By Melissa Davlin

Happy December! We’re rounding out a busy year in Idaho journalism with celebrations, while gearing up for a busy few months at the Idaho Legislature.

Coming soon, be sure to watch your inbox for updates on our upcoming contest, as well as an invitation for the Idaho Press Club’s Legislative Preview Event, scheduled for Jan. 4th. For those who can’t make it to Boise, we’ll livestream the event through Idaho In Session. I’m moderating the event, so please feel free to e-mail or text me questions during the event, and I’ll relay them to our speakers. This year, we’ve invited Gov. Brad Little and legislative leadership, as well as the co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to explain upcoming changes to JFAC hearings, and to field any questions or concerns you may have about the process. 

Congratulations to former Idaho Press Club president Betsy Russell for receiving the Stimpson Award from the Boise City Club. Betsy received the award on Nov. 30th at the JUMP Center in Boise. Marcia Franklin of Idaho Public Television moderated the event, and former Attorney General Lawrence Wasden honored her with a speech. 

And congratulations to Kenton Bird on his retirement from the University of Idaho Journalism and Mass Media department. Kenton is retiring after nearly 25 years at UI, where he helped mentor many of Idaho’s current reporters. The school sent him off with a celebration on Dec. 4th at the ICCU Arena’s Alumni Lounge in Moscow. 

We hope you have a safe and happy holiday season! 
 
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out. My e-mail is melissadavlin@gmail.com.

NOTE: This column first appeared in the Idaho Statesman on Nov. 9, 2023; it is reprinted here by permission.

You’d think that after 48 years and covering an estimated 1,000 City Council meetings, Mark Steele would take a break. 

But last week, even after he ceased operation of his weekly newspaper, the Caribou County Sun, Steele found himself at Soda Springs City Hall. 

“Believe it or not, I was driving past the City Council meeting the other night, the first meeting after we shut the newspaper down, and I pulled in there just to attend,” Steele told me in a phone interview. “You miss the knowledge of what’s going on and the habits that you’ve done all these years. You still want to be a part of the loop.” 

Oct. 26 was the final issue of the Caribou County Sun, owned by Mark and Wendy Steele, who were a young couple in their 20s when they bought the paper in their hometown 48 years ago. 

Steele, 74, told me revenues dropped 40% from 2019 to 2022, mostly from advertising, a combination of businesses closing during the Covid pandemic or cutting back on their advertising. Add in inflation, retiring staff and no buyers for the paper, and the time had come to close up shop. 

So what does the community lose when it loses its newspaper? 

“I think you become a town and not a community anymore,” Steele said. “I think that the print newspaper in a small town was this historical record. It was a place to go to find out the events of what was going on. And with that gone and not replaced, I think the community is not near as close, and then you become just another town.”

NATIONAL TREND 

Unfortunately, the closing of the Caribou County Sun is not an outlier. On average, since 2004, two newspapers have closed per week. That’s 2,500 closures, according to research from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. From 2019 to 2022, 360 newspapers closed, almost all of them weeklies. 

The result is what’s called “news deserts,” primarily in poorer and rural communities. 

Meanwhile, the Kuna Melba News, which started in 1982, will no longer exist as a newspaper title, as it’s being wrapped into the Meridian Press, which is rebranding as the Meridian-Kuna Press. The loss of the Kuna Melba News hits close to home, as my wife and I owned that weekly newspaper from 2006-11, which were among the most gratifying years of my journalistic career. 

The community loses something vital when it loses its newspaper. 

“I think a good newspaper is a community talking to itself, whether it’s letters to the editor, or the guy next door to you doesn’t like your editorial and comes over and tells you so,” Steele said. 

LOCAL WATCHDOG 

An even bigger loss is the loss of a watchdog on local government that just isn’t being replaced.

“Sometimes you hold the feet of officials to the fire, which in my opinion is all good,” Steele said. “They know darn well the budget’s going to get discussed, the new truck they buy, you know all of that stuff sees a little bit of light of day. And if it’s a reasonably good newspaper and doing its job, that community will benefit from that.” 

