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 Vol. 4, No. 4                                                   May 1999 
      A publication of the East Tennessee Chapter 
      of the Society of Professional Journalists
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'Play for Pay'pays off for Dare, Grant

More than 70 journalists from East Tennessee received Golden Press Card plaques and certificates at the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists’ annual awards program, May 14.

Don Dare and Jason Grant of WATE-TV won the top award, the Golden Press Card, for their investigative report, “Play for Pay.” Angel Hawthorne and Ben Roberts of WVLT-TV won the Horace V. Wells Jr. Community Service Award.

Call for coalition

Frank Gibson, a former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists and chair of the Tennessee Project Sunshine program, designed to call attention to issues concerning access to government information, was the keynote speaker.
Gibson asked for support in forming a coalition of the press, the public and other groups to keep tabs on open records issues and track how representatives vote.

He said that Tennessee needs someone to educate the public, government officials, reporters and editors about freedom of information. The public needs a place to register complaints. The coalition could staff a hotline, do an annual survey of how legislators voted on freedom of information issues and bring attention to violations.

Gibson said that bureaucrats tend to think they own the records and that the records are their own private information. Members of government bodies are more comfortable in private meetings than public ones. E-mail and new technology are allowing them to handle business and discussions away from scrutiny.

Middle Georgia judges

Lance Wallace, assistant metro editor of The Macon Telegraph, led the team of judges from the Middle Georgia Pro Chapter of SPJ. There were more than 200 entries.

Dave Winstrom, president of ETSPJ, served as emcee and handed out the awards. Wynne Brown was chair of this year’s program.

The top winner in each category received the Award of Excellence, and the second-place entrant received the Award of Merit. First- and second-place winners and the categories are:

Deadline/Spot News Reporting, Newspapers: Staff, The Daily Times of Maryville, “Bus crash kills teacher, student”; Jamie Satterfield, Knoxville News-Sentinel, “Longtime sweethearts, partners commit suicide.”
General Reporting, Newspapers: Kevin Wiatrowski, Chattanooga Times, “School suffers downtime”; Jamie Satterfield, Knoxville News-Sentinel, “Stolen purse.”
General Reporting, Non-Daily Newspapers: Ed Hooper, Tennessee Star Journal, “Much ‘kaboom’ about nothing”; Jim Andrews, Inside TVA, “Long journey for tiny ash.”
Series/Package/Project Writing, Newspapers: Larisa Brass, The Oak Ridger, “Atomic Cities”; Jacques Billeaud, Paul Efird, David Keim, Add Seymour Jr., Knoxville News-Sentinel, “College Homes.”
Series/Package/Project Writing, Non-Daily Newspapers: Charles Winfrey, The Lafollette Press.
Investigative Reporting, Newspapers: Bill Brewer and Wesley Loy, Knoxville News-Sentinel; Wesley Loy, Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Investigative Reporting, Non-Daily Newspapers: Ed Hooper, Tennessee Star Journal “Classified Top Secret: The untold story of Vietnam.”
Sports Reporting, Newspapers: Gary Lundy, Knoxville News-Sentinel, “Hard road to success – The Jerry Green story”; Gary Lundy, Knoxville News-Sentinel, “Ballpark estimate.”
Editorial Writing, Newspapers: Jesse Fox Mayshark, Metro Pulse; Hoyt Canady, Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Editorial Writing, Non-Daily Newspapers: Dan Ping, Press Enterprise; Larry Smith, The LaFollette Press.
Columns, Newspapers: Don Williams, Knoxville News-Sentinel; Sam Venable, Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Columns, Non-Daily Newspapers: Brian Johnson, Press Enterprise, “Wife helps break male code of borrowing tools”; Tabitha Prock, Monroe Co. Advocate & Democrat, “Picking myself up and dusting myself off.”
Reviews/Criticisms, Newspapers: Coury Turczyn, Metro Pulse, “Movie Guru”; Hillari Dowdle, Metro Pulse.
News Reporting, Television: Amy Jo Coffey and Ken Earnshaw, WTVC-TV NewsChannel 9, “Silverdale Shakedown”; Mike Dunne and NewsChannel 9 Team, WTVC-TV, “Casteel Verdict.”
Feature Reporting, Television: Richard Simms, WTVC-TV NewsChannel 9, “Barbership Music”; John Madewell, WTVC-TV, “Honduras Humanity.”
Investigative Reporting, Television: Don Dare, Jason Grant, WATE-TV, “Play for Pay.”
Documentary/Public Affairs Programming, Television: Don Dare, Jason Hensley, Jason Grant, Tim Petree, WATE-TV, “Witness and Legacy”; Adina Chumley, Neil Stiles, Mike Watson, WVLT-TV, “Celebrating Knoxville.”
Headline: Jim Andrews, Inside TVA; Suzanne Foree Neal, Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Page One Design, Newspapers: Jeff Schnick, The Mountain Press.
Page One Design, Non-Daily Newspapers: Larry Smith, The LaFollette Press; Dan Ping, West Side/Farragut Press Enterprise.
Inside Page Design, Newspapers: Jennifer Dedman, Knoxville News-Sentinel; Sharon Rasmussen, Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Inside Page Design, Non-Daily Newspapers: Dan Ping, Press Enterprise; Dwane Wilder, The LaFollette Press.
Informational Graphic: R. Daniel Proctor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, weather graphic; R. Daniel Proctor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, earthquake graphic.
Art Illustration: Lisa Horstman and Charlie Powell, Metro Pulse, “Watch the Skies”; Don Wood, Knoxville News-Sentinel, “Resounding Return.”
Photo Illustration: Clay Owen, Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Deadline Photography, Newspapers: Joe Howell, Knoxville News-Sentinel; Michael Patrick, Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Deadline Photography, Non-Daily Newspapers: Dan Barile, Press Enterprise, Farragut; Ed Hooper, Tennessee Star Journal, Pigeon Forge.
Feature Photography, Newspapers: Margaret Bentlage, Knoxville News-Sentinel; Paul Efird, Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Feature Photography, Non-Daily Newspapers: Robert Kollar, Tennessee Valley Authority.
Feature Photography, Television: Hugh Williamson, WVLT-TV, “Smoky Mountain Classroom”; Billy Hodge, WVLT-TV, “Volunteer Home Builders.”
Editorial Cartoon: Rick Baldwin, Metro Pulse; Charlie Daniel, Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Work For Other Media: June N. Adamson, “The SED in Oak Ridge”; Jean Ash, “Damming the Yangtze.”
Horace V. Wells Jr. Community Service Award: Angel Hawthorne and Ben Roberts, WVLT-TV, “Volunteer Pals.”
Golden Press Card: Don Dare and Jason Grant, WATE-TV, “Play for Pay.”

