Minnesota AP Broadcasters Awards Banquet

Former CBS and ABC news executive Av Westin is keynote speaker for the Minnesota Associated Press Broadcasters awards banquet Friday, April 1, at the Holiday Inn Select in Bloomington .

Westin was executive producer of ``ABC Evening News,'' ``World News Tonight'' and ``20/20,'' and created the ``ABC News Close-up'' documentary series. Before that, he spent 20 years at CBS News as a reporter, editor and producer-director.

The AP awards banquet is part of a two-day Midwest Journalism Conference Friday and Saturday, April 1-2, at the same hotel.

Other sponsors include the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Radio-Television News Directors Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, National Television Academy (Upper Midwest Emmy group), the National Press Photographers Association and the University of Minnesota Journalism Center.

The AP board/state meeting, open to any AP member, begins at noon on Friday. A bureau report, Minnesota broadcast survey and election of officers are on the agenda.

The awards banquet begins with a 6 p.m. joint reception with the NBNA. The banquet will follow at 7 p.m. The cost is $40 per person.

The first day of the conference includes AP-sponsored discussions of the impact of satellite radio on local radio and how to get your newsroom to post news on the Internet.

If you plan to stay at the Holiday Inn Select, please call the hotel directly at 952-854-9000 before March 9 to guarantee the conference room rate of $79.95 for a double room or $89.95 for a suite plus tax per night. Mention the NBNA or Midwest Journalism Conference when making your reservations. The Holiday Inn Select is located at Three Appletree Square just off of 34th Avenue South and I-494 in Bloomington , near the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America.

For more information on the conference and for registration information, check the Minnesota AP Web site at http://www.ap.org/minnesota, the NBNA Web site at http://www.nbna.info or the Minnesota SPJ Web site at http://www.mnspj.org, or call Broadcast Editor Jeff Baenen at 1-800-552-7250 or (612) 332-2727 or e-mail jbaenen@ap.org.