That type of accountability reporting leads to lower government costs. A 2018 study from the University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Notre Dame found that municipal borrowing costs increased by as much as a tenth of a percent after a newspaper shuttered, translating to millions of dollars in additional costs between 1996 and 2015. 

Further, as was suggested by a PBS News story in August, the loss of a newspaper fuels an increase in political divisions, something Steele said he’s seen himself. 

“What I’m seeing as a trend is some people are getting a little more demanding and entitled — they’re still rare, at least in rural communities that I’m familiar with — but this trend in this tribalism we talk about and see nationally is also more and more locally in some respects. And that bothers me a great deal for the future.” 

Other research has shown that communities that lose their newspaper have lower voter turnout, a greater spread of misinformation and lower trust in democratic institutions, according to the Local News Initiative at Northwestern’s Medill School. 

IS THERE A WAY FORWARD? 

The Local News Initiative points to the rise in digital-only outlets providing local news, and there are success stories out there. 

Steele and I reminisced about the culture and work ethic of putting out a weekly newspaper, having our kids in the next room while we worked on that week’s edition of the paper. The weekly newspaper editor does it all, covering high school sports and school board meetings, shooting our own photos, laying out the paper, picking up the copies from the printer (in Mark’s case, two-and-a-half hours away in Brigham City, Utah) and delivering it yourself. 

“I don’t think very many people realize how much work goes into putting out a print newspaper,” Mark said. “I think they would be shocked how labor-intensive it tends to be.” 

But the flip side of that is that without a printed paper, the barriers to entry are super low. Without the need to design and lay out a 20-page newspaper every week or pay to print it, mail it and deliver it, running an online news site is easier than ever. But that’s not for Steele. 

“I’ve been a man of ink-on-paper all my life, and I don’t know what the hell you do now,” Steele said. “It’s very, very sad.” 

Steele said he looked for a buyer of the Caribou County Sun, but there just aren’t any young couples like him and Wendy, and me and my wife, who are looking to take over a small weekly newspaper these days. 

“My hope is that if I’m out of the way, maybe something will come in and fill that void, whether it’s an existing publication, something existing online, and I think there will be several avenues of that,” Steele said. 

The question is whether a small community like Kuna or Soda Springs would have enough digital subscribers and a large enough advertising base to support a niche online-only local news outlet. But if you can do it, I can attest, and Steele would agree, it’s probably the most rewarding experience you can have. 

“You don’t make a great living, but you make a living,” Steele said. “You pay your bills, you keep people working, you’re the heartbeat of the community, and you feel like when you go to bed at night, you’ve done some good.” For the past 48 years, the Steeles, indeed, have done some good.

Scott McIntosh is the opinion editor of the Idaho Statesman, and is a member of the Idaho Press Club board and chair of the club’s First Amendment Committee.

Mario Miguel, a student at BYU-Idaho, is just completing his term as the student representative on the Idaho Press Club board.

Interviewed by Melissa Davlin

Hometown?
I was born in California but grew up in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area. I have grown to love the West, however, and plan to stay on this side of the country for as long as I can.
 
Current job?
I am a staff reporter for BYU-Idaho Scroll, our student news organization. I cover crime/courts. 
 
What brought you to Idaho?
I came to Idaho four years ago to study at BYU-Idaho. I am a senior studying communication and will graduate in December. 
 
What first drew you to journalism?
I have always been drawn to politics and current events as they were frequent topics of conversation at home. My dad studied journalism and was a radio reporter when he was young. Naturally my brothers and I all gravitated towards the communications field, especially writing. I was originally studying data science but found I wasn’t very good at programming, so I switched majors twice until I found myself in the journalism program. 
 
What’s your dream job?
I’m not sure if I have one dream job, there are several things I would like to do in my life. I would love to write for Deseret News and/or do investigative journalism at a local level. I am also considering careers in law or law enforcement. At some point in my life, I want to have my own commercial climbing gym.
 
Who is your journalism hero, and why?
I really look up to Nate Eaton at East Idaho News. I admire how he became the expert on the Daybell case. Even though he is a local reporter, he’s been the guy much of the country has gone to for information about the trial and I hope I can do something similar in the future. 
 
