President's Corner Summer 07

Learn about why you should join SPJ

President’s Corner

By Jennifer Croshaw, San Diego Pro Chapter

Entertainment editor, SignOnSanDiego.com

You’ve heard about the national Society of Professional Journalists’ unwavering fight for a federal shield law, its national job bank and its massive national conferences. But what does that all mean to a San Diego journalist? Why should you care? How can you be a part of it?

This is where we in the San Diego chapter of SPJ come in. Sure, we support the national Society’s multi-pronged mission, but our hearts are in the local journalism community. This is why we hold training based on your feedback (like our June 2nd multimedia training -- details in this issue) and region-specific programs (like our recent FOIA and Mexico Transparency Act primer -- also in this issue.) We care about what you care about -- because we’re San Diego journalists and journalism educators, too.

Your membership means a lot to us. It helps support our regular programming, our annual journalism awards contest and banquet, our quarterly newsletter and our efforts to support the Society’s mission. Most importantly, though, we want your membership to mean a lot to you.

If you’re already a member, we hope you think your $72 a year (plus $10 local dues) is worth the price -- and the perks. (One of the best is the $15 savings per entry fee in San Diego SPJ’s annual contest.)

If you’re not yet a member, we’ve got a sweet deal. If you attend our annual journalism awards banquet and luau June 28, you can join the national Society of Professional Journalists for just $50, and we’ll waive the local dues of $10. That’s a savings of $32 to join the largest professional journalism society in the country – and get involved on a local level.

We’re excited to extend this offer to new members, but we can offer only it on June 28. I hope you’ll join us as we celebrate -- island-style -- the excellent work of our local journalists and journalism students. I look forward to welcoming you as an SPJ member and supporter. Aloha!