Attention college journalists: The Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists (MNSPJ) is now accepting applications for its 2017 student scholarship. This year, MNSPJ will award one $2,500 scholarship to a student pursuing a career in broadcast, print or visual journalism. Applicants must either be enrolled in a post-secondary institution in Minnesota or have graduated from a high school in Minnesota and…

The Minnesota pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists salutes former journalists who have moved on to new adventures.  In this ongoing series, we invite newsies to reflect on their time in the news business.  Our third entry is from Dave Aeikens, who worked in Minnesota newsrooms for more than two decades: What I miss the most: The uncertainty and surprises…

Reporters Madeleine Baran and Samara Freemark of APM Reports spent a year investigating the case of Jacob Wetterling, the 11-year-old St. Joseph, Minn., boy who was kidnapped in 1989 and whose disappearance remained unsolved for 27 years.  The culmination of their work, “In the Dark,” was named as one of the Top 10 podcasts of the year by the New…

The Minnesota pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists salutes former journalists who have moved on to new adventures.  In this ongoing series, we invite newsies to reflect on their time in the news business.  Our second entry is from Emily Gurnon, who worked as a newspaper reporter for two decades: After 20 years working as a newspaper reporter, I left my…

The Minnesota pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists salutes former journalists who have moved on to new adventures.  In this ongoing series, we invite newsies to reflect on their time in the news business.  Here is the first entry, from John Welsh, who spent two decades in the trade: Here’s what I miss most: the non-fatal fire.  In 20-plus years of…

The Bemidji Pioneer recently sent reporter Grace Pastoor to the anti-pipeline demonstrations at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.  The protests drew a handful of residents from Bemidji, the deep-woods northern Minnesota city with a significant indigenous population and a history of environmental activism. The story, this month’s Minnesota Sampler, can be read here.

Join the Society of Professional Journalists for a public forum on the Minnesota Data Practices Act. The forum, which will be held Dec. 8 at at the School of Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, will include a panel of journalists and state administrators who will share their thoughts about collecting public data and interacting with public officials.…