Do you have any pets?
I had a rabbit as a kid, but aside from that, no.
 
Hobbies?
Since I started college, I started rock climbing and practicing jiu jitsu. I also love to read about history, politics and interesting people.

BOISE STATE PUBLIC RADIO

Murphy Woodhouse joins the public radio team as the Idaho reporter for the Mountain West News Bureau. Previously Murphy was reporting from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, covering cross-border issues for KJZZ in Phoenix. Previously, he was a reporter at the Arizona Daily Star and Nogales International newspapers. His work has appeared on NPR, the World and the BBC.

Amanda Niess, a recent Boise State University graduate and former intern with KTVB, becomes newsroom assistant. Sofia Blenkinsop of Boise State joins as newsroom intern. 

KBOI CBS2 NEWS, Boise

Anchor Brent Hunsaker is retiring from CBS2 after nine years. And longtime Chief Photographer Clyn Richards is retiring from CBS2 after 41+ years.

Marcos Guadarrama is the anchor of KLEW News which airs in Lewiston. Previously, he was a multi-media journalist/weather anchor for CBS2. Preston Pfau joined KLEW News as producer. He joins the station from Boise State University.

Sophia Doumani returns to CBS2 as reporter/fill-in anchor. Sophia previously worked at the station before launching her own show. She also worked for a non-profit.

Dakota Castets-Didier joined CBS2 as a reporter/weather anchor. He comes to CBS2 after working for the East Oregonian. Savannah Hankard joined CBS2 as a reporter after completing studies at Boise State.

Angela Kerndl is leaving CBS2. She covered the legislature. Angela has taken a job with the state of Washington.

KTVB-TV Newschannel 7, Boise

Tyson White, KTVB’s former chief photographer, was promoted from newscast producer to assignment manager. 

Investigative reporter and digital producer Alex Duggan left Boise for a public safety reporter position at The Spokesman-Review.

University of Idaho grad and VOCES alum Richard Rodriquez came from Boise State Public Radio to KTVB as a digital content producer and contributor to KTVB En Español.

Sierra Nevada University graduate Zoe Tuttle joined the team as a digital content producer after a couple years in local radio.

Kaylin Lechner, also a University of Idaho graduate, joined KTVB as a broadcast producer for Wake Up Idaho.

BOISEDEV.COM

Sydney Kidd joined BoiseDev as a reporter; she previously was a reporter and editor for the Idaho Press. 

POST REGISTER, Idaho Falls

Daniel Ramirez, a recent University of Idaho journalism graduate, has joined the Idaho Falls Post Register as a general assignment reporter. Ramirez served a Voces of Idaho internship this summer with the Idaho Statesman.

The Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce recognized Post Register reporter David Pace in its 2023 Distinguished Under 40 class. Pace, who graduated from Brigham Young University in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in public relations, joined the Post Register in April after having spent the previous nine months at its sister paper, the Rexburg Standard Journal.
 
 THE TIMES-NEWS, Twin Falls

Hannah Kinson, a 2021 graduate of the University of Iowa, where she was photo editor for the award-winning campus newspaper, joined The Times-News Oct. 5 as our primary photographer/videographer.

After 2 ½ years as a one-man sports show at The Cherokee Scout in North Carolina, Justin Fitzgerald joined Oct. 19 as a sports reporter to help cover Magic Valley preps and College of Southern Idaho athletics.

IDAHO CAPITAL SUN

Brydon Black has joined the Idaho Capital Sun as a fall intern. Raised in Twin Falls, Black graduated from Boise State University in 2023. He wrote and edited for the student newspaper, The Arbiter. He’ll cover labor-related issues, including trends with unions and labor laws, as well as other general assignment stories.

IDAHO STATESMAN

Ian Max Stevenson was promoted to state politics/investigative reporter. He previously has covered the City of Boise and served as a breaking news reporter.

