SPJ South Florida Pro is having their first chapter meeting of 2012 on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 7:30 pm at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton. It is an open meeting and all are encouraged to attend to discuss upcoming networking events, continuing education, and the coveted Sunshine State Awards.

Can’t attend? Tell us what you want us to plan for you this year. We are constantly looking for programming ideas!

Free Money: High School & College Scholarships!

LOCAL — SPJ South Florida Pro now accepting applications for chapter scholarship. Applications must include provide form, transcripts, an essay, at least one letter of recommendation, and any supporting documents such as a resume, clips, and relevant course work. Applications are due March 1.

NATIONAL — The SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards call for entries is going on now through Jan. 25. The best in collegiate journalism charges $9 per entry for SPJ members and $18 for non-members. Click here to find out all the details.

Around the State: Regional SPJ Convention

The Region 3 convention will be hosted by the University of Florida chapter in Gainesville from March 23-24. All chapters from Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are encouraged to attend. Contact Region 3 Director Michael Koretzky for questions.

Around the Country: Intern with SPJ

Are you a student or know one who is looking for an SPJ internship? The Pullman/Killmore Freedom of Information Internships application is due Jan. 16 to qualifying students. A completed application, resume, essay and writing samples are required.

Awards: Scripps Howard Entries Due
The 2011 Scripps Howard Awards call for entries is in effect until Jan. 31. Winners can win $10,000-$15,000 in cash along with a trophy. Keep in mind some categories require a $50 entry fee.

Nominating Jason Parsley has reviewed the candidates’ bios and verified their membership status and eligibility to serve. A brief summary of qualifications of each candidate for office is provided below. To find out more information about the voting on Dec. 12, click here.

Michele Boyet – President

Boyet is the current executive vice president for SPJ South Florida and the social media coordinator and wedding blogger for The Breakers, Palm Beach. Michele is also the vice president of the Florida College Press Association and assistant director for College Media Advisers’ national journalism conventions in New York City. She serves on the SPJ National membership and college membership committees. Michele formerly worked at the Sun Sentinel and was named College Journalist of the Year in 2010 by the SPJ South Florida Sunshine State Awards, and received the Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment award from SPJ National in Oct. 2010.

Jason Parsley – Executive Vice President

Parsley is an award-winning reporter. He currently works as the Editor in Chief of the South Florida Gay News. Previously he worked for Forum Publishing Group for three years covering West Boca, Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a bachelor’s degree in communications and a minor in political science. While in school he served as the Editor in Chief of the student newspaper, the University Press. He has also served as the treasurer for the SPJ South Florida Pro Chapter.

Dori Zinn – V.P. of Membership

Zinn is a communications assistant and contributing editor for The Association for Retail Environments, a non-profit retail trade organization in Hollywood, Fla. For the past year, Dori has served as Vice President of Programs for the SPJ South Florida Pro chapter. Prior to that, she served as Vice President of Membership, helping recruit nearly 30 new members. Dori graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2008 with a degree in Multimedia Journalism.

Lynn Walsh – V.P. of Programs

Walsh is an Investigative Producer for WPTV in West Palm Beach. Previously she worked as an Investigative Journalist for Texas Watchdog, a non-profit online journalism organization in Houston, Texas. She is a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and has also put time in at several other media organizations including WSYX/WTTE in Columbus,OH, WRGT/WKEF in Dayton, Ohio, WMAR in Baltimore, and “The Today Show” in New York City. Walsh is a member of the Radio Television Digital News Association, SPJ, where she serves as head of the Generation J committee, and IRE.

Brandon Ballenger – Treasurer

Ballenger is a freelance writer and graduate student at Florida Atlantic University, where he also received his bachelor’s degree in communication and English. He is a regular contributor to The South Florida Business Journal, and Money Talks News, an online outlet dedicated to personal finance and regularly featured on MSN, Yahoo! and broadcast on NBC, ABC, and CBS affiliates nationwide.

Rachael Joyner – Secretary

Joyner is a staff writer and photographer for Cross International, a South Florida-based charity that supports social development projects in 36 countries. Before coming to Cross, Joyner worked as a staff reporter for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. She has worked as a contributing travel writer for Jazziz Magazine and freelances as a Web designer, photographer, and writer. Joyner has served as Secretary for the SPJ South Florida Pro chapter for two. She graduated from Florida Atlantic University — where she served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, University Press — with a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism and political science.

