June Newsletter
Greetings, dear SPJ/LAers. Summer has officially arrived and we’re here with our chapter’s June newsletter!
The latest news . . .
SPJ/LA, working with a broad coalition of journalism groups, spoke out this month against an amendment to Senate Bill 98, state legislation aimed at providing additional protections for journalists covering protests. The amendment would have undermined the bill’s goals. Read more here.
The coalition’s calls, emails and social media posts ultimately helped spur the bill’s co-authors to withdraw their support for the amendment -- a rare event in Sacramento. With SB 98 now heading to a committee in the State Assembly, the work is far from over.
Our chapter submitted its annual report to SPJ national, which covered the 12-month period ending April 30. We had a lot to talk about: a new website, a new logo, six virtual panels, a Zoom mixer and our first ever video awards ceremony. And, of course, a new newsletter!
SPJ/LA also used our yearly report to highlight our chapter’s ramped up advocacy work, frequently in response to mistreatment of journalists, as well as the $10,000 donation we made last year to help financially struggling journalists.
Coming up . . .
SPJ/LA’s scholarship committee is hard at work reviewing applications for our 2021 scholarships! We’ll be making an announcement on the winner next month.
Many thanks to all the SPJ/LAers who responded to our survey asking how we should honor our Distinguished Journalists Awards honorees this year. In response, we’re looking to stage an in-person ceremony this fall and have begun contacting potential venues.
2020 Distinguished Journalists Award honorees
We’ll soon be letting you know about another survey – this one on the topic of disinformation, and how it affects efforts to report the news. The survey has been prepared by PEN America, which has an office in L.A. and is looking to expand its own advocacy work on free expression.
FYI . . .
Speaking of PEN America, that organization will be hosting a summer bootcamp for writers, editors and news outlets on strategies for addressing online abuse and digital safety overall. The group, working with the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Global Cyber Alliance, will stage four sessions in July focusing on anti-doxing strategies, the issue of coordinated cyber mobs and other unsettling topics.
From the national organization . . .
In recent weeks, SPJ’s national arm has been sounding the alarm over journalists who have been wrongfully detained or arrested overseas. SPJ called on the military government in Myanmar to release American journalist Danny Fenster and condemned a recent raid of the newspaper Apple Daily in Hong Kong. The raid was followed by the arrest of five news executives and editors, the latest blow to press freedoms in that part of the world. The newspaper was forced to close, publishing its final edition Thursday.
Read other SPJ news here.
Fun Fact . . .
To aide journalists in defending their First Amendment Rights, the national organization has a Legal Defense Fund that provides financial legal or direct assistance when needed. Find out more here and read samples of their work here.
The application for an LDF grant is here.
If you wish, you may also donate to the Fund and invest in journalism here!
Finally . . .
As always, my thoughts about membership -- wrapped up in three words: Please join us!
If you’re already an SPJ/LA member, thank you for your support. If you're not, learn about our chapter here and why you should consider joining. And if you have questions, please contact me at navidnonahalspjla@gmail.com.
Please follow SPJ/LA on Twitter and join us on Facebook.
Believe and stay safe!
Navid Nonahal
Membership Committee Chair
SPJ/LA