York City Chapter Journalistsfi'{ew Societyof Professional

sought Folawardnominees
areopenfor the Deadline Nominations Club's annualFirst AmendmentAward, at the Club's which will be presented annualFreedomof Information program in March. The award,now in its l5th year, is given to that individual or organization that showsstrongand continuingefforts freedomof the and sEengthen to preserve pressand the First Amendmentin the areaduring1995. New York menopolitan is Feb. The deadline for nominations I, 1996. may includeprint or broadNominees professional legislators, castjournalists, or ganizations,lawyers, judges, law leaders officials,government enforcement Their andcorporations. and/or businesses effortson behalf of freedomof information must have had direct benefit to or effect in ttre New York City metropolitan

ea ,lI' ner
t
includingWesrchester County. area, includingthenomietters, Nomination and telephone numinee'sname,address ber as well as a concise,specific stateor organization mentasto why theperson shouldbe sentto the is beingnominated, Club in care of Kay Lockridge(7 East 14rhSr. - Apt, 1620,I.{YC10003-3122). The nominatorshouldincludehis/her number. andtelephone name, address by The recipientwill be determined Club's boardof directors. theDeadline hevious recipientsincludeRobertU. Bob Greene, Brown, RobertJ. Freeman, David Zinman, Norman Schorr, Jerry Nachman,JudgeSol Wachtler,Leonard BurtonBenjamin,Nat Hentoff, Sussman, Judge Lawrence H. Cooke, Floyd Abrams, The American Society of & Authorsand Assemblyman Journalists Steven Sanders.

December.1995

seU Clubelections slate Anthonyheads

The following slate of officers and Executive Council members for 1996 has been proposed for Deadline Club membership consideration: Ant hony, PC P resi dent-R obert Magazine and Stadium Circle Features. Vice Presiderxts-James Barron, The N ew Y ork Ti mes: Jan ell Teubner Crispyn, WHLI Radio; Vicky Penner Katz, SI-INY Stony Brook. Secre tary-David Woods, Marketing Communications. AJJistant SecretariesIra Fine, New York Power Authority; Clare Regan, Staten Island Advance. G it t en, Con Treasurer-Marti n Edison. As sistant Treasurers-Geralyn Lucas, A B C -TV ; Trudy Lieber m an, C onsumer R eports a nd Colum bia Journalism Review. Executive Council-Chaired by imme-

By ANGELATEDESCO It was bad newsfor journalismbreaking at a good time. Fearing a lawsuit, had ordered "60 CBS management Minutes" to kill an interview with a forThe disexecutive. company mer tobacco pute was madepublic on Nov. 9, a day when "60 Minutes" co-editor Mike Wallace was free to speakout about the gatheredto problem with colleagues

presented Hall of Fameinductees

into honor him and six other inductees diate past presidentBill Bell, Daily News. theClub's Hall of Fame. Members i ncl ude S am Boyle, The pastpresiReginaldStuart,immediate Associated Press: Rob Calem, Free-lance dent of The Societyof Professional W ri ter; John Mack Car t er , Hear st told the capacitycrowd at Journalists, Magazines; Jordan Goodman, Money is happenSardi's,"this sort of squabble Lam b, WCBS R i ch Magazi ne; members By becoming ing everywhere." FreeLockridge, Kay 88; Newsradio of SPJ,Stuartsaid,they could contribute Pr ediger , C r aig l ance E di torA V ri ter; of efforts on behalf the organization's to (Cont.on p. 3, col. 1)
NBC-TV; Angela Tedesco,NYC School C or' structi on A uthorit y; Richar d W agner, Internati ona l Tr adem ar k Association;and Allan Wolper, Editor & Publisher.

The Advisory Committee will consist of past presidents Betsy Ashton, Author; Steve Dunlop, The Story Painters; and Terry Raskyn, Globe Communications.

c
I

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E + \
g

Mike Wallace and Barbara Walters dlbcuss the finer points of investigative reporting at the Hall of Fame iuncheon last month.

The el ecti on w i l l b e held at t he Holiday Party Dec. 20, with ttre new officers assuming their posts Jan. l, 1996. The Nominations Committee, headedby immediate past president Betsy Ashton, included past presidents Steve Dunlop and Kay Lockridge.

online SPJconvention, on radionews,Hall of Fame, INSIDE: Spotlight

Page2

DEADLINER/December, 1995

CORNER PRESIDENT'S

'lt wasa verygoodyear...'

