Pulitzer Prize Winner Renée Byer to Speak at Third-Annual Bellingham Visual Journalism Conference July 18-20

Renée Byer of The Sacramento Bee, 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner for Feature Photography, will speak at the third-annual Bellingham Visual Journalism Conference sponsored by Western Washington University's Department of Journalism.

Bellingham, Wash. (PRWEB) July 1, 2008

Renée Byer of The Sacramento Bee, 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner for Feature Photography, will speak at the third-annual Bellingham Visual Journalism Conference sponsored by Western Washington University's Department of Journalism.

The conference will take place at Western on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 18-20.
Leaders in the field of visual journalism, including photographers, multimedia producers, designers, and online editors, will share their expertise. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore new avenues for visual storytelling, upgrade their skills, and have their portfolios critiqued by professional visual journalists.

Among the presenters will be Seattle Times photojournalist Steve Ringman, two-time Newspaper Photographer of the Year; Kevin Jackson, executive director of ESPN.com; and Jane Seagrave, senior vice-president for global product development at the Associated Press.

Also, Janet Jensen, NPPA Region XI 2007 Photographer of the Year; Steve McKinstry, graphics team leader at the Oregonian; Julie Simon, graphics editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer; Andy Clark, photographer for Reuters; Bellamy Pailthorp, reporter for NPR's KPLU; and multimedia producers Tiffany Campbell of the Seattle Times, Sarah Rupp of the Post-Intelligencer, and Judy Siviglia of the Oregonian.

The multimedia workshop, "Taking Your Audio Slideshow to the Next Level," will be Friday, July 18, and will be limited to 15 students. Cost is $25, and registration is first-come, first-served.
The conference will have two panel discussions this year: multimedia and sports shooting. Among the speakers on the sports-shooting panel will be Elaine Thompson of the Associated Press, Dean Rutz of the Seattle Times, Jay Drowns of the Sporting News and Chris Anderson of the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

The conference will again include a silent auction of photographic prints to benefit the Jimi Lott Memorial Scholarship. Lott, an award-winning photographer for the Skagit Valley Herald, Spokane Spokesman-Review and the Seattle Times, died in 2005.
Registration deadline and fees:

•     Fees for professionals (includes lunch Saturday and Sunday): $105.
•     Fees for students: $50.

More information: http://www.wwu.edu/visualjournalism/

Contacts: John Harris, journalism department assistant professor, (360) 650-6140, john.harris @ wwu.edu
Marissa Doiron, event coordinator, (360) 650-4436, marissa.doiron @ wwu.edu
Carol Brach, journalism department manager, (360) 650-3252, cbrach @ hope.journ.wwu.edu

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