Interested in joining Georgia College Press Association?

If your college newspaper or online publication is interested in joining GCPA, download this application: GCPA application. It can be returned to Ashley Sears, GCPA coordinator, at asears@gapress.org.

Georgia College Press Association allows young journalists, designers, ad salesmen and others interested in media at colleges and universities from across Georgia to network, learn and share ideas and work. For more information, contact Ashley Sears.

GCPA Press Institute has great day in Athens!

Watchdog winners! Richard Chess, from left, Michelle Lou and Alex Klugerman of The Emory Wheel at Emory University won the annual Watchdog of the Year award from Jim Zachary of CNHI (back) for their investigative efforts uncovering a fraudulent concert promoter.

There are so many people to thank for a great day for Georgia College Press Association at the Press Institute in Athens on Feb. 16!

More than 100 college journalists from across Georgia took part in panels and discussions led by Jim Zachary and Kayla Castille of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.; Dean Charles N. Davis, Mark Johnson, Dr. Keith Herndon and Vicki Michaelis of the Grady College at UGA; Sonja West of the UGA School of Law; Seth Emerson, Tracy Brown and Rodney Thrash of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Lauren McDonald of The Brunswick News; Erin Smith of the Chattanooga Times Free Press; Kendall Trammell of CNN; Daniel Funke of The Poynter Institute; Dr. Pat Miller and the staff of The Spectator at Valdosta State University; and the staff of The Red and Black from the University of Georgia.

In addition, new officers were chosen to lead GCPA in 2018-19 (new officers listed below), and winners of the GCPA Better Newspaper Contest were announced.

Valdosta State students share Press Institute presentation

The students of Valdosta State University have shared their Press Institute presentation about the state of free speech on college campuses through this link: https://prezi.com/azntxnqubkvx/the-state-of-free-speech/. Presenters were Kelsey Dickerson, Alex Dunn, Darla Dunning and Julie Jernigan. Contributors to the project were Chloe Bradshaw, Niamani Carlyle-Hollis, Hannah Colligan, Robert Davison, Jada Dukes, Bryce Etheridge, Preyah James, Destini Jones, Candace Mitchell, Brandon Peterson, Christian Shellman, Olivia Studdard and Hunter Terrell.

Valdosta State students share “Lawyer in Your Pocket Transparency Project”

The “Lawyer in Your Pocket” project — produced by students in JOUR 3540 Law and Journalism at Valdosta State University in fall 2015 — provides working journalists (student and otherwise) with a guide to common problems concerning Georgia Open Records and Open Meetings law and their solutions. The Google fusion table can be filtered by “type of complaint” (open meetings, open records, other) and “category of complaint” (closed meetings, denied records, etc.) The table summarizes each issue and reports the result. It also cites appropriate Georgia state code, but note that the code has not been vetted by a lawyer. However, it should certainly provide you with a starting place to research your own situation. Note that most situations were pulled from Georgia Association Bulletins (dates cited). The table also provides the name of the news organization and reporter associated with the situation so that you can follow up.

The Lawyer in Your Pocket production team:
Lia Armistead, Jordan Barela, Gabe Burns, Mayah Cantave, Geneva Crooks, Jacob Dennis, Tiana Foster, Tyler Gerken, Brian Hickey, Terrance Johnson, Kenzie Kesselring, Larianne Kolb, Erin Martin, LaShawn Oglesby, Ray Pack, Tatyana Phelps, John Preer, Marquez Slaughter, Jason Smith, John Stephen, Kayla Stroud, Mel Thomas, Kristin Whitman, Lamarcus Wilkerson, Jyrell Wynn, and Veronica You.

Please click on this link to view the Transparency Project: Valdosta State University Transparency Project

Congratulations to all winners in the 2018 Georgia College Press Association Better Newspaper Contest!

The winners of the overall General Excellence awards were:

Division A

First Place: The Signal, Georgia State University

Second Place: The Red and Black, University of Georgia

Third Place: Technique, Georgia Institute of Technology

Division B

First Place: The Stallion, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

Second Place: Campus Carrier, Berry College

Third Place: Six Mile Post, Georgia Highlands College

Use this link to see the full awards presentation from the 2018 Press Institute.

GEORGIA COLLEGE PRESS ASSOCIATION is an organization dedicated to assisting in the betterment of Georgia collegiate journalism and providing a reciprocal flow of information between its member colleges. Membership to GCPA is an excellent opportunity for print journalism students to discuss common issues of college newspapers and to network with newspaper professionals.

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GCPA Membership Information:

Membership entitles your newspaper to:

GCPA press cards for each staff member

Entry in the GCPA Better Newspaper Contest

2 copies of the monthly GPA Bulletin
with industry information and job board

Student rates on all GPA educational seminars
and conferences

GPEF scholarship and internship information

Contact asears@gapress.org for more information

* Dues are based on OFFICAL ENROLLMENT at the university or college. Rates are as follows:
1 – 4,999 students = $40
5,000+ students = $60

Membership Application

For a membership application by USPS, please contact: Ashley Sears
GCPA Coordinator at (770) 454-6776.