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ANF awards two scholarships to undergrads The Arizona Newspapers Foundation is pleased to announce that Carly Kennedy and Carolina Madrid are the two recipients of its 2009 scholarship program. Each of these budding journalist will be presented with a $1,000 award for tuition and will be introduced at the Arizona Newspapers Association 2009 Fall Convention and Annual Meeting on Oct. 10. Madrid is a senior at Arizona State University majoring in journalism with a minor in Spanish. She was a valued member of the Cronkite News Service team last semester and has interned with KNXV (ABC 15) and Barclay Communications. She is a former Devil’s Advocate and a current member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Kennedy is a senior at the University of Arizona, majoring in print journalism. She has worked her way up the ladder at the Arizona Daily Wildcat over the past few years. Kennedy has a deep interest in law and politics and dreams of winning a Pulitzer Prize. She states in her application, “As long as there is life to live, there is something to write about.” Both Kennedy and Madrid show remarkable talent and potential in the journalism field, and are a true asset to their communities. Generous donations from
JUNE 2009
Carolina Madrid and Carly Kennedy are the 2009 recipients of the ANF scholarship.
Western News&Info Inc., The Catholic Sun, the Arizona Capitol Times and The Navajo Times to the Arizona Newspapers Foundation scholarship fund have helped make these students’ dreams a reality. Last year’s scholarship recipients, Candace Begody and Maria Konopken both graduated with honors last month. Begody was one of nine students from across the country selected for a 13-day journalism study trip to Japan and South Korea as part of the annual Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition. The event is sponsored by the Scripps Howard Foundation.
Konopken has decided to continue her studies at Arizona State University and will be a graduate student majoring in communication advocacy studies this fall. It is only through YOUR generosity that ANF can continue providing scholarships to these talented students. It is never to early or too late to donate! Every $5 or $10 you contribute is tax-deductible and 100 percent of your contribution goes straight to the students. Even in these struggling times, ANF is committed to supporting journalism education in Arizona. Are you?
congratulations carly and carolina!
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June 2009 ■ ANAgrams
The Fountain Hills Times celebrates 35th anniversary The 35th anniversary of The Fountain Hills Times is being celebrated this week, and this special section commemorates the growth of the community and this newspaper. The Times’ first edition hit the newsstands on June 27, 1974 as a 16-page tabloid. Many issues in the early years contained as few as eight to 12 pages. In that first year, there were approximately 400 subscribers, and newsstand sales totaled 100 to 150 copies per week. The newsstand price was 15 cents. The community’s weekly newspaper has mirrored the community’s growth. Its circulation surges have paralleled surges in residential population with the biggest increase occurring in the mid-1980s when the town’s population doubled in a three-year period. The newspaper’s circulation has varied on average between 300 and 400 copies between the winter and summer months, with the primary difference being newsstand sales. The Times’ print circulation today is approximately 5,500. There are some 200 subscribers who receive the on-line version. The on-line edition
carries the same page content as the printed version. Newsstand sales account for 700 to 850 copies per week. The remainder of the circulation is to subscribers in Fountain Hills, the Verdes and other communities through the state and country. Broadsheet format In 1980, The Times went to the broadsheet or “metro” size format. The following year, the community was in the midst of the woes of a recession. Building had considerably slowed, businesses were suffering and thus the advertising revenues dropped sharply. The Times’ future was in question in 1981. The newspaper was creating a financial drain on the operation of its parent company, Western States Publishers, Inc. The company publishes the Fountain Hills/Verde Communities Telephone Directory and was doing contract work producing publications for a variety of firms across the country in those days. “We considered shutting down The Times in 1981 after seven years of losses,” said Publisher Alan Cruikcontinued on page 3
Editor Mike Scharnow, publisher Alan Cruikshank and office manager Kip Kirkendoll have seen a lot of growth in Fountain Hills and at the newspaper.
