Fall Conference Follow-up

The Idaho Press Club's Fall Conference this year was a partnership with the Utah-Idaho-Spokane Associated Press Association (UISAPA), and drew a crowd to the US Bank Building in Boise for training panels on covering breaking news by use of all the new multimedia platforms; using social media to break news and enrich reporting; and making use of public records to be the public's watchdog.   Photos include presenters Anna Johnson and Todd Dvorak from AP and Greg Hahn from the Idaho … [Read more...]

MEDIA MOVES

TELEVISION

KBOI-TV

Chris Nettleton is the new Sports Director. He previously worked at stations in Minnesota, Tennessee and Iowa.  Stephanie Smith is the new morning news show co-anchor.  She came from KLEW.

 

Idaho Public Television

Greg Hahn, formerly an editor for the Idaho Statesman, is the new Producer/Reporter/Host for Idaho Reports.  Melanie Corry, Associate Producer for Dialogue, departs to work for the PBS station in Redding, Calif.

 

KNIN-TV

New arrivals … [Read more...]

Meet your IPC: Kelsey Jacobson

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...]

Judge orders records released, sets precedent for Idaho Public Records Law

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...]

More news, more crews as Boise area TV market continues to evolve

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...]

National NPR reporting collaboration covers state news, impact in Idaho

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...]

MEDIA MOVES

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 Market

KPVI-TV

Diana Nguyen, a new reporter, arrived from   San … [Read more...]

Meet your IPC: John Hecht


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...]

New law makes first 100 pages of public records free

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...]

Big changes coming in Boise TV news market

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...]

Lawyers go after online commenters

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...]

KIDK-KIFI: How does this marriage work?

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...]

Honoring the Best of 2010

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...]

President’s Column

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...]