By Kyle Spradley

Although statistically St. Louis is not a largely populated city, it is not just about one city.  The thing with St. Louis is we are not just a city but a region.  Very few people live in the Downtown area; they live in the counties surrounding the city.  All of these smaller communities are part of the town but are each distinct and have something different to offer.

Being a native and fan of St. Louis, along with being a bigger fan of food, I have a few suggestions.  If you come to our great city you have to try our claims to fame.  For starters, if you leave St. Louis without knowing or trying a Toasted Ravioli, you missed out.  The tasty fried pasta morsels filled with meat or cheese got their start here in a little neighborhood called The Hill.  Charlie Gitto’s still takes claim to being one of the originators.  The Hill encompasses almost a square mile area south of Forest Park and is made of old brick homes and mom-and-pop Italian restaurants on every other block.  For directions ask someone where the Hill is and they will promptly direct you in the right area and possibly to their favorite place.  Each place has their own specialties but some of the favorites are Cunettos House of Pasta, Zia’s, fishbowl drinks at Rigazzi’s and Mama Campisi’s.

For lunch hit up O’Connells, which is right off of Kingshighway and I-44, just a few blocks from the Missouri Botanical Garden.  At this old-fashioned Irish pub you will step back in time as you dig in to some of the largest and juiciest burgers in town out of simple paper serving boats.

For more of the local deli lunch spot head down Chippewa near Ted Drewes Famous Frozen Custard to Legrand’s Tomboy Market.  Known for using some of the best-cut meats and flavorful sandwich combinations, this stop is a can’t-miss.  Don’t forget to pick up some gooey butter cake on the way out.

If you are in the mood for adult beverages head to Soulard.  The first week in February this neighborhood celebrates with the second largest Mardi Gras in the country, but the rest of the year it is the highlight for nightlife.  With more than 30 bars and restaurants dotted across the small “Frenchtown” it is not hard to find a place to get a good bite to eat along with a nice adult beverage and music.  Places you can’t miss are the patio at McGurk’s, dinner at Sage and music at Hammerstones or 1860’s Hard Shell Café and Bar.

If you are into music there is one entertainer you need to check out.  Thursday night, the 29th, Kim Massie will be playing at Beale on Broadway, just south of Busch Stadium by a few blocks.  She is one of St. Louis’ most popular divas that mixes sounds of R&B, jazz and blues with her voice combination of Etta James and Aretha Franklin.  Make a request and see how she reacts. She is a hoot!

As the long conference days drag on and you feel like a breath of fresh air, head over to the Citygarden.  This newly opened sculpture park has become an instant hit for everyone and features works of art from across the world.  Just head one block south to Market Street, hang a right and travel west for three blocks past the Old Courthouse and fountains at Kiener Plaza.

If you get lost or want any other suggestions of some local hangouts call me, Kyle Spradley at (314)550-6387 and your friendly local tour guide can help you or visit www.metromix.com for some other cool suggestions.

Bringing the family to St. Louis?  Here Are Some Entertainment Ideas

By Jake Sherlock

This blog is for the spouses, children and other friends and family who are coming to St. Louis with that favorite editor in their lives. Here are a few ideas culled from Facebook and Twitter suggestions to keep yourself entertained.

Bud Brewery tours are free and offer free beer, reports Sallie Story of the Belleville News-Democrat. Sounds like heaven to me.

If domestic brew isn’t your forte, try the Schafly brewery tour, says Darla Cameron of the St. Petersburg Times. Just don’t drive between the two.

St. Louis native and freelance journalist Paul Dzuiba says to check out The Loop for three great restaurants. “Cicero‘s is known for its pizza and large selection of beers, Blueberry Hill is known for pop culture decor and owner (Chuck Berry), and Fitz’s is of course the brewery of Fitz’s root beer,” Paul says.

Sarah Palmer, an undergrad at the Missouri School of Journalism, has two favorite upscale restaurants to recommend if you’re feeling spendy: Truffles and Annie Gunn’s. Sarah describes them as “upscale american food. Gourmet meat-and-potatoes stuff, plus a little less traditional fare.”

For UWYO Magazine editor Dave Shelles, it’s all about Pi Pizza when he’s passing through the Gateway City. Dave says: “Comparable with Bacino’s in Chicago. Forgive me, for I have blasphemed.”

If you like frozen custard, you’ll want to check out local institution Ted Drewes, says Année Tousseau, a MU graduate student.

Got some money to burn? Check out the casinos, like Lumiere Place and Casino Queen.