BY BILL BELL This one wraps it up, and for learning experiences,I can testify that nothing but nothing beats a year at the top of the letterhead. What I learned probably is what every president over the years has learnedthat the names below his or hers are the ones that really count. Clearly, the Deadline Club, like every otlrer chapter, is only as strong as ils committees,and I mean all of them, acrosstlte board from liaison with campus chapters to membershipand programs. Another thing that presidents learn is that their real usefulnesscomes after they leave office. That's when their experience pays off. So, I'm going to do what have done, which is stay my predecessors on board and stay active ln my case, I'm looking most forward to chafuing the Program Committee. I feel good about this, and I'm going to recruit a couple of colleagues to put together some and interestingprogams. exciting, relevanl. All in all, it was a good year. The Hall of Fame induction was special.A riumph

by Betsy Ashton. The annual organized AwardsDinner wasa record-setter, thanks Ira Fine and SteveBlinn. to co-chairs David Woods cameup with the Brown Bag lunch idea,and it now is a model for others.We've got the Lunch with a lrgend off andrunning.And soon. Two members deserve extra thanks. Marty Gitten is owed big time for his yearsof keepinga sharpeye and sharp pencilon the financialrecords, and every issueof the Deadlineris a reminderthat is Kay Lockridge, editor/reporter/etc., indispensible. assignments, ranging Out-of-.town from OklahomaCity to Yitzhak Rabin's robbedme of a chanceto assassination, But, another sharea coupleof big events. lessonhere,thingswork fine without a personal president's blessing. Anyway, the incoming team for '96 looks like a winner, and Bob Anthony can counton a lot of help. All he has to below his on the do is look to the names That'swhatI did. letterhead. andlet's makeit a Thanks, everybody, greatnew year.

DeadlineClub member Jeanette Johnson, editor of Family Planning Perspectives, acceptsthe Global Media Award for best population journal from Werner Fornos, presi' dent of the Population Institute, sponsor of the award. The av was presentedSept. 15 at the Great Hall of the Peoplein Be[iing, China during the International Women's Conference.

Deadlins Doings
Former DeadlineClub presidentBill Schmitt has been namednews editor of American Metal Market and movedback wherehe to New York from Washington, worked for the Metals PublishingGroup of Chilton Publications,a Capital Cities/ABCcompany. Another former Club president, Christi Harlan, has been named for the Austin Washington correspondent (Texas)American-Statesman after completing a Knight Fellowshipin Law for shewasa at Yale. Previously, Journalists reporterfor the Wall StreetJournalin New York, Dallas and Washingtonand managing editor of the Manhattan Iawyer. Marlene Sanders will anchortwo programs Prime on a new cablechannel, Life Network, beginningnext spring. will continueto leach at the Sanders Schoolof ColumbiaUniversityGraduate wheresheis directorof proJournalism, gramdevelopment.

Flexibilityprovideskey to future
By ANGELA TEDESCO Someinsideinformationaboutthejob marketin radio: One--{on't makeany betsaboutjoining an all-newsstation.Therearejust 21 in the United Statestoday, comparedto 40 a decade ago. Two--don't marketyourselfsolely as reporter,writer or on-air tala producer, sell your ability to fill all of ent; instead, these slots. Three--don't counton affiliating with just onestation;today,a pro offersdifferSAVE THESEDATES! Dec.20 - Holiday Wednesday, Party,Player'sClub (16 Gramercy ParkSouttr) 6 p.m. *** Monday,Jan.22,1996 - Get atJeremy'sAle House(254 together FrontSt., SouthSneetSeaport), 6 p.m. *** April 14, Friday, April 12-Sunday, '96-SPJ RegionOneConference, New Brunswick,N.J. (HyattRegency by Investigative Hotel).Co-sponsored Reoorters & Editors. to different stationsin the ent qervices market. same from threekey This was the message players in the industry who spoke with the Club in October:Fred Bennett,vice president andprogramming, of operations Services, New Jersey; ShadowBroadcast executivedirector Rich Larkin, assistant and housecounselto the American Federationof Televisionand Radio Afiists, New York; and Bill Yeager,vice president for of news,sportsand weather Philadelphia. MetroNetworks, They agreedthat, althoughradio has hit bottom, stations unemployment are swimming in a different direction, relying less on staffers and more on to providethem "Metros" and"Shadows" with news,traffic, weather,sportsand segments. otherspecialized The panelistssaid listenersseem on their local that programming unaware from only one is emanating local stations source.For one thing, the stationsdon't tell them. The lead-inis: now, the news from 'Jack Jones,"'not "And now, the (in nine cities,includnewsfrom Shadow ing the Big Apple) or Metro (in 40 the typical lislener cities)." And, because
(Cont. on p.6, col. 1)

