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APA ad conference registration deadline is March 6
Guest Column:
Check in regularly with readers By Jim Pumarlo
Arkansas Press Association
Publisher Weekly Vol. 15 | No. 8 | Thursday, February 20, 2020 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
Rector fifth grader launches new school newspaper Before Adam Holmes and Top School Stories Today, Rector fifth graders had to rely on school bus gossip and questionable rumors to get the straight facts about their elementary school like “What’s for lunch?” and “When’s the next assembly?”
students, and it’s a fun way to share his passion.” Top School Stories Today regularly features 10 to 11 tidbits of valuable information per printing. According to Holmes, regular coverage includes lunch listings, upcoming events and activities and always a joke.
Now, students at Rector Elementary School have a credible source of information and a larger understanding of journalism, community and teamwork.
“I wanted to keep the students updated and provide them with a little bit of relief every week,” Holmes said. Holmes distributes about 45 copies of his upstart newspaper each week, and he personally delivers a copy every week to Mark Manchester, the Rector Elementary School principal. Manchester himself got his start in journalism, cutting his teeth as a sports reporter at the local Clay County Democrat and at the Northeast Arkansas Tribune in Paragould. After 10 years in the newspaper industry,
Holmes, 11, approached Rector Elementary faculty back in October with a request to write a student newspaper. Holmes takes care of all the reporting and writing. His teacher, Lauren Dorman, has one responsibility: print the copies of the Adam Holmes with a recent edition of Top School Stories Today. one-page, weekly publication. “He does everything himself, and you can tell it’s something he’s passionate
about,” Dorman said in a recent telephone interview. “We put them out there for
Continued on Page 2
Acclaimed novelist, journalist Charles Portis dies at 86 Charles Portis, a journalist who grew up in south Arkansas and worked at the Northwest Arkansas Times and Arkansas Gazette before achieving international acclaim as a novelist, died Monday, Feb. 17, in Little Rock. He was 86.
Portis was a graduate of Hamburg High School. His father, Samuel Porter Portis, was superintendent of schools in Hamburg and his mother, Alice Waddell Portis, was a columnist there for the Ashley County Ledger. Portis was a Marine who served in the Korean War. After his military service,
he attended the University of Arkansas, earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1958. He wrote for the Arkansas Traveler while at UA and went on to be a reporter for the Times and Commercial Appeal in Memphis. He was a reporter and columnist for the Arkansas Gazette, he wrote for Newsweek and he was London bureau chief for the New York Herald-Tribune.
Portis’s most famous novel, True Grit, was a New York Times bestseller and the basis of two major motion pictures, the first starring John Wayne as a Fort SmithContinued on Page 3
Rector fifth grader launches new school newspaper Continued from Page 1
Manchester went into education. With his background, Manchester said he personally has a vested interest in ensuring the success of Holmes’s project and in making sure his students learn about the First Amendment, reporting skills and the value of print journalism. “As we move forward in this technical age we live in right now, there’s still a place for the printed word and for reading and reporting in the world around us, particularly in rural areas,” Manchester said. The principal praised Holmes for coming up with the idea to start a newspaper and then following up on it. He also credited his faculty for fostering an environment where students Adam Holmes reports weekly on the news of interest to his fifth-grade classmates at Rector Elementary School. can pursue their interests in a Holmes’s teacher agrees the product at a future profession. classroom setting. school is distinctly his own. Rector’s High School doesn’t have its own “This wasn’t something he was required student newspaper, and Manchester said “One of the neat things about his paper is to do or even something his teacher he thought Holmes may be in the prime his voice and his personality come through encouraged him to do,” Manchester said. “This is on his own, but once he started clearly, and his interests come through,” position to start one once he reaches high-school age. After all, his peers will be everyone else got involved in encouraging Dorman said. used to the coverage by then. him and helping him to grow. That’s what After a few months writing for a fifth-grade classroom teaching is. You learn in class audience, Holmes is already looking to “The fifth grade here is a really good and apply it to real-life scenarios.” expand. He may start including information group of kids,” Manchester said. “Having Holmes’s mother, Christin, said her son from other grades, and he’s considering something like this that the kids can build has always had an interest in reading and expanding to a broadcast platform as well. upon and feel like they’re all a part of is important. Even though Adam is doing all writing, evidenced by the journals and short stories he created at home before “I want to keep it going for most of my time the legwork and putting the time in, they’re branching out into the world of student at school,” he said, adding that he has an seeing all their names in the paper and it’s interest in journalism and newspapers as bringing them together.” journalism.