Don’t have money  to burn? St. Louis has an incredible zoo, and the price is right — FREE. Some areas, like the children’s museum, will cost a few bucks. But overall, you can see some amazing animals and get a good walking workout without spending a dime.

Other good recommendations include the Missouri State Museum, the St. Louis Art Museum, and the City Museum, where “you can act like a kid,” Cameron said.

When You’re Not in a Session…

By Mary Poletti

As a proud St. Louis native who returns home a little better than once a month to spend time with family in its various forms, I’m always secretly thrilled to share my hometown with the many convention attendees who descend upon it from far-flung and occasionally exotic corners of our great nation and big world. Downtown is an exciting, vibrant place — don’t let anyone tell you differently. It’s also a very tasty place.

If you’re looking for a place to grab a bite to eat during the conference, I can’t speak to any of the several restaurants at the Hyatt, which I haven’t visited since its renovation (and name change from the Adam’s Mark) last year. I can, however, put in a plug for Max and Erma’s, a casual burger place across the Gateway Mall from the Hyatt. The burgers are delicious. And huge. Seriously. Huge. I had to order a smaller version, and I’m ordinarily no shrinking violet when it comes to burgers.

There are many more good restaurants within a short walk of the Hyatt at Laclede’s Landing, a popular nightspot on the riverfront. These include both local places and chains. Of the chains, The Old Spaghetti Factory is a personal favorite and offers a pretty economical dining choice in a gorgeous building. Among the local places, steakhouse Hannegan’s is very popular (although I haven’t been there in so long that I can’t offer much of a review beyond that).

I mention the Landing in this post mostly because it offers a variety of places to grab a drink within an easy walk of the hotel, if you’re in the mood. Morgan Street Brewery is worth a mention here. Most of the bars on the Landing market themselves as rowdy clubs and jockey for the title of St. Louis’ hottest night spot, but for the most part, Morgan Street feels more like a relaxed neighborhood pub, where you can catch a game on TV, play some billiards, and actually hear yourself think. The Levee (formerly known as Skybox) also works to that effect, although it’s a bit swankier; I didn’t see any pool tables on my one trip there, but I did see an NBA player (East St. Louis native Darius Miles of the Memphis Grizzlies, a co-owner with rapper Nelly and Marshall Faulk of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams).

I do recommend the Landing to you with a caveat: I wouldn’t go there to celebrate wrapping up a great conference on Friday evening. The wild nightclub aesthetic reaches a fever pitch on the weekends, as you might expect, and even in my mid-20s, I get tired just thinking about it.

While you’re walking around, by all means check out the grounds of the Gateway Arch and the Historic Old Courthouse, where Dred Scott’s groundbreaking case for his freedom from slavery was heard. Very interesting stuff. Unfortunately, you’ll have to take our word for it, because the courthouse museum closes at 4:30 p.m. year-round and the trams to the top of the Arch and the Museum of Westward Expansion in its belly close shortly after 5 p.m. this time of year. There’s still plenty to admire on the outside.

There’s more to see in St. Louis than your free time during a three-day conference might afford you the opportunity to see, but please enjoy what you can while you’re here. It really is a fantastic city. And, of course, I say that without a trace of personal bias.

Bob Heisse, the executive editor of the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa., is in line to be president of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association in 2012.

His election Wednesday in St. Louis by the APME board of directors puts him on the leadership ladder starting in 2010, when he will serve as board secretary.

He serves as vice president the following year before becoming president.

Other incoming APME officers are President Otis Sanford, editor for opinion and editorials, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, Tenn., and Vice President Hollis Towns, executive editor of the Asbury Park Press in Neptune, N.J.

Heisse was first elected to the national board in 2007 and has overseen APME’s Innovator of the Year competition each year.

He is also active in the Pennsylvania APME chapter and will be president of that organization in 2011. He is also a former president of the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors.

“I’m honored to serve on this board and now to have this opportunity,” Heisse said. “The training we provide is critical for newsrooms and our leadership on national reporting projects promotes strong journalism across the country.”

A Penn State journalism graduate, Heisse previously worked at the Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News and Bucks County (Pa.) Courier Times. He’s a member of the Penn State College of Communications Alumni Board and the Centre Communities Chapter of the American Red Cross board.APME, an association of editors at AP’s 1,500 member newspapers in the U.S. and newspapers served by the Canadian Press in Canada, works closely with the news company to strive for journalism excellence.

APME also supports training and development of editors in a changing media landscape and initiatives in online credibility and diversity.

