President's Corner

President’s Corner

By Jodi Cleesattle, San Diego Pro Chapter

Deputy Attorney General, Dept. of Justice

You know that expression, the one you use when you can’t finish all the food you piled on your plate? “My eyes were bigger than my stomach.”

That’s how I’m starting to feel about SPJ since taking over as president of the San Diego Pro chapter in July.

There are so many great things to do, so many great ideas to develop, I’m not sure how we can possibly fit them all into one year. But, believe me, we’ll try.

One of the first items of business on our agenda for 2007-08 was the summer mixer, which went off cool as could be on Aug. 23. We had a great turnout, thanks to our own fun members as well as our friends at San Diego Association of Black Journalists, the California Chicano News Media Association, the Asian American Journalists Association and the Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association.  If you missed the free taco bar, cheap margaritas and journalistic kibitzing, you missed a really good time.

Next up, the SPJ board began roughing out a schedule of professional development sessions for the year.  What’s on tap:

• “Celebrity Journalism: On the Paparazzi Beat” – Why, oh why, are we compelled to cover the trials and tribulations of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and those other beautiful people?
• “The New Age of News: The Vanishing Newspaper and the Broadcaster’s Dilemma” – We’ll look at where the digital world is taking the news media.
• “Covering California’s New Political Presence” – Will California’s early primary change the way we cover politics? Will our primary still be considered early by the time February rolls around?
• “Gender Trends in Journalism” – Are women edging out men in J-schools and in newsrooms, and why?

Plus, as-yet-unnamed sessions exploring Freedom of Information Act issues and media ethics; the ever-popular “Payback Panel,” in which local newsmakers grade the media; and the holiday mixer with our colleagues in San Diego’s other journalism groups.

Then, of course, it will be time for the annual SPJ awards and annual banquet. Amidst all the sorting of entries and trading of judging duties with other SPJ chapters, we’ll have to answer the all-important question: Back to the Bali Hai, or on to a new and different festive venue?

On top of all that, SPJ will continue to help out local journalists, like freelance photographer Ed Baier, who had his press credentials revoked -- and then reinstated, after SPJ intervention -- by the San Diego Police Department. We will examine issues of importance to our members and take on your battles.

And, to add just a tiny bit more, how about we try to work (and play) together more often with our fellow journalism groups? By my count, there are four specialty journalism groups (SDABJ, AAJA, CCNMA and LGJA), plus the San Diego Press Club, in addition to SPJ, and that’s not even counting whatever broadcast groups or freelancers clubs might be out there. That’s a lot of journalists with a lot in common, and I’d like to see us co-sponsor and cross-promote more events.

So, with all that on our plate for the year, I’d like to invite all SPJ members -- and all San Diego journalists, members or not -- to get involved. Come to our board meetings. Come to our events. Bring your ideas and your contacts for programs. And if you want a personal invite, just e-mail me at jcleesattle@gmail.com.

Trust me, it will be fun.