Spot News

Vol. 15, No. 7 APRIL 2009

A publication of the East Tennessee Chapter
of the Society of Professional Journalists
www.etspj.org
1802 Pinoak Ct.
Knoxville, TN 37923
April 17National celebration of SPJs
100th anniversary, SPJ headquarters,
Greencastle, Ind.
April 17ETSPJ Ethics Poker night
and pizza/SPJ anniversary celebration,
6:30 p.m., Jean Ash house, 1802 Pinoak
Court, off Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville
April 27ETSPJ board meeting, 9 a.m.,
Longs Drug Store
April 30Town hall meeting on news
National SPJ, ETSPJ set
town hall meeting on credibility
SEE FROM THE PRESIDENT, PAGE 2
From the president
BY MIA RHODARMER
ETSPJ
RHODARMER
Amanda Womac, organizer of
Writing Green, speaks during
the environmental journalism
conference March 27. At the
table, from left are Ann Keil,
reporter, WATE-TV; Rikki Hall,
editor, Hellbender Press and
contributor to Metro Pulse; Dr.
Gregory Button, UT professor of
anthropology and former public
radio reporter; Scott Barker,
environmental reporter, News
Sentinel, Knoxville.
Photo from Writing Green environmental journalism conference
PHOTO BY RANDY NEAL, www.knoxviews.com
media ethics program in cooperation with
national SPJ, Baker Center, UT-Knoxville
May 15Golden Press Card Awards
banquet, The Foundry
June 5-7Ted Scripps Leadership Insti-
tute, Indianapolis
July 18Front Page Follies, Knoxville
Aug. 27-29National SPJ Convention,
100th anniversary observance, India-
napolis
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
8 - Spot News
Happy birthday to us.
The Society of Profes-
sional Journalists is cel-
ebrating its 100
th
birthday
Friday, April 17. There will
be an offcial celebration
in Greencastle, Ind., the
birthplace of SPJ. Our
own chapter member,
Georgiana Vines, who is a past national
president, will attend.
Chapters across the nation will be hold-
ing their own celebrations that night. Here
in Knoxville, we will celebrate with an
evening of SPJ Ethics Poker. I know that
that sounds funny, ethics and poker. But
we will be playing with special SPJ cards
that include the Code of Ethics. And, there
will be fun prizes for the winners.
Ethics Poker Night will be at 6:30 p.m.
at Jean Ashs home in Knoxville. Visit
our Web site (www.etspj.org) for direc-
tions. We will have pizza to eat, and you
can bring your beverage of choice for the
evening. Please plan to join us!
Also as part of the 100
th
anniversary,
SPJ has asked 10 chapters to hold town
hall meetings about ethics and credibility.
Our East Tennessee chapter was chosen
as one of the hosts. Our meeting will be
at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at the Baker
Center on the UT campus.
The evening will begin with a discussion
about how citizen journalism, bloggers and
reader/viewer comments play into de-
veloping stories. Is the information people
get from those sources different than
April 30 at Baker Center
In todays world of 24-
hour access to information,
the need for credible, fair
reporting is more important
than ever.
T h e S o c i e t y o f
Professional Journalists
will observe Ethics Week,
April 27-May 1, by hosting a series of
town hall meetings focused on restoring
journalistic credibility by helping readers,
viewers, listeners and Web site visitors
understand what credible journalism is.
The East Tennessee Society of
Professional Journalists has been selected
as one of 10 chapters across the country to
host one of these meetings, beginning at
7 p.m. Thursday, April 30, in the Toyota
Auditorium of the Howard Baker Jr.
Center for Public Policy on the University
of Tennessee campus in Knoxville. The
Baker Center is cosponsoring the event.
The meeting will begin with a discussion
about citizen journalism, bloggers and
reader comments on Web sites. As more
and more media businesses cut their news
staffs, editors and news directors may rely
on citizen journalists to fll vacancies or
to provide frst-hand accounts of events.
However, do these citizen journalists
operate under the same ethical guidelines
as trained journalists? Bloggers and Web
site visitors often comment on popular
issues and stories presented in the news,
which can blur the line between factual
information and opinions.
SPJs large and diverse membership
consistently identifes ethics as one of the
organizations most important missions.
The SPJ Code of Ethics, frst adopted in
1926, is an industry standard. One element
of the code is to invite dialogue with the
public over journalistic conduct.
During the town hall meeting, the
audience is encouraged to ask questions
about how local stories are covered and
the decision-making process of editors
and reporters as they go about their jobs
of covering and presenting the news.
The panel will include Jack McElroy,
editor of the News Sentinel, Knoxville; Bill
Shory, WBIR-TV news director; Michael
Grider, VolunteerTV.com interactive
producer; and Glenn Reynolds, UT law
professor and founder of Instapundit.
com. Marianna Spicer, Cable News
Networks (CNN) executive editor for
news standards, Atlanta, will moderate
the program.
She joined CNN in January 1994, frst
as weekend supervisor in the Washington,
D.C. bureau and was promoted the next
year to senior producer. In 1999, she joined
the news standards and practices offce
and deputy to Executive Vice President
Rick Davis. Earlier, she was executive
producer for CBS News Face the
Nation, producer of ABCs This Week
With David Brinkley and as producer for
notable CBS news programs such as 60
Minutes.
For more information, call East Tennessee
Society of Professional Journalists
President Mia Rhodarmer at (423) 337-
7101 or editor@advocateanddemocrat.
com.
SPICER
We are creeping back up to near typical
numbers, John Becker, WBIR-TV news
anchor and ETSPJ membership chairman,
said. Becker noted that ETSPJ had 66
members as of March 30. In February, the
chapter had 61 members.
ETSPJ numbers back up
Check SDX winners
Anyone interested in learning who has
won awards in the Sigma Delta Chi contest
of national SPJ can go to www.spj.org/
news.asp?REF=878#878.
Mia Rhodarmer, president
Jean Ash, rst vice president
and communications coordinator
Elenora E. Edwards, second vice president/
Golden Press Card Awards and Spot News
editor
John Huotari, secretary and immediate past
president
Dorothy Bowles, treasurer and FOI chairman
John Becker, membership chairman
Michael Grider, program chairman
Amanda Womac, diversity chairman and
student liaison
Kristi Nelson Bumpus, ethics chairman
Georgiana Vines, at large; Adina Chumley, ex
ofcio
ETSPJ Ofcers and Board of Directors 2008-09
From the president
FROM PAGE ONE
2 - Spot News Spot News - 7
what they get from trained journalists
working for media businesses? Are
citizen journalists and bloggers bound by
the same ethics as working journalists?
How can readers and viewers distinguish
among the different sources? What is the
role of the journalist in this new age of
24/7 news coverage?
These are just some of the topics to be
covered. National has encouraged us to
leave the foor open for other questions
pertaining to media ethics and credibility
and the decision-making process we go
through as we do our jobs.
We will send out a press release about the
meeting soon. Please help us publicize this
event and encourage public participation
by running the release in your newspapers
or mentioning it in a broadcast and adding
it to your calendar of events.
The future of the news media
I am writing this during a break at the
Region XII conference in Little Rock.
There has been a lot of good discussion
about the future of the media, especially
newspapers, and what role the Internet
will play in our future.
The majority of the people here are stu-
dents. They are getting ready to embark on
careers in an ever-changing feld and one
where there is a lot of uncertainty right now.
And, those of us who have been journalists
for many years are often shaking our heads,
wondering whats coming next and what
our jobs will be in the future.
One thought that keeps me going is that
we have an essential role in our country and
in helping to making democracy work. Yes,
we must provide some entertainment along
the way, but there always will be a need
for reporters to cover our city and county
commissions, to know how our school
boards are running our school systems, to
keep tabs on how our local governments
are spending our tax dollars, to know how
the planning commissions newest regula-
tions may impact our personal property and
our neighborhoods. People need to know
about the things that affect their lives and
their wallets.
How we present that news may change,
and our companies may not be as proftable
as they were in the past, but we provide an
essential service to our communities and
the people who live in them.
I am honored to be a member of an orga-
nization that has worked for 100 years to
protect the freedom of the press, the free
fow of information and to educate and
aid journalists around the world as we go
about our jobs.
Lets celebrate 100 years of SPJ and look
forward to 100 more.
BY GEORGIANA VINES
Auction items are needed for the Front
Page Follies on July 18.
As auction chairman, I am appealing to
every ETSPJ member to consider contrib-
uting one item.
How about a gift certifcate from your fa-
Auction items needed for Front Page Follies
vorite restaurant? Do you make jewelry or
stained glass windows or take photographs
that you would donate for the auction?
I recently interviewed Alan Lowe, whos
leaving as executive director of the Howard
H. Baker Jr. Institute for Public Policy
at UT to become director of the George
W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas.
I asked if he would provide a letter for
four free admissions to the library when
it opens. He agreedand said he also
would offer a tour.
Please take advantage of opportunities
like that and let me know about them. Wed
like to have some different and successful
items this year.
Jim Crook, the retired director of UTs
School of Journalism, is helping out with
this.
Contact either of us with your ideas. If
its something that has to be picked up,
we can arrange that.
Were available at gvpolitics@hotmail.
com or jcrook@utk.edu.
