The Idaho Press Club Best of 2015 Annual Awards is now open. News organizations can enter online at bestinmedia.com. Find step-by-step instructions on how to enter, as well as contest categories, at idahopressclub.org/awards. This year, the contest features a new podcast category in the Online/Multimedia Division, as well as an updated magazine photo category. Contest fees are $20 per entry for professional members and $45 per entry for non-members. Student fees are $15 for members and $30 for non-members. It’s not too late to join the … [Read more...]

By Betsy Russell Although our current public records law provides no official place to turn other than going to court when a requester feels a request has been wrongly denied – or excessive fees have been charged, or other issues arise – there is another option now: Gov. Butch Otter’s public records ombudsman, Cally Younger. Younger is collecting information on public records issues in Idaho, not only at the state agency level, but also at the local government level. She’s convened a stakeholders group that includes city and … [Read more...]

What: Idaho Press Club’s pre-legislative social When: 5-8 p.m., Thursday Jan. 7 (following the AP Legislative Preview that morning) Where: Solid Grill and Bar, 405 S. 8th St., downtown Boise Cost: Free for Idaho Press Club members and guests Join the Press Club or renew your membership online today at www.idahopressclub.org By Clark Corbin Mark your calendars, because one of the Idaho Press Club’s most popular social events is right around the corner. The Southwest Chapter of the … [Read more...]

By Scott McIntosh For several weeks, Idaho Press-Tribune reporter Ruth Brown worked on a story about the testing of rape kits in Canyon County. What she found out was that only about 10 percent of the rape kits — 12 out of 117 kits submitted — had been submitted to the state lab for testing in the past five years from the city of Nampa. Meanwhile, in Caldwell, the percentage was more like 54 percent, and the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office submitted 52 percent of its kits. Ruth set out to find out the reasons rape kits … [Read more...]

Editor’s note: This article is by the Murrow News Service, which provides local, regional and statewide stories reported and written by journalism students at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. It appeared in The Spokesman-Review on Dec. 2 and is reprinted here. When Tom Blanchard wanted to learn more about controversial murals at the University of Idaho, he filed a public records request. The university responded that the records were available. But first, Blanchard would have to pay a … [Read more...]

By Audrey Dutton Editor’s note: This article first appeared Dec. 15 in the Idaho Statesman; it is reprinted here. Two staff members at Boise State Public Radio complained to managers in February, citing concerns “that undue influence from Boise State University threatens to compromise our journalistic ethics.” Reporters Emilie Ritter Saunders and Adam Cotterell said the journalistic firewall between the newsroom and Boise State, which holds the broadcast license for the station, had “dangerously eroded” over four … [Read more...]

By Joan Cartan-Hansen Have an idea for a special project, want to attend a conference or get some specialized training but can’t afford it?  The Idaho Press Club can help. Each year, the Idaho Press Club offers the Mid-Career Scholarship.  Any member of the Idaho Press Club can apply for $500 and use the funds for any training or project that will improve the working press in Idaho. This could include going to a conference you have wanted to attend or funding toward travel on that enterprise story you have been working on for … [Read more...]

RADIO BOISE STATE PUBLIC RADIO General Manager John Hess resigned from Boise State Public Radio on Dec. 8. Hess had been with the station for a decade. Boise State Dean of Extended Studies Mark Wheeler announced Dec. 16 that Peter Morrill, former longtime general manager at Idaho Public Television, will start Jan. 4 as interim general manager, while a national search is conducted for a permanent replacement. 670 KBOI RADIO Jay Howell will be 670 KBOI’s statehouse reporter this year, covering the upcoming 2016 legislative session. A former … [Read more...]