A Magazine by the Society of Professional Journalists



November 4th, 2008 • Quill Archives
The 2008 Wells Memorial Key

If bags need stuffing for SPJ’s national convention, Bill McCloskey will walk around the table of loot 600 times if that’s what it takes. Though friends say the 63-year-old prefers to work behind the scenes, McCloskey’s tireless service to SPJ hasn’t gone unnoticed.


November 4th, 2008 • Quill Archives
The Jena 6

It was more than two years ago that the story known today as the Jena Six began to unfold. Two nooses were found hanging from a tree over a picnic table at Jena High School in Louisiana. A few months later, someone set the school on fire.


November 4th, 2008 • Quill Archives
Finding Stories Off the Beaten Path

Lane DeGregory, a features writer for the St. Petersburg Times, gave a room full of journalists at the 2008 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference these tips on how to find stories off the beaten path. DeGregory’s done plenty of digging off the beaten path, finding a forgotten feral child, Bingo Bob and a dress diva.


November 4th, 2008 • Quill Archives
An Inexhaustible President

If you watched Dave Aeikens campaign for a spot on the national board two years ago in Chicago, you know just how passionate he is about SPJ. Everywhere he went, Aeikens carried a check-list of names. By the time the voting began, he’d met 90 percent of the delegates at the convention that year.


November 4th, 2008 • Quill Archives
Twittery-Do-Dah, Twittering Pays

If you’re still intimidated by Twitter, consider this: It’s a lot like that unassuming police scanner sitting on your desk. Though the information is transmitted through the Web instead of a dusty black box, the concept at its core is very similar.