KTVB- Char Jackson returns to KTVB as a news producer. Jordan Gray joins KTVB from University of Idaho as a web producer.  Caroline Sullivan leaves KTVB from role as producer.

KTRV – Shannon Paterson, anchor for Fox12News@Nine, left to be a mom and to start up her on-line venture, Anchormommy.com.

Mike Vogel,  veteran local reporter/anchor, came on board in June.  He is a reporter/anchor for the News at Nine as well.

Idaho Public Television – Associate Producer Jody Lee departed for an independent producer job in North Idaho.

KIDK – Rick Montanez has left to be a reporter in Colorado Springs.

Sarah Schwabe has left to become an Anchor-Reporter in Colorado Springs.

Justine Beauvais has left Pocatello and moved to Idaho Falls where she co-Anchors the AM show and serves as Assignment Editor.

KPVI – Morgan Bond left.  Andrew DelGreco leaves to start a reporting job at KRNV, Reno.

Twin Falls  market – Reporter Sarah Casey left for a job in Bakersfield, CA.   Rachael Griffoni replaces her.

PRINT

IDAHO MOUNTAIN  EXPRESS – Shea Andersen has left the Idaho Mountain Express, where he has been the editor for the past year. Andersen is moving to Boise to work as a freelancer and news correspondent. Andersen is the president of the Southwest Chapter of the Idaho Press Club.  Greg Foley will once again be the Express Editor.

LATAH EAGLE – Kai Eiselein  has moved from editor to publisher with the purchase of the Latah Eagle and its sister paper The Boomerang in Washington.

BLACKFOOT MORNING NEWS – The Morning News in Blackfoot has a new managing editor with a familiar face.   Chuck Oxley has been reporting news in Idaho and Utah since 1995, when he started as a reporter for the Idaho State Journal in Pocatello. From there, he went on to work as a bureau chief for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Utah. In 2000, he retuned to Idaho as state editor for the Idaho Statesman in Boise; and 18 months later accepted a job as newsman for The Associated Press in the agency’s Boise Bureau. In 2006, Oxley served as spokesman for the Idaho Democratic Party.

Natalie is one of the

Age: 38
Job: Anchor, CBS 2 News-KBCI
Education: B.A., Ohio Wesleyan University (print journalism/French). M.A. Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism (broadcast journalism)
Hometown: Bethesda, MD
Family: Parents, no siblings

Q: Describe your career path, how you got to where you are today.

A: After Ohio Wesleyan, I moved to Syracuse, N.Y. Worked there from 1992-1998 first as editor of the Skaneateles Press, and freelancing for the Syracuse Herald Tribune. Then worked for four years for PBS affiliate WCNY in the Educational Services Department. In 1999, I went back to grad school at Northwestern. Then worked three years in Yakima, WA; three years in Green Bay, WI and finally the past four years in Boise.

Q: You started out in print journalism.  Why did you decide to switch to TV news?

A: “In the late ’90s, I saw the concept of 24-hour breaking news begin to really take off. I was worried about the future of my career and how the field of journalism was evolving. I switched to broadcasting to retain my writing skills, yet take on a whole new set of talents, with the visual component.”

Q: There is a lot of talk these days about the future of the media – print and broadcast.  What’s your perspective? What do you think traditional media outlets need to do to compete in the world today?

A: “We can have all the flash we want, but if we don’t have credibility, our viewers and readers won’t respect us. While we may become more creative in the ways we deliver the news to the consumer, the mechanics through which we obtain our stories, write them and deliver them should hold true to what Murrow and Cronkite have taught us.”

Q: With a lot of negative talk about the economy and the future of traditional media, how do you stay motivated?

A: “I love Boise! And I honestly love this profession. I truly believe we have a lot of amazing people working in this city, and for me, everyday is an adventure … no matter how bad the headlines are!”

Q: What role, if any, do you think social media/social networking sites should play in traditional newsrooms?