Sergy Odiduro – Director

Odiduro is a reporter for the Forum Publishing Group. She began her journalism career as an editorial assistant at the Daily Business Review. She graduated from Bernard M. Baruch’s School of Communication with a bachelor’s in journalism. While in school, she was features and op-ed editor for the campus newspaper, The Ticker. She was also a contributor to Dollars and Sense, Baruch College’s review of business and society. Prior to joining the Daily Business Review, Odiduro interned with Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) and Radio Soleil D’ Haiti, where she produced and hosted a regular English-language news segment.

Lucy Chabot Reed – Director

Reed has been a reporter and editor in South Florida for 20 years. She has worked with the Sun Sentinel, South Florida Business Journal, CityLink, and New Times. She now is the owner and editor of The Triton, an internationally circulated, monthly newspaper for the folks who earn their living working on luxury yachts.

Rebekah Monson – Director

Monson has worked at the Sun Sentinel since 2005 as a designer, design director and a community manager for the business section of SunSentinel.com. She currently serves as a reporter covering Boca Raton. She also blogs for the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism on multimedia and online journalism. After graduating from Louisiana State University’s Manship School for Mass Communication in 2003, Rebekah worked at newspapers in the Northwest as a copy editor and a designer.

Devin Desjarlais – Director

Desjarlais is currently a Social Media Manager at Max Borges Agency where she manages the social media presences of high-profile consumer electronics companies.  Before joining the MBA team Desjarlais was the Web Editor for Broward-Palm Beach New Times. She’s a regular speaker at the semi-annual national student media conventions where she teaches new media sessions. Desjarlais graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in Multimedia Communications and a minor in Sociology. During her college years she served as Editor in Chief of FAU’s student newspaper during which time the staff produced a first-place award-winning story.

Cassie Morien – Director

Morien is the web and shop editor for Boca Raton and Delray Beach magazine. She joined JES Publishing in January 2011 after earning a degree in journalism and a minor in creative writing from the University of Central Florida. While at UCF, Morien served as a staff writer and columnist for aXis Magazine and interned at WOFL Fox 35.  She created her own music website and has freelanced for a variety of publications out of Austin, Texas, including The Deli Austin, Rare Magazine, Round Rock Leader, and Austin Music + Entertainment.

Gabriel Tyner – Director

Tyner was first introduced to journalism when he got a job at a news station in Gainesville Florida as an Associate Producer.  After that he made his way to director and finally producer of live TV.  After getting the investigative bug, Gabriel decided to move to a larger market in Orlando where he produced an award winning documentary “Chiefland.”  He writes for several online publications including examiner.com, productionapprentice.com, and his own blog about gangs in schools chasing-ghosts.com.  He graduated from the University of Florida with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Classics and Latin American Studies. Currently, he teaches TV and Film at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale.

Gideon Grudo – Student Director

Gideon Grudo has been a member of the SPJ South Florida chapter since the summer of 2010. He’s currently on the national board of SPJ as a student representative, on the board of the Florida College Press Association, the Editor-In-Chief of the University Press, Florida Atlantic University’s student-run newspaper, an intern with the Miami Herald, and a freelancer. Grudo has helped coordinate 4 SPJ programs: Will Write for Food 2011, All on Paper, Unethical Press and the First Amendment Free Food Festival (2011 @FAU).

Michael Koretzky – Immediate Past President

Koretzky served on the SPJ South Florida board from 2005-07 and the SPJ national board from 2008-10. He’s currently president of the Florida College Press Association, spring convention director for College Media Advisers, and volunteer adviser for the student newspaper at Florida Atlantic University. He’s been a freelance journalist for The New York Times, USA Today, and the National Enquirer; a staff reporter for the Sun-Sentinel, Florida Times-Union, and Athens (Ga) Banner-Herald; and an editor at the nation’s largest jazz magazine, two alternative weeklies, and a national website. His SPJ programs — Ethics Hold’em, Will Write for Food, and the First Amendment Free Food Festival — have won thousands in grants and been replicated around the country.

