History of North Central Florida SPJ
North Central Florida SPJ was formed as a result of a social, coordinated by Larry Savage and Ted Geltner, on May 11, 2005 at Napolitano's restaurant in Gainesville. About 24 people attended, including SPJ national president-elect David Carlson, and most signed up for membership to SPJ.
We held our first official SPJ meeting on June 16, 2005 at the Star-Banner in Ocala. Larry Savage was elected president.
Other officers were elected a month later. Those officers were: President-elect Ted Geltner; Vice President Dawn Reiss; Secretary Laura Byrnes; Treasurer Dave Snyder.
Board of Directors elected were Ed Barber, Dean Blinkhorn, Martha Ann Boyd, David Carlson, Jeanne Carlson and Tom Coleman.
The following is a review of our programs during our provisional year as a chapter.
Sept. 15, 2005: Mike Foley, former executive editor of the St. Petersburg Times and master lecturer at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, spoke about the trials and obstacles journalists face every day against a jaded public that has lost trust in newspapers. Program was held at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.
Jan. 18, 2006: Anaklara Hering, Joe Callahan and Doug Engle each spoke about reporting and providing communications in two of the most volatile areas of the world - Iraq and Afghanistan. Hering served four years as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. She began her service immediately after graduating from George Washington University in 2000 and was deployed to the Middle East from January to September 2003, serving in both Kuwait and Iraq. In Iraq, she was second in command of a mobile hospital that treated thousands of American and Iraqi patients. The Palm Beach Post published a July 4, 2004 article by her, documenting her experiences there. Hering talked about her experiences there and how national security usually wins out over the First Amendment rights of embedded journalists.
Joe Callahan (reporter) and Doug Engle (photographer) talked about their two week trip to Afghanistan in covering a local troop for the Ocala Star-Banner. Engle provided a slide show of a day in the life of soldiers in the region.
Program was held at Harry's restaurant in Gainesville.
March 16, 2006: Barbara Peterson, president of Florida's First Amendment Foundation, spoke at the Gainesville Sun about the importance of the Sunshine Law, which establishes a basic right of access to most meetings of boards, commissions and other governing bodies of state and local governmental agencies or authorities. Peterson stressed the public needs to understand that the law is as much for them as it is for the media. Program held on James Madison's birthday, the father of the First Amendment. Had a cake in his honor and showed George Clooney's movie, "Good Night, and Good Luck."
April 18, 2006: Blog expert Josh Hallett spoke at the Ocala Star-Banner about the popularity of this alternative news source. In 2002, Hallett founded hyku, a consulting firm specializing in information architecture, Web usability and the utilization of blogs for public relations and marketing success. He has been a consultant with the Orlando Sentinel as it expanded its communication capabilities with blogs in 2005-2006.
April 24, 2006: As part of SPJ's Ethics Week, and regional winner of an ethics grant, Kelly McBride, Poynter Institute's Ethics Leader, facilitated a forum discussion on anonymous sourcing and the ethical issues that surround it. Panelists were Lucy Morgan, former Pulitzer Prize winner and Tallahassee bureau chief for the St. Petersburg Times; Robyn Tomlin, executive editor of the Ocala Star-Banner; and David Snyder, anchor for WCJB-TV. Program held at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.
May 4, 2006: John Marvel, vice president and executive editor of ESPN.com, talked about directing the world's largest sports Internet site, with a staff of more than 70 online journalists. Program held at Napolitano's restaurant in Gainesville.
Among the plans for 2006-2007, is a statewide media contest and host of the Region 3 conference, which includes chapters in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. Tentative date for the conference is March 30-April 1, 2007 at the University of Florida. More information to come.