APME-ASNE conference starts Friday!

 

The conference for the nation's top editors is Oct. 16-18 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. The Associated Press Photo Managers is also a conference partner.

 

See the program here. 

 

The theme for the Silicon Valley conference is 3-D: Digital, Diversity, Disruption.

 

The conference will open with an evening reception Friday, Oct. 16, at the Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center. Join your colleagues under beautiful October skies for a taste of California wine and music and an intimate conversation with David Kelley. A creator of the Apple mouse and founder of the groundbreaking d.school at Stanford, Kelley will share his thoughts on how each of us can find joy in our creative endeavors.

 

APME survey: Editors remain concerned about quality and tone of online comments

By Gary Graham
The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper managers and editors strongly support online comments about their daily content and most are unlikely to ban comments, but that doesn't mean they are satisfied with the quality and tone of comments.

An APME Sounding Board survey of newspaper editors, publishers and online editors in April drew 101 responses and 94 percent of the group reported that they consistently allow comments. Many of the respondents said they believe allowing comments is important to encourage community discussions in a public forum.

Editors were critical of the general nature of comments because, in their view, comments are too often negative, off the topic, uninformed and lacking civility. Several editors said a small number of individuals tend to dominate the online conversation.

Asked how likely is it that their organizations will ban online commenting, 71 percent said it is unlikely and another 11 percent said they never would.  Nine percent said it is very likely they will ban all comments and another 8 percent said such a step is likely. While the majority of editors who responded said they are not inclined to eliminate all comments on their sites, many attempt to ban readers who consistently abuse the website's policies on commenting or ignore the standards altogether. One editor said the comments don't reflect poorly on the website and that editors should spend less time worrying about the nature of the comments.

Fifty-five percent of those responding said they place a moderate amount of value on commenting and another 14 percent said they placed a great deal of value on it. Editors said the comments are beneficial because they encourage an exchange of ideas and that readers often have suggestions for follow-up stories or point out inaccuracies.

The editors surveyed seemed relatively split on the issue of allowing anonymous comments. Fifty-four percent do not allow anonymous postings, but 46 percent do. Only 38 percent of the news organizations require commenters to identify themselves by first and last name.  Several editors noted they restrict commenting to online or print subscribers.

More than half, 56 percent, use a comment-hosting service. Of those services, Facebook appeared to be the most popular with 61 percent of the editors using it, followed by Disqus with 21 percent. Only 12 percent of the editors report the comments are monitored by staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Twenty-seven percent monitor comments 13 to 16 hours a day, while 15 percent monitor only two to four hours daily.

Editors who only allow commenting through Facebook said the Facebook emphasis on using a first and/or last name has resulted in a slight improvement in the level of community conversation, but others noted many commenters don't seem concerned about the lack of anonymity.

Several editors who responded said that in a time of diminishing newsroom resources they are concerned about the amount of staff time required to moderate the comments. One editor requires that all comments be reviewed and cleared by an editor before they are posted on the newspaper's website.

garyg@spokesman.com

APME launches Career Center for job postings and job-seekers

Today there is a new way to find great applicants for your newsroom.  The Associate Press Media Editors' Career Center is free and focused on journalism. Visit www.apme.com/networking to post open positions. No login is required. APME will help drive traffic to your listings through social media, our weekly APME Update email and more. If you are looking for a new career opportunity, get a free Job Seeker account or login with your APME member account, fill out your profile and upload your resume. You can also sign up for notifications of relevant new positions in your areas of interest. This is a new feature for apme.com, so if you have suggestions or encounter trouble, please contact Laura Sellers.

Linda Austin hired as NewsTrain director

APME is pleased to announce a new project director for its popular regional New Train workshops. Veteran editor and educator Linda Austin will run NewsTrain, a 10-year-old national touring workshop serving journalists in their own cities. Programs are designed to provide training in the skills, knowledge and information newsroom leaders need in a rapidly changing media environment. 