The Bill of Rights Institute will hold a
constitutional academy July 19 through
Aug. 1 in Washington, D.C. The deadline
for applying is April 17. For information,
including scholarships, see www.
billofrightsinstitute.org/dbacademy.
Institute planned
Looking ahead
The ETSPJ nominating committee
is working toward a slate of officers
and board members for 2009-10. John
Huotari is chairman.The committee
selected Elenora E. Edwards, second vice
president/Golden Press Card, to attend the
Scripps Leadership Institute June 5-7 in
Indianapolis. Offcers are elected by mail
ballots in the summer.
If one is interested in serving on the board
or assisting with ETSPJ projects such as
Golden Press Card and Front Page Follies,
the offcers and board members will be
grateful. Contact Huotari, john.huotari@
oakridger.com.
BY JEAN ASH
A hundred thousand blogs are being
started every day, and most are being read
only by the blogger and his mother.
So says Sree Sreenivasen, professor and
dean of students at Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism, who adds
that some, like East Tennessees own
Instapundit, attract tens (if not hundreds)
of thousands of readers a day. Thats a lot
of eyeballs, which Sree says is the cur-
rency of blogging.
So, how do you create a blog that falls
comfortably between the two extremes?
Sree says you need to fnd a niche, an angle.
A catchy tag line, what it is youre sell-
ing with original reporting, an original
point of view. Moreover, you dont need
millions of eyeballs, just the right ones,
a subset of those addicted to the Web,
he says.
Then, drive the eyeballs toward you
with a lot of posts. His mantra is con-
tent, content, content. Your posts dont
need to be long, but they do need to be
frequent. Check out Instapundit.com to
see the master at work with rat-a-tat-tat
posts. Sree notes that the technology of
blogs today is easy; the hard part is fnding
something to say.
The best way to build a blog, according
to Sree, is to post as much as humanly
possible without losing your day job.
That could be something like 10 posts
a week, if theyre good. He cited one
blogger as spending two hours on a Sun-
day afternoon writing several posts and
postdating them so that they appear on
the blog throughout the week, making
it seem like the author is posting all the
Figuring out blogs and whatevers next,
session at the SPJ Convention in Atlanta
time. Otherwise, he recommends dedicat-
ing at least fve to 15 minutes a day on
your blog.
Material could come from outtakes
from interviews, color that won`t ft into
your regular writing, interesting things
you see elsewhere on the Net. Also,
make the blogs of others work for you.
Participate in other blogs by commenting
or posting something intriguing that will
make readers click back to your blog to
see what else you have to say. When you
make a particularly good entry, e-mail a
note to all your friends and/or post it on
your Facebook or Twitter account.
Your blog can be part of your rsum for
a traditional job, too. 'Publishers, acquisi-
tion editors and the like read blogs and get
an idea of a persons value from his or
her blog. Srees bottom line, particularly
valuable in these times of economic crisis,
is that the more you can do for yourself
via a blog, the more you can withstand
layoffs and show you have additional
value by having developed a fan base. He
says this is of particular value to television
journalists.
If you have a few hoursmake that a vir-
tual lifetimecheck out Srees Web site,
http://sreetips.com/blogs.html. There you
will fnd more tips from this workshop,
some of Srees own blogs, plus links to
blogs of all types that he recommends:
conservative, liberal, those by journalists,
about journalists, business, entertainment,
travel, photography, video, techthe list
is nearly endless. One blog in particular
that he thinks every journalist should check
every day is that of Romanesko, now at
Poynter.org.
BY JOHN HUOTARI
The Oak Ridger
Many scientifc conclusions might not
be correct, and readers of research studies
should be skeptical, the editor-in-chief of
Science News said March 13.
All kinds of studies in many areas turn
out to be wrong, said Tom Siegfried, who
is also an award-winning science writer.
As an example, he cited studies that show
that coffee is good for people one year,
only to be contradicted by later studies
that say that its bad.
During an hour-long talk at the Univer-
sity of Tennessee, Siegfried denounced
the current system used to judge whether
an experimental fnding is statistically
signifcant. But people who use it don`t
want to rock the boat or dont know
about the boat anyway, and, in any case,
want to get published in scientifc research
journals, he said.
Its all bogus, Siegfried said.
He also condemned clinical trials, the
gold standard of medical judgments.
His lecture was called Odds Are, Its
WrongThe Misuse of Math in Science,
Medicine and the Media.
Much of Siegfrieds talk, part of the Alfred
and Julia Hill Lecture Series, focused on
what he regards as the faults in a statisti-
cal method and argument commonly used
in scientifc research, employing what
are known as P values. Some of the
concepts are not well understood, even
by some of the scientists who use them,
Siegfried said.
But Siegfried, who is also a book author
and former science writer at the Dallas
Morning News, laid out some easier-to-
understand concepts. For example, he
outlined the recipe for science news -- as
well as wrong science and wrong science
news.
Errors are likely to be found in the very
types of stories that journalists pursue,
Siegfried said, including frst reports on
new research, advances in a hot research
feld, or fndings that are contrary to previ-
ous belief.
Incorrect conclusions can sometimes lead
to politicians making decisions based on
information that is wrong, he said.
In the end, science does provide valuable
information, but, along the way, some
wrong information may be published or
used, Siegfried said. I am not saying that
science is worthless, he said.
He said there is hope and offered a brief
Be skeptical, be very skeptical
overview of what he called Bayesian Sta-
tistics, which he said echoes the idea that
an experiment has to be replicated. Its also
based on the idea that prior outcomes and
additional information are important.
So what should the average person do
when trying to determine, for example,
whether wine is good or bad for them,
based on scientifc research? Siegfried
was asked.
You need to be really a skeptical audi-
ence, he responded. Theres always the
chance that the statistics are wrong.
Siegfried, who has a masters degree and
has studied journalism, chemistry, history
and physics, also encouraged audience
members to think about their information
sources and said the specialist media is
more likely to be reliable than the non-
specialist media.
The Hill Lecture Series brings dis-
tinguished science journalists to UT to
talk about science, society and the mass
media. The lectures are made possible by
an endowment created by Tom Hill and
Mary Frances Hill Holton in honor of their
parents, Alfred and Julia Hill, founders of
The Oak Ridger.
6 - Spot News Spot News -3
Golden Press Card banquet
to recognize journalists best work
Youll want to be present Friday, May 15,
for the annual Golden Press Card Banquet.
Youll want to know whos wonmaybe
you in the 26 categories. Youll want to
hear Bob Benz talk about the mixed mes-
sage of the news media today.
Award winners wont be announced until
the banquet. It will be held Friday, May 15,
at The Foundry at 747 Worlds Fair Park
Drive at the north edge of the Worlds Far
Park in Knoxville. A cash bar will begin
at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:15.
In addition to the general awards, a
Golden Press Card Award will be presented
the top entry, and a Horace V. Wells,
Jr., Community Service Award will be
conferred as well. In most categories,
Awards of Excellence, Awards of Merit,
third place and honorable mention will
receive awards. Awards of excellence re-
ceive plaques, while the other three places
receive certifcates. Plaques go to the GPC
Award and Wells Award winners, and the
GPC winner also will receive $100.
Benzs topic is Shut Down Your Web
Sites!
In addition, Larry Van Guilder, chairman,
will recognize B.J. Guerrero, the winner
of the ETSPJ High School Essay Contest,
who has written on why free news media
are important. This is the second year for
the contest.
Elenora E. Edwards, ETSPJ second vice
president/Golden Press Card, and Dorothy
Bob Benz, 46, is the chief
operating offcer of Radiant
Markets, LLC, a multi-
channel online advertising
technology platform
engineered to power the
delivery of competitive
advertising solutions to
local businesses across
the United States. Before
Radiant Markets, Benz
was a partner in Maroon Ventures. He also
served as vice president of interactive media
for Scripps newspapers. He spent 10 years
in newsrooms before helping to launch the
Rocky Mountain News Online in 1995. t was
all nternet from there. His team in Knoxville
helped Scripps sites win numerous online
awards, and he led Scripps' newspaper
sites to proftability in 2002. Revenue and
cash fow increased substantially in each
subsequent year. He holds a B.A.degree
from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania
and an M.A. degree from the University of
Alabama at Birmingham.
BENZ
Bowles, treasurer and freedom of informa-
tion chairman, are in charge of the Golden
Press Card event.
The cost of the dinner is the same as last
year, $20 in advance and $25 at the door if
space is available. To make reservations,
go to www.etspj.org, where one can pay
by credit card. Or, copy and fll out the
attached reservations form and mail a
check to East Tennessee SPJ, c/o Elenora
E. Edwards, P.O. Box 502, Clinton, TN
37717-0502. The check should be made
to ETSPJ Golden Press Card.
The deadline for making reservations
is May 8.
MUST REGISTER!
Check www.etspj.org for the op-
tions you have for making res-
ervations for the Golden Press
Card Awards Banquet and to pay
for dinner with PayPal. The dead-
line is May 8.
May 15 at The Foundry
EDITORS NOTE:Following is the
high school essay entry chosen as the
winner in the ETSPJ contest chaired
by Larry Van Guilder, Shopper-News
Now. The winner is a 12th grade stu-
dent of Joy Caleb at Upperman High
School, Baxter.
