Hundreds of journalists from around the world will convene at the St. Louis Union Station Marriott Feb. 23-26 to share strategies and discuss the latest trends in data journalism during Investigative Reporters & Editors’ annual Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference.

The conference, one of two hosted by IRE, focuses on techniques to cull facts and report stories using data collected by governments and businesses. More than 130 speakers from dozens of news organizations, universities and nonprofits will be presenting at the four-day conference. Topics range from best practices in data visualization to tracking social media to fundamentals of the programming language Python and how to use Excel in your reporting.

New to data journalism? There are dozens of hands-on classes that teach the basics of statistics, databases, data visualization and more. Check out the full schedule for all of the panels and hands-on classes being offered.

This year’s conference will also feature a 12-hour hack-a-thon presented by ScraperWiki where journalists and computer programmers will “liberate” a data set that has been difficult to access. The folks from ScraperWiki will be on hand to help and lead an opening session  on how to scrape using Scraperwiki.

Early registration has ended, but on-site registration will be available every day of the conference.  Stop by the Marriot to learn more about data journalism or IRE.

NEW YORK – The Associated Press Board of Directors announced today that Mary Junck, chairman and CEO of Lee Enterprises, Inc., will become its new chairman.

Junck succeeds William Dean Singleton, chairman of MediaNews Group Inc., who has completed a five-year term as chairman of the AP board, which oversees the not-for-profit cooperative of U.S. newspapers and broadcasters. She will take over after the Associated Press annual meeting, in April.

As chairman of the AP board’s revenue committee, Junck has taken a leading role in promoting and helping develop industrywide innovations between AP and its members. In a pioneering collaboration between newspaper publishers and retailers in 2011, AP and 40 leading newspapers created a service called iCircular to provide new mobile advertising products that enhance newspapers’ advertising circulars with location-specific offers and interactive, engaging tools.

“The industry has long been the beneficiary of Mary’s deep understanding of the challenges facing all media companies in the digital age,” said Singleton. “She is a strong advocate for AP, for the value of original newsgathering and for everything AP stands for. She’ll be an outstanding chairman.”

“Dean and Tom Curley leave the cooperative with a solid foundation and an exciting future,” said Junck, who has served on the AP board since 2004 and is overseeing the committee charged with finding a replacement for AP CEO and President Tom Curley, who will be retiring when a successor is found. “It will be my honor to help AP continue on its path forward.”

“Mary brings legendary energy and passion for industry collaboration to this assignment,” said Curley. “She has worked closely with me on many transformation projects since being on the AP board and has contributed immeasurably with innovative thinking. She is the ideal person to extend the truly exemplary achievements accomplished under Dean’s leadership.”

Singleton, who was first elected to the AP board in 1999, became chairman in 2007. He founded MediaNews Group, one of the largest privately owned newspaper companies in the United States, in 1983. Singleton began his newspaper career at the age of 15 as a part-time reporter in his hometown of Graham, Texas, and bought his first newspaper at age 21. He served on the board of the Newspaper Association of America from 1993 until 2004 and served as chairman in 2002 and 2003. He is also publisher of The Denver Post and The Salt Lake Tribune.

Junck joined the AP board in 2004 and was re-elected to a three-year term by the AP membership in 2007 and again in 2010. She was named vice chairman of the board in 2008.

In 1999, Junck joined Lee Enterprises as executive vice president and chief operating officer. In 2000, she became president of Lee, a leading provider of local news, information and advertising in primarily midsize markets, with 52 daily newspapers, rapidly growing digital products and nearly 300 specialty publications in 23 states. She was named chief executive officer in 2001 and chairman in 2002.

