Author: Compiled for GJR
Post-Dispatch’s Bailon wins Editor of the Year Award
St. Louis Post-Dispatch editor Gilbert Bailon has won one of journalism’s top honors—the Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award given by the National Press Foundation. The foundation is a national journalism training organization that recognizes a newspaper or magazine editor annually. The award was established in 1984 but has been given in Bradlee’s name only since 2006. Bradlee, the longtime Washington Post editor, died last October at 93.
In selecting Bailon, the judges said: “If ever a newspaper and its editor faced a real-time stress test, it was the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and editor Gilbert Bailon in 2014. From the shooting of Michael Brown in August through the November announcement by the grand jury, the Post-Dispatch was under pressure. But it delivered for its readers and the larger St. Louis community with a breadth of coverage that is truly impressive. Hundreds of stories, dozens of editorials, every piece of evidence – all were there either in print or on the paper’s website. Most striking were the photographs, often taken at great personal risk to the photographers. Throughout it all, Bailon was a strong presence both in the community and in his newsroom, fighting for access and striving to keep the coverage balanced and emotions in check.”
The award was given in Washington, D.C., last week at the foundation’s annual dinner. Typically, the winning newspaper presents a short video on the winner. The Post-Dispatch produced one, in which various editors sung Bailon’s praises.
In brief remarks after the award was given, Bailon credited the newspaper’s ownership for “giving us the resources and latitude to do great journalism under great stress” after the Brown shooting. He observed that he never had been involved in covering such a “volatile” story.
Bailon said that the Post-Dispatch’s journalists “are the heroes tonight.” He noted that some had been assaulted in covering the Ferguson shooting’s aftermath, including one who was chased out of a backyard at gunpoint. Many Post-Dispatch employees have been subject to racial taunts and threats to cancel subscriptions, he said.
The Ferguson episode “has reaffirmed our vital role to tell stories…and to hold public institutions accountable,” Bailon said.
Among other recent winners of the award are David Remnick of The New Yorker, Leonard Downie Jr., Bradlee’s successor at the Washington Post, and Gregory L. Moore of the Denver Post, who was cited for his newspaper’s coverage of the mass killing at a suburban Denver movie theater.
Michel Martin to discuss Ferguson coverage
“Ferguson and the media” will be the topic discussed at a Journalism Review event March 19 hosted by veteran broadcast journalist Michel Martin. Martin has reported for the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and was host of NPR’s “Tell Me More.” She recently has reported on voting rights and racial justice issues.
The Thursday night dinner and program will be from 6 to 10 p.m. at Edward Jones Inc.’s corporate headquarters at 12555 Manchester Road and I-270. Cost is $150 per person. It will be the Fourth Annual First Amendment Celebration sponsored by the Gateway Journalism Review, successor to the St. Louis Journalism Review.
To attend, call Sherida Evans at 618-453-3262; or email Sherida @ siu.edu. USPS: Sherida Evans, Mailcode 6601, School of Journalism, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, Il. 62901
Social media firestorm surrounding Daily Egyptian decision catches administrators by surprise
The social media firestorm that surrounded the decision by Southern Illinois University’s board of trustees to put off voting on a media fee for the 98-year-old Daily Egyptian newspaper caught university administrators by surprise.
DE alumni from as far away as Iraq leaped to the paper’s defense, flooding social media, including the hashtag #savethede on Twitter.
Other examples included:
- The DE staff stayed up the entire night after the board meeting producing a special 17-page online edition containing its reaction and the reaction of alums at http://dailyegyptian.com.
- Well-placed DE supporters in the General Assembly arranged for a special $70,000 appropriation, earmarked for the DE, to be added to the SIU appropriation bill.
- Jackie Spinner, former Baghdad bureau chief of the Washington Post, showed up at the state capital and was walking out of a Senate leadership offices as the university’s new president, Randy Dunn, was arriving.
- Paul Pabst of the popular Dan Patrick sports program posted a YouTube video in support of the DE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2dhyPNwStA&feature=youtu.be)
Dunn, who said his email account was being bombarded with messages from DE alums, responded to the social media storm by saying the DE “is not going to cease publishing on my watch as president of the university.” He added that he hadn’t had time since taking office May 1 to study the fee proposal.