McClatchy Co. restructures with Chapter 11 bankruptcy McClatchy Co., the nation’s second largest local newspaper company, filed for bankruptcy last week, the company announced.
to news reports.
McClatchy does not have any newspapers in Arkansas. Founded by the McClatchy family more than 150 years ago and still managed by the family, its footprint includes the Kansas City Star, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Miami Herald. It has about 30 newspapers in 14 states.
media business. We believe the actions we have taken are an important step to ensure a strong future for McClatchy, and we look forward to emerging from this process in the next few months with a stronger financial foundation. At that time, we expect to be even better positioned to advance our digital transformation and continue delivering essential local news to our subscribers and readers in the communities we serve.”
According to the company, the filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy involves a debt restructuring and is designed to address mounting pension debt obligations. If approved by the bankruptcy court, new The company said in a statement: “The owners of the company are likely to be media industry has been under tremendous Chatham Asset Management LLC, a pressure for years. Technological McClatchy follows other large media hedge fund. The group intends to take the advances, consumer-behavior shifts, and companies, including Lee Enterprises, company private and cancel more than business-model challenges are among Tribune Company and GateHouse Media seven million shares of stock, according the many disruptive forces affecting the in filing bankruptcy in order to restructure. Arkansas Publisher Weekly 2 February 20, 2020
—30— Henry Bielefeld Jr.
start of World War II.
Retired Col. Henry Bielefeld Jr., 100, of Little Rock, died Friday, Feb. 7. A Louisville, Kentucky, native, Bielefeld was a career soldier, having enlisted in the Army at the
He was also a veteran of the Korean War, and he and his family settled in Little Rock after his retirement from military service. According to his obituary, Bielefeld started a newspaper route “as soon as he could ride a bike,” and was involved in the newspaper industry until his enlistment. After retirement, he was a volunteer for Baptist Health and an active member of St. James United Methodist Church and LifeQuest of Arkansas. He was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy. He is survived by two daughters, June Hemphill and Jan Zelnick; four grandchildren; and three greatgrandchildren. A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 29 at 11 a.m. at St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock.
—30— Johnny Green
Acclaimed novelist, journalist Charles Portis dies at 86
Johnny Green, who spent all but one year of his nearly five-decade newspaper career at the Texarkana Gazette, died Tuesday, Feb. 11. He was 76. Green was sports director at the Texarkana newspaper where he began working right after graduation from high school in 1962. He spent one year in the late 1960s as a sportswriter in Shreveport before moving back to Texarkana. He retired from the Gazette in 2011. Green is a member of the Fox Sports FanFest Hall of Fame and was a twotime Gazette employee of the year. The Texarkana (Texas) Independent School District has named a scholarship in his honor for a student who wants to pursue a career in sports writing. Green, of Hooks, Texas, is survived by his wife, Karen; sons Jeff Green and Todd Green; a daughter, Lori Hambleton; 11 grandchildren and five greatgrandchildren. Services were held last Chapelwood Funeral Home.
week
at
Continued from Page 1
based U.S. Marshal. Portis’s first novel, Norwood, was also adapted as a movie. He had articles, short stories and memoirs published in numerous magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post, the New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly and Oxford American. According to an obituary published by his family, Portis was “a really funny guy with an uncanny gift for observing human behavior and capturing it in a sui generis style of writing that fascinated fans and critics.” His friend, the late writer and director Nora Ephron, was quoted as saying “Charlie thinks things no one else thinks.” Survivors include two brothers and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 10 a.m. at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock. A graveside service will follow at 2:30 p.m. at Hamburg Cemetery in Hamburg.
