Arkansas Publisher Weekly: April 28, 2022

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Save the date for the Tri-State Press Convention this June

Guest Column:

Hard work gains national award

By Rod Harrington

Arkansas Press Association

Publisher Weekly Vol.17 | No. 17 | Thursday, April 28, 2022 | Serving Press and State Since 1873

Madison County Record in Huntsville named winner of 2021 Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism

The Madison County Record in Huntsville has been announced as the winner of the 2021 Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism. The Record is the first Arkansas newspaper to win the Taylor Award.

News of the award was announced on April 22 by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Publisher Ellen Kreth and General Manager Shannon Hahn reported the attempts by the Huntsville school board to cover up sexual assault allegations by junior high school basketball players, the fallout of which is ongoing still today, with assistance from summer reporter Celia Kreth.

Over the course of investigation, The Record reported that the local school board members sought to conceal not only the sexual assault allegations but also their decision to reduce the recommended punishment for some students, and to rescind punishment for others. The stories in the series by The Record can be read at https://mcrecordonline.com/Content/ Default/Breaking-News/-3/111.

The newspaper began its investigation into a cover-up of sexual assaults by boys on the Huntsville Junior High basketball team after concerned parents, fearing that the school district would not be transparent in its own review of the matter, shared Title IX documents with the staff.

The Record filed Freedom of Information Act requests for documents to determine the timeline of events, report on the board’s actions and uncover conflicts of interest. Over time, relationships with

Photo by Shannon Hahn, Madison County Record

sources were built, and on- and off-therecord interviews were conducted with many of those involved in the story. The newspaper also reported on the district’s failure to call the Child Abuse Hotline immediately, as required by law, and its multiple open meetings violations under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. In addition, The Record reported on the Madison County Sheriff Office’s delay in investigating the allegation and its pivot in launching an investigation after the allegations were published.

The school district fought the newspaper, publicly criticizing editorial decisions and

the credibility of the reporting. When the school board additionally failed to provide notice of meetings as required by the Arkansas FOIA, a parent sued the district for open meetings violations and won.

The district also filed a motion for a gag order, but The Record hired legal counsel to intervene in the case and received a favorable ruling, allowing those involved in the lawsuit to continue to speak to reporters.

“Our job is to inform the community of the allegations and allow victims and others involved in the investigations the opportunity to tell their stories and to Continued on Page 2

Madison County Record in Huntsville named winner of 2021 Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism Continued from Page 1

Ellen Kreth

Shannon Hahn

Celia Kreth

ask the district to keep the community informed of what is taking place in their schools,” said The Record in a November 3, 2021 editorial.

we strive to make happen with any of our stories, but above and beyond with this series because of the sensitive contents of it.”

to update its audiences on developments month after month.”

The newspaper continued to report on the incident despite public backlash, a loss of advertising, and letters and social media comments that questioned their integrity and attacked their decision to print the stories. The Huntsville School District ultimately admitted to several FOIA violations and a district judge ordered board members to undergo FOIA training.

In the announcement by the Neiman Foundation, Taylor Award judge Pat Beall, a former investigative reporter for USA Today and 2020 Taylor Award finalist, said: “This small paper was punching far, far above its weight class, from its initial decision to publish stories critical of the community’s popular basketball team to its willingness to push back on violations of public meeting laws. This strong, impactful series cannot be read outside the context of how the fairness and accuracy of these stories, published by a familyowned, third-generation newspaper in a small community where school basketball is king, would have been challenged in ways no national or major regional news organization would have experienced.

These stories allowed the voices of young victims to eloquently rebut the adults’ attempts to dismiss the abuse.”

“Our goal was to hold the people in power accountable for the way they handled this,” said Ellen Kreth, who is also currently serving as APA President, to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a story published April 27. “This was not a story that we sought out. When it came to us -- you can’t go to bed at night and put your head on a pillow and say ‘I didn’t do what I should have done.’

“Shannon and I worked together on this.

We literally spent hours and hours on weekends trying to piece together the timeline, trying to make sure our facts were accurate. We did get some negative feedback over the fact that we reported it, but never because the facts were incorrect.”

