Arkansas Publisher Weekly: October 1, 2020

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Issue 3 could negatively impact transparency

Guest Column: America needs journalists

By Michael A. Anastasi

Arkansas Press Association

Publisher Weekly Vol. 15 | No. 40 | Thursday, October 1, 2020 | Serving Press and State Since 1873

APA convention attendees join in statewide

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1. The team at the Madison County Record in Huntsville fired up the pizza oven and enjoyed a pizza bar as they watched the 2020 APA Better Newspaper Editorial Awards being live-streamed from the association’s headquarters in Little Rock. 2. Jessica Hughes Ford, chief communications officer with Arkansas Community Foundation, a 2020 Arkansas Press Association Virtual Convention Headline Sponsor, joined in from her office. 3. APA Past President Tom White joined the convention from his office at the Advance-Monticellonian in Monticello 4. APA Past Presidents David and Mary Fisher attended virtually from Yell County. 5. Larry Killian, publisher of the South Arkansas Sun in Hampton, logged in from Calhoun County.

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8 6. Spring River Chronicle publisher Tammy Curtis attended the convention from her desk in Hardy. 7. David Lide of the Little River Post in Ashdown studies this week’s paper during Bill Ostendorf’s Friday morning session. 8. Karen Sherell, publisher of the Pacesetting Times in Horseshoe Bend, watched the convention from Izard County. 9. Brandi Hinkle, communications specialist with Entergy Arkansas, a 2020 Arkansas Press Association Virtual Convention Headline Sponsor, attended virtually as well.

I.F. Stone winners turn part-time jobs into award-winning work The best investigative reporting team in Arkansas in 2019 doesn’t even spend very much time doing reporting, and officials in north Pulaski County are likely relieved about that.

The mostly part-time staff of the Leader newspaper in Jacksonville earned the Arkansas Press Association’s I.F. Stone Award for its in-depth coverage of the aftermath of a secret meeting among Jacksonville city officials last year. In 2020, the group continues to bird-dog local leaders about financial irregularities within the police department.

The reporters do so even as they mostly work from home because of the COVID-19

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

epidemic as well as work other, full-time jobs, like staff writer Rick Kron, who is a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Lester Elementary School.

“We are a very, very unique newspaper,” Kron said. “We don’t have a full-time reporter. We are all part-timers. When we win awards, like this, it’s what makes me feel really good. What if we were full time?

Watch out, Arkansas!”

Kron was joined by Leader Editor Jonathan Feldman and reporters Jeffrey Smith and John Hofheimer for the award-winning coverage that took place in September 2019. As a result of their reporting, the local prosecuting attorney’s

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office condemned the city officials’ antitransparency actions.

Kron said the newspaper first learned of the issue from a Jacksonville city council member who arrived at City Hall for a scheduled meeting, only to discover some other council members having an unscheduled meeting with some city police officers. This unannounced meeting was a clear violation of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, Kron said, since multiple members of the city council were meeting in secret to discuss municipal business.

When confronted, none of the city officials admitted to meeting illegally behind closed Continued on Page 3

October 1, 2020

I.F. Stone winners turn part-time jobs into award-winning work

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Jonathan Feldman

John Hofheimer

doors, so the Leader submitted an FOIA request for the text messages among the city council members and the police captains they were meeting with.

In one of the text message exchanges, a city council member encouraged a police officer to keep the illegal meeting “on the down low,” Kron said.

When the same city council member denied knowing the unannounced meeting constituted a FOIA violation, the newspaper then submitted a FOIA request to the Arkansas Municipal League and learned that council member, and others, had attended FOIA training classes.

“Three Council Members, along with the hierarchy from the police department decided to meet without notifying the press with the goal of pulling $800,000 out of the budget for the police department and then give all officers raises – all without going through the normal debate process of city council meetings. They got caught,”

Rick Kron

said Leader Publisher Garrick Feldman.

“The Leader newspaper triple-teamed the investigation and discovered the initial meeting was clearly a FOIA violation, and the council members involved had taken FOIA courses and knew better.

“In the end, all members of the council were reprimand(ed) sternly by the prosecuting attorney’s office and the people of Jacksonville got a more transparent council.”

Kron said the team continues to “follow the money” as it relates to Jacksonville municipal spending, specifically within the police department, even more than a year after the initial articles were published.

“It’s ongoing, because we just keep discovering things,” Kron said. “We just have some people that feel like they’re above the law. As much as some people like to be, no one is. We’re just going to see how this pans out after the election and into next year.”

Jeffery Smith

The Leader’s investigative reporting team was recognized with the I.F. Stone Award at the Arkansas Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Editorial Awards ceremony. The awards presentation was held during the APA’s virtual convention last week.

