So we’ve been working hard on creating an exciting program for the SPJ Region 1 Spring Conference. More than 40 speakers and 20-plus events and sessions, including an opening night reception at the Long Island Museum at Stony Brook. It’s a very cool place.
It’s crazy to think that after more than a year of planning, we’re less than two months away from the big event. Here’s the schedule. I hope you can make it.
Meantime, follow or add to the conversation on Twitter with #R1C12.
I’m proud to announce that I’ve been appointed to the new position Chapter Doctor for the Society of Professional Journalists by newly minted president John Ensslin. I’ll be aiding chapter leaders, along regional directors, to serve members and all journalists in these areas. That includes building programs, workshops and other useful tools, while helping to attract and retain members in the society.
I’m looking for ward to working with all the great people in SPJ who are so dedicate to improving and protecting journalism.
Congratulations to Bill McClosky on his re-election as At-Large Director of the Society of Professional Journalists. He is an exceptional member and SPJ is lucky to have on the board again.
I would also like to thank my supporters, especially Nicole Brewer and Chris Vaccaro, for their encouragement and efforts throughout the convention. We ran a good campaign, and took full advantage of every outreach tool available, from Twitter to Facebook to email blasts and good-old handshakes and ear-bending.
We gave it a good run.
I will continue to serve SPJ in any way I can.
–Carl
Part of our jobs as journalists is to give voice to the voiceless. It’s stated in the Society of Professional Journalists‘ own Code of Ethics. So it only makes sense that we offer the same opportunity to members of the society.
A proposed amendment to the society’s bylaws — supported by 10 chapters across the country — will be presented at the Excellence in Journalism Convention in New Orleans. It would provide individual members a greater say in the governance of SPJ.
Currently, chapter delegates at the convention vote for national officers and directors. Each chapter receives one vote for every 50 members or fraction of 50 members (a chapter with up to 50 members has 1 vote and a chapter with 51 – 100 members has 2 votes). This leaves out many members who are not affiliated with a chapter.
The proposal, commonly referred to as “0ne-member, one-vote,” would would permit all members of the society to cast ballots for national officers and directors and would encourage candidates to reach out to a wider membership audience.
According to the proposal, “the vote would be conducted electronically by secret ballot beginning at the end of the opening business meeting of the convention and ending one hour before the start of the final business meeting of the convention.”
I strongly support this amendment and hope others will, too, when it comes up for discussion at the convention.
To find out more about the measure, check http://spj.org/proposedamendments.asp.
After getting flak from media groups including the Press Club of Long Island, to its credit, Suffolk County police issued a mea culpa on a recent improper arrest of video journalist Phil Datz for filming the aftermath of a car chase.
“The department is conducting an internal review of the incident between a Suffolk County Police Department supervisor and a photographer that resulted in the photographer’s arrest. I am working with the Suffolk County District Attorney to have the arrest nullified.
“The police department believes in keeping an open line of communication with the media and we will be reviewing the department’s policy concerning involvement with the news media. The department will also provide refresher training to all officers regarding the interaction between the news media and department personnel.”
–Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer
PCLI had put out a statement earlier in the day, which Newsday mentioned in its story about the reversal.
The commissioner’s statement came after the Press Club of Long Island called on police and prosecutors to drop all charges against the freelance journalist, Phil Datz, 34, a Valley Stream resident.
We recently launched a new web site for the SPJ Region 1 Spring Conference at Stony Brook University, which I’m co-chairing. The site provides the latest on plans for the big event, set for next year on March 23 and 24.
One big addition will be a student-led news operation, The #R1C News. The team, led largely by the Stony Brook SPJ student chapter, will cover the conference’s programs and activities with everything from blog posts to video, photos, social media and whatever else comes up between now and then.
If anyone has program ideas for the conference, or would like to volunteer in some way, please let me know at carlcorry@gmail.com.
You can also follow updates about the conference on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.
The conference is sponsored by the Press Club of Long Island.
I am throwing in my hat for At-Large Director of the Society of Professional Journalists, the largest and most diverse journalism group in the country.
Please take a look at my goals and experience, and fire away any questions you might have about my candidacy.
Thanks in advance for your support.
–Carl
@carlcorry
facebook.com/cacorry
About me
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Current SPJ Position: Co-chair, 2012 SPJ Region 1 Spring Conference.
Current Employment: Newsday’s online editor for local news.
Previous SPJ Experience: Region 1 Director, 2004-2006; President, Press Club of Long Island, 2002-2005 (Region 1 Chapter of the Year, 2002); board member, 1998-2011. Served as PCLI corresponding secretary and VP-Print. Student chapter president, Stony Brook University, 2004-2006; founding student chapter president, St. John’s University, 2003.
