UPCOMING EVENTS

Series of Book Discussions, Signings for Everyman News
Author Michele Weldon will be discussing her new book on the changes in the crowded media landscape and what it means for journalists and readers throughout 2008. Check the book website for the latest updates http://www.everymannews.com/newsEvents.html

Weldon to Partner with CarePages.com
Beginning in spring 2008, Michele Weldon will regularly contribute her insights and thoughtful instruction on writing and the healing aspects of carefully constructed narrative on the site, www.carepages.com  Watch for a redesign of the site and also for Weldon’s frequently updated tips. 

Pushing Your Book After Publication
One of the most difficult jobs for authors is not writing the book, but promoting it. Michele Weldon helps fellow authors and aspiring writers understand the basics of book promotion in an informative panel at this year’s Journalism & Women Symposium September 9. Weldon speaks about press kits and book tours on a panel organized by author Alicia Shepard and featuring literary agent Gail Ross and literary publicist Cyndi Hughes. The conference, held Sept. 8-10 at Sun Valley Lodge in Sun Valley, Idaho, hosts workshops, lectures and mentoring sessions for women working as authors, reporters, editors, writers and instructors in newsrooms and university-level journalism education around the world. For more information: www.jaws.org 

Weldon Keynote at Chicago Women in Publishing
Successful writers wear many hats and author Michele Weldon knows this better than anyone. As a journalist for newspapers, magazines, radio and online outlets; university journalism instructor, author and public speaker, Weldon has used her words well to create a versatile career. She will offer tips, encouragement and advice in her keynote, “Invest in Yourself” for Chicago Women in Publishing annual fall kick-off Thursday, September 21 fro 6-9 p.m. The event held at the Chicago Athletic Assoication, 12 S. Michigan Avenue , Chicago , includes cocktails and refreshments and is $25 for members, $30 for non-members and $15 for students. For more information: www.cwip.org/events.html

Lighting Up The Lakefront for NonViolence
Celebrating 20 years of advocacy by applauding 20 heroes, Between Friends, a non-profit advocacy agency dedicated to stopping violence against women, will honor Michele Weldon as one of its heroes in a Light Up The Lakefront event Sunday, October 1. Weldon will speak at 5 p.m. at Fourth Presbyterian Church, 190 E. Delaware Place , Chicago , and then will move to a lighting ceremony at Oak Street Beach to remember victims of domestic violence. “Celebrating 20 Years of Advocacy, Support and Education—Breaking the Silence of Domestic Violence” is the theme of the evening. For more information, contact: Terrill Stumpf, 312-981-3396 or visit www.afriendsplace,org/spev/html

Take Back the Night in Bolingbrook Features Weldon
During Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, Take Back the Night of Northern Will County will feature Michele Weldon as keynote speaker at their annual event Thursday, October 5 at 6 p.m. The speech and reception is at Bolingbrook Town Center , 375 W. Briarcliff Rd. , Bolingbrook , Ill , 60440 . Visit www.tbtnnw.org for more information.          

NU Author Talks About Memoirs
Everyone has a story to tell, but how do you tell your own story? As part its ongoing series of authors, Northwestern University’s Center for the Writing Arts, features Michele Weldon, NU assistant professor and author of the memoir, I Closed My Eyes, in the lecture,  “So you Want to Write A Memoir” Thursday, February 8 from 4-5 p.m. at the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. For more information, contact Stacy Oliver: www.northwestern.edu/writing-arts

RECENT EVENTS

The New Way to Write
As the times change, so does the way journalists write. The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication addressed the media shift at this year’s convention August 2-5 in San Francisco. The panel, “Re-defining Writing: Emerging New Models of Journalistic Practice,” featured Northwestern University assistant professor, author and journalist Michele Weldon, Northwestern’s David Abrahamson and New York University professor of journalism Brooke Kroeger. Weldon presented her findings based on two years of research and the topic of her upcoming book, Everyman News, defining the increase of features in newspapers, the need to appeal to readership, and the increase in democratic sourcing. The panel was held Wednesday, August 2, from 10 a.m.-11:30a.m at the San Francisco Marriott.

Next Writing Workshop August 20
Michele Weldon offered her Writing To Save Your Life Workshop Sunday, August 20 from 1-4 p.m. on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston. Touching on issues such as writing without fear and sharpening your observation skills, Weldon delivered a vibrant, concretely useful program for professional and amateur writers of any skill level. Participants received a workbook, handouts, and hours of superb writing advice.