INDUSTRY QUOTE “If journalism is good, it is contrroversial, by its nature.”
— Julian Assange
APA ad conference registration deadline is March 6 The 2020 Arkansas Press Association Advertising Conference is less than a month away. This year’s conference is scheduled for March 12-13 at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton.
To register for the conference, visit www. arkansaspress.org. Registration is $125, which covers all conference materials,
Any registrant planning to attend only the Thursday training workshops can register for the discounted price of $50 per person.
The annual ad conference is held in conjunction with the APA’s Better Newspaper Advertising Awards Luncheon. The luncheon is on Friday, March 13.
In addition, the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation is funding grants of $200 each to two APA members to defray the cost of conference and hotel registration. Grants are awarded on a first-come, firstserve basis with preference given to APA members who have never attended an APA conference.
This year’s ad conference speaker is Bill Ostendorf, an ad and newspaper design expert who’s helped hundreds of newspapers build better ads and redesign their products. Ostendorf, president of Creative Circle Media, will advise attendees on ways to grow revenue through advertising design and classified ad sales. Arkansas Publisher Weekly
meals, breaks and a Thursday evening reception. Participants may also reserve a hotel room at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on the registration form.
For more information about the grants, contact Terri Cobb at the APA office at terri@arkansaspress.org. 3
February 20, 2020
Guest Column: Check in regularly with readers By Jim Pumarlo When is the last time readers said they were misquoted in a story? Or called to say they’re pleased with a story but irritated by a headline? Or took issue with how their ideas and statements were presented in a story? News staffs translate hundreds of facts daily; some information is received firsthand and other secondhand. Some details are included in comprehensive reports on important community subjects. Others are part of the daily churn of police reports, obituaries, weddings and engagements, and government meetings. The chances for missteps are multiplied today as everyone is expected to be adept at the broad spectrum of news gathering – writing breaking news for the web and a more complete story for the print edition, taking a photo or video and posting it on the web, tweeting about a sports event or city council meeting, updating your Facebook page. You can add to the list. Through all of these reports, one tenet governs the work of newsrooms: accuracy. If the facts are wrong, the reporter as an individual and the newspaper as an institution lose their credibility. In the pursuit of fairness and accuracy, newspapers should consider implementing a “fact check” sheet. Individuals who either are sources or subjects of news stories are the best judge of how editors and reporters are doing their jobs. So why not ask them directly. The process can be straightforward. Select a couple of stories from each edition and send a copy to an individual who either was contacted or who might have been identified in each story. Then ask a series of questions. For example: Are the facts conveyed in the story/photo accurate, including spelling of names and addresses Were the quotes attributed to you used in proper context?
Arkansas Publisher Weekly
In general, do you consider this newspaper to be accurate? Other broader questions regarding news content can be asked as well. What are the most interesting sections of this newspaper? Do other topics or issues warrant attention? Are any “voices” or constituencies lacking in coverage? The “fact check” is an excellent tool to ask additional questions about your newspaper beyond strictly the news product. For example: What’s your primary source of news? What are the strengths and weaknesses of our website? What other publications/media do you routinely depend on for information? How long have you subscribed to this newspaper? If you do not subscribe to this newspaper, why not? Can we improve upon customer service – in any department? Use other avenues to check in with readers: · “Ask the editors” night – Open the telephone lines to let readers ask anything on their minds. Managers from the various departments should be on hand with the goal of answering as many questions on the spot as possible. · “Brown bag” lunches – Treat a sampling of your customers to lunch in exchange for their feedback on how you’re doing your job. Or maybe tailor the session and a selected audience to explore coverage of specific content – agriculture or business, for example. · Reader boards – Organize a board comprised of readers with rotating membership. The individuals meet with the editor on a regular basis and offer everything from editorial ideas to a critique of newspaper content. The “fact check” is most useful as a regular connection with readers. Be sure to vary your selection of stories from routine news briefs and meeting reports to in-depth series and feature stories. In
