Warren Watson
First Thoughts
April 15, 2008

Thoughts from the annual U.S. editors convention

Another live blog item from the annual meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington:

* U.S. Rep. Mike Spence was honored for his First Amendment contributions at today's luncheon at the annual convention.

Spence, a Republican, and House colleague Rick Boucher, a Democrat, were co-recipients of ASNE's 2008 Sunshine in Government award. They have worked together to push for congressional passage of the Free Flow of Information Act, which has passed the House but awaits Senate action. Boucher, calling Pence of the "smartest and most effective congressmen," praised Pence, who told the 700 editors and publishers in attendance, that the law "is not just for journalists, but for everyone."

Meanwhile, both U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Democratic candidates for the presidency, were announced as new co-sponsors of the bill, also known as a national shield law.

Clinton, like Obama and GOP presidential candidate John McCain, addressed the editors' group. She praised journalists for for acting as a check against presidential power.

* The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund celebrated its 50th anniversary at the convention. The fund is one of the nation's strongest supporters of scholastic journalism.

Warren Watson
First Thoughts
April 14, 2008

Blogging live from Washington, D.C., from the annual meetings of the American Society of Newspapers and Newspaper Association of America where the First Amendment and the presidential election intersected today:

* Candidates John McCain and Barack Obama both addressed large galleries of editors and publishers meeting Monday at the Washington Convention Center. McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, announced he will support the Free Flow of Information Act, which would provide a shield for reporters and sources dealing with controversial topics. Indiana U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar and U.S. Rep. Mike Pence were among those initiating the bipartisan effort to introduce the bill. U.S. Sen. Obama, the Democrat sparring with U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, has not yet announced a position on the bill but reiterated his support of the principle behind the effort.

Clinton will address the groups Tuesday.

ASNE legal counsel Kevin Goldberg said Sunday night that support is building in the U.S. Senate for the shield bill.

* ASNE's Freedom of Information Committee and First Amerndment Committee Monday afternoon announced the Liberty Tree Initiative, a broad-ranging branding and public awareness campaign to buttress national support for the First Amendment. The campaign will include advertising and awareness-building online, on television and in newspapers. USA Today editor Ken Paulson, the organizer, said the branding effort will include a number of well-known figures.

* Editors were chatting up Sunday's announcement of a major study of high school journalism by Jack Dvorak, a professor at Indiana University.

Dvorak, working with the NAA Foundation, studied performances of ACT test scores of 31,175 high school students and concluded that journalism students earn higher grade point averages, score better on the ACT college entrance exam and demonstrate better writing and grammar skills in college, compared with students who do not have those journalism experiences. See the J-Ideas story here.

The results back up an earlier study by Dvorak in a 1990s book "Journalism Kids Do Better."