Before Lee, Junck held senior executive positions at the former Times Mirror Co. As executive vice president of Times Mirror and president of Times Mirror Eastern Newspapers, she was responsible for Newsday, The Baltimore Sun, the Hartford Courant, The Morning Call, Southern Connecticut Newspapers and a magazine division. From 1993 to 1997, she was publisher and chief executive officer of The Baltimore Sun. She began her career with Knight Ridder at the Charlotte Observer in 1972 and advanced to assistant advertising director at The Miami Herald, assistant to the Knight Ridder senior vice president of operations, and to publisher and president of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Pulitzer Notes agreement enables implementation of debt restructuring throughvoluntary prepackaged Chapter 11 filing, preserving 87 percent of interests of stockholders and all interests of creditors and other business partners. Here is the press release from Lee.
>
> DAVENPORT, Iowa (December 2, 2011) — Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE: LEE), a leading print and digital provider of local news, information and advertising in 52 markets, has reached a key agreement necessary to proceed with a comprehensive refinancing of its debt.
>
> The agreement will extend Lee's Pulitzer Notes debt maturity to December 2015 and enable implementation of the overall refinancing plan announced in September.
>
> This is welcome news for all who have a stake in Lee,” said Mary Junck, chairman and chief executive officer. “We have achieved agreements with an overwhelming majority of our creditors on reasonable terms that preserve stockholders' interests in the company with only 13% dilution. As we previously noted as a possibility, implementation will require a favorable, voluntary, prepackaged Chapter 11 process to bind the remaining minority of non-consenting lenders to the terms. While such a filing falls under bankruptcy laws, it differs significantly from most such filings because it preserves interests of our current stockholders and all other parties. In our case, the process will simply provide a favorable legal framework for implementing the pre-negotiated refinancing on an expedited basis while business continues as usual with no impact on employees, vendors and customers. The refinancing, combined with our strong cash flow, will keep Lee on solid financial footing as we continue reshaping our company for long-term success by expanding our digital platforms, building audiences, driving sales and deleveraging to improve our balance sheet.”
>
> Lee announced in September that its credit facility will be amended and extended beyond its current maturity of April 2012 in a structure of first and second lien debt. The first lien debt consists of a term loan of $689.5 million, as well as a new $40 million revolving credit facility that is not expected to be drawn at closing, both of which mature in December 2015. The second lien debt consists of a $175 million term loan maturing in April 2017.
>
> As a condition to the refinancing of the credit facility announced in September, Lee was required to refinance the remaining $138 million of its Pulitzer Notes debt with a separate loan to be arranged. Subsequent credit market conditions did not allow for that debt to be refinanced on acceptable terms, and as a result, Lee chose to seek an amendment of the current agreement with existing creditors. Under the new agreement, the Pulitzer Notes will carry an interest rate of 10.55%, increasing 0.75% in January 2013 and each year thereafter. After adjustment for principal payments and non-cash fees to be paid to noteholders, the amended Pulitzer Notes will have a balance of $126.4 million at the closing of the transaction.
>
> The support agreement executed by the Pulitzer noteholders takes effect today, as does an amendment to Lee's current credit facility to allow unscheduled principal payments on the Pulitzer Notes and to facilitate other aspects of the refinancing. Additional details are included in documents being filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
>
> Carl Schmidt, vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, said Lee and its majority-owned subsidiaries expect to initiate the voluntary pre-packaged Chapter 11 filing on or about December 12, 2011.  Lee's interests in Tucson, AZ, and Madison, WI, are not included in the filing.
>
> “Our current debt agreements require 100% approval for key changes, including extension of maturities.  Because credit market conditions dictated the need to extend the Pulitzer Notes debt with current holders, we were not able to upsize the Pulitzer facility to $175 million as we had planned,” he said. “Consequently, our ability to pay out the last 6% of non-consenting lenders under our credit facility was limited, making the use of the prepackaged process necessary. This process is expected to have no adverse impact on company governance or operations. Immediately upon filing, the company will request authority to pay all suppliers and other vendors without delay, which is commonly approved in similar situations. All our digital and print products will be published as usual and no employees will be impacted. We expect to complete the restructuring process quickly and without disruption to our business, likely in 60 days or less.”

