NEWS BRIEFS
Cleghorn Scholarship Endowment Established
     A scholarship endowment for nearly a quarter of a million dollars in honor of Reese Cleghorn, retiring dean of the Univeristy of Maryland School of Journalism, was announced during the college’s May 25 commencement excerises.
     More than 100 former students, friends, and colleagues contributed more than $225,000 in gift payments and pledges to establish the Reese Cleghorn Journalism Excellence Scholarships in honor of his vision and leadership. Scholarships based on academic merit will be awarded to outstanding undergraduate and graduate students.
     "This scholarship endowment will be a lasting tribute to Reese’s record of excellence here, and will provide much-needed financial assistance to deserving journalism students at Maryland," said former editor and now faculty member Gene Roberts at the commencement presentation.
     Cleghorn served as dean of the college for 19 years, improving the reputation of the school, creating new programs and attracting talented students and faculty. He plans to teach and write as a tenured professor at the college.

Free Press Journalism Fellowship Created
     The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has created a new fellowship for experienced reporters with an interest in free press issues.
     The one-year fellowships, the first of which will begin in September 2000, are funded by a grant from the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation. The fellow will take a leave from the newsroom, spend a year at RCFP learning and writing about free press issues, and return to the newsroom as a resource for other journalists and as an advocate for a free press.
     The fellowship pays a stipend of $38,000, plus fully paid health benefits. Applications for the fellowship are due no later than July 1, 2000. Call (703) 807-2100 for information.

Ad Spending Increases
     Newspaper advertising for the first quarter of 2000 showed an increase of 5.7% over the same period in the previous year, according to the Newspaper Association of America. Total spending was $10.8 billion.
      National advertising gained 18.7%, for a total of $1.8 billion, the largest quarterly increase since 1983. First-quarter numbers show retail up 0.5% to $4.6 billion and classified up 6.7% to $4.4 billion.
     Within classified, automotive was $1.1 billion, up 7.6% over the same period last year; real-estate advertising dipped 4% to $667 million; recruitment grew 11.7% to $2 billion; and all other classified ads gained 1.7% to $556 million.