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FH Times turns 35 continued from page 2 shank. “It was nothing that I wanted, because The Times was my ‘baby.’ But we were facing the economic reality that it was a loser, and the rest of our operation was doing fine.” Obviously, steps were taken to help The Times survive. The staff was reduced, other cost-saving measures were implemented, and the newspaper operation recorded its first profit in 1982. It has continued to grow each year since. Staff size Today, The Times has 13 full-time employees, one part-time and seven carriers that deliver the newspaper on Wednesdays. Western States Publishers, Inc. also has two salespeople who sell advertising in its other publications. The Times was founded by Arthur S. Hewitt, Robert Lightfoot and L. Alan Cruikshank. Hewitt was the primary owner. A longtime newspaper man with experience with United Press International and Hearst Newspapers, he was managing editor of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner in the early 1960s. He later became president of LPE Advertising, which was the in-house advertising agency for original community developer McCulloch Properties, Inc. He retired from LPE Advertising in 1981 and guided The Times’ management for many years until his death in 1989. Hewitt acquired original publisher Lightfoot’s interest in the early years of the operation. Lightfoot had a large printing operation in Lake Havasu City and was publisher of the Lake Havasu City Herald. Cruikshank was editor from the start of the newspaper and became publisher in the late 1970s. He is the president of Western States Publishers and he acquired the remainder of the company’s stock from Hewitt’s widow. Michael Scharnow is the editor of The Times. He has been with the newspaper since 1983, first as a reporter and later as associate editor. He was named editor in 1994. Equipment advances When the newspaper was first produced in 1974, it was produced with two phototypesetters and a stat camera for reproducing photographs. Layout was done manually with Xacto knives and a waxing machine. We later upgraded the type-setting equipment and the stat camera with newer, updated models, but the tedious process of pasteup continued. In 1989, we made the change to desktop publishing. The production staff continued pasting up the layouts
until seven years ago when we went to full pagination. The computerized layout also made it easier to add full color to photo reproduction and advertisements. The newspaper is printed every Tuesday evening at Valley Newspapers, Inc. in north Phoenix. The printing company moved to a larger facility several years ago with a bigger press that has more color capabilities. Newspaper copies for distribution are delivered to Fountain Hills each Wednesday by around 4:30 a.m. for home deliveries and distribution on the newsstands. “Reaching our 35th anniversary is a major milestone for our operation,” Cruikshank said. “We thank our readers and advertisers for making it possible. It is our goal to continually improve our product, making it more readable for our subscribers and the best possible advertising vehicle for the businesses that use us. “We will continue to strive to provide our readers with the news of events and information on issues to let them make better decisions in our town elections. We’ll continue to tell you what park events are upcoming and what the different clubs are doing. “Our readers are most important to us. We want to hear from them whether it is questions on issues or wedding and birth announcements or club and organization news. “The Fountain Hills Times is here to serve the people of Fountain Hills and hopefully make it a better place in which to reside.”
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June 2009 ■ ANAgrams
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Arizona Capitol Times finds new way to reach readers Perri Collins Communications Manager Arizona Capitol Times is reaching out into the community in a very tangible way with “Morning Scoop”, a bimonthly breakfast forum on relevant topics affecting the future of Arizona. This week, Arizona Capitol Times held the first of six such workshops, “The Budget: What’s Next,” at Tom’s Restaurant & Tavern in downtown Phoenix, a staple of Arizona’s political scene since 1929. Guests were treated to a discussion on the state of Arizona’s budget with opposing viewpoints presented by state Reps. John Kavanaugh, R-Fountain Hills, and Minority Whip Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, moderated by Arizona Capitol Times House reporter Jim Small. The discussion touched not only on budget cuts, but also transportation, education, prison reform and tribal gaming. “We are taking the opportunity to network with our current subscribers and also attract audiences we don’t normally reach,” said vice president and publisher Ginger Lamb. The idea blossomed from a conversation between Mike Ratner, proprietor of Tom’s Restaurant & Tavern and advertising account executive Nadia Cerini Goldstein. In the past, local universities have held series of meetings and debates at Tom’s. “We wanted a new forum to engage readers,” Goldstein said. Ratner said the fit was only natural. “We’ve always been a political kind of place,” he said. Ratner has long encouraged political discussion and debate in his restaurant. “More people need to understand what’s going on in
the world around them,” Ratner said. “It’s important that everyone, number one: understand; and number two: participate.” Word of the event was spread using the newspaper’s Web site, Twitter feed, Facebook fan page, as well as in Arizona Capitol Times’ daily email bulletins and in house ads published in the weekly print edition. About 25 people attended the “Morning Scoop”. “We had a pretty decent turnout for our first one,” Goldstein said. “We asked ourselves, ‘What’s controversial right now? What different kinds of audiences can we bring in?’,” said Lamb. Senate President Bob Burns,
R-Peoria, and Minority Whip Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, were also invited to speak, but could not attend because the Arizona Supreme Court hearing regarding budget negotiations was in progress. Lamb said she would be thrilled to see more senators take part in future forums. The next “Morning Scoop” will focus on water issues in Arizona and will be held mid-August. Other than the cost of breakfast, the “Morning Scoop” is free to the public. Videos of the event will be available on the Times’ newly redesigned Web site, http://www.azcapitoltimes.com.