This year's News Train workshops will be hosted in Vancouver, Canada; Columbus, Ohio; Las Vegas, Nev., and Austin, Texas.

"APME looks forward to delivering the high-quality, low-cost training to journalists that has been one of our core initiatives and is thrilled that Linda Austin will lead our efforts," said APME President Debra Adams Simmons.

Austin has been the executive director of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and a professor of practice at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication for the past five years. Before that, she was the editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky; executive editor of The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Ind.; and managing editor of the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C.  She also held leadership positions at The Philadelphia Inquirer, including business editor, graphics editor, assistant managing editor/finance and editor/publisher of PhillyTech magazine. She was a fellow in the Punch Sulzberger Executive News Media Leadership Program at Columbia University’s Journalism School and earned a master’s degree in educational technology from Arizona State University.   

She will jump right in. The first News Train of 2014 is April 25-26 in Vancouver.

“I want to continue helping journalists to access high-quality, low-cost training after I leave the Reynolds Center in March,” Austin said. “As a former APME member and NewsTrain attendee, I know firsthand how essential this training program is. I’m honored to help continue its proud tradition in its second decade.”

APME Member Photograph of the Month for November 2013

The APME has honored this photograph as National Member Photo of the Month for November 2013.

Thanks to John Rumbach and staff at The Herald in Jasper, Ind., for judging this month.

Here is what the judges had to say about the winning image:

"This photograph of firefighters preparing to fight a wildfire tells the story of what they face. The fire burns across the background while, by the light of their headlamps, the firefighters huddle making final preparations. The fire covers acres, the group, a few square feet. The light in the photograph — deep orange fire, pale white and yellow lamp light — enriches the contrast."

Below is the link to all images entered for November and the winner is slide #3.

http://apphotocontests.ap.org/APME_POM/POM_NOV2013/index.html

Caption:

Firefighters from Schell Vista of Sonoma County and Santa Clara County Cal Fire prepare to put out hotspots on a fire in the hills of Soda Canyon above Napa, Calif., Friday, Nov. 22, 2013. The fire grew to over 300 acres by daybreak, fanned by high winds. (AP Photo/Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Kent Porter)

APME Journalism Excellence Awards: Deadline is APRIL 7

UPDATE:  We've extended the deadline for the 2013 APME Journalism Excellence Awards, which honor superior journalism and innovation among newspapers, radio, television and online news sites across the United States and Canada, to MONDAY, APRIL 7. 

The awards seek to promote excellence by recognizing work that is innovative, well-written and incisively reported. A special award honors innovation by colleges and universities.

All awards will be presented for journalism published or launched between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2013. Because of the change in the entry period, first-place winners in the previous contest (running from May 1, 2012- April 30, 2013) are not eligible to enter their winning work in the current contest. All other entries are eligible and will be considered by judges.

Besides the new deadline, the APME awards will feature a new category: Best Mobile Platform.  This new category will honor a news organization that produced or made significant improvements to a mobile application or platform in 2013.

Four of the categories offer monetary awards: the Seventh Annual Innovator of the Year Award for newspapers, the Best of Show in the Public Service Awards, The Al Neuharth Award for Innovation in Investigative Journalism and the Tom Curley Sweepstakes Award in the First Amendment Awards.
The entry fees are $75 per entry for APME members and $100 per entry for non-members. To see if you are an APME member click here to log in. If your newspaper is not listed, enroll as a member now or renew and receive many valuable benefits of membership, including reduced fees to attend the annual conference and to submit your quality work for consideration for an APME Journalism Excellence Award. The awards will be presented at the ASNE/APME Conference Sept. 15-17 in Chicago, and are linked on the APME website. The finalists of the newspaper Innovator of the Year will make presentations at the conference, and the winner will be selected by conference attendees.

Nominations are received online only.

