Blogger Reality Check

Here it is December 29th, two days before the end of the year and nearly SIX WEEKS since the last posting on this web log and I'm just now taking time to update my online journal.

The reality is blogging takes time, time that I could be doing something else. At this very moment, I have today's New York Times which I've only glanced at and a Washington Post that I've only briefly scanned. There are two articles I know I want to read all the way through. Did I mention that I spent about 15 minutes with the Richmond Times-Dispatch over a late morning breakfast?

Where is a person supposed to find time to update a blog when he/she has all the other media-related tasks to do? And, I'm on winter break-- somewhat of a working vacation as I have packed two writing projects on which to work over the three weeks.

So, back to the question at hand-- when is someone supposed to have time to blog?

If you have the answer, let me know. Maybe I'll be more consistent the remaining days of 2005.

We'll see. Dinner's almost ready-- so I'll cut this posting short.

SW Symposium Wraps Up

The 28th Annual Southwest Symposium is history! I'm busy compiling all that I've learned. This photo was taken at Saturday night's dinner at The Stanley in Estes Park, Colo.

Later today, I hope to produce some audio clips from some of the sessions and post-conference interviews conducted.

Journey to the Rocky Mountains

The photos are forthcoming from today's journey to Rocky Mountain National Park. While some clouds obscurred the sun, we were able to spend the last few hours of daylight in the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains where elk roam and the snow lingers.

Yes, at least an inch of snow is on the ground up there. It's been years since I stepped foot into an inch of snow.

After our journey to the Rocky Mountain National Park, we came back down the mountain to Estes Park where we were treated to a fabulous lake trout dinner and tour of the historic Stanley hotel, which we learned tonight was the FIRST hotel in the nation to have electricity.

I'm worn out-- more later.

Lillie and I Present

The highlight of the weekend --- our presentation(smile) is now over Here you see a post-presentation two-shot of Dr. Lillie Fears and me. Lillie is one of the people who makes me look REALLY short.

A researcher on political proganda, race and gender, Dr. Fears is currently the Vice Chair for the Minorities and Communication Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

We had some snow flurries this morning here at the University campus. But the sun is out and it's clearing up nicely now. More later from Colorado.

SW Symposium Begins

After a morning of seeing downtown Greeley and chatting with the editor of the Greeley Tribune, the OFFICIAL business of the 2005 Southwest Symposium begins.

Minutes from now, the first panel of the symposium will begin here in the University Center of the University of Northern Colorado.

In the photo, you see members of the University of Northern Colorado faculty and staff assisting conference registrants as they pick up their badges.

The Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication started in the state of Texas. But, today the organization includes those from journalism/mass communication programs in Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Wyoming and I know I'm forgetting some of the states.

As a co-author of a paper from a colleague from Arkansas, I am ALSO participating in this meeting.

More to come later on what emerges from the sessions.

Visiting Downtown Greeley

What a GREAT time I had this morning with Mr. Randy Bangert, the Managing Editor of the Greeley Tribune.



I also got a chance to spend an hour walking the streets of Downtown Greeley. I stopped by the Weld County/Greeley Chamber of Commerce and picked up some very good background info. .. even had an informal interview with someone about the recent tax vote in Colorado. More on that later as well.

I spent about an hour with Mr. Bangert talking about some of the things happening at his newspaper in a town that is growing and changing by leaps and bounds.

My thanks to his editor, Chris Colber, who's on a Nieman fellowship this year, who paved the way for my visit today.

Randy not only talked about some of history of this town, which is part of Weld County, named recently as one of the fastest growing counties in that nation.

First Impressions of Colorado

My first few hours in Colorado have been rather uneventful. . a nice way to ease into a working weekend that begins in earnest tomorrow.

It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since the new DIA-- Denver International Airport opened. I vividly remember writing multiple updates on the FAILED baggage system at DIA in 1995.

Coming into the airport today-- on a DIRECT flight from Atlanta, I was relieved to pick up my bag without incident.

The shuttle ride from DIA to Greeley (about an hour's drive north) took nearly 90 minutes as there were TWO LEGS to the trip. The shuttle ride required me to transfer to second van in Loveland, Colorado. Along the way, I got a chance to see some of the commercial ventures from the WEST that we don't have (or used to have)" back East."

Besides, the Western U.S. version of Hardees-- called Carl's Jr, there are others..

