AK Press Club Conference: Threatening Situations, Getting Noticed, Student Projects

People registering before the first set of panels. I

 got into a lot of discussions until late, so this post is mostly pictures of Friday at the Alaska Press Club conference.



The first panel is heavily redacted - we had two folks from the FBI who were there on the condition that there would be no recording or photos of the session.  The speakers wanted everyone, including themselves, to be able to talk openly about their experiences.   I asked after it was over if I could at least generally describe it here and was told, "Sure."

The theme was basically:  the world has gotten more dangerous and journalists and newsrooms need to know how to avoid dangerous situations and get out of the ones they didn't manage to avoid.  There were examples of actual situations, role playing, and discussion.

I thought it was a very well done presentation - the Special Agent and the Press Person were both great speakers - articulate, funny, and knowledgeable.  But when I talked to someone at lunch, he  wasn't that impressed.  He agreed that the style was great, but asked me what I had actually learned.

When I thought about it, the advice was pretty thin.

• Be aware of your situation - know where all the exits are.
• Trust your instincts if you feel uncomfortable
• Does your newsroom have lockable doors?
• When confronted by someone:
• call 911
• Put space between yourself and the person
• Get away

These are all good reminders, and the role playing made people of situations they could get into.  But if things got really dicey, these might not be sufficient.  But then, there might not be good options in some situations other than not getting into that position in the first place.




Getting Noticed - Ed Jahn 

Over the years I've heard a lot of panels on how to connect online so you get more readers or listeners or viewers, and so this wasn't that new for me.


Student Forum



I only got to see Irena (sorry if I didn't spell that right, I was going to ask, but you left when I wasn't looking) and Suzanne talk about their student project to go to Juneau and attend committee hearings and talk with some of the legislators.






Alaska In Focus - Courts

Judge William Morse opened up saying he didn't want to talk much so people can ask questions

Judge Jennifer Henderson

The first part was mostly about how the Alaska Court system is set up.  It's hard to listen to someone talk about those kinds of details without some visual backup to help with the connections and relationships.  Toward the end we stuff more directly useful for journalists after John McKay asked a questions about brand new rules for brining cameras and electronic devices into the courtroom.

I think it was the Clerk of Court who pointed out the link to Courtview.

She also handed out some useful information:

• Alaska Court Rules - Rule 50 - Use of Cameras and Electronic Devices in Court Facilities
• Definitions of Criminal Hearing Types and Associated Terms
• Original Charging Documents

Alberto Arce:  Caravan Narratives in Journalism:  Immigrants, AsylumSeekers & Refugees

This talk reminded me of the term 'normalization' - where people get used to outrageous things so they are no longer outraged  After Trump was elected it was often talked about in list on the steps to losing a democracy.

This came to mind because Alberto was so passionate about his topic - including the fact that as an immigrant, he was outraged by being called 'the enemy' by the president.  And more so by friends, in Fairbanks where he's  been a visiting professor for a year, Tell him not to worry.

He also talked about the 'caravans' of Central Americans, which he covered as an AP reporter, walking long stretches with the immigrants.  Alberto is originally from Spain.

I ended up talking him over to the reception at the Writer's Block and got a chance to chat about a lot of things with him.

Another full day tomorrow, including the keynote address from NPR's Lakshmi Singh.