The APME Mission

Our elected officers serve as national leaders in speaking out on journalism issues. APME also provides feedback to the worldwide cooperative directly and through the Sounding Board.  APME is a nonprofit, tax-exempt association under Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code. Any person who is the editor, executive editor or managing editor, or holds any other title that provides for senior responsibilities for the news, online or editorial staffs of a member newspaper, is eligible for membership.  APME is on the front line in setting ethical and journalistic standards for newspapers and in the battle for freedom of information and the First Amendment.

The APME Foundation

The APME Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization established in 1988 to receive tax-exempt gifts to carry out educational projects for the advancement of newspaper journalism. Every year since 1994 an auction has been held at the annual conference to benefit the foundation. Proceeds help support the APME Gazette, the conference newspaper, a highly successful project providing hands-on training opportunities for college journalists, many of them minorities. Other projects supported by the foundation include the APME Fellows Program and journalism education programs at the APME conference.

Statement of Ethical Principles

(Adopted 1994 as revision to APME Code of Ethics)

These principles are a model against which news and editorial staff members can measure their performance. They have been formulated in the belief that newspapers and the people who produce them should adhere to the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct.

The public’s right to know about matters of importance is paramount. The newspaper has a special responsibility as surrogate of its readers to be a vigilant watchdog of their legitimate public interests.

No statement of principles can prescribe decisions governing every situation. Common sense and good judgment are required in applying ethical principles to newspaper realities. As new technologies evolve, these principles can help guide editors to insure the credibility of the news and information they provide. Individual newspapers are encouraged to augment these APME guidelines more specifically to their own situations.

*Responsibility

The good newspaper is fair, accurate, honest, responsible, independent and decent. Truth is its guiding principle.

It avoids practices that would conflict with the ability to report and present news in a fair, accurate and unbiased manner.The newspaper should serve as a constructive critic of all segments of society. It should reasonably reflect, in staffing and coverage, its diverse constituencies. It should vigorously expose wrongdoing, duplicity or misuse of power, public or private. Editorially, it should advocate needed reform and innovation in the public interest. News sources should be disclosed unless there is a clear reason not to do so. When it is necessary to protect the confidentiality of a source, the reason should be explained.

The newspaper should uphold the right of free speech and freedom of the press and should respect the individual’s right to privacy.

The newspaper should fight vigorously for public access to news of government through open meetings and records.

*Accuracy

The newspaper should guard against inaccuracies, carelessness, bias or distortion through emphasis, omission or technological manipulation.It should acknowledge substantive errors and correct them promptly and prominently.

*Integrity

The newspaper should strive for impartial treatment of issues and dispassionate handling of controversial subjects.

It should provide a forum for the exchange of comment and criticism, especially when such comment is opposed to its editorial positions. Editorials and expressions of personal opinion by reporters and editors should be clearly labeled. Advertising should be differentiated from news.

The newspaper should report the news without regard for its own interests, mindful of the need to disclose potential conflicts. It should not give favored news treatment to advertisers or special-interest groups.It should report matters regarding itself or its personnel with the same vigor and candor as it would other institutions or individuals. Concern for community, business or personal interests should not cause the newspaper to distort or misrepresent the facts.

The newspaper should deal honestly with readers and newsmakers. It should keep its promises.The newspaper should not plagiarize words or images.

*Independence

The newspaper and its staff should be free of obligations to news sources and newsmakers. Even the appearance of obligation or conflict of interest should be avoided.

Newspapers should accept nothing of value from news sources or others outside the profession. Gifts and free or reduced-rate travel, entertainment, products and lodging should not be accepted. Expenses in connection with news reporting should be paid by the newspaper. Special favors and special treatment for members of the press should be avoided.

Journalists are encouraged to be involved in their communities, to the extent that such activities do not create conflicts of interest.

Involvement in politics, demonstrations and social causes that would cause a conflict of interest, or the appearance of such conflict, should be avoided.

Work by staff members for the people or institutions they cover also should be avoided.

Financial investments by staff members or other outside business interests that could create the impression of a conflict of interest should be avoided.

Stories should not be written or edited primarily for the purpose of winning awards and prizes. Self-serving journalism contests and awards that reflect unfavorably on the newspaper or the profession should be avoided.

APME History

APME is an association of editors at newspapers in the United States and Canada. It works closely with The Associated Press to foster journalism excellence and to support a national network for the training and development of editors who will run multimedia newsrooms in the 21st Century. The association has held a multi-day conference every year since 1933 in various cities around the U.S. and Canada. Our elected officers serve as national leaders in speaking out on journalism issues. APME also provides feedback to the worldwide cooperative directly and through the Sounding Board. APME is a nonprofit, tax-exempt association under Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code. Any person who is the editor, executive editor or managing editor, or holds any other title that provides for senior responsibilities for the news, online or editorial staffs of a member newspaper, is eligible for membership. APME is on the front line in setting ethical and journalistic standards for newspapers and in the battle for freedom of information and the First Amendment.