WOMAN TO WOMEN
“Together let us seek the heights,” is Alpha Chi Omega’s open motto. This summer the women of A Chi O did “seek the heights” at their national convention July 14-18 at the Chicago Hilton. The convention featured speakers from around the country including Assistant Professor of Journalism Michele Weldon.Weldon led two breakout sessions on women’s issues and writing. The first session, “She is One of Us,” focused on myths surrounding domestic violence. The second forum, “Writing to Save Your Life” discussed the importance and power of journaling and expressive writing. Other presenters at the conference were Marie Claire Health Editor Marty Munson, authors T.L. McCown and Rena Pederson and Betsy Stephenson, director of athletics at Emory University. For more information, contact: Diane Paschal, Marketing/Events Coordinator at 317-579-5050 or dpaschal@alphachiomega.org .

NEWSPAPERS CAN'T WIN
“Newspapers will never win the time race,” Michele Weldon told University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business editor Stephen Morgan. In the column, “All the News That's Fit to ... Aggregate, Download, Blog: Are Newspapers Yesterday's News?” published March 22, 2006 by the Wharton School of Business, Weldon was quoted on her take on the media landscape today. The piece was sparked by the sale of the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain to McClatchy earlier that month. Weldon ‘s new book deals with the increase of features as front page news. In the article Weldon was quoted emphasizing the newspapers’ need to make articles more appealing but also stresses that there needs to be less concern “about how the news gets delivered.” http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=1425

MAKE YOUR WORDS WORK FOR YOU
During the National Association of Women Writers 2006 Writer’s Annual Tele-Conference Weldon told participants how to forge a career doing writing in many different forms from speeches to articles, books and documentaries. If you missed her presentation March 10, 2006, you have not missed the message. The CD from “Quilting a Career with From Words,” is available online along with other CDs from the conference featuring writers including 2002 Bellwether Prize winner Gayle Brandeis, and Jan B. King, editorial director for WomenPublishingNetwork.com. The 10 set CD collection can be purchased for $197 at http://www.naww.org/generic152.html .

"EVERYMAN'S NEWS" AT NU
Medill School of Journalism Assistant Professor Michele Weldon presented original insight and research based on the book she has been writing about the dramatic increase in features and narrative approaches to hard news on the front pages of American newspapers. She also discussed the increase in unofficial sources -- up to 75 percent in the 850 front page stories she studied in 2001 and 2004. Her presentation was the December Faculty Colloquium held Wednesday, December 7, 2005 at Northwestern University, Evanston.

WELDON KEYNOTE AT TEXAS CONFERENCE ON VIOLENCE 
“Shattering the Myths of Domestic Violence” is the topic of Michele Weldon’s keynote for the conference, “Addressing Domestic Violence Beyond Borders,” sponsored by the Center Against Family Violence in El Paso, Texas November 15-16, 2005.

In addition to her keynote address, Weldon will offer a “Writing to Save Your Life” workshop the following day based on her book of the same name. The author of the memoir, “I Closed My Eyes: Revelations of a Battered Woman,” will also sign books. The conference also features workshops dealing with topics ranging from “Domestic Violence and Social Change,” to “Teen Dating Violence.” 
http://www.epcfv.org/au_currentevents.sstg

JOURNALISTS CAN, TEACHERS DO 
At the Journalism & Women Symposium annual fall camp in Sedona, Ariz. September 9-11, 2005, Michele Weldon headed a panel with two other journalism educators, “Move Into Teaching, an Alternative Journalism Lifestyle.” As her third and final year on the board of directors as first vice president, Weldon headed the panel with Nancy Day, chair of the journalism department at Columbia College in Chicago and Tracy Everbach, associate professor at University of North Texas. 
Other JAWS speakers at camp included cartoonist Nicole Hollander and authors Mary Kay Blakely, E.J. Graff, Victoria Houston and Judy Norsigian. Weldon also chaired the book party where more than 20 author members and guests signed books and offered insights and encouragement to the more than 150 campers from across the country and the world. 
www.jaws.org

NATIONAL FEMINIST ADVOCACY AWARD GOES TO WELDON
The Commission on the Status of Women of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications awarded Michele Weldon the Donna Allen Award for Feminist Advocacy in San Antonio in August, 2005.

