Early Bird registration deadline for NABJ convention in Tampa extended to April 15

Please make sure you register for the lowest rate possible for the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Tampa, scheduled for Aug. 5 to 9 at the Tampa Convention Center.

If you're not registered, you won't be able to attend the convention.

The early bird registration, where you can get the cheapest fees, has been extended to April 15. All registrants get a free admission to Busch Gardens and access to an amazing week of seminars, discussions and parties centered on media, communications, journalism and people of color.

And the cheapest rate is available for those who are members of both the Tampa Bay NABJ and the national organization.

Here's the link:

http://www.nabj.org/conventions/2009/index.html

Eric Deggans
TV/Media Critic
St. Petersburg (Fla.)Times
(727) 893-8521
http://blogs.tampabay.com/media

TBABJ membership meeting at 11 a.m. April 4

Our next TBABJ general membership meeting will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 4, at the Times office in Tampa, 1000 N. Ashley Drive.
We've got a lot on our plates for the next few months. So, we'll need as much participation as possible to make sure the national convention in August runs smoothly. We also need to get things off the ground for the Griot Drum scholarships.

Hope to see you there. Feel free to call or e-mail me if you have questions.

Take care,

Camille




Camille C. Spencer
membership chair, TBABJ
reporter, St. Petersburg Times
office: 813.909.4609
cell: 727.992.5203
www.tampabay.com

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TBABJ Multimedia Seminar draws diverse, engaged crowd

Here's a report on last Saturday's multimedia seminar from Asian American Journalists Association member Carol Lim, who attended and reported on the event for AAJA and was kind enough to send us a copy of the story:

The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists presented its Third Annual Multimedia Seminar at the Tampa Tribune on Saturday, March 7th. A packed room of around 30 website producers, reporters, news staff from the
St. Petersburg Times, the Tampa Tribune, the Lakeland Ledger, TBO.com; Tampabay.com, WTSP-TV, WTVT-TV, WUSF-FM, educators, freelancers, and audio-visual suppliers heard speakers talk about the importance of
embracing multimedia to increase newspaper readership
and television viewership during an economy of
continuing newsroom layoffs.

Eric Deggans, St. Petersburg Times Media Critic, hosted the 3 hour seminar. Deggans talked about blogging and Twitter, a new social networking website, similar to Facebook. Deggans discussed how he uses Twitter to network socially and professionally, monitor emails, and blog about news stories.
"Twitter is making yourself self-sufficient (as a journalist)...assembling people, who are interested in you. It's your brand," said Deggans.

Nathalie Voirin, Metromix Managing Producer of the Gannett website, and Managing Producer at WTSP-TV, discussed how Metromix and TampaBays10 Connects helps the station bring in stories from the community and citizen journalists.
"It was scary to us at first," said Voirin.
She said in covering the missing NFL-former USF football players boating last Saturday, it was important to update the website first while 1 person was twittering and another person was blogging this story.
Voirin also stressed the importance of being proficient in multimedia to tell a story, finding good stories, getting the basics down on audio and video. She noted that multimedia skills can make a difference in who management keeps and lets go when downsizing in this economy.
"Everyone at 10 is boning up on mulitmedia skills and what's on the horizon," said Voirin.

Demorris Lee, St. Petersburg Times Reporter, showed a Super Bowl slide show with natural sound and soundbites.
"What is prohibiting us from telling a story on different platforms? Do we know how to, the language?" Lee asked.
He challenged journalists to not be afraid of multimedia and encouraged them to become more skilled in this area.
Lee also talked about the tools, cameras, recorders, and computer programs used for multimedia journalism.
"We have to think multimedia. That's where the industry is going." Lee said.

Boyzell Hosey, St. Petersburg Times Director of Photography, spoke about the anxiety in the news industry.
" We're trying to figure out how to do it (multimedia)," Hosey said. He noted that today's journalism school graduates are very proficient in multimedia.
"The tools and opportunities in photojournalism are incredible " he added.
"The challenge is how to balance and blend journalism with the company's bottomline and bring advertisers to the websites," Hosey said.
Most videos are 2 minutes or less on Times website.
Hosey recommended the Flash and Photoshop computer programs to help journalists learn the basics of interactive graphics.

