SPJ Region 3’s Emily Bloch
“As student representative, I want to not only hold more of these (SDX*) events, but show other SPJ student members how to run their own. That’s how we’ll learn. Not from sitting and being lectured at — we do enough of that in classrooms.” – Emily Bloch
Emily Bloch, SPJ Board Student Representative candidate from Region 3
“I’m about to graduate from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in multimedia journalism, but I’ve learned more from SPJ and the school newsroom than I ever did in a classroom. Because of what I learned at hands-on events hosted by SPJ, I was getting hired while my peers were sitting in lecture halls. Now, I’m running successful SDX funded events at student media conventions and college campuses like Zombie Stories and the First Amendment Free Food Festival — and I want to show other student chapters nationally how to do the same. Please help give me that chance.” – Emily Bloch
Current SPJ office: Student Representative, SPJ Florida Pro; president, SPJ Florida Atlantic University
Current employment: Senior editor, FAU University Press; contributor, Broward New Times; freelance reporter, RockSound Magazine, Lifestyle Magazine; blogger, SunFest music festival
Previous SPJ experience: Organizer, First Amendment Free Food Festival, 2016 and 2013; winner, Death Race, SPJ obituary writing contest, 2014; host, Zombie Stories and Midnight Snack, College Media Association SDX funded events, 2015; Twitter account manager, SPJ Airplay account, 2015
Past work experience: Editor-in-chief, two terms, University Press, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, 2015-2016; social media coordinator, Debt.com, Sunrise, Florida, 2014-2015; social media coordinator, Consolidated Credit, Sunrise, Florida, 2014-2015
Education: Expected to graduate from Florida Atlantic University with a bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Journalism in spring 2017
Honors, awards and activities: Green Eyeshade Awards, Best Columnist, second place, 2016; Palm Beach Post, James M. Cox Jr. scholarship recipient, 2015; Mark of Excellence Awards, second place regional, Online Feature Reporting (large university), 2013
Why I’m seeking this SPJ office: In my time involved with SPJ, I’ve run and organized, participated in and won events like Zombie Stories, First Amendment Free Food Festival and Death Race.
Emily Bloch, far right, participated in the ZombieStories. (Photo supplied)
SPJ Florida ZombieStories and Midnight Snack Critique events were funded by SDX and their hands-on approach have taught me more than a classroom ever could.
Because of them, I’ve been able to jump into situations that could make others my age feel uncomfortable — like getting plagiarized by a professional outlet, having newspapers stolen or a battle with school administration over opening a closed meeting.
Emily Bloch, left, at the Midnight Snack Critique. (Photo supplied)
As student representative, I want to not only hold more of these events, but show other SPJ student members how to run their own. That’s how we’ll learn. Not from sitting and being lectured at — we do enough of that in classrooms.
With events like these, SPJ student chapters will grow, but so will their members. I’m the case-in-point that they work.
*Sigma Delta Chi Foundation
You can vote even if you are not a delegate or at the Excellence in Journalism 2016 convention in New Orleans
In the past, chapter delegates elected officers and board members. Now all members can cast their own vote via an online voting system.
— SPJ Headquarters will send an email introducing all your candidates and directing you to their online information (if applicable).
— Candidates may have blogs or social media accounts where members can connect with them.
— During EIJ16, members can view candidate speeches online.
You’ll find most of this information in the Meet the Candidates section.