For 13 years, the assistant professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University wrote about women’s issues for the Chicago Tribune. In 1999 she released the memoir, I Closed My Eyes: Revelations of a Battered Woman, moving audiences in seven languages with first person account of how she survived a physically abusive marriage. With the combination of her skills as a journalist and her passion as an activist, Weldon has been called a noted force within the worlds of journalism, education and feminist activism.
http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/medill/inside/medill_voices/women_journalists_must_continue_to_write_and_inform.html

STUDENT WORK SHOWS TALENT, APTITUDE 
In spring 2004 Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism Assistant Professor Michele Weldon guided a group of 13 students working on a print media story and a broadcast package. In From Abstinence to Wicca: A New Generation of Vice and Virtue. The students did research, interviews and created news stories dealing with Generation Y’s views and trends on abstinence, crystal meth, body modifications, gambling, and Wicca.
To view the work of the students, go to:
http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/studentwork/vice_virtue/

Work from Weldon’s students from previous quarters, can be seen at these sites:
http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/studentwork/weldon_manynations/
http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/studentwork/spring04/greg22/
http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/studentwork/Winter2004/Weldon/

SPEAKER AT INTERNATIONAL  CONFERENCE ON VIOLENCE 
“Your experiences and the strength you found to over come those trials were an inspiration to us all,” reads a thank you note addressed to Michele Weldon from Lisa J. Hodgins, president of Ontario Women in Law Enforcement (O.W.L.E.).

O.W.L.E. held its annual training and awards banquet May 4 -6, 2005 in Toronto where Weldon gave a two-hour presentation entitled, “I Closed My Eyes.” The workshop was based on her memoir I Closed My Eyes: Revelations of a Battered Woman.
http://www.owle.org/PDF/2005ConferencePamphlet.pdf

NEWSPAPERS OFFER A HUMANISTIC APPROACH
“Newspapers have begun to offer more personality and more of what the reader requests,” Michele Weldon said at “A Day with Northwestern,” an annual alumni program that features distinguished faculty and alumni of Northwestern University. 
Weldon, a 1979 MSJ graduate and now assistant professor at Medill, spoke to Northwestern University Alumni and members of the Evanston community at the 36th Annual Seminar Day, April 16, 2005. Weldon focused on the softening of news on American front pages in her workshop, “Humanistic Journalism: How Readers, Blogs, Reality TV and 9/11 Helped Change Newspapers Forever.”

“Print news has grown softer,” she said, “more diverse and more personal.” Weldon emphasized the increase of profiles, lengthy obituaries, and reaction stories, to help prove her point.

http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/medill/inside/news/assistant_professor_michele_weldon_addresses_rise_in_humanistic_journalism.html

WOMEN AND THE MEDIA SPEAK OUT 
The first-ever Women and the Media Conference in March 2005 featured scores of journalists, authors, activists and commentators on women’s issues around the country. Michele Weldon served on the panel, “Using Community Access Media to Organize Against Violence Against Women.”

Weldon spoke of her personal accounts as a survivor of domestic violence and the myths surrounding violence against women. Also on the panel was author and journalist Liza Featherstone who recently wrote Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers’ Rights at Wal-Mart. 

The panel was part of a larger two-day conference at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Cambridge, “Women and the Media: Taking Our Place in the Public Conversation sponsored by Women’s Words Matter. Breakout sessions also included “Missing in Action: Where are the Women,” and “Building a Blog: How to Join the Online Feminist Revolution in 90 Minutes or Less.” The keynote speaker was author Jill Nelson. 
http://www.centerfornewwords.org/whatsnew.html

ETHICS A KEY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL JOURNALISTS
Michele Weldon moderated a panel on ethics for the Association of Women Journalists (AWJ) Chicago Chapter. “Journalistic Ethics in a Changing Media Environment,” took place March 16, 2005 at Columbia College. 

Speakers spoke about ethics issues such as Dan Rathers’ reporting on President Bush’s military record and also everyday challenges facing reporters such as returning gifts that come to the newsroom and challenging bosses on issues of fairness. 

The panel featured freelance journalist and president of AWJ Chicago, Mary Galligan, Adrienne Drell of the Medill School of Journalism and Mark Hinojosa of Chicago Tribune Interactive. The program was free for students and AWJ members.