>
> He said the refinancing process also is not expected to affect the trading of Lee Common Stock on the New York Stock Exchange in light of the expected meaningful continuing equity value to be retained by current common equity holders. Lee is currently operating under an NYSE-approved plan, which is subject to periodic reassessment by the NYSE, to address non-compliance issues, including the need to increase the average closing price to $1 per share in accordance with NYSE requirements.
>
> Schmidt added: “Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the 2011 fiscal year will be filed with the SEC on or about December 9. Since the refinancing process will not be complete by that time, we expect KPMG LLP's opinion on our consolidated financial statements will be modified to contain going concern qualifying language. We also expect KPMG will re-evaluate the need for such qualifying language in the audit opinion upon our emergence from Chapter 11 proceedings.”
>
> The Blackstone Group is serving as Lee's financial adviser for the transactions.
>
> Lee Enterprises is a leading provider of local news and information, and a major platform for advertising, in its markets, with 48 daily newspapers and a joint interest in four others, rapidly growing digital products and nearly 300 specialty publications in 23 states. Lee's newspapers have circulation of 1.3 million daily and 1.6 million Sunday, reaching nearly four million readers in print alone. Lee's digital sites attracted 21.6 million unique visitors in September 2011. Lee's markets include St. Louis, MO; Lincoln, NE; Madison, WI; Davenport, IA; Billings, MT; Bloomington, IL; and Tucson, AZ. Lee Common Stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LEE. For more information about Lee, please visit www.lee.net.
>
> FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS — The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements. This news release contains information that may be deemed forward-looking that is based largely on our current expectations, and is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Among such risks, trends and other uncertainties, which in some instances are beyond our control, are the outcome and impact on our business of any resulting proceedings under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, the outcome of our independent registered public accounting firm's re-evaluation of its opinion on our financial statements as to our ability to continue as a going concern, our ability to generate cash flows and maintain liquidity sufficient to service our debt, comply with or obtain amendments or waivers of the financial covenants contained in our credit facilities, if necessary, and to refinance our debt as it comes due. Other risks and uncertainties include the impact and duration of continuing adverse economic conditions, changes in advertising demand, potential changes in newsprint and other commodity prices, energy costs, interest rates, availability of credit, labor costs, legislative and regulatory rulings, difficulties in achieving planned expense reductions, maintaining employee and customer relationships, increased capital costs, maintaining our listing status on the NYSE, competition and other risks detailed from time to time in our publicly filed documents. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words “may”, “will”, “would”, “could”, “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “project”, “consider” and similar expressions) generally should be considered forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are made as of the date of this release. We do not undertake to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements.

The following people were named to the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame in the radio category. The ceremony will be June 8 at Gio’s Ristorante and Bar.

Doug Eason, after working as a broadcast specialist for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, made his mark in commercial radio in a career that spanned more than 40 years. Most of those years were spent in St. Louis radio, where he was remembered by listeners as a gentle-voiced disc jockey and strong presence in his community. However, the man affectionately known to his co-workers as “The Leprechaun” also worked as VP/GM of KATZ and WESL. His undergraduate degree from SIU Carbondale opened doors for him later in his life. While teaching full-time and mentoring high school students, Doug Eason also hosted a daily show on WGNU.

Jim Gates began his career at KATZ in 1968. After three years, he moved to KWK, followed by WESL, where he was co-owner of the station and served as GM and PD. In 1986 he returned to KATZ as GM. He also worked at KXOK in 1993 and then at KMJM where his show was the highest-rated at the station. In 2000 Jim had a show on the Peabody Award-winning KZJZ, and he also worked at WFUN-FM. Known as “The Brown-Eyed Scorpio, Gates earned more than 40 Gold Records from the music industry. He became one of the first jocks in the country to play Hip Hop when he introduced his listeners to the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” The NAACP presented Jim Gates with its Legend Award in 2008.

Columbus Gregory’s part-time job in 1959 turned into a lifetime career. He began working as a remote engineer at KATZ while attending Hubbard Business School. His duties soon expanded to include work in the station

’s promotions and marketing departments. Four years later he was hired as an announcer at KXLW, where he stayed for 19 years. Shortly after he moved to WGNU-FM, the station was sold to a national chain, and Gregory moved to KIRL in 1979. That station was sold in 2005, and Gregory was soon working for KXEN/WGNU as an announcer and senior account executive. He appeared as the announcer in the movie “Say Amen Somebody” and was named one of America’s Top 25 Disc Jockeys by Dollars and Sense magazine in 1986.

Nancy Pool once worked as administrative assistant to KXOK’s PD Bud Connell in the ‘60s. She learned well, moving on to manage several stations in the St. Louis market, where her strength in ad sales served her and her employer well. She was president of KADI-FM, VP/GM of KSHE, WIL-AM/FM and was brought in to resuscitate the operations of KMOX-FM, KXOK/KLTH, and KWK/KGLD. She was featured in “Who’s Who in Radio and Television,” “Who’s Who in Advertising” and “Who’s Who in American Women.” After leaving radio she went on to a second successful career in real estate sales.