Ken Knight, Tampa Tribune Multimedia Reporter, talked about community journalism.
"As reporters decrease, we are looking more to citizen journalists," said Knight.
Knight says the Tampa Tribune have community websites to enourage people to participate, to send their videos and photographs.
"Its important to engage the community," said Knight.
Knight added that it's a growing trend; as readership and viewership declines.
"This will rejuvenate people's interest in the news." Knight said.
By using SNAP, Tampa Tribune website users can create their own online photo albums to share with family and friends.
Knight also said today's reporters are being asked to do more--shoot video, photos, and edit.

For more information about this group, check out their website at www.TBABJ.com.
Special thanks to Eric Deggans for contibuting to this report. Deggans also is president of TBABJ.

Carol Lim
Asian American Journalists Association
Florida Chapter Member
Tampa, Florida
clim@ij.net

Third annual TBABJ Multimedia Seminar begins at 11 a.m. March 7 in Tampa

The Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists is pleased to announce its third annual seminar on blogs and multimedia journalism.

This year's event is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday March 7 at the Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St. Tampa. Head to the south building and tell the security guard in the lobby what event you're attending. We'll be around the corner in a small conference room.

The 2009 seminar features:

* Nathalie Voirin, managing producer for the Tampa Bay version of Gannett's Metromix Web site and a managing producer for CBS affiliate WTSP-Ch. 10. Nathalie works on Metromix from the center of WTSP's newsroom, navigating the mix of traditional TV journalism, online reporting and new school entertainment coverage.

* Boyzell Hosey, director of photography for the St. Petersburg Times. Boyzell has guided the Times through making its photojournalists the focal point of multimedia efforts, from shooting and editing video for online reports to training print reporters on capturing images for their own blogs and newspaper stories.

* Ken Knight, multimedia reporter for the Tampa Tribune/TBO.com/WFLA-Ch. 8. Ken assembles daily reports from Tampa neighborhoods for all of Media General's platforms in the Tampa Bay area.

* Eric Deggans, TV/Media Critic, St. Petersburg Times. Eric's blog, The Feed, has become a bit of laboratory for his many efforts at multimedia work, from showcasing video of a TV anchor's arrest to using Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to leverage audiences to his blog at the Times Web site.

* Demorris Lee, reporter, St. Petersburg Times. Demorris has completed a number of multimedia projects after completing a fellowship at the Knight Digital Media Center.

During the discussions, we will talk about ways to think about expanding traditional journalism work to multimedia platforms, the advantages and challenges of blogging for journalists, the resources available for those who hope to learn more about this kind of work and examples of quality work done on different platforms.

Though this is a professional development seminar organized by the TBABJ, this seminar is free and open to anyone who wishes to attend. In particular, journalists of all ethnicities and experience levels are most welcome.

Feel free to email back at this address or call my office at the number below for more information...And see you on March 7.

Eric Deggans

President, Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists

TV/Media Critic, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times

http://www.tbabj.com/

(727) 893-8521

Winners in the TBABJ's 2008 Griot Drum Journalism Awards

These are the Tampa Bay area journalists honored in the TBABJ's fourth annual Griot Drum Awards for quality coverage of issues relating to people of color. These winners were announced at the Griot Drum Awards and Scholarship Banquet, held Nov. 20 at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg.

TELEVISION
TV1- Spot News
First Place: "Dr. MLK Parade," ABC News.

TV2-Non-Deadline Reporting
First Place: "Freedom Riders," Dennis Hollingsworth, WTSP-TV 10.
Second Place: "HIV Affects Community," Susan Casper & Matt McGlashen, WFTS-TV
Third Place: "Artist Paints History," Matt McGlashen, Ginny Diaz & Brendan McLaughlin

TV3-Investigative/Series
First Place: "Taking Action Compilation" by Matt McGlashen and Jackie Callaway.

TV5-Community/Public Affairs
First Place: A Gulf Coast Journal with Jack Perkins, segment profiling John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil, WEDU-TV.

TV6- Documentary
First Place: "Central Avenue Remembered," WEDU-TV.