IDAHO EDUCATION NEWS

Reporter Sadie Dittenber has left to move to California. Ryan Suppe, former state government and politics reporter for the Idaho Statesman, replaces her, covering state education policy and the Legislature.

I want to thank members of the Idaho Press Club for trusting me with this position, and thank Betsy for her years of service and continued support.

As president, my priorities include increasing professional development opportunities for journalists across the state, fundraising, and continuing to fight for access to public records and transparent government.

Over the next few months, we are working to set up a professional development day in Coeur d’Alene for north Idaho journalists, and we hope to organize a similar event in eastern Idaho in the spring. We will also continue to host our fall training event in Boise. Keep an eye out for more information on these and other events.

Covering the courts

The Idaho Press Club is a member of the media coalition that challenged the broad nondissemination order in the Kohberger trial in Associated Press v Second District. On June 23rd, we received an amended order that limited the scope of the original gag order. The new order included only attorneys “and their agents.” In a June 27th hearing, Judge John Judge said that wording was intended to include investigators and police, and he would soon put out yet another order that made that clear.

In the June 9th hearing on the gag order and his denial of our motion to vacate, Judge stated some disappointing things about his perception of the media, including broad, unfair characterizations that group measured regional coverage with the sensational speculation we’ve seen from some national outlets. Still, through this process, we now have enshrined in the Idaho Supreme Court opinion from April our right as the media to intervene when our First Amendment rights are threatened. If there are any updates, we will let you know.

The Idaho Press Club is also keeping an eye on State v Kaylor, concerning the quadruple homicide in Kellogg.  After the public defender announced their intent to seek a nondissemination order at a June 20th hearing, we retained Stoel Rives to send a letter on our behalf drawing counsel’s attention to the Idaho Supreme Court opinion. We hope an early intervention can help us avoid an overly broad gag order like what we originally saw in Kohberger.

We continue to believe that overly broad nondissemination orders benefit only unethical outlets that will run with rumors and unverified claims. We will continue to fight for reasonable access to information so journalists can responsibly cover these tragedies in an ethical, measured, and accurate way.

On that note, if you run into any issues with local entities concerning open meetings or public records, you don’t have to fight alone. Our First Amendment Committee has helped journalists across Idaho shake loose records that have been illegally withheld, usually with a quick phone call or e-mail.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out. My e-mail is melissadavlin@gmail.com.

Eric Westrom is this year’s winner of the Idaho Press Club’s Mid-Career scholarship.  His article shares what he learned at the Director of Photography Creative Conference.  It was a two-day training event that focused on multiple techniques and best practices for cinematographers, videographers, and production crew who film narrative stories and documentaries. The presenters ranged from the director of aerial photography for Top Gun Maverik to internationally recognized cinematographer, and film and television technology consultant Phillip Grossman. These experts in the field shared their knowledge in valuable Q & A sessions, as well as one-on-one instruction. 

Some fundamentals discussed in this conference weren’t necessarily new concepts to me but were presented in ways that engaged the classes and made me rethink previous ways of working. In Phillip Grossman’s presentation: The Art of Shooting in Impossible Places, he found himself filming in locations such as the Chernobyl reactor site, the Buran Space Vehicle (Soviet Space Shuttle), and hosted Mysteries of the Abandoned. Grossman reviewed how he packs for difficult shoots in uncertain environments and conditions, explaining what he carries, and why.  These include preparing for the possibility of running out of water, stitching up a wound or using an emergency spot tracker to monitor his location.  I don’t foresee myself filming at Chernobyl any time soon, but I did see potential cross over into my current job. This type of readiness for any situation is useful when shooting for Idaho Public Television’s Outdoor Idaho program. We do send videographers and producers into remote locations across the state. It could apply to any of IdahoPTV’s productions. In the spring of 2022, I found myself filming in a blizzard in Eastern Idaho. The forecast called for snow, but it wasn’t an ordinary snowstorm that we encountered. We found ourselves in white out conditions with snow drifts of several feet. It was a reminder that we sometimes find ourselves in unexpected situations and I’ll take some of Grossman’s preparation ideas and incorporate them into my gear bag. He suggested including a better multi tool, multi-purpose shears, a higher-powered emergency flashlight, a more robust first aid kit, and using small cases to fit more gear into my bag.

