Seeking broadcast newsroom leaders for APME board election

APME is an association of editors at AP-member newspapers and broadcast outlets, journalism educators and students.

We have two seats for broadcasters on the APME board of directors up for election in September at our Nashville conference.

If you are or know of a broadcast leader who would like the chance to lead this group, focused on training, First Amendment issues, innovation, public service and more, contact Carol Hanner at CHanner@wsjournal.com soon.

More information about the association and the board is at www.apme.com.

Submit your Great Idea now; APME's annual book closes July 31

The deadline for submitting content for APME's 2012 "Great Ideas" book is July 31.

Be sure your organization is represented in the annual product, which is always a favorite at the annual APME conference. This is a chance for your media organization to show off your work in the U.S. and Canada and help fellow managers by providing ideas that might work in their markets.

A great idea can be a new concept for print, broadcast or digital, or a major improvement to something we do every day.
It's easy to submit and takes only a few minutes.

At this link you can submit your idea.

http://www.apme.com/?page=GreatIdeasform

If you have questions, contact David Arkin, GateHouse Media vice president of content & audience, at darkin@gatehousemedia.com.

Register in July and get a free conference T-shirt!

Two weeks remain to scoop up a free T-shirt for registering for APME's annual conference in Nashville, Sept. 19-21. Sign up before July 31 and attend the conference in style.

http://www.apme.com/event/2012Conference

Rooms are going fast for Nashville; book now to get APME rate

Our hotel in Nashville will be the Embassy Suites Vanderbilt on Music Row, and it’s filling fast for conference rate rooms.

So fast that just a handful remain at the $139 rate for Tuesday, Sept. 18 and Friday, Sept. 21.

For the big days of the conference – Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 19 and 20 –about 20 rooms remain for each night at the conference rate.

Book now to stay with the group.

And be sure to register for the conference in July to receive a free T-shirt. APME member registration rate is only $250.

Hope to see you in Music City.

 Bob Heisse, APME president

Watchdog Reporting: Los Angeles Times: A biodefender that cries wolf

From AP's weekly update of Watchdog Reporting:

The Los Angeles Times reports that BioWatch had failed — again. President George W. Bush announced the system's deployment in his 2003 State of the Union address, saying it would "protect our people and our homeland." Since then, BioWatch air samplers have been installed inconspicuously at street level and atop buildings in cities across the country — ready, in theory, to detect pathogens that cause anthraz, tularemia, smallpox, plague and other deadly diseases.

But the system has not lived up to its billing. It has repeatedly cried wolf, producing dozens of false alarms in Los Angeles, Detroit, St. Louis, Phoenix, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere, a Los Angeles Times investigation found. Worse, BioWatch cannot be counted on to detect a real attack, according to confidential government test results and computer modeling.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-biowatch-20120708,0,5093512.story

Join APME for a reduced conference rate and 12 months of benefits

Are you an APME member? Join now and it will pay for itself by giving you the member rate for our Nashville conference.

But you'll get much more – a year of savings. APME membership now extends for a year after you sign up, not a calendar year. So there's value year round at the same time that you're helping us provide great APME programs.

A membership gets you a reduced rate for our conference, our contest and our webinars, among other benefits.

We look forward to having you aboard.

http://www.apme.com/?page=Join_Renew

APME announces contest winners, AP contest winners

In the annual APME and AP contests, the winners have been announced. These represent the highest ideals in journalism among multiple categories, mediums and levels of expertise.

Find out who won the APME Journalism Excellence Awards
Find out who won the Associated Press Media Editors awards for journalism excellence by AP staffers

Modesto Bee: Classic summer job elusive for Modesto area teens

From AP's weekly report on Watchdog Journalism


The Modesto (Calif.) Bee reports that fewer than 3 in 10 U.S. teenagers have jobs from June through August, the traditional summer season when students are off from school and available for work. The employment numbers have been declining since 2000 for youths ages 16 to 19, and are at their lowest levels since World War II, according to the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, more than 44 percent of teens who want summer jobs don't get them or work fewer hours than they would prefer, according to Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies. In Stanislaus County, the unemployment rate was 15.6 percent in May. Employers are flooded with applications from people of all ages. Teens often find themselves competing for entry-level jobs with older, more experienced workers.

http://www.modbee.com/2012/06/30/2265310/tough-to-findthe-classic-summer.html#storylink=cpy

SUBMIT FOR 'GREAT IDEAS' BOOK BY JULY 31!

Your media organization has until July 31 to submit its work for APME’s 2012 "Great Ideas” book.

Download the 2011 Great Ideas PDF

What's a great idea? It can be a new concept for print, broadcast or digital, or a major improvement to something we do every day. This is a chance for your media organization to show off your work in the U.S. and Canada and help fellow managers by providing ideas that might work in their markets.

APME is again focusing on watchdog stories -- big and small -- because of the difference they can make in the community, but other ideas will be accepted as well.

It’s easy to submit and takes only a few minutes for you to do it.

Our "Great Ideas" form allows you to submit entries and upload images that accompanies the "Great Idea.”

If you have questions, contact David Arkin, GateHouse Media vice president of content & audience, at darkin@gatehousemedia.com.

Work already submitted to the monthly "Great Ideas" and "Innovator" awards will be considered for the book.

We have some groovy T-shirts for editors registering in July!

Sign up for our "Compose, Create and Connect ... in Nashville" conference Sept. 19-21 in July and get a free APME 2012 conference T-shirt in your conference bag!

This year our agenda is packed with sessions that will send you home recharged. It all starts with a panel of Pulitzer Prize winners and a performance of Freedom Sings, and it will end with a day-long focus on social media.

There will be useful takeaways from every session at the beautiful John Seigenthaler Center on the campus of Vanderbilt University. The entire agenda to date is posted on our website along with the information you need to register.

Plus, there's that awesome T-shirt!

http://www.apme.com/?page=2012Conference

APME Nashville 2012 is affordable. Registration is only $250 for APME members, and our rooms at the host Embassy Suites on Music Row are $139.

A great conference awaits. Join us in Music City.

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