PRINT -Over 100,000 circulation
P1-Deadline/Spot News Reporting
First Place: "Jury spares Steele's life" by Jamal Thalji, Molly Moorhead and Julia Kumari Drapkin, St. Petersburg Times.
Second Place: "Apartment Fire" by Carrie Pratt, St. Petersburg Times

P2-Investigative Reporting
First Place: "A Chase, an outcry, then shots in the dark" by Tom Lake, Molly Moorhead, Jamal Thalji, Julia Kumari Drapkin, St. Petersburg Times.
Second Place: "Costly Mistakes" by Thomas Lake, St. Petersburg Times

P3-Features
First Place: "Mom's Call to Action" by Sara M. Hoye,: Mom's Call to Action, The Tampa Tribune.
Second Place: "In Defense of his Confederate Pride" by Stephanie Garry, St. Petersburg Times
Third Place: "A Man of Action" by Michelle Bearden, The Tampa Tribune

P4-Community/Public Affairs:
First place: "Fraternizing with the enemy" by Rodney Thrash, St. Petersburg Times.
Second Place: "In the mix" by Sarah M. Hoye, The Tampa Tribune
Third Place: "Video shows CW at its worst" by Demorris Lee, St. Petersburg Times

P6- Sports Feature
First Place: "A Question of Loyalty" by Anwar Richardson, The Tampa Tribune.
Second Place: "Family Blessings" by Nicholas Williams, The Tampa Tribune.

PRINT - Under 100,000 circulation
PP2-Investigative Reporting
First place: "American Recession, Black Depression: What Must We Do?" by Charles Cherry II, Florida Courier.

PP3-Features
First Place: "United Front" by Wade Tatangelo, Creative Loafing.
Second Place: "Here Comes the Neighborhood" by Alex Pickett, Creative Loafing
Third Place: "Revving up interest in new invention" by Charles Cherry II, Florida Courier

PP4- Community/Public Affairs
First Place: "Complete System's Failure" by Jenise Morgan, Florida.

PP6-Sports Feature
First Place: "New name, same winning spirit" by Charles Cherry II, Florida.

PP7- Commentary
First Place: "Black colleges deal with 'mission creep'" Charles Cherry II, Florida Courier.

PP8- Criticism
First place: "Numbers Man" by Megan Voeller, Creative Loafing.

PHOTO
P1-Deadline/Spot News
First Place: "Relatives devastated" by Fred Bellet, Tampa Tribune.

P2-Features First Place: "Comfort" by Lara Cerri, St. Petersburg Times.
Second Place: "Friends" by Lara Cerri, St. Petersburg Times
Third Place: "Prayer Services" by Carrie Pratt, St. Petersburg Times

P3-Sports News
First Place: "Strong Finish" by Fred Bellet, Tampa Tribune.

P4-Sports Feature
First Place: "Athlete of the Year" by Fred Bellet, The Tampa Tribune.
Second Place: "Muddcat" by Fred Bellet, The Tampa Tribune

P6-Graphic or Photo Illustration
First Place: "A Night on the Town" by Lara Cerri.

P7-Photo Illustration
First Place: "The Iraq War: What would MLK say?" by Charles Cherry II, Florida Courier.
Second Place: "Happy Workers" by Carrie Pratt, St. Petersburg Times

NEW MEDIA
NM1- Best Multimedia News Story
First Place: "In the Mix" by Sarah M. Hoye, The Tampa Tribune.
Second Place: ""An Anthem Story" by Joseph Brown III, The Tampa Tribune

TBABJ Meeeting at 11 a.m. Saturday in St. Petersburg

Members and friends of the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists:

Our next meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 7, in the Times building in St. Petersburg, 490 1st Ave. South, St. Petersburg.

We had a very productive executive board meeting last month, where we set a tentative schedule of events for the coming year, including a public forum in may, a poetry slam in July and a multimedia seminar next month.

Now we need to make them happen. Please feel free to come to our meetings whether you are a member, a lapsed member, or just an interested person. Our membership meetings are open to all.

Anyone who is interested in being part of the multimedia presentation, please contact me at this email address or using the information in my signature below.