READ A COLLECTION OF WELDON'S OP/EDS IN WOMENSENEWS 
From gender gaps in the newsroom to naked broadcast journalists, Michele Weldon offers her insights in frequent contributions to WomensEnews, the online news source for topics and issues relating to women.” Women have needs for information on issues from public policy to private health care that differ from those of male reader,” Michele Weldon argued in her April 24, 2002 WomensEnews article “No News in Newsroom Census: Gender Gap Persists.” 
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1797/context/archive

When Sharon Reed of Cleveland’s WOIO-TV did a broadcast in the nude, Weldon did not fail to analyze its impact on women in media. “She showed the young women in journalism schools behind her that it is OK to compromise,” wrote Weldon.
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2079/context/archive.

In a March 2005 article she responded to the lack of women as op-ed columnists on major metropolitan papers and put forth a call to action. “Unless we cluster our stars together into a fireball, we will not be seen by the major telescopes,” explained Weldon.
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2229/context/archive.

http://www.womensenews.org.

Weldon also wrote a review for the Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review section of Marya Hornbacher’s novel, “The Center of Winter,” on April 10, 2005. Weldon wrote: “Among the voices of [Claire Schiller]; Kate, the 6-year-old daughter of Claire and Arnold; and Esau, their teenage son struggling with mental illness, the author constructs a kaleidoscope of speakers at times beautiful and often disturbing. Beginning with Kate as narrator, we are tugged into the trauma of the alternating Schillers. It is a family stained by town gossip about the long ago suicide of her Aunt Rose; the inexplicable behavior of Esau, who is in and out of state psychiatric hospitals; the alcoholic father and the perception of Claire as unapproachable and detached.”

HER SAY ON MOTHERHOOD
In “Her Say,” a column in the Chicago Tribune’s Womanews section that ran in the 90s, Michele Weldon expressed her views for several years as a regular rotating columnist. She wrote about surrogate motherhood and whether it was right for “grandmothers to have their grandchildren.” Weldon also attacked the notion of “Mr. Mom,” proclaiming that a father could not be a mother, because their roles were different.

In Journalism Communication Monograph’ of Summer 2004, educator Therese L. Luecke wrote in the paper, “Her Say in the Media Mainstream: A Cultural Feminist Manifesto,” that work such as Weldon’s is critical in promoting the culture of women.

WELDON ELECTED TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR JOURNALISM & WOMEN SYMPOSIUM
Members of Journalism & Women Symposium, a national organization of women journalists in print, broadcast, online publications and university-level journalism education, elected Michele Weldon as second vice president on the board of directors in September, 2003 for a two-year term. She has been a member since 1996.

Weldon recently attended the board of directors meeting in San Francisco in March, 2004 where members discussed strategies, fundraising and the upcoming annual conference in Oregon in September, 2004. For more information, www.jaws.org

OP/ED PIECE ON JESSICA LYNCH SYNDICATED TO NEWSPAPERS
Journalist Michele Weldon's essay on the media's treatment of Jessica Lynch for Newsday in New York was syndicated to scores of national newspapers, prompting some angry and some congratulatory response.

Newsday editors asked Weldon, a Medill School of Journalism assistant professor, to comment on how and why journalists rushed to deify the 19-year-old Pfc. Jessica Lynch and her rescue from an Iraqi hospital. Lynch was also the subject of a book by former New York Times writer Rick Bragg.

"It is a casualty of the profession that the media regularly sacrifice nuance, complexity and full accuracy for the sake of simplicity, speed, good pictures and provocative quotes," Weldon wrote in the November 14 article. To read the full text, www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpwel14443541639nov14,0,7376792.story?coll=ny

SHOULD YOU HAVE WRITING RULES?
Michele Weldon, assistant professor of journalism at Northwestern University and author of two best-selling books, was a guest on the "Writers on Writing" talk show on KUCI-FM radio show from the University of Irvine, California recently discussing the need to keep focused when writing.

"If you just write to pass time, that is what I call drive-by creativity," Weldon told radio show host Mark Hardt and listeners on the show airing March 18, and also on the live webcast at www.kuci.org. Weldon and Hardt had a lively discussion about the need to be focused on the Big Idea and to write for clarity and catharsis.

WELDON TO SPEAK ON VIOLENCE AT TWO CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOLS
Author and non-violence advocate Michele Weldon will speak at two Chicago area high schools in April, 2004 about violence against women and dating violence. 

As a speaker endorsed by Amnesty International, Weldon will speak on a panel for Women's Day Thursday, April 1 at 3:30 p.m. at Josephinum High School in Chicago about violence against women internationally and particularly women of Juarez, Mexico. Weldon, assistant professor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, will address women's rights around the world. For more information, call: 773-276-1261.

