President’s Letter: Remembering the trailblazers

By Linda Kramer Jenning, JAWS President

Her passion was contagious. Sitting on stage after the Washington, D.C., Feb. 14 screening of “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry,” Marlene Sanders recalled both the battles she had fought in newsrooms against sexism and the battles she covered on streets full of protesting feminists. She told us that it had been a constant struggle to convince her editors to cover the women’s movement, but she persisted and succeeded and talks about it in the film.

Marlene Sanders was a true pioneer. She died at age 84 on July 14.

As The New York Times reported, Marlene started her career with ABC and later worked for CBS. She was a “first” more than a few times throughout her career, a role model and inspiration for so many women broadcasters.

JAWS member Lynn Povich had this to share when asked about Marlene: “It’s just a small but meaningful thing,” she emailed me. “Although I had watched Marlene many times on television, I finally met Marlene when we were both picked for Matrix Awards in 1976 – she for excellence in television, me for magazines. The ceremony was held in the dingy Lexington Hotel on Lex and 49th with only our friends and family attending. Not the fancy event with celebrity presenters that it has become. Marlene and I continued a mutual admiration acquaintanceship. When I was writing my book, ‘The Good Girls Revolt,’ I interviewed her about what happened with the women at ABC after we sued Newsweek for sex discrimination in 1970. She said that because of our suit, ABC management got scared and came to them about grievances so they could push for change without a suit. I sat next to Marlene at the Veteran Feminists of America gala last year October where she was in fine form, as always. That was Marlene, who always supported and helped other women. I will miss her.”

JAWS member Janice Roshalle Littlejohn didn’t know Marlene, but said in an email that she studied her work. “About a year or two after my first JAWS CAMP in 1999, I came across a book about broadcast pioneers in which Barbara Walters mentioned Marlene Sanders having preceded her as the first woman broadcast anchor on network television. I went digging into anything I could find about her and uncovered all kinds of great, important stories and documentaries she’d done that involved women’s stories – and the Vietnam War! I was fascinated! I really didn’t know of any women who’d covered the war then, and she was one of the first! It was a history of women in journalism that’s not talked about or really shared much, and yet should be celebrated.”

When I heard Marlene speak at the “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry” February screening (which JAWS co-sponsored), I was reminded of how much we owe to the women like Marlene who stood up to dismissive male editors and whose stellar reporting broke down so many doors. I also was reminded that all too often it is still a battle to advance women in newsrooms and to convince editors to cover women and other underrepresented voices. By continuing to wage that good fight, we honor Marlene and also the legacy of JAWS members like the late Kay Mills, Eileen Shanahan, Joan Cook and Dori Maynard.

Operations Director Corner

By Roxanne Foster, JAWS Operations Director

Please join me in welcoming these newest members:
 
Ashley Alvarado (@AshleyAlvarado)
Keidra Chaney (@kdc)
Julie Zauzmer (@JulieZauzmer)
Natasha Pizzey (@natasha_pizzey)
Carol Robidoux (@ManchInkLink)
Lisa Miller (@lcmpeacenh)
Kristen Senz
Lisa Scherzer (@lisascherzer)
Esha Chhabra (@esh2440)
Heather Stark
Charisse Gibson (@OkayCharisse)
Gail Ober (@OberGail)
Stephanie Wolf (@StephRWolf)
Kristina Bugante (@bugants)
Nicole Chavez (@nicolechavz)
Lisa Garza (@LMariaGarza)
Bethany Barnes (@BetsBarnes)
Melissa Batchelor Warnke (@thewarnke)
Casey Hynes (@ceasaigh)
Camila Osorio (@camimi68)
Madi Alexander (@MadiLAlexander)
Anna Schiller (@IWMF)
Kelsey Nelson (@Ms_Knelson)
Melissa Amy Enaje (@melissamissye)
Michelle Quinn (@michellequinn)
Anna Simonton    
Amara Aguilar (@amara_media)
Julia Haskins (@Julia_Haskins)
Kate Pastor (@BronxBeautiful)
Saba Hamedy (@saba_h)
Maura Casey (@caseyinkllc)
Hannah Stonebraker (@stonebraker19)
Dominique De Leon
Raquel Dillon (@RaquelAPLA)
Meena Ganesan (@MeenaGanesan)
Ariel Shearer (@arielshearer)
Tennessee Watson (@tennesseejane)
Susan Casey (@SusanECasey)
Sarah Macaraeg (@seramak)

If your membership is past due, please renew! You’re an important part of the JAWS network, and we’d like to keep you connected. If you have questions or concerns about JAWS, please feel free to call (720-722-3569) or email. My office hours are Tuesday and Thursday, noon to 4 p.m., MT. I look forward to interacting with you all and I hope to meet more of you face to face at CAMP!

Los Angeles Times’ Mitra Kalita to present keynote at CAMP

By Linda Kramer Jenning, JAWS President

Los Angeles Times managing editor S. Mitra Kalita will be joining JAWS in Whitefish, Mont., to give the Saturday dinner keynote talk at our 30th anniversary Conference and Mentoring Project (CAMP).

