By Betsy Russell Idaho Gov. Butch Otter surprised many in April when he signed an executive order creating an Idaho public records ombudsman’s office under his office – something many of us in the media had long been discussing and hoping to accomplish in Idaho. Initially, the ombudsman, Otter’s associate counsel Cally Younger, will be charged with collecting information and compiling concerns and complaints about state agencies’ compliance with Idaho laws requiring disclosure of public records, and working with the … [Read more...]
Best of 2013 Awards Banquet
June 24, 2014 by
Check out photos from the event online Remember way back in May when Idaho Press Club members came together to celebrate some of the best journalism and PR work from the previous year? Whether you remember the May 3 Best of 2013 event or it’s lost in a haze of post-awards celebration, you can relive it thanks to our first-ever photo gallery posted under the “Events” tab at idahopressclub.org. Or, you could just click the link to view … [Read more...]
U of I Journalism school earns national accreditation
June 24, 2014 by
By John Hecht The School of Journalism and Mass Media (JAMM) at the University of Idaho was accredited unanimously in May by the national Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC). It is the culmination of a quarter-century of on-and-off efforts shaping the program to meet the necessary national standards. The school combines applied training for media professions with a liberal arts approach to the study of mass media. It offers undergraduate degrees in advertising, broadcasting-digital … [Read more...]
Meet your IPC – Scott McIntosh
June 24, 2014 by
Interviewed by Joan Cartan-Hansen Interviewer’s intro: Scott McIntosh admits to being a little old-school. He graduated with bachelor’s degrees in newspaper journalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and English textual studies from Syracuse’s College of Arts and Sciences. He is a new member of the Idaho Press Club board, but he is not new to Idaho. He and his wife Nicola bought the Kuna Melba News in 2006 and became its publishers. He became the editor of the Idaho Press-Tribune in Nampa in February 2014. Where … [Read more...]
Media Moves
June 24, 2014 by
TWIN FALLS TIMES-NEWS Nathan Brown is now covering state and local government for the Times-News. He replaces Kimberlee Kruesi, who is now the Associated Press statehouse reporter in Boise. Brown moved to Twin Falls from Middletown, N.Y., where he was a reporter at the Times Herald-Record. MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS Lots of changes at the Daily News. New reporter Michael-Shawn Dugar signed on from the Murrow School at Washington State University as inland360.com reporter and Sunday layout editor. Murf Raquet retired as City/Opinion Editor … [Read more...]
President’s Column: Cities reform open meeting practices
March 25, 2014 by
By Betsy Russell In the fall, while traveling around southern and eastern Idaho for four IDOG open government seminars, I heard about some open meeting law problems in the city of Twin Falls. The Twin Falls Times-News reported on the problems and brought them to everyone’s attention, and the city initially took a defensive posture. I ended up filing an open meeting law complaint with the local prosecutor, but in the end, the city reformed its practices and the outcome was a good one – especially for citizens of Twin Falls and their access … [Read more...]
Reporting a trial around closed doors and sealed files
March 25, 2014 by
By Audrey Dutton Covering the big St. Luke’s antitrust trial in U.S. District Court in Boise involved hours spent waiting outside a closed courtroom, extensively redacted documents, and cryptic references in court to information not made public. Now the Statesman, Idaho Press Club and several other Idaho news organizations are waiting to hear from a federal appeals court on their plea for openness, after U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill left it up to lawyers and business executives to decide what should be public in the … [Read more...]
Best of 2013 Awards Banquet – Celebrating the talent of our members
March 25, 2014 by
By Deanna Darr Idaho Press Club members are a talented group of people, and we’re not just talking about being able to track down the perfect source, write a story that inspires the masses or put together a presentation that dazzles all who gaze upon it. At this year’s annual awards banquet on Saturday, May 3, we’re planning to show off some of the artistic talents of our membership. For the first time, it will be IPC members who take the stage during the event’s social hour, providing the musical score for the night and showing … [Read more...]
Meet Your IPC: Julie Hart
March 25, 2014 by
Interviewer’s intro: Julie has been our Idaho Press Club lobbyist, pro-bono, for the past two legislative sessions. She’s a crackerjack lobbyist and we’re lucky to have her pulling for us on open-government issues. She made national waves last year with her push to remove Idaho’s sales tax from Girl Scout cookies – another pro-bono effort, as Julie served on the board of the Girl Scouts Silver Sage Council and her daughter, Ella, is an active scout. She also represents a list of clients and is a familiar face at Idaho’s Statehouse. Press … [Read more...]
National reporter headlines 2014 Oppenheimer Ethics Symposium
March 25, 2014 by
By John Hecht Paul Farhi, media reporter for the Washington Post, will be the keynote speaker at the Oppenheimer Ethics Symposium at the University of Idaho in Moscow Friday, March 28. The presentation is free and open to the public. Farhi's presentation is titled "Should the Press Report National Secrets?" His discussion will focus on news coverage of Edward Snowden, spying by the National Security Agency (NSA), and national security leaks. "The symposium theme will be developed around media reporting of national security … [Read more...]
What I learned in Mexico
March 25, 2014 by
Watkins Mid-Career Scholarship winner reports By Bridget Ryder One of the most interesting aspects of journalism is that for all your planning, for everything you think a story is, you never really know what is going to happen, especially when you take your small-town newspaper job to a foreign country. I had an idea—go to Mexico and see what life was like for seasonal workers and others with connections to Teton Valley. I wrote the brainstorm into a pitch for the $500 at stake in the Don Watkins Mid-Career Scholarship. In … [Read more...]
MEDIA MOVES
March 25, 2014 by
Daily/Weekly Newspaper COEUR D’ALENE PRESS After five years, city reporter Tom Hasslinger has departed for the Garden Island newspaper on Kauai, where he’ll be city editor. New reporter Keith Cousins arrives from the chain’s weekly paper in Superior, Mont., the Mineral Independent. IDAHO FALLS POST REGISTER In January, Alex Stuckey, the Post Register's former reporter covering Idaho National Laboratory, accepted a job at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She is based in Jefferson City, Mo., and covers the Missouri Legislature. Also leaving … [Read more...]
2014 Legislative Kickoff
December 15, 2013 by
The Associated Press is hosting a Legislative Preview on Friday, Jan 3,2014 – 9 a.m. to Noon. Area journalists are invited to attend. Later that night the Idaho Press Club Southwest Chapter will host its’ Annual Legislative Kickoff. Details coming soon. Idaho 2014 Legislative Preview. … [Read more...]