Minority Whip Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, Rep. John Kavanaugh, R-Fountain Hills look on as Arizona Capitol Times publisher and vice-president Ginger Lamb speaks to the crowd about Morning Scoop.
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ANA/APME 2009 Better Newspapers Contest entries deadline is Friday The deadline for entries in the ANA/APME 2009 Better Newspapers Contest is June 26, 2009. Are you getting your entries ready? Don’t get left out. Enter now! This year, the Arizona Newspapers Association has teamed up with the Associated Press Managing Editor for their annual contest. Also, most of the entries must be submitted online. Do you need help with the new online entry system? Questions about categories? Please contact Perri Collins, p.collins@ananews.com or (602) 261-7655 ext. 110. And don’t forget to mark your calendars for Oct. 10, 2009, when we will present the BNC awards, as well as awards for Story of the Year, Journalist of the Year, Photographer of the Year and Newspaper of the Year.
NNA/SNA partner to bring online coupon program to community newspapers Community newspaper Web sites will now have the opportunity to run manufacturers’ coupons online via a new partnership between LocalPoint Media (LPM) and Valassis, one of the nation’s leading media and marketing services companies. Manufacturer coupons will be available to consumers through Valassis’ redplum.com Web site. Under the terms of the program, newspaper Web sites will create a locally branded coupon section of their site to house the grocery coupons. They will also be able to sell local coupons and banner ads around the highly desirable grocery coupons. The program provides a revenue share based on a “pay per print” model. LPM has negotiated a volume-based revenue share that will provide newspaper Web sites with better terms than they could negotiate on their own. “This is another terrific opportunity to drive traffic to, and derive revenue from, community newspaper web sites,” said John Stevenson, NNA president, and publisher of the Randolph Leader in Roanoke, AL.
“Working together, NNA and SNA continue to demonstrate their deep commitment to a vital, vibrant and substantial segment of our industry that is all but ignored in major media reports.” The program, a partnership of SNA’s LocalPoint Media and Valassis’ Red Plum coupon network, will officially launch on or before July 1. Nearly 300 web sites have signed up for the initial launch. All community newspaper Web sites are invited to join the program. An informational conference call has been scheduled for June 25 at 11 a.m. To participate, contact LPM headquarters at (888) 486-2466 or sna@suburban-news.org. SNA is a trade association representing more than 2,000 daily and weekly community newspapers in the United States and Canada. LocalPoint Media is a new national network managed by SNA’s for-profit subsidiary. For more information, visit SNA at www.suburban-news.org and LocalPoint Media national advertising network at www.localpointmedia.com.
