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 Idaho Press Club for lower contest entry fees. You can register online at idahopressclub.org. Membership is just $40 for professionals, $25 for retired journalists, and $20 for students.

The contest closes January 21. Late entries will not be accepted.

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 county officials, state agency representatives, media representatives, and representatives of the courts and the Attorney General’s office, to look at how to improve the law.

And if you let her know about the issues you’re facing with your public records requests, she may be able to help through informal mediation and constituent service. Younger can be reached by email at cally.younger@gov.idaho.gov.

She’ll also make note of the problems for consideration in the ongoing review of our law. Let her know!

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

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 Idaho Press Club is inviting you to help celebrate the new year and mark the beginning of the legislative session by joining us for our annual legislative social from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7 at Solid in downtown Boise.

Best of all, the event is still free for IPC members and their guests.

For years, the legislative social’s promise of cheap drinks and free food has attracted a rambunctious cast of characters — from the ever-thirsty statehouse press corps crew to the starving rookie reporters, the jaded news veterans, the former journalists who can now afford to eat out on the regular because they took PR or communications gigs and even the occasional lobbyist or legislator. And every year there is a surprise guest or two, so you never know who will show up or what will be discussed.

Your friends at the Southwest Chapter will provide an amazing spread of appetizers and finger foods to enjoy while we get reacquainted with old friends, connect with new ones and generally try not to imagine the long days and nights that await the poor press corps during the 2016 legislative session.

In keeping with tradition, this year’s legislative social coincides with the Associated Press’ Legislative Preview, which runs from 9 a.m. to noon at the Statehouse on Jan. 7.

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and GOP and Democratic leaders from the House and Senate will attend and share their remarks on the upcoming session. Most importantly, they’ll take questions from journalists who attend.

Past previews have brought promises to restore education funding, lively discussion on the prospects of Medicaid expansion and heated debate over budget priorities. They’ve also resulted in major breaking news, such as Otter’s decision to have the state take over a troubled private prison.

The preview is open to all. As usual, a few ground rules for the event: The governor won’t answer questions that touch on his State of the State address, which is set for Jan. 11, and journalists from AP member news organizations get first dibs on questions. Once they run out of things to ask, we’ll open the floor to everyone else.

Here’s the details:

AP Legislative Preview – Jan. 7, 2016
Statehouse WW55

Coffee and socializing  starts at 8:30 a.m., program runs from 9 a.m. to noon

Guests: Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, Senate Pro Tem Brent Hill, Speaker of the House Scott Bedke, Sen. Michelle Stennett, Rep. John Rusche.

Moderated by AP political reporter Kimberlee Kruesi

That should give you all the incentive you need to wrap those interviews up, file your story and head to Solid. Soft drinks, beer, wine and cocktails will be available to purchase, so be sure to arrive early to take advantage of happy hour pricing.

Watch your email inbox for a follow-up invite, and please feel free to invite your significant other or anyone who might enjoy a chance to hang out with a bunch of journalists and communications pros celebrating one of their last nights of freedom before the session kicks off.

Corbin is a legislative reporter for Idaho Education News and the president of the Southwest Chapter of the Idaho Press Club and Rebecca Boone, AP.

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 weren’t being submitted. What she hit were a series of reporting obstacles.
Here is how Ruth explained to the Press-Tribune’s readers her struggles to get information:

For this story, the Idaho Press-Tribune submitted a series of public records requests over two months to every law enforcement agency in Canyon County, asking for the number of rape kits collected since 2010 as well as the number of kits actually tested.

From Jan. 1, 2010, to Oct. 5, 2015, the Nampa Police Department has collected 117 rape kits into evidence. Of those kits, 12 were sent to a lab for testing.

When asked to explain the reasons the remaining 105 were never tested, the Nampa Police Department estimated it would take about 26.25 hours to find the answer.

While Idaho Code requires the first two hours of public record research be free to the public, the remaining 24.25 hours were estimated to cost $905.25.

The Caldwell Police Department collected 79 rape kits into evidence between Jan. 1, 2010 to Sept. 30, 2015. Of those kits, 37 were sent to a lab for testing, 10 were sent but not tested, 26 were never sent and six are currently at the lab.