The second workshop, led by Jem Schofield on The Fundamentals of Lighting People & Faces: A Small to No Crew, was an excellent session. At my job, I typically find myself in a two-person crew – myself and usually a producer. Schofield demonstrated how he approaches interview shoots. He uses a technique for lighting which doesn’t necessarily follow the standard three-point lighting system. He suggests using natural light from a window as a key light, or making use of the environment that you find yourself in. Incorporating natural light from windows, diffusing that light with cloth or blocking it out completely. Simple methods such as opening or closing doors to bring in or take away light not just from the interview subject but into the background – lifting and separating. Schofield demonstrated using a 6×6 piece of half grid cloth with your primary light placed on the opposite side of the interview subject. Diffusing the light in this way gives you more options to mold the lightening, creating a dynamic interview shot. It was a reminder that we are, in essence, painting with light while filming interviews. I’ll be taking these techniques forward with me and have already started using some of them in a recent shoot.

In an era of one-man-bands, the advice both experts gave was something all photojournalists should heed. Make use of everything around you, prepare for the unexpected, and simple ideas can lead to great results.

Interviewed by Betsy Russell

Name: Steve Kiggins

Age: 48

Job: Editor, Times-News

Press Club position: Board member

Education/career path: I got my first professional byline at 16 years old, a sports gamer in my local twice-weekly newspaper, and I worked as a weekly sports editor through college. My first daily job was on an island in Alaska, where I made it (but just barely!) for a year and a half, before heading out to the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming. I credit the Star-Tribune for helping me learn my way in journalism, thanks especially to the mentorship of Ron Gullberg, the sports editor there at the time. I’ve since worked in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and California – first in sports before making the move to the news side in 2005. I was executive editor for about three years at The Spectrum & Daily News in southern Utah before going to USA TODAY, where I worked 4 ½ years as national news editor. I learned a lot and worked with so many excellent journalists – Lee Horwich, Mike James, Rachel Aretakis, Jennifer Portman, Joel Shannon, Katie Vogel and others — but I missed being part of a community and wanted to get back to serving local readers. When so many people feel more a part of the national conversation than the local conversation, we’ve lost our way. Local journalism matters.

What first drew you to journalism? I grew up near Portland, Oregon, and I’d run out to the driveway every morning – often in the rain – to retrieve The Oregonian. Then I’d sit down at the table, eat breakfast and read all through the sports section, studying the stories and the stats. I was fascinated with the idea of being able to share what happened at a game with the rest of the world the next morning, and I’m guessing by 8 or 9 years old, I was consumed by wanting to see my name on a byline.

Favorite thing about your current job: It’s the people — always has been. The people we serve, the people we meet, the people we work with in the newsroom. I see journalism as community service, and I’m grateful to get up each day and have the opportunity to partner in work that connects people to their community, raises awareness, informs, educates, entertains and celebrates local successes. I’m also glad to get to bed every night, because it’s equally exhausting as it is exciting, but I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

Best advice from a mentor: As a young reporter who sometimes felt like I had to include everything from an interview in the story, I had an editor who wisely pulled me aside and told me, “Nobody knows what’s in your notebook except for you and your source. Don’t write the story for the source, write it for the readers.”

Hobbies: Does reporting count? I do need to find a few hobbies, seriously.

Family: My wife, Cass, and I are nearing our 19^th anniversary. Our daughter, Taidyn, graduated from Twin Falls High School in May and is headed to Southern Utah University in the fall.

Pets: We rescued a full-of-personality Chihuahua named Dumpling about two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the country, and we do everything we can to spoil her and show her love.

IDAHO CAPITAL SUN

The Idaho Capital Sun welcomes Kyle Pfannenstiel as a full-time reporter covering health care and the Idaho Legislature, as well as other state agencies and capital city issues. He replaces Audrey Dutton, who has taken an investigative reporting job with ProPublica. Pfannenstiel has previously worked at the Idaho Press, Idaho Education News and as a Report for America health care reporter for the Post Register.