IP Relay Service and fraudulent calls The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has received informal complaints that people without disabilities, who are posing as deaf or hard of hearing consumers, are misusing an Internet based telecommunications relay service called “IP Relay” to perpetuate fraudulent business transactions, often by using stolen or fake credit cards. The FCC has mandated effective November 12 that all users of relay services must have their own 10 digit number on file with at least one provider. This means a relay service cannot place a call unless the originator has a registered phone number. If you receive a call that you believe is fraudulent you should report the phone number to the relay service continued on page 6
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Navajo Times publisher named Zenger recipient The University of Arizona School of Journalism and the Arizona Newspapers Foundation have named Tom Arviso Jr. the 2009 winner of the John Peter and Anna Catherine Zenger Award. Arviso is the chief executive officer of the Navajo Times Publishing Company, Inc. and the publisher of the Navajo Times newspaper in Window Rock, Ariz. He is a staunch advocate for Freedom of the Press issues and has had numerous discussions with tribal government leaders and officials over editorial control and censorship. Arviso is a former board vice president and treasurer of the Native American Journalists Association’s Board of Directors and is currently a member of the Arizona Newspapers Association’s Board of Directors. In 1997, NAJA awarded Arviso its prestigious Wassaja Award for “extraordinary service to Native journalism.” A year later, the Arizona Newspapers Association honored Arviso with the Freedom of Information Award. Arviso received a John S. Knight Fellowship in Journalism in 2000-2001 and studied newspaper management at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. A member of the Navajo Nation, Arviso is the first Native American to have been selected for a Knight Fellowship. For more than 50 years, the Zenger Award has
honored people who have made extraordinary contributions to freedom of the press and the people’s right to know. “The entire journalistic community is well aware of Tom’s advocacy for free press issues,” said Jacqueline Sharkey, director of the UA School of Journalism. “His work in this area demonstrates why a free press is just as important now as it was 200 years ago when the founders of this country enshrined it in the Bill of Rights.” The award will be presented at the Arizona Newspapers Association annual meeting and convention on Saturday, Oct. 10, in Phoenix. Arviso will offer the keynote address and plans to speak to classes in the UA School of Journalism. The Zenger Award is named for a husband and wife team of pioneering journalists. John Peter Zenger was editor of the New York Weekly Journal in 1734 when he was jailed by British colonial authorities on charges of seditious libel. He had criticized the corrupt administration of New York’s governor, William Cosby. While Zenger was imprisoned, his wife, Anna Catherine Zenger, continued to publish the newspaper. Zenger’s subsequent trial and acquittal is considered a landmark case in the history of freedom of the press, helping to lay the foundation for the First Amendment.
IP Relay Service and fraudulent calls continued from page 5 as well as the FCC. If you do not have a call screening option on your telephone you may still file a report by the date and time the call was received. These will be traceable. Meanwhile, don’t hang up. Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) does not permit merchants to treat persons with a hearing or speech disability differently than they treat others. Therefore, if you accept telephone orders from the general public, you cannot refuse to accept them from persons with hearing or speech disabilities using TRS. This does not mean that you must accept any ad you wouldn’t normally accept via telephone such as the well known pet ads, etc. If you suspect fraud or have been defrauded, contact the FTC by phone at 877-FTC-HELP or online at http://www.ftp.gov.
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Track, measure, adapt Mark Briggs Journalism 2.0 Can marketing and analytics save journalism? Not on their own, of course. But we live in a world where the amount of content produced has increased exponentially, yet we still each have just two eyes, two ears and one mouth. So journalism needs to find new benefits from new marketing strategies and measurement tactics. This type of marketing is not advertising, or slogans, or logos. And this type of measurement isn’t counting bylines for a performance review. Digital publishers need to establish effective publishing goals and be consistent in their pursuit of those goals. Quality content published in some significant quantity and engineered to be easily found in search engines is a recipe for a successful digital publishing business. “When a person conducts a search, you are competing against nine other results on that first result page,” Monica Wright wrote on the Search Engine Journal Web site. “Your title tag and description are your first impression to attract potential audience. You can capture new online readership by setting yourself apart with useful and engaging tags. “But above all - good writing still prevails. Quality, relevant, in-depth content will not only attract the bots, but will capture new audience as well.” In order to build your audience online, you need to analyze what you publish, what your readers like and don’t like, and then do more of what they like. You also need to make sure that your content, especially that which your current readers have shown interest in, can be found by new audiences through search and shared through social media tools. As newsrooms have taken on publishing new forms of content – blogs, video, breaking news updates - to new platforms - email, mobile, Twitter – new structures need to be put in place. Management guru Peter Drucker said years ago that “what gets measured gets managed.” In recent years, many have improved on that quote and say “what gets measured gets done.” So newsrooms now track and measure everything they do. At the News-Sentinel in Knoxville, for example, there is a detailed chart with everyone’s name listed down the left-most column and a long list of skills listed across the top. When someone can prove to a manager that he or she has mastered a new skill,
the proper box is checked or, in some cases, a smiley face sticker is used to represent the progress. Tom Chester, news operations manager at the News-Sentinel, begins each weekday with a stand-up meeting in the newsroom. The first item on the agenda is a detailed report of content published and traffic generated the previous day. “We track updates on all platforms: web, mobile, email,” Chester said. “We started with almost nothing and now we’re up to about 500 updates per week.” If newsroom leaders had simply announced at a staff meeting the need to learn new skills and publish more frequently to more platforms, little progress would have been made. Instead, the formerly printcentric newsroom – which has also published 3,000 videos since 2006 – has the structure in place to measure and manage the new content, the newsroom was able to show significant progress and build upon its successes. Developing a culture and processes to track and measure your work product is essential to competing in this data-driven world. Traditional journalists may cringe at the idea that their artful storytelling or their dogged investigations can be reduced to a “work product,” but nearly all digital publishers are building their business on the inventory of content produced, either by journalists or other writers, bloggers or photographers. So producing that product on a regular schedule is vital to a functioning business. And without the business, there are no paychecks. This reality applies to mainstream news companies and independent journalism startups. Track. Measure. Adapt. It’s the way the Web works.