When asked to explain why 36 kits were not sent in for testing, the Caldwell Police Department estimated it would take nine hours to find the answer. Without further information from the Caldwell Police Department, there was no explanation as to why 10 of the kits were sent to the lab but never tested.

Again, while the first two hours of public record research are mandate by law to be free of charge, the Caldwell Police Department estimated the remaining seven hours would cost $190.19.

When both the Nampa Police Department and Caldwell Police Department, through their attorney Maren Ericson, responded to the Idaho Press-Tribune citing the need for a fee, the Idaho Press-Tribune sent a follow-up request. Ericson, attorney at Hamilton, Michaelson & Hilty, LLP, represents both cities.

Both Nampa and Caldwell police departments anticipated it would take at least 15 minutes per case to find the answer as to why each untested rape kit was never tested.

The Idaho Press-Tribune requested the fee be waived under Idaho Code 74-102(10)(f)-(i), which states “this information is likely to contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of the operations or activities of the government.”

The request to Nampa Police for a waiver of their $905.25 fee asked they specify why 105 kits were not submitted for processing.

“Without specifying why each of the 105 kits was not submitted, the numbers carry an unclear meaning,” the Idaho Press-Tribune wrote in its request. “If 105 kits were not submitted at the alleged victim’s request, the impression presented to the public will be vastly different than if 105 kits were not submitted because law enforcement determined there was no crime or testing the kit was unnecessary. The public’s understanding of how the Nampa Police Department investigates and handles evidence regarding potential sexual assaults is vital to understanding how society is or is not protected by law enforcement.”

After Ericson presented the request to Nampa Mayor Bob Henry and Nampa Police Chief Craig Kingsbury, a response was sent stating the Idaho Press-Tribune request did not qualify for a fee waiver.

The response stated that the Nampa Police Department follows Idaho State Police Forensic Services guidelines for the submitting process, which allow the public to understand how the police department handles the kits.

“However, the details you are looking for would go beyond that to look into private, sensitive cases that must be heavily redacted in order to provide you with a small piece of information from each file,” the response from the Nampa Police Department stated.

The Idaho Press-Tribune sent the same request to the Caldwell Police Department asking the agency to specify why 36 of its rape kits were never processed and requested the Caldwell Police Department waive its $190.19 fee.

After Ericson presented the request to Caldwell Mayor Garret Nancolas and Caldwell Police Chief Chris Allgood, a response was again sent stating the Idaho Press-Tribune’s request did not qualify for a fee waiver.

The City of Caldwell gave the same explanation as to why the fee would not be waived.

The Idaho Press-Tribune declined to pay the fees.

Update: Shortly after the story was published, the Nampa Police Department reached out to Ruth and agreed to share the records with her and go over the reasons those rape kits were not tested.

Ruth is currently working on follow-up stories.

Scott McIntosh is the editor of the Idaho Press-Tribune, and is a board member of the Idaho Press Club

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 bill: $18,078.11.

“They discouraged me from gaining access to public records, and it worked,” said Blanchard, chairman of the board of trustees for the Idaho State Historical Society and a former history teacher.

Blanchard is not alone in facing daunting fees in order to gain access to public information from the university. From January to October this year, the university received 57 public records requests; 10 of those resulted in fees that ranged from $64 to nearly $90,000.

Idaho’s public records law is more restrictive than Washington’s and the University of Idaho appears to take maximum advantage of the law’s restrictions.

University officials declined interview requests, but sent an email citing when charges can be issued for public records requests.

Among the fees charged:

$64 to retrieve security camera footage to the student newspaper.

More than $1,100 to a law student seeking documents for his thesis.

$1,080 billed to the Moscow-Pullman Daily News for emails regarding an alleged theft at the VandalStore.

$89,717.80 billed to John Bradbury, a lawyer and retired judge. He submitted a public records request about a client who was a tenured professor in the university’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. The request asked for 10 years’ worth of emails, phone logs and other means of communication between faculty members in the college that mentioned the tenured professor.

