April 24, 2008Health Journalism Conference offers rural newspaper assistance
Conference announces stipend to help Rural Newspapers Attend
The upcoming Rural Health Journalism Workshop has announced they are offering assistance to make it more accessible for small newsrooms. Recognizing that many newsrooms that want to cover such issues might have some funding issues, they are offering some financial assistance to smaller newsrooms, so registration, up to two hotel nights and a year of membership would be funded.
Set for May 2-4 (that's a Friday-Sunday) in Columbia, Mo., on the campus of the Missouri School of Journalism, the workshop has some great resources for journalists. They start with the basics: a Friday afternoon kickoff event on "What reporters should know about rural residents."
Then some great story-generating sessions are to be held the following day, including:
- -- Diabetes prevention and treatment in susceptible communities
- -- Data and mapping: Resources for visualizing rural health
- -- Addressing current and future health workforce hurdles
- -- Are services keeping up with an increasingly aging population?
- -- Immigration's challenge to rural health
- -- Mental health: From substance abuse to access barriers
Speakers from across the country will attend. A web page has been devoted to the workshop -- www.healthjournalism.org/rural -- and there is a link titled "Small Newsroom Stipends" on the right side, under the workshop logo.
April 3, 2008Thanks to our Illinois brethren
Missouri Press would like to thank the Illinois staffers that helped judge the Missouri Advertising Managers' Association Advertising Contest. MPA members Kristie Williams and Beth Ott delivered the newspapers to the Illinois Press Association in Springfield on Friday, March 14th. A special MPA thanks to Kim Filson and Kim Draper from the IPA for their help in recruiting judges and setting up for the event.
Once in Illinois, a strong support group helped judge the entries. That group included Jack Brimeyer, Phil Jordan and Mary Swaringen from the Peoria Journal Star, Rewa Boldrey, David Porter and Jeff Holman from the Illinois Press Association, Don Hurd from Kankakee Valley Publishing in Kankakee, Melissa Wilson from The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Karen Pletsch from Shaw Newspapers in Dixon, Steve Holt from the Monroe County Clarion in Columbia, Amy Eckert from The News-Gazette in Champaign, Jeff Egbert from The Daily Journal in Kankakee, Ed Bushman with the Dixon Telegraph, Kim Goeckner with the Effingham Daily News, Sandy Pistole from the The News-Gazette Community Newspapers in Tuscola and Linda Dawson with the Illinois Association of School Boards in Springfield.
March 26, 2008MPF Internship matching grants program opens for 2008
This grants program is limited to interns attending a Missouri university, college or other training program. Contact the newspapers listed and say you are interested in applying for a Missouri Press Foundation summer internship.
FOUNDATION GRANTS PROGRAM
The Missouri Press Foundation is continuing its Internship Grants Program in 2008 to help train tomorrow's professionals by providing grants to support internships at Missouri Press Association-member newspapers.
THE NEWSPAPER'S OBLIGATION
Newspapers on the accompanying list agree to host an intern.
Students may apply for internships of 4-weeks to 8-weeks.
Newspapers will hire the interns and negotiate their wages.
SELECTING INTERNS
Interns eligible for this program must be students enrolled in an accredited post-secondary academic, professional, or vocational newspaper journalism program in Missouri. They may work as newspaper reporters, editors, photographers, designers, advertising representatives or web site editors/reporters, according to jobs being offered by the participating newspapers.
In addition to earning a salary, interns may receive institutional credit, if their schools allow it. Interns are responsible for arranging credit.
Newspapers are responsible for hiring the interns. Potential interns should contact the newspapers listed. IMPORTANT: Identify yourself as seeking a Missouri Press Foundation summer internship.
This grants program is limited to interns attending a university, college or other training program in Missouri. Relatives of a selected newspaper's owners or employees are prohibited from benefiting from the MPF internship grants program.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS, RESTRICTIONS
At the end of each internship, host newspapers and interns must complete an evaluation form provided by the MPF, and submit it to the Missouri Press office.
PARTICIPATING NEWSPAPERS
Paper Supervisor Contact # # of Weeks # of Hours per week TypeDaily Guide Dan Hassett 573-765-3391 8 Weeks 20 Reporter
Columbia Jim Robertson 573-815-1500 8 Weeks 40 Reporter
Daily Tribune
Albany Ledger Don Groves 660-726-3998 8 Weeks 20-30 Reporter
Weston Chronicle Beth McPherson 816-640-2251 8 Weeks 40 Advertising Sales
Mtn. Grove Doug Berger/Sandy Anderson 417-926-5148 8 Weeks 25 Website/Video Prod.
News Journal
Howell County News Kim Wehmer 417-469-1167 8 Weeks 25-30 Reporter
Christian Co. Headliner News Dave Berry 417-326-7636 8 Weeks 40 Reporter
Lee’s Summit Tribune Matt Bird-Meyer 816-524-0061 4 Weeks 20-30 Reporter
Houston Herald Jeff McNiell 417-967-2000 8 Weeks 25-Flex Website Editor/Writer
Cass County Democrat Missourian Linda Thompson 816-380-3228 Flexible 20 reporter
Sun News Amy Neal 816-414-3331 Flexible 20-30 Reporter/page designer
The Sedalia Democrat Oliver Weist 660-826-1000 8 Weeks 40 Reporter
The Daily News JoEllen Black 816-776-5454 Flexible 30 Reporter
Call Newspapers Bill Milligan 314-843-0102 8 Weeks 24 Flexible
March 21, 2008Meet Your Publishers: Dianne Osis
MEET: Dianne Elizabeth OsisBorn in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Dianne graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1963. In 1975, she
earned a BA from the University of Tulsa. Within five years she had started the Springfield Business Journal. As if a start-up business wasn’t enough to keep her busy, Osis also headed back to school. She earned a Masters of Science from Missouri State University in 1986.Osis continued her entrepreneurial ways in 2006 by launching the Joplin Tri-State Business, a journal dedicated to the tri-state area of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. Her work has not gone unnoticed. “I was very proud to receive a Missourian award this year, especially because I am not a native of the state,” she said.
If you are in Springfield, stop by the SBJ offices at 313 Park Central West. Dianne can also be reached at (417) 831-3238 or Email at sbj@sbj.net. The SBJ is also on the web at www.sbj.net.
Dianne lives in Springfield with her husband Andis (Andy) Osis. Their children are grown. They include
Jennifer Anne Jackson, PhD, Springfield, MO; and Bart Sak, MD, Holland, MI. The couple also has two grandchildren.“I am the newly elected president of Springfield Sister Cities Association and find it personally meaningful to help fulfill this organization's goal of ‘peace through people,’” she explained. Springfield has two sister cities, Isesaki, Japan; and Tlaquepaque (state of Jalisco), Mexico.
Osis enjoys travel, gardening and caring for their future summer home (which they now rent to tourists) on the Lake Michigan shore.