APME is Born in a BarBy Bob Haiman

APME Regents

It began in 1930, over a drink in a convention hotel bar.Managing Editors Roy Roberts of the Kansas City Star andOliver Owen Kuhn of the Washington Star were attending theannual meeting in New York that was thencalled Newspaper Week.

Publishers gathered then mostly to talk about ad sales andcirculation, and to complain about newsprint prices and laborcosts. Some of them attended The Associated Press board meetings,which focused mostly on memberships,territories and AP assessments.

Almost nothing was said about journalism or the content ofnewspapers or of the AP wire. Managing editors like Kuhn andRoberts who attended with their publishers got to enjoy somenice cocktail parties and dinners but found it almost impossibleto discuss news coverage or to vent theircomplaints about AP’s news performance.

“I asked Oliver,” Roberts said of the discussion over thatdrink, “why in the world didn’t the managing editors have aninformal conference with AP heads and get their gripes out oftheir systems?” The AP president (Kuhn’s boss) and the AP generalmanager, Kent Cooper, agreed and the first meeting was setto take place the next year, during Newspaper Week 1931.About 30 editors came, along withvirtually all of the AP’s news managers.

It did not go particularly well.There was no formal agenda. After some introductory pleasantries,the editors starting unloading, firing critical questions -most were sharply barbed, derogatory criticisms and some weremore like personal attacks – at the AP executives. It was not acivil discourse. Kuhn later said, “… A certain gentleman from theSouthland and a certain esteemed APeditor almost came to blows.”

There was some question that a second meeting could evenbe held because so many AP managers felt as if they had takenso much unjustified abuse. In effect, what was to eventuallybecome APME almost died for lack of a second.

But tempers cooled and it was decided to hold another meetingin New York in 1932. To avoid a repeat of the hostilities, APeditors and the managing editors began to sketch out a plan:They would meet separately from the publishers and the APboard. Instead of editors just standing up and letting loose,there would be committees of editors looking at the wire report- domestic news, foreign, Washington, state, business, featuresand photos, writing quality, etc. – during the year.

These committees would prepare written reports and present themat the annual meeting. The goal would be to create a useful, professionalscrutiny – cleansed of personal whim, bias and vitriol – to which the APcould react and thus improve its service to member papers.It was time to hold the first true convention.