“It was a very broad request, but I have to say I was shocked,” Bradbury said.

Public records law seen as a financial barrier

Under Idaho’s Public Records Act, agencies can charge individuals for public records if the request is predicted to be time-consuming – exceeding 100 pages or two hours in labor. But agencies are not required to do so. In Washington, the law does not allow fees for accessing public records, only for copies of the records.

“Most government agencies have tight budgets,” said Mike Hiestand, legal consultant at the Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit that works with college journalists. Some agencies “are making up for that shortfall by looking at the public records provisions as kind of a money-making thing, and that’s never what they were intended to do.”

Not all requests resulted in fees at the University of Idaho. A reporter with Bloomberg News in New York was provided – without charge – employee contracts and a breakdown of the UI athletic department’s Student Assistance Fund spending. The Idaho Federation of Teachers was able to receive the salaries of specific UI faculty members at no cost. And the university did not charge the Murrow News Service for records on the university’s response to record requests
.
But fees can pile up for requests that are deemed time-consuming, and if the university needs an attorney to redact information or if the agency has to sift through archival information, these totals can be significant.

“It becomes a financial barrier,” said Bradbury, the lawyer.

After Bradbury received his initial bill, he narrowed his request twice. The fees were reduced from nearly $90,000 to $12,000 and eventually $4,000.

“I understand there are two sides to these records requests,” Bradbury said. “Anyone can make them and sometimes they take a lot of work.”

In 2011, the Idaho Press Club collaborated with legislators to improve access under the state’s public records law. For the majority of requests, there are little to no fees, said Betsy Russell, president of the Idaho Press Club and a Boise-based reporter for The Spokesman-Review.

Russell has submitted many public records requests in her journalism career, most of which cost less than $50.

“On the other hand, these are very tough times for the newspaper business,” Russell said. “If an agency says, ‘pay $5,000,’ chances are good that the TV station or newspaper can’t afford it.”

This fall, Joshua Babcock, a reporter for The Moscow-Pullman Daily News, requested video footage of an alleged theft by UI football players at the University of Idaho’s VandalStore, as well as emails related to the incident.

The request for the security footage was denied with the university citing a federal law that protects student education records. The request for the emails was granted, but the university said access to the documents would cost $1,080.

“We thought it was far too much,” said Lee Rozen, the newspaper’s managing editor. “We didn’t understand how they’d calculated a fee that high.”

The fee was eventually reduced to $700, but The Moscow-Pullman Daily News did not pay it and did not get the records.

In Washington, a requester can visit agencies to look through documents and narrow their request. UI requires advance payment of the estimated cost before requesters can schedule an inspection.

A chilling effect

When Blanchard, the retired history teacher, heard about controversial murals at the University of Idaho, he wanted to learn more. The murals depict settlers hanging Native Americans.

“I was curious how our university handled things,” Blanchard said. “I think that’s a reasonable thing to look at in terms of a public agency.”

But when he saw the fees for records relating to the murals exceeded $18,000, he dropped the issue.

Justin Kover, a UI law student and a public records specialist, filed a request for documents to use in his law thesis and was told it would cost $1,145.85. He asked to schedule an in-person review of the documents to narrow his request, but was told to pay the fees first. Kover ended up abandoning the request and changing his thesis topic.

Bradbury, the attorney, said he doesn’t mind paying fees for public records, as long as they don’t jeopardize the public’s ability to access information.

“If (the charges) become a barrier, they should be eliminated altogether,” Bradbury said. “And by accessible, I mean to the average citizen, not to Daddy Warbucks.”

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 years.

The reporters did not name university President Bob Kustra but said his office “and his staff repeatedly attempt to pressure Boise State Public Radio to produce content more in line with the university’s public relations engine than with journalism.”

In the complaint, the two wrote, “It takes just one instance of actual or perceived improper influence to forever damage the credibility of Boise State Public Radio and its reporters.”

The university’s vice president for campus operations and general counsel investigated the complaint and found no wrongdoing. However, the university moved the station out of the Office of the President and into the Extended Studies department. The station’s longtime general manager, John Hess, began to report to the Extended Studies dean, Mark Wheeler, instead of to Kustra.

