Society of Professional Journalists to Perform a Unique, New Public Service

SPJ's Journalism Education Series, a first-of-its-kind initiative, will launch early next year under the auspices of the Society's new Speakers Bureau.

INDIANAPOLIS (Vocus/PRWEB ) December 12, 2006 -- The Society of Professional Journalists, one of the nation's largest and oldest journalism advocacy organizations, has developed a unique, new educational service to help people understand the tenets of responsible journalism and the profound importance of a free press.

SPJ's Journalism Education Series, a first-of-its-kind initiative, will launch early next year under the auspices of the Society's new Speakers Bureau. The series and the bureau aim to inform the general public about some of the core principles of good journalism, the standards under which respectable news organizations operate and the challenges journalists often confront when gathering the news. The series will focus on SPJ's core missions, including the free flow of public information, journalism ethics and the importance of diversity in the news-gathering process.

SPJ has created a dynamic and educational program and speakers bureau that will help people understand how newsrooms generally work and how responsible and respectable journalists do their jobs

I am pleased that Market Wire has decided to present SPJ's Journalism Education Series to its customers, many of whom work in public and investor relations

Market Wire actively seeks counsel from journalists nationwide

We believe it is important for professionals working in public, media and investor relations to understand and respect the core principles of sound journalism. Newswires can serve as a neutral ground where professionals with longstanding - and easily understandable - distrust of each other meet to learn more about those principles. Our objective is to facilitate that dialogue.

Market Wire, a newswire in North America that distributes company press releases and material news, will be the SPJ Speakers Bureau's first client and the first to present SPJ's new Journalism Education Series.

Within the newswire industry, SPJ will work exclusively with Market Wire for one year.
Market Wire plans to present the Journalism Education Series to professionals working in investor, media and public relations. At the same time, SPJ also plans to deliver the series - the development of which is made possible in part because of Market Wire's initial investment - to an array of community and civic groups.

"SPJ has created a dynamic and educational program and speakers bureau that will help people understand how newsrooms generally work and how responsible and respectable journalists do their jobs," said SPJ President Christine Tatum, an assistant business editor at The Denver Post. "Such insight and instruction stand to make newsgathering more transparent to the general public and encourage more people to engage with news organizations everywhere.

"I am pleased that Market Wire has decided to present SPJ's Journalism Education Series to its customers, many of whom work in public and investor relations," Tatum said. "It is vitally important for everyone who claims to be gathering information for the benefit of a well-informed public to know the difference between fact and fiction, between lies of omission and commission, between information that is genuinely helpful to the public and
information that is solely self-serving."

"Market Wire actively seeks counsel from journalists nationwide," said Paolina Milana, Market Wire's vice president of marketing and media relations. "We believe it is important for professionals working in public, media and investor relations to understand and respect the core principles of sound journalism. Newswires can serve as a neutral ground where professionals with longstanding - and easily understandable - distrust of each other meet to learn more about those principles. Our objective is to facilitate that dialogue."

About Society of Professional Journalists
Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, visit www.spj.org.

About Market Wire
Market Wire, a CCNMatthews Company, is a full-service distributor of corporate press releases. The company boasts one of the largest media distribution footprints in North America with the most secure and cost-effective distribution of real-time news to thousands of media outlets including AP, Dow Jones, Bloomberg, Reuters, Yahoo!, and MSNBC.

Committed to world-class client service, industry-leading distribution, technology innovation and market-leading strategic relationships, Market Wire serves PR and IR professionals with key workflow solutions including Easy PR/IR, SEO, ListLogix, and more.
A full listing of the company's products and specific distribution points can be found at www.marketwire.com.

Contacts:

Christine Tatum, President, (303) 881-8702
Terry Harper, Executive Director, (317) 927-8000

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