NMPW Board

Christine Burroughs
NMPW President
(505) 844-0948
E-mail Chris

Melissa Sais
NMPW Vice President
(505) 865-6323
E-mail Melissa

Lynne Behnfield Thomas
President
Albuquerque Press Women
(505) 298-5538
E-mail Lynne

Julie Hughes
President
Las Cruces Press Women Chapter
E-mail Julie

The Broadsheet

New Mexico Press Women   May 2004   Vol. 27 No. 3

A Convention You Won't Want to Miss!
Convention update!
Details as they develop!

The 2004 Convention, May 21-23: "Write it Right: Creative Communication" will feature not only the Paula LaRocque workshop but a luncheon panel devoted to the subject of the creative process.

Wondering how to fire up your own creativity? Learn from the experts.

The moderator is Gene Grant, a freelance writer, Internet philosopher, film and telecom expert and all around bon vivant (French for "way cool"). Among other things, Gene is a columnist for the Albuquerque Tribune and a screenwriter. Originally from Boston, he moved to Albuquerque in 1989 and is a consultant for companies looking to boost their creativity.

Panelists are our very own Cary Herz, Leanne Potts and Grubb Graebner.

Cary Herz is an award-winning photographer specializing in corporate and editorial photography and a New Mexico photo correspondent for The New York Times. Her clients include The Chronicle for Higher Education, Time, Parade, PC World, People, The Discovery Channel, The Houston Chronicle's Texas Magazine, and Medical Economics.

Cary's personal projects have included The Women's Movement in the 1970s; women athletes; and "Culture and Memory: The Sephardic Legacy of the Crypto-Jews in the Southwest." Cary's photographs have appeared in many books and exhibitions. You can see her online portfolio.

Grubb Graebner is a screenwriter, playwright and director. For the last four years he has headed the "Flicks on 66" digital filmmaking festival and is currently director of Digifest Southwest and head of the Digital Filmmaking Institute. He also directs theater in Albuquerque and writes screenplays and teleplays with Lee Cohn in Los Angeles.

A former dramaturge at The Vortex Theatre, he's had more than fifty productions of his work presented at various theater haunts in New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Dallas, El Paso, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Madrid. Recently Grubb started the Anastarzi Casting Agency with the goal of putting local actors to work.

Leanne Potts is the popular culture writer for the Albuquerque Journal and has a background in the arts (degrees in both journalism and fine arts). She grew up in Mobile, Ala. and has previously worked at newspapers in Massachusetts, Alabama and Florida as well as the Albuquerque Tribune. She has won several state and national writing awards, and her writing appears in the anthology Kill Your Idols: A New Generation of Rock Writers Considers the Classics (Barricade Books, July 2004.) Leanne likes alt-country, hound dogs, taking long walks, staring into space, Mardi Gras parades and letting the world know she still gives a damn.

Gene tells us that he and Grubb just finished choosing the last ten scripts for the upcoming Digifest. "Some of the stories were very personal," he said. "Some were real clunkers, but you had to respect the effort of people to try to get in touch with the creative side of themselves."

The subject of creativity is a pressing interest for Gene. "Your human job is to bring out your creativity," he says.

Keep in mind the three-hour writing workshop by nationally known writing coach Paula LaRocque Saturday morning. LaRocque is a former assistant managing editor and writing coach at the Dallas Morning News. She's conducted writing workshops for scores of newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. For more information see her Web site.

Conference kick-off is Friday, May 21 with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Maxwell Museum on the University of New Mexico campus. Join us for catered hors d'oeuvres and wine.

The convention will be held at the Sheraton Uptown, across the street from Coronado Mall, beginning with our annual business meeting over breakfast Saturday morning from 7:30 to 9 a.m. LaRocque's two-part seminar will follow from 9:15 to 12:30 p.m.

At lunch we have an entertaining presentation on student animation and the potential for animation in New Mexico.

Then you get some time to shop or rest up before an exciting evening featuring our silent auction and no-host bar, which begins at 5:30 p.m. The annual awards banquet starts at 6:30 p.m. We're pleased to have as banquet speaker UNM Professor David Dunaway, the prize-winning author of six volumes of history and biography.

