April 1st, 2005 • Quill Archives
Heroes in ethics
VIRGINIA GERST Virginia Gerst calls it the “easiest and the hardest decision I have ever made.” She’s referring to the day she walked away from a job she’d held for two decades rather than compromise her integrity. Gerst was arts and entertainment editor at Pioneer Press, a chain of weeklies in suburban Chicago.
December 10th, 2004 • Quill Archives
SPJ and JAK exchange leads to learning and friendship
Two Korean men and two American teenagers sat cross-legged on a living room floor. Taking turns, they snapped small, stiff cards against cards lying in front of them, looking for a match. There was much laughter as the men taught the Ozarks teens a Korean card game.
December 9th, 2003 • Quill Archives
Korea trip illustrates similarities, differences
The food. The sights. The incredible hospitality. But most of all, new friendships and professional relationships. That’s what nine SPJ members brought home after a trip to South Korea in October. The trip was the latest step in a developing international exchange between SPJ and the Journalists Association of Korea (JAK).
November 11th, 2003 • Quill Archives
2003 Convention
Ed Chittenden made journalists attending the SPJ convention in Tampa feel right at home. The Florida Aquarium diver jumped into a 500,000-gallon reef tank. Swimming from side to side in this exotic setting, he described how a reef system works and told us about the habits and characteristics of the fish, coral and other animals in the tank.
July 24th, 2003 • Quill Archives
Remind people of the good we do.
This issue of Quill magazine is devoted to the quality work that won Sigma Delta Chi Awards for 2002. This is the work that set the bar for everyone else in journalism: The Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass., reporting on the drowning of four boys in the Merrimack River; The Los Angeles Times’ Carolyn Cole getting exclusive photos of Palestinians under siege in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity; Steve Miller of Chicago’s WBBM Radio reporting on convicted criminals running day-care operations; WedMD on kids and depression; KHOU-TV in Houston on a crime lab whose errors helped send the innocent to prison; and, of course, the Boston Globe’s reports on sexual abuse by priests.
May 21st, 2003 • Quill Archives, From the President
From the President: Secrecy compromises safety
Early this year, rumors started flowing from the south China city of Guangzhou of a new form of avian flu that was killing hundreds of people. But the government-controlled Chinese press said not a word. On Feb. 9, the Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.,
April 29th, 2003 • Quill Archives, From the President
From the President:Truth isn’t only valuable in stories
FBI Special Agent Joseph K. Stuart has plenty of experience getting people who don’t want to talk to spill their guts, and he’s happy to share his tips for getting information. Build empathy, he told journalists at the Region 11 conference in Phoenix.
March 27th, 2003 • Quill Archives, From the President
From the President: The First Amendment is for everyone
The Lewiston, Maine, police were understandably nervous. The World Church of the Creator, a white supremacist group with a history of violence, was coming to town. It planned a rally in support of the mayor, who had urged Somali immigrants to stop moving into his town.
February 18th, 2003 • Quill Archives, From the President
From the President: Active chapters make a mark in their communities
Les Brownlee’s friends and well-wishers made it difficult for the veteran journalist to sit down. They constantly approached him in the banquet room of the Chicago Athletic Club to congratulate him on the new series of programs that was beginning that night – the Les Brownlee Journalism Series.
December 23rd, 2002 • Quill Archives, From the President
From the President: New Congress threatens public records
I sat down to write this column the weekend after the November elections. What, I was going to ask and attempt to answer, would become of freedom of information after the Republicans take control of both houses in January? You’re not reading that column, because the GOP isn’t waiting for January.
November 20th, 2002 • Quill Archives, From the President
From the President: Society has important work ahead
At SPJ’s National Convention in Fort Worth, Robert Leger was sworn in as the Society’s new president. This column is excerpted from his speech at the Fort Worth convention. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as tragic as they were, inspired great heroism, courage and selflessness.
