The Minnesota Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists applauds the Minnesota Court of Appeals’ recent decision to affirm the public’s right to access onboard Metro Transit bus video — in a case brought by local TV station KSTP. KSTP has been engaged in important work to preserve the public’s right to open data. We hope that the Metropolitan…

The Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists and Minnesota Coalition on Government Information commend state Supreme Court Chief Justice Lori Gildea and the Supreme Court Advisory Committee for allowing more camera access inside the state’s courtrooms. Now we need the help of journalists and activists across Minnesota to demonstrate to the courts that it is possible to respectfully record proceedings in…

Minnesota SPJ has joined a host of other state news organizations–including the Star Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, KSTP-TV, WCCO-TV and many more–in a court motion seeking access to a meeting about Minnesota’s sex offender program that a federal judge has closed to the public. Read more about the case here. More than two dozen public officials, including numerous state…

The Twin Cities chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists reminds all of us that the national NABJ conference is in our state Aug. 5-9. Registration is available for journalists who want to attend sessions, keynotes and the career fair. But, for those who can’t attend, a number of events are open to the general public. Here are a few…

Results of our annual board election are in. Here are our new officers and elected/re-elected board members, effective July 1: President Jonathan Kealing Director of Interactive Properties, Public Radio International   President-elect Ben Garvin Multimedia Photojournalist, KARE 11     Secretary Jenna Ross State News Reporter, Star Tribune     Treasurer Christopher Snowbeck Business Reporter, Star Tribune     Elected…

The following statements are from Minnesota SPJ members running for the 2014-15 Board of Directors. Electronic ballots will be mailed to all MNSPJ members currently in good standing with both the national organization and local chapter. Didn’t receive a ballot in your email but think you should have? Contact minnesota.spj@gmail.com Ballots must be submitted no later than noon on Wednesday, June…

“If you want to gain respect inside the journalistic community and even from those you cover, that’s far easier to do by being a tough but fair reporter than it is by being a stenographer to CEOs,” The New York Times’ Gretchen Morgenson said during Minnesota SPJ’s 2015 Page One Awards Banquet. By Christopher Snowbeck For a second consecutive year,…

The Minnesota Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information (MNCOGI) oppose a provision of the Senate HHS Omnibus bill relating to the classification of birth record data. In particular, we oppose language (found in lines 203.20-203.21 and 234.13-234.18) that would deprive the public of access to long-standing public information regarding birth records.…

The Minnesota Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is outraged over the Minnesota Department of Corrections policy to ban on-camera interviews and still photography from consenting inmates. As the old saying goes, “Seeing is believing.” And that is especially true when it comes to life behind bars for the nearly 10,000 human beings incarcerated in Minnesota. Read James Eli Shiffer’s…

Check out the new online interactive history of SPJ that was recently added to SPJ.org. This cool feature allows people to explore the amazing history of SPJ in a way that is more interesting than a static list of events and presidents. The timeline is the work of Jennifer Peebles, an SPJ member in Virginia and a dedicated volunteer. She undertook the…