Friday, April 29, 2011

Koch Industries Replies to ASME Letter

Koch Industries has posted a facsimile of ASME's April 21 letter as well as Mark Holden's reply, which "clarified [Koch Industries'] intentions" in writing to ASME regarding the nomination of Jane Mayer's New Yorker story "Covert Operations" for the National Magazine Award for Reporting. For ASME members interested in reading Koch's original letter and the ensuing exchange between Sid Holt, writing on behalf of ASME, and Mr. Holden, please go here.

ASME Members Get Discount on ABSTRACT: The Future of Design in Media

The Maine chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design, invites ASME members to attend ABSTRACT: The Future of Design in Media on June 10 in Portland.

ABSTRACT brings Scott Dadich, Florian Bachleda, Gael Towey, Luke Hayman, Arem Duplessis and Dirk Barnett to Maine for a day of interactive presentations on the evolution of publication design in the digital age. For more information about the program, go here.

AIGA Maine is offering a special registration price to ASME members. Enter the code ASME2011 at registration to receive a $75 discount off the regular conference rate of $349.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Women's Clubs Federation Publishes Call for Entries for Croly Journalism Award

UPDATED: Deadline extended. Entries must be postmarked no later than Monday, May 9, 2011.

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs is seeking entries for the 16th annual Jane Cunningham Croly Award for Excellence in Journalism Covering Issues of Concern to Women. The award recognizes journalists who best capture the courage, vision and spirit of Jane Cunningham Croly, the pioneering journalist and founder of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. The winner will receive a $1,000 cash reward and travel expenses to the 120th GFWC Annual International Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the award will be presented on June 20, 2011. All entries are due Monday, May 2, 2011. Go to www.GFWC.org to view the call for entries.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Koch Industries Fault Ellie Nomination for "New Yorker"

Koch Industries has written ASME to object to the nomination of Jane Mayer's New Yorker story "Covert Operations" for a National Magazine Award in Reporting. The letter is posted on the Koch Industries website. Here is ASME's reply to the letter:


April 22, 2011

Mark V. Holden, Esq.
Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Secretary
Koch Industries, Inc.
4111 East 37th Street North
Wichita, KS 67220

By Email

Dear Mr. Holden:

Thank you for your letter regarding Jane Mayer’s story “Covert Operations,” published in The New Yorker on August 30, 2010.

As the sponsor of the National Magazine Awards since 1966, ASME deliberately eschews any attempt to influence the decisions of the judges who choose the finalists and winners. I can assure you that when the awards are announced on May 9, the winner of the 2011 National Magazine Award for Reporting will have been chosen by an impartial panel of experienced journalists.

Sincerely,

Sid Holt
Chief Executive


As ASME members know, the National Magazine Awards judging took place on March 1 and 2, more than six weeks before ASME received the Koch Industries letter. The five articles nominated for Reporting were:

Harper’s Magazine
Roger D. Hodge, Editor
For “The Guantanamo ‘Suicides,’” by Scott Horton
March

The New York Times Magazine
Gerald Marzorati, Editor-in-Chief
For “The Desert War,” by Robert F. Worth
July 11

The New Yorker
David Remnick, Editor
For “Covert Operations,” by Jane Mayer
August 30

Rolling Stone
Jann S. Wenner, Editor and Publisher
Will Dana, Managing Editor
For “The Runaway General,” by Michael Hastings
July 8-22

Virginia Quarterly Review
Ted Genoways, Editor
For “Digging Out,” essay and photographs by Elliott D. Woods
Fall

The winner and other finalists will be honored at the National Magazine Awards dinner on Monday, May 9, at 583 Park Avenue in New York City. A limited number of tickets is still available. Click here to register.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Save the Date

ASME ANNUAL MEETING AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

12:30 p.m.


The Rialto Room at Remi

144 West 54th Street

New York, NY 10019


Registration to be available soon

Friday, April 15, 2011

ASME CALLS FOR RELEASE OF DETAINED JOURNALISTS

Four Reporters and Photographers Missing in Libya

At its annual board meeting in Washington this week, the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) called for the release of four journalists who were detained in eastern Libya last week while covering the conflict there.

Clare Morgana Gillis, an American reporter working for The Atlantic and USA Today; James Wright Foley, an American reporter working for GlobalPost; Manu Brabo, a Spanish photographer working for the European Press Photo Agency; and Anton Lazarus Hammerl, a South African photojournalist, were all believed to have been seized by Libyan forces last Tuesday, April 5. Though all four journalists were initially reported to have been seized by pro-Gaddafi forces northeast of Brega, subsequent reports have not been able confirm that Hammerl was with the other three; all four remain missing.

Various press reports have suggested that the journalists are in the custody of the Libyan government, but at this point no representative from the U.S government or any humanitarian group has been allowed in to see the journalists and confirm the detainees’ safety and well-being. The Atlantic, USA Today and GlobalPost are working with the U.S. State Department and with the government of Turkey (which serves as the “protecting power” for the U.S. government in the absence of an American diplomatic mission there), as well as with Human Rights Watch and other humanitarian groups, to gather information about the status of the detained journalists and to hasten their release.

ASME, along with the journalism organizations these detainees work for, are concerned about the safety of Gillis, Foley, Brabo and Hammerl. We appeal to authorities in Libya to free them as soon as possible.