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Yahoo launches display ads service for small, medium marketers Michael Learmonth Advertising Age Klaussner Home Furnishings, a 2,000-employee regional furniture manufacturer and retailer in Asheboro, N.C., doesn’t exactly fit the profile of a typical Yahoo advertiser. But Klaussner is exactly the kind of advertiser Yahoo wants to convert to display with a self-service platform targeted at small and midsize local marketers. This week Yahoo rolls out the first version of its self-serve ad product, My Display Ads, a bid to win over local advertisers and convert search advertisers to display. Yahoo isn’t the first to offer self-service display; Google, MySpace and Facebook have all rolled out similar self-serve display ad systems. AOL’s Ad.com is developing its own self-serve system that new CEO Tim Armstrong wants pushed out the door. But with its scale and premium display properties, Yahoo is applying some heat to this space, as it hopes to convert search advertisers -- or businesses that haven’t done any online advertising -- to display. “This just opens up access to small advertisers, which we think is important to the overall market,” said Yahoo Sales Senior VP Joanne Bradford. It’s a bit of a free-for-all in the local ad market right now, with both automotive and real estate crippled, and the incumbent media, TV, radio, newspapers and yellow pages all struggling with their own compromised business models. But that doesn’t change that it’s a $13.6 billion market that someone is going to sort out. “The opportunity here is to get more share out of the local ad marketplace,” said Curt Hecht, president of VivaKi Nerve Center, a unit of Publicis. “Google got there first, but there’s an opportunity to make the self-service side of media a little easier.” Yahoo partnered with Seattle-based start-up AdReady, which provides creative tools for advertisers to develop their own ads, a bit like what Spot Runner tried to do for the local TV market. Advertisers can pick creative off the shelf from more than 800 display ad templates -- including dancing cellphones, ads proclaiming “Amazing Values” or countdown clocks -- or bring their own. Ads can be purchased on a cost-per-thousand impression basis or as part of a cost-per-click auction. The ad inventory fed into the system includes both Yahoo-owned and network properties through Yahoo’s
Right Media exchange. Klaussner had never bought an online ad until it tried My Display Ads as part of a Yahoo pilot in the spring. For its Memorial Day sale, in addition to its normal TV and newspaper inserts, Klaussner blanketed the Greensboro DMA with online display ads. Foot traffic turned out, well, pretty good. So Klaussner is a convert, and is increasing its spend for its next sale and adding the Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte markets to the next campaign, which it would not have done if it meant buying TV and newspaper advertising there. “We use Yahoo for our bigger advertisers; it’s something we could never do in the past with small folks,” said Chris Whitesell, director at Klaussner’s digital shop, Spider Digital. “It’s a great opportunity, and we’re going to use it for another client in High Point [N.C.]” The second type of advertisers Yahoo hopes to win over are those that use search, and thus are accustomed to creating self-serve advertising. The hope is they might want to try display either instead of or in conjunction with search advertising. “Anybody can run a search campaign, but not anybody can run a display campaign,” said Citibank analyst Mark Mahaney. “It’s a natural product offering by Yahoo.” But it’s not just local advertisers. Mr. Hecht said he thinks some of the bigger search-advertising shops will avail themselves of display, as will national advertisers that want to do something specific in a local market, or even ad networks looking for targeted Yahoo-quality inventory. It also gives Yahoo a performance-ad product besides search. “Performance inventory is such a dominant force of online advertising right now,” said David Berkowitz, director-emerging media at 360i. “The recession is only enabling that further with the need for accountability.” My Display Ads has been in development for some time, and the effort pre-dates CEO Carol Bartz and Ms. Bradford. Indeed, it’s the first significant move into a new market for Yahoo since Ms. Bartz arrived in January, and the first news on display, Yahoo’s core business. Still, observers cautioned not to read too much into Yahoo’s local play. “There are more systemic issues they need to resolve,” said Quentin George, chief digital officer for Mediabrands. “This might give them something incremental, but it’s not going to have that big an effect.”