Dating Violence and partner abuse prevention will be the subject of Weldon's talk Friday, April 2 at 9:45 a.m. at Charles P. Steinmetz Academic Centre in Chicago. Weldon, author of "I Closed My Eyes," will speak to students who have completed a Dating Violence Prevention Program. For more information, call: 312-534-3030. 

WELDON GUEST AT WHITE HOUSE IN OCTOBER
Michele Weldon, author and nationally recognized advocate for non-violence, was a guest at the White House October 8, 2003 for President Bush’s announcement on new policy initiatives intended to help victims of domestic violence.

Weldon, along with close to 200 of the country’s leaders in women’s issues, was invited to a reception in the East Room of the White House where President Bush unveiled his fiscal plan to help families touched by violence.

"I applaud the commitment of all those who are helping to improve the lives of domestic violence survivors and their families," he said. "Working together, we can continue to find better solutions to this national problem."

The president described two new programs for 2004: the Family Justice Centers, funded by $20 million, and the Safe and Bright Futures for Children initiative, launched with $5 million in grants. He also announced a new U.S.Postal Service Stop Family Violence postage stamp.

As an assistant professor at Northwestern University, Weldon gave a copy of her first book, "I Closed My Eyes," to the president, along with a commemorative pen from the Medill School of Journalism. She also gave First Lady Laura Bush a copy of her second book, "Writing to Save Your Life."

Laura Bush responded in a letter to Weldon: "Thank you for coming to the White House and by your presence helping focus a spotlight on the problem of domestic abuse." She continued, "I like your word, ‘scribotherapy’ and look forward to exploring your book."

http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/10/08/3f83a3c32c6e3?in_archive=1

WELDON GIVES FACULTY COLLOQUIUM ON FAMILY STORIES
Where would the world be without Anne Frank’s personal story of the horrors of Nazi oppression? What better way to explore history and current events then through the lens of family stories?

Personal narrative has both personal and universal impact, Northwestern University Assistant Professor Michele Weldon told an audience of faculty, students and peers at the October Faculty Colloquium recently.

The rise of lengthy obituaries in newspapers and a shift towards telling more personal stories of individuals in coincidence with current events is a new trend in journalism, said Weldon, who is working on a book on the importance of writing family stories.

http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/inside/2004/weldoncollo.html

NOVEMBER LITERARY CIRCLE INCLUDES WELDON AS MODERATOR
Author and professor Michele Weldon will serve as Literary Circle moderator and interview authors Alice Sebold and her husband Glen David Gold on stage for the November 17 fundraising event of the Library Community Foundation. Afterwards, all three authors will sign books. Weldon will sign copies of both her books.

WELDON KEYNOTE AT FLORIDA MAGAZINE CONFERENCE
We all need to use our words. “The Power of Words” is the topic of Michele Weldon’s keynote address at the Florida Magazine Association’s Publishing in Paradise Conference in Sarasota, Florida August 22, 2003. Inspiring writers, editors and publishers to understand the critical nature of the words they print, Weldon will inform and ignite wordsmiths to action. 

On August 23, Weldon offers her popular Writing to Save Your Life Workshop to conference attendeees.

Representing close to 250 magazines and nearly 50 suppliers of publishing products and services, the non-profit FMA provides educational seminars and conferences to writers, editors and publishing professionals. The conference is held at the Sarasota Ritz-Carlton Hotel. For more infomration, contact Jan Monahan at the Florida Magazine Assoication, 407-774-9587, or check the website, www.floridamagazine.org.

MASSACHUSETTS CHOOSES WELDON'S BOOK FOR SEPTEMBER BOOK
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney selected Michele Weldon’s “I Closed My Eyes” to be the book club selection for September, 2003 for its Step Up and Read program. Book clubs in the Boston area are joining together to read Weldon’s autobiography and will attend a fundraiser and discussion October 9 benefiting The Second Step, a nonprofit agency, as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 

For more information on how your book club can unite with other book clubs in Massachusetts, please contact Roberta Carlson, 617-964-9935 or ergofit@aol.com; Debbie Krasnow at 617-332-2243 or famkras@attbi.com; or The Second Step at 617-965-2026 or lvarga@thesecondstep.org. The New England Mobile Book Fair is offering the book at a special discount for participants in the event. For more info: www.state.ma.us/gcdv/news.htm