The first of these is the SEARS GRAND store, which is the retailer's answer to the Wal-Mart SuperCenter and the Super-Target. We didn't stop at the store just northeast of the airport. But, it's been reported that the Sears Grand concept started here in the Western U.S. with the first store opening in Salt Lake City.

Another blast from the past--- Safeway Supermarkets (which used to operate in my home state of Virginia and in Washington, DC) STILL operate here in Colorado. It was great to see the old Safeway.

The big story here today is the aftermath of several referenda on the ballot across the state--one of which legalized marijuana in city of Denver. Police say since most arrests are made under state law, don't expect much to change. Still, the Denver vote is NATIONAL news as it joins Oakland, Calif. and Seattle, which also took votes on this issue.

The Post, which publishes a PM edition of the paper on its website, focuses on what Colorado legislators are doing. What a delight to come to a two-newspaper town (at least for now) as the Scripps (which recently shutdown its afternoon paper in Birmingham) publishes The Rocky Mountain News.

The Rocky Mountain News today reports that the weather guy at CBS affiliate, KCNC, is retired to guess where? Alabama. How's that for a connection back home.

Geared Up for Greeley

In just 36 hours, I will be making my first trip to the Centennial State. I've read about, heard about happenings in the State of Colorado. But, this week, I'll see it with my own eyes.

While I'll be flying into Denver, my trip takes me north of the state capital to the city of Greeley, home of the The University of Northern Colorado.

The occasion for my visit, the Southwest Symposium, which is sponsored by the Southwest Education Council in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Dr. Lillie Fears, who teaches journalism at Arkansas State University, and I will present our paper entitled "So What Can You Do?: Perceived Entry-Level Journalism Skills of Mass Communication Students."

The conference concludes with a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park and a closing dinner at the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, a mountain town in Colorado.

Pres, Mrs. Bush Visit My Alma Mater

Nearly a week after the University of Alabama was all excited about Condi Rice's visit, her boss and Mrs. Laura Bush visited my alma mater.

It's interesting that the Harriet Miers story overshadowed the White House's planned event today at Howard University.

Actual UA was part of the digital network of 19 universities involved in the event.

This photo from the White House website accompanies a story about the visit. So much for trying to keep things positive. I wonder if the White House Conference on America's Youth gets ANY coverage.

Oh well, it's nice to know that my school STILL attracts the attention of the leader of the free world-- who now is G.W. Bush. Of course, this was really Laura Bush's event.

Miers Withdrawal Becomes Teaching Tool

The Harriet Miers story became a great way to engage my convergence class on how online or web journalism tells a story in a rapid-fire, minute-by-minute way with which even TV can't compete. Having heard Washington Post.com editor Jim Brady talk about the role of the Supreme Court story in its coverage, I followed WashingtonPost.com for nearly an hour downloading and printing their multiple updates. By the end of the process, I had a 12-page handout that shows how the Post went from an A.P. wire story on this breaking news to a Washington Post-generated piece accompanied by promos of an 11am CHAT (or as the WashingtonPost.com calls-- Q&A) with the Post's white house correspondent. From purely a news standpoint, it's been an exciting week to watch big breaking stories. From the somewhat unexpected death of Rosa Parks to the indictment of a former Alabama governor to the White Sox sweep of the Astros to Harriet Miers. Of course, the national media are poised for yet another BIG story-- possible indictments of White House officials. We'll have to wait and see.

A Report to Students

Today I had the opportunity to report on what I learned at the convergence conference to students. Because all the presentations are up on our conference blog, I could just re-play key components of the conference for discussion.

It was a great chance to gauge their reaction to some of the ideas that went forth both at the convergence conference and the SPJ National Convention. I didn't get a chance to share everything. However, we spent an hour of class debriefing on the presentation by Washington Post.com Editor Jim Brady.

Brady also is featured in the 2005 edition of The Journalist magazine, which is published annually by the Society of Professional Journalists. I photocopied Brady's article there and plan to make the magazine a required text in my class in the Spring Semester.

SPJ 2005 is a wrap. This was my first SPJ Convention. Tonight I arrived back in Alabama and have completed my virgin BLOGGING experience. Two conventions and more than 20 postings in the last two weeks.  

While it's slightly out of focus, this does show me with Mark (center) and Richard (right). Boy, I have a LOT to LEARN about digital photography. And, I didn't even take this shot. Oh well, at least we have something to show for our reunion. 