The complaint came to light last week after Hess resigned as the station was starting its winter pledge drive. But the Statesman could not determine whether Hess’s resignation was related to the complaint or its aftermath. A university spokesman declined to say whether Hess’s departure was related to the complaint, saying it is a personnel issue. A message for Hess was not immediately returned Monday.

News Director Scott Graf told the Statesman that the ethics code was “one of John’s last major efforts here at the station — to get everybody discussing this and come up with something that was going to be agreeable to everyone involved.”

Graf also said “things have improved considerably” since Saunders and Cotterell raised their concerns.

After reviewing the complaint, Kevin Satterlee, Boise State’s general counsel, wrote a “complaint resolution” memo in April. Because the university holds the license, Satterlee wrote, it has “sole authority to determine programming content pursuant to the terms of the [Federal Communications Commission] license.”

The complaint cited events starting in 2012, when then-News Director Sadie Babits told herstaff that Kustra “had complained that news stories included too many experts from other universities and not enough from BSU.”

The complaint cited examples of an eroded firewall, including:

  The station sent two reporters to cover Kustra’s annual State of the University speech in 2014. The station “doesn’t cover similar speeches made by Idaho’s other institutions of higher education.”

Satterlee responded that every news outlet “must acknowledge and accept the existence of its host organization.” He said it was not unreasonable for the university to ask for coverage of events, but that it was “less clear” whether the station had an “obligation to cover a university-related story it does not believe is ‘newsworthy.’”

He chalked it up to a lack of understanding about the relationship between the two entities and said it was the job of station management “to ensure that reporters understand the difference between guidance and coercion, are not caught in the middle, and understand their responsibilities [to everyone].”

  The newsroom was “pressured by the university” to cover President Barack Obama’s January visit to Boise “in a way that focused on the university itself and put the school in a favorable light.” Obama toured a Boise State innovation lab and highlighted the university in his speech, which he gave on campus.

Satterlee said the complaint “appears to be the result of a lack of communication between the university and BSPR.”

He concluded by saying there was no evidence the newsroom was discouraged from “practicing rigorous and independent journalism as alleged.” But he said the credibility of the station “is critical” and suggested the university and station meet to review and adopt a new ethics code.

Wheeler said, “The university has always believed that a vibrant and unbiased news product is vital to the quality of the station, and has endorsed the station’s proposed code of editorial integrity to continue to ensure that in the future.”

The station’s community advisory board and the university administration recently agreed on the code, according to people involved. The board will meet soon to vote on adopting it.

Saunders left the station in May to take a job as communications director for the Montana Office of Public Instruction. Cotterell still works there.

“I think with any news organization, you’ve got the people who pay you, and you’ve got the news you need to cover. And there’s a natural tension there,” said board chair Emily Walton. “I know the reporters at Boise State Public Radio have a lot of integrity. … I appreciate both organizations a lot and want them both to do very well.”

Audrey Dutton is an Idaho Statesman reporter and a 2015 fellow of the Idaho Media Initiative at Boise State University, and has produced work for Boise State Public Radio; she also serves on the Idaho Press Club’s Southwest Chapter board.

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 months.

Two things to remember: You must share what you learn with Press Club members through a discussion at a conference or an article in an upcoming edition of the Communicator and the money is awarded as a reimbursement for costs incurred.  The deadline for the application is Feb. 15.

The Idaho Press Club is also looking for a few good up and coming journalists.  Full time Idaho college and university students who plan to pursue a career in journalism or communication are eligible to apply for a scholarship worth up to $1500.  The deadline for the Don Watkins Memorial Scholarship is also Feb. 15. Check out the details for both scholarships on the Idaho Press Club website, www.idahopressclub.org.

Joan Cartan-Hansen is a producer and host for Idaho Public Television, a former Idaho Press Club president, and is the current treasurer on the Idaho Press Club board.

