What's New @ PRNDI

Annual Conference Agenda & Registration Now Available

The annual PRNDI Conference will be held in Washington DC this year and planning is well underway. You can download a tentative agenda and registration form at our Conference Page.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The NPR Editor's Training is now FULL! If you'd like to attend one of the other PRNDI pre-conference training sessions, you MUST receive a confirmation number before sending your registration. See the registration form for details.

PRNDI to Offer News Director Training Manual

Under a deal with NPR's Local News Initiative, PRNDI will produce the first-ever guidebook for public radio news directors. The handbook will be an on-line tool for local journalists covering everything from strategic planning to buying reporter gear.

The Prez Sez:

These are very exciting times for PRNDI, and the new web site is just the beginning. Our regional training initiative will launch this Spring, the News Director Handbook project is in full swing, and it's time to get your PRNDI Awards entries together. Start making plans to come to the conference this summer to take part in great sessions and learn more about PRNDI's new projects!

Upcoming Events

Public Radio News Directors Inc. Annual Conference

July 16-19, 2008
Washington, DC

Mark your calendars now and make plans to attend. A tentative schedule and registration form is now available. See the Conference Page.

News

Member Profile

(In this space on the PRNDI Web site, we'll profile members and some of the interesting things their newsrooms are doing. If you know someone who needs profiling, contact Michael Leland (Leland@wpr.org).)

Judith Smelser
Our latest PRNDI profilee is Judith Smelser. She has been the news director at WMFE in Orlando, Florida, since last summer. Judith's department has five people, including her. Read More...

Training – “Got an Edit”

PRNDI held its first ever regional training at Chicago Public Radio in late April. NewsWorks trainers Tanya Ott and Michael Marcotte gave a group of 12 Midwest reporters a day of boot camp in public radio feature production, then helped them produce their own localized stories about the foreclosure crisis. Here's one that aired on Chicago Public Radio from reporter Ashley Gross:

You can see photos and get a bit more information by clicking here.

PRNDI hopes to sponsor the next regional training in Fall 2008. If you'd like to host it, contact Training Committee Chair Julianne Welby, jwelby@wfuv.org.

PRNDI News Director Handbook

The wheels may be turning slowly, but they ARE turning. Former PRNDI President Michael Marcotte is beginning the work on the News Director Handbook. This will be the area of our website dedicated to various handbook topics as they become available.

PRNDI is contributing ongoing programmatic and content expertise to The Public Radio Exchange. The current PRX News Curator is PRNDI Board Member Julianne Welby.