You might already know Kalita from when she worked at The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Associated Press or Newsday, or more recently when she was the founding ideas editor at Quartz and then its executive editor at large. She oversaw the launches of Quartz India and Quartz Africa. This fascinating career path also included a sojourn in India, where she became the founding editor of Mint, a business paper in New Delhi.

Despite some reluctance at leaving her close-knit community in Jackson Heights, Queens, she moved to Los Angeles earlier this year to accept the position of managing editor for editorial strategy — becoming one of the few women in a top newsroom leadership position.

Kalita, former president of the South Asian Journalists Association, has written three books related to migration and globalization and according to her website is at work on a book about schools and segregation that she started as a Spencer Fellow at Columbia University. She has taught journalism at St. John’s, UMass-Amherst and Columbia J-school. She tweets @mitrakalita.
 
When I was reading up on Kalita, I came across an interview she did with a Jaipur women’s blog. I particularly liked her answer when she was asked for her advice to young journalists: “Live a life and engage with the world. You should never have a quiet cab ride.”

If you haven’t registered for CAMP yet, sign up now. You’ll enjoy two amazing keynote talks: S. Mitra Kalita on Saturday and Emily Bell on Sunday.

Board member blog post: Memories of CAMP

By Amy Resnick, JAWS Treasurer

In Montana in October, we will mark JAWS’ 30th anniversary. And I will mark my 11th CAMP.

My first CAMP was in Sundance, Utah, in September 1999. I didn’t know more than one or two women there, and I was sharing a condo with a group of women I’d never met before.

As with most JAWS CAMPs, it began with introductions over dinner on Friday and I found myself in awe. I was in a room of women who had the careers I aspired to, but didn’t know how to achieve.

I spent that CAMP listening to conversations, over meals and in conference sessions, about what women could do in journalism, and documentary film, and politics. I listened to women talk about working as editors, producers and directors.

Read more here.

Member blog post: Journalists lament anniversary of Post reporter’s captivity

By Jane Meacham, JAWS member

On the year anniversary of Washington Post Correspondent Jason Rezaian’s detention in Iran’s toughest prison, a half-million people have been moved to sign a petition seeking his release.

On July 22, journalists including JAWS members decried Rezaian’s lengthy captivity by Iran under vague, unsupported charges. A news conference at the National Press Club led by Rezaian’s brother and family spokesman, Ali; Post executive editor Martin Baron; and attorneys working on strategies for Jason Rezaian’s release provided little encouragement for resolution of the case, but the jailed reporter’s brother sought more worldwide support for the petition to be submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Read more here.

Discount airfares for CAMP

By Pam Moreland, JAWS board member

Getting to the Big Sky Country in Whitefish, Mont., for JAWS CAMP (Conference and Mentoring Project) shouldn’t take big bucks. That’s why JAWS has partnered with the three major airlines to offer conference participants airfare discounts.

Alaska, Delta and United airlines have all agreed to knock off 5 to 13 percent on reservations to Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell. That’s the closest airport to Whitefish and the Grouse Mountain Lodge. The Lodge will have free shuttles at the airport to take us to our conference headquarters. There are also rental car desks at the airport.

There is also Missoula International Airport (MSO), approximately 2 1/2 hours from the Grouse Mountain Lodge. Rental cars are available in the ground transportation center. Parking at the hotel is free.

Planning to arrive early or want to stay after CAMP? No problem. Each of the airlines has agreed to an expanded window for discounted travel.

Read more here.

CAMP special activities

Résumé Critiques

Need help refining your résumé? Bloomberg’s Jodi Schneider can give you a hand with that. She will need a copy of your résumé in advance so she can review it with you during a one-on-one session at CAMP. There is a $50 fee for her service. There will be opportunities to schedule time with Jodi on-site, but since space is very limited, signing up before CAMP is recommended.

30th Anniversary Celebration

JAWS@30: Mapping Our Future

We want to engage JAWS members in charting our path forward and guiding the board. Based on ideas solicited via social media before CAMP and in person at Grouse Mountain, we will have an interactive discussion with the goal of reaching consensus on priorities in a clear, collegial process. We intend to identify objectives and answer this question for each: What would success look like in achieving this goal?

Wine & Whine

Wrap up your wonderful CAMP experience by bonding with old and new friends.

Books, Browse, Booze

Meet JAWS authors, chat about their latest books and buy a book.

“Difret” is a new feature film opening in theaters around the United States in October. This special JAWS screening includes a conversation with the film’s producer, Mehret Mandefro.

The LA Times calls the film “compelling and authentic.” Secretary of State John Kerry calls it “a powerful true story of conscience and conviction that ought to inspire everyone.”

“Difret” tells the story of Hirut, a 14-year-old girl walking from school in a rural village in Ethiopia when men on horses kidnap her. Hirut grabs a rifle and tries to escape, but ends up shooting her rapist and would-be husband. In her village, the practice of abduction into marriage is common and one of Ethiopia’s oldest traditions. Meaza Ashenafi, a tenacious young lawyer, arrives from the city to represent Hirut and argue that she acted in self-defense. Meaza embarks on a collision course between civil authority and customary law, risking the work of her women’s legal-aid practice to save Hirut’s life.

