NAJP Accepting Entries For Projects In Arts Journalism

Be part of a first-of-its-kind live and virtual gathering of journalists, innovators and media entrepreneurs for an all-day summit exploring the future of arts journalism, Friday, October 2. Five inspired and promising arts journalism models will be showcased at the Summit in front of a live studio audience and a national web audience of concerned journalists, cultural leaders, artists, and media entrepreneurs.

We’re looking for projects that are cool, relevant and functional, make good business sense, and above all, have real promise to provide an alternative to diminishing arts coverage in the traditional news media. Five projects will be chosen from among those submitted and a representative of each will be brought to Los Angeles to make a presentation in front of an invited audience of cultural leaders, foundation representatives, venture capitalists and journalists. Presentations will be streamed online from the USC Annenberg School for Communication.

Each of the five presenting projects will receive $2,000. The project presentations will be posted online after the summit, and the 500 members of the National Arts Journalism Program (NAJP) and the 300 alumni of the NEA Arts Journalism Institutes will be invited to vote on the projects with the most potential. Three prizes will be awarded on the basis of this vote: $7,500 for first; $5,000 for second; and $2,500 for third. Winners will be announced in late October. For more information, including details about the Summit, project eligibility and guidelines, and to submit a project for consideration, please go to www.najp.org/summit.

The deadline for submissions is August 17. Projects must be submitted online, and those chosen for the summit will be announced September 1.

The National Summit on Arts Journalism will take place Friday, October 2, 2009, in the Annenberg Auditorium at USC Annenberg School for Communication. More details about the day’s schedule and web streaming will be available online at www.najp.org/summit in mid-August.

The National Summit on Arts Journalism is made possible with the generous support of  The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, USC Annenberg School for Communication, the University of Southern California’s  College of Letters, Arts & Sciences, School of Cinematic Arts, Roski School of Fine Arts, Thornton School of Music and School of Theatre, and the Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, with major support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

The National  Summit on Arts Journalism is a project of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and the National Arts Journalism Program.

The Annenberg School for Communication <http://annenberg.usc.edu/> at the University of Southern California was founded in 1971 with generous support from Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg. Its strategic location in Los Angeles at USC enables it to foster dynamic synergies and multidisciplinary approaches to the study of communication and journalism through unparalleled access to the nation's and the world's entertainment, media and technology industries. In 1994, two of USC’s related academic departments – Communication Arts & Sciences and Journalism – merged with the Annenberg School, creating two distinct academic units within USC Annenberg: the School of Communication and the School of Journalism. Today, with more than 70 full-time
faculty members, more than 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students, and dozens of research and public interest projects and programs, including the M.A. degree in Specialized Journalism
<http://annenberg.usc.edu/Prospective/Masters/Specialized.aspx> (The Arts), the Norman Lear Center and the Knight Digital Media Center, USC Annenberg has become a center for discussion
among scholars and professionals in journalism, communication, public policy, media, and education.

1994, the NAJP <http://www.najp.org/> has sought to advance arts and cultural news coverage. The National Arts Journalism Program is a membership organization that works to: advocate for arts reporting and criticism, improve the quality and increase the quantity of arts journalism, inform the public and the media industry of standards of excellence in arts journalism, support and
mentor arts journalists, provide a network for arts journalists in all disciplines, and help develop standards and viable economic models for arts journalism in emerging digital media.

Arts Journalism Institutes are a series of intensive, introductory professional training programs for journalists who cover dance <http://www.arts.endow.gov/news/news09/AJI-ADF-2009.html>, theater and musical theater <http://annenberg.usc.edu/CentersandProgram /ProfessionalEducation/NEAArtsJournalism.aspx>, classical music and opera <http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/cs/ContentServer/jrn/1165270069732/page/1212608811897/simplepage.htm>, and visual art <http://www1.american.edu/cas/katzen/museum/nea.cfm>.

To date, more than 250 journalists from all 50 states -- representing print and broadcast organizations, as well as independent writers -- have participated in the program, which has received universal acclaim from participants, faculty, and arts organizations.

 More details are available online at www.najp.org/summit.

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