A: “We’re seeing a shift not only in our newsrooms, but within society. To turn our back on the social networking sites would be like my parents’ generation trying to ignore the emergence of color TV. How we interact and connect with each other is changing, and that relationship is blurring into the workplace. It isn’t uncommon to see people posting story ideas on their own personal site. In today’s world, if we get the story idea from there, is that so different than someone calling us with the idea in the ’80s?”

Q: What advice would you have for a student interested in going into broadcast journalism?  Would you tell them to pick a different trade?

A: “I think everyone should be a reporter at least once in a lifetime. It IS a front-row seat to life. I would recommend going to a strong journalism school, then finding a good, small-sized market where you have the chance to do it all: shoot your video, write your story, edit it, front it live, and oh yeah, help clean the place on the weekends. I can still tell the difference between those who have that kind of experience and those who don’t: good broadcasters write *to their video… others write *over it.”

Q: I am sure you have done your fair share of live reporting throughout your career.  Any embarrassing moments on live TV that you’d like to share?

A:  “A couple of months ago, my producer and I crossed wires and got so busy on the 10, we forgot about one script. I was reading it live on air … and got to ‘up…’ and thankfully stopped myself. The rest of the sentence was ‘update script here.’ We made it through, thankfully.”

Q: What made you decide to get involved with the Idaho Press Club?

A: “When I lived in Syracuse, NY, I was involved in their press club for all seven years I lived there. I truly believe in professional development outside the newsroom. You’ll be a better journalist, and more interesting person!”

Q: What are your hobbies/interests outside of work?  What do you do when you aren’t on TV sharing the news?

A:  “I am an avid skier and have just started learning how to paddle, spending time on the Payette River this summer. When I’m not reading a good book or walking my dog, you’ll likely find me somewhere in the great outdoors of Idaho.”

Interviewed by Melissa McGrath, associate representative on the Idaho Press Club state board, former newspaper reporter, and public information officer for the Idaho State Department of Education.

Who really should be your “friend”?

Marcia’s View:  Assume it’s Public
By Marcia Franklin

I’m what is known as an “early majority” adopter – that is, I’m skittish to try a new product until the “innovators” and “early adopters” have proven its reliability and ease.

So I ignored the first requests from people to be their “friend” on Facebook. To me, Facebook was the equivalent of MySpace, and I had stumbled across enough MySpace pages to know they weren’t for me.

Then I wanted to contact a childhood friend and the only resource I could find was her Facebook page. So I joined, and watched with a mixture of amazement and horror as the program crawled through my email addresses to find out who else had a page. What had I done?

After I got over that invasive episode, I found — much to my surprise — that many people I knew were already “Facebooking,” and that I could reconnect with dozens of old friends.

I now check Facebook several times a day to find what’s going on in the community, share articles and videos, catch up with old friends and read news from media outlets. The platform is an ingenious way to broadly disseminate information to a discrete group of people.

The key word for me is “discrete.” As a journalist, I’m cautious about those I “friend.”  Many media entities are similarly concerned. Newspapers, including the Roanoke Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times, have developed social media guidelines for their reporters.  (Check them out on the ASNE website, and Poynter Online also has a good article on the issue called “Everyday Ethics.”)

For me, it boils down to the old “sniff test.” If it’s already considered a conflict of interest for a journalist to socialize with a politician, what about potentially become close to one by reading about their daily lives on Facebook, and sharing details of your life? Would you be able to write a hard-hitting investigative piece on an official if, for example, you had been following all the ups and downs of her husband’s battle with cancer?

If the people you cover see your family photos, or read comments from others, ould that change the reporter/source dynamic?  There are privacy controls, but I’ve found them to be unreliable and time-consuming.

There’s also the issue of perception. An outsider has no way of knowing how close you are to your FB “friends,” and whether you hold their political or social views.

Early on, I briefly allowed a few local politicians who aren’t on my beat to “friend” me. But it nagged me. What if I wanted to have them on a TV program in the future?  In order to keep a professional distance, I “defriended” them.  To my knowledge, I’m no longer “friends” with anyone who’s in elected office or running for office.