On winning the award, Hahn told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “What I think really hit my core was that it was for fairness in journalism, because that’s what

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Taylor Award judge Emily Corwin, an investigative reporter and editor and a 2021 Abrams Nieman Fellow for Local Investigative Journalism, added: “The newspaper clearly had inadequate resources to perform such an investigation.

And yet this small publication didn’t just shine light on this injustice. It did so with a remarkable commitment to fairness: presenting facts without sentimentality; protecting families’ identities; and returning

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In addition to the reporting by The Record, judges selected two finalists as runnersup for the 2021 Taylor Award: “FEMA’s disasters,” an in-depth look by Washington Post national enterprise reporter Hannah Dreier at how the Federal Emergency Management Agency is struggling to help disaster survivors in the age of climate change and inequality in America, and “Birth & Betrayal,” a Miami Herald/ ProPublica series that revealed that a Florida program created to protect OBGYNs from large malpractice bills deprives families of their right to sue when births go wrong and repeatedly denied critical medical expenses for injured children.

“We have always looked to the Washington Post as the gold standard of investigative journalism, and to learn that we’re considered in the same league as the Post reinforces that this was the right thing to do,” said Hahn.

The Taylor Award is presented annually by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. The honor includes a $10,000 prize for the winner and $1,000 each for the two finalists. The award program was established through gifts for an endowment by members of the Taylor family, who published The Boston Globe from 1872 to 1999. The purpose of the award is to encourage fairness in news coverage by America’s journalists and news organizations.

April 28, 2022

Save the date for Tri-State Press Convention this June Mark your calendar and start making plans to attend the Tri-State Press Convention, “Bylines, Blues & BBQ”, which will be held June 23-25 at the Sheraton Downtown Hotel, Memphis. The event will combine the annual conventions of the Arkansas Press Association, Mississippi Press Association and Tennessee Press Association, and will include the presentation of the APA Better Newspaper Editorial Awards.

S AV E T H E D AT E F O R T H I S S U M M E R ’ S

Tri-State Press Convention

Sessions are planned on editorial, revenue and digital best practices, among other topics. While registration is not yet open, the room block is already accepting reservations. Specific information on accommodations can be found at https://tristatepressorg.wordpress.com/ accommodations/.

June 23 - 25, 2022 • Sheraton Downtown Memphis

The Tri-State Press Convention was last held in 2010 in Tunica, Mississippi.

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April 28, 2022

A DAY OF DEBATES

Video recordings of the April 21 debates are now posted to the APA Facebook page at facebook.com/Arkansas-PressAssociation-218467510595 for viewing or sharing. You do not have to have a Facebook account to view the videos.

The first debate of the day was between Lieutenant Governor candidates Dr. The debate between Arkansas Secretary of State candidates Josh Price, Greg Bledsoe, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Kelly Ross Krout, Doyle Secretary of State John Thurston, Anna Beth Gorman and Eddie Joe Webb, Sen. Jason Rapert, Judge Joseph Wood, Chris Bequette and Frank Williams was moderated by Rex Nelson of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Gilbert. Roby Brock of Talk Business & Politics served as moderator.

Arkansas Attorney General candidates Jesse Gibson and Leon Jones, Jr. start Ending the day was the Gubernatorial Debate between candidates Chris Jones, the afternoon portion of the Day of Debates. Roby Brock moderated this debate Jay Martin, James “Rus” Russell, Doc Washburn, Supha Xayprasith-Mays as well. and Ricky Dale Harrington, Jr. The debate was moderated by Rex Nelson.

Americans back Journalism Preservation Bill, want action, says study New data from the progressive political research firm Schoen Cooperman suggests widespread concern about the influence on the news industry of big-tech companies like Facebook and Google, according to an article by Tony Silber in Publisher’s Daily.

The data from the Schoen Cooperman Research study, which was commissioned

by News Media Alliance and conducted among a representative sample of U.S. adults, indicates widespread public concern over big tech’s outsize influence on the realm of news and publishing. It also shows broad-based support for Congress to act to rein in these monopolies.