Sunday morning we return to an old favorite, presentation of the annual Zia Award followed by a talk by the award-winning author.

Conference co-conspirators Susan Walton, Pari Noskin Taichert, Laurie Mellas-Ramirez, Sherry Robinson and Tracy Ingalls have worked hard to deliver professional content and FUN at this meeting.

Registration is $150; at the door it's $200. For non-members the cost is $200, or $250 at the door. Full registration covers all events.

For the writing workshop alone, the fee is $50 for members by May 15 and $75 after. For non-members it's $75 by May 15 and $100 after.

For the awards banquet alone, the fee is $35 for members and non-members by May 15 and $50 after. Banquet tickets will not be available at the door.

For schedule and registration, click here.

A Very Big Thanks to Our Sponsors

Our major sponsors at this time are Sandia National Laboratories, $2,000; Hirst Córdova Public Relations, $500; First State Bank, $500; and The Albuquerque Journal, $250.

The University of New Mexico is providing in-kind services, for which we're also grateful.

Belew's Office Supply is giving us a break on white binders for convention materials.

Silent Auction Inventory Expands

Every year, along with the Awards Banquet, NMPW holds a silent auction to provide journalism scholarships for deserving students. Among the offerings this year, according to Scholarship Chair Laurie Mellas-Ramirez, is an overnight stay at the luxurious Hyatt Tamaya Resort. Other exciting donations include a painting from Weem's Gallery, sets of products from Great Clips and merchandise from the UNM Bookstore. Given the number of authors in this group, you'll also find a variety of books.

Laurie will accept donations to the auction right up to the banquet, but let her know what you have. She welcomes new items (think re-gifting), services, tickets, gift certificates and collectibles.

Clean Out Those Jewelry Boxes

New this year is the Jewelry Boutique, which will also support our scholarships. Go through your jewelry box and clean out the jewelry you're not wearing - the impulse purchase, the gift from the ex - all the stuff that sits reproachfully in your drawer. Give it to NMPW. We'll clean it up and sell it at our Jewelry Boutique table, which will operate with the Silent Auction. Make room for new jewelry and do it for a good cause! Albuquerque members, let Sherry Robinson know if you have goodies to donate and she'll pick them up. Out-of-town folks, please bring them with you. If you can't be with us, mail your goodies to Sherry at 503 Solar Rd. NW, Albuquerque, 87107.

Scholarship Winners Announced

And speaking of scholarships, Scholarship Chair Laurie Mellas-Ramirez reports this year's recipients:

Shari Vialpando, a New Mexico State University senior in photojournalism. Shari plans to become a sports photographer and wants to "change lives with my images." She graduates next fall, is attending on a lottery scholarship with a 3.4 GPA and works part time. "She submitted a CD with striking images," Laurie says. "Her letters of recommendation were awesome."

Jennifer Rocha, an Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute sophomore who will transfer to UNM in the fall to pursue professional writing. Work-study qualified, Jennifer is editor of TVI Times and maintains a 3.85 GPA She's married with a new baby. "Her work samples show great promise," Laurie says. And her letters of recommendation were strong. "TVI journalism faculty credit her with making the paper the best it has been in a decade."

Laurie reports that decision making this year was particularly tough, with seven talented applicants, all demonstrating need.

Good News and Bad News for the Media

A research institute associated with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism has surveyed the journalistic landscape and found prospects dim for newspapers and broadcast television. However, the report, "The State of the News Media 2004," released in March by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, documents a surge in the popularity of Spanish-language newspapers, alternative weeklies (cheers to Crosswinds) and news Web sites.

Circulation of English-language newspapers in the United States has declined by 11 percent since 1990, but circulation of Spanish-language daily newspapers has more than tripled, to 1.7 million, according to the National Association of Hispanic Publishers. The combined circulation of alternative weeklies like the Washington City Paper more than doubled, to 7.5 million in 2002, according to the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.