Kay Lmkridge JeanetteJohnson David Katz AngelaTedeco publicationof the reader-supported Non-commercial, organiDeadline Club. PresidentBill 8ell. A non-profit zation, the Club is the New York City chapterof The - the oldest,largest Societyof Professional .lournalists Localdues the field of journalism. organization serving hereinare not necare $20 annually.Views expressed essarily thoseof the Deadlineror the DeadlineClub. E di tori al materi al shoul d be s ubmi tted to K ay Lockridge,7 East14th St., Apt. 1620, New York, NY 10003-3122.

DeadJ,j,ner
Editor Reporters

1995 DEADLINERlDecember,

to Hallof Fame: Clubaddsseven

Page3

Above: lmmediate past presidenb Betsy Ashton and Reggie Stuart, Deadline Club and SPJ respectively, enjoy a moment together before the Hall of Fame luncheon, which Ashton chaired. Near Left: Michael Kay Mel Allen. accepts for

s {
{
g g

Far Left; Barbara Walters listens attentive. Iy as John Mack Carter makes a point, while Art Athens surueys the crowded dining room.
Phobs by Bo Zaunders

e +

Lay out design by Phil Desiere

2fth anniversary celebrates Hallof Fame

(Cont.from p. I, col.2) in professionals and college students the country. townsandcitiesacross Betsy Ashton,immediatepast presiof t}teevent,led the dentandchairperson Mel Allen, Art tributesto the honorees: Athens, John Mack Carter, Murray Kempton, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, BarbaraWaltersand Wallace. Allen, recuperatingfrom sugery, sent word from the University of Alabama Medical Centerthat he expectedto be back in New York soon and that he would treasurethe award. Accepting for him was Michael Kay WABC Radio's who for the Yankees, currentannouncer said "Mel Allen will always be the " 'Voice of the Yankees.' Art Athens, recently retired chief corand news director at WCBS respondent in 88, recalledthat his interest Newsradio journalism was obvious when he was a child-at baseballgames,young Art watchedthe pressbox, not the field. "Reportinggives us the opportunityto toucha lot of lives and maybesavesome lives," he said. John Mack Carter,presidentof Hearst anda pastpresident MagazineEnterprises of the Club, said he was proud to be the joumalistnamed to the Hall of first Hearst Fame.His wife, children and grandchildren were presentwittt his "Hearst famihis achievement. ly" to applaud Columnist Murray Kempton and retired New York Times publisherArthur sentbest wishesand Ochs Sulzberger gratitude through representatives. Acceptingfor Kemptonwas Les Payne, managing editor for Newsday'sassistant national and foreign news. He praised Kempton as "a gteat streetreporter" and hitched-upto a likenedhim to "Secretariat plow." He remindedthe audienceof Kempton'scredo:"It's nextto impossible to judge a public figure objectivelyonce you begin to call him by his hnt rulme." managing editor WarrenHoge,assistant of The New York Times, said The Times continuedto uphold "Punch" Sulzberger's and pledged not to substitute standards valuesfor newsvalues. enterfainment Wallace cautionedthat corporations are using the device of attorney/client privilegemoreand morefrequentlyto try to keep important incriminating docufrompublicscrutiny. ments The final recipient was Barbara and Walters, ABC News correspondent of'20/20," who said shefelt co-anchor "blessed"with the opportunityto be a wihess to history. receivedbronzemedalThe honorees lions designedby Tiffany & Co. and donatedby its chairman,William R. Chaney.The luncheonprogramwas designedby Clare Regan,StatenIsland Advance.

1995 DEADLTNER/December,

print represented news, Redi/o,ry

-Page4

Above: Mike Wallace provokes Iaughter from Befsy Ashton while accepting induction into the Hall of Fame. Left: Warren Hoge accepts on behalf of Arthur Ochs Sulzberger. Right: Les Payne called Murray Kempton " one hell of a writer' as he accepted on dre Pulitzer Prize winner's behalf.