BY B.J. GUERRERO
Freedom of speecha phrase that so
many people have trouble understanding.
What is so hard about freedom of speech?
We have the right to say what is on our
minds, and no one has the right to take
that freedom away from us. It is with this
freedom that we get information that is vital
to our everyday lives; it is with this freedom
that we do not live in a world blindfolded
from the truth. This freedom has given birth
to a new weapon: free news media.
Free news media are an essential part
of everyday life because they inform the
society of events that are paramount to our
knowledge. I was born in The Philippines,
and my stay there was not a very pleasant
experience. Over there, poverty and scarcity
of food devour the lands. Televisions, news-
papers and phones are almost nonexistent in
some places. In contrast, the United States
has one of the worlds largest communica-
tions services, and in addition, we are the
worlds most prosperous country. We need
free news media to balance the scale. In
countries such as The Philippines, some
areas need to know what is occurring in the
world around them. People in those areas
are already stricken with poor housing and
food, why do you want to make their lives
worse? Let them be informed and educated
in events that are happening within their
area, and their lives will be better.
Also, free news media give students like
me and many other people [a means] to
voice their opinions. Where would we be
without Martin Luther King Jr. speaking
about the errors of racism and the beauty
of unity? Where would we be without
President Barack H. Obama giving his
inaugural address to the country? This
freedom allowed others to speak what is
on their minds and give the general public
an idea of what and how they think. Some
speeches may not be the best in terms of
context, but the overall idea is that they got
to speak freely without bounds.
My experience as an immigrant and my
experience in news media class got me to
realize how important free news media re-
ally are. I would give up soda; I would give
up my personal belongings; I would give up
eating sweets; but I will never give up the
right that was given to mespeech.
Free news media
Conference
FROM PAGE 5
SPJ has joined an amicus brief written
by the Tennessee ACLU supporting a
magazine that won an open records battle
in its quest to cover and analyze prison-
ers rights.
The brief supports the appeal of Prison
Legal News, which is fghting off an appeal
by the Corrections Corp. of America, a pri-
vate company that operates state prisons in
Tennessee, after a lower court determined
that the CCA was subject to the states open
records laws. The brief argues that the trial
court was correct in determining that the
law in Tennessee requires contractors of
the corrections system to turn over records
upon public request, just as government
agencies must do.
The Prison Legal News also has ap-
pealed the lower courts decision to deny
it attorneys fees in the case. The Prison
Legal News should have its legal fees
paid by CCA, said SPJ President Dave
Aeikens. It would serve as a good deter-
rent to those who refuse to release public
information.
Joining the ACLU and SPJ in support-
ing the Prison Legal News on appeal are
the Reporters Committee for Freedom
of the Press, the American Society of
Newspaper Editors, the Associated Press
and the Association of Capitol Reporters
and Editors.
SPJ supports prison magazine on open records
and a little less light to the issues.
Barbara Martocci, TVA public relations,
declined to comment on the preceding dis-
cussion other than to point out that it matters
where water samples are taken. She gave
an overview of TVA recovery operations
at the Kingston ash spill disaster site, with
particular emphasis on the types of heavy
equipment and barges being deployed to
recover fy ash material. She also discussed
the Emory River dredging operations which
began this week to remove ash deposits from
the river. TVA anticipates a three-phase
operation that will take several months to
complete. The frst phase, already under
way, is expected to take 60 days. Phases
two and three are not yet designed. They
are proceeding with caution because of
concerns about disturbing toxic legacy
sediments.
Liz Veazy, regional campus coordina-
tor for the Southern Alliance for Clean
Energy, discussed media coverage of the
TVA coal ash spill disaster. She said that
reporting on the TVA disaster was much
improved as compared to coverage of a
similar 2000 coal sludge spill in Martin
County, Ky. Ms. Veazy also noted the role
of blogs and other new media in covering
the disaster. She said the media should be
questioning whether TVA needs to build
new generating capacity, given expected
demand reduction, and whether clean
coal is a myth, given that mountaintop
removal, sludge dams, air pollution, coal
ash and other problems suggest the entire
coal cycle is extremely dirty.
Working the beat
Fourth session
The fourth and fnal session, 'Working
the Beat, was moderated by ETSPJ host
Amanda Womac, instructor of media writ-
ing at Lincoln Memorial University.
Scott Barker, environmental reporter for
the Knoxville News Sentinel, talked about
coverage of the TVA disaster. Because it
happened over the holidays, the newspaper
was short-staffed. When the story broke
just after midnight, Barker was the edi-
tor on duty and had only two reporters, a
business reporter and a UT beat reporter,
to dispatch to the scene. He said no one
in the newsroom had even heard of fy ash
before this happened, so they were facing
a steep learning curve. He said that when a
story like this breaks, the media initially get
information only from the agency involved.
As it evolves, they have more time to do
in-depth reporting and get independent
experts involved. He said that TVA posting
information such as inspection reports on
its Web site was a welcome change from the
past, when the media had to fle Freedom of
Information Act requests and wait months.
He noted that the national media have moved
on, and it is up to local media to stay on the
story and focus their watchdog role on not
only the cleanup costs, but also the potential
long-term health effects.
Dr. Gregory Button, UT professor of an-
thropology, is a former National Public Radio
reporter and now an expert on the study of
environmental disasters. Dr. Button said that
news media coverage of extreme events is
important because thats how most people,
including policy-makers, learn about the sci-
ence and the issues. He also noted that every
disaster is different, even similar disasters
such as two separate hurricanes, because of
the varying impact on unique local communi-
ties and environments. He urged the media
to be accurate and to not generalize. He said
environmental disasters must be looked at
as a continuum, from the initiating event to
recovery to the long term effects. The stories
dont go away, they just move off the front
page and are forgotten. He said there is no
distinction between natural and unnatural
disasters because all disasters are unnatural
in terms of policy and the responses, which
are frequently more harmful. He said when
looking for answers, look for the power, not-
ing the asymmetrical relationships in social
organizations and the body politic.
Rikki Hall, editor of the Hellbender Press
environmental newspaper and contributor to
MetroPulse, spoke next about his approach to
environmental journalism. He said that you
always have the natural resource in mind and
that its important to communicate its value.
He said that he always starts with maps to bet-
ter understand the place involved, the rivers
and streams, the land and the creatures and
their role in the ecosystem, and that environ-
mental reporters can use this understanding
to make the story important and relevant to
the reader. He said the Discovery Channel
should have looked at a map before report-
ing that certain species of mussels would
be threatened by the TVA ash spill disaster,
when in fact they live in a part of the river
far above the disaster site, where gravity
dictates they wont be affected. Hall said that
environmental reporting is at the crux of
several infuences and that reporters need
to understand not only the science, but also
the major economic infuences at work.
Ann Keil, reporter for WATE-TV, talked
about the stations coverage of the TVA ash
spill disaster. She said TV news reporters
often face obstacles getting these types of
stories on the air because people arent
generally interested and that the reporters
challenge is to make them interesting and
relevant. Keil said that one way to do that
is to connect people and their emotions and
anger and fears to the story. She offered
tips for reporters, which included talking
with people as if they are neighbors talking
over coffee to get them to open up, to show
the scene, but also the emotions of people
affected, to keep up with contacts, both
subjects of stories and offcials who can
comment, to show both sides of the story
and to do your research.
EDITORS NOTE: ETSPJ thanks
Randy Neal for allowing us to use in Spot
News his account of the environmental
journalism conference. It hrst appeared
on his blog, www.knoxviews.com.
Conference
FROM PAGE 4
Spot News - 5 4 - Spot News
Front Page Follies to honor Jones brothers
The East Tennessee Society of Profes-
sional Journalists announces that the 31st
Annual Front Page Follies will honor
three members of a longtime Greenev-
ille newspaper family. They are John
M. Jones Jr., editor of The Greene-ville
Sun; Gregg K. Jones, co-publisher of the
Sun and chief executive offcer of Jones
Media; and Alex S. Jones, director of the
Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press,
Politics and Public Policy at Harvard
University.
Watch the ETSPJ Web site, www.etspj.
org, as details are frmed up.
The Follies will be Saturday, July 18, in
Knoxville. Elements of the evening are
a reception, dinner, spoof of Knox area
newsmakers, recognition of the honorees
and an auction.
All three of the Jones brothers have
worked on Tennessee newspapers. John
Jones is a self-described hands-on edi-
tor. Gregg Jones career has emphasized
the business aspect of the family media
properties; and Alex Jones has focused on
the academic side of things.
Jones Media is composed of several print
and online publications.
David Lauver is chief script writer for
the Follies, and he and his committee have
begun the creative process.
Adina Chumley, Chumley Communica-
tions, and Dorothy Bowles, retired jour-
nalism professor at UT-K, are serving as
Follies co-chairmen.
The auction, chaired by Georgiana Vines
and Jim Crook, will beneft the fund that
provides journalism scholarships at UT-
Knoxville and Pellissippi State Technical
Community College.
ETSPJ publishes Spot News in paper
and PDF versions. To subscribe,
one shoul d contact Jean Ash,
communications coordinator, at
jeanash@comcast.net. The PDF
version is available at www.etspj.
org, the chapter Web site.