The News Media Alliance has been pushing for Congress to pass the Journalism Competition & Preservation

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Act, which would allow media companies to collectively negotiate with news platforms for compensation for the use of their work.

According to Schoen Cooperman Research Founder and Partner Doug Schoen, roughly four in five Americans (79%) are concerned that big tech has too much power over the news and publishing industries. Nearly eight in 10 (78%) said big tech companies manipulate these industries for their own gain, and 76% said big tech companies are driving small and local news outlets out of business.

In addition, about three-quarters of respondents agree that “Big Tech’s monopoly over the news and publishing industries is a threat to the free press and unfair to publishers, especially to small

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and local outlets.”

Schoen Cooperman also reports people want Congress to act. It says roughly four in five Americans polled agree with statements to this effect, such as “I support Congress taking steps to give small and local publishers more power in negotiations with Big Tech companies” and “Congress needs to rein in Big Tech by passing reforms that would make the publishing industry fairer for smaller media entities and local operators.”

The research indicated that even after briefly reading a description of the JCPA, strong majorities support Congress passing the JCPA (70%) and believe it is important for Congress to pass it (64%).

April 28, 2022

The Arkansas Press Association was represented this week at the Newspaper Association Managers Advertising & Revenue Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. Here, APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley leads a session on innovative ways to generate revenue for associations and members. APA Director of Networks Marketing and Promotions Neil McConnell also attended the conference.

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April 28, 2022

Guest Column: Hard work gains national award

By Rod Harrington, Editor, The Madison County Record I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of The Madison County Record. A series of articles written by General Manager Shannon Hahn, Publisher Ellen Kreth and summer intern Celia Kreth last week won the 2021 Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism at Harvard University. The work done locally beat out work from The Washington Post and the Miami Herald/ProPublica for the top prize of $10,000. That’s just amazing.

An announcement last week said, “The little paper that could. The Madison County Record has won the 2021 Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism at Harvard University. The small community weekly in Arkansas investigated a school board cover-up of sexual assault allegations by boys on the local junior high basketball team.”

Further, “The reporting by the community weekly with a circulation of just 4,000 and only five staff members found that the local school board members sought to conceal not only the assault allegations but also their decision to reduce the recommended punishment for some students and to throw out punishment for others.”

The Taylor Award is presented annually by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. “The award program

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

was established through gifts for an endowment by members of the Taylor family, who published The Boston Globe from 1872 to 1999. The purpose of the award is to encourage fairness in news coverage by America’s journalists and news organizations.”

The Record “began its investigation into a cover-up of sexual assaults by boys on the junior high basketball team ... after concerned parents shared Title IX documents with the staff, fearing that the school district would not be transparent in its own review of the matter. They filed FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] requests and used the documents to determine the timeline of events, report on the board’s actions and uncover conflicts of interest. Over time, the reporters built relationships with sources and conducted on- and off-the-record interviews with many of those involved in the story. They also reported on the district’s failure to call the Child Abuse Hotline immediately, as required by law, and its multiple open meetings violations under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.” Taylor Award judge Pat Beall said, “This small paper was punching far, far above its weight class, from its initial decision to publish stories critical of the community’s popular basketball team to its willingness

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to push back on violations of public meeting laws. This strong, impactful series cannot be read outside the context of how the fairness and accuracy of these stories, published by a family-owned, third-generation newspaper in a small community where school basketball is king, would have been challenged in ways no national or major regional news organization would have experienced.

These stories allowed the voices of young victims to eloquently rebut the adults’ attempts to dismiss the abuse.”

When Ellen and Shannon told me about the situation, just before the first story was published, I told them, “If we don’t report on this we’ll lose all credibility with the community.” For our credibility, for the victims of the assaults, for the overall good of the community, we had no choice but to report the story.

Congratulations to Ellen, Shannon and Celia for their outstanding work, and to Ellen for her courage and conviction that to publish the articles was clearly the right and fair thing to do.

This column was originally published on April 27, 2022 in the Madison County Record. Reprinted with permission.

April 28, 2022