None of this is a problem on the Facebook page for “Dialogue,” a program I host. It’s an entirely professional site, limited to information about the show. Anyone can become a fan, or follow the “Dialogue” Twitter feed. In turn, “Dialogue” follows diverse entities on Twitter, which is essentially a newsfeed, and which I think presents fewer ethical issues.

For my personal page, this is my middle ground:  I have “friended” a few public relations professionals and lobbyists. Some I knew as journalists before they took their jobs; some I knew from Press Club or other civic groups to which I belong. I don’t think it compromises my ability to write about their bosses or clients, and it’s a helpful way to find out about events and set up interviews.

Still, I watch carefully what I post to Facebook. I have fun; I enjoy sharing photos of family, friends and trips, and sharing articles and videos. But as with the rest of my life, I don’t make political statements or join campaigns. I don’t post politically partisan articles, and have removed overtly political comments from others on my posts.

There’s no black and white here. My accomplished colleague, Kevin Richert, will argue that the way to get around all the gray is to have no lines at all and to “friend” everyone. For editorial writers like Kevin, who are paid to have a point of view, I think that’s a fair choice.

But for those of us who are paid to stay as objective as possible, I would urge caution in what you post on your personal page and whom you “friend.”  Social media can be a great way to find stories, connect with sources and promote your own work. But assume anything you write is public — or one day could be.

Marcia Franklin has been a reporter, producer and host at Idaho Public Television since 1990. She is a former Idaho Press Club state board member and chapter president.

Kevin’s View:  ‘The pluses more than offset the downside’
By Kevin Richert

My Facebook “friends” list includes my mother, my teen-age sons, one of my college roommates, dozens of past and current newsroom colleagues and more than 15 elected officials.

It is an odd mix, a strange collision of the personal and the professional. But I think it can work. And I think that in this turbulent time for our industry, journalists should use social media to promote their work and connect with their audience.

I am by no means a social media expert. I’m as accidental a social media user as you’ll ever meet. I joined Facebook, reluctantly, on New Year’s Day, after my oldest son invited me to join. (I mean, when your kid reaches out like that, how do you say no?)

Soon after I got hooked on finding old classmates and playing Kidnap! And Bumper Stars, I quickly noticed just how many sources were also on the site. And it didn’t take long for me to see social media’s value to journalists:

• Sometimes, social media furnishes great news tips. When Rep. Walt Minnick decided to vote against the first economic stimulus bill, I found out through a Facebook alert, posted by spokesman John Foster and sent to Minnick’s 1,000 or so “friends.” I was able to break the news on the blog, and start a good discussion at IdahoStatesman.com, hours before seeing a conventional press release.
• It gives sources one more way to reach me – before I go to print. I’ve started posting Facebook and Twitter alerts about editorials I’m researching, and often get some useful perspective. By the same token, the Facebook and Twitter messaging functions give me one more way to reach a hard-to-find source.
• Social media sites give journalists fascinating anecdotal insight into the political discourse. Who has a politico’s ear, and what are they whispering into it? And what are politicians saying about the issues? State Sen. Dean Cameron may be the most savvy Twitter user in Idaho Politics. Minnick has used Facebook to talk to his constituents about tough votes. As a journalist, I need access to these conversations.

To me, the pluses more than offset the downsides.

I understand why some journalists resist “befriending” elected officials, lobbyists and staffers: Listing any politico as a “friend” just feels awkward. (Why can’t we just be “contacts” or “obligatory acquaintances?”) And I’m uneasy about allowing movers and shakers to read 25 Random Facts About Kevin Richert or see my high school photos. Oh well.

I can also understand why some journalists are uneasy about the interactivity of social media.  Facebook and Twitter readers don’t want us to hide behind links to our stories. They take very seriously the “social” component of social media, and want a dialogue with journalists and an inside view of the news business.

I suspect this is the biggest hurdle for many of my news colleagues. An online conversation with readers is a daunting prospect – especially in a medium where every word has permanence, and where nuances can easily be misread.