Letters to the Editor Policy: The board
encourages letters to the editor of
Spot News. Like letters policies at
most newspapers, we ask that letters
be limited to 200 words or less. They
will be subject to editing for space
and content. Send e-mail to ETSPJ.
communications@gmail.com.
Spot News
2008-09 editor
Elenora E. Edwards
eleedwards@aol.com
(865) 457-5459
Writing Green
Environmental journalism conference
BY RANDY NEAL
www.knoxviews.com
The East Tennessee Society of Profes-
sional Journalists hosted Writing Green,
a conference on environmental journalism.
The all-day conference, held at Calhouns
on the River (March 27), featured panel
discussions among leading energy and
environmental experts and journalists
from around the region. There was also a
keynote address by Jim Detjen, director
of the Knight Center for Environmental
Journalism at Michigan State University,
Lansing.
ETSPJs Amanda Womac organized and
hosted the event. I estimate turnout at ap-
proximately 50 people, which included
several UT students who also helped or-
ganize and cover the event. Panelists
included scientists from UT and ORNL,
environmental activists and experienced
environmental journalists. The program ran
smoothly and covered a lot of information.
The presentations were timely and informa-
tive, and the discussions were lively.
The purpose was to familiarize journal-
ists with energy and environmental issues,
provide an overview of the science involved
and to discuss related public policy issues.
Journalists were encouraged to practice
accurate and responsible environmental
reporting that raises public awareness of
the issues and promotes effective public
policy to address them.
Catastrophic events such as the Exxon
Valdese oil spill, Hurricane Katrina and
the more recent TVA coal ash disaster fo-
cus media and public attention for a short
time, but panel experts made a compelling
argument for ongoing, in-depth coverage
of environmental issues that affect us all
on a day-to-day basis and their long-term
effects.
Panelists urged journalists to learn more
about the science so they can educate the
public using clear, reliable information that
informs and promotes awareness. They dis-
cussed ways to frame complicated energy
and environmental problems in understand-
able terms that people can relate to. There
was much discussion about the pervasive
effects of pollution and wasteful energy
policies on public health, the economy,
ecosystems and overall quality of life.
There was also discussion of the serious
threats to our transportation and energy
systems because of our dependence on
fossil fuels. Experts warned that solutions
are decades or even generations away, so
the time to act is now. The recurring theme
was that the media must play a key role in
educating the public about the problems and
the solutions.
This was an outstanding program with an
impressive panel of experts who covered a
wide range of environmental issues, making
for a lively and informative day of learning.
The program materials included a compre-
hensive, seven-page list of online resources
for environmental journalists prepared by
participating UT students. That alone was
worth the price of admission, but the real
value is in the hundreds of story ideas jour-
nalists took away from the conference.
Following is a recap of the panel discus-
sions.
Introduction to environmental issues
First session
The frst session was an introduction to en-
vironmental issues in Southern Appalachia
moderated by UT professor of environmental
ethics Dr. John Nolt.
Dr. Meng-Dawn Cheng, distinguished
scientist, ORNL Atmospheric and Aerosol
Science Group, gave a presentation about
air quality and the numerous sources of
air pollution and its pervasive effects. He
noted that you can go several days without
food or water but asked, how long can
you hold your breath? He cited acid rain,
ozone, haze and visibility, global warming,
toxic air pollution, indoor air quality, smog
and particulates as key issues that impact
respiratory and cardiovascular health, the
economy and ecosystems. He said that
carbon emissions are affecting the earths
heat and energy balance. He also discussed
various air quality monitoring and regula-
tory standards, noting that some are not that
meaningful or effective.
Dr. Randall Gentry, director of the Insti-
tute for a Secure and Sustainable Environ-
ment, talked about sustainability. He said
that sustainability science is hard to defne
because it involves both fundamental and
applied science, and the challenge is apply-
ing fundamental science to quality of life
issues. The EPA is attempting to develop
metrics to describe sustainability, such as
the water usage required per hectare to
produce a particular crop or measuring the
carbon lifecycle for an activity or project.
He said there are currently no civil engineer-
ing standards for consideration of climate
change/variability. He discussed water
resources and how adequate water supplies
and regional disputes are often-overlooked
environmental issues. He discussed differ-
ences between the riparian doctrine in the
East and the appropriated doctrine in the
West and said there were no good standards
for water usage.
Jonathan Overly, executive director of
the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition,
spoke about development of clean alterna-
tive fuels, particularly for transportation.
Transportation is especially vulnerable
because fuels are not diversifed, and oil is
ineffcient because 75 percent of the energy
is wasted in production, distribution and use.
He also said there is no perfect alternative
fuel and that ethanol is not a replacement
for gasoline, but its production is a more
effcient use of petroleum resources. Overly
said the public has a general lack of thought
or caring about energy consumption because
it is so cheap and feels that fuel will have
to become much more expensive before we
act on the problem. He summarized the keys
to sustainable energy use as reduce (better
effciency), eliminate (conserve) and replace
(alternative fuels).
Dr. Stephen A. Smith, executive director
of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy,
SEE CONFERENCE, PAGE 5
The deadline for the May issue of Spot News
is May 4.
SEE CONFERENCE, PAGE 6
talked about work on policy, advocacy and
public awareness. He urged the media to
connect the dots between the economic
and environmental costs of our energy poli-
cies and the harmful effects of fossil fuels.
He noted that the South has generally been
an obstacle to energy and environmental
reforms because of the abundance of coal
and a lack of political leadership. He noted,
however, that Tennessee is uniquely posi-
tioned to become a key economic player in
renewable and alternative energy.
Second session
Environmental law and policy
The next session on environmental law
and policy was moderated by Amy Gibson,
director development and policy research
for the Baker Center.
Don Barger, senior regional director of
the National Parks Conservation Associa-
tion, discussed how inherent conficts in
a competing hierarchy of legal, political
and regulatory authority are an obstacle to
effective management of natural resources.
He said that sustainability is not something
weve just discovered; it is something weve
forgotten, reminding us of the old adage
dont eat your seed corn. He said that if
we dont act, Glacier National Park wont
have any glaciers and Joshua Tree National
Park wont have any Joshua Trees. He urged
journalists to make science truth but also
to make it understandable.
Dr. Christian Vossler, UT professor and
program leader for energy and environ-
mental policy at the Institute for a Secure
and Sustainable Environment, spoke from
an economists point of view. He said the
benefts of environmental improvements
exceed the cost and discussed ways to
measure their value. He also discussed dif-
ferent approaches to meeting policy goals
at the lowest possible cost such as pollution
taxes and cap-and-trade schemes. He said
information disclosure is an inexpensive
way to create adverse consumer reaction
that infuences corporate behavior. He
encouraged journalists to make the connec-
tion between energy costs and pollution to
promote conservation and strengthen social
norms regarding energy and environmental
protection.
Professor Dean Rivkin, UT College of
Law, is an expert on environmental law.
He discussed the public nuisance theory
of environmental lawsuits, citing the recent
North Carolina lawsuit against TVA as an
example. He said journalists should be ask-
ing why the Tennessee attorney general isnt
pursuing a similar action. He also discussed
the history of environmental law, the basis
of which is to make polluters internalize
the cost of pollution. Regarding enforce-
ment, he said everything stopped in 2000
and that deadlocks in the political process
inevitably lead to court. During the ques-
tion and answer session, Professor Rivkin
said that the media should be a partner of
truth. He quoted Frank Lloyd Wright, who
said truth is more important than facts
and noted that facts are unfortunately being
manipulated to distort the truth.
During the lunch break, Jim Detjen,
director of the Knight Center for Environ-
mental Journalism, Lansing, Mich., gave
a presentation about the history and future
of environmental journalism. He reviewed
coverage of disasters such as Exxon Valdese,
Bhopal and Katrina, with special recogni-
tion of the award-winning journalism by
the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He said
that the media have a special responsibility
because the public gets virtually all of its
information about environmental issues
from news reports and that the environment
consistently ranks among their top concerns.
He cited population growth, climate change
and water resources as environmental issues
that journalists should be following.
The energy beat
Third session
The third session, The Energy Beat: Coal
in Appalachia, was moderated by Dr. Mike
McKinney, UT professor of environmental
studies.
Dr. T.J. Blasing, researcher for the ORNL
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Cen-
ter, gave a technical presentation on sources
of CO2 emissions, which are mostly coal and
tailpipe emissions. A map showed that states
with the highest per-capita CO2 emissions
corresponded with the presence of coal,
including the Southern Appalachian region.
Region 5 (West Virginia, Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Deleware, Maryland and the District of Co-
lumbia) has the largest carbon footprint, and
Region 6 (Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi
and Alabama) produces energy for Region 5
from coal. Dr. Blasing said the frst 10 to 15
percent of energy conservation savings will
come from improvements in effciency.
Bill Kovarik, professor of journalism at
Radford University and editor of Appala-
chian Voices, talked about the TVA coal
ash disaster. He outlined inconsistencies in
TVA public statements as the event unfolded
and discussed discrepancies between TVAs
reported water testing results and EPA and
other independent testing that showed much
higher concentrations of toxic pollutants. He
said this issue would be the subject of an
upcoming Senate investigation. Professor
Kovarik also discussed how environmental
activists and citizen journalists are bypassing
traditional media and taking their stories
directly to online new media, although this
may result in bringing a little more heat
Conference
FROM PAGE 4
Spot News - 5 4 - Spot News
Front Page Follies to honor Jones brothers
The East Tennessee Society of Profes-
sional Journalists announces that the 31st
Annual Front Page Follies will honor
three members of a longtime Greenev-
ille newspaper family. They are John
M. Jones Jr., editor of The Greene-ville
Sun; Gregg K. Jones, co-publisher of the
Sun and chief executive offcer of Jones
Media; and Alex S. Jones, director of the
Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press,
Politics and Public Policy at Harvard
University.