The APA’s I.F. Stone Award is presented yearly to the Arkansas reporter or reporters whose investigative work is considered the best of the best by an independent panel of out-of-state judges. The award is named for a 20th Century political journalist known for his doggedness in scouring public records.

The award comes with a $100 cash prize.

Kron said he and the Leader investigative reporting team haven’t decided yet how to use the money, but Kron has a suggestion.

“We haven’t gotten together as a group, but I’d vote for pizza and some liquid refreshment,” he said

Follow up ownership statement filing with publication Arkansas Press Association member newspapers that were required to have filed a Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation (PS Form 3526) with the U.S. Postal Service are reminded they must also publish the statement in their newspapers this month.

The Statement of Ownership was to have been submitted to the post office by today (October 1) by any newspaper that sends Periodicals Class Mail.

Upon filing the ownership statement with

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

the local postmaster, publication owners are required to publish the statement according to the following timetable, depending on the frequency of publication:

*Publications issued more frequently than weekly must publish no later than Oct. 10.

This applies to dailies, semiweeklies, and three-times-per-week publications. *Publications issued weekly or less frequently, but not less than monthly, must publish the statement by Oct. 31. This includes weekly newspapers.

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*All other publications such as quarterlies must publish in the first issue after Oct. 1.

Owners may include paid digital subscriptions as circulation in postal statements. A paid subscriber, whether digital or print, may only be counted once.

Form 3526 serves as the method for the U.S. Postal Service to establish whether a publication meets standards for the periodicals mailing rates.

October 1, 2020

Issue 3 could negatively impact transparency Arkansas Press Association newspapers can help ensure transparency for Arkansas voters and accountability in government by opposing Issue 3 on this year’s general election ballot.

If adopted, Issue 3, a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment, would eliminate a requirement currently in the Arkansas Constitution that the full text of ballot measures be published six times in Arkansas newspapers. The proposed amendment gives the General Assembly the authority to change the publications requirement as it sees fit, meaning lawmakers could reduce public notices or eliminate the requirement altogether.

The APA has produced a house advertisement that may be used and reprinted free of charge by newspapers ahead of the election. Early voting in Arkansas starts Monday, Oct. 19.

“Issue 3 is bad for transparency, bad for accountability, bad for voters and bad for Arkansas,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Wimberley.

“Voters have relied on newspapers to learn about what are often lengthy and complex constitutional amendments and initiated acts. The voters deserve this resource, which is written into our state constitution.”

While the ballot measure primarily deals with how initiatives and referendums are certified, challenged and placed on the ballot, Issue 3 states that the General Assembly may implement the publications requirement “in a manner prescribed by law.”

APA members should have received the house ad via email. To have the ad re-sent, or for more information, contact Wimberley at ashley@ arkansaspress.org.

INDUSTRY QUOTE “Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.”

VOTE NO

ON ISSUE 3 s t he s e n i s A l l bu does , lic t n e m govern r in open pub losed c e w h et h s o r b e h i n d e s s . g in meetin s YOUR bus i door s , n otice i ssential n c i l b Pu er s is e and p a p s new arency ue 3 p s n a r for t lit y. Iss lic i b a t n accou limin a te pu b nt a e could bout impor t a not i c e s u e s . is ballot

IT'S ALWAYS YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING IN ARKANSAS GOVERNMENT Early voting starts October 19 • Election Day November 3

—Walter Cronkite This newspaper supports your right to know.

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

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October 1, 2020

‘America needs journalists’ during Newspaper Week The newspaper industry will pause next week to observe National Newspaper Week, providing an opportunity for Arkansas Press Association member newspapers to emphasize their importance within their communities.

The 80th annual observance of National Newspaper Week is Sunday, Oct. 4 through Saturday, Oct. 10. The theme of the 2020 observance – in a year clouded by a public health crisis, widespread protests and a proliferation of ‘fake news’ – is “America Needs Journalists.”

National Newspaper Week is sponsored

by News Association Managers (NAM) and the Arkansas Press Association.

“This year more than any other, our industry has overcome significant obstacles,” said Ashley Wimberley, APA executive director. “Newspapers in Arkansas have demonstrated resiliency and they continue to prove how essential they are to the fabric of the communities they serve. We encourage our member newspapers to highlight the work they do, whether it be through house ads, editorials or community activities.”

Journalists in 2020 have overcome major obstacles to deliver the news to readers during a time where “major news events across our land have tested newspapers, in our communities, in ways we might have never fathomed,” said Randy Evans, director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.

An editorial column from Evans and a number of other newspaper industry leaders is available to be re-published free of charge. Those articles, along with accompanying editorial cartoons, may be

Editorial cartoon by Terry Wise, Kentucky syndicated cartoonis

downloaded at the National Newspaper Week website, NationalNewspaperWeek. com.

a Dropbox file free for newspapers to use.

Newspapers may personalize the ads with their own logos.