Our goal is to make meetings more predictable by holding them on the first Saturday of each month at 11 a.m., scheduling them a month or two in advance so you and we can plan for them better.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You don't have to be a member or a person of color to attend our meetings -- if you're interested in networking with journalists of color or getting involved with our activities, we want you in the house. It doesn't matter how long it's been since you were last at a meeting, whether or not you are a member, or whether you're even a journalist.

If you'd like to help make area media more accurate and diverse, we'd love to have you at our meetings.

Hope to see you Saturday or soon....and feel free to check out http://www.tbabj.com/ for updates!

Eric Deggans
President, Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists
Chair, NABJ Media Monitoring Committee
TV/Media Critic, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times
http://www.tbabj.com/
(727) 893-8521

TBABJ mourns the loss of pioneering black journalist, educator Lionel C. Barrow Jr.

I don't remember the exact date when I met Dr. Lionel C. Barrow Jr. But the moment itself is etched in my mind, like discovering Jackie Robinson lives in your neighborhood.

Dr. Barrow had come to a TBABJ meeting with no fanfare or fuss, waiting until the moment when we introduced ourselves around the table to reveal the extent of his achievements. And what a list: former vice president and associate director of research for the nation’s third oldest advertising agency Foote, Cone and Belding in New York, New York; Dean of the School of Communications at Howard University from 1975-1985; founder and onetime head of the Minorities and Communication division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). And more.

And despite his many achievements, Dr. Barrow never talked down to us or condescended. He just let us know that he was available for counsel whenever we might need him and made plain he would be keeping an eye on us.

We never saw him as much as we wanted; even in recent years, Dr. Barrow had a busy life. But whenever he stopped by a meeting or function, he always had time for a word of wisdom, a smile and encouraging thoughts. I felt a sense of pride that a man so accomplished cared enough for our little group to stay in touch.

TBABJ offers condolences to Dr. Barrow's family and gives thanks that we had the priviledge of meeting such an accomplished black journalist and learning from his example.

Sincerely,

Eric Deggans

TBABJ President

TV/Media Critic, St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times

The following is a tribute circulated by TBABJ member and Barrow mentee Rodney Thrash:

Dr. Lionel C. Barrow, Jr………… a Legacy
Educator, journalist, professor emeritus, civil rights activist, former Dean of the Howard University School of Communications, Dr. Lionel C. Barrow, Jr. (Lee to all 12/17/26 ) passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loving family on Friday January 23, 2009, in Tampa, Florida.

While at the Melech LifePath Hospice, Dr. Barrow celebrated with pride, tears and applause the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States, while reflecting on his fellow Morehouse College classmate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

His powerful involvement in the 1960’s with the Unity Democratic Club in Brooklyn, NY, resulted in the successful election of Representative Shirley Chisholm to the Congress of the United States, and most recently that fervor carried him on to work for the election of Barack Obama, while campaigning to be a Super Delegate.

Throughout his distinguished life and career, he provided leadership too many organizations. From 1961-1971, Dr. Barrow was a researcher in the advertising industry. In 1968, he became vice president and associate director of research for the nation’s third oldest advertising agency Foote, Cone and Belding in New York, New York. He served as Dean of the School of Communications at Howard University from 1975-1985 during which time the school radio station was established.

As a member of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Dr. Barrow pioneered and founded in 1968 the Ad Hoc Committee on Minority Education, in an effort to recruit, train and place minorities in communications. In 1970, he founded and became the acting head of the Minorities and Communication Division of AEJMC. The AEJMC established the Lionel C. Barrow Scholarship in his honor in 1970 to support graduate education for women and minorities seeking to become professionals in the communication field. The scholarship is available today. In 1997, he received the AEJMC Presidential Award for his contributions.

His legacy survives in his research and in the faces, voices and contributions of African-Americans, other minority journalists, and women on radio, television and other media.
Dr. Barrow is survived by his beloved wife, Dr. Frederica Barrow, five daughters, six grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. He was initiated into Alpha Rho chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, at Morehouse College, May 25, 1944.

A memorial celebration will be held for Dr. Barrow at Grace Episcopal Church in Tampa, Florida on February 8, 2009 at 1:00 pm. A second memorial celebration is planned in the Washington, DC area the weekend of February 14-15, 2009.