Watch the ETSPJ Web site, www.etspj.
org, as details are frmed up.
The Follies will be Saturday, July 18, in
Knoxville. Elements of the evening are
a reception, dinner, spoof of Knox area
newsmakers, recognition of the honorees
and an auction.
All three of the Jones brothers have
worked on Tennessee newspapers. John
Jones is a self-described hands-on edi-
tor. Gregg Jones career has emphasized
the business aspect of the family media
properties; and Alex Jones has focused on
the academic side of things.
Jones Media is composed of several print
and online publications.
David Lauver is chief script writer for
the Follies, and he and his committee have
begun the creative process.
Adina Chumley, Chumley Communica-
tions, and Dorothy Bowles, retired jour-
nalism professor at UT-K, are serving as
Follies co-chairmen.
The auction, chaired by Georgiana Vines
and Jim Crook, will beneft the fund that
provides journalism scholarships at UT-
Knoxville and Pellissippi State Technical
Community College.
ETSPJ publishes Spot News in paper
and PDF versions. To subscribe,
one shoul d contact Jean Ash,
communications coordinator, at
jeanash@comcast.net. The PDF
version is available at www.etspj.
org, the chapter Web site.
Letters to the Editor Policy: The board
encourages letters to the editor of
Spot News. Like letters policies at
most newspapers, we ask that letters
be limited to 200 words or less. They
will be subject to editing for space
and content. Send e-mail to ETSPJ.
communications@gmail.com.
Spot News
2008-09 editor
Elenora E. Edwards
eleedwards@aol.com
(865) 457-5459
Writing Green
Environmental journalism conference
BY RANDY NEAL
www.knoxviews.com
The East Tennessee Society of Profes-
sional Journalists hosted Writing Green,
a conference on environmental journalism.
The all-day conference, held at Calhouns
on the River (March 27), featured panel
discussions among leading energy and
environmental experts and journalists
from around the region. There was also a
keynote address by Jim Detjen, director
of the Knight Center for Environmental
Journalism at Michigan State University,
Lansing.
ETSPJs Amanda Womac organized and
hosted the event. I estimate turnout at ap-
proximately 50 people, which included
several UT students who also helped or-
ganize and cover the event. Panelists
included scientists from UT and ORNL,
environmental activists and experienced
environmental journalists. The program ran
smoothly and covered a lot of information.
The presentations were timely and informa-
tive, and the discussions were lively.
The purpose was to familiarize journal-
ists with energy and environmental issues,
provide an overview of the science involved
and to discuss related public policy issues.
Journalists were encouraged to practice
accurate and responsible environmental
reporting that raises public awareness of
the issues and promotes effective public
policy to address them.
Catastrophic events such as the Exxon
Valdese oil spill, Hurricane Katrina and
the more recent TVA coal ash disaster fo-
cus media and public attention for a short
time, but panel experts made a compelling
argument for ongoing, in-depth coverage
of environmental issues that affect us all
on a day-to-day basis and their long-term
effects.
Panelists urged journalists to learn more
about the science so they can educate the
public using clear, reliable information that
informs and promotes awareness. They dis-
cussed ways to frame complicated energy
and environmental problems in understand-
able terms that people can relate to. There
was much discussion about the pervasive
effects of pollution and wasteful energy
policies on public health, the economy,
ecosystems and overall quality of life.
There was also discussion of the serious
threats to our transportation and energy
systems because of our dependence on
fossil fuels. Experts warned that solutions
are decades or even generations away, so
the time to act is now. The recurring theme
was that the media must play a key role in
educating the public about the problems and
the solutions.
This was an outstanding program with an
impressive panel of experts who covered a
wide range of environmental issues, making
for a lively and informative day of learning.
The program materials included a compre-
hensive, seven-page list of online resources
for environmental journalists prepared by
participating UT students. That alone was
worth the price of admission, but the real
value is in the hundreds of story ideas jour-
nalists took away from the conference.
Following is a recap of the panel discus-
sions.
Introduction to environmental issues
First session
The frst session was an introduction to en-
vironmental issues in Southern Appalachia
moderated by UT professor of environmental
ethics Dr. John Nolt.
Dr. Meng-Dawn Cheng, distinguished
scientist, ORNL Atmospheric and Aerosol
Science Group, gave a presentation about
air quality and the numerous sources of
air pollution and its pervasive effects. He
noted that you can go several days without
food or water but asked, how long can
you hold your breath? He cited acid rain,
ozone, haze and visibility, global warming,
toxic air pollution, indoor air quality, smog
and particulates as key issues that impact
respiratory and cardiovascular health, the
economy and ecosystems. He said that
carbon emissions are affecting the earths
heat and energy balance. He also discussed
various air quality monitoring and regula-
tory standards, noting that some are not that
meaningful or effective.
Dr. Randall Gentry, director of the Insti-
tute for a Secure and Sustainable Environ-
ment, talked about sustainability. He said
that sustainability science is hard to defne
because it involves both fundamental and
applied science, and the challenge is apply-
ing fundamental science to quality of life
issues. The EPA is attempting to develop
metrics to describe sustainability, such as
the water usage required per hectare to
produce a particular crop or measuring the
carbon lifecycle for an activity or project.
He said there are currently no civil engineer-
ing standards for consideration of climate
change/variability. He discussed water
resources and how adequate water supplies
and regional disputes are often-overlooked
environmental issues. He discussed differ-
ences between the riparian doctrine in the
East and the appropriated doctrine in the
West and said there were no good standards
for water usage.
Jonathan Overly, executive director of
the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition,
spoke about development of clean alterna-
tive fuels, particularly for transportation.
Transportation is especially vulnerable
because fuels are not diversifed, and oil is
ineffcient because 75 percent of the energy
is wasted in production, distribution and use.
He also said there is no perfect alternative
fuel and that ethanol is not a replacement
for gasoline, but its production is a more
effcient use of petroleum resources. Overly
said the public has a general lack of thought
or caring about energy consumption because
it is so cheap and feels that fuel will have
to become much more expensive before we
act on the problem. He summarized the keys
to sustainable energy use as reduce (better
effciency), eliminate (conserve) and replace
(alternative fuels).
Dr. Stephen A. Smith, executive director
of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy,
SEE CONFERENCE, PAGE 5
The deadline for the May issue of Spot News
is May 4.
SEE CONFERENCE, PAGE 6
talked about work on policy, advocacy and
public awareness. He urged the media to
connect the dots between the economic
and environmental costs of our energy poli-
cies and the harmful effects of fossil fuels.
He noted that the South has generally been
an obstacle to energy and environmental
reforms because of the abundance of coal
and a lack of political leadership. He noted,
however, that Tennessee is uniquely posi-
tioned to become a key economic player in
renewable and alternative energy.
Second session
Environmental law and policy
The next session on environmental law
and policy was moderated by Amy Gibson,
director development and policy research
for the Baker Center.
Don Barger, senior regional director of
the National Parks Conservation Associa-
tion, discussed how inherent conficts in
a competing hierarchy of legal, political
and regulatory authority are an obstacle to
effective management of natural resources.
He said that sustainability is not something
weve just discovered; it is something weve
forgotten, reminding us of the old adage
dont eat your seed corn. He said that if
we dont act, Glacier National Park wont
have any glaciers and Joshua Tree National
Park wont have any Joshua Trees. He urged
journalists to make science truth but also
to make it understandable.
Dr. Christian Vossler, UT professor and
program leader for energy and environ-
mental policy at the Institute for a Secure
and Sustainable Environment, spoke from
an economists point of view. He said the
benefts of environmental improvements
exceed the cost and discussed ways to
measure their value. He also discussed dif-
ferent approaches to meeting policy goals
at the lowest possible cost such as pollution
taxes and cap-and-trade schemes. He said
information disclosure is an inexpensive
way to create adverse consumer reaction
that infuences corporate behavior. He
encouraged journalists to make the connec-
tion between energy costs and pollution to
promote conservation and strengthen social
norms regarding energy and environmental
protection.
Professor Dean Rivkin, UT College of
Law, is an expert on environmental law.
He discussed the public nuisance theory
of environmental lawsuits, citing the recent
North Carolina lawsuit against TVA as an
example. He said journalists should be ask-
ing why the Tennessee attorney general isnt
pursuing a similar action. He also discussed
the history of environmental law, the basis
of which is to make polluters internalize
the cost of pollution. Regarding enforce-
ment, he said everything stopped in 2000
and that deadlocks in the political process
inevitably lead to court. During the ques-
tion and answer session, Professor Rivkin
said that the media should be a partner of
truth. He quoted Frank Lloyd Wright, who
said truth is more important than facts
and noted that facts are unfortunately being
manipulated to distort the truth.
