The South Dakota Newspaper Association is accepting nominees for the 2012 SDNA Eagle Award.

Established in 2002, this award is given to recognize an individual, group or organization that has demonstrated outstanding efforts to protect and enhance openness in government.

“This award champions those who truly believe in open government,” said Maricarrol Kueter, chair of the SDNA First Amendment Committee and executive editor, Argus Leader Media, Sioux Falls. “We’ve honored judges, county commissioners, state officials and private citizens over the years. What they share is a belief that the activities of government at all levels should be open to the public.”

The free flow of information between government and the people, commonly referred to as “the people's right to know,” is central to ...

SDNA has initiated a state-wide grass-roots campaign to gain public support for timely mail delivery in South Dakota and to demonstrate that South Dakotans do not want the Postal Service to consolidate operations and reduce mail delivery service in our state.

Go to www.deliverthemail.org to learn more and to sign our online petition.

Two key dates for SDNA members to remember:

Thursday, Jan. 26:  Newspaper Day at the Capitol. Join us in Pierre for our annual luncheon with legislators. Plus, we will have various press conferences with state government officials and an update on legislation we are tracking in the 2012 session.

April 27-28: 130th annual SDNA Convention at Cedar Shore Resort at Oacoma. We will convene on Friday morning, April 27, and continue our convention through Saturday afternoon, April 28. Join us for inspiring, education programs, contest awards presentations and some fun. More details to come about the annual spring convention.

Native American high school students planning to attend college and interested in careers in the news media will learn firsthand about higher education opportunities and journalism during a week-long workshop next April at Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota’s Black Hills.

Journalists and educators from around the country will teach a condensed course about the fundamentals of journalism at the Crazy Horse Journalism Workshop, April 15-19. Students will attend for free and will be selected through a competitive application process. High school juniors and seniors, regardless of where they live, will be given preference over younger applicants.

Students, under the guidance of experienced mentors, will report and write articles, take photographs and produce multimedia projects that will be published online and printed ...