Oregon Territory SPJ seeks new board members

The Oregon Territory chapter of SPJ is looking to fill two vacancies on its board of directors. With the chapter board election later this month, now is the time to sign up to serve a one-year term.

The board, which sets chapter policies and organizes various journalism events, meets once a month, usually alternating between Portland and Salem.

This month the board is coordinating the final details in staging the first gubernatorial debate, set for Saturday, Sept. 24, in Bend and sponsored by SPJ and other media partners.

Over the past year, the chapter has organized a variety of training and advocacy activities, ranging from reporting and writing workshops to working with the Oregon Attorney General's office to update the state's open records law. The chapter also helps organize the annual Northwest Excellence in Journalism Competition.

If these are the kind of issues and events that you would like to see continue and expanded, please consider joining your journalism colleagues on the chapter board.

For more information, contact any of the current board members listed on the chapter website or call or email chapter President Samantha Swindler at 503-812-8992 or sswindler@oregonian.com. Or write to the chapter email at spjoregon@gmail.com.

For more information about the chapter and its activities, see the Oregon Territory SPJ website at oregonterritoryspj.blogspot.com.

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Oregon Territory SPJ Seeks Nominees for Chapter Board

Photo courtesy of Keith Bacongco via Flickr.com.

The Oregon Territory Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is now seeking nominees to serve on the chapter's eight-member board of directors.

More specifically, nominees are being sought to fill positions of chapter president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and four at-large members. An online vote open to all chapter members will be conducted later this summer.  

All current chapter members in Oregon and Southwest Washington are eligible to seek any of the open positions, which have an annual term.

Current board members are:

• President: Hannah Hoffman, formerly of the Statesman Journal
• Vice President: Ian Kullgren, Oregonian
• Secretary: Christen McCurdy, The Skanner
• Treasurer: Kaellen Hessel, Statesman Journal
• Open Records Chair: Inka Bajandas, Daily Journal of Commerce
• At-large Members:
• Craig Brown, Vancouver Columbian
• Finn J.D. John, Oregon State University
• Rob Priewe, Linn-Benton Community College
• Samantha Swindler, Forest Grove Leader/The Oregonian

In addition to electing new members to the the board of directors, the chapter is looking to update the group's bylaws to bring those in line with the national organization and reflect changes in the chapter's operations. 

Those interested in serving on the board should contact Hannah Hoffman at hannah.k.hoffman@gmail.com or rob.priewe@linnbenton.edu. 

Building a Better Journalist Conference 
The chapter also is beginning planning for a journalism training program tentatively slated to happen in October at the University of Oregon. In the tradition of past "Building a Better Journalist" programs, the sessions would be open to both professionals and students.

The chapter hopes to team up with UO's School of Journalism and Communication for the day-long program on a Saturday in October. Among the topics the chapter is exploring are: Covering law enforcement, investigative reporting, the view from the PR desk, getting that first job in journalism, photojournalism and open records access.

For more information or to contribute ideas for the conference, contact Samantha Swindler at sswindler@oregonian.com.

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