Monthly Archives: May 2010

Jackie MacMullan, an award-winning pro basketball reporter for three decades, will receive the 2010 Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. MacMullan is the first female reporter to receive the honor in its 21-year history.

Fewer than half of news executives surveyed by the Pew Center this spring said they are confident their operations will survive another 10 years without significant new sources of revenue. Nearly a third said their operations are at risk in five years or less. We explore the future of the news business with four of the nation's top experts. This is a part of a series of stories looking at the sessions, workshops, programs, speakers and social activities taking place at APSE’s convention in June in Salt Lake City.

Making tough decisions in tough times and the offensive struggles of the Seattle Mariners were among the topics of discussion at the APSE Northwest Regional. In sessions designed to help editors deal with dwindling staffs and shrinking newsholes, participants debated the proper balance of local and national news, and how to respond to challenges presented by the increasing popularity of non-traditional sports such as mixed martial arts and lacrosse.

Game accounts should tell a story — and bring readers something they didn't know or didn't see. It should be authoritative and analytical, and it should be fun to read. Learn how it's done at "How to Write the Perfect Game Story." This is a part of a series of stories looking at the sessions, workshops, programs, speakers and social activities taking place at APSE’s convention in June in Salt Lake City.

No matter how much the media landscape changes, journalists who have mastered the fundamentals — reporting, writing and fact-checking — will be able to find a place in it.

Tim Stephens of the Orlando Sentinel provided the audience with ideas to help their respective sports sections help themselves through the use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media devices. Commissioner Slive asks what the SEC office could do to help sports editors and writers better serve the readers. The overwhelming answer was the need for better access with the players and coaches — including the coordinators —during the week.

Dave Checketts, one of the nation's foremost sports entrepreneurs, is the keynote speaker at the APSE convention on Thursday, June 24. This is a part of a series of stories looking at the sessions, workshops, programs, speakers and social activities taking place at APSE’s convention in June in Salt Lake City.

Put your notebook down for a minute. Take your recorder and slide it next to the notebook. If you have to, or if the moment is right for a joke, tell your source, "I'm unarmed," as veteran baseball beat reporter Bruce Miles of the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald sometimes does. It's one of the easiest and most tried and true ways to develop a relationship with sources on your beat, Miles and Chicago Tribune baseball writer Dave Van Dyck said in a presentation on beat writing at the APSE Great Lakes Region meeting last month.

Check out the webcast of the Northeast Region meeting at Marist College this week. There are two sessions to view: Finding Your Role in...

Webcasts, power rankings and American flag singlets, that's how Northwest Herald sports editor Eric Olson rolls. Says Paul Skrbina: "I had no idea I was going to see Eric in a singlet today."