BOISEDEV

Morgan McDonough, a former BoiseDev intern, rejoins our team full-time after graduating from the University of Idaho with a BS in Journalism and a minor in Communication. McDonough will work as a story producer as well as marketing coordinator.

Mariela Esquivel-Rodriguez, who worked as an intern as part of the Voces program for BoiseDev in the spring, will continue as a reporter.

POST REGISTER, Idaho Falls

Johnathan Hogan, the Idaho Falls Post Register’s crime and courts reporter for the past six years, has taken a job at the Port Huron (Michigan) Times Herald. He also will cover the courts system for the Times Herald. Hogan is a Michigan native and a Central Michigan University graduate.

University of Idaho student Joanna Hayes is back with the Post Register for her second consecutive summer internship. Hayes is an Idaho Falls native and a graduate of Watersprings School. She is the incoming editor of the U of I student paper, The Argonaut, and expects to graduate in May 2024.

THE TIMES-NEWS, Twin Falls

Adam Engel, the Oklahoma Collegiate Media Association’s 2023 Journalist of the Year, joined as sports editor on April 29. Adam graduated in May from Oklahoma State University, where he led a team of about 50 staffers as editor-in-chief of The O’Colly, the student newspaper. He completed internships at the Detroit Free Press and for USA Wrestling during college.

Monica Carrillo-Casas, a 2023 graduate of the University of Idaho who grew up in Hailey, joined to cover Hispanic life and affairs, beginning June 21. Prior to her arrival in Twin Falls, Monica completed 10 days at the Politico Journalism Institute near Washington, D.C. She was a reporter for The Argonaut, the campus newspaper, during her time in Moscow.

Pravina Khadka joined the staff in May for a 10-week summer reporting internship. A 2022 valedictorian at Twin Falls High School, Pravina recently completed her freshman year as a journalism and mass media major at George Washington University in D.C.

LOCAL NEWS 8/EYEWITNESS NEWS 3, Eastern Idaho

Stephanie Lucas joined the Local News 8, Eyewitness News 3 team as Assistant News Director in February.   Stephanie was previously working at KID NewsRadio as News Director.  

Ashley Chilcutt joined Local News 8/Eyewitness News 3 as a producer.  She comes to us after graduating from BYU-Idaho and working at KBYI-FM in Rexburg. 

KTVB NEWSCHANNEL 7, Boise

Jason Foster comes to KTVB from Denver as a impressively-decorated, investigative photojournalist with over 20 years of experience visualizing both important journalism and entertaining stories.

After four and half years of forecasting at KTVB and many classroom visits inspiring young Idahoans, meteorologist Bri Eggers left the industry to spend time with family.

Rachel Garceau is a familiar face returning to the Idaho airwaves joining KTVB’s team of meteorologists. She was a news and weather anchor for many years before taking a break from broadcast.

Austin Boyd moved from Ohio to Boise to employ his degree as KTVB’s new Wake Up Idaho newscast editor.

Hector Mendoza comes from CA to Boise as KTVB’s newest reporter. Hector has experience in news, sports and Spanish-speaking journalism which will help serve our Spanish-speaking communities.

After 16 years with KTVB Idaho’s News Channel 7, Doug Petcash announced Monday that he is leaving later this summer for a new job in Ohio.

Petcash joined KTVB in August 2007 as the morning news co-anchor. For the next 14 years, six months and four days, he worked alongside current “Wake Up Idaho” co-anchor Maggie O’Mara and the late meteorologist Larry Gebert. Following the retirement of Mark Johnson, Petcash moved to an afternoon and evening news anchor position in 2022. He has also hosted KTVB’s long-running public affairs program, “Viewpoint,” for eight years.

It’s time to celebrate some of the best work of Idaho journalists in the last year. Join us on Saturday, April 29, for the Best of 2022 Annual Awards Banquet.  