Newspapers are encouraged to honor journalists for their tenacity in continuing to keep up with their government-watchdog roles while also helping inform the public about COVID-19 and its impact on their local communities.

The materials can be downloaded at any time, but they emphasize the National Newspaper Week observance.

In addition to editorial columns and cartoons, camera-ready advertisements in five different styles and seven different sizes can be accessed from the National Newspaper Week website. The ads are in

Newspapers are encouraged to “devote as many column inches as possible to reinforce the importance of newspaper(s) to your communities.”

For more information about National Newspaper Week and how your newspaper can participate, visit NationalNewspaperWeek.com

Ads tout newspapers’ important role in elections

With the election season headed into its final month, America’s Newspapers has produced a series of special advertisements that highlight local reporting as the best way to learn about candidates and issues.

“A powerful voter is an informed voter,” the ads read.

Ads for both print publication and social media, which were produced by American’s Newspapers in partnership with Sandpiper Marketing, are available for use at no cost. To download, go to newspapers.org/marketing-vote.

Once someone registers, they will receive an email with a link to download the ads in color or black and white.

According to America’s Newspapers, the advertising encourages readers not to rely “on disinformation spread on social media.

Turn to your local newspaper for the most comprehensive and credible information on local and national candidates.”

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

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October 1, 2020

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Guest Column: America needs journalists

By Michael A. Anastasi Rarely are lawmakers across the political spectrum so unified. And rarely do they act so rapidly.

As we commemorate National Newspaper Week, I’ve been considering the question why America Needs Journalists. My thoughts seem to always return to a 16-year-old Tennessee girl.

And injustice.

A couple of years ago, my team at The Tennessean in Nashville launched an extensive investigative project.

Under an arcane state law that was virtually unchanged since 1858, people awaiting trial in Tennessee county jails could be shipped to state prison if a judge deemed the local jail “insufficient” to handle their medical problems, mental illness or behavioral issues.

In a state with 95 counties, even today most of them rural, this thought-process might seem to have merit. Who would expect small counties to have the advanced resources of a metropolitan setting? And the training? And then there’s the cost.

Judges routinely remanded those detained for “safekeeping” elsewhere.

They were kept in solitary confinement.

Without ever having been convicted of a crime, these “safekeepers” were sometimes locked up for years. The medical “problem” for some was that they were pregnant. Many were sick. And, worst of all, some were children.

Our investigation, done in conjunction with The Marshall Project, not only led to sweeping legal change, it revealed the state was housing minors awaiting trial in adult prisons — including one 16-year-

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

old girl who was shackled when allowed outside her cell to shower three times a week. For two hours a day, she received her education through a pie hole in her small cell. For 23 hours a day, she lived in a small cell. Alone.

From January 2011 through 2017, more than 320 people in Tennessee were declared safekeepers, with 86 in 2017 alone. The law, intended to relieve a financial burden on local jails and get vulnerable pre-trial detainees care not available in small towns, shocked lawmakers who had never before heard of the practice.

The state had no formal process to review the prisoners’ status. The average stay was 328 days, according to state records. Local judges were unaware of the consequences of their orders and assumed prisoners were receiving specialized care Following exhaustive reporting which included numerous public records requests, database reporting, interviews with family members, law enforcement and attorneys, and painstaking communication with inmates via the postal service, the hidden truth about safekeeping emerged.

We learned many of the children came from families that had no resources for bail.

Such was the case for Rosalyn Holmes, who faced a dubious felony charge. What was known for certain was that her family did not have the means to post a $60,000 bond. So that made her a Safekeeper, which also meant she was placed in an adult prison more than 50 miles away from her home in Memphis.

Immediately following the publication of the first of what became a series of

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investigative stories, former Gov. Bill Haslam called on legislators to make changes to the system. They came together quickly to do so.

“It’s one of those things that literally I didn’t know how it worked,” the governor said at the time. “We’re trying to look to see what we can do with those juveniles — nobody would say it’s a good idea to have a juvenile end up in solitary confinement in an adult prison.”

In fact, the governor said, it made “no sense.”

Our investigation was published in February. By May, the governor signed a bill banning juveniles awaiting trial in adult prisons and mandating a judicial review every 30 days of all safekeeping orders.

At the same time, the head of Tennessee’s prison system announced an end to arbitrarily placing all safekeepers in solitary confinement. Instead, prisons began to evaluate each safekeeper individually before deciding their status.

About the same time, Rosalyn Holmes was released on bail. A human rights group had paid for her bond. She went back to school, got a part-time job. She lived with her family.

Last month, all charges against Holmes were dismissed. She was never indicted.

America needs journalists because stories like these need to be told. Injustice abounds.

Michael A. Anastasi is vice president and editor of The Tennessean in Nashville and regional editor of the USA TODAY Network in the South.

October 1, 2020