Challenges when dealing with high def video les Kevin Slimp Institute of Newspaper Technology kevin@kevinslimp.com
Charles,
a community newspaper designer in Kentucky, just sent a question via Facebook asking how to convert files from his Sony camcorder to a format he could use in Adobe Premier CS3, an application used to edit videos on both Macs and PCs. It was a good time for Charles to ask that question because I recently faced a similar challenge after purchasing a Hitachi high definition (HD) Blu-ray camcorder. Let me tell you about my problem, Charles. The Hitachi would record in several formats, depending on the type of disk being recorded on. For instance, when using a DVD, the camcorder would record a Quicktime file. Fortunately these files are compatible with just about every video editing application. However, the resolution (or definition, as it is referred to in the video world) isn’t nearly as sharp as the high definition I get when recording on a BluRay disk. Plus, because the capacity of a Blu-ray
disk is so high, I could record for much longer periods of time without having to change disks. OK. Back to Charles’ question. Sony camcorders generally use the AVCHD format for recording HD videos. If that’s not confusing enough, the file extension (the letters at the end of the file name) is generally m2ts after the files are copied to a computer. The first obstacle I faced was copying the video files to my computer from the camcorder. After using my Hitachi the first time, I was able to simply download the files from the camcorder Blu-ray disk to my Macbook Pro’s hard drive. However, when I tried to do this on my iMac, I received an error message. Eventually it dawned on me that my Macbook was loaded with the 10.5 (Leopard) operating system, while the iMac was loaded with 10.4 (Tiger). Fortunately, I purchased the Leopard upgrade several months ago and never took the time to install it. After upgrading the iMac to Leopard, I was able to download the m2ts files. After downloading the files, I quickly learned that iMovie 08 wouldn’t import m2ts files. You might be surprised to learn that I don’t keep every version of every application on my computer. A quick trip to
Space still remains for Institute of Newspaper Technology Event Many of you know that Kevin directs a training program for newspaper designers, publishers and I.T. related staff called the Institute of Newspaper Technology. Registrations for the October 15-17, 2009 session have been arriving from all over North America. Classes topics include InDesign, scripting, photo editing, video production for Web sites, Flash, Illustrator, InCopy, Adobe Bridge, digital photography, audio slideshow creation, fonts, editing photos in camera raw, Photoshop, font management and more. Basic and advanced classes are offered. Instructors include Lisa Griffin, Russell Viers, Lesa Snider, Jay Nelson, Rob Heller and Kevin Slimp. Guest speakers will also be on hand. For more information, visit newspaperinstitute.com.
Handbrake is an open source (free) utility that converts video les from one format to another.