Clark Corbin ( center, while in Pamploma, Spain) is a reporter at Idaho Education News, and has been on the Idaho Press Club Board of Directors since 2013. He also serves as the president of the Southwest Chapter of the club. We sat down with him to get his take on journalism and running with the bulls.

Interviewed by Melissa Davlin

Where were you born?

Kansas City, Mo., home of the World Series champion Kansas City Royals!

Where else have you worked?

I started with the The Shawnee Dispatch and Bonner Springs Chieftain weekly newspapers in the Kansas City area, then moved to Idaho Falls and began working for the Post Register in 2006.

Why have you stuck with journalism?

I love it and I’m stubborn. There are other jobs out there, but I don’t know of any others that would have allowed me to cover the Legislature, dig up investment fraud, tell people’s life stories, drive a race car at 160 mph, shoot guns at a police training range, point out candidates’ election season lies and expose an unsafe intersection, which now has a traffic signal thanks to my coverage.

You’ve been with Idaho Ed News since its launch in 2013. How is it different than working at a daily newspaper? Is this a journalism model we’ll see more of in the future?

The daily mechanics of my work — developing story ideas, investigating, interviewing sources and writing on deadline — haven’t changed much. But we have a much different business model, and I could run the whole Ed News operation with just my laptop and cell phone for an extended period of time, if need be.

I like to think I’m more nimble and responsive now. We have many more opportunities with multimedia reporting and interactivity.

We’ve also removed the whole issue of a daily newspaper and the attendant deadline, and printing issues that come with a once-daily delivery model. We also don’t do ads, sell subscriptions or put up paywalls, which are my favorite parts of Ed News.

I do see online journalism and niche publications as the future, but funding and revenue issues remain.

What’s the most memorable story you’ve ever covered?

Partnering with Sven Berg (now of the Idaho Statesman) to expose a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme in Idaho Falls. We worked the story for more than two years, and were able to get way ahead of federal and state finance regulators and break news in the Post Register well before any charges were filed. One investigator working for the state even took out a digital subscription to the PR because we were publishing information and documents and naming names they didn’t have yet. It really felt like our little Watergate, but it was a huge mountain to climb.

You went to Spain in July to participate in the running of the bulls. Would you do it again? Did you learn any lessons you can use in journalism?

I definitely would do it again, but there are a couple of other big adventure type trips I haven’t been on that I want to check out before I go back. Hopefully one involves scuba tanks and big sharks.

I went to Pamplona with my brother and some friends and the three of us who ran made it through just fine. But it was so chaotic and intense! Walking to the encierro before dawn that morning felt like marching toward the gallows. I’ve never looked in people’s eyes and seen sheer terror like I did that morning. There are two thousand runners, six steers and six Spanish fighting bulls all desperately battling for real estate along these narrow cobblestone streets, and something has to give.

Once it begins, people are straight-up screaming throughout the entire duration of the thing. One San Fermin veteran told me the night before to “Get ready for the ugliest (expletive deleted) thing you ever did see.” Plus it’s all extensively documented on live TV. So I knew that if I was gored all of my friends and family back home would see those photos underneath some headline reading “Another dumb American gored in Pamplona.”

That’s a lot to think about.

There may not be direct parallels to journalism, but I really wanted to prepare myself for the run and its potential consequences. So I approached that aspect of it in similar ways to how I would begin researching a big story. I studied the history of the event, read countless interviews with mozos (the bull runners), watched dozens of videos of previous runs, watched people getting gored over and over again and memorized maps of the course and distances. Then I re-read “The Sun Also Rises.”

As soon as I finished the run, the greatest feeling I have ever felt washed over my entire body. Then I threw up from all the adrenaline and walked inside Café Iruña to chug a beer and watch replays of the run.

Any advice for young journalists?

Don’t run with the bulls in Spain if you hope to become an old journalist.

But, seriously? Put the time in, read a lot and ask a ton of questions. One of the best ways to connect with a source is to ask him or her to really walk you through that complicated piece of policy or explain that confusing report.  Ask the source to sit down with you and go through things line-by-line, if need be. You’ll get a better story, a better understanding of the issues and maybe earn a valued source for life.

