Ford, UT’s associate athletic director for media relations; and Jimmy Stanton, UT’s associate athletic director forcommunications. Brent Hubbs ofvolquest.com has also been invited. W A TE-TV repo rter Do n Dare , a member of the board of directors Spot News VOLUME 17, NO. 2 OCTOBER 2010 A publication of the East Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists http://etspj.org Panel discussion will focus on media access to sports programs When: When: When: When: When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26 Where Where Where Where Where: Auditorium, third floor, Communicati ons Building, University of Tennessee cam- pus. (Ground floor if coming in from Circle Park.) P P P P Par ar ar ar arking: king: king: king: king: In Circle Park, Lot 9 or metered spaces along Volun- teer and Phillip Fulmer Way Regional Conference tentatively set for Nashville, March The question of access to athletics departments was all overthe Internet after behind-the-scenes video of former University ofT ennessee head football coach Lane Kiffin’s Jan. 12 departing press conference became a YouTube sensation. Now some key players in that video will address sports reporting and access to sports programs at a panel discussion at 7 p.m. Tuesday , Oct. 26, in the Communications Building auditorium on the UT campus. Participating will be Bill Shory, news director for WBIR-TV ; Phil Kaplan, executive sports editor forthe Knoxville News Sentinel; Bud of ETSPJ, will moderate the panel. Shory was recognized earlier this month with the 2010 SPJ Ethics in Journalism A ward for taking a stand on the right of the media to film and report the Jan. 12 press conference. He and Dare, who won a Sigma Delta Chi investigative reporting award for “Protecting Patients,” a story he did with Dave Wignall, both received awards at the Society of Professional Journalists’ national convention in Las Vegas the first week in October. For more information, contact Elenora Edwards, 865-457-5459 or[email protected]. At SPJ’s national convention earlierthis month, Region 12 director Sonny Albarado announced that Nashville will host the 2011 Region 12 conference, probably March 26 (though Albarado noted that the date may change). The venue hasn’t yet been chosen, Albarado said. At the regional meeting during the national covention, Albarado also reported on action by SPJ’s National Board cracking down on chapters that don’t meet minimum requirements. Two chapters were put on probation, and three have been termed “inactive.” National is also working on “star” rankings forstudent chapters to make them more in line with how professional chapters are ranked. -- Jean Ash
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Celeb columnist gives the Vegas ‘scoop’
SEE CLARKE, PAGE 8
“Sin City’s Ace Insider,”columnist Norm Clarke, is
on the speed-dials of mostdoormen, bouncers, valetsand strippers in Las Vegas,who tip him off to whichcelebrity is doing what, andwhere. Clarke held hisaudience in rapt attentionat the 2010 SPJConvention Oct. 4 in LasVegas during his session,“Five things to do in Vegas before you leave.” But he
told the group a lot morethan that.
Clarke has been the“gossip columnist” for TheLas Vegas Review-Journalfor more than a decade,and it’s a far cry from his
previous journalism career with the Associated Pressin Cincinnati, San Diegoand Los Angeles. He alsoworked at the now-closedRocky Mountain News.
He’s sensitive about, butresigned to, the “gossip”moniker, saying he workshis celebrity beat seriouslyand professionally andwith a bit of humor.
“I approach it like a copreporter or a regular
reporter,” he said. “Youhear it, you chase it, andyou’ll get a great story.”Asked how he prepares for a celebrity interview,Clarke said there’s nosecret formula: “I Google
the person.” And sincethey’re always promotingtheir next project, “you can
always ask about that.” Helikes to ask celebs for their
favorite Vegas story.“Sometimes the simplestquestions hit gold,” he said.
He reminisced about the“old days” in Vegas whenthe Rat Pack dominated theentertainment scene andtold some stories aboutSinatra, JFK and the Mob.The current celeb he wouldmost like to interview in-depth is Lady Gaga. “She
really fascinates me. Is shemanufactured? Are thosereally her quotes? Is sheanother Madonna? Is shereally sharp, or what?”
sessions that I attendedfeatured highly successful
“free-agent writers”- one
claiming net income of
more than $100,000 last
year - who emphasized the
business aspects of
freelancing.
Maya Payne Smart and
Matt Villano described
strategies that they credited
with building comfortableannual incomes for them
over the past several years.
Each pointed out that good
reporting and writing are
essential, with reporting
skills taking precedence over
writing. Among the advice
they offered for serious
freelancers:
• Think like anentrepreneur, which
involves marketing
yourself to find clients,
consistently producing
good work, budgeting,
invoicing clients, and
collecting payments.
• Build a brand by
creating an identity for
yourself and your work.
Smart says she
distributes a one-page,
forward-looking resume,
rather than a detailed work
history, and avoids time-
consuming traditional
query letters in favor of a
short letter of introduction
that focuses on what shecan offer a potential client.
She posts a complete
resume, list of specialty
areas and work samples on
her personal website or at
WritingCoach.com, which
she operates.
Both speakers
acknowledged the
importance of a personal
website. Smart said thatshe paid a designer $1,000
to design her site several
years ago but advised
against making that
expenditure today, saying
content-management
system templates look just
as good and work as well.
Other suggestions for
brand building includeddeveloping expertise in one
or more specialty coverage
areas. Smart has built a
reputation in small-
business and personal
finance and education,
while Villano specializes in
outdoor and travel writing.
Items as simple as your
photograph on a website,
an engaging URL like
WritingCoach.com, and
distinctive business cards
help set you apart from
other journalists. Blogging
can help create a personal
identity, but neither speaker
thought frequent blogging
produced a good return on
time invested.• One niche, multiple
expressions. In other
words, diversify.
Make the time spent on
research pay multiple
dividends by devising
different angles and stories
for two or more
publications. Also try to
negotiate more money for
writing accompanied by
photographs or other
multimedia treatments.
Other forms of
diversification, especially
for freelancers who
specialize, are writing
books, coaching writers
and editors and speaking
engagements. Both Smartand Villano noted that the
monetary return on time
invested for book
authorship is rarely good,
but a book can build a
freelancer’s reputation and
open doors for other
Sessions detailed freelancing successBuild brand, manage time, use
technology, speakers said
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Clarke noted that Las Vegas has been greatly damaged by therecession and that gaming, whichused to provide 75 percent of revenues, is now under 50 percent,replaced somewhat by high-end
shopping.“Not for many decades will LasVegas reach its previous heights,” hesaid.
As the session ended, Clarke pulledout a pair of white gloves from his pocket and put them on. He had wornthem just hours earlier when heserved as a pallbearer in the funeralof Tony Curtis. “Curtis was a guythat you met once, he would hail youand chat; it was never like an
interview. He was like a buddy,”Clarke said.
He described several of the twodozen items placed with Curtis in hiscoffin: a photo of a son who had predeceased him, ashes from his dog,Jack, whom he had rescued from thedesert, a gold coin, a saber, hisfavorite white Stetson hat … and onePercocet.