Arkansas Publisher Weekly: Month 29, 2020

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Members urged to continue opposition to Issue 3 ahead of Election Day

Guest Column:

Lessons from other advertising sources

By John Foust

Arkansas Press Association

Publisher Weekly Vol. 15 | No. 44 | Thursday, October 29, 2020 | Serving Press and State Since 1873

Arkansas Press Women finds time to ‘remodel’ during pandemic As Arkansas Press Women awaits its overdue place in the national spotlight, the coronavirus pandemic has presented opportunity in spite of the obstacles.

APW was set to host the National Federation of Press Women in Little Rock this year for the first time in more than three decades until health and safety concerns associated with COVID-19 forced the cancellation of an in-person national conference. Though APW leaders were disappointed, they’re making plans now to host the NFPW in North Little Rock in 2021. In the meantime, APW has established a more robust digital presence and is working to meet the needs of its members, said APW President Kristin Higgins.

APW members took time during the pandemic to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, Higgins said.

Because so many more events and activities were moved online, APW created a new website and retooled its logo. APW “took time to remodel,” as it states in its newsletter.

“We looked at some of our weaknesses and figured out how we can make the best of this pandemic time to make things better,” Higgins said. “Having a new website increases our capabilities so that with what we have now, we can post videos and more links to workshops that can help our members.”

NFPW made the decision to cancel the 2020 in-person convention in April, just two months before it was scheduled. That left APW and NFPW with little time to develop a plan to go online. Higgins said the organizations didn’t have “the time or capacity” to move forward with a virtual program.

Kristin Higgins

Planning for 2021 is ongoing, and APW. as hosts of the national convention, will be able to accommodate both in-person and virtual options.

Continued on Page 2

Free, virtual ArkLaMiss conference on tap for next week The 2020 ArkLaMiss Audience Development and Marketing Conference is coming up Thursday, Nov. 5, and Friday, Nov. 6, and Arkansas Press Association members are encouraged to register for the event now. For the first time ever, ArkLaMiss will be presented in a virtual

format, free of charge.

Any APA member may register for the conference designed to help publishers, circulation directors, audience development professionals and others gain insights into growing readership and revenue for their newspapers. The

conference is expected to be engaging and interactive, and popular features like the Hot Ideas Exchange and Publishers Roundtable remain a part of the virtual convention.

This year’s keynote speaker is Peter W. Wagner. Wagner publishes the Continued on Page 2

Arkansas Press Women finds time to Free, virtual ‘remodel’ during pandemic ArkLaMiss conference on “We’re essentially planning two Higgins was the Benton County beat conferences in one,” she said, though at the Morning News. The tap for next week members’ preference is to meet in person. reporter Rogers native and University of Arkansas Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

N’West Iowa Review and several other community weekly newspapers in Iowa.

He’s presented at more than 1,000 conferences across the country about improving sales and growing profitability.

His monthly columns are published in Arkansas Publisher Weekly.

“We are ready to see our friends again, but we’re wanting to be as safe as possible.”

APW hosted its annual awards event online and will host its 2020 fall conference online as well, Higgins said. Since almost all professional development now is handled virtually, she said the organization will use its new digital platform to ramp up its online training as well.

graduate relocated to central Arkansas after that, where she was a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. In 2012, Higgins joined the Public Policy Center at the University of Arkansas System

Higgins cited professional development opportunities as a key reason why journalism and communications professionals should join.

ArkLaMiss is sponsored by the Arkansas Press Association, the Mississippi Press Association, the Alabama Press Association and the Tennessee Press Association.

To register for the free conference, visit ArkLaMissConference.wordpress.com.

INDUSTRY QUOTE “This is what really happened, reported by a free press to a free people. It is the raw material of history; it is the story of our own times.”

-Henry Steel Commager Arkansas Publisher Weekly

“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of professional development for people in the media profession, but we’re still an affordable organization and one that people can get involved in without spending a lot of money and effort. They can participate here at home,” she said.

APW is open to both female and male professional communicators in the state who work in the fields or print and broadcast journalism but also serve in public relations, education and government communications roles. APW was established in 1949.

Higgins said APW members enjoy the organization because members can choose for themselves what work they’d like to enter in the group’s annual communications competition rather than rely on a newsroom manager to do so.