The one advantage I have, as an opinion writer, is that I have more freedom to express a point of view and analyze the issues. I’m writing opinion pieces anyway, so I’m comfortable discussing opinions in social media.

I’ve decided to let everyone on my pages, with a few precautions. I’m xtremely careful about posting personal information (in an age of identity theft, that’s should be a no-brainer for us all). I post nothing on my Facebook wall that I’d be unwilling to write in a column (and if I want to talk privately with anyone, I use direct messaging). And I’ve gone out of my way to be consistent: I accept invitations from all sources and politicos, and try to reach out to as many sources as possible.

I think it’s made me a better-connected, better-informed journalist. Even if my Facebook “friends” can see what I looked like in high school.

Kevin Richert is editorial page editor of the Idaho Statesman, and vice president of the Idaho Press Club. He has an Idaho Statesman Opinion Page on Facebook, and is on Twitter @KevinRichert.

By Betsy Russell

If you’re covering a story from Idaho’s courts, or one that has anything to do with our state’s judiciary, don’t miss the newly revamped online “Media Guide to the Idaho Courts,” which has recently been extensively updated.

The guide is located on the Idaho Supreme Court’s Web site, www.isc.idaho.gov. In the bar on the left, click on “Media Guide,” which gives you two options, a PDF to print out the entire thing, or the handy and highly accessible online guide.

The Idaho Supreme Court’s Media/Courts Committee, on which I serve along with numerous other journalists, judges, lawyers, court officials and others from around the state and which is chaired by the chief justice, used to print up the Media Guide as a pamphlet and distribute it around the state, but the budget crunch and printing costs have trimmed that back. Now, the guide is online, but it’s considerably more extensive and frequently updated.

You’ll also find links to the Media Guide on the Idaho Press Club’s Web site, idahopressclub.org.

In the guide, you’ll find everything from an outline of the state’s judicial structure, to explanation of the special rules we have in Idaho regarding cameras in the courtroom, to information on courthouse etiquette for the media, getting court records, criminal, civil and juvenile proceedings, the appellate process, judicial selection and election, access to jurors and more.

There’s a section on high-interest proceedings, a “View from the Bench” preface from then-6th District Judge Ron Bush (now a federal district judge) on the interplay between reporters and judges, a second section in the preface that explains why you may find that a judge won’t comment when you’d hoped he or she would, and throughout the guide, active links to such key resources as the actual court rules, judicial calendars, and other sites you’ll want to use.

In the “Getting Court Records” section, you’ll find a link to the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository, which contains updated basic information on court cases in all 44 counties going back to 1995. This includes speeding tickets, civil lawsuits, criminal cases, you name it. It’s searchable, too.

The data repository went up in 2008, after another Supreme Court committee, on which I also served, spent long months revising the court Rule 32, which governs access to court records, to allow online access to records in Idaho. The basic information it offers is planned as a first step, with more documents to go online in the future.

Especially if you’re headed over to cover a court hearing, check out the guide in advance. It’ll help. And it’s one of those reporting resources in our state that, while maybe not widely known, can save you time, point you in the right direction, and help along the way.

Betsy Russell is a Boise based reporter for The Spokesman-Review, and is the president of the Idaho Press Club.

Marshall Simmonds, SEO guru for the New York Times, told a group of Boise reporters and PR flaks at a recent Idaho Press Club event that Google search queries are getting longer.

So how long are your searches? Do you type a whole sentence, or are you more about quality of search terms than raw, uncut length?

SEO, for those of you who have never even heard of it, is search engine optimization, and according to Simmonds, there is nothing wrong with it, nothing sinister. It is just presenting your content (the stuff that used to be called articles and photos) in a way that Google and other search engines can find it and index it.

We also learned about a new search engine called BING. It’s a Microsoft project but we’ll still try it, and it’s the first hit on Google when you search for “Bing.”

