News Releases
via NCAI:
FCC Grants Tribes Priority to Obtain Broadcast Radio Licenses
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a First Report and Order that establishes Tribal Priority under section 307(b) processing rules. Only 41 radio stations are currently licensed to American Indian/Alaska Native tribes, who reside on 55 million acres of reservation land. This new Order will give tribes priority to obtain broadcast radio licenses within their respective communities, offering the opportunity to broadcast programs that directly serve local regions. These radio services will encourage community involvement, promote cultural sustainability, and provide diversity within the broadcasting community.
In addition, the Order includes amendments to its current application and assignment procedures. These changes are designed to assist applicants by streamlining the licensing process. According to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, “The Commission is proud to adopt new rules that will help tribes expand their unique radio programming, a service that focuses on the promotion of tribal culture, language, and historic preservation.”
NCAI and Native Public Media partnered to submit formal comments for the record to advance the tribal priority in obtaining broadcast radio licenses in tribal communities.
For additional information on the FCC News Release, refer to the following link:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-296163A1.pdf
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Metcalf Institute February Deadlines Reminder
NARRAGANSETT, RI – January 20, 2010 –The Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting announces February 2010 deadlines for two professional opportunities for journalists.
Entries for the Grantham Prize for Excellence in Reporting on the Environment need to be postmarked no later than February 1, 2010. The Grantham Prize, the largest journalism cash prize in the world, honors the work of a journalist or team of journalists for exemplary reporting on environmental and/or natural resource issues with an award of $75,000. The 2010 Grantham Prize eligibility is open to works of non-fiction originally published, broadcast, or posted online in the United States or Canada between January 1 and December 31, 2009. Book entry deadline for the 2010 Grantham prize has passed. Grantham Prize contest rules, entry information, forms, formats and a helpful checklist are available online at www.granthamprize.org.
Applications for Metcalf Institute’s Science Seminar for Journalists need to be postmarked no later than February 8, 2010. Metcalf Institute and the Brown University Superfund Research Program will offer this two-day science seminar, March 31 - April 1, 2010, for mid-career journalists at Brown University, entitled “Waiter, There’s a Phthalate in My Soup” – Reporting on the Science and Impacts of Toxic Chemicals. The seminar, funded by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, will feature leading environmental scientists and journalists, visits to research labs, and discussions on the communication of bisphenol-A and air quality impacts.
Applications for the Science Seminar for Journalists may be downloaded at www.metcalfinstitute.org. Working journalists with at least five years of professional experience who are reporting in the U.S. may apply. The Seminar is tuition-free and includes lodging, but travel costs are not included and space is limited. For additional program information and eligibility, call 401-874-6211 or email fellowships@metcalfinstitute.org.
The mission of the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting is to promote clear and accurate reporting of scientific news and environmental issues; to strengthen understanding and working relationships between members of the scientific community and members of the news media; and to provide opportunities for beginning journalists to learn, on both a formal and an informal level, how to improve their skills in marine and environmental reporting.
The Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting was established in 1997 with funding from three media foundations, the Belo Corporation, the Providence Journal Charitable Foundation and the Philip L. Graham Fund, and from the Telaka Foundation. It is named for the late Michael P. Metcalf, a visionary in journalism and publisher of The Providence Journal Bulletin from 1979-1987. The Metcalf Institute provides science training for reporters and editors to help improve the accuracy and clarity of marine and environmental reporting and offers journalism fellowships in support of diversity and reporting on science and the environment. For more information, contact the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting at 401-874-6211 or online at www.metcalfinstitute.org.
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Kat Anderson
Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting
URI Graduate School of Oceanography
Narragansett Bay Campus
218 South Ferry Road
Narragansett, RI 02882
Email: kat@gso.uri.edu
Office: 401.874.6009
Fax: 401.874.6486
http://www.metcalfinstitute.org
http://www.granthamprize.org
(via Mallory Jean Tenore of the The Poynter Institute)
Ex-Unity Pres.: NAHJ, NABJ, AAJA, NAJA Should Not Merge
Posted by Mallary Jean Tenore 6:18 AM Oct. 21, 2009
When the National Association of Hispanic Journalists announced earlier this month that it had a $300,000 budget shortfall, people began tweeting the news and expressing concern over the group's financial woes. One NAHJ member, Mo Krochmal, tweeted that the shortfall is an indication that "at some point, minority journalists orgs are going to have to merge to save funds."
But Rafael Olmeda, former Unity president who stepped down from his leadership role last week, disagrees. He tweeted a response to Krochmal, who he knows from NAHJ: "The minority journalism orgs do not need to merge any more than the beat journalism orgs. Adapt? yes. Merge, no."
As membership in many of the 40 or 50 journalism associations in the U.S. declines, more question just how these groups will adapt and whether some will merge.
Olmeda, who said he gave up his presidency for professional and personal reasons that included the death of his brother and a desire to spend more time with his newborn son, addressed this question in a recent phone interview.
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