 Student member Gideon Grudo, Editor-in-Chief of the University Press at Florida Atlantic University, was elected to one of two Campus Representative positions. He now represents students and student chapters nationwide.

Important News From EIJ11

Last month, chapter delegates voted to increase member dues. For professional members, the annual fee is now $75, with post-graduates and students paying $37.50. The increase will take effect Jan. 1, 2012. Read more about the increase here.

Delegates also voted in favor of ”One Member, One Vote,” which allows each chapter member to elect national and regional board members. This will replace the current system, in which chapter delegates are sent to elect board members on behalf of the members. Chapter delegates will still vote on legislation, such as resolutions and bylaw amendments. Click here to read more about the new system.

The chapter sponsored the Unethical Press at Florida Atlantic University. The FAU paper, the University Press, celebrated SPJ Ethics Week in April by violating as many of the SPJ Code of Ethics as humanly possible.

At the annual Fall College Media Convention, which lured more than 2,00 college journalists to Orlando, the Associated Collegiate Press announced its annual Pacemaker awards — and the Unethical Press won first place for editorial supplement and an honorable mention for its design.

The Pacemakers, along with SPJ’s Mark of Excellence awards, are the most prestigious for college media students. If you’d like to attempt an Unethical Press, email chapter president Michael Koretzky for details.

On Monday, Dec. 12, come join your chapter representatives and members at Southport Raw Bar in Fort Lauderdale for our annual election meeting at 7:15 p.m. Food will be provided. All chapter members are encouraged to attend and vote for the 2012 board. If you are interested in running for a position, please check out our current list of board seats and contact Jason Parsley, chair of the nominating committee. See the full slate of candidates here.

If you are unable to attend, we welcome email voting prior to the event. Please stay tuned for more information on email voting and a list of candidates. RSVP to the event on Facebook here.

The South Florida Pro chapter is honored in the Campus Relations and Scholarship category. During SPJ Ethics Week in April, the chapter sponsored a uniquely unethical event at Florida Atlantic University. The student newspaper, the University Press, was recreated as the Unethical Press. Student journalists enjoyed the chance to create a newspaper that was part satire, part lesson in the purpose of ethical journalism. In another creative program, 20 adventurous students convened to publish an issue of The Homeless Voice, sold on South Florida street corners by vendors who are homeless.

Read the release for all national SPJ honors here.

SPJ South Florida Pro President Michael Koretzky wanted students to know what it was like to exist in a world without computers. As volunteer adviser for the University Press, FAU’s student-run school newspaper, Koretzky brought college students back a few decades with All on Paper. Here’s his recap.

Some board members showed up for a Saturday to document the event. Since we weren’t brought back to the 80′s, we live-tweeted the project while students figured out how to change the ink in a typewriter. See our Facebook photo album here.

Most students may hear a bunch of “back in my day” lectures, but the University Press staff lived it. Read their All on Paper issue here (online. The irony).

Chapter member Brandon Ballenger took to Storify to showcase how the event unfolded.

Meet-ups are held every other month at various venues across South Florida. If you would like to host, sponsor, or present a future chapter meet-up, please contact Executive Vice President Michele Boyet.

Our speakers include Devin Desjarlais, the Web Editor at New Times Broward-Palm Beach, and Danny Sanchez, the Online Content Manager at Sun-Sentinel.com.

Devin Desjarlais is the Web Editor at New Times Broward-Palm Beach, an alternative weekly newspaper run by the Village Voice Media corporation. Devin is responsible for the newspaper’s social media presence and site maintenance. Most of her SEO and web skills are self-taught, and she offers practical advice for the learning journalist. When she’s not playing with Facebook, she’s generating blog ideas for the section editors or writing about nudists. Follow her on Twitter: @ddesjarl

Danny Sanchez is the Online Content Manager at Sun-Sentinel.com, where he manages the day-to-day operations of the web site and mobile products. Danny was previously the Digital Platform Manager (a.k.a. Online Editor) at Courant.com and FOX CT’s CTnow.com, two Tribune Interactive news sites that form part of an integrated newsroom in Hartford, Conn. He also held online news editing and product management responsibilities at OrlandoSentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dannysanchez

• Who: SPJ’s South Florida Pro Chapter
• What: Writing for the Web and SEO
• Where: Maguire’s Hill 16, 535 North Andrews Ave. Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 (map)
• When: 7 p.m., Tuesday, July 19
• Cost: FREE

RSVP for this event here.