Page 5

on SPJconvention report Deadliners

WriterwinsSDXaward
Delegates debate to standstill ethics
BY BILL BELL ST. PAUL, MINN.-Garrison Keillor auctionedoff his red sox, to benefit the Legal DefenseFund, and GeneRoberts lunch with auctionedoff a one-on-one him in The Times' executivedining room. And, there was a swell first night party at the Gatlin Brothersnightclub,in theMall of America. at the But, thosewere tJtesideshows of The Societyof 76th annualconvention in October.The Journalists Professional real stuff went on hour after hour in the suitesand hallways of the Raddison,in by and addresses workshops, seminars folk galore. pros,pols andpress Oveniding every other issueon the front wastheethicscode. business It also was the most emotionaland controversialissueon an agendathat included 16 other items, all of them by acclamation. approved code. newethics Ah, but thatproposed thatsome This is an issueso sensitive publicly objectedto the free delegates fountain pen, from Philip Morris, that wasincludedin theirpresskits By the time the issuecame before after manyhoursof committee delegates, new codehad theproposed consideration, was a One amendment 26 amendments. rewriteof thecurrentcode. complete were long and loud. The arguments spent15 minuteson the corDelegates of the word "might" in one rectness "might.") (It remained clause. tion," Robertscontinued."Year after for a new code is the impetus The into are concentrated year, newspapers one is not up-tothe existing feeling that and fewer and fewerorganizations...less for the new complex comenough date aboutthe flow of informalessconcemed a order,and that it excludes munications tion to the public and more and more journalism that reachesfrom range of occupiedwith the flow of profits to the to onlineservices. free-lancers cenfialcorporation." An extremelysensitiveissuewas himself fortuHe said he considered Lawyers and doctorsare enforcement. with a newspaper obliged by their ethics codesto report nate to be associated that is going the other way. The Times, unethicaland illegal practicesand praca Robertssaid,will havelater deadlines, Not sojournalists. tioners. and morereporters renovation newsroom Journalistswho wantedan enforceworkingnights. ment clauselost. First, The SPJboard predicted thatthosenewspapers votednot to consider Roberts "at this enforcement that ultimatelywill survivewill be those, time." Then,enforcement forceslost in a like TheTimes,thatrely lesson brief news voton the floor. andcorporate Unable items,charts,color, graphics In the end, nothinghappened. the claristyle and moreon giving readers to resolve the many differencesin lanthey need to voted to table guageand tone, delegates ty, depth and perspective the major eventsof their time, the issuefor one year,to give everybody understand and to cool off andregroup. of their communities a chance the cenral issues Nobody voted to mail thosepensback flood of daa from comthe overwhelming to Philip Morris. putersandotherinstantmedia
(!

EADLINER/December, 1995

ST. PAUL, MINN.-Brooklyn-based writer Edward Ball, who until recently wasbest*nown for his columnon archibook reviewsand articleson cultecttue, ture for The Village Voice and assorted receiveda coveted glossymagazines, SigmaDelta Chi awardin Octoberat the for the first story SPJnationalconvention he ever did for radio: a 35-minutedocumentaryentitled "The Other History," which aired on National Public Radio March26,1994. grew out of a family The documentary S. in Charleston, reunionBall attended C., in June,1993.The writer grew up in as one of many descendants Charleston of a rice planterwho settledin South i Carolinain 1698. o The planter,Elias Ball, owned 100 q Familiar with the history of his E slaves. prosperous ancestorand the family sto() reunions, ries retold at well-attended a c EdwardBall set out to recoverthe misss who ing historyof the African-Americans on thefamily plantation. hadserved was tlte result The radio documentary of monthsof trackingdown and interb e of thoseslaves. viewing the descendants o s their family stories. Ball recorded expandingthe story for a book to be pubNPR received an avalanche of Giroux. lishedby Farrar,Sftaus, of audio and sold hundreds responses tapesof the program,which later was -Betsy Ashton played on the BBC. Ball said he is
c q 6

needto getserious Papers Robefts:

BY BETSY ASHTON manST. PAUL, MINN.--Gene Roberts, agingedilorof TheNew York Times,was chairmanat the honoraryeducation named of The Society 1995nationalconvention after delivering of hofessional Journalists dismissingthe notion a keynoteaddress will kill newspapers. thatcomputers "A more likely prognosisis suicide," said. Roberts with mind"We threaten our existence lessrushestoward the latestjournalistic trend and fad," he added."We imperil attention our futureby not payingenough to our past, where there is ample evidenceof how shallow,mindlessformula our hold on readers. canloosen with "We strangleour newsrooms that drain away the vitalbudgets meager itv we need to attact and hold readers. We undermineour ability to respondto of news' theinfinite unpredictability "We are in dangerof self-strangula-

