By Melissa McGrath

Did you know the Idaho Press Club offers scholarships to working journalists every year? It’s true! Through the Don Watkins Scholarships, the Idaho Press Club funds scholarships for both working journalists and students.

You're probably familiar with the Don Watkins Memorial Scholarship for college students; there's more info on that below. But we also have the Don Watkins Mid-Career Scholarship, which is available to any Idaho Press Club member for a worthy project or expense.

Last year, … [Read more...]

Name: Martha Borchers

Press Club position, and how long you've held it:

Executive Director, since April 1992.

Background/career path:

Prior to my years with the Idaho Press Club I worked for several years at a law firm as a secretary/ legal clerk.   Then, to indulge my interest in healthcare, switched gears and worked for a new doctor just opening his practice.   I enjoyed the variety of work in a solo medical practice environment because I did everything from receptionist to … [Read more...]

By Sadie Babits

More than a year ago, Boise State Public Radio and Idaho Public Television teamed up with Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland to help launch a regional journalism initiative called EarthFix. This public media project is now being recognized by the Online News Association (ONA ) with two prestigious awards.

At the September ONA awards banquet in San Francisco, EarthFix won in the small site category for topical reporting. It also was honored with another award for its emphasis on explanatory … [Read more...]

PRINT LEWISTON TRIBUNE

Brad W. Gary has been promoted to assistant city editor at the Lewiston Tribune after spending six years as a reporter at the paper. Before coming to the Tribune, he was a reporter for the Columbia Basin Herald in Moses Lake, Wash., the Shoshone News-Press in Kellogg and the Clark Fork Valley Press in Plains, Mont. He is a 2003 graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism. He replaces Randy Thompson, who was recently named editor of the Hermiston (Ore.) Herald.

IDAHO FALLS
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The Idaho Press Club's fall conference this year will be held in partnership with the University of Idaho School of Journalism and Mass Media and its Oppenheimer Ethics Symposium, which is set for Oct. 19 at the Idaho State Capitol Auditorium.

All Press Club members are invited to attend; the symposium and conference are free and open to the public. The topic will be especially timely: "Politicians vs. the Press: Media Ethics in an Election Season."

The conference will run from 8 a.m. to noon, starting with a continental … [Read more...]

By Todd Dvorak

When Ian Marquand told the Idaho Press Club he was just passing through Boise and would be willing to give a freebie seminar on public records and the Freedom of Information Act, we jumped at the opportunity.

Marquand is the former Freedom of Information chairman of the Society of Professional Journalists and a longtime leading voice in the West for teaching reporters why mining public records is essential to what we do, and how to better use the law to our advantage. He lives in Helena, Mont., and was … [Read more...]

By Betsy Russell

In August, the Idaho Supreme Court began live video streaming its oral arguments from its main courtroom in Boise.

That means we can watch and report on them live from anywhere in the state; it's a great step forward for access.

This is occurring through cooperation between the court and Idaho Public Television, in an expansion of the Idaho Legislature Live streaming service (which is now being renamed "Idaho Live"). At least initially, the streaming will occur only for Supreme Court … [Read more...]

Press Club contest entry, judging goes all-online

Starting in December, you'll be able to enter your best work in the Idaho Press Club's annual awards competition entirely online.

"Most other professional competitions have moved to an online system. It was time," said contest committee chair Joan Cartan-Hansen.

The online system will accept most standard files: .pdf, .jpg, mp3, .wmv, .mov

"Broadcasters should be familiar with the video uploading process," Cartan-Hansen said. "We are using the same company … [Read more...]