We’ll be gathering at the Boise Centre East in the heart of downtown Boise. We’ll be in the ballroom on the fourth floor of the Boise Centre beginning at 6 p.m. for a social hour featuring a no-host bar and a chance to catch up with colleagues. You can enter from the Boise Center East entrance just across the Grove from the main Boise Centre.

The awards portion of the evening will start at 7 p.m., when we’ll hand out our first round of awards, followed by dinner. 

This year’s menu will feature a pan-roasted breast of chicken with salt and herb-roasted fingerling potatoes and sweet onion-thyme sauce. Those who prefer a vegan/gluten-free/dairy-free option can select the stuffed poblano peppers with brown rice, pinto beans, green chilies, salsa, roasted mushrooms, and carrot-ginger pureé.

The cost for the banquet is $65 for members or $70 for non-members (plus a $3 processing fee), or you can make sure you get to sit with all your friends by purchasing a reserved table. Reserved tables with seating for up to 10 people are $650 (plus a $22 processing fee). Reserved tables are the only way to guarantee preferred seating. All other seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Because of supply issues, you MUST register for the event by 5 p.m., Tuesday, April 18, to ensure you will be able to attend. 

Please be aware that the Boise Centre does not accept cash at the bar.

Register online at idahopressclub.org. 

Deanna Darr is a board member of the Idaho Press Club, and is the club’s banquet committee chair.

Registration is open now for all three of our big events this month: A private, in-person, on-the-record Q-and-A in Boise with New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman for our members only on April 26, in conjunction with the Frank Church Institute; our top-notch Journalists Institute on Covering the Courts, which will be April 29 in Boise; and our gala annual awards banquet the evening of April 29 at the Boise Centre East to celebrate Idaho journalism.

The Maggie Haberman event will be in conjunction with the BSU Frank Church Institute’s April 26 event, the Frank & Bethine Church Public Service Award Dinner with keynote speaker Maggie Haberman, who will speak on “How Democracies Thrive and Survive in the 21st Century – A Journalist’s Perspective.” The Idaho Press Club is a co-sponsor of this event at the Boise Centre on the Grove-West, which will also include a meeting between Haberman and local students from BSU and Boise Schools that afternoon, followed by our Press Club exclusive with her from 3:45-4:30 p.m. Pre-register for the IPC/Haberman event by emailing Betsy ASAP at bzrussell@gmail.com; please include your name, affiliation, contact info and Press Club membership status. 

We will hear a few words from Maggie, and then have the opportunity to question her on the record about journalism, from interviewing techniques, tips, experiences she’s had and challenges she’s faced as one of the nation’s top political reporters, to her perspectives on the state of the media, democracy and the future of journalism. Priority for asking questions during our event will go to working press and student members. There is no charge. 

The dinner with Haberman’s keynote speech that day will begin at 6 p.m. and is the annual major fundraiser for the Frank Church Institute; tickets are available for purchase online at this address: https://www.boisestate.edu/sps-frankchurchinstitute/. During the dinner, Haberman will receive the Institute’s National Public Service Award; the institute also will be presenting its Local Public Service Award to, well, me! I am very honored and humbled.

The mission of the Frank Church Institute is education, leadership, and public service through promoting civic engagement and understanding of public policy with a focus on democracy, the environment, and international relations, in partnership with the School of Public Service at Boise State University. It sponsors the annual High School Model U.N., bringing in hundreds of high school students from around Idaho free of charge along with their teachers; and issues scholarships to students interested in public service; among its many efforts. 

Please see below for more information on the Journalists Institute on Covering the Courts, and above for the IPC’s annual awards banquet honoring the best journalism in Idaho; both are on April 29, and registration is open now for both with deadlines coming up.

Also in this issue: An article from Inlander reporter Daniel Walters about how Rep. Heather Scott’s husband threatened to sue over the publication’s use of a much-published photo of Scott holding a confederate battle flag; our “Meet Your IPC” feature has board member James Dawson answering questions from Audrey Dutton; and the latest Media Moves.

Betsy Russell retired Jan. 1 as the Boise bureau chief and statehouse reporter for the Idaho Press and Adams Publishing; she completes her term as president of the Idaho Press Club on April 29.