Be a Friend of Studs

Thanks for helping this year to diversify the voices in the news to build a stronger democracy. In 2007 you:

• Let us help 2,000 nonprofit communicators tell their stories in Chicago and across the Midwest
• Joined discussions on the potential of community media and the Internet to project marginalized voices and the nonprofit sector

Next year, the Workshop plans even more:

• Provide nonprofit communicators with more opportunities to effectively share your stories
• Offer journalists and citizen journalists more sourcing and skills training
• Help lead the way on-line for nonprofits

Whether you scored a scoop thanks to Getting On the Air, On-Line & Into Print, found a source via our Web site or conversation, or benefited from our coaching, conferences, Web tips, or other services this year, you helped influence how issues are framed and understood, which leads to social change. If you’re getting this message, you counted this year!

We’d welcome your donation or comments about how we helped you or your organization this year. E-mail us at cmw@newstips.org.

… and help us find more journalists like him
Now through Friday, January 11, we're accepting suggestions for Studs Terkel Community Media awardees.

Terkel Awards highlight journalists who take risks in covering social issues by offering new or unusual perspectives on topics of general concern. The awards honor journalists for going the extra mile in sourcing stories and thoughtful treatment of context. The awards reward a body of work rather than a single article or series, and go to journalists at any stage of their career.

Visit our Web site to look over the list of past winners and if your candidates are not there, let us know their names, where they work, and why they qualify.

Awards will be given at our benefit Wednesday, April 9, 2008, Chicago Cultural Center.

Learn More About the Studs Terkel Media Awards by clicking here.

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Professional Media Relations
Five Fridays: Friday, January 25 to February 22
Participants in this intensive five-week course designed specifically for nonprofit communicators plan media campaigns around one of their own stories, while learning basic public relations skills such as how to:

* Find and tell stories about your organization;
* Develop a media strategy;
* Pitch stories to journalists, and
* Handle a broadcast interview.

Plus, participants in the course get the opportunity to develop a story and pitch it to journalists. Includes 1 copy per organization of Spin Works, the nonprofit PR handbook, and 1 copy of Getting on Air, On-line, and Into Print 2008, our directory of area journalists.
Register Now!

Other upcoming Workshops:
NEW! Knock Out Fundraisers & Special Events
9 am - Noon Wednesday February 6, 2008
Online Communications
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, March 6, 2008

Tell Your Stories in Michigan: Feb. 28
Watch for a joint workshop Thursday, Feb. 28 at Youthville, 7475 Woodward Ave. in Detroit by Workshop staff and colleagues from the SPIN Project. SPIN Strategist Rebecca Farmer will lead a day-long Media Boot Camp for nonprofits, the Workshop will provide its On-Line Strategy & Tools, and we’ll have a Meet the Press session with leading local journalists.

The event is part of Michigan Nonprofit Association’s Signature Series of Trainings, co-sponsored by Michigan Suburbs Alliance and LISC-Detroit, and underwritten by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

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It’s easy to get lost in the ever-fluctuating media landscape here in Chicago. That is – if you don’t already have the tool to keep you on the right track: the 2008 version of Getting on the Air Online & Into Print.

• With the book as your roadmap, you’ll have reporter’s contact information at your fingertips. It’s a portable, hands-on tool to help visualize your media outreach.
• With the CD as your compass, plan & execute your media campaigns at the click of a mouse. Search for reporters by region, topic, format and more. Export custom targeted lists for sending out your press releases.

People to Pitch

Sylvia Jones
“Talk to me about a need your nonprofit fulfills,” says Sylvia Jones, special projects producer for ABC 7. Because many news outlets tend to cover the same stories, Sylvia asks nonprofits to give their story a spin and make it stand out. While it’s helpful to have a spokesperson and visuals prepared, Sylvia says she will work with nonprofits to make a good TV story.

Sylvia’s TV segments usually air on the evening news and she typically covers stories about women, children and world cultures. She also produces hour-long special programs that air independently of the newscast. Although Sylvia says “there are very few topics I won’t cover,” nonprofits should not ask her to cover fundraising events or award ceremonies. Sylvia is in her office every day and the best way to pitch her is at Sylvia.L.Jones@abc.com.

