Recent Articles:
SPJ/LA Will Discuss Media Coverage of the Transgender Community
The Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is taking a deeper dive into media coverage of the transgender community with an interactive panel dissecting a Grantland magazine piece that sparked a national discussion last month.
SPJ/LA hosted its first transgender media coverage panel last fall and will use the Grantland piece, “Dr. V’s Magical Putter,” as a case study to advance the conversation on ethical issues.
What went wrong? What should reporters do when they’re in a similar situation? What responsibility did editors at Grantland have in treating the subject with sensitivity and fairness?
WHAT: Discussion on covering the transgender community and Grantland’s piece, “Dr. V’s Magical Putter.”
WHO:
- Cyd Zeigler, co-founder of Outsports.com
- Nick Adams, associate director of communications for GLAAD
Ricardo Lopez, of the L.A. Times will moderate.
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 27
6:30 p.m. networking reception
7 p.m. discussion
WHERE: L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
The Village at Ed Gould Plaza’s Renberg Theatre
1125 N. McCadden Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
COST: The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
PARKING: Free parking is provided at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.
RSVP: Please RSVP by sending an email to: spjlosangeles@gmail.com
CONTACT: Adolfo Flores
SPJ/LA
323-519-9540
spjlosangeles@gmail.com
SPJ/LA Hosts Pre-Oscar Mixer with John Corrigan
The Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists invites you to a pre-Oscar mixer with LA Times’ John Corrigan and other special guests to discuss this year’s Academy Award-nominated films and covering entertainment news.
WHAT: SPJ/LA’s Pre-Oscar Mixer
WHO: John Corrigan, LA Times Assistant Managing Editor in Charge of Arts and Entertainment
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 20
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Pour Haus Wine Bar, 1820 Industrial Street, Art’s District, Downtown Los Angeles, CA, 90021.
COST: The event is free and open to the public. No-host bar.
PARKING: Street parking is available.
RSVP: Please RSVP by sending an email to: spjlosangeles@gmail.com
CONTACT: Dan Evans, SPJ/LA
(818) 637-3234
Richard Saxton, SPJ/LA
spjlosangeles@gmail.com
SPJ/LA Announces 2014 Officers and Newly Elected Board Members
The Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has elected its 2014 officers.
Navid Nonahal, the chapter’s vice president who is a freelance journalist and contributing writer to Tehran magazine, will become president on Jan. 1. Richard Hendrickson, who teaches journalism at California State University, Northridge, John Carroll University in Cleveland and UCLA Extension, was elected vice president. Rina Palta, a crime and safety reporter for KPCC-FM who was just elected to the board, will serve as secretary, and long-time board member Joel Bellman, press secretary for Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, was elected treasurer. Alice Walton, a political reporter for KPCC-FM and a part-time faculty member at California State University, Northridge, will be immediate past president.
SPJ/LA also elected five members to serve three-year terms on the group’s 15-member board. In addition to Palta, incumbents Walton and freelancer Richard Saxton were reelected. Members also elected Tami Abdollah, a law enforcement reporter at The Associated Press, and Jason Kandel, senior producer/mobile lead, Digital Media, at NBCUniversal. Kandel resigned from the board after the election because of increased responsibilities at work, and Andrew Lopez, a digital producer at NBCLA.com, was appointed by the board to fill his term. There were seven candidates on the ballot for five spots, and Lopez received the sixth most votes.
The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation’s largest and most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to promoting high standards of ethical behavior and encouraging the free practice of journalism. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. The Greater Los Angeles professional chapter was chartered 25 years later in 1934.
SPJ/LA Announces 2013 Distinguished Journalist Honorees
The Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will honor five local journalists at its 38th annual awards banquet next spring.
The Distinguished Journalist honorees include longtime regional journalists practicing in print, radio, television and new media. They are: Sandy Banks, columnist at the Los Angeles Times; Jon Regardie, executive editor for Los Angeles Downtown News; John Brooks, former reporter and anchor at KNX 1070 Newsradio and KFWB News Talk 980; and Oswaldo Borraez, reporter at “Noticias Univision 34.” Damien Newton, founder and editor of Streetsblog Los Angeles, is the recipient of the chapter’s Distinguished Work in New Media Award.
The chapter will also be recognizing Brian Humphrey, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, for his dedication to providing access to reporters.
SPJ/LA presents the Distinguished Journalist awards to members of the profession who demonstrate good news judgment, a strong sense of ethics and a passion for getting the story right. Honorees are journalists who have achieved a record of accomplishments over the course of several years. For the past three decades, the chapter has recognized reporters, editors and photographers in print and broadcast journalism. Since 1997, the chapter has honored journalists in four categories: television, radio, newspapers with a circulation of less than 90,000 and newspapers with a circulation of 90,000 or more.
The Distinguished Work in New Media award was created in 2008 and is given to a journalist who uses the new media’s unique characteristics and capabilities while striving to uphold traditional journalism’s highest standards of honesty, accuracy, responsibility and accountability.
The awards banquet will be held in Spring of 2014, with the date and location to be announced.
The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation’s largest and most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to promoting high standards of ethical behavior and encouraging the free practice of journalism. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. The Los Angeles professional chapter marked its 75th anniversary in 2009.
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Celebrate With Us at Our Holiday Party!
McCormick & Schmick’s is on Via Rodeo in Beverly Hills
You are invited to join the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for a festive holiday party in the heart of Beverly Hills. Enjoy the beautiful holiday season atmosphere of Via Rodeo, as we gather to celebrate the season at McCormick & Schmick’s, on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, across the street from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The party includes generously served hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, mini desserts and a no host cash bar. Space is limited.