Google and I learned that these files were compatible with iMovie 09, but not iMovie 08. At this point, I was ready to purchase an AVCHD converter I found online for $39. Then it dawned on me, “I wonder if Adobe Premier Pro will import these files?” Sure enough, using the latest version of Premier Pro (CS4), I was able to import the freshly downloaded m2ts files. Now for a side note: I have most of the professional video editing applications installed on my computer. Premier Pro and Final Cut are both in my Applications folder. However, for most videos I find it’s a lot faster to edit and export movies from iMovie (or Sony Vegas, if I’m working on a PC). To complicate matters even more, I prefer to work in iMovie 06. In later versions of iMovie, many of the tools I like to use were removed to make it more user-friendly to amateur video editors. I was just about ready to throw in the towel and spend $39 for the converter when I decided to do one last search online for alternatives. Sure enough, I found several folks around the world facing the same dilemma. A recent post indicated that the latest (9.3) version of Handbrake would convert m2ts files to AVI. AVI is a file format commonly used on PCs. If you use a Flip camcorder, you’re probably familiar with AVI files. A little about Handbrake. Hand-
brake is an open source (translated “free”) application used to convert files from one format to another. It’s often used to convert files from DVDs into formats that can be used on an iPod or MP3 player. Fortunately for me, Handbrake 9.3 converts m2ts files to AVI. I faced one last obstacle. Quicktime doesn’t play AVI video without a little help. Basically this means iMovie wouldn’t play the AVI videos. There are several free utilities which can be installed to give Quicktime AVI compatibility. I’ve found Perian to be dependable in the past, so I downloaded the install file from perian.org and within a couple of minutes was able to import and view the AVI files in iMovie. Once that was done, I could use the videos like I would any other Quicktime video in iMovie. Apparently, Charles and I aren’t the only newspaper techies who have faced this dilemma. And like so many times before, I learned that my problem could be solved without spending a dime. It just took a little (OK, maybe a lot) of investigation. You may be asking yourself, “Why did Kevin buy a Blu-ray camcorder instead of a HD camcorder with a hard drive?” I’ll answer that in a future column titled, “Paying more attention to the fine print when purchasing a camcorder.” For more information on Handbrake, visit handbrake.fr. Perian can be downloaded from perian.org.
OMB redactions found to exceed FOIA exemptions
Much of the information the Office of Management and Budget refused to give a public watchdog group as requested must be released because it is not covered by FOIA exemptions, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled last week. In a puzzling twist, given the majority of the panel’s expressed respect for the public’s right to know, the court redacted large portions of its own opinion. The reason, the court said, was to avoid publicizing information that had not yet been disclosed, to allow OMB to appeal the decision. The advocacy group, Public Citizen, had requested documents regarding which federal agencies were allowed to submit materials to Congress without clearance from OMB. The district court had allowed OMB to release redacted versions of 14 documents, under Exemption 2 to FOIA, which protects “predominantly internal” documents. The appellate court, after inspecting the unredacted documents, said the fact that the documents were intended for internal use did not exempt them from FOIA. If they were exempt, the court reasoned, it would allow agencies to hide almost anything by marking it “for internal use only.” In fact, the court said: “[T]he documents at issue here lie at the core of what FOIA seeks to expose to public scrutiny. They explain how a powerful agency performing a central role in the functioning of the federal government carries out its responsibilities and interacts with other government agencies.”
Upcoming education opportunities
Western Classified Advertising Association has released the program for its annual sales conference, Sept. 1316 in Las Vegas. This year’s program and the networking experience make the event a valuable consideration for classified and online-revenue executives. “It’s not your grandmother’s classified association,” says Rebecca Bradner, WCAA president and Classified Advertising Director at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Seminar sessions will include innovation and technology, partnerships and revenue sharing, audience-based selling, and advertiser retention. As have other affiliated organizations, WCAA carefully weighed the potential of a live conference against the tough economy and decided to proceed. “This is the only place where classified and online folks can brainstorm together in-person this year”, she said. Ensuring relevance and value was key in their planning. “Attendees will go back to their organizations ready to implement revenue generating programs. This conference is not about theory, it’s about making the cash registers ring again”. Bradner says, “This year’s theme, ‘Survivor Classified’ is very appropriate for our current business conditions. But we’ll guarantee that everyone who attends will walk away with enough survival techniques to deliver high ROI on their investment”. The $375 fee for the conference includes WCAA membership renewal, meals and social events. For information visit www.wcaa.info.
Education is at your fingertips! See a list of all webinars and events on our Web site:
www.ananews.com/calendar
ANA JobBank Director of Advertising/Marketing. River City Newspapers, publisher of a daily newspaper Today’s News-Herald in Lake Havasu City, AZ, the weekly Parker Pioneer, two direct mail publications and other specialty publications and web sites, seeks innovative and experienced leader to fill the position of Director of Advertising and Marketing. The Director of Advertising and Marketing directs a dozen-person staff to continuously improve its market dominance of display and classified advertising in the newspapers and expand its reach through niche publications and multi-media sales. The successful candidate will have significant experience in advertising management, the ability to set standards and reach departmental goals and a flair for managing multiple projects simultaneously. This position is a key piece of the company’s management team. EEOE, NSE. Please send cover letter and resume to : Mike Quinn, President; River City Newspapers, LLC; 2225 W. Acoma Blvd., Lake Havasu City, AZ 86406 or email to cwalker@havasunews.com.
