Guild Freelancers

Net trounces film industry

Cheezburger's Ben Huh debated NBC v.p. Rick Cotton on the PBS NewsHour.

This morning,  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid  delayed a scheduled Jan. 24 vote on the Protect IP Act (PIPA).  Also this morning, House Judiciary Committee chairman Lamar Smith announced he is indefinitely postponing any consideration of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

“There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved,”  said Reid in scuttling the vote.

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Peruse our complete list of calendar year-end journalism contests and fellowships.

You better know there's one in there with your name on it.

Hillman Prizes in Journalism: The Sidney Hillman Foundation is now accepting nominations and submissions for the 2012 Hillman Prizes that honor investigative journalism and commentary in service of the common good. The annual $5,000 prizes are for excellence in journalism in service of the common good. Categories include book, newspaper, magazine, broadcast, photojournalism, web journalism and opinion journalism. Eligible work must have been published or released in 2011. The contest is open to journalists and subjects globally, although work must be published in the U.S. Please visit http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/nominations-0 for more details. Postmark deadline is Jan. 31.. Winners will be announced in April.

Society for Professional Journalists: Deadlines for SPJ awards are fast approaching: Sigma Delta Chi,Feb. 9, Mark of Excellence Jan. 25 and the New America awards  Feb. 9.  Enter your work for national recognition by SPJ.  For more information, see spj.org/awards.asp.

Jane Ganahl was kicking back with friends when the idea for a literary fest emerged. The year was 1999, and Jane was working full time at the Examiner, where she penned the weekly column “Single-Minded,” wrote about arts and entertainment, and had covered City Hall with a vengeance.

“I was just sitting around having some beers with friends, and we realized it would be so easy to get a literary festival going because we all know so many writers, and we all were writers,” she said. “So we went to Phil Bronstein and he agreed to give us $300 for permits in Golden Gate Park.”

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