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A story based on paper documents or computer records can pose a challenge for television journalists. There's nothing terribly visual for them to work with and the first resort, too often, is to call for graphics.

When tough economic times slash or burn your training budget, that doesn't mean you stop training. It means you work harder to keep training. Put your staff to work training each other.

Jack Warner sounds like a 21st Century newspaper editor. Working in a newsroom should be fun. Journalists should feel energized by their work. They should look forward to going to work every day. A management cliche is that the supervisor must "light a fire" under workers. That's not necessary in journalism. Journalists come with a fire already lit. They come into the business excited about the creative challenges news presents. The newsroom manager's job is not to light the fire, but to tend it and give it fuel. Inspiring journalists is one of the most important jobs of any newsroom manager. Whether you supervise reporters, editors, photographers, artists, designers, paginators, imagers, librarians or some combination, your success depends on the work of your staff. Journalists often mirror the energy of an enthusiastic leader or the lethargy of a dispirited leader.

Listen to viewers and they’ll tell you flat out: Local television news is boring. One in five of the people we surveyed about local TV news said that’s a major reason they don’t watch. As one viewer put it, “It’s a rehash of the same stories over and over.” And it’s the same thing on every station in town. Same stories, often for the same amount of time, and in the same order.

It's often said that one of our missions as journalists is to give voice to the voiceless. But if you look at the stories we produce, you won't often hear those voices. For instance, a lot of stories about children or about children's issues are told by adults.

It is never easy to approach a victim of violence or catastrophe to ask for an interview, but timing does make a difference. There are the specific concerns involved in interviewing someone suffering the psychophysiological consequences of an immediate shock.

The Geneva Conventions are a series of pacts that govern how prisoners of war and civilians are to be treated in a conflict. SPJ has put together guide to help journalists better understand the definitions and rules of the conventions.

The US Military agreed to allow some 600 journalists to be "embedded" in military units in the Persian Gulf region to aid in the media's coverage of a possible war with Iraq. Here is the release that journalists wishing to embed must sign.

The story of Jessica Lynch's rescue was one of the most covered story lines during the war in Iraq. The young soldier from West Virginia was held up as an icon of the strength and spirit of the American volunteer soldier. Her rescue mission was called a daring, made-for-Hollywood story. In recent weeks, however, the stories about Lynch's capture, her time spent captive, and her rescue have been questioned. Many claim that the original reports were filled with inaccuracies that benefited the US government by creating positive feelings about the war. Here is a detailed chronology of the major stories in the evolution of the Lynch saga.