Ron Lipe was the given name of “Prince Knight.” and a generation of St. Louis rock radio fans will smile. His given name was only used on the air a short while during a stint at WIBV, but he soon evolved into Ron Brothers and then Uncle Buck. It was during this time that he managed to corner a rising star appearing in St. Louis for a rare one-on-one interview – Elvis Presley. But it was his work as disc jockey Prince Knight at KSHE that created the legend that still lives. From the deep-voiced on-air philosophizing to the caped personal appearances, Brothers’ prince persona became etched in the memories of his young listening audience.

The following were named to the print portion of the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame to be held at Gio’s Ristorante and Bar June 8 in St. Louis.

Linda Eardley showed up for her first day of work at the Post-Dispatch in 1969 to se

e row after row of white men typing, smoking and yelling. She would soon learn that she was the first woman reporter hired onto the city desk. After a few months of working general assignment, Eardley was assigned to work with other female writers for the now-defunct Women’s Page and Sunday Society Page. In 1972, she returned to the city desk where she worked for the next 24 years as a general assignment and Illinois reporter, education reporter, assistant Illinois editor and fill-in for a variety of day and night editors. Among her most memorable stories, she listed those on excessive spending by the St. Louis Schools superintendent, the murder-for-hire of the highly insured inventor Victor Null, the St. Louis schools desegregation case and being a part of the on-going coverage of major stories such as the flood of 1993. She retired from the Post-Dispatch in 2005.

Alice Belcher was a pioneer. She was the first woman to enter the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in 1870. She was the first woman employed by the St. Louis Democrat. She wrote a weekly column to earn book money under the pen name “N.D.,” which stood for “nikeso dynamai,” which is Greek for “I will conquer; I am able.” She later moved to New York and wrote articles for the New York Evening Post and Popular Science Monthly, including stories such as “Is Education Opposed to Motherhood?” and “Woman and the Ballot.” “She expressed her strength of will by forthright presentation in St. Louis and clever guile in New York, which persuaded newspapers to accept her work — and pioneered the way in journalism for publication of the written word and commentary by other women,” her grandson, John Tweedy, told Washington University biographer Candace O’Connor.

Selwyn Pepper, longtime Post-Dispatch reporter, editor and rewrite man, is credited with helping the newspaper win three Pulitzer Prizes for Public Service. He also was one of the co-founders of the St. Louis Jewish Light in 1963. In his first year as a full-time reporter at the Post-Dispatch in 1936, Pepper contributed to a voter-fraud investigation that resulted in a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. He also helped the paper win Pulitzers for stories on corruption in the Internal Revenue Bureau and for coverage of a Centralia, Ill., coal mine disaster that killed 111 in 1948. Pepper served as city editor, features editor, news editor and reader’s advocate. He was a mentor to several generations of journalists.

Carl Schurz was a Civil War brigadier general who founded several papers, including the Westliche Post (Western Post), one of St. Louis’ German newspapers, where he hired Joseph Pulitzer as a cub reporter. Schurz was a leading member of the Republican Party and in 1860 campaigned for Abraham Lincoln in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. After the election, Lincoln appointed Schurz as U.S. envoy to Spain. Schurz became the first German-born American elected to the U.S. Senate in 1869 and later served as Secretary of the Interior in President Rutherford Hayes’ administration. After leaving office in 1881, Schurz returned to journalism and became managing editor of the New York Evening Post. He also wrote for Harper’s Weekly, The Nation and had several books published including, “The Life of Henry Clay” (1887) and “Abraham Lincoln” (1891). Schurz is famous for saying, “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.”

Elaine Viets capped a successful gig of more than two decades as a columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by easing out of the position and into the job of writing novels. She developed a large following with appearances on St. Louis TV and radio, and many of her columns were based on the quirkiness of South St. Louis. Her first series in the world of books was based on the sleuthing of newspaper columnist Francesca Vierling, and St. Louis readers found many of the characters in those novels resembled well-known local figures, including a few high-profile media people. For her novel writing, Elaine won the Agatha, Anthony and Lefty Awards.