Simmonds said that half of all Google searches—some 250 million to 300 million a day—are unique searches. More people search for “NFL” than National Football League, and “diet” is better than weight loss. So that could throw some AP Style and traditional newspaper verbiage on it’s head, though Simmonds stresses that editorial standards come first.

But good writers have always known that shorter and more direct terminology is better to read. So I’m going on a diet.

But here’s one thing that made us a little uncomfortable: The Idaho Press Club (Southwest Chapter), which sponsored the event, is made up of journalists and PR people, which is fine. So we are all sitting there in the Idaho Public Television meeting room, and learning about social media and search and I’m realizing that in many ways the two fields have completely competing interests online.

How do we ensure that truth and justice come before sales and marketing on the search engines?

One guy had some ideas for this at the Association of Alternative Weeklies conference we just returned from. Scott Karp, of Publishing 2.0, thinks that newspaper editors should become the new filters for the Web. Editors have always served as filters, picking and choosing stories for the public. So we can collectively pick and choose the best on the Web for y’all, link to it and reclaim our mantle as Chief Filter Strategists.

To read more about Marshall Simmonds, search engine optimization, and what it did for the New York Times, go to www.DefineSearchStrategies.com .    That is Simmond’s company, a division of The New York Times/About.com.

Nathaniel Hoffman is the news editor of the Boise Weekly. This article first appeared at Boiseweekly.com.
By Nathaniel Hoffman

Marshall Simmonds, SEO guru for the New York Times, told a group of Boise reporters and PR flaks at a recent Idaho Press Club event that Google search queries are getting longer.

So how long are your searches? Do you type a whole sentence, or are you more about quality of search terms than raw, uncut length?

SEO, for those of you who have never even heard of it, is search engine optimization, and according to Simmonds, there is nothing wrong with it, nothing sinister. It is just presenting your content (the stuff that used to be called articles and photos) in a way that Google and other search engines can find it and index it.

We also learned about a new search engine called BING. It’s a Microsoft project but we’ll still try it, and it’s the first hit on Google when you search for “Bing.”

Simmonds said that half of all Google searches—some 250 million to 300 million a day—are unique searches. More people search for “NFL” than National Football League, and “diet” is better than weight loss. So that could throw some AP Style and traditional newspaper verbiage on it’s head, though Simmonds stresses that editorial standards come first.

But good writers have always known that shorter and more direct terminology is better to read. So I’m going on a diet.

But here’s one thing that made us a little uncomfortable: The Idaho Press Club (Southwest Chapter), which sponsored the event, is made up of journalists and PR people, which is fine. So we are all sitting there in the Idaho Public Television meeting room, and learning about social media and search and I’m realizing that in many ways the two fields have completely competing interests online.

How do we ensure that truth and justice come before sales and marketing on the search engines?

One guy had some ideas for this at the Association of Alternative Weeklies conference we just returned from. Scott Karp, of Publishing 2.0, thinks that newspaper editors should become the new filters for the Web. Editors have always served as filters, picking and choosing stories for the public. So we can collectively pick and choose the best on the Web for y’all, link to it and reclaim our mantle as Chief Filter Strategists.

To read more about Marshall Simmonds, search engine optimization, and what it did for the New York Times, go to www.DefineSearchStrategies.com .    That is Simmond’s company, a division of The New York Times/About.com.

Nathaniel Hoffman is the news editor of the Boise Weekly. This article first appeared at Boiseweekly.com.

As a very, very green – green as in no experience – aspiring journalist many years ago, I now know how fortunate I was to have the opportunity to endure a few months of sheer terror working under the knowing influence of a truly accomplished city editor.  At an impressionable age, those few weeks of education at the hands of an exacting news veteran have had a marked impact on all the years of my professional life.

My early mentor, at least as I remember him, always had a pencil stuck behind his ear and the sleeves of his white shirts rolled up above the elbows. He would issue newsroom orders while never rising from his chair and would reinforce the urgency of whatever he wanted accomplished by waving about and pointing a pica pole (look it up) much as I imagine Toscanini might have directed a symphony.  In the dark ages of journalism when newspapers were assembled not with computers, but with hot lead, I once saw this city editor leave his desk on deadline, sprint to the composing room on the floor below the newsroom, fling himself into the command seat of a linotype machine and compose – in hot type – a new lead on a breaking story.  This guy knew the business, as they say.