During the lunch break, Jim Detjen,
director of the Knight Center for Environ-
mental Journalism, Lansing, Mich., gave
a presentation about the history and future
of environmental journalism. He reviewed
coverage of disasters such as Exxon Valdese,
Bhopal and Katrina, with special recogni-
tion of the award-winning journalism by
the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He said
that the media have a special responsibility
because the public gets virtually all of its
information about environmental issues
from news reports and that the environment
consistently ranks among their top concerns.
He cited population growth, climate change
and water resources as environmental issues
that journalists should be following.
The energy beat
Third session
The third session, The Energy Beat: Coal
in Appalachia, was moderated by Dr. Mike
McKinney, UT professor of environmental
studies.
Dr. T.J. Blasing, researcher for the ORNL
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Cen-
ter, gave a technical presentation on sources
of CO2 emissions, which are mostly coal and
tailpipe emissions. A map showed that states
with the highest per-capita CO2 emissions
corresponded with the presence of coal,
including the Southern Appalachian region.
Region 5 (West Virginia, Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Deleware, Maryland and the District of Co-
lumbia) has the largest carbon footprint, and
Region 6 (Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi
and Alabama) produces energy for Region 5
from coal. Dr. Blasing said the frst 10 to 15
percent of energy conservation savings will
come from improvements in effciency.
Bill Kovarik, professor of journalism at
Radford University and editor of Appala-
chian Voices, talked about the TVA coal
ash disaster. He outlined inconsistencies in
TVA public statements as the event unfolded
and discussed discrepancies between TVAs
reported water testing results and EPA and
other independent testing that showed much
higher concentrations of toxic pollutants. He
said this issue would be the subject of an
upcoming Senate investigation. Professor
Kovarik also discussed how environmental
activists and citizen journalists are bypassing
traditional media and taking their stories
directly to online new media, although this
may result in bringing a little more heat
6 - Spot News Spot News -3
Golden Press Card banquet
to recognize journalists best work
Youll want to be present Friday, May 15,
for the annual Golden Press Card Banquet.
Youll want to know whos wonmaybe
you in the 26 categories. Youll want to
hear Bob Benz talk about the mixed mes-
sage of the news media today.
Award winners wont be announced until
the banquet. It will be held Friday, May 15,
at The Foundry at 747 Worlds Fair Park
Drive at the north edge of the Worlds Far
Park in Knoxville. A cash bar will begin
at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:15.
In addition to the general awards, a
Golden Press Card Award will be presented
the top entry, and a Horace V. Wells,
Jr., Community Service Award will be
conferred as well. In most categories,
Awards of Excellence, Awards of Merit,
third place and honorable mention will
receive awards. Awards of excellence re-
ceive plaques, while the other three places
receive certifcates. Plaques go to the GPC
Award and Wells Award winners, and the
GPC winner also will receive $100.
Benzs topic is Shut Down Your Web
Sites!
In addition, Larry Van Guilder, chairman,
will recognize B.J. Guerrero, the winner
of the ETSPJ High School Essay Contest,
who has written on why free news media
are important. This is the second year for
the contest.
Elenora E. Edwards, ETSPJ second vice
president/Golden Press Card, and Dorothy
Bob Benz, 46, is the chief
operating offcer of Radiant
Markets, LLC, a multi-
channel online advertising
technology platform
engineered to power the
delivery of competitive
advertising solutions to
local businesses across
the United States. Before
Radiant Markets, Benz
was a partner in Maroon Ventures. He also
served as vice president of interactive media
for Scripps newspapers. He spent 10 years
in newsrooms before helping to launch the
Rocky Mountain News Online in 1995. t was
all nternet from there. His team in Knoxville
helped Scripps sites win numerous online
awards, and he led Scripps' newspaper
sites to proftability in 2002. Revenue and
cash fow increased substantially in each
subsequent year. He holds a B.A.degree
from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania
and an M.A. degree from the University of
Alabama at Birmingham.
BENZ
Bowles, treasurer and freedom of informa-
tion chairman, are in charge of the Golden
Press Card event.
The cost of the dinner is the same as last
year, $20 in advance and $25 at the door if
space is available. To make reservations,
go to www.etspj.org, where one can pay
by credit card. Or, copy and fll out the
attached reservations form and mail a
check to East Tennessee SPJ, c/o Elenora
E. Edwards, P.O. Box 502, Clinton, TN
37717-0502. The check should be made
to ETSPJ Golden Press Card.
The deadline for making reservations
is May 8.
MUST REGISTER!
Check www.etspj.org for the op-
tions you have for making res-
ervations for the Golden Press
Card Awards Banquet and to pay
for dinner with PayPal. The dead-
line is May 8.
May 15 at The Foundry
EDITORS NOTE:Following is the
high school essay entry chosen as the
winner in the ETSPJ contest chaired
by Larry Van Guilder, Shopper-News
Now. The winner is a 12th grade stu-
dent of Joy Caleb at Upperman High
School, Baxter.
BY B.J. GUERRERO
Freedom of speecha phrase that so
many people have trouble understanding.
What is so hard about freedom of speech?
We have the right to say what is on our
minds, and no one has the right to take
that freedom away from us. It is with this
freedom that we get information that is vital
to our everyday lives; it is with this freedom
that we do not live in a world blindfolded
from the truth. This freedom has given birth
to a new weapon: free news media.
Free news media are an essential part
of everyday life because they inform the
society of events that are paramount to our
knowledge. I was born in The Philippines,
and my stay there was not a very pleasant
experience. Over there, poverty and scarcity
of food devour the lands. Televisions, news-
papers and phones are almost nonexistent in
some places. In contrast, the United States
has one of the worlds largest communica-
tions services, and in addition, we are the
worlds most prosperous country. We need
free news media to balance the scale. In
countries such as The Philippines, some
areas need to know what is occurring in the
world around them. People in those areas
are already stricken with poor housing and
food, why do you want to make their lives
worse? Let them be informed and educated
in events that are happening within their
area, and their lives will be better.
Also, free news media give students like
me and many other people [a means] to
voice their opinions. Where would we be
without Martin Luther King Jr. speaking
about the errors of racism and the beauty
of unity? Where would we be without
President Barack H. Obama giving his
inaugural address to the country? This
freedom allowed others to speak what is
on their minds and give the general public
an idea of what and how they think. Some
speeches may not be the best in terms of
context, but the overall idea is that they got
to speak freely without bounds.
My experience as an immigrant and my
experience in news media class got me to
realize how important free news media re-
ally are. I would give up soda; I would give
up my personal belongings; I would give up
eating sweets; but I will never give up the
right that was given to mespeech.
Free news media
Conference
FROM PAGE 5
SPJ has joined an amicus brief written
by the Tennessee ACLU supporting a
magazine that won an open records battle
in its quest to cover and analyze prison-
ers rights.
The brief supports the appeal of Prison
Legal News, which is fghting off an appeal
by the Corrections Corp. of America, a pri-
vate company that operates state prisons in
Tennessee, after a lower court determined
that the CCA was subject to the states open
records laws. The brief argues that the trial
court was correct in determining that the
law in Tennessee requires contractors of
the corrections system to turn over records
upon public request, just as government
agencies must do.
The Prison Legal News also has ap-
pealed the lower courts decision to deny
it attorneys fees in the case. The Prison
Legal News should have its legal fees
paid by CCA, said SPJ President Dave
Aeikens. It would serve as a good deter-
rent to those who refuse to release public
information.
Joining the ACLU and SPJ in support-
ing the Prison Legal News on appeal are
the Reporters Committee for Freedom
of the Press, the American Society of
Newspaper Editors, the Associated Press
and the Association of Capitol Reporters
and Editors.
SPJ supports prison magazine on open records
and a little less light to the issues.
Barbara Martocci, TVA public relations,
declined to comment on the preceding dis-
cussion other than to point out that it matters
where water samples are taken. She gave
an overview of TVA recovery operations
at the Kingston ash spill disaster site, with
particular emphasis on the types of heavy
equipment and barges being deployed to
recover fy ash material. She also discussed
the Emory River dredging operations which
began this week to remove ash deposits from
the river. TVA anticipates a three-phase
operation that will take several months to
complete. The frst phase, already under
way, is expected to take 60 days. Phases
two and three are not yet designed. They
are proceeding with caution because of
concerns about disturbing toxic legacy
sediments.
Liz Veazy, regional campus coordina-
tor for the Southern Alliance for Clean
Energy, discussed media coverage of the
TVA coal ash spill disaster. She said that
reporting on the TVA disaster was much
improved as compared to coverage of a
similar 2000 coal sludge spill in Martin
County, Ky. Ms. Veazy also noted the role
of blogs and other new media in covering
the disaster. She said the media should be
questioning whether TVA needs to build
new generating capacity, given expected
demand reduction, and whether clean
coal is a myth, given that mountaintop
removal, sludge dams, air pollution, coal
ash and other problems suggest the entire
coal cycle is extremely dirty.
Working the beat
Fourth session
The fourth and fnal session, 'Working
the Beat, was moderated by ETSPJ host
Amanda Womac, instructor of media writ-
ing at Lincoln Memorial University.
