Link of the Week: Oct 13 - 19
American Society of Journalists and Authors
Founded in 1948, the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) is “the nation's leading organization of independent nonfiction writers.” Regardless of whether you are a member (you have to meet some standards they’ve set in order to join), you can take advantage of Writer's Resources on their site. Most pertain to freelancers, such as articles on writing, getting published, health insurance, signing contracts and more. Their links page has items of general interest, though, to sites on investigative reporting, journalism, writers’ associations and other topics. Articles from ASJA Monthly keep you up-to-date on items of interest to writers, such as Minda Zetlin’s piece called He Said, She Said: Pronouns can make you crazy. A.A. Milne’s solution was to devise the all-purpose pronoun “heesh,” she notes (or should I say 'heesh notes'?).

Soros Justice Media Fellows Awards:
Seeking funds for an in-depth journalism project dealing with criminal justice? The Soros Justice Media Fellowship seeks dynamic journalists working in print, photography, radio, and documentary film and video to improve the quality and depth of media coverage of incarceration and criminal justice issues. Fellows devote up to one year to research, write, produce, and widely disseminate stories. Awards are up to $45,000. Click here to go to the Soros page and view more info about the awards.

Media Forum Follow-Up
We have now posted the handouts that were distributed by journalists at our recent media forum. Journalist contact information is now posted also, if you want to follow up with any of the people you met at the forum (or if you live in the Asheville area and want to see what you missed!).

Link/Article of the Week Archives
For your convenience, we've begun archiving past weeks' featured links and articles.

The Missing Link
Have any suggestions for us regarding next week’s link? Or is there information you seek, but you can’t find a helpful link? Let us know! If others would benefit from the information, we just may track down a link for you, or use your suggestion as Link of the Week.

Contribute Online!
It is now possible to contribute to FIRE online using your credit card. Please help us out, we can't be effective without your financial support! In the future, we will also be using similar technology, provided by PayPal, to enable you to pay for our upcoming events from our website with ease.

<<<<<<Hey, What's That?
Glad you asked! That box on the left border of the page is a new way to keep up with FIRE. Type in your e-mail, hit subscribe, and we'll do the rest! You'll get occasional updates from us about new workshops, links and assorted FIRE services. We won't barrage you with e-mails or distribute your e-mail address. Please sign up today.

Help Put a Local Paper on the Web!: If you have some spare time to give to a good cause, we could use your help! Please visit our new volunteer opportunities page.

Tell Us What You Think
Are you enjoying our "link of the week" and "article spotlight" features? Please let us know.

Welcome to FIRE, a non-profit organization which provides community media resources to the Appalachian region. You can use the search box on this page to search our online archive of media outlets throughout the area. If you are a local journalist (or want to be), visit the "Resources for Journalists" section. You'll find resources that will improve your community reporting skills and will enable area residents to easily locate your published articles online.

FIRE's purpose is to promote citizen participation and community-based media. Please contact us if you would like to participate in our programs or if you have any feedback that will improve this Web site.