CAMP programming to look forward to

Plenary Session

Not on My Watch

When it comes to diversity, there’s plenty of talk. It’s the action that’s lacking. In this session, every person in the room will be involved with both. We’ll use the power of stories and the insights and inspiration we share to turn diversity from a noun to a verb. (Trust us.) With the careful guidance of Mary C. Curtis and Jill Geisler, participants will leave with concrete ideas to defeat conscious and unconscious bias in our lives and a commitment to leading change.

Breakout Sessions

Talk Story, Write Story

Talk Story, Write Story began in 1998 as a volunteer effort to help financially disadvantaged Native Hawaiian students in Hana, where JAWS founder Tad Bartimus lives with her husband, retired journalist-teacher Dean Wariner (executive director of JAWS 1985-90). It grew into a series of personal essay workshops that have assisted more than 300 students, many of them Native Alaskans and Native Hawaiians, write their way into colleges and win scholarships. Tad will pass along the writing techniques that have helped her students and talk about her goal to transition Talk Story, Write Story to newspapers as a way to give back to their communities.

What happens when you get 25 high-achieving, diverse, emerging media leaders in a room for a week of sharing, learning and networking? Real talk and an instant support system. We’ll share the results, including a survey on digital media culture, and candid take-aways on influence, entrepreneurship and compensation from the first class of the ONA-Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media Academy, guided by an A-list of speakers and faculty. #digitalwomenleaders

Reporting the Whole Story: The Fundamentals of Solutions Journalism

Too many news organizations today focus their reporting solely on widespread social problems, ignoring the thousands of individuals, organizations and institutions that are responding to these problems. The Solutions Journalism Network aims for a more accurate portrayal of society. Since 2013, it has helped more than 40 news organizations and hundreds of journalists learn about and practice a more complete form of journalism: rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems — journalism that tells the whole story. Using the Solutions Journalism Toolkit as a guide, this session will cover what solutions journalism is (and what it’s not), why you should do it, and how it can make your own journalism stronger, higher-impact, and more audience-friendly.

Storytelling in This Century

When this century started, podcasts and Snapchat didn’t exist. People would have laughed at the idea of conveying a news story on someone’s watch, even if it was “smart.” And yet, good storytelling is timeless. How do we use new tools to tell stories while holding on to old values? We will turn to three women whose expertise in 21st-century storytelling is in demand around the globe.

Washington for Sale 2016

With a slew of new campaign finance laws and court decisions in recent years, it’s harder and harder to track the money flowing through our elections. Campaign finance pros — including political reporters and experts — will share their tricks for tracking down the money behind the candidates, especially as more and more of the cash is donated secretly to groups that aren’t officially affiliated with a campaign.

Beyond the Spin: Covering Campaigns

We are entering what figures to be one of the more interesting and consequential presidential campaigns in recent memory, with Hillary Clinton vying to become the first woman president and an unprecedented number of Republican candidates up for the challenge. While the most recent polls and the “he said-she said” candidate statements provide easy material for daily coverage, campaigns at any level are much more than the horse race. With so many journalists and different kinds of media — including the campaigns themselves — covering politics, the opportunities are endless, but so are the challenges. It’s more important than ever to get beyond the spin and find compelling and interesting issues, characters, and plots to bring the trail to life. This panel includes reporters and editors who have experience with daily and long-form political journalism. They will provide tools and advice for covering any kind of political topic, including local issues and campaigns, through print, video, photos, social media and more.

Read more here.

Staying at the Grouse Mountain Lodge for CAMP

• The airport is approximately 11 miles from the Grouse Mountain Lodge.
• The Lodge provides free round-trip shuttle service to and from the FCA airport with advance reservations. Call 406-892-2525 to schedule shuttle service once your flights are booked.
• Rental cars are available in the ground transportation center.

July BoardBytes

By Sheila Solomon, JAWS Secretary

1. Got a favorite recipe? Please share for the JAWS cookbook. Contact project directors Carol Guensburg and Jane Marshall if you’d like to help with editing, copy editing, recipe testing, photography, illustration or design.
2. As you make travel plans for CAMP, we hope you’ll join us that Sunday for dinner, Whine and Wine! 
3. Crowdfunding for CAMP fellows has been very successful — but keep those donations coming.

Regional gatherings recap

JAWS D.C.
On July 15, Peggy Simpson hosted the JAWS dinner she had generously auctioned off at CAMP. Enjoying the sunshine on Peggy’s D.C., rooftop garden are Peggy, Kira Zalan, Arnesa Howell, Linda Kramer Jenning, Angela Greiling Keane, Nikki Raz and Emily Shenk. Missing from the photo are Bonnie Rollins (who was taking the photo) and Pat Sullivan who was on the phone.


JAWS SoCal
Lottie Joiner met up with local JAWS members in Southern California following training as a National Journalism Health Fellow at USC. Shout out to SoCal Regional Captain Megan Sweas, who organized the gathering.


JAWS South Florida
The recent meetup on Key Biscayne was a total success! Attendees feasted on a delicious potluck, shared stories and laughed a lot. Folks came from TV, digital, video, film, print and more.