exPRESSions

Newsletter of Colorado Press Women

May 2006

Ghrist top winner in 2006 Communications Contest

Congratulations to Cheryl Ghrist, who captured the Sweepstakes Award in CPW’s 2006 Communications Contest.

Cheryl, who now works in advertising sales and service for the Colorado Press Association, produced her award-winning entries for the Denver Herald Dispatch. She joined CPW in 2003.

Cheryl received first-place honors for articles on sports and leisure and regularly editing a non-daily newspaper; first and third place for headline writing; third for humorous and general personal columns, and third and honorable mention for articles on arts and entertainment.

Cheryl’s first-place entries and those of 21 other CPW members have been forwarded to the 2006 Communications Contest sponsored by the National Federation of Press Women. National winners will be honored during NFPW’s annual conference in September at the Adams Mark Hotel in Denver.

Other winners in the CPW contest are:

Kaye Bache-Snyder, Boulder author and poet: first, short story and creative verse; second, personality profile

Chelsey Baker-Hauck, periodicals director at University of Denver: first, personality profile, publications regularly edited by entrant in a specialized magazine, and four-color magazine; third, feature story for specialized circulation

Kristen Bastian, reporter for the Northern Colorado Business Report: first, news reporting in a non-daily newspaper and continuing coverage; third, enterprise reporting

Judi Buehrer, retired editor for the American Water Works Association: first, news reporting for specialized circulation, news articles and feature articles written for the Web; second, enterprise reporting and business articles; honorable mention, news articles written for the Web

Christine Cole, assistant magazine managing editor at University of Denver: first, frequent or regular section edited by entrant for specialized circulation; second, feature story for specialized circulation

Natalie Costanza-Chavez, columnist at the Fort Collins Coloradoan: first, personal column on one continuing subject; second, religion articles and general personal column; honorable mention, humorous personal column

Joyce Davis, assistant city editor at the Fort Collins Coloradoan: first, feature story in a daily newspaper, humorous personal column, and general personal column; second, humorous personal column

Rosann Doran, Broomfield public information director: first, annual report; second, four-color magazine

Kathleen Duff, opinion page editor at the Fort Collins Coloradoan: first, third and honorable mention, editorial in a daily newspaper

Pat Ferrier, metro editor at the Fort Collins Coloradoan: first, enterprise reporting; second, news reporting and feature story in a daily newspaper

Teresa Ford, freelance editor, writer and desktop publisher: first, manuals and handbooks; second, Web site or section edited by entrant for not-for-profit or educational organization sites, and four-color brochure; third, regular editing of general or specialized magazines, and four-color brochure

Patricia Gaffney-Kindig, freelance journalist: first, book edited by entrant; second, editorial in a daily newspaper

Brenda Gillen, periodicals director at University of Denver: first, feature story for specialized circulation

Kelli Lackett, reporter for the Fort Collins Coloradoan: first, enterprise reporting, food articles, religion articles, and articles on social issues; third, personality profile; honorable mention, feature story in a daily newspaper

Christine McManus, reporter at the Fort Collins Coloradoan: first, news reporting in a daily newspaper and business articles; honorable mention, personality profile

Sandy Nance, editor at the American Water Works Association: third, news articles and feature articles written for the Web; honorable mention, feature story for specialized circulation and news articles written for the Web

Stacy Nick, reporter for Fort Collins Coloradoan: first, enterprise reporting, arts and entertainment articles and reviews; second, reviews; third, feature story in a daily newspaper; honorable mention, personality profile

Mary Alice Parmelee, editor at the American Water Works Association: second, specialized magazine regularly edited by entrant, news articles and feature articles written for the Web; honorable mention, news articles and feature articles written for the Web

Sara Reed, reporter for the Fort Collins Coloradoan: first, enterprise reporting

Ania Savage, journalism professor and student adviser at University of Denver: first, instructional non-fiction book

Stacey Sepp, co-founder and COO of XStatic Public Relations: first, one-to three-color newsletter, one-to three-color brochure, single media news release, and multiple media news or feature release; second, community or institutional relations campaign and multiple media news or feature release; third, four-color magazine

Anne Subart, senior communications consultant for MetLife: first, single-sheet poster, community or institutional relations campaign, four-color brochure and direct mail marketing

Maggie Walsh, features editor at the Fort Collins Coloradoan: first, enterprise reporting and section regularly edited by entrant in a daily newspaper; second, headline writing

Davis wows conference attendees

In remarks spiced with humor and poignancy, Joyce Davis passed on her tips for getting to the heart of a story during CPW's Spring Conference May 6 in Boulder.

Joyce knows something about the topic, having captured sweepstakes honors an amazing seven consecutive years through 2005. She also has served as contest chair for several years.

This year, Joyce took home a different prize: CPW's Communicator of Achievement for 2006. The honor recognizes her numerous professional achievements and awards, as well as her many volunteer activities in Longmont.

Joyce will represent CPW in NFPW's COA competition in September in Denver.

In a brief talk that was both informative and entertaining, Joyce offered these suggestions for producing award-winning stories:

Take the moment to recognize a good story.
Peel the onion: Go beyond the outer layers of the story.
Keep the commitment: Honor the words of sources who share their stories with you.

UNC's Powell wins scholarship

During the May 6 conference, CPW honored Christine Powell of the University of Northern Colorado as the 2006 College Scholarship winner. She receives a $350 scholarship and a free one-year membership in CPW.

Christine was nominated by her advisor, Lee Anne Peck, a CPW member and assistant professor of journalism and mass communications at UNC.

Christine "is a first-generation minority student who is working very hard to succeed in college," Lee Anne wrote. "As a first-semester junior, Christine has a 3.0 GPA. She works at the student center information desk several hours a week to help pay for her college expenses.