Scott Barker, environmental reporter for
the Knoxville News Sentinel, talked about
coverage of the TVA disaster. Because it
happened over the holidays, the newspaper
was short-staffed. When the story broke
just after midnight, Barker was the edi-
tor on duty and had only two reporters, a
business reporter and a UT beat reporter,
to dispatch to the scene. He said no one
in the newsroom had even heard of fy ash
before this happened, so they were facing
a steep learning curve. He said that when a
story like this breaks, the media initially get
information only from the agency involved.
As it evolves, they have more time to do
in-depth reporting and get independent
experts involved. He said that TVA posting
information such as inspection reports on
its Web site was a welcome change from the
past, when the media had to fle Freedom of
Information Act requests and wait months.
He noted that the national media have moved
on, and it is up to local media to stay on the
story and focus their watchdog role on not
only the cleanup costs, but also the potential
long-term health effects.
Dr. Gregory Button, UT professor of an-
thropology, is a former National Public Radio
reporter and now an expert on the study of
environmental disasters. Dr. Button said that
news media coverage of extreme events is
important because thats how most people,
including policy-makers, learn about the sci-
ence and the issues. He also noted that every
disaster is different, even similar disasters
such as two separate hurricanes, because of
the varying impact on unique local communi-
ties and environments. He urged the media
to be accurate and to not generalize. He said
environmental disasters must be looked at
as a continuum, from the initiating event to
recovery to the long term effects. The stories
dont go away, they just move off the front
page and are forgotten. He said there is no
distinction between natural and unnatural
disasters because all disasters are unnatural
in terms of policy and the responses, which
are frequently more harmful. He said when
looking for answers, look for the power, not-
ing the asymmetrical relationships in social
organizations and the body politic.
Rikki Hall, editor of the Hellbender Press
environmental newspaper and contributor to
MetroPulse, spoke next about his approach to
environmental journalism. He said that you
always have the natural resource in mind and
that its important to communicate its value.
He said that he always starts with maps to bet-
ter understand the place involved, the rivers
and streams, the land and the creatures and
their role in the ecosystem, and that environ-
mental reporters can use this understanding
to make the story important and relevant to
the reader. He said the Discovery Channel
should have looked at a map before report-
ing that certain species of mussels would
be threatened by the TVA ash spill disaster,
when in fact they live in a part of the river
far above the disaster site, where gravity
dictates they wont be affected. Hall said that
environmental reporting is at the crux of
several infuences and that reporters need
to understand not only the science, but also
the major economic infuences at work.
Ann Keil, reporter for WATE-TV, talked
about the stations coverage of the TVA ash
spill disaster. She said TV news reporters
often face obstacles getting these types of
stories on the air because people arent
generally interested and that the reporters
challenge is to make them interesting and
relevant. Keil said that one way to do that
is to connect people and their emotions and
anger and fears to the story. She offered
tips for reporters, which included talking
with people as if they are neighbors talking
over coffee to get them to open up, to show
the scene, but also the emotions of people
affected, to keep up with contacts, both
subjects of stories and offcials who can
comment, to show both sides of the story
and to do your research.
EDITORS NOTE: ETSPJ thanks
Randy Neal for allowing us to use in Spot
News his account of the environmental
journalism conference. It hrst appeared
on his blog, www.knoxviews.com.
Mia Rhodarmer, president
Jean Ash, rst vice president
and communications coordinator
Elenora E. Edwards, second vice president/
Golden Press Card Awards and Spot News
editor
John Huotari, secretary and immediate past
president
Dorothy Bowles, treasurer and FOI chairman
John Becker, membership chairman
Michael Grider, program chairman
Amanda Womac, diversity chairman and
student liaison
Kristi Nelson Bumpus, ethics chairman
Georgiana Vines, at large; Adina Chumley, ex
ofcio
ETSPJ Ofcers and Board of Directors 2008-09
From the president
FROM PAGE ONE
2 - Spot News Spot News - 7
what they get from trained journalists
working for media businesses? Are
citizen journalists and bloggers bound by
the same ethics as working journalists?
How can readers and viewers distinguish
among the different sources? What is the
role of the journalist in this new age of
24/7 news coverage?
These are just some of the topics to be
covered. National has encouraged us to
leave the foor open for other questions
pertaining to media ethics and credibility
and the decision-making process we go
through as we do our jobs.
We will send out a press release about the
meeting soon. Please help us publicize this
event and encourage public participation
by running the release in your newspapers
or mentioning it in a broadcast and adding
it to your calendar of events.
The future of the news media
I am writing this during a break at the
Region XII conference in Little Rock.
There has been a lot of good discussion
about the future of the media, especially
newspapers, and what role the Internet
will play in our future.
The majority of the people here are stu-
dents. They are getting ready to embark on
careers in an ever-changing feld and one
where there is a lot of uncertainty right now.
And, those of us who have been journalists
for many years are often shaking our heads,
wondering whats coming next and what
our jobs will be in the future.
One thought that keeps me going is that
we have an essential role in our country and
in helping to making democracy work. Yes,
we must provide some entertainment along
the way, but there always will be a need
for reporters to cover our city and county
commissions, to know how our school
boards are running our school systems, to
keep tabs on how our local governments
are spending our tax dollars, to know how
the planning commissions newest regula-
tions may impact our personal property and
our neighborhoods. People need to know
about the things that affect their lives and
their wallets.
How we present that news may change,
and our companies may not be as proftable
as they were in the past, but we provide an
essential service to our communities and
the people who live in them.
I am honored to be a member of an orga-
nization that has worked for 100 years to
protect the freedom of the press, the free
fow of information and to educate and
aid journalists around the world as we go
about our jobs.
Lets celebrate 100 years of SPJ and look
forward to 100 more.
BY GEORGIANA VINES
Auction items are needed for the Front
Page Follies on July 18.
As auction chairman, I am appealing to
every ETSPJ member to consider contrib-
uting one item.
How about a gift certifcate from your fa-
Auction items needed for Front Page Follies
vorite restaurant? Do you make jewelry or
stained glass windows or take photographs
that you would donate for the auction?
I recently interviewed Alan Lowe, whos
leaving as executive director of the Howard
H. Baker Jr. Institute for Public Policy
at UT to become director of the George
W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas.
I asked if he would provide a letter for
four free admissions to the library when
it opens. He agreedand said he also
would offer a tour.
Please take advantage of opportunities
like that and let me know about them. Wed
like to have some different and successful
items this year.
Jim Crook, the retired director of UTs
School of Journalism, is helping out with
this.
Contact either of us with your ideas. If
its something that has to be picked up,
we can arrange that.
Were available at gvpolitics@hotmail.
com or jcrook@utk.edu.
The Bill of Rights Institute will hold a
constitutional academy July 19 through
Aug. 1 in Washington, D.C. The deadline
for applying is April 17. For information,
including scholarships, see www.
billofrightsinstitute.org/dbacademy.
Institute planned
Looking ahead
The ETSPJ nominating committee
is working toward a slate of officers
and board members for 2009-10. John
Huotari is chairman.The committee
selected Elenora E. Edwards, second vice
president/Golden Press Card, to attend the
Scripps Leadership Institute June 5-7 in
Indianapolis. Offcers are elected by mail
ballots in the summer.
If one is interested in serving on the board
or assisting with ETSPJ projects such as
Golden Press Card and Front Page Follies,
the offcers and board members will be
grateful. Contact Huotari, john.huotari@
oakridger.com.
BY JEAN ASH
A hundred thousand blogs are being
started every day, and most are being read
only by the blogger and his mother.
So says Sree Sreenivasen, professor and
dean of students at Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism, who adds
that some, like East Tennessees own
Instapundit, attract tens (if not hundreds)
of thousands of readers a day. Thats a lot
of eyeballs, which Sree says is the cur-
rency of blogging.
So, how do you create a blog that falls
comfortably between the two extremes?
Sree says you need to fnd a niche, an angle.
A catchy tag line, what it is youre sell-
ing with original reporting, an original
point of view. Moreover, you dont need
millions of eyeballs, just the right ones,
a subset of those addicted to the Web,
he says.
Then, drive the eyeballs toward you
with a lot of posts. His mantra is con-
tent, content, content. Your posts dont
need to be long, but they do need to be
frequent. Check out Instapundit.com to
see the master at work with rat-a-tat-tat
posts. Sree notes that the technology of
blogs today is easy; the hard part is fnding
something to say.
The best way to build a blog, according
to Sree, is to post as much as humanly
possible without losing your day job.
That could be something like 10 posts
a week, if theyre good. He cited one
blogger as spending two hours on a Sun-
day afternoon writing several posts and
postdating them so that they appear on
the blog throughout the week, making
it seem like the author is posting all the
Figuring out blogs and whatevers next,
session at the SPJ Convention in Atlanta
time. Otherwise, he recommends dedicat-
ing at least fve to 15 minutes a day on
your blog.
Material could come from outtakes
from interviews, color that won`t ft into
your regular writing, interesting things
you see elsewhere on the Net. Also,
make the blogs of others work for you.
Participate in other blogs by commenting
or posting something intriguing that will
make readers click back to your blog to
see what else you have to say. When you
make a particularly good entry, e-mail a
note to all your friends and/or post it on
your Facebook or Twitter account.