A man of few and carefully chosen words, he imparted two lessons I have tried to never forget.  One lesson involved writing, the other involved reporting.  I once proudly handed in a lengthy piece destined for the Sunday feature section.  I had produced, in my own mind at least, a story with a perfect mix of insight, intelligence and cleverness.  It was the kind of piece people would be talking about around the water cooler Monday afternoon.  When the piece came back from the city desk bleeding red ink, I was stunned.  The editing seemed to have remade the entire piece.  Then I noticed chilling words written in the margin:  “Let’s talk.”

I approached the city editor’s perch – ground zero in the newsroom – with about as much anxiety as I would have felt had I had to confront Dad with the news of a crumpled fender on the new Plymouth.  I waited.  Surely he would glance up eventually then speak profoundly about my shortcomings and swiftly end my dreams of a career in newspapers.  Finally, he spoke.  “Just remember,” this master of the newsroom said, “it doesn’t cost us any more to print a period.”  I stood silent as he turned back to marking up some other poor slob’s copy.

What was he saying?  “It doesn’t cost us any more to print a period.”

I took my story, brutalized with red editing marks, to my desk in the far corner of the newsroom and in a few minutes reality took hold.  The vast majority of the editing marks indicated the need to replace a comma with a period.  The old pro was telling me, gently but effectively, to knock off the run-on sentences.  Good writing is often about the simple, descriptive sentence.  He was telling me to strive for clear meaning by using straightforward, concise sentences.  I could reserve the flowery, creative writing for my novel, should there ever be one.

The second lesson the  ink-stained veteran served up was, if anything, even more important.  He taught me that facts alone are seldom enough.  Good writing and reporting require context.

I remember handing him another story (I have long since forgotten the subject, but it could well have been a routine report on a city council meeting) and having it returned accompanied by a crystal clear bit of editorial insight.  “You are not the first person who has ever written about this subject,” the city editor said, “and don’t treat the reader like you are.”  In other words, he was appropriately pointing out that a good many things had happened before I stumbled on the collection of facts I had assembled into a story and it might be appropriate as a reporter to attempt to convey some sense of context.

Context, by which I mean shedding light on the meaning of facts, is much harder to come by, I admit, than using a period more regularly.  It requires real reporting, making the extra call, cultivating a new source.  Context is particularly important in reporting on politics and public policy.  Because, believe me, nothing is ever really happening for the first time.  All political news is a variation on a theme already played.

Therefore, I make a gentle and I hope respectful plea to my friends in the news racket to, at least once in a while, ask “who has been through this before?”  Or, who might have a perspective on this budget crisis or that legislative debate simply because they had lived through something similar in an earlier time.

My old city editor would have said it simply.  “Go find someone with a perspective and no particular ax to grind and ask them what is important about what is going on.”  I would be among the first to acknowledge the brutal crush of daily journalism provides precious little opportunity to flesh out a piece with “context,” but that may make the effort even more important and more rewarding to the reporter and the reader.

We all know the current narrative of the news business:  shrinking staffs, reduced budgets, few reporters and more demands.  I cannot imagine the economic pressures crowding in on newsrooms today.  All I know for sure is that lots of us – devoted consumers and users of news – still depend on the work product of the daily craft.  Keep after it.

Thanks for the opportunity to reminisce, pop off and cheerlead.  I will be reading and listening, hoping always for context and still aware that the little dot at the end of this sentence is one of the least expensive things in journalism.

Marc C. Johnson is a former television reporter and producer and columnist for the  Idaho Statesman.  He was president of the Idaho Press Club in 1978 and later served as press secretary and chief of staff to Gov. Cecil D. Andrus.  Johnson is currently president of Gallatin Public Affairs.