Salt Lake City—The Utah Headliners Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is proud to announce that it has won this year’s SPJ National Small Chapter of the Year Award.
Utah’s local SPJ chapter earned the top honor from one of the nation’s most prestigious journalism organizations for its wide-ranging efforts in First Amendment and Freedom of Information activity, educational outreach efforts and programming. In particular, SPJ national judges noted the Utah Headliners Chapter’s leadership in lobbying the Utah Legislature, in partnership with a media coalition, to defeat proposals to restrict access to government information, which in Utah is known as the Government Records Access and Management Act. In 2006, the Utah Headliners Chapter hosted the western regional spring conference and presented talks about journalism ethics at nearly fifty local high schools and universities.
“It’s a huge honor for our chapter, and a compliment to the hard work of board members who donate a lot of time to make sure we offer good programming and meet the needs of working journalists in our state,” says Ben Winslow, president of the Utah Headliners Chapter. Winslow accepted the award on behalf of the chapter this month at the 2007 SPJ Convention and National Journalism Conference in Washington D.C.
SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists and protects the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. The Utah Headliners Chapter of SPJ, which was founded in 1952, carries out SPJ’s advocacy and educational mission throughout the state of Utah.
For questions, please contact Tasha Cook at 801-585-6092. For more information on activities and resources of The Utah Headliners Chapter of SPJ, visit http://www.utahspj.blogspot.com.
Utah SPJ 