Page6

me anto cyberspace Internetdraws Ti

By STEVE DI.JNLOP do battle over tle contentsof ttre weekly magazine-and whereJaniceCasFoand a small group of cyber-newspeople are embarkingon one of the most significant in journalism sinceEdward experiments R. Murrow's"SeeItNow" on CBS. CasEois senioreditor of Time Online Services and editor of "Time Daily," an daily online magaadvertiser-supported zine- an ambitiouseffort by a raditional publisher to tap a growing, but as yet unmeasureable, audiencein cyberspace. met with Deadline Castro, aTime veteran, Club membersin Octoberas part of the Club's Brown BagLunch series. Print media have beenaroundpractically since Gutenberg,and each year a crop of fresh young facestries to break into the established way of doing things. But, at "Time Daily," it's the old dogs who haveto leam the new tricks: they are shapingan embryonic medium whose rules aren't yet carvedin stone.Time On its beginnings Line traces only to May of lastyear. "It was a big cultural changefor us," Casnosays of "Time Daily," whichis distributedvia the Intemet.But, surprisingly, the biggest adjustrnentappearsto have but beennot so much to new technology in getting weekly journalists to think radioterms. round-the clock,all-news Castrotook Club membersdown the hall to a20-by-20workroomwith a halfthe nervecenter dozenApple computers, Shecalls this of Time'sonline operation. kind of publishinga "powerful new medium" in its own right. "It's not the sameas print or TV or radio, but is has elements of all threemedia." CasEois optimistic about the future of of online thenew medium,notingthatusers services are more information-oriented. morefocused thanthe andmoredemanding The special traditionalmagazine audience. natureof online publishing "profoundly your relationshipwith your readchanges It also bodeswell ers," CasEomaintains. for the futue of the written word in an post-literate increasingly society.

DEADT. rNER/December, 1995

"There's no book on how to do this Castrosays."We're helping stuff," Janice to write that book here." room 24728 in "Here" is conference the Time Life Building, a standardspace lighting and with frostedglass,recessed swivel chairsclusfwo dozenupholstered teredarounda long butcherblock table.It is wherethe editorof Timemeetweekly to

(Cont. from p.2, col.2) stays tuned to one station, s/he is none the wiser that "Jack Jones" is heard as "Joe Smith" at another point on the diat. "Stations have different demographics, and there's nothing wrong with that," Yeager maintained. Bennett pointed out that news prepared by professionals is preferable to disk jockeys doing 'rip and read' and not doing a very goodjob ofit. "We customize our segments to fit the format of each station, and we sound like part of the show," he added. Yeager and Bennett said their services enable stations to upgrade the quality of their programming and to introduce or increase the number of their news segments. Larkin commented that, although Metro and Shadow pay lower salaries [o their staff members than individual stations did in the past, the salaries the services offer are fair. "The bottom line in the new joumalism is to do more with fewer people," Larkin said, "and it's a lough workload." To the question, "Where is the FCC and what happened to the obligation to pro-

Radionewsretrenches

vide public serviceprogramming?" Larkin replied,"In that respect, the FCC is dead.Today, the FCC grantslicenses to make moneyand looks at EEO tc be the ethsurethat the workforcematches nicity of the listening area.There's less diversity of opinion and less community There'sno requirement, reporting. andno oneis complaining." Will televisionnews go the way of radio news?This is a possibility that no one denied.But, evenas televisionand therewill be new radio news changes, and new jobs. For example, audiences procompanies Yeagersaid, telephone to duce"programs"allowing subscribers dial up the latest news from a cellular phone.Computernetworks offer online newsservices, 20,000 and an estimated peoplelearnedthe verdict in the O. J. he added. Simpson trail via theInternet, The conclusionfrom Larkin was: "Changein the long run is for the best." Bennettsummedup: "Peoplewho adapt will survive." The programwasorganized and modnews eratedby JanellTeubner-Crispyn, directorof WHLI Radio,Long Island.

(Editor's note: "Time Daily" can be timel acces sedat http:IIpotlfinder. coml )

Deadline
P.O. Box 2031I Station DagHammarskjold Y. 10017 NewYork.N.

Club

Societyof Professional Journalists/NewYork City Chapter