You should also think about why you’re going into journalism. You’re facing hard work, long hours and you aren’t likely to make any real money or friends in the process.

But there are so many opportunities to make a difference, to point things out that have never been pointed out, to hold the powerful accountable and to highlight the best and worst of what’s going on in your community or beat.

What do you hope to accomplish as a board member of the Idaho Press Club?

My goals are to support access for journalists, to champion open and transparent government, to share best practices and provide local training opportunities. I also really enjoy organizing fun events, such as our happy hour forum series, that can help bring journalists together and establish a sense of community.

On a personal note, I hope to learn a lot from the more experienced journalists serving within the IPC.

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 KBOI staffer, he’s worked for other media in the Treasure Valley for the past few years. Howell is a native of Kentucky who has worked in radio news in Tampa, Nashville, Little Rock and Lexington; he’s also a U.S. Army veteran.

PRINT

COEUR D’ALENE PRESS
This fall, the Press created a new position, director of sponsored content, and hired Marc Stewart to fill it. Marc is a former Press reporter who also has worked for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Lewis Clark State College and the Spokane Teachers Credit Union.

IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW
The Idaho Business Review and the business information division of its parent Dolan LLC were purchased by New Media Investment Group, a New York-based holding company, on Dec. 11, the same day that New Media announced it sold the Las Vegas Review-Journal. New Media acquired all of Dolan’s 39 print and online publications from Bayside Capital Inc., which became the Dolan majority owner in June 2014 at the conclusion of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

No staff changes are anticipated at the Business Review, whose interim publisher, Bill Cummings, called the sale “one of the best things that could ever happen,” saying, “For the past year we have been looking for a permanent owner of all the Dolan properties under one owner.”

Benton Alexander Smith is the new Statehouse reporter for the Business Review, and will be covering the upcoming 2016 legislative session. He succeeds former Statehouse reporter Brad Iverson-Long, who left in the fall for an associate producer position with “Idaho Reports” at Idaho Public Television. Smith formerly was a reporter for the Twin Falls Times-News.

IDAHO FALLS POST REGISTER
The Idaho Falls Post Register, which was sold this fall to Minnesota-based Adams Publishing Group, has announced two major staff departures: Managing Editor Rob Thornberry left Oct. 31, and Editorial Page Editor Corey Taule left the paper Nov. 8.  Thornberry had been with the newspaper for 25 years, the last seven as managing editor. Taule, who worked for the paper for 20 years and took over as editorial page editor in 2009, has accepted a position with Battelle Energy Alliance, the primary contractor at the Idaho National Laboratory.

Taule will be replaced by Katie Stokes, who has worked in journalism and marketing for many years, most recently writing a regular column for NNY Living Magazine in Watertown, N.Y. Stokes said she will place more focus on local, submitted opinion pieces, bringing a community voice to the page.

TWIN FALLS TIMES-NEWS
New criminal justice reporter Alex Riggins started Oct. 13; this is his first full-time newspaper job. He came from San Diego where he was freelancing for the Union Tribune and other local media. Previous crime reporter, Benton Smith, left Oct. 9 and moved to the Idaho Business Review.

Eric Quitugua is a new reporter in the paper’s Mini-Cassia bureau. He started in June. He came from Tampa, Florida, where he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida.

TELEVISION

Idaho Falls/Pocatello Market

KIDK/KIFI
New Pocatello reporter Angelina Dixson has arrived from Las Vegas. Former Pocatello reporter Luke Jones moved to Houston.

KPVI
Justin Fanfarilli, weekend weather anchor, departed for a job in Fargo, N.D.

Twin Falls Market

KMVT
No changes to report, but the station is looking for an anchor and a reporter.

Boise Market

KBOI2 News
New staffers at KBOI2 include new multimedia journalist Jeff Plat, who came from Casper, Wyo. where he was an anchor, reporter and producer. Anja Kurtagic has joined the staff as a news producer, and previously was a production employee for a local competitor.

KBOI sports reporter Bryan Levin has been promoted to sports director.

Departures at KBOI2 include news producer Michael Locklear, who is now a reporter in San Antonio, Texas; and weekend anchor Rick Douglas.

