[Imc-newsroom] Day Labor/Civil Disobedience/Media Boot Camp/Free Media Guide Pages

Mon May 8 11:46:28 CDT 2006

COMMUNITY MEDIA WORKSHOP eNOTES - May 8, 2006
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On Chicago's CAN TV Channel 21 . . . 

 >> FAIRNESS AND DAY LABOR <<
featured Saturday, May 6, 8 p.m. on Community, Media & You

Day laborers are hoping to gain better working conditions with passage of
the new Illinois Day Labor Services Act.  The law increases standards,
enforcement, and penalties for temporary job agencies, who sometimes prey
on the largely immigrant worker filling low wage jobs.  San Lucas Workers
Center has succeeded in bringing negotiations with the targeted day labor
agency, but opportunities for abuse of temporary workers still exists. Thom
Clark talks with Randy Smith of San Lucas Workers Center, Timothy Leahy of
Chicago Federation of Labor, and Mark Saulys, a day laborer about how day
laborers are fighting back to have equal rights in the workplace.

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>From civil disobedience to civil discourse . . .

>> THE FOUR OF US <<

On April 29, 1971-35 years ago-two men and two women walked into the
Selective Service office in Evanston, Illinois. They said they didn't want
to hurt anyone and calmly poured animal blood over hundreds of draft
records. Then, they called the police and asked to be arrested for what
they had done so that they could put the U.S. government on trial for the
war in Vietnam. Many years later, local playwright Richard Cahan
interviewed the activists -- one of them being Community Media Workshop's
co-founder Thom Clark -- and asked them how they stayed connected to this
incident. He wondered if they grew up to be the same type of people they
were in their twenties. Cahan wrote a play based on transcripts of these
interviews and of the actual trial. Hear a condensed version of the play
The Four of Us at
http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/audio_library/hb_apr06.asp .

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Up next at the Workshop. . .

>> MAKING MEDIA CONNECTIONS 2006 - June 7 & 8 <<

Join community leaders, nonprofit communicators and board members,
journalists, publishers, and media experts to discuss getting our
communities' important stories told.  Come ready to sharpen your media
relations and communications skills at workshops and panel discussions lead
by the nation's top media relations experts; meet journalists and learn the
latest trends in nonprofit communications. Learn more at 
http://www.newstips.org/interior.php?section=Calendar&main_id=582.

>> SPIN 101: MEDIA BOOT CAMP - June 7 <<
Led by Rosi Reyes, Communications Strategist, SPIN Project 

Organizers and activists: Learn to make your voice heard, get your message
communicated, and your story told in a fun, interactive workshop that
features role-playing, writing assignments, and practicing 'sound bites' on
camera. Learn more at
http://www.newstips.org/register/index.php?section=Workshop&calendar_id=57.

Learn about other June 7 workshops at
http://www.newstips.org/interior.php?section=Calendar+Sub&main_id=600.

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Help close media's gender gap. . .

>> SheSOURCE.ORG LOOKING FOR WOMEN EXPERTS TO BE JOURNALISTS' SOURCES <<

SheSource.org is an online resource  providing journalists with a database
of women who are experts in their fields and experienced spokespeople.  To
learn more, see http://www.shesource.org; to recommend a woman who is an
expert in her field, click "recommend an expert".

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>> ONE-ON-ONE COACHING FOR WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS <<

If you're new at getting media coverage and don't have anyone to help you
learn the ropes, or if you're pretty good at it but don't have someone to
strategize with, Community Media Workshop can help. The Workshop's senior
staff offer one-on-one phone coaching to organizations who have attended
workshops or the annual conference. The staff can work with you to develop
a story, pitch it, and to whom. Coaching helps reinforce what you have
learned and to get coverage for your specific issues. Call us at
312-344-6400.

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Did you ever wonder. . .

>> IS THERE ANY WAY AROUND USING LONG URL'S? <<

Yes. Take advantage of a free service called "TinyURL.com." Paste a long
URL into the TinyURL screen and it converts to a very small address.  

To learn more internet tips and tricks, sign up for Building a Strong
Online Community, one of our June 7 conference workshops.at
http://www.newstips.org/register/index.php?section=Workshop&calendar_id=70.