Also, she said members may decide for themselves their level of involvement with the group, though she joked that she wasn’t so lucky when she first joined APW. “Debbie Miller was editor of the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas in Bentonville and she was my first editor right after college,“ Higgins said. “She was long involved in Arkansas Press Women, and she said ‘You’re going to join. You’re going to get involved.’ And I’m so glad she did that, because having an editor support your involvement in an organization, especially right after college, can make a difference.”

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Division of Agriculture. She specializes there in public education and is a leading expert on Arkansas ballot issues.

She’s the editor and author of the Public Policy Center’s voter guide, published before each general election.

“I see it as part of my job to provide voters with education year-round on constitutional amendments,” Higgins said.

She’s also worked on research projects about the state’s beef industry, cottage food laws and water quality, among other topics.

Incidentally, the president of APW when Higgins took her latest job was the head of communications for the UA Division of Agriculture.

Higgins said she looks to both former and future leaders of the organization to help shape it moving forward.

“There are so many wonderful women who have come before me and I still rely on them to help guide the future of APW,” she said.

To visit APW’s redesigned website, go to ArkansasPressWomen.org

October 29, 2020

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Members urged to continue opposition to Issue 3 ahead of Election Day With Election Day just five days away, the Arkansas Press Association encourages APA members to continue publishing house ads and consider writing columns and editorials in opposition to Issue 3.

The ballot measure referred to voters by the General Assembly would change the process for qualifying new constitutional amendments and initiated acts for the ballot. Importantly for newspapers, Issue 3 would change the Arkansas Constitution to eliminate the requirement that proposed ballot measures be published at least six times in a newspaper in each county.

Instead, Issue 3 would allow legislators to make changes to the publication requirement at any time, and for any reason.

“Newspapers in Arkansas serve an essential role as a clearinghouse for unbiased, impartial, complete and independent information,” said Ashley Wimberley, APA executive director. “Issue 3 strikes a blow to transparency and to the core mission of our newspapers. The best voter is the educated voter, and Issue 3 would leave voters without the knowledge they need to make good decisions at the polls.”

APA has offered two different house ads for newspapers to publish as they see fit. A newer one, which emphasizes how voters only see a few words of any ballot measure at the polling place, was sent to newspapers on Oct. 23. Newspapers also should have received a guest column opposing Issue 3 that same day.

To request those resources again, or if APA members have questions, contact Wimberley at ashley@arkansaspress.org

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Issue 3 itself is more than 1,200 words. At the polls, voters get to see just 45 of them.

Voters deserve to know everything about a ballot measure before they go to the polls.

The Arkansas constitution currently protects your right to know. Issue 3 would invite confusion and undermine your rights.

If Issue 3 passes, what fails is the transparency and voter protection enshrined in our constitution.

VOTE NO

ON ISSUE 3 Early voting going on now • Election Day is November 3

This newspaper supports your right to know.

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October 29, 2020

Steyer, Piper join Mountaineer Echo as new editors The Mountaineer Echo in Flippin has named Tamara Styer and Robert Piper as its new managing editors. With the announcement of the new editors, the Marion County newspaper has also undergone a redesign.

“It will be a work in progress, but we hope to become a dynamic and engaging source of news and features for Marion County and the surrounding areas,” Styer said in the newspaper’s announcement of her hiring.

Styer has two decades of newspaper experience as a reporter, editor, advertising salesperson and graphic designer. She was also publisher of a magazine in Branson, Missouri, along with Piper. She is a graduate of YellvilleSummit High School, and her first job was at the Mountaineer Echo.

Piper is an army veteran who has worked in the music industry, and he specializes in marketing, graphic design and photography, the newspaper stated.

“We are excited to have Tamara and Piper on board to breathe some fresh air into the Echo. Tamara was a great asset to the newspaper and the community even when

Tamara Styer and Robert Piper

she worked for us during her high school years,” said Dale Estes, who owns and publishes the newspaper with his wife, Jane.

“Jane and I are certain that her enthusiasm and professionalism will reflect in the

product she puts out for us,” Estes was quoted as saying. “We will still take an active role in major decisions affecting the paper, but will trust Tamara and Piper to point the company in the right direction in order to grow market share in print, online and through social media.”

Helena World moves back into original namesake building The offices of the Helena World have relocated to the building originally designed for the paper by architect John Hayes Pritchard and constructed in 1961. The structure at 417 York St. in Helena was the site of the newspaper for a short time but had not been used as a newspaper building for quite some time.

Newspaper owners Chuck Davis and Andrew Bagley moved the newspaper’s

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

operations to the site earlier this month after spending 13 months in a 200-squarefoot space at another location.

