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APA encourages members to oppose Issue 3 in the November general election
Guest Column: It pays to pay attention
Arkansas Press Association
Publisher Weekly
By John Foust
Vol. 15 | No. 10 | Thursday, March 5, 2020 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
New Paxton publisher believes in community involvement It takes ink, paper, civic club meetings and fundraisers to build Frank Leto’s ideal newspaper.
Leto, Paxton Media’s new Conway-based group publisher, is bringing a vision of community service to the Arkansas newspapers he now leads: the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, The Courier in Russellville, the Batesville Daily Guard, the Van Buren County Democrat, the Daily Citizen in Searcy and the Sun-Times in Heber Springs. “I think good community newspapers are part of the community,” Leto said in a telephone interview last week. “We’re not just a business providing advertising services, but a community supporter. We support nonprofits, find philanthropic opportunities and try to find out where our newspapers can add value to the community.”
Frank Leto
Leto has been in Arkansas for about six
weeks and is already busy establishing connections with key members of the communities he serves. He has met across his region with staff members, elected officials, advertising customers and subscribers to get feedback and learn more about the region. He said he hopes that intelligence effort extends to identifying ways to grow community involvement. Oftentimes, that community involvement is a sales tool. “One day you might be sitting down talking to someone about a United Way fundraiser or worthwhile nonprofit, and the next week you’re talking to the same people about how to market their business.” Leto’s strategy for community involvement and leadership found success at his Continued on Page 2
APA members unanimously adopt amendment to constitution Members of the Arkansas Press Association agreed in a special election in February to amend the APA’s constitution and bylaws to modernize and improve how additional changes are made to the document, APA Executive Director Ashley Wimberley announced. Designated voters who returned ballots by the March 2 deadline voted unanimously (72-0) to streamline how future amendments are adopted. The approved amendment allows for changes to the constitution and bylaws based on the number of ballots returned rather than the total number of designated voters. Previously, it required two-thirds of all designated voters to approve amendments. The new provision allows
for amendments based on two-thirds of members who vote.
“We appreciate the support of APA membership to make this change to our bylaws to ensure our association has the capability to modernize and adapt to a changing environment,” Wimberley said. “Without this amendment, it would have been difficult to obtain the required number of votes to make important improvements to our constitution and bylaws, which haven’t been changed in more than a decade.” The amendment encourages APA members to be more actively involved in the association, and it works much like other elections in which measures are decided only by those who vote. Under the
former system of bylaws, not voting was measured the same way as a “no” vote.
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