Dunn told William Freivogel, director of the School of Journalism, that he could take the media fee back to the executive committee of the Board of Trustees in June, in time to get the fee in place for the fall.
Dunn has asked Freivogel to put together a working group of media professionals to take another look at the need for a fee. A second group of DE alums also will review the proposal. All of this will occur in time for Dunn to return to the board committee by late June.
In a statement, Freivogel said he had vetted the fee last fall with a group of media professionals, including DE alums. That review had led to the development of the fee proposal, which was approved by Undergraduate Student Government, SIU’s chancellor, Rita Cheng, and the university’s outgoing president, Glenn Poshard.
In the statement, Freivogel said that “even though I believed we had thoroughly researched the fee proposal, I would form the group (Dunn) requested. I told him I would also want to run that group’s findings past the devoted DE alums, whose support has been so heartening in recent days.”
The $9 fee per student per semester fee for the four-day-a-week DE compares to a $7.80 fee already in place at Carbondale’s sister campus in Edwardsville for its weekly paper. The fee for the DE would raise about $260,000 a year, which is the projected deficit for the DE.
The DE’s ad revenue is about 50 percent of what it was in 2006, a trend similar to those reported at other student papers.
The trouble at the Daily Egyptian comes at a time when other college papers in the region are having trouble. The University of Missouri St. Louis recently refused to re-impose a student fee. At Webster University, Eric Rothenbuhler, dean of the School of Communications, cut the money going to the school newspaper. Details can be found online at http://gatewayjr.org/2014/04/04/student-paper-at-webster-university-faces-cuts.
In addition, Eastern Illinois University announced it would not publish a print edition this summer because of financial problems.
The Mid-America Emmy® Awards Return to St. Louis
This year’s 37th annual Mid-America Emmy® Awards return to Saint Louis Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Renaissance Grand Hotel. This is a night to recognize the very best in broadcasting within the Mid-America chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), which includes television markets in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas and Louisiana. Illinois native Margaret Judson from HBO’s “The Newsroom” will host this year’s event.
“We’re excited to have an actress with Margaret Judson’s credentials both in the entertainment and news business serve as this year’s host. Her diverse experience will be an added bonus to this year’s gala,” said NATAS Mid-America Chapter President Angie Weidinger.
Judson began her broadcasting career as a Page at NBC. Since then, she’s worked with an array of famous names in both the news and entertainment industries including Brian Williams and Jimmy Fallon. She was working as an assistant for MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann when she met screenwriter Aaron Sorkin who was doing research for his new show “The Newsroom.” She served as a consultant for the program before becoming a regular cast member on it.
This year more than 320 broadcasters are nominated for 85 Mid-America Emmy® awards. In addition to awarding those 85 Emmy® statuettes, the awards gala will also honor four television veterans who will be inducted into the prestigious Gold and Silver Circle. The Gold Circle honors 50 years or more of outstanding service in the television industry, the Silver Circle honors 25 years or more. This year, Edward J. “Ted” Koplar from KPLR-TV in Saint Louis will be inducted into the Gold Circle. Doug Quick from WICD in Champaign, Illinois, Mike Stroot from Technisonic Studios in Saint Louis, and Larry Washington from FOX 2 in Saint Louis will be inducted into the Silver Circle.
The Mid-America Emmy® chapter is also focused on fostering the future of broadcasting. In addition to presenting awards for excellence in broadcasting to 11 high school students and 6 college students, the chapter will also award a record $6000 in scholarships to area students pursuing degrees in broadcasting.
For a complete list of this year’s Mid-America Emmy® Awards nominees, visit the chapter’s website: www.emmymid-america.org
EMMY® 2013
Congratulations to all the Nominees!
The 37th Mid-America EMMY GALA ~ October 5th ~ Renaissance Grand Hotel St. Louis with Host Margaret Judson of HBO’S “NEWSROOM”
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MAGGIE EUBANKS
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NATAS Mid-America
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