Save the date. OC SPJ will hold a mixer with OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens on Monday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. Location to be announced soon.

Journalist and author Cokie Roberts will be the speaker at the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists’ 32nd annual awards banquet on April 30.

Roberts is a senior news analyst for NPR and a political commentator for ABC News. She was the co-anchor of the ABC News’ “This Week with Sam Donaldson & Cokie Roberts” from 1996-2002, while also serving as the chief congressional analyst for ABC News.

SPJ/LA will honor six journalists at its awards banquet. The winners of the Distinguished Journalists Award are Bob Banfield of KABC-TV, Beth Barrett of the Los Angeles Daily News, John Rabe of KPCC-FM and Tom Tugend of the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Los Angeles Times reporters Scott Glover and Matt Lait will be honored with the Freedom of Information Award.

The Distinguished Journalists Awards banquet will be held on Wednesday, April 30, at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Attention professional and student journalists, the 26th annual San Diego Multicultural Journalism Summer Workshop for high school students is approaching. Applications may be downloaded from our web site or by contacting a journalism or yearbook advisor at your local high school in San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The free workshop will be held June 15 to June 26 at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. The workshop is the signature program for CCNMA chapters in San Diego and the Inland Empire.

We need volunteers to do outreach and help train, mentor and supervise the 18 to 20 students that we will be selecting in May. The deadline to apply is April 11. Current high school juniors and seniors are encouraged to apply. The workshop offers training in print, radio and television. Our partners include the San Diego Union-Tribune, Riverside Press-Enterprise, KPBS- Radio, NBC7/39, Dow Jones Newspaper Fund and the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. For more information contact Leonel Sanchez, San Diego Union-Tribune, at (619) 593-4951.

Remember to register for the SPJ Region 11 Spring Conference, in Tucson, Ariz., April 11-12.

Click here to go to the convention Web site.

Go to the Hotel page to book your double occupancy rooms at the University Marriott Park hotel. The rates are $129 a night for conference attendees. The conference rate will be available for three days before and after the conference, so you might want to schedule extra time to visit the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, the U.S.-Mexico border, Mount Lemmon, Kitt Peak, the dozens of fabulous Mexican restaurants and more.

The Marriott is located in a bustling university district, with lots of shopping, restaurants and coffee joints, and it’s right next door to the UA journalism department, where we’ll hold one round of sessions on Saturday.

Go to the conference registration page to register. Registration is $75 per person. And the optional bootcamps (Friday, April 11, and Sunday, April 13) will cost $50.

March 1 is the deadline for all students enrolled in grades 9-12 in public, private and home schools are eligible to participate in the 2008 High School Essay Contest.

Students must submit original work and have a sponsoring teacher sign the contest entry form. Students must write on the official topic and follow all rules and entry procedures.

For more information, click here.

Three reporters. One Golden Mike. Does sleeping with a city official really hurt your career?

A new play by KPCC’s Kitty Felde takes us into the ladies room at the Golden Mike Awards to eavesdrop on what reporters really talk about.

Join your fellow SPJ Members for discount tickets, February 16. 8 p.m.

WHERE: Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd. 2nd floor

PARKING: $2 parking at Hollywood and Highland with theatre validation

RESERVATIONS: 213-624-4796. Mention SPJ for 25 percent discount. Tickets regularly $20.

Concerned about access to newsmakers being infringed upon, the Board of Directors of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has voted to oppose Councilman Dennis Zine’s proposal for regulating the activity of paparazzi photographers.

The measure includes creation of a “personal safety zone” of several feet of clear space between paparazzi and the persons they are photographing.

“We appreciate and share Councilman Zine’s concern for the excesses of the paparazzi,” said SPJ’s Los Angeles Chapter president David Dow, “but enforcing a ‘personal safety zone’ could engender other abuses involving legitimate access to newsmakers.

“Moreover, we believe there are adequate laws on the books right now, which if properly enforced, could contain reckless activity by paparazzi or any member of the media. We fully support enforcement of those laws. Any excesses have a tendency to tarnish law-abiding members of the mainstream press.”

With about 10,000 members, the Society of Professional Journalists is the nation’s largest and most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to promoting high standards of ethical behavior and encouraging the free practice of journalism. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists and protect First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.

The Web site is now live for the SPJ Region 11 Spring Conference, in Tucson, Ariz., April 11-12.

Click here to go to the site.

Go to the Hotel page to book your double occupancy roomsat the University Marriott Park hotel. The rates are $129 a night for conference attendees. The conference rate will be available for three days before and after the conference, so you might want to schedule extra time to visit the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, the U.S.-Mexico border, Mount Lemmon, Kitt Peak, the dozens of fabulous Mexican restaurants and more.

The Marriott is located in a bustling university district, with lots of shopping, restaurants and coffee joints, and it’s right next door to the UA journalism department, where we’ll hold one round of sessions on Saturday.

Go to the conference registration page to register. Registration will be $75 per person. And the optional bootcamps (Friday, April 11, and Sunday, April 13) will cost $50.

The Greater L.A. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists invites you to join us on Tuesday, Feb. 26, for an exciting and informative mini-seminar on celebrity coverage as described from the perspectives of a reporter, a paparazzo and an attorney. Find out what happens when tabloid-favorites Britney, Paris and Lindsay make news on the streets and in the courts of Los Angeles.

Panelists include:
Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times reporter
John McCoy, president of the Press Photographers Association of Greater Los Angeles
Jean-Paul Jassy, First Amendment attorney with Bostwick & Jassy

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26

WHERE: Location to be determined

CONTACT: Alice Walton, SPJ/LA, (310) 595-5612

Leaders of the Society of Professional Journalists sent a letter of support Tuesday to editors of the Montclair State University student publication, the Montclarion. Last week, the university’s student government association president froze funding to publish the weekly newspaper after disagreements rose over some association meetings being conducted in private.

According to a New York Times story, the issue began in November when The Montclarion’s editor-in-chief asked for SGA meetings to be open to the press. Before the meeting, an attorney retained by The Montclarion spoke with the student journalists about their rights. Following that meeting, SGA President Ron Chicken asked for correspondence between the attorney and the newspaper’s editors, which the editors refused to provide. The following day, Chicken sent a letter of termination to the attorney, who was paid for with student funds. However, Chicken continued requesting copies of communication between the paper and the attorney. The Montclarion staff then began publishing articles and editorials criticizing Chicken and the actions of the SGA. Currently, the Student Press Law Center is working to retain an attorney for the Montclarion staff.

“This dispute should demonstrate to all college journalists that they need to carefully examine the relationship their media have with student government,” said Neil Ralston, SPJ’s vice president for campus chapter affairs. “And if they aren’t happy at what they see, they should check out SPJ’s Campus Media Statement program, which is designed to help protect student media from attempts at censorship.”

The SPJ Campus Media Statement program is available on the Society’s web site.

In the letter issued by SPJ, the Society’s leaders expressed support for the editors and staff of the Montclarion as they work to force the Montclair State University Student Government Association to stop conducting business behind closed doors. Furthermore, SPJ condemns the recent move by the SGA to freeze funding for the Montclarion in an attempt to prevent the newspaper from being printed. Not only did the SGA’s action deprive University students of a print edition that they had already paid for, it cost the Montclarion thousands of dollars in advertising revenue and subjected the University to negative publicity across the country.

“When student governments take oppressive actions against student journalists then all students lose,” said David Cuillier, chairman of SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee. “A vibrant and free press that has access to government information is essential if students are going to know what’s going on and trust their elected leaders.”

To read the complete letter, visit SPJ.org.