President’s Column: Trauma training for journalists, open-government training, and legislative preview all coming up

By Betsy Russell

We have three big events coming up the first week of January, and registration for two of them is open now (there’s no registration required for the third one, the legislative kickoff). You won’t want to miss them. Here they are:

On Wednesday, Jan. 5, from 2-4 p.m. MT, there will be a free online seminar on Idaho public records and open meetings law hosted by Idahoans for Openness in Government and Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden. It’s open to elected officials, government staff, reporters … [Read more...]

Annual Awards Contest now open for entries

The Idaho Press Club “Best of 2021” Annual Awards Contest is now open for entries! Go to idahopressclub.org and click on “Awards” for the full scoop, including categories and divisions, entry instructions and more. All entries take place online.

The deadline for contest entries this year is Jan. 21, but don’t wait until the last minute; you can enter right now and get it done (with one exception: General Excellence dates for the Publication Division will be announced on Jan. 15). This contest recognizes the best work in Idaho in … [Read more...]

IPC mid-career and student scholarship applications are now being accepted

Deadline is Feb. 15

By Joan Cartan-Hansen

Have a great idea for a story and no funds to get it to print or on the air? Need money for professional training?  Apply for the Idaho Press Club’s Don Watkins Mid-Career Scholarship.

The Mid-Career Scholarship awards $500 for any Idaho Press Club member to use for any training or project that will improve the working press in Idaho. The only catch: You must share what you learn with Press Club members through a discussion at a conference or an article in an … [Read more...]

Media Moves

BOISE STATE PUBLIC RADIO

Dave Rosenthal is now Managing Editor of the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration of public radio newsrooms led by Boise State Public Radio. Rosenthal guided other collaborations, including Side Effects Public Media and Great Lakes Today. Previously he worked for the Baltimore Sun, leading its investigative reporting unit. 

Mountain West News Bureau reporters Savannah Maher (New Mexico) and Amanda Peacher (formerly Idaho) left to join the … [Read more...]

Contest time coming, scholarships open, trauma training in the works…

Idaho journalists are doing top-notch work in what continue to be extremely challenging conditions. You deserve recognition! So it’s time to look over your best work from 2021 and think about what you’d like to enter in our Best of 2021 annual awards contest. Contest entries will open in early December, with the deadline in the third week of January. Don’t put it off ‘til the last minute; start thinking about it now! 

Our contest recognizes everything from spot news coverage to investigations to the Rookie of the Year. … [Read more...]

President’s Column: What the email actually said…

By Betsy Z. Russell

When Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin called a “press conference” at an eastern Idaho elementary school on Oct. 14, she promised in her announcement to “set the record straight regarding the litigation in which the Lt. Governor's office has recently been engaged.”

That would be the Idaho Press Club’s public records lawsuit against her, on behalf of four different Idaho reporters from three different news … [Read more...]

Meet your IPC: J BATES

J Bates is one of the newest members of the Idaho Press Club board.  He is the News Director for Idaho News 6, covering the Treasure Valley on KIVI and the Magic Valley on KSAW.  Born in Rexburg, he has worked at every station in Boise, as well as at stations in Pocatello and Salt Lake City.  His first job was in Cadillac, Michigan.  He became Idaho News 6’s News Director in 2018.
 
Interviewed by Joan … [Read more...]

Media Moves

New faces in your newsroom or communication department? Let everyone know. Send your Media Moves to: email@idahopressclub.org

COEUR D’ALENE PRESS

The Press recently created a new position, regional design editor, and filled it with Grant Purdum. Grant has worked for a number of newspapers across the West, most recently for Gannett as a designer based in Spokane. He's a Washington State University grad.

Nine-year veteran Press education … [Read more...]

President’s Column: Awards reveal set for noon May 1; time to celebrate!

By Betsy Russell

For the second straight year, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted us to shift our gala annual awards banquet to an enjoy-from-home online contest reveal instead, and it’s coming up on Saturday, May 1st at noon MT.

You can still dress up in your finery if you choose, and please feel free to share the news about your successes online with the hashtag #idahopressclub. We’ve all worked incredibly hard in the past year under extremely challenging conditions, and the accolades for doing good journalism … [Read more...]

Headliners go on despite pandemic

We skipped the bacon this year. But we got the quotes

By Audrey Dutton

Last year’s Idaho Press Club legislative headliner events were among the last large gatherings some of us attended before the pandemic struck Idaho.

This year, we took the annual Governor’s Breakfast and Legislative Luncheon to Zoom.

That didn't exactly ease our Zoom fatigue, and we missed seeing each other in person, chatting and enjoying … [Read more...]

Meet Your IPC Board

Tom Michael, General Manager of Boise State Public Radio

Tom Michael is General Manager of Boise State Public Radio, which he joined as its director in July 2016. In February 2018 he launched the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration of six public media organizations across five states, and serves as its managing director. In April 2018 he launched “Idaho Matters,” a weekday public affairs program, and serves as its executive producer. Tom … [Read more...]

New non-profit news site launches in Boise

The Idaho Capital Sun launched in Idaho on March 31, as part of a States Newsroom network that includes non-profit news outlets in 20+ states across the country. According to the States Newsroom website, “States Newsroom has established a new, philanthropic business model that focuses on state politics and policy. Our model is different: It is entirely made possible by donors of all sizes and … we don’t run ads of any kind or accept corporate donations or underwriting.” The non-profit posts online all its donors of more than $500 since … [Read more...]

MEDIA MOVES

IDAHO PUBLIC TELEVISION

Ruth Brown has been hired as a producer/writer for Idaho Public Television. Previously, Brown worked as a reporter for the Idaho Statesman. Before that, she worked for the Idaho Press and Idaho Falls Post-Register.

Logan Finney has been hired as an associate producer for Idaho Public Television. Previously, he was an intern and production assistant at the station. Prior to that, Finney was a McClure Center intern for the University of Idaho, and has contributed to a number of Idaho publications, including … [Read more...]

On three decades of capturing Idaho’s history in the making…

By Katherine Jones

I moved to Boise to work at the Statesman in 1990, the year of Idaho’s centennial, and retired 31 years later, just a few years after the Statesman celebrated its 155th anniversary. I worked there for one-fifth of the Statesman’s life. Or, in other words, long enough that the photos I took as a (young, novice) photojournalist are now — historic.

My retirement coincided with the sale of the … [Read more...]