President’s Column: Working toward cheaper, easier access to court records in Idaho

By Betsy Russell We were all pretty excited when Sara Thomas, the new administrative director of Idaho’s courts, told us at the Press Club’s Fall Conference this year that she believes folks should be allowed to take a picture of a court document with their phone, rather than pay $1 a page for a photocopy. But Thomas had to follow up after the conference with this caveat: While courts have no legal authority to charge you $1 a page for taking a picture of a court document with your phone, under current law, the elected county … [Read more...]

Fall conference draws crowd, offers sessions from public record requests to covering the courts

By Audrey Dutton More than 40 members of the Idaho Press Club gathered Oct. 8 in Downtown Boise for the annual fall conference, hosted by the Southwest chapter. News broke during the conference, when Sen. Mike Crapo pulled his endorsement of Donald Trump for president. But in true multitasking fashion, reporters and editors handled the breaking news while also managing to get in some training on a Saturday morning. Randy Schrader of IdahoEdNews.org and Bill Dentzer of the Idaho Statesman kicked off the conference by walking us … [Read more...]

MEDIA MOVES

New faces in your newsroom or communication department? Let everyone know. Send your Media Moves to: email@idahopressclub.org Boise State Public Radio News Director Scott Graf joined the Idaho Attorney General's office on Nov. 21 as the new communications director. Graf joined BSPR in April 2012 as a host, reporter and editor. He was named news director in February 2014. Graf replaces Todd Dvorak, who left the Attorney General’s office in September. Matt Guilhem joined Boise … [Read more...]

Annual awards contest about to open to entries

By Melissa Davlin The Best of 2016 Idaho Press Club awards awards opens next week. We’ve made some changes to the contest this year to keep up with the shifting media landscape. First, we’ve changed the Print division to Publication, and the Magazine division to Periodical, allowing online-only outfits to compete with traditional newspapers and magazines. What does this mean? If you work at a newspaper and you’ve always entered in the Print division, nothing has changed -- except now there may be a bit more competition. If you’re … [Read more...]

Want to learn about covering the Idaho Legislature?

By Clark Corbin Covering the Legislature can be one of the best reporting assignments – but also one of the most intimidating. With the opening of the 2017 legislative session just weeks away, the Idaho Press Club wants to help local journalists and photographers learn the legislative ropes and build their confidence and skills. At the Legislative Boot Camp, from 9-10 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 13, veteran Statehouse reporters and a member of legislative leadership will help you:

President’s Message: Expect shorter, more frequent Communicator blasts

By Betsy Russell We are changing with the times here at theCommunicator. We’re no longer the quarterly paper newsletter that arrived in your mailbox, chock-full of articles for you to read at your leisure. But now that we’re all-electronic, we realize that people don’t have time to scroll through article after article while we multi-task our days away. So we’re atomizing theCommunicator – breaking it down into smaller, more frequent pieces. You’ll still get all the Press Club news. It’ll just arrive in smaller, more frequent … [Read more...]

An Idaho reporter’s take on covering D.C.

Editor’s Note: Lewiston Tribune political reporter Bill Spence won the Idaho Press Club’s Don Watkins Mid-Career Scholarship this year, and used it to help offset some of the expenses of his 13-week reporting trip to the nation’s capital. In this article, he shares his experience. By William L. Spence of the Lewiston Tribune It seems like every time Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo come to the Statehouse to address their former colleagues, they gush about how much better things are here in Idaho compared to Washington, D.C. I … [Read more...]