Convergence Mark Butzow-Style

As my short time at the Society of Professional Journalists Convention began to wind down, I had a bit of a reunion with two colleagues -- one out west and one up North-- who are helping to advance the discussions about digital journalism and convergence.

Dr. Richard Craig (San Jose State University) and Professor Mark Butzow (Western Illinois University) were in attendance at the SPJ Convention.

Mark coordinated an excellent panel on convergence featuring a reporter from WFLA and the online editor at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Dateline Editor Accepts Mark of Excellence Award

Kovach Keynote Kicks Off Day 2

One of the nation’s most well-known journalism watchdogs has message for the journalists from his generation: stop resisting new technology and use it for make journalism even better.

Bill Kovach, author of The Elements of Journalism and founder of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, gave the keynote address kicking off the second day of the Society of Professional Journalists Annual Convention.

“Journalists must become a force to empower citizens to shape their own information,” said Kovach. “We must engage them with rarified factual information.”

The man behind the Committee for Concerned Journalists, which developed The Elements of Journalism, says he is currently developing the second edition of his book, which is required reading in many journalism classes.

“The elements will always hold because the elements are the tools that journalists have designed for over 300 years.to allow them to provide verified information.

SPJ Students Put to Work on Convention Newspaper

LAS VEGAS --- You might think the Society of Professional Journalists means just PROFESSIONAL journalists show up for a meeting like this. Actually students make up large portion of the delegates.

While the conference started on Sunday, one group of students has been here working since Saturday to cover the conference in daily newspaper, The Working Press.

Joshua Rinaldi, senior at the University of Cincinnati, is one of the student journalists covering the three-day convention. His very early arrival gave him a chance to have the lead story in the Monday edition of The Working Press.

The convention publication, which is published today, tomorrow and Wednesday,
doubles as both an educational opportunity for college students and a historical record of one of the largest annual gatherings of journalists.

“I happened to be the first one in Las Vegas. I went to this meeting, which lasted about five hours,” said Rinaldi. “I was working Sunday from 9 in the morning until 8 at night.”

Unlike the daily newspaper newsroom where most copy editing is done on computers, all stories students write for the Working Press are printed in hard copy and marked up for students to see what changes copy editors suggest making..

“It’s kind of nice to see more of the editing process. After the third story, I knew what not to do in a lot of circumstances. So that’s helpful.”

Even though he’s missing four days of school, Rinaldi says the chance to rub shoulders with so many professional journalists and get feedback on his reporting and writing is worth it.

Talk of Pandemic Tops First Day of SPJ Meeting

LAS VEGAS— Nearly a year after reporting on a nationwide shortage of flu vaccine, dozens of news reporters and writers are preparing to cover another flu phenomenon that could be far worse.

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists packed a workshop entitled “Covering the Coming Pandemic” this afternoon on the opening day of their annual convention.

The session was added to the convention line-up after a flurry of recent reports about the threat of Asian bird flu, which health officials say could spark a pandemic because a vaccine is not yet available.

“We have not been able to control the bird outbreak,”said Christopher Ohl, director of the Center for Antimicrobial Utilization at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Ohl spent much of 30-minute presentation on reviewing the basics on the genetic development of influenza virus and details on the H5N1 strain of influenza that’s responsible for several deaths in Asia.

Ohl was joined by Lisa Benton, chair of bioterrorism planning and preparedness section of the California State Department of Health Services.

Benton called on journalists to provide balanced reporting with as many facts about the recent flu strain as possible.

This afternoon’s workshop was co-sponsored by FACS, the Foundation for American Communications.

The 2005 SPJ Convention and National Journalism Conference continues tomorrow with keynote address by Bill Kovach, author of The Elements of Journalism.

Final Thought on Utah

Well, I've just returned from FEDEX where I shipped back to Alabama lots of goodies collected at this week's unprecedented experience here in the "Beehive State." Yes, I just learned Utah's nickname today. It's been just a fabulous three days, both experiencing Utah and re-uniting with colleagues who are researching and teaching about convergence journalism and cross-media reporting.

Tomorrow morning I head to Las Vegas, the first leg of my trip back to Alabama, where I'll be doing a TWO-DAY layover for the Society of Professional Journalists Annual Convention.

I hope to report from there starting tomorrow evening.

Voyage into the Mountains of Utah