HGTV provides alternatives, CEO says

“The pitch for HGTV is that it is alternative programming to Jerry Springer,” Ken Lowe, president and CEO of the E.W. Scripps cable channel Home & Garden Television told members of the East Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in April.

Lowe noted that HGTV has no sex, violence, car crashes or gun shots. People are turning to cable to learn to do things, and this is where HGTV and Do It Yourself (DIY), which will debut this fall, come in.

This type of programming offers a change from the typical fare broadcast on the networks and other cable channels.

He noted that HGTV’s programs appeal about equally to men and women, even though people think programming is targeted to females.

The future

Computers and television are converging. Lowe predicted that someday soon you will be able to have your favorite television programs delivered to your computer for viewing at your convenience. This video-on-demand is particularly appealing to those who might wish to view videos on how to do something, the very fare of HGTV and DIY.

After a question from the audience, Lowe talked about high definition television, which is difficult, he said, because of bandwidth. HGTV experimented with the technology this year by broadcasting the Rose Bowl parade to a not-very-large audience. The video produced by high definition television will be particularly good for showing gardens and homes, the fare of HGTV. The audience for it now is very limited because the equipment is expensive.

Difficult time

The speed of news today is “throwing consumers into a confused state,” Lowe said. He admitted that his background is not in journalism, describing himself as having “skinny journalistic qualifications.”

“It is an exciting and a difficult time to be a journalist.” The instant news provided by the Internet brings the credibility of the media under the spotlight because reporters don’t have the time to go back and check facts.
‘Monicagate’ has been difficult to deal with. The good news is that this is now behind us, Lowe said.

Letter from viewer

A woman wrote a letter to Lowe saying that she had been empowered by watching what women were doing on the programs broadcast on HGTV. This, he said, pleased him.

Communication over the backyard fence is gone, as people turn to other channels to receive information. “The basics are more important than ever,” Lowe said.

He proudly mentioned that programming on HGTV has no product placement, allowing the shows to maintain credibility. The bottom line, he said is the credibility, accuracy and importance you put into your information.

HGTV is broadcast to more than 52 million households worldwide.

Lowe, a native of North Carolina, talked about the appeal of Knoxville and the surrounding area as a place to live and do business.

More than 30 people attended the program held at Naples Restaurant on April 20.

    Carmichael saves the day


    Alan Carmichael has volunteered to take over Dan Ping’s duties as chairman of the Front Page Follies. Ping has been promoted to editor of the Seminole Herald, a daily near Orlando, Fla. He will leave this month.

    Carmichael will assume the chairmanship in addition to handling the auction. He asked for help from members in making calls to solicit items for the auction, selling tables and volunteering for other tasks.

    The Follies will be July 17 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

    Congratulations, Dan! Thanks, Alan!


Updated May 1999
by Sally A. Guthrie