“Returning the Helena World to this facility reflects our belief that Phillips County is a good place to do business and the future is bright for this publication,” said Davis in the newspaper’s announcement of the move. “Andrew and I will continue our efforts to make this newspaper the best

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it can be.”

Davis and Bagley purchased the World from GateHouse Media last year.

Bagley said they would attempt to have the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places since it’s an example of mid-century architecture and the building and newspaper are important to downtown Helena and the community.

October 29, 2020

Podcast focuses on newspapers’ fascination with ghosts It’s spooky season, and even journalism historians are getting in on the Halloween fun. Teri Finneman, one of the hosts of the Journalism History Podcast, interviewed a historian about “American newspapers’ fascination with ghosts dating back to the 1800s” Finneman talked with media historian Paulette Kilmer, a University of Toledo professor and author of a chapter on the mention of ghosts in crime stories printed in the New York Times in the late 1800s.

a few lines and other times it’d be nearly a page. Sometimes, it would read just like a news article. Other times, the editors would have fun and make puns.“ The 33-minute podcast is available at https://journalismhistorypodcast. podbean.com/e/bonus-finding-ghosts-innewspapers/

Finneman, a journalism professor at the University of Kansas, was a featured speaker at the 2019 Arkansas Press Association Convention. She’s currently working on an oral history project documenting newspaper coverage of COVID-19 in the Heartland.

Kilmer said she thought people have long been intrigued by ghosts because the thought of ghosts means that there’s life beyond the grave. Ghosts are prevalent in society, whether on cereal boxes, in songs or movies and particularly on Halloween.

Many ghost stories “contain universal lessons that help us become better people if we listen,” she said.

In her research, she discovered multiple instances of ghost stories.

“So the ghosts were kind of everywhere in the newspaper in that time,” in the late 19th century, she said. “And they would just emerge, and sometimes it would be

St. Louis Post-Dispatch June 2, 1889 newspapers.

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October 29, 2020

Guest Column: Lessons from other advertising sources

By John Foust As a co-founder of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher was focused on innovation and efficiency. According to legend, he once took his executive team to the Indianapolis 500 to study the pit crews. He wanted to see if some of their techniques could help Southwest’s ground crews reduce turnaround times at the gates.

Kelleher knew there was a lot to learn from outside sources. It’s the same in the newspaper industry. For example, let’s take a look at what can be learned from some other advertising vehicles.

1. Billboards: An outdoor sign has to grab attention immediately. As drivers pass by at highway speeds, it has one shot to attract readership. As a result, the words should be few (aim for eight words or less) and bold. And the graphic element should be big and simple.

Like billboards, newspaper ads should be easy to read at a glance.

2. Television/video: With the one-two punch of sight and sound, TV is tailormade for the human side of storytelling.

Customer testimonials are especially effective here. Newspaper advertisers can follow that example by featuring

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

testimonials in online as well as print editions. That would strengthen campaign continuity.

3. Magazines: One of the most striking lessons from magazines is the way they use color. In addition to color photographs and illustrations, they usually feature a high percentage of four-color and spot color ads. In fact, color seems to be the price of admission to be noticed in many magazines.

4. Radio: It’s all about the right voice. If the tone, enunciation and pacing are not clear, the message will be lost. In the newspaper business, this translates to typography – which has been called “the voice of print.” If the type is difficult to read, even the most brilliantly written copy will be wasted.

5. Yellow Pages: The strength of Yellow Page advertising is in its directness and simplicity. There’s usually no doubt about what Company XYZ does, because the book is categorized by business type.

And consumers don’t have to go on a scavenger hunt to find phone numbers.

After all, it’s a phone directory.

strive for this kind of clarity.

6. Point-of Purchase: Store displays are strategically placed to generate as much attention as possible. How many times have you gone into a store to buy Product A and ended up buying product B, too – because an aisle display caught your eye? And don’t forget impulse items, like candy bars and mints at the checkout counter.

Urgency is a key factor in point-ofpurchase. Newspaper advertisers can establish similar urgency with timesensitive sales and product scarcity (“Only six new homes left”).

7. Direct mail: “Target audience” is the key phrase here. A mail campaign can aim messages at accountants, real estate brokers, or restaurant owners.

While newspapers can’t target readers to that degree, they can strive to address ads to certain demographic groups in copy themes. And many can use zoned coverage to reach specific geographic areas. © Copyright 2020 by John Foust. All Rights Reserved.

Newspaper advertisers would be wise to

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October 29, 2020