Late Banner reporter Robert Churchwell to be given SPJ's lifetime achievement award

The late Robert Churchwell, who broke the color barrier for black journalists at major Southern newspapers and who was the first black member of the Middle Tennessee Pro Chapter, is being posthumously honored with SPJ's Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement.  Here's the press release from SPJ:

INDIANAPOLIS – The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to honor pioneering Tennessee journalist Robert Churchwell with the Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement. Churchwell, who died Feb. 1, 2009, was the first black journalist to work as a full-time reporter for a Southern general interest newspaper.

The Helen Thomas Award is presented to an individual or individuals for a lifetime of contribution and service to the journalism profession. The award is named after longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas for her dogged pursuit of the truth in a career that has spanned almost 60 years. Thomas received the inaugural award in 2000.

In 1950, the Nashville Banner, a conservative daily paper, hired Churchwell after his graduation from Fisk University, where he’d studied English after a four-year tour in the Army. The white-owned paper didn’t hire the World War II veteran to show its racial integration agenda, but rather as a business decision to attract black readers.

Though he spent most of his career with the Banner, Churchwell’s early treatment – even by his employer and colleagues – was anything but pleasant. Initially he wasn’t assigned a desk in the newsroom and worked from home, dropping off stories to an editor. Some fellow journalists ignored his presence and routinely directed derogatory epithets toward him. He was also barred from staff meetings during his early years at the Banner.

Eventually Churchwell garnered the respect he deserved – from the community and his colleagues – being named to the education beat and holding the post for 20 years until his retirement in 1981. Among many awards for community activities and journalism is a 1994 induction into the regional hall of fame of the National Association of Black Journalists. In 1996 he earned a presidential citation from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.

Aside from his monumental first in a white-dominated newsroom, Churchwell also made strides within the professional journalism association community. In 1965, he became the first black member of Sigma Delta Chi’s Middle Tennessee Professional Chapter. He served as chapter vice president in 1969. Sigma Delta Chi later became the Society of Professional Journalists.

Churchwell will be recognized Saturday, Aug. 29 during a dinner at the 2009 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference in Indianapolis.

• Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, 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 First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information on SPJ, please visit www.spj.org.

Channel 5 wins National Press Club Award

Jennifer Kraus, Bryan Staples, Kevin Wisniewski and Mike Rose of NewsChannel 5 won the National Press Club Award in the broadcast category for consumer journalism for "An Alarming Failure." From the NPC Web site:

Nashville’s WTVF News Channel 5 won the NPC’s Consumer Journalism Award broadcast category for “An Alarming Failure,” a ground-breaking examination of the differences between the popular ionization-type smoke detector and the photoelectric model in a smoky fire.  The stories resulted in legislation being introduced in Tennessee banning the installation of ionization smoke detectors in new homes.

NPR ombudsman speaks in Nashville Wednesday

Make your reservations now to hear Alicia Shepard, NPR's ombudsman, speaking next Wednesday at the studios of Nashville's NPR affiliate, WPLN. 

As the ombudsman of one of the most trusted news sources,  acts as an internal watchdog for fairness, accuracy, and advocate for listeners. This discussion is a "must-hear" for reporters and listeners alike.
















This special event is being put on by NPR, WPLN, and the Middle Tennessee Pro Chapter of SPJ.

When: Noon Wednesday, April 22
Where: Nashville Public Radio, 630 Mainstream Drive (in MetroCenter), Nashville, 37228
How much: $7 SPJ members, $10 non-members. Cost includes box lunch.

Channel 4's Dan Miller dead of heart attack at 67

My condolences go out to our friends at WMSV, who have lost a colleague and dear friend. From the Channel 4 site:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Longtime WSMV-TV anchor Dan Miller died Wednesday night of a heart attack in his hometown of Augusta, Ga., at the age of 67.

Miller was in Augusta to watch practice rounds of the Masters Golf Tournament with fellow friends and longtime co-workers Terry Bulger and Rudy Kalis ...

Miller, born in 1941, was the recipient of multiple Emmy Awards, was voted Best News Anchor in Nashville more than 20 times and recognized by Television/Radio Age as the Most Popular News Anchor in the United States.

Eddie Jones, former Banner chief, dies at 85

"He was a true citizen journalist," John Seigenthaler told The Tennessean. "He believed in objective, good-news journalism."

One day left to register for Friday API training event in Murfreesboro

Tuesday, March 10, is the last day to register for Friday's "New Newsroom workshop" on the MTSU campus. Get more details here.

Get ready for Sunshine Week later this month

Don't forget that National Sunshine Week is coming up March 15-21.