RSVP now to join your friends, SPJ/LA members, print, online, and broadcast journalists on Thursday, December 5th, 2013 in Beverly Hills.
What
SPJ/LA Holiday Party
When
6:30 – 9:30 p.m., Thursday, December 5th, 2013
Where
McCormick & Schmick’s Pacific Seafood Grill
206 N. Rodeo Drive
On the Via Rodeo
Beverly Hills, CA 90210 (map)
Phone: 310-859-0434
Cost
$25 for SPJ/LA members
$40 for non-members
Non-members who join SPJ/LA the night of the event will enjoy the member price.
Give yourself the gift of SPJ/LA membership at www.spjla.org.
No host cash bar
Parking
$5 after 6 p.m. with a two-hour validation. Otherwise, $7 flat rate after 6 p.m. in the Via Rodeo parking structure with elevator to the party. Metered parking also available.
RSVP
Please RSVP at spjlosangeles@gmail.com
Contact
Navid Nonahal, SPJ/LA
818-317-2234
spjlosangeles@gmail.com
Photo: St Stev/Flickr/Creative Commons License
Share Your Thoughts About Whether the SPJ Code of Ethics Should Be Updated
SPJ is considering revising its Code of Ethics, and the national Ethics Committee is seeking feedback from members around the country as it discusses and evaluates possible options.
The current version of the code was adopted at the 1996 SPJ National Convention. SPJ will work over the next year to discuss and evaluate any ideas and will present any proposed changes during the 2014 Excellence in Journalism conference in Nashville, Tenn.
WHAT: Discussion about whether the Code of Ethics should be updated.
WHO: Lauren Bartlett, national Ethics Committee member, past president of SPJ/LA and past national board member, will lead the discussion.
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. light dinner, 7 p.m. panel discussion,Thursday, Nov. 21
WHERE: RAND Corp., 1776 Main Street , Santa Monica, CA 90401
COST: Free.
PARKING: Available in RAND’s parking lot.
RSVP: E-mail spjlosangeles@gmail.com
Detail of SPJ’s Code of Ethics webpage. | Photo by Zach Behrens/SPJ-LA
Know a Journalist Deserving of Recognition? Nominate Them for the SPJ/LA Awards!
2014 Banquet Awardees (See awardee list here)
Do you know tough, hard-working reporters, writers, producers and editors who deserve to be recognized for their outstanding careers? Nominate them for the annual Distinguished Journalists Awards handed out by the Greater L.A. chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
We are looking for nominees in the categories of:
- Television
- Radio
- New Media
The chapter also hands out a Freedom of Information Award to a non-journalist who is fighting to shine a light on press access.
Nominations may be submitted by email to Julia Seifer at Julia.C.Seifer@abc.com no later than Friday, Oct. 18.
The awards will be presented at the SPJ/LA annual awards banquet in the spring of 2014.
The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation’s largest and most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to promoting high standards of ethical behavior and encouraging the free practice of journalism. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists and protects the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.
Oct. 10 Panel: Beyond Snowden, When Free Press and National Security Clash
The Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will sponsor a panel discussion the First Amendment and how it applies to journalists who report on issues of national security. Should a reporter who obtains confidential information from a government official be forced to testify before prosecutors pursuing a case against that individual? How would a national shield law protect reporters in these situations? Truthdig editor Robert Scheer and attorney Elizabeth Martinez will be among the panelists at the Oct. 10 event, hosted at KPCC public radio’s Crawford Family Forum. SPJ/LA board memberJoel Bellman will moderate the discussion.
The event is free and open to the public.
Statement from SPJ/LA’s President
Dear fellow SPJ/LA members,
Eight months ago, I wrote to alert you that SPJ/LA had discovered unauthorized withdrawals on the chapter’s checking account. That resulted in the immediate removal of our longtime treasurer. I am now writing to give you an update on the chapter’s finances and let you know what we have done to protect SPJ/LA’s treasury.
We have spent the past eight months obtaining every document and bit of information that we believe the authorities may need as they review this case. After exhaustively combing through our financial records, we determined there had been numerous unauthorized withdrawals between 2009 and 2011. The research also revealed most of the money had been repaid. Working with the chapter’s attorney, the remaining funds were recovered. We cannot determine if cash deposits that should have been made into the account are accounted for.
Today, I filed a report with the Los Angeles Police Department.
I want to let you know what we have done to protect the chapter’s finances going forward.
- As I said in January, our treasurer Sarah Baisley was immediately removed from her duties and SPJ/LA’s banking accounts when we learned of the unauthorized withdrawals.
- The chapter hired an attorney and accountant.
- This accountant helped the chapter officers review every single check and deposit that was made to the chapter from 2007 to 2012.
- SPJ/LA’s old checking account was closed and a fresh account was opened.
- Every check that is written on that account now requires two signatures.
- The entire board at each monthly board meeting reviews checking statements.
- We established a PayPal account, which allows the chapter to accept credit and debit cards at events. This makes it much easier to track the money coming into the account.
- SPJ/LA no longer accepts cash at any events.
This has been a difficult time for SPJ/LA but it has not stopped us from functioning as a chapter. During this time, we’ve held a successful banquet that honored five distinguished journalists. We organized discussions on digital ethics and covering the transgender community. The chapter has spoken in support of a federal shield law, and most recently, SPJ/LA awarded scholarships to six outstanding college students.
On behalf of the board, I’d like to thank our members for their patience and understanding in dealing with this painful and challenging issue. We’re looking forward to continuing to serve our members with relevant programming and involvement in core SPJ issues – FOI, ethics and diversity.
Sincerely,
Alice Walton
President, Greater Los Angeles chapter
Society of Professional Journalists
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