"As a McNair scholar, she has been working on a major research paper; I am her mentor for this project. Her topic is about advertising images, and I believe she will have a master's level paper when she is finished during her senior year."

Other conference news

Mary Alice Parmelee, High School Journalism Contest chair, announced that 30 student journalists from Colorado high schools received awards for their writing and graphic skills on school newspapers.

Susie Typher, a 10th grader at Rock Canyon High School in Highlands Ranch, won top honors this year.

Grand Junction High School student journalists captured 15 awards, while 11 went to Rock Canyon and nine to Montrose High School. Eighty-one entries by 43 students from seven high schools were submitted in this year's contest.

The book sale and a drawing for a Denver Press Club gift certificate netted $109 for the CPW Scholarship Fund. If you weren't able to attend the meeting and would like to donate to the fund, send a check, designating the money for the Scholarship Fund, to CPW Treasurer Marlys Duran.

'Dream job' full of challenges

By Dala French Giffin

Writing columns is a dream job for Tina Griego of the Rocky Mountain News and Cindy Rodriguez of The Denver Post, who became columnists unexpectedly.

Addressing CPW's May 6 Spring Conference, Griego and Rodriguez both said they were hired as columnists by former colleagues.

"At first I thought I didn't have anything to say," said Griego, adding that columnists, unlike journalists, are expected to be opinion writers. "A journalist is behind the news, not the news. The job of the columnist is to get people talking about issues.

"Finding ideas can be the hardest part of writing, and a column can fall apart as you write," said Griego, who found the idea for her favorite column at her feet.

While walking city sidewalks for exercise, she noticed the stamps of the people who laid the concrete. The stamp of one particular craftsman consistently appeared on meticulously laid stretches.

Griego began calling all the John Sandovals in the phone book and found him, in his mid-80s, still working on residential projects, still beaming, playful, and delighted to discuss his craft.

Rodriguez said her editor wants her columns to have clear and definite opinions but will rein her in if she goes too far.

"You need to present a new twist, perspective, angle, or a topic that is off the radar. It is the most wonderful part of the job and also the curse. If you don't come up with a good idea you have to go with what you have," she said.

Both columnists agreed that reader response is difficult to gauge because it represents the extremes of readers' opinions. Vicious responders hide behind the shield of e-mail and phone calls. Rodriguez asks these callers to focus on articulating their point of view, "not on calling me names."

As Latinas, both columnists get a lot of mail suggesting they go back to Mexico. "Immigration issues are emotional and depressing, and the public presumes we have a Latina point-of-view," said Griego.

FYI — A message from the President

By Judi Buehrer

Judi Buehrer Erin Hottenstein will become CPW's newsletter editor in the fall, replacing Marlys Duran who has been producing the newsletter for several years. Teresa Ford is our new webmaster, replacing Ellen Glover who recently started a new job. Thanks to Marlys, and to Ellen for setting up the new Web site.

Thanks to Gay Porter DeNileon and Bobbi Gigone for organizing a terrific Spring Conference; to Teresa Ford for helping with the book sales; to Christine McManus for preparing Joyce Davis' COA entry packet to submit to NFPW; to Sandy Graham for buying the COA gift and certificate; to Sandy Nance for delivering a superb description of Joyce's accomplishments, and to Rosann Doran for buying an elegant sweepstakes plaque for Cheryl Ghrist.

Also, our thanks to Kathleen Duff, scholarship chair, and Mary Alice Parmelee, high school contest chair, for their work on those important awards.

Rendezvous in the Rockies

The 2006 NFPW Conference in Denver is fast approaching! Members from across the U.S. will join us Sept. 7-9 at the Adam's Mark Hotel. We have a great lineup of keynote and workshop speakers. Check our Web site for details.

Also, volunteers are needed to help with registration, logistics, sign-up dinners and more. If you would like to help, please contact Marilyn Saltzman, msaltzman@evcohs.com, or Ann Lockhart, ajldenver@aol.com .

Planning session scheduled

CPW's Program Planning Committee will meet at 7 p.m. June 19 to set dates and topics for the rest of this year and 2007. The meeting will be at Gay Porter DeNileon's home in Wheat Ridge. New members are always welcome, even if you'd just like to help plan one particular event. Please RSVP to Gay, gporter@awwa.org

Member news

Miriam Goldberg celebrated her 90th birthday on Sunday, May 28.

Congratulations to Lee Anne Peck, who recently received a Fulbright scholarship to teach a college class on The Media and Civil Rights in Dubrovnik, Croatia, next spring.

Marilyn Saltzman was recently elected 2006-2007 president of the board of directors of the Denver Metropolitan Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Mary Gleason has a new email address: geomary1923@comcast.net

Longtime CPW members will recall little Rudi Anna who often accompanied his mother, Ruth Anna, to meetings, helping with raffles, etc. Well, Rudi is all grown up now and engaged to Susie Ramirez. The couple will be wed July 16 in Cohasset, Mass., then will move to Diriamba, Nicaragua. They will both teach at the Lincoln International Academy in Managua while completing their master's degrees in education.

Ruth is waiting until after the wedding to have surgery on her right ankle, which she broke in November. She'll be sidelined for a few weeks since she won't be able to drive.

New members

Please welcome two new CPW members:

Beverly Corbell, reporter for the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel; bevcorb@yahoo.com

Christine Powell, mass communications student at the University of Northern Colorado and CPW's scholarship winner for 2006; powe4838@blue.unco.edu

A complete directory of CPW's current membership is available on the NFPW Web site: www.nfpw.org . Click on the Members Only link.

Web site: www.ColoradoPressWomen.org
E-mail: coloradopresswomen@earthlink.net
President Judi Buehrer: jlbuehrer@earthlink.net
Editor Marlys Duran: marduran@earthlink.net