Past Work Experience: Executive producer, News 12 Interactive, 2007-2010; Editor, Long Island Business News, 2003-2007 (previously managing editor and reporter); spot news and tech reporter, Marketwatch.com, 2000-2001.
Education: B.A. in multidisciplinary studies, Stony Brook University, 1996.
Honors, Awards and Activities: Regional Director of the Year, 2005; Winner of outstanding service to journalism award from PCLI, 2005; LIBN 40 under 40 honoree, 2010; currently board member of the Buskin Committee for Campus Journalism at Stony Brook University.
Why I’m seeking this SPJ office: Communication. Innovation. Independence. That’s what I plan to bring to the SPJ board.
I want to bridge the communication gap between chapters so they can better share ideas, while offering a fresh, yet experienced voice to the board.
I also want to help chapters develop effective websites and vibrant social media initiatives.
My varied experience in print, TV, online and mobile journalism allows me to understand and quickly respond to the challenges our industry and our organization face.
It’s also crucial for board members to speak up when the society errs. For example, in 2005, SPJ prematurely criticized Ocean County College in New Jersey when a journalism advisor there was ousted. As Region 1 director, I led a committee that investigated the issue. We found that the administration made the wrong move. But we also found SPJ publicly responded without having sufficient information.
If I rejoined the SPJ board, I would work to avoid missteps like this in the future.
But more importantly, I hope to bring a new perspective that will help the society achieve its goals while addressing the changing needs of its members.
I’m proud to share that my newsday.com/towns team won first place for Best New Blog at the 2011 Press Club of Long Island Media Awards dinner on June 9.
Contributors to the blog, Long Island Now, during 2010, which is when the blog posts we submitted ran, included Erin Geismar, T.C. McCarthy and Josh Stewart, as well as Long Island Desk reporters such as Patrick Whittle.
The recognition tells us we’re going in the right direction with our aim to deliver creative, compelling community news content with a multimedia bent. From stand-up videos from the field sent from our mobile devices, to effectively using social media to share and solicit information, to great writing and video storytelling, we’ve done it all.
And, best of all, we’re having fun doing it.
Thanks to our editors for giving us the freedom to try anything we’ve thrown at them.
Here’s PCLI’s complete list of winners.
Carl Corry, Erin Geismar, T.C. McCarthy and Josh Stewart accept the first-place award for best news blog at the 2011 Press Club of Long Island Media Awards. Photo by Diana DeRosa; courtesy Press Club of Long Island
Here’s Newsday’s press release about all our winners:
Newsday Reporter Sandra Peddie Named
2011 Outstanding Long Island Journalist by Press Club of Long Island
Melville, NY, June 10, 2011 – Newsday and newsday.com have been honored with a total of 27 media awards by the Press Club of Long Island (PCLI). The awards were presented at PCLI’s annual Media Awards Dinner on June 9, 2011 at the Woodbury Country Club.
Newsday investigative reporter Sandra Peddie was named PCLI’s 2011 Outstanding Long Island Journalist, PCLI’s highest individual honor. The award was presented to Peddie for her ongoing, tenacious investigative reporting. Over the years, Peddie’s ground-breaking work has exposed numerous legislative and policy issues affecting the people of Long Island.
“Newsday is extremely proud of all of our finalists and winners, and we want to thank the Press Club of Long Island for recognizing our achievements,” said Debby Krenek, Editor of Newsday. “These awards are a tribute to our newsroom’s commitment to journalistic excellence and delivering the information that matters most to the people of Long Island.”
I recently helped judge the Stony Brook University computer science department’s annual video game programming competition. Eleven teams spent the last six weeks first coming up with a concept and then building their projects from scratch.
The games ranged from word-based Tetris-ish concept to the ol’ Ninja-slice-and-dice.
Then there was “Charlie Sheen’s F’ed Up Adventure.” The idea is to have this little Charlie Sheen fight nurses, tigers and other assorted enemies with the goal of getting him over the rainbow. If you’re really good, you get a tiger blood power-up. When he jumps, the little guys shouts “winning!” The team tried tweeting Sheen, but he never got back to them. Go figure.
But, for the first time, there were co-winners in the competition. First place was shared by Twine Associates, for “TowerCraft,” its intricate Medieval tower protection game Tower Craft, and Virtual Void, which developed “Volume Revolution,” an innovative way to use music notes to break down barriers, literally, at least in game terms.
Twine Associate included Tom Ayalon, Joshua Belanic and Anthony Lomonaco.
The Virtual Void team was made up Louis Ahola, Daniel End, Nick Trombetta and Emily White.
The honors were well deserved.
I look forward all year long to this time of the season, when the cherry tree in front of my house blooms. It last only a few weeks, so capturing it’s very important to get a shot at just the right time.
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