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addition, solicit feedback from a range of readers – new and longtime residents, young and old, men and women – and from a geographic representation of your markets. If applicable, it might be worthwhile to send the same story to two different individuals to see if they offer similar or contrasting responses. Share the feedback with your staff and other departments. Newspapers should be sincere in asking readers to be honest and straightforward, underscoring that their feedback will help direct your staffs to strive a stronger product. At minimum, these ‘fact checks” earn newspapers high marks for showing concern about accuracy, fairness and breadth of coverage. The comments often can prompt a follow-up phone call and a fruitful conversation beneficial to both the reader and newspaper. Your efforts to connect with readers are especially important in today’s competitive and fractured media landscape. Editors also should seize the opportunity to explain to readers in a column what you’ve heard and what steps will be taken to address the concerns. Explain, too, if readers’ expectations fall short of what can be practically accomplished. In the end, you may not get everyone to agree, but your goal is to help them understand your decisions and operations. Jim Pumarlo writes, speaks and provides training on community newsroom success strategies. He is author of “Journalism Primer: A Guide to Community News Coverage,” “Votes and Quotes: A Guide to Outstanding Election Coverage” and “Bad News and Good Judgment: A Guide to Reporting on Sensitive Issues in SmallTown Newspapers.” He can be reached at www.pumarlo.com and welcomes comments and questions at jim@pumarlo. com.
February 20, 2020
Arkansas Press Association
2020 Ad Conference March 12-13 Winthrop Rockefeller Institute Petit Jean Mountain
Conference Schedule THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2020 1:00 PM 1:30 PM
Registration Opens Welcome, Introductions & Announcements Session One: Better Ad Design Will Drive Your Revenue
This session will review some principals of good ad design that need to be applied to print and web advertising, give you tips about how to get the right information from advertisers, explain the role of ad size, visuals and headlines in readership and conversion and address issues of ad layout in print and online. Presented by Bill Ostendorf
3:00 PM 3:30 PM
Break
Session Two: Why Classifieds Could Be Newspapers’ Next Big Thing You will leave this session with a new perspective that will help you re-energize your classified revenue, both in print and online. We’ll show you new ways to make more money with classifieds. Presented by Bill Ostendorf
6:00 PM
Reception Lodge Great Room
7:00 PM
Group Dining River Rock Grill
8:30 PM
Group Gathering Lodge Great Room
FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020 8:00 AM 8:30 AM 10:00 AM 10:15 AM NOON
Breakfast HOT Ideas! Break Panel Discussion 2020 Better Newspaper Advertising Awards Luncheon
Guest Speaker Bill Ostendorf is president and founder of Creative Circle Media Solutions, a network of talent he has been building for more than 30 years. An energetic and entertaining speaker, he has been featured at hundreds of industry conferences in 23 countries. He has a BSJ in magazine writing and an MSJ in newspaper reporting and management, from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and was trained as a reporter. He aspired to be a columnist, but quickly moved from reporting to editing to design. “My bosses kept asking me if I could take pictures, manage the photo department, design pages or redesign papers,” he said. “I kept saying ‘yes’ to these new assignments when I probably should have said ‘no.’ But I developed a passion for helping people avoid all the mistakes I had to suffer through learning on the job.” Bill has become an innovator in finding new ways for newspapers and other media companies to grow their revenues, especially online. He has led redesigns of more than 650 publications and more than 300 web sites. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Fran.
Arkansas Press Association
2020 Ad Conference Sign Up Today!
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Conference Fee ($125) Includes: Reception, Thursday Dinner, Breaks, Friday Breakfast, Awards Banquet, and all Conference Materials. Total Attendees: x $125 Full Conference Fee $ x $115 Hotel Room $ x $40 Awards (Friday Lunch Only) $ x $50 Thursday Session Only $ TOTAL $ Payment Options: Check Enclosed
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Register online at http://www.arkansaspress.org/event/2020AdConference or send registration and payment by Friday, March 6 to: Arkansas Press Association, 411 South Victory, Little Rock, AR 72201 or Fax 501.374.7509.