Less to Read
Phil Rosenthal reported in the Tribune last week that financial considerations are causing Creative Loafing, the Reader’s new parent, to lay off some of its most talented staff: John Conroy, Harold Henderson, Tori Marlan, and Steve Bogira. They are among Chicago’s best journalists. Conroy was a Studs Terkel Media Award honoree in 2005 for his work on police torture. They are book authors not to mention frequent presenters at our Making Media Connections conference, and will be missed at the Reader.

“The question is, how is real journalism going to be supported?” says Henderson. “I’m a blogger, I think blogging is great. Bloggers quote each other and they quote work that actual real journalists have done… but you’ve got to have someone who’s actually out there doing it.” He says that he may on occasion free-lance for the Reader (“doing the same work for less money”) and also can be found on-line at: http://harolddaily.blogspot.com/

Find more "People to Pitch" in our 2008 Getting on Air, Online and Into Print media guide. Get it here

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Newstips Blog
by Curtis Black, newstips editor

Chicago, Race, Human Rights, and Torture
Newstip Date: December 9th, 2007
With Chicago taxpayers now expected to pay nearly $20 million to settle lawsuits stemming from police torture — in which no perpetrators have been prosecuted, and ringleader Jon Burge continues to collect his city pension — a new report on racial discrimination and human rights in Chicago has harsh words on criminal justice. Read More

Hyde Park Co-op Vote Underway
Newstip Date: December 7th, 2007
Bolstered by the possibility of a new financing package, supporters of the Hyde Park Co-op have launched a new website, savethecoop.com, just days before ballots in a membership vote on the future of the financially-beleagured organization are due.

All along, Co-op supporters have been playing catch-up to a well-orchestrated campaign by the University of Chicago to shut down the organization, including what Co-op supporters call bluffs and threats by the University. Read More

Subscribe to the new Newstips v2.0 Blog
Visit the Newstips blog and tell us what you think.

Do you have a newstip? Contact Curtis Black.
curtis@newstips.org | phone: 312-344-6400 | fax: 312-344-6404

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Other Events Around Town

Idealware Webinar: Comparing Open Source CMSs
1 to 2:30 p.m. EST, Thursday, Dec. 13
Learn the difference between various open source content management systems (CMS), what they do and why their low-cost efficiency is good for nonprofits. Cost is $40. Register at http://tinyurl.com/yqezrr.

Call for Immigrant-Themed Artwork: National Museum of Mexican Art
Deadline: Jan. 28, Exhibit: July 4, 2008
Artists with proposals or completed work representing the non-Mexican immigrant experience are encouraged to submit art in an exhibit focusing on Chicago’s diverse immigrant communities. All mediums will be considered. Submit to Cesareo Moreno at cesareo@nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org.

One City, One Food Drive
Now through Dec. 22 at all Chicagoland Whole Foods Markets
Drop off non-perishable food items and support The Greater Chicago Food Depository as they struggle to feed hungry families this winter. Bins available at entrances.

Vote4Me! Presidential Campaign Exhibit
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Monday, through November 2008 at The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, 435 N. Michigan Ave.
Step into the shoes of your favorite presidential candidate and learn more about the election process and what it takes to become the Commander in Chief. Museum is free through Dec. 31. More information at www.freedommuseum.us

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New on the Web
Web sites and features from the Workshop’s partners and friends

Jingle Down Wall Street Christmas Carol
In the spirit of the holiday season and housing crisis, National Training and Information Center wrote a holiday carol “for all the Wall St. investment firms who have the ability to keep families in their homes.” Listen or sing along at http://savetheamericandream.wordpress.com

“The Story of Stuff”
The newest video from FreeRange Studios is more of a downer than their usual but as always shows the possibilities of the new on-line video medium. Tides Foundation and Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption paid for the video. Check it out at www.storyofstuff.com/.

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Communications Jobs

Recent PR News Job Center Postings
Visit the PR News Job Center at http://jobs.prnewsonline.com/ for the latest pool of employment opportunities. The list includes posts for a Senior Publications and Media Officer, Senior Account Executive, Public Affairs Associate and Senior Publicist. The jobs are nationwide and vary in minimum requirements and salary.

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