ASNE's Bosley to Retire

Scott Bosley, executive director of the American Society of News Editors, will retire at the end of 2009, the organization announced in a release on its Web site. Bosley served in the post for more than a decade. ASNE President Martin Kaiser said a search committee would soon be named with the goal of selecting a successor and providing time for an orderly transition of leadership. "It simply feels like the right time for me, personally, to step back and explore more of life, taking advantage of the pace that retirement will afford,” Bosley said. Bosley, a former editor and publisher, came to ASNE in March 1999 after a career of more than 30 years with Knight Ridder newspapers. "Scott has been an outstanding leader, not just of ASNE, but in our industry," Kaiser said. "His tireless dedication to serving journalism during his exceptional career before and while at ASNE, has made all of us better leaders. He will not just be missed by ASNE, but by our profession."

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No Surprise Here: Fewer Daily Newspaper Journalists

In what's sure to lift everyone's spirits at the American Society of Newspaper Editors' (ASNE) annual conference, the annual newsroom census numbers show the largest decline in the number of daily newspaper journalists in nearly 30 years.

According to the newly released data, the total number of newsroom employees declined 4.4 percent (or 2,400 jobs). Minority journalists continue to see reductions amid all the frenetic cuts, losing 300 jobs in 2007, though the percentage of overall minority journalists increased incrementally from 13.43 to 13.52 percentage of all newsroom employees. This is most likely due to the overall reductions of newspaper workforces (as opposed to being the result of new hires).

Still, newsrooms have a long way to go to represent the potential U.S. readership. ASNE notes that according to the most recent census, "racial and ethnic minorities made up 34 percent of the population in 2006." That gap is likely to continue if newspapers don't diversify as the population does.

ASNE, an MTF grantee, surveyed 924 daily newspapers for the study. For more on the census, visit: http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?ID=6945

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Read It, and Rate It

The American Society of Newspaper Editors, an MTF grantee, is looking for a few good reviewers to assist its High School Journalism Initiative. ASNE has launched a new review section of its Web site (http://www.highschooljournalism.org/) for journalism teachers and students to rate books, articles, videos etc. for the classroom. The hope is that the review process will identify the resouces that can best help teachers.

Meanwhile, Kent State University's Center for Scholastic Journalism recently launched a blog to serve as a clearinghouse and discussion forum around free speech issues that impact young people. Check it out at http://csjblog.org/.

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Planting the Seeds for the Liberty Tree

The First Amendment is taking a beating, but a group of top-shelf journalists and First Amendment advocates aren't going to stand by anymore. Enter the Liberty Tree Initiative, a new campaign that aims to improve the public's perception of the First Amendment and journalists.

The project kicked off this past week at McCormick Tribune Foundation's Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Ill., with a two-day brainstorming meeting organized by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Describing the group assembled as a "League of Nations of First Amendment professionals," Liberty Tree mastermind and USA Today editor Ken Paulson charged participants to come up with ideas and strategies for improving public sentiment on the First Amendment freedoms.

With the help of communications firm Weber Shandwick, the Liberty Tree Initiative should have a solid foundation for a campaign by early next year.

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Sunshine Week '07 Exposes the Shadows

A nationwide survey of more than 1,000 adults, commissioned by the American Society of Newspaper Editors for Sunshine Week, found that people overwhelmingly believe that their federal leaders have become sneaky by listening to telephone conversations or opening private mail without court permission. Twenty-five percent believe the federal government is either “very open” or “somewhat open,” while 69 percent said it’s either “somewhat secretive” or “very secretive.” See the poll findings at http://www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/scrippspoll07 and a list of open government websites at http://www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/orgs.

More than 800 organizations (nonprofit groups, news organizations, press associations, public libraries, elected officials, etc) participated in this year’s Sunshine Week (see a full list at http://www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/participants07). In Illinois, more than 30 groups participated, including the State Journal Register of Springfield. The SJR website features a six-part series on FOIA - “Request Denied” - including a video on the topic (at http://www.sj-r.com/extras/specialprojects/foia).

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