awards

contacts

calendar

resources

join

national

archives

home

Article Archive

Open Letter to City of Oakland: The Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has written Oakland city officials to protest new restrictions on the media's use of the Oakland City Hall pressroom. "We are shocked and outraged that the democratically elected officials of a major American city could adopt a policy so unremittingly hostile to the principles of the First Amendment and destructive to the values and practices of the freedom of the press," said the March 23 letter. The chapter urges publications and media organizations to publish articles or editorials, and contact Oakland officials directly, to express their objections to the policy. For details, click here.

Let the Sunshine In: Interested in strengthening San Francisco's Sunshine Ordinance?  The Sunshine Ordinance Reform Initiative is proposed to go on the November, 1999 ballot. Getting the measure on the ballot will require submitting at least 10,510 valid signatures to the city by July 5. The NorCal chapter of SPJ, which helped write the original ordinance, strongly supports this campaign. For details, check out the article in the current NewsLink or email San Franciscans for Sunshine. Click here to read the existing ordinance.

Dark Alliance Revised: On May 20, 1998, the Northern California chapter of SPJ sponsored a panel discussion where expert journalists debated the quality of  media coverage concerning allegations that U.S. intelligence officials knew of and were involved in drug smuggling in Latin America. Among the panelists was Gary Webb, author of a new book, "Dark Alliance: the CIA, the Contras and the Crack Cocaine Explosion," who also wrote a controversial series on the subject while a reporter at the San Jose Mercury News. Here is the resource guide we compiled for the event.

Communications Decency Act: The Supreme Court in June 1997 struck down the key provision of the act most offensive to free speech advocates. Check out the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition and Center for Democracy & Technology web sites.

NorCal Chapter Wins Grant: Our chapter was among 14 winners in 1997 of a national SPJ grant that supports special chapter programs. Our Diversity Committee is using the money to conduct a content case study examining how cultural, ethnic and gender issues are handled by the San Francisco Bay Area media.

Steve Geimann Speech: Now past national SPJ President Steve Geimann spoke to members of the Northern California chapter at its 1997 membership meeting. Click here to read his remarks on the changing nature of the news business.