Dedicated to improving journalism in Idaho
Name: Kelsey Jacobson
Press Club position: Board member of the IPC Southwest Chapter
Job: Senior Digital Media Producer for KTVB.COM. I really like the new media side of journalism. I love writing for the web, designing new web pages, graphics, and I really enjoy the social media aspect of it all. With how fast everything changes in the new media world, it's hard to say where my career will take me!
Education: I graduated magna cum laude from the University of … [Read more...]
By Betsy Russell
An Idaho judge has issued a significant court decision finding that the personnel records of former University of Idaho Professor Ernesto Bustamante – who took his own life after shooting to death graduate student Katy Benoit - must be released under the Idaho Public Records Law.
The Idaho Press Club joined with media organizations across the state, including the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Idaho Statesman, The Spokesman-
Review, The Associated Press and … [Read more...]
By Don Day
BOISE - Leaves weren’t the only things changing across the Treasure Valley landscape this fall -- the local television landscape was undergoing a dramatic shift of its own.
The month of September saw an unprecedented number of changes to each of the local stations that produce news – with changes to nearly every station’s lineup.
Local television has seen a major expansion of its available news product over the last 12 years or so. On any given weekday in 1999 just three channels presented a total … [Read more...]
By Sadie Babits
Idaho's Boise State Public Radio is at the center of a national initiative to expand and improve reporting on state government and how it affects people and communities – through both broadcast and online reporting.
Two new full-time reporters have been hired and started in mid-September as part of StateImpact Idaho. It's one of eight StateImpact projects launched in collaboration with National Public Radio; the others are in Florida, Indiana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and … [Read more...]
TELEVISION Treasure Valley market
KBOI-TV
Adam Balinski, who comes from BYU, is a new weekend reporter. New morning reporter Eric Avanier arrived from North Carolina. Michael Calcagno left to return to family in Portland.
KIVI-TV
Marie McGlynn-Peach is the new General Manager. Former general manager Bob Rosenthal is now director of sales for Citadel.
Idaho Falls/ Pocatello MarketKPVI-TV
Diana Nguyen, a new reporter, arrived from San … [Read more...]
Name: John Hecht
Press Club board position: At-large rep, Idaho Press Club state board
Current occupation: Recently retired.
Last job: For the previous 15 years, I was a "natural resources technical writer/editor" at the Pacific Northwest Regional Office of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (just across the street from the Statesman), with collateral duties managing the Planning Library. I primarily translated and edited government reports into … [Read more...]
President's Column
By Betsy Russell
Last year, I was contacted by several reporters for various news organizations who were having trouble with public records requests to the city of Boise. Among them was Nishi Gupta of KTVB Channel 7, who was facing a surprising $547.36 labor charge for a public records request - an outlandishly high charge, and not one most news organizations could afford to pay these days.
Allen Derr and I met with Boise Mayor Dave Bieter, along with his attorney and communications director, and … [Read more...]
By Michael Deeds
A series of shake-ups in the Boise area TV market will actually bring more TV news reporting to the Treasure Valley. Here's a breakdown:
* Channel 12 is going independent in September.
Yes, KTRV — currently the Fox affiliate — officially will become a station without a network.
This doesn’t mean KTRV will produce less local news. KTRV, which is owned by privately held Block Communications, plans to pull itself up by its bootstraps, invest resources and add even more news programming. … [Read more...]
By Bill Manny
Newspapers are experimenting with crowd-sourcing, tapping the collective expertise of online readers to report news events, collect information or analyze complex data. Lawyers are looking for ways to tap our online readers for information, too. In the past several years, my paper, the Idaho Statesman has had about a half-dozen cases where lawyers filed subpoenas, or queried in advance of a subpoena, asking for the identity of an online commenter.
We’ve had cases of lawyers who want the identity of … [Read more...]
By Joan Cartan-Hansen
On January 1, 2011, the Idaho Falls-based KIFI-TV, Local News 8, officially took over operations of its cross-town competitor KIDK-TV. Under an Operational Shared Service Agreement, Fisher Broadcasting will still own KIDK, but KIFI will provide sales, promotional, administrative and operational support services for both companies. The newsrooms also were combined. “It has been a whirlwind,” says Mark Danielson, KIFI General Manager.
KIDK-TV started as an offshoot of KID radio in 1953, and enjoyed high … [Read more...]
Celebrate journalism at gala awards banquet
By Deanna Darr
Idaho Press Club members can join in the celebration of some of the best journalism to come out of the state last year at the Best of 2010 Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, May 7.
This annual event is one of the ways the Press Club works to support and improve journalism—by recognizing and awarding excellent work in both print and broadcast journalism, as well as in public relations. It’s also a great time to celebrate our profession by gathering with others … [Read more...]
We stand on their shoulders….
By Betsy Russell
With all the turnover in Idaho news organizations, we often lament the loss of institutional memory. Here's a case where a longtime Idaho journalist, Tim Woodward of the Idaho Statesman, has reminded us all of someone we may never have heard or met, but who is an important part of the fabric of Idaho's journalistic history.
Tim himself is an Idaho journalistic institution; I've been in the state 25 years, and Tim came before me on the Boise downtown redevelopment … [Read more...]
By Tim Woodward
Vern Moore, radio icon and journalism pioneer, was Idaho’s first television news anchor; he died Feb. 17 in Coeur d'Alene. His obituary devoted a little more than a paragraph to his broadcast career. Some readers may have missed it entirely, never realizing that we had lost a local icon.
Moore was the patriarch of broadcast news in Idaho. Thousands of Idahoans grew up hearing his voice and seeing his face. He was etched in our memories, like Howdy Doody or Walt Disney or Edward R. Murrow.
Moore’s was … [Read more...]
By Kathleen Kreller
Note: Dan Morris was a longtime Idaho Press Club board member, and is the only person ever named a life member of the Idaho Press Club for his contributions to the organization. He died on March 20 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer; this article first appeared in the Idaho Statesman.
Boise State University officials said Dan Morris was surrounded by his family when he died Sunday, at the age of 59.
Morris retired from BSU last April after 23 years as a faculty member in the department of … [Read more...]
The Idaho Press Club invites employers to Submit any journalism or public relation positions for posting on our website. The IPC is not responsible for the content of the posting. We will attempt to remove out-of-date posting in a timely matter but we cannot guarantee the status of any opening. Submit openings through our contact page.
The Idaho Press Club serves journalists across the state, helping newsrooms access public documents, challenge open meeting violations, and providing tools and training so reporters are confident navigating Idaho courtroom rules and legislative decorum. We are committed to protecting access to information and advocating for government transparency. We also celebrate excellence in journalism at our annual banquet and awards ceremony, and provide scholarships for students and mid-career journalists. You can find our latest news in the Idaho Press Club Communicator, including information on upcoming events and trainings. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out through the “Contact Us” tab.
Melissa Davlin, President