Your blog can be part of your rsum for
a traditional job, too. 'Publishers, acquisi-
tion editors and the like read blogs and get
an idea of a persons value from his or
her blog. Srees bottom line, particularly
valuable in these times of economic crisis,
is that the more you can do for yourself
via a blog, the more you can withstand
layoffs and show you have additional
value by having developed a fan base. He
says this is of particular value to television
journalists.
If you have a few hoursmake that a vir-
tual lifetimecheck out Srees Web site,
http://sreetips.com/blogs.html. There you
will fnd more tips from this workshop,
some of Srees own blogs, plus links to
blogs of all types that he recommends:
conservative, liberal, those by journalists,
about journalists, business, entertainment,
travel, photography, video, techthe list
is nearly endless. One blog in particular
that he thinks every journalist should check
every day is that of Romanesko, now at
Poynter.org.
BY JOHN HUOTARI
The Oak Ridger
Many scientifc conclusions might not
be correct, and readers of research studies
should be skeptical, the editor-in-chief of
Science News said March 13.
All kinds of studies in many areas turn
out to be wrong, said Tom Siegfried, who
is also an award-winning science writer.
As an example, he cited studies that show
that coffee is good for people one year,
only to be contradicted by later studies
that say that its bad.
During an hour-long talk at the Univer-
sity of Tennessee, Siegfried denounced
the current system used to judge whether
an experimental fnding is statistically
signifcant. But people who use it don`t
want to rock the boat or dont know
about the boat anyway, and, in any case,
want to get published in scientifc research
journals, he said.
Its all bogus, Siegfried said.
He also condemned clinical trials, the
gold standard of medical judgments.
His lecture was called Odds Are, Its
WrongThe Misuse of Math in Science,
Medicine and the Media.
Much of Siegfrieds talk, part of the Alfred
and Julia Hill Lecture Series, focused on
what he regards as the faults in a statisti-
cal method and argument commonly used
in scientifc research, employing what
are known as P values. Some of the
concepts are not well understood, even
by some of the scientists who use them,
Siegfried said.
But Siegfried, who is also a book author
and former science writer at the Dallas
Morning News, laid out some easier-to-
understand concepts. For example, he
outlined the recipe for science news -- as
well as wrong science and wrong science
news.
Errors are likely to be found in the very
types of stories that journalists pursue,
Siegfried said, including frst reports on
new research, advances in a hot research
feld, or fndings that are contrary to previ-
ous belief.
Incorrect conclusions can sometimes lead
to politicians making decisions based on
information that is wrong, he said.
In the end, science does provide valuable
information, but, along the way, some
wrong information may be published or
used, Siegfried said. I am not saying that
science is worthless, he said.
He said there is hope and offered a brief
Be skeptical, be very skeptical
overview of what he called Bayesian Sta-
tistics, which he said echoes the idea that
an experiment has to be replicated. Its also
based on the idea that prior outcomes and
additional information are important.
So what should the average person do
when trying to determine, for example,
whether wine is good or bad for them,
based on scientifc research? Siegfried
was asked.
You need to be really a skeptical audi-
ence, he responded. Theres always the
chance that the statistics are wrong.
Siegfried, who has a masters degree and
has studied journalism, chemistry, history
and physics, also encouraged audience
members to think about their information
sources and said the specialist media is
more likely to be reliable than the non-
specialist media.
The Hill Lecture Series brings dis-
tinguished science journalists to UT to
talk about science, society and the mass
media. The lectures are made possible by
an endowment created by Tom Hill and
Mary Frances Hill Holton in honor of their
parents, Alfred and Julia Hill, founders of
The Oak Ridger.
Spot News
Vol. 15, No. 7 APRIL 2009
A publication of the East Tennessee Chapter
of the Society of Professional Journalists
www.etspj.org
1802 Pinoak Ct.
Knoxville, TN 37923
April 17National celebration of SPJs
100th anniversary, SPJ headquarters,
Greencastle, Ind.
April 17ETSPJ Ethics Poker night
and pizza/SPJ anniversary celebration,
6:30 p.m., Jean Ash house, 1802 Pinoak
Court, off Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville
April 27ETSPJ board meeting, 9 a.m.,
Longs Drug Store
April 30Town hall meeting on news
National SPJ, ETSPJ set
town hall meeting on credibility
SEE FROM THE PRESIDENT, PAGE 2
From the president
BY MIA RHODARMER
ETSPJ
RHODARMER
Amanda Womac, organizer of
Writing Green, speaks during
the environmental journalism
conference March 27. At the
table, from left are Ann Keil,
reporter, WATE-TV; Rikki Hall,
editor, Hellbender Press and
contributor to Metro Pulse; Dr.
Gregory Button, UT professor of
anthropology and former public
radio reporter; Scott Barker,
environmental reporter, News
Sentinel, Knoxville.
Photo from Writing Green environmental journalism conference
PHOTO BY RANDY NEAL, www.knoxviews.com
media ethics program in cooperation with
national SPJ, Baker Center, UT-Knoxville
May 15Golden Press Card Awards
banquet, The Foundry
June 5-7Ted Scripps Leadership Insti-
tute, Indianapolis
July 18Front Page Follies, Knoxville
Aug. 27-29National SPJ Convention,
100th anniversary observance, India-
napolis
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
8 - Spot News
Happy birthday to us.
The Society of Profes-
sional Journalists is cel-
ebrating its 100
th
birthday
Friday, April 17. There will
be an offcial celebration
in Greencastle, Ind., the
birthplace of SPJ. Our
own chapter member,
Georgiana Vines, who is a past national
president, will attend.
Chapters across the nation will be hold-
ing their own celebrations that night. Here
in Knoxville, we will celebrate with an
evening of SPJ Ethics Poker. I know that
that sounds funny, ethics and poker. But
we will be playing with special SPJ cards
that include the Code of Ethics. And, there
will be fun prizes for the winners.
Ethics Poker Night will be at 6:30 p.m.
at Jean Ashs home in Knoxville. Visit
our Web site (www.etspj.org) for direc-
tions. We will have pizza to eat, and you
can bring your beverage of choice for the
evening. Please plan to join us!
Also as part of the 100
th
anniversary,
SPJ has asked 10 chapters to hold town
hall meetings about ethics and credibility.
Our East Tennessee chapter was chosen
as one of the hosts. Our meeting will be
at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at the Baker
Center on the UT campus.
The evening will begin with a discussion
about how citizen journalism, bloggers and
reader/viewer comments play into de-
veloping stories. Is the information people
get from those sources different than
April 30 at Baker Center
In todays world of 24-
hour access to information,
the need for credible, fair
reporting is more important
than ever.
T h e S o c i e t y o f
Professional Journalists
will observe Ethics Week,
April 27-May 1, by hosting a series of
town hall meetings focused on restoring
journalistic credibility by helping readers,
viewers, listeners and Web site visitors
understand what credible journalism is.
The East Tennessee Society of
Professional Journalists has been selected
as one of 10 chapters across the country to
host one of these meetings, beginning at
7 p.m. Thursday, April 30, in the Toyota
Auditorium of the Howard Baker Jr.
Center for Public Policy on the University
of Tennessee campus in Knoxville. The
Baker Center is cosponsoring the event.
The meeting will begin with a discussion
about citizen journalism, bloggers and
reader comments on Web sites. As more
and more media businesses cut their news
staffs, editors and news directors may rely
on citizen journalists to fll vacancies or
to provide frst-hand accounts of events.
However, do these citizen journalists
operate under the same ethical guidelines
as trained journalists? Bloggers and Web
site visitors often comment on popular
issues and stories presented in the news,
which can blur the line between factual
information and opinions.
SPJs large and diverse membership
consistently identifes ethics as one of the
organizations most important missions.
The SPJ Code of Ethics, frst adopted in
1926, is an industry standard. One element
of the code is to invite dialogue with the
public over journalistic conduct.
During the town hall meeting, the
audience is encouraged to ask questions
about how local stories are covered and
the decision-making process of editors
and reporters as they go about their jobs
of covering and presenting the news.
The panel will include Jack McElroy,
editor of the News Sentinel, Knoxville; Bill
Shory, WBIR-TV news director; Michael
Grider, VolunteerTV.com interactive
producer; and Glenn Reynolds, UT law
professor and founder of Instapundit.
com. Marianna Spicer, Cable News
Networks (CNN) executive editor for
news standards, Atlanta, will moderate
the program.
She joined CNN in January 1994, frst
as weekend supervisor in the Washington,
D.C. bureau and was promoted the next
year to senior producer. In 1999, she joined
the news standards and practices offce
and deputy to Executive Vice President
Rick Davis. Earlier, she was executive
producer for CBS News Face the
Nation, producer of ABCs This Week
With David Brinkley and as producer for
notable CBS news programs such as 60
Minutes.
For more information, call East Tennessee
Society of Professional Journalists
President Mia Rhodarmer at (423) 337-
7101 or editor@advocateanddemocrat.
com.
SPICER
We are creeping back up to near typical
numbers, John Becker, WBIR-TV news
anchor and ETSPJ membership chairman,
said. Becker noted that ETSPJ had 66
members as of March 30. In February, the
chapter had 61 members.
ETSPJ numbers back up
Check SDX winners
Anyone interested in learning who has
won awards in the Sigma Delta Chi contest
of national SPJ can go to www.spj.org/
news.asp?REF=878#878.