Arkansas Publisher Weekly: November 12, 2020

3 7

2021 postal rates stay steady for newspapers Guest Column:

Monthly software subscriptions

Affinity Publisher gives Adobe InDesign a run for its money

Arkansas Press Association

Publisher Weekly

By Kevin Slimp

Vol. 15 | No. 46 | Thursday, November 12, 2020 | Serving Press and State Since 1873

Newspapers, military both family businesses for Mark Magie Newspapering wasn’t the only family business for the Magies of Cabot.

The Magie family published several newspapers in Lonoke and north Pulaski counties, but also established an esteemed record for military service that extended for generations.

Mark Magie, an Arkansas Press Association Past President and former general manager of Magie Enterprises Inc., entered the Air Force just after graduating college in the late 1970s. He talked to Arkansas Publisher Weekly about his military service just before Veterans Day, which is observed each year on Nov. 11.

“My dad, all my uncles, my grandfathers, they were all veterans. So, the military was just a natural thing for my family,” said Magie, who served at the height of the Cold War. He quickly pointed out that he thought others deserved recognition, too.

“I have a little guilt. Louis Graves (of the Nashville News-Leader) served in Vietnam. Others served at a time when they had it a lot harder than I did, in World War II, Korea and Vietnam,” Magie said. “I feel very fortunate that I wasn’t tromping through the jungles and putting my life on the line like some of the people that went before me. I want to give them the credit they deserve.”

Still, Magie acknowledged that he was “trained and was ready” during his six years as a navigator on the KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft. He served at Beale Air Force Base in Yuba