KTVB Channel 7
New staffer Shannon Camp, KTVB reporter, was previously in sports sideline reporting and producing for network broadcasts.  Morgan Boydston, KTVB reporter, previously reported at the NBC/Fox affiliate in Tyler, Texas.

Andrea Lutz, KTVB reporter/anchor, is now the News Director at ABC FOX Montana.  Justin Corr, KTVB reporter/anchor, left to be the morning anchor at KSPR in Springfield, MO

After 30 years at KTVB, Carolyn Holly will be leaving in February to join Saint Alphonsus Hospital as their Vice President of Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations.

Where: Boise State University downtown facility, 301 Capitol Blvd., Boise, across from Trader Joe’s

What: Join us for our annual Fall Conference featuring hands-on clinics to help you get the most from data, as well as discussions about media literacy.

Registration details: Free for current Press Club members, new members who join prior to registering for the fall conference and students. $15 for non-members. Visit www.idahopressclub.org/2015-fall-conference/ to register.

By Clark Corbin

As journalism continues to evolve in the 21st Century and news organizations expect more from reporters, the need for training and education is as great as ever.

Unfortunately, many newsrooms struggle with tight budgets and limited resources, often leaving the burden of paying for pricey workshops, seminars and conferences to cash-strapped journalists.

That got us thinking about how the Idaho Press Club could tap our own resources to further our mission of improving journalism in Idaho and offering tangible benefits to IPC members.

For the first time in recent memory, your IPC has decided to offer its Oct. 17 Fall Conference free for current members, members renewing their memberships and any new Press Clubbers who join our ranks prior to registering for the conference. We’ll also open the conference up to students to attend for free, and are charging a modest registration fee for non-members who don’t want to miss out on valuable data journalism training and a critical discussion about media literacy.

Based on feedback from attendees who participated in last year’s conference, we’re striving to make this year’s event even better by emphasizing the hands-on nature of training.

To that end, we’re asking everybody to bring their laptop to the conference Oct. 17, and make sure they have a free Gmail account so they can test drive some of Google’s online reporting tools that we will be demonstrating.

We’ll kick things off right with plenty of Flying M coffee and Guru Donuts to perk everybody up. Then Audrey Dutton from the Idaho Statesman will help try out some free online reporting tools that can help you make the most of your online story presentations, from the easy to the advanced. Dutton will demonstrate how journalists can build interactive timelines, embed Tweets and work up Google charts that have helped the Statesman visualize crime trends.

Then Idaho Education News’ Kevin Richert will explain why reporters don’t need to be afraid of data and spreadsheets. One of Richert’s specialties is using data to ferret out the stories that others overlook and providing data-driven reality checks that refute conventional wisdom. He’ll use his own stories as case studies, and walk attendees through basic Excel functions and statistics.

Finally, we will close out strong with a critical discussion of media literacy and how reporters can help educate the community, led by Seth Ashley, Boise State University’s associate professor of journalism and adviser of The Arbiter. Ashley has written about the emerging field of media literacy locally for The Blue Review and co-authored a scholarly paper on the subject with the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, which is available online to review before the conference: http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=communication_facpubs.

We hope many of our members take advantage of this opportunity to participate in a morning of free hands-on training provided by some of Idaho’s best and brightest working journalists. We are also looking forward to welcoming back any past IPC members who let their status lapse in recent years.

We strive to offer an array of benefits and services for our members. As longtime IPC members already know, Press Club members receive deep discounts on entry fees for our annual awards contest. Members also enjoy timely access to newsmakers at events during the legislative session. At the moment, we’re also planning two more social events — one this fall, and our annual pre-legislative party — to help keep things fun and light.

If you haven’t already, please take a moment today to renew or start your membership at www.idahopressclub.org/join, so you’ll be able to enjoy all of those benefits — free admission to the Fall Conference, social events throughout the winter and big savings when you enter your best work into our contest.

Clark Corbin is a Statehouse reporter for Idaho Education News, and is the president of the Southwest Chapter of the Idaho Press Club.