1931: Editors and AP managers meet for first time, but not successfully.
1932: Similar meeting goes better, at first.
1933: First convention meets in French Lick, Ind.
1941: AP editors criticize newspaper editors, for a change.
1942: Wartime travel restraints mean no convention.
1944-45: War makes travel too difficult for editors to meet.
1946-47: Continuing Studies Committees are started.
1948: APME is incorporated.
1948: Red Book, a report of convention doings, makes debut.
1949: APME receives Distinguished Service Award from Sigma Delta Chi (now Society of Professional Journalists) for “outstanding accomplishment” in journalism research.
1952: 125 editors serve on 14 study committees.
1958: 25th anniversary: APME returns to site of its founding in French Lick, Ind.
1964: APME News debuts, as a newsletter to appear between conventions.
1966: President Johnson signs U.S. Freedom of Information Act.
1967: Personnel Committee for first time has subcommittee titled Negroes in Journalism.
1968: Kerner Commission report issued in wake of urban unrest faults news mediafor ignoring black communities and news.
1969: Black News Committee is created as part of Continuing Studies.
1971: APME at Philadelphia convention presents its first Freedom of Information Awardand its first Public Service Award.
1971: APME Regents is organized.
1972: 374 members, the most ever, sign up for 14 study committees.
1972-82: FOI Committee fights First Amendment battles against courts, legislatures and Congress.
1973: Dorothy Jurney wins election to board of directors at Orlando, Fla.,convention,becoming first woman to sit on the governing board.
1978: Protester in Portland, Ore., hits speaker Howard Jarvis in the face with a pie and runs off.
1979: APME conducts its first major content research study, about sports agate.
1981: APME meets in Toronto for only convention outside United States.
1982: Special ambassador from Mexico falls off speakers’ platform but recoversand wows editors at San Diego convention.
1983: APME board approves study of requirements for, appropriateness of a foundation.
1983: 50th anniversary convention in Louisville, Ky., includes fitness lecture from actress Jane Fonda.
1983: Book “Fifty and Feisty” chronicles the first 50 years.
1983: Editors learn that for the first time, AMs’ circulation exceeds that of PMs.
1984: Editors meeting in Miami learn Louis D. Boccardi will be the next president of The Associated Press.
1986: Editors at Cincinnati convention hear warning that classifieds, the ad foundation of newspaper revenue, are vulnerable to electronic competition.
1988: Former APME president warns colleagues that being covered by the press “can be hell.”
1988: Attendance in Boston tops 650, the last time APME will see such numbers.
1988: Membership in Boston approves creation of a foundation.
1989: APME Foundation receives 501(c)(3) status.
1989: APME presents its first Meritorious Service Award to its longtime FOI champion, Hu Blonk.
1989: Editors learn in Des Moines, Iowa, that newspaper share of local ad dollars has shrunk from 75-80 percent to roughly 50.
1989: APME Gazette is created to cover the conventions and is staffed by area journalism students.
1989: Last Red Book is published as full account of annual convention.
1990: Electronic issues – access to public records and photo ethics – occupy Dallas convention.
1992: Sue Reisinger, first woman president, presides at convention in Honolulu.
1993: APME is warned during Minneapolis convention that the press’s “careless and biased” coverageof Arabs and the Middle East could have serious repercussions.
1993-94: How to stop decline in convention attendance occupies leadership.
1994: Mall of Ideas appears at Philadelphia convention.
1994: APME adopts current Statement of Ethical Principles after two-year effort.
1995: Bob McGruder takes gavel as APME’s first black president at end of Indianapolis convention.
1998: Area journalism students (besides Gazette staff) and their professors are invited to conventionat Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif., as APME creates program to encourage next generation.
1999: APME joins with American Society of Newspaper Editors to create and promote “Time Out for Diversity and Accuracy.”
1999-2000: APME grapples with whether to seek merger with ASNE.
2000: Credibility Roundtables get under way.
2000-01: Online editors are welcomed to conventions.
2001: Associated Press Photo Managers is incorporated.
2001: Planners of Milwaukee conference scheduled for Oct. 10 start over after 9/11 attacks.
2001: Membership votes to designate board seats for online editors.
2002: First online editor is elected to governing board during Baltimore conference.
2002: Robert G. McGruder Diversity Awards presented for first time.
2002: NewsTrain, a national professional development effort, kicks off.
2003: Boccardi retires and his successor, Tom Curley, outlines goals to create digital information powerhouse.
2003: APME hires its first projects director.
2003: International Project offers help on covering local effects of world news.
2003: APME and foundation get first full-time executive director
2004: “Embedded readers,” editors often differ during Louisville convention.
2006: APME meets in New Orleans a year after Hurricane Katrina and honors two top local editors.
2006: Best ideas from Credibility Roundtables published in book, “Building Trust in the News; 101+ Good Ideas for Editors from Editors.”
2007: APME holds first conference in Washington, D.C.
2007: APME presents first Innovator of the Year Award.
2008: APME partners with University of Missouri J School for major survey about credibility of online journalism.
2008: APME partners with Taxpayers for Common Sense, leads national reporting effort on earmarks.

Sources: APME Archives, Robert Giles, Robert Haiman, David Ledford, Mark Mittelstadt, Carol Nunnelley.

APME2009.Com is the official website of the 2009 Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) Conference held at the Hyatt Hotel in St. Louis.  This site was used in keeping the world up-to-date regarding the events that transpired in the said conference.

This webpage contains relevant information about the 2009 APME confabulation which lasted from October 28 until October 30, 2009.

The APME 2009 commenced at the City Museum, with a wonderful exhibit and silent auction.  Bobby Jo Beul, president of APME and editor of the Arizona Daily Star delivered the welcome speech followed by president of APPM, Mike Fender of the Indianapolis Star.  Afterwhich, talks about New Direction for News from the editors of Detroit Free Press and Chicago Tribune were initiated.  Please feel free to browse through various pages of this site.

Should you wish to know more about APME as an organization, do click on the The APME tab.

To know more about APME’s elected Board President, go to Bob Heisse: Board President.  APME 2009 was a three-day event, the workshops and discussions done on these days were arranged by day, you may divert to First Day, Second Day and Third Day to find out what happened during each day.

On behalf of the entire Gazette Staff who brought you this website and coverage, thank you for reading and following our work. It was the best three days learning from some of the experts in the business.

The 2010 APME Conference was held Oct. 20 to 22, 2010 at The Poynter Institute, St. Petersburg, Fla.

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