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At www.newstips.org . . .

>> TRIBUNE JOURNALIST OFFERS HIS ADVICE <<
http://www.newstips.org/downloads/8726GarciaThinkVisually.pdf

"I used to work for a Ralph Nader organization in Washington D.C., and I
remember sitting at the fax machine, wondering what it was going to take to
get seemingly out-of-touch reporters to see the story that was screaming to
be told.", starts Alex Garcia, Chicago Tribune staff photographer in his
article "Think Visually, Keep It Real, Be Patient".  

>> FREE MEDIA GUIDE SAMPLES <<
http://www.newstips.org/interior.php?section=PR+Tips&main_id=576. 

Check out the few sections of the print version of "Getting On The Air &
Into Print" we've made available online.

>> CREATE A PRESS RELEASE << 
http://www.newstips.org/forms/create_a_release.php  

Our automated press release creator guides you through the what, where,
when and other elements needed to create a complete press release.

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Other events of interest . . .

>> PLAYING THE RACE CARD: A MEDIA ROUNDTABLE - May 9 <<

Studs Terkel award-winner and DePaul professor Laura Washington will
explore the impact of images on racial discourse with a panel of artists,
journalists and academicians 6-8 p.m., Rm 314 at DePaul's Student Center,
2250 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago.  Panelists include Chicago Public Radio's
Sylvia Ewing and artists Alice Berry, David Gista and Yoko Noge and DePaul
Associate Professor Darrell Moore.  Artists in the group will present
images of pieces from their collections as a springboard for discussion of
racial discourse.  Call 773-325-4580 for more information.

> >NONPROFITS AND INNOVATION: SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN AN AGE OF CHANGE -
May 16-17 <<

How can struggling nonprofits renew themselves and thrive on chaos?  What
are the specific drivers of change which most importantly affect the
nonprofit sector today and how might nonprofit practitioners best respond? 
What does innovation look like in the nonprofit context?  From an
organizational perspective, what does it take to be innovative and nimble? 
What best practices in the field of nonprofit innovation might we learn
from?  Specifically, what's new in nonprofit marketing, fundraising,
program development?  What can you do to jumpstart your own personal
creativity?  These are just a few of the questions that will be addressed
at Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management's 2006 symposium.  Details are
at http://www.northpark.edu/axelson/2006.cfm.

>> LEADERSHIP, ETHICS AND INDEPENDENCE: HOW TO RECRUIT, KEEP AND PROMOTE
GREAT BOARD MEMBERS - May 26 <<

Does your organization struggle with recruiting and keeping great board
members? Learn the key strategies for recruiting the right board members
for your organization. This session will also address board ethics as well
as training and assessment tools for developing current board members into
leadership positions. Topics include recruitment techniques, recommended
code of ethics practices, including conflict of interest and
confidentiality policies and independence of board officers in their
governance responsibilities. Register for this workshop sponsored by the
Donors Forum at
http://www.donorsforum.org/calendar/npcalendar.html#leadership.

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"Nonprofit leaders and managers face a stark choice.  They can play a
creative and assertive role in designing their own change-consciously
planning to impact their own organizations and, sometimes, conditions in
the larger environment-or they can be changed by the forces swirling around
them.  The middle ground of not changing is not a viable option; nostalgia
for an imagined golden past is a dangerous distraction.  Merely digging in,
pulling the wagons into a circle, and defending the status quo is surely a
high-risk course in these turbulent times."  -- Doug Eadie, Changing by
Design: A Practical Approach to Leading Innovation in Nonprofit
Organizations.

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Community Media Workshop is a nonprofit organization of journalists,
educators and media relations experts helping those doing vital work in
their community connect with the media and vice versa. We provide
workshops, an annual conference, a media guide, a journalists' tipsheet,
briefing papers, sources, and sponsor the Studs Terkel Awards. Workshop
eNotes is produced by Karen Kring; she's reachable at karen at newstips.org.

Community Media Workshop 
at Columbia College Chicago
mail: 600 S. Michigan 
Chicago, IL 60605 
312-344-6400 
http://www.newstips.org

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