Parking is available for free in restaurant lot.

Follow us on Twitter while we live-tweet the event.

To sponsor this event, please contact Executive Vice President Michele Boyet.

Now beginning its third year, nearly half the board will be serving as advisers of the program while our chapter will also sponsor. Read below what they have to say about Will Write For Food….

Last year I helped two sophomore journalism students from University of Central Florida dress as if they were homeless. Residents of the COSAC shelter gave them ripped shirts and dirty tennis shoes and told them to go rub dirt in their hair and faces. They jumped in the back of a pickup truck with a staff photographer and I drove them to a street in downtown Fort Lauderdale. On one corner, Jessica begged for money with a cardboard sign and on the other, Hannah, sold the Homeless Voice while donning a bright orange shelter vest. As Ashley clicked away in the back of the truck, I drove in circles around the two girls. Watching the reactions of drivers as they passed by was incredible. Even more moving for me was helping Jessica and Hannah reflect and write about their life-changing experiences. The students were all phenomenal ― the girls wrote two amazing stories and our photographer’s stunning shots went on to win a national SPJ award. Now that’s what I call a badass assignment.

In the past two years, watching the students interact with the homeless has been an exciting and eye-opening experience for both the staff and the residents at the COSAC shelter ― it’s something you just can’t describe in words. I believe the “third time’s a charm” theory, and this year’s program will be incredible. So join us, if you dare.

Michele Boyet
SPJ South Florida Pro Executive Vice President

 

Photo by Ashley Crane, a Mark of Excellence 2010 winner for this photo

It’s not like anything you can imagine ― the smells, the sights, the people. Putting out a newspaper from a homeless shelter in 36 hours is as real as journalism gets. One of my favorite parts of Will Write for Food is watching the student journalists go into the shelter for the first time and eat alongside the shelter residents. Neither group knows what to make of the other, but somehow they find something to talk about. This program is all about stepping out of your comfort zone and into someone else’s. Last year, a student took that idea to the extreme as she spent an entire day with one of the shelter’s most cantankerous but beloved residents. Everyone in the shelter thought she was a nut for sitting in the hall with this guy for six straight hours when he was making fun of her and telling her to go away. But between his breaths from an oxygen mask and a cigarette she got to know the real guy behind the rough exterior. Not only did she write a kick-ass story, but, as she describes it, she got to talk with “someone extraordinary.”

Rachael Joyner
SPJ South Florida Pro Secretary

 

My first year at Will Write For Food I was a writer and tour guide. While surveying students in the cafeteria during dinner, I saw a young man in my peripherals shuffling in his seat to see the television at the front of the room. I apologized and moved out of the way, thinking it was one of our students eating quickly to return to reporting. He then got my attention. “So what are you all doing here?” he asked. I turned to him, shocked. It wasn’t a student. It was Patrick, a 23 year-old kid who lived in the shelter. I pulled out my notebook right then and interviewed him while he continued to eat his spaghetti. He doesn’t know that our conversation changed my life forever.
 

Dori Zinn
SPJ South Florida Pro Vice President of Programs

 

Staff from 2010 Will Write For Food

The first year of Will Write For Food, I served as copy desk chief and played it safe. I didn’t venture beyond our makeshift office, didn’t get to know the shelter or any of its residents. I still got a great clip ― what college student can say she’s copy edited an entire issue of a monthly newspaper herself? ― but that’s about all I got out of the experience.

Last year, I covered the residents of what’s known as “the psych room,” home to the shelter’s mentally ill residents ― who live with illnesses like schizophrenia. Its barrenness contrasts with the homeliness of the shelter’s other bedrooms. It’s poorly illuminated because they yell at you if you turn the lights on. It smells like a mix of feces and Lysol. No one enters except the men who live there and the occasional staff member, but I spent a day there. I listened to their stories. I got to know the men whom the rest of the residents ignore and avoid. And I got a lot more than any clip or classroom could ever give me.

Karla Bowsher
SPJ South Florida Pro Student Board Member

 

2010 Staff Testimonials

Apply now: Click here to read more about the program and how to join the staff.