American Society of Journalists and Authors

Calendar

April 29-May 1, 2011

40th Annual ASJA Conference
New York, NY
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From the President's Desk

SLAPPed and Still Standing Tall!

By Salley Shannon

If I could arrange it, a trumpet blast would accompany this column, which I write in admiration of an ASJA member and an attorney who helped him. Christopher Elliott is a brave, resolute man as well as an insightful journalist. He just came through a defamation suit designed to punish him, drain him financially, and most of all, to scare other writers into silence.

Chris, a Florida freelancer, writes a weekly column for The Washington Post travel section and one for National Geographic Traveler magazine. He also writes for MSNBC.com and others, and has a widely read travel blog. It was one of his blog posts that garnered the suit.

Please note that according to your board, ASJA's First Amendment Committee, the Reporter's Committee for the Freedom of the Press, and the Legal Defense Fund of SPJ, the suit was never worth a box of hair. It has now been withdrawn, I am glad to say. However, it gave Chris six months of anxiety and left him with a whopping bill for his legal defense. That was the intent of the suit: harassment, plus shutting down any other writers who might write something a corporation doesn't like.

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The Society Page: September, 2010 extracted from the ASJA Monthly Newsletter, and rotating daily:

Lisa Collier Cool is now lead health blogger for GE's healthymagination.com blog, where she blogs about stories, insights, and ideas to inspire a shared commitment for creating better health for more people. The blog will also include guest posts by ASJA member Paula Dranov and other freelancers. Lisa also just sold a new book, BOO! The Dog Who Unleashed Miracles to Harlequin nonfiction

Featured this week
Christine Heinrichs is a regular guest of The Chicken Whisperer, Andy Schneider, on his radio program, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/backyardpoultry. She discusses traditional poultry breeds on the fourth Tuesday of the month. All shows are archived. She is a regular contributor to Backyard Poultry magazine, with an article on Cooking Heritage Chickens in the August/September issue and Ocellated Turkeys in the October/November issue. Ocellated Turkeys are a wild breed native to the Yucatan. Her article on Bantams will appear in the Winter issue of BowTie Media's new Chickens magazine. Visit Heinrichs' web site at: http://poultrybookstore.com

Also check out our daily featured members' social media:
Rochelle Yolanda Melander the Right Now! Coach, is an accomplished life and writing coach, an inspiring spiritual leader, an author, and an editor. As the Right Now! Coach and the founder of the teen writing program, Dream Keepers, Rochelle teaches people how to write, how to get published, and how to transform their lives right now. See the blog at: http://therightnowcoachblogs.blogspot.com

Greg Breining's articles and essays about travel, science, and nature have appeared in The New York Times, Audubon, National Geographic Traveler, Islands, and many other publications. Breining's books about travel and the natural world include Super Volcano, the story of the active volcano beneath Yellowstone that could wipe out a sixth of the world's population, and Wild Shore, an account of two seasons kayaking around Lake Superior. His Paddle North: Canoeing the Boundary Waters-Quetico Wilderness, with photographer Layne Kennedy, will be published this fall See the web site at: http://www.gregbreining.com

From the art of flirting to the Fed's next interest rate move, Anne Brennan has covered a range of lifestyle, business, real estate and home and garden issues. Clients include the Chicago Tribune, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Crain's Business Chicago, Crain's Business Cleveland Delmio.com, msn.com, Super Lawyer magazine and Writer's Digest magazine. See the web site at: http://anne-brennan.com

Kathi Ann Brown's Milestones Historical Consultants helps clients preserve, present and profit from their most unique asset: their past. From books and historical exhibits, to anniversary master plans, heritage programs and more, Brown unlocks the hidden value in any organization's history. See the web site at: http://www.milestonespast.com

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