At the same time the combined audience of the three major cable news channels -- the Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC- - has been flat since late 2001, and that whatever additional audience those networks gained during the early days of the war in Iraq has been lost. Fox, not surprisingly, disputes those findings.

Peter Bhatia, executive editor of The Oregonian and the president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, contends that circulation may be down but the quality of journalism is up." circulation decline.

Hearty Welcome to New Members

Welcome aboard to three new members.

Marian Goad, in Santa Fe, has a small business doing freelance writing and editing, locally by the Internet. With an MBA, she does marketing and business writing and provides content for the Web. She'll edit almost any kind of writing and especially enjoys working with people for whom English is a second language. She can be reached at 505.455.3857 or e-mail her.

Beverly Merrick is an associate professor of journalism at NMSU. In 2001 she received the Governor's Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women from the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women for her public service, research and teaching.

Beverly teaches courses in "Women and the Law" and "Women in the Mass Media" at NMSU and has written a book of poetry, "Closing the Gate," which deals with women pioneers in the Great Plains in the early 20th century. She is a member of the NMSU women's studies steering committee.

Tracy Ingall is vice president for internal communication at First State Bank. She covers all of the bank's employees in New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Previously, Tracy was the executive director and marketing director at the Museum of Natural History Foundation. She currently chairs the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce "Albuquerque Reads" literacy program. We also have Tracy to thank for this year's handsome convention brochure. Tracy has been contributing to NMPW even before joining as a member of the convention planning committee.

In Memoriam

Long-time readers of the Albuquerque Journal may remember Helena L'Hommedieu. Susanne Burks informs us that Helena died on March 25 in Santa Fe. She was 86. At her request, friends held a wake. Helena began her journalism career in 1956 in upstate New York. Ten years later she joined the Journal as copy editor and later became the travel editor. She was also a stringer for the New York Times and Time Magazine in New Mexico. In 1980 she became editor of a newspaper in California and retired to Santa Fe in 1990.

People News

NMPW Historian and Albuquerque chapter secretary Denise Tessier has been named editorial page editor of two zoned editions of the Albuquerque Journal -- the West Side Journal and Rio Rancho Journal. She writes editorials and edits letters and columns for these editions. She also writes editorials for the Mountain View Telegraph and Albuquerque Journal. Denise has been an editorial writer for the Journal since 1998, and (alas) is the only woman on the Journal's editorial board.

Cathy Robbins is settling into her new life in San Francisco. "Getting reorganized after living in one house for 35 years is a real challenge," she writes.

A few differences for freelancers: "I learned, to my delight, that I don't have to register with the state or the city to do business or get a business permit, and I don't have to pay gross receipts tax in addition to state income tax (the latter being around 8 percent I figure). The other writers I asked about it were dumbstruck when I told them about New Mexico!"

She's become publicity manager for Old First Concerts, one of the oldest music presenting organizations in San Francisco, for some extra income and contacts in the music and journalism communities.

You can reach Cathy at 48 Terra Vista Ave., Apt. 2, San Francisco, CA 94115; 415.846.1936 or by e-mail.

A proud mom reports that Ruben Gonzales, son of Carolyn Gonzales, was hired as a reporter for the East Mountain Telegraph. Ruben, a 2003 UNM graduate who majored in print journalism, did a brief stint in radio in Ruidoso before returning to the Albuquerque area.

Cary Herz, recovering well, traveled to Berkeley to visit relatives and then spent some time on the Oregon coast. "We have a wonderful hike planned in a very special rainforest (on private land) that snakes through gigantic dark forest down to the beach. We will see cormorants, oyster catchers, gulls, eagles and maybe some seals," Cary wrote before the trip. "I am feeling good, and look forward to something fun."

Pari Noskin Taichert reports that her mystery, The Clovis Incident, sold out of its first print run. The second edition, a paperback, is now available. The book was selected as a March-April Booksense 76 Pick, a nomination of independent booksellers. And she's maintained a brisk schedule of book signings here and outside the state.

New Mexico Press Women
Board of Directors
2002-2003

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