianapolis.

A lot has changed over those 80 years, but our organization remains strong. We sport a new name that brings print, digital and broadcast together, and we’re proud to tout a NewsTrain program that’s in its 10th year and effective as ever in helping journalists.

How can you help this great organization stay strong?

Donate $80 in this 80th year and receive a special gift of an APME80 Everest mug. Only 80 of the mugs are available – first come, first serve.

An $80 or more donation gets you a mug and recognition at the conference in Indiana, in the APME News magazine and at www.apme.com.

You can make the donation and pick up the mug at the conference. But for those unable to attend just send Sally Jacobsen the donation or contact her at sjacobsen@ap.org or 212 621-7007.

Send a check made out to Associated Press Media Editors Foundation (mark it for APME80) to APME, c/o Sally Jacobsen, The Associated Press, 450 W. 33rd St., New York, NY 10001.

You may also contribute online, by filling out the form and selecting APME80 from the donation options.

Donations to the APME Foundation are tax-deductible.

Announcing a New Survey of Media Credentialing Practices


The National Press Photographers Association is very pleased to join with the Digital Media Law Project at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society, together with the Investigative News Network, Free Press, Journalist’s Resource, and the Nieman Journalism Lab, to announce the launch of a new study on media credentialing. We invite newsgatherers of all types to participate.

Even as the very concept of journalism evolves to accommodate dramatic new ways of gathering and interacting with information of critical public importance, the idea of media credentials remains deeply embedded in the practice of journalism in the United States. Dozens of laws at both the state and federal levels condition the right to engage in newsgathering activity on the receipt of credentials; police departments use press identification to separate journalists from protestors subject to arrest; and political parties limit access to vital aspects of the democratic process to those approved by campaigns. And yet, systemic understanding of credentialing practices and standards is very poor, with public attention normally being limited to discrete issues as they arise.

“In many ways, newsgathering rights in the United States are a structure built on shifting sands,” said Jeff Hermes, director of the Digital Media Law Project. “It is crucial for the future of journalism that we learn more about how these rights are allocated by those who control access.”

The new study is designed to develop a nationwide overview of credentialing practices over the last five years, in order to identify emerging norms and systemic issues in how credentials are used by government entities and private organizations to control newsgathering activity. The core of the study is an online survey that asks journalists and others who gather and report information of public importance to provide information about their experiences in applying for and obtaining media credentials from federal, state, and private entities in the United States. The survey will generate data that can be made available to the public, used as a platform for further study, and form a basis for developing measures to improve conditions for journalism as a whole.

“Understanding how journalists are identified and categorized by government entities is of critical importance in helping to ensure our ability to gather and disseminate news,” said NPPA general counsel Mickey Osterreicher. “We hope as many people as possible will take this survey to provide us with that critical information,” he added.

We welcome participation in the survey from all who consider themselves to be involved in gathering news for publication, including professional and citizen journalists, activists who publish news content as part of their activism, and independent bloggers who write about current events. If that sounds like you, you can take the survey at http://www.dmlp.org/survey. We hope you will join with us in this effort!

For more information please contact Mickey Osterreicher lawyer@nppa.org

Monday, September 16, 2013

APME Conference: Large Vendor Turnout


The Associated Press Media Editors will have one of its largest groups of vendors attending the 2013 conference in Indianapolis, Oct. 28-30.


The theme of the conference is "Content is King."

Conference sessions will include Sports Coverage and Access, First Amendment Showdown, Change Management, Keeping Print Alive, The New Ethics, Metering Mania and How to Reset Your Coverage and Priorities.

The event will have two host hotels at two price points in the same complex, including the J.W. Marriott, $169 per night, and the SpringHill Suites, $139 per night. Special rates are available until Sept. 26.

The conference will be held just across the street at the Indiana State Museum. The first night's reception and APME Foundation auction will be held at the Indiana Roof Ballroom, and the second night will feature a reception at the NCAA Hall of Champions.