Search job listings and resources on our Web site:
www.ananews.com/jobbank
ANAgrams ■ June 2009
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Get aware with Google Alerts sites every day. All you need to do to get started is surf over to http://google.com/alerts, fill out the four-question form and sit back and wait. Make your search terms as specific as possible and use quotes. You can set up multiple alerts for variations of a word or a name. If you want to know what blogs or Web sites are saying about you or your company, I highly recommend signing Perri Collins up for Google Alerts. Use it to monitorCommunications Manager ing a developing news story, get the latest information on a celebrity or sports team In order for you to know what and find out where you or your company people in the social media scene are is cited or quoted saying about you, you can join every You can create up to 1000 alerts. All you single social network out there. Or need to sign up is a valid email address. you can sign up for Google Alerts. You don’t need a Google account, it Google Alerts is a service that doesn’t cost anything and the email upGoogle provides that will email dates will help keep you in the loop. you when certain keywords appear Want your news site to be included in online. For example, I have Google Google Alerts searches? Alerts set up to notify me every time There are two requirements: First, it encounters the words “Arizona Google must consider your site or blog Newspapers Association” on the In- newsworthy and include it in its index as ternet. I receive an email at the end such, and secondly, that your site ranks in of each day with a comprehensive the top ten for the term when they conduct list of links to the Web pages where a search that day. my search term appears. If Google is not already crawling Although Google doesn’t index your news site, you can submit a request every single page on the internet, it’s with your URL and they will review it for spiders crawl through millions of inclusion.
Contact ANA Staff Executive Director Paula Casey............... Ext. 102 p.casey@ananews.com Communications Mgr. Perri Collins............... Ext. 110 p.collins@ananews.com Accounting Assistant Liisa Straub................ Ext. 105 l.straub@ananews.com Media Buyer Cindy Meaux............. Ext. 112 c.meaux@ananews.com Network Ad MGR. Sharon Schwartz....... Ext. 108 s.schwartz@ananews.com Network Sales Rep. Don Ullmann............. Ext. 111 d.ullmann@ananews.com
2008-2009 ANA/Ad Services Board of Directors President Dick Larson, Western News&Info, Inc. One-Year Dir./Daily First Vice President Teri Hayt, Arizona Daily Star Two-Year Dir./At-large Second Vice President Ginger Lamb, Arizona Capitol Times Two-Year Dir./Non-Daily Third Vice President Don Rowley, Arizona Daily Sun Two-Year Dir./Daily Secretary/Treasurer Rick Schneider, Eastern Arizona Courier One-Year Dir./Non-Daily
Events Calendar June 30, 2009 • DEADLINE for BNC entries July 9, 2009 • First Amendment Coalition meeting, Phoenix October 10, 2009 • ANA 2009 Annual Meeting and Fall Convention, Phoenix October 15-17, 2009 • Newspaper Institute, Knoxville, Tenn. November 12, 2009 • Volunteers needed for Mississippi Press Assoc. contest judging, Phoenix November 14-15, 2009 • PodCampAZ, Tempe
STAY in touch with ANA on the Web! Facebook: www.facebook.com/group.php ?gid=30800632683
Directors Tom Arviso, Navajo Times Two-Year Director/Non-Daily
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com /photos/ananewsflash
Nicole Carroll, The Arizona Republic Two-Year Director/Daily
MySpace: www.myspace.com/ananews
Pam Miller, The Verde Independent Two-Year Dir./At-large John Naughton, Payson Roundup One-Year Dir./Non-Daily Jody VandenHeuvel, East Valley Tribune One-Year Dir./Daily Pam Mox, Green Valley News and Sun Past President
Twitter: twitter.com/ananewsflash YouTube: youtube.com/ananewsflash
ANAgrams is an official publication of the Arizona Newspapers Association 1001 N. Central Ave., Suite 670 Phoenix, AZ 85004