The first step is signing up as an "entrant" at the APME contest site. Please keep your entrant username and password. You will need it to submit entries and return to the site to edit or add more entries before submitting them for judging. Submit all entries before accessing the payment page to check out.

Enter at: https://www.omnicontests4.com/Default.aspx?comp_id=1265

AGAIN, the deadline to submit entries will be midnight EST Monday, March 31.
For more information, contact Sally Jacobsen (sjacobsen@ap.org) at The Associated Press at 212-621-1838 or Joshua Schwartz (jsschwartz@ap.org)  at The Associated Press at 212-621-7831.

Here are the categories:

Eighth Annual Innovator of the Year Award 

The award recognizes innovation in print, online, management, structure or other area that demonstrates a bold, creative effort to improve a news or information product and increase audience. Demonstrable success is required for the entry’s standing. The winner will be awarded $1,000. The sponsor is GateHouse Media.

Definition of Innovation: A new, creative and forward-thinking concept that has long-lasting effects and attracts new audiences or dollars. It can be a product, a technique or a new structure, but it must be able to show how it met a specific goal over a period of time. It should have potential to become an industry standard over a period of time.

Eligibility: The competition is open to any editor or staff member of an AP-member news organization, a team from a member news organization or a member news organization.

Submissions: A total of 20 files can be uploaded with each entry. This can include a combination of documents, published pages and multimedia files, if applicable.

Online innovation: The entrant is responsible for making the site available to judges through a Web link. URL should be submitted with the application.

Print innovation: Submit electronic files of published tear sheets.

Online and print: Combinations are welcome, and should be submitted according to rules for both.

Management, structure or other: Explain thoroughly the innovation and how it improved or increased efficiency, effectiveness, coordination and audience or enhanced the newspaper’s competitiveness or ability to improve content. Provide examples of resulting content as appropriate.

Judging: A panel of APME board and committee members will judge all entries and select three finalists. The finalists will be presented to attendees of the ASNE/APME joint conference in Chicago, and a vote of attendees will determine the winner. A representative of each finalist will be asked to present his or her news organization’s entry at the conference. Attendance is not required to win, but it will difficult for attendees to select a winner without a representative’s presentation.

Enter at: https://www.omnicontests4.com/Default.aspx?comp_id=1265

 
Third Annual Innovator of the Year awards for Television and Radio 

The awards recognize innovation in television and radio that demonstrates bold, creative efforts to improve a news or information product and increase audience. Demonstrable success is required for the entry’s standing. An award will be given for the TV winner; another for the radio winner.

Definition of Innovation: A new, creative and forward-thinking concept that has long-lasting effects and attracts new audiences or dollars. It can be a product, a technique or a new structure, but it must be able to show how it met a specific goal over a period of time. It should have potential to become an industry standard over a period of time.

Eligibility: The competition is open to any news manager or staffer of an AP-member TV or radio station or network, or a team from a member TV or radio station or network.

Submissions: A total of 20 files can be uploaded with each entry. This can include a combination of produced segments or stories, documents, and/or multimedia files as appropriate.

Management, structure or other: Explain thoroughly the innovation and how it improved or increased efficiency, effectiveness, coordination and audience or enhanced the station or network’s competitiveness or ability to improve content. Provide examples of resulting content as appropriate.

Judging: A panel of APME board members will judge all entries and select the winner.

Enter at: https://www.omnicontests4.com/Default.aspx?comp_id=1265

Third Annual Innovator of the Year Award for College Students 

The award recognizes innovation by university students in print, online, management, structure or other area that demonstrates a bold, creative effort to improve a news or information product and increase audience. Demonstrable success could improve the entry’s standing.

Definition of Innovation: A new, creative and forward-thinking concept that has long-lasting effects and attracts new audiences or dollars. It can be a product, a technique or a new structure, but must be able to show how it met a specific goal over a period of time. It should have potential to become an industry standard over a period of time.

Eligibility: The competition is open to any APME affiliate member who is either an enrolled student or faculty member.

Submissions: A total of 20 files can be uploaded with each entry. This can include a combination of documents, published pages and multimedia files, if applicable.

Online innovation: The entrant is responsible for making the site available to judges through a Web link. URL should be submitted with the application.

Print innovation: Submit electronic files of published tear sheets.

Online and print: Combinations are welcome, and should be submitted according to rules for both.

Management, structure or other: Explain thoroughly the innovation and how it improved or increased efficiency, effectiveness, coordination and audience or enhanced the newspaper’s competitiveness or ability to improve content. Provide examples of resulting content as appropriate.

Judging: A panel of APME board members will judge all entries and select the winner.

Enter at: https://www.omnicontests4.com/Default.aspx?comp_id=1265

The Al Neuharth Award for Innovation in Investigative Journalism
 
This award recognizes groundbreaking work by a newspaper that creatively uses digital tools in the role of being a community’s watchdog. The winner in each circulation category will be awarded $2,500.

Eligibility: The awards are given to Associated Press or Canadian Press member newspapers.

Criteria: This award recognizes groundbreaking work by a newspaper that creatively uses digital tools in the role of being a community's watchdog. Special consideration is given to journalism that helps a community understand and address important issues. Criteria for evaluating innovation include interactivity, creation of new tools, innovative adaptation of existing tools, and creative use of any digital medium.

Nominations: Nominations may be made by a newspaper itself, other newspapers, by AP bureaus or by civic or cultural organizations.

Circulation categories: There shall be two awards: one for newspapers with average daily circulation up to 75,000, and the other for newspapers of 75,000 average daily circulation or more, according to the latest audited figures. The winner in each category will receive $2,500 in prize money. APME reserves the right to decline to award a winner in any category.

Submissions: Entries should include electronic files of clippings of stories, series and/or editorials and community reaction. No more than 20 electronic files may be submitted, including a detailed letter outlining the background, accomplishments and results of the effort. Entrants are responsible for making the digital tools available to judges through a Web link. URL should be submitted with the application. The letter should discuss significant challenges to the accuracy or the approach of the entry, and steps the newspaper took to address those concerns. The entry must include all published corrections or clarifications.

Judging: Judging will be done by a panel of APME board members, including the APME president.

Enter at: https://www.omnicontests4.com/Default.aspx?comp_id=1265


NEW: Best Mobile Platform 

This award is presented to the news organization that produces or made significant improvements to a mobile (smart-phone or tablet) application or platform in 2013, which most advances the state of the art in utility and engagement. The ideal entry will embody improvements in content, design, functionality and technology that set an example worthy of emulation by the industry.

Eligibility: The competition is open to any editor or staff member of an AP-member news organization, a team from a member news organization or a member news organization.

Submissions: A total of 20 files can be uploaded with each entry. This can include a combination of documents, published pages and multimedia files, if applicable.

Online: The entrant is responsible for making the site available to judges through a Web link. URL should be submitted with the application.

Management, structure or other: Explain thoroughly the mobile application and how it improved or increased efficiency, effectiveness, coordination and audience or enhanced the newspaper’s competitiveness or ability to improve content.

Judging: A panel of APME board and committee members, including one who has experience with development of mobile apps, will judge all entries and select the winner.

Enter at: https://www.omnicontests4.com/Default.aspx?comp_id=1265

44th annual Public Service Awards 

The APME Public Service Awards are given to Associated Press or Canadian Press member newspapers for meritorious service to the community, state or nation. From the three division winners, an Overall Winner will then be chosen and receive $1,500, as provided by the APME Foundation.

Criteria: Entries will be judged on the basis of how the newspaper made full use of its resources in serving the public good and on the high quality of journalism exhibited in the work. Work that demonstrates evidence of positive change that has benefited the public or its institutions will be given strong consideration. The entry may be a single article or a series, and, in addition to the primary print coverage, can include sidebars, graphics, online work, commentary and editorials.

Nominations: Nominations may be made by a newspaper itself, by other newspapers, by AP bureaus or by civic or cultural organizations.

Circulation categories: There shall be three awards: one for newspapers with average daily circulation to 39,999; one for newspapers with average daily circulation of 40,000 to 149,999; another for newspapers of 150,000 average daily circulation or more, according to the latest audited figures. APME reserves the right to decline to award a winner in any category. Only newspapers are eligible to submit entries, except that bureau work may be entered by a single newspaper for judging in the 150,000-and-over circulation category regardless of the size of the paper in which the work appears.

Submissions: Entries should include electronic files of clippings of stories, series and/or editorials and community reaction. No more than 20 electronic files may be submitted, including a detailed letter outlining the background, accomplishments and results of the effort. The letter should discuss significant challenges to the accuracy or the approach of the entry, and steps the newspaper took to address those concerns. The entry must include all published corrections or clarifications.

Judging: Judging will be done by the president and three past presidents of APME plus a senior editor of The Associated Press. Judges will select the Overall Winner from the three division winners.

Enter at: https://www.omnicontests4.com/Default.aspx?comp_id=1265

First Amendment Award and Citations 

The 2013 APME First Amendment Awards will be given to journalists or newspapers for work that advances freedom of information, makes good use of FOI principles or statutes, or significantly widens the scope of information available to the public. Other distinguished efforts will be honored with First Amendment citations. The Tom Curley Sweepstakes Award of $1,000 will be given to the winning entry that best exemplifies the spirit of the First Amendment.

Criteria: The objective is to honor journalists and newspapers for significant or breakthrough work that protects or advances the First Amendment or federal and state FOI statutes. A story or project that makes good use of an FOIA law does not necessarily meet the criteria for the APME First Amendment Award, and may be deserving of consideration in the APME Public Service competition. Judges in the First Amendment contest will give preference to entries that break ground in the use of freedom of information principles or overcome significant official resistance to legal application of the First Amendment or FOI laws. Newspapers must choose whether to enter their projects in the First Amendment or Public Service contests.

Nominations: Nominations will be made by individuals, newspapers, professional societies, journalism schools, state AP associations and others.

Circulation categories: There shall be three awards: one for newspapers with average daily circulation to 39,999; one for newspapers with average daily circulation of 40,000 to 149,999; another for newspapers of 150,000 average daily circulation or more, according to the latest audited figures. The Tom Curley Sweepstakes Award, carrying a $1,000 prize, will be given to the winning entry that best exemplifies the spirit of the First Amendment. APME reserves the right to decline to award a winner in any category.

Eligibility: Individual staff members of The Associated Press or Canadian Press member newspapers, or the newspapers themselves, are eligible. However, an individual or newspaper may be nominated for contributions to freedom of information over the years.

Submissions: The objective is to honor newsmen, newswomen and newspapers for efforts to obtain information to which the public otherwise would not have access. It is important that entries emphasize and document those efforts. Electronic images of pages must include publication dates. A total of 20 files may be uploaded and can be a combination of published pages, documentation and/or multimedia files. A detailed explanation of the entry to be submitted as a document file to your online application should discuss significant challenges to the accuracy or the approach of the entry, and steps the newspaper took to address those concerns. The entry must include all published corrections.

Judging: Nominations will be judged by members of the APME Executive Committee, the chairman of the APME First Amendment Committee and distinguished experts on public access issues.

Enter at: https://www.omnicontests4.com/Default.aspx?comp_id=1265


Digital Storytelling Awards 

The award recognizes Associated Press or Canadian Press member newspaper, television, radio and online partners for the effective use of digital storytelling.

Criteria: These awards recognize print-online or broadcast-online combinations that draw on feature storytelling, data visualization, social media, use of apps, games, video and/or blogs in presenting the story. The article can be on any topic, but it must have a narrative or feature approach to it. Entries should demonstrate the effective use of the digital medium, highlighting its ability to engage readers, viewers or listeners and present information in compelling new ways.

Nominations: Nominations may be made by a newspaper or broadcast outlet itself or its online partner.

Circulation categories: There shall be three awards: one for newspapers with average daily circulation to 39,999; one for newspapers with average daily circulation of 40,000 to 149,999; another for newspapers of 150,000 average daily circulation or more, according to the latest audited figures. APME reserves the right to decline to award a winner in any category.

Submissions: Entry should include main URL, three supporting URLs, plus a 500-word (max) statement explaining why the work deserves recognition. Judges will give special weight to entries that highlight reader engagement and interactivity. You can include electronic files of stories, series and/or editorials and community reaction. No more than 20 electronic files may be submitted, including a letter describing the nominated story and how it was developed. The letter should discuss additional elements produced for online and how the online efforts contributed to development of the story in print or broadcast. The letter also should discuss any action resulting from the coverage. It also should mention significant challenges to the accuracy or approach of the entry, as well as steps the news media outlet and/or the online unit took to address those concerns. Published corrections or clarifications must be included.

Judging: Judging will be done by a committee appointed by the president of APME.

Enter at: https://www.omnicontests4.com/Default.aspx?comp_id=1265

International Perspective Awards 

The 2014 APME International Perspective Awards will be given to Associated Press and Canadian Press member newspapers for outstanding coverage of international news for local readers.

Criteria: These awards recognize newspapers that provide effective and thoughtful coverage of world events for a local audience. This could be reflected in coverage from the newspaper's own foreign staff; consistent, discriminating selection of news agency and syndicate material with an eye to overall importance, the quality of writing and the specific interests of the local community; locally produced stories tracing the international connections of people, businesses and other organizations in the newspaper's circulation area; articles about, or by, local people living or traveling abroad; and the effective use of local experts to provide background on international developments.

Nominations: Nominations may be made by a newspaper itself, by other newspapers, by AP bureaus or by civic or cultural organizations.

Circulation categories: There shall be three awards: one for newspapers with average daily circulation to 39,999; one for newspapers with average daily circulation of 40,000 to 149,999; another for newspapers of 150,000 average daily circulation or more, according to the latest audited figures. APME reserves the right to decline to award a winner in any category.

Submissions: An entry can include electronic files of stories, series and/or editorials and community reaction. The files should include proof of publication date. A total of 20 files may be uploaded, and should include a letter with a description of the newspaper’s criteria and philosophy for internationally related coverage. The letter also should discuss any accomplishments resulting from the coverage. It should also discuss significant challenges to the accuracy or approach of the entry, and steps the newspaper took to address those concerns. Published corrections or clarifications must be included.

Judging: Judging will be done by a committee appointed by the president of APME, to include a senior online editor of The Associated Press and other top online journalists.

Enter at: https://www.omnicontests4.com/Default.aspx?comp_id=1265
 
Here are last year’s APME award winners: 

43rd Annual Public Service ·  
Winner of Public Service Best of Show and $1,500: The Asbury Park Press, "Superstorm Sandy.”
Under 40,000 circulation   Winner: The Virgin Islands Daily News, "Our Money, Their Failure.”
40,000 to 149,000   Winner: The Asbury Park Press, "Superstorm Sandy.”
Over 149,000   Winner: The New York Times, "Unlocked.”

Seventh Annual Innovator of the Year Award Winner:
The Arizona Republic, for its AZ app of an evening news magazine for the iPad.

Second Annual Innovator of the Year Awards for Radio and TV ·        
Winner: Cognoscenti, for its platform that takes the concept of "letters to the editor" and infuses it with performance enhanced perspectives.

Second Annual Innovator of the Year Award for College Students ·        
Winner: "Campus Lifeline: A Report on College Suicide," a project of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University. The special project examined suicide, the second-leading cause of death among college students.

Fourth Annual Gannett Foundation Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism ·        
75,000 and below winner: The Journal News, White Plains, N.Y., "District in Crisis.”       
Above 75,000 winner: The Blade, Toledo, Ohio, "Battle Lines: Gangs of Toledo.”

43rd Annual First Amendment Award and Citations ·        
The Tom Curley Sweepstakes Award Winner: The Virgin Islands Daily News, "The Battle for V.I.,” senator’s spending records ·        
150,000+ Winner: The Wall Street Journal, "Watched.”
40,000-149,999 Winner: The Tennessean, "Department of Children’s Services Special Report” ·
40,000-under Winner: The Virgin Islands Daily News, "The Battle for V.I.,” senator’s spending records

Digital Storytelling Awards ·        
150,000 or More Winner: The Detroit Free Press, for its examination of the defunct Packard Plant, "now home to graffiti artists, illegal dumpers, scrappers, urban explorers and thieves who rob and mug them, arsonists, firefighters who risk their lives and camera crews from around the world." ·
40,000 to 149,999 Winner: The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn., for its digital narrative telling the dramatic story of Martin Luther King Jr.'s last hours before his assassination.
Less Than 40,000 Winner: Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Iowa) Courier, for its coverage of two missing girls and the long, tragic search that followed.

International Perspective Awards ·        
Over 150,000  Winner: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Paper Cuts,” John Schmid and Mike De Sisti
40,000 to 149,999 Winner: Omaha World-Herald, "China Connection,” Paul Goodsell and Matt Miller.  
Under 40,000 Winner: Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D., "South Dakota to South Sudan,” Steve Young.  

Applications sought for NewsTrain project manager

Job description

The Associated Press Media Editors seeks a project manager for its signature NewsTrain Project.

NewsTrain provides regional training workshops for news leaders, especially frontline editors who are leading rapidly changing digitally focused newsrooms. NewsTrain has provided leadership and journalism skills training to more than 6,000 frontline editors in the United States and Canada since its inception almost 11 years ago.

The project manager plans and produces NewsTrain training workshops for the APME in locations throughout the United States and Canada. This is an independent contract position that reports to a committee of the APME board. The position is funded through grants and donations secured annually by the board for the following year. The initial term is for one year, with renewal dependent upon funding.

Responsibilities:

1. Plan and produce workshops based on the NewsTrain process/model. This includes:·

-- Selecting sites and workshop dates (currently up to four a year);
-- Assembling and leading a planning committee at each site;
-- Holding a planning meeting at each site to create the program, plan logistics and divvy up tasks;
-- Recruiting and coaching faculty members on their seminar material;
-- Building an agenda that meets the stated needs of the planning group and can be effectively run in the available room space;
-- Supervising and working with the NewsTrain program assistant (another contract position), to ensure the timely and accurate completion of logistical, financial and administrative tasks;
-- Managing workshop registration on the APME website; and
-- Running the workshops successfully (in person) for hosts, faculty or participants.

2. Work with the APME board committee to select workshop sites.

3. Conduct workshops within a process/model that has been approved by funders and donors and is overseen by a committee of the APME board.

4. Collect and evaluate feedback from participants and hosts after each workshop. Strive to continually improve or adapt workshops to the changing needs of the industry.

5. Manage the NewsTrain portion of the APME website.

6. Attend APME board meetings and report to the APME board about each workshop.

7. Contribute information for reports that the APME board committee prepares for funders.

Qualifications:
The successful candidate will be a seasoned newsroom veteran with 10+ years of experience, and experience operating successful newsroom training programs. Must be able to work independently and flexibly; demonstrate an understanding of the learning needs of newsrooms; demonstrate an understanding of how to create effective training seminars; manage oversight of the program overall; manage every content and logistical aspect of each workshop; travel to sites around North America; and work within a budget.

How to Apply:
Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume detailing credentials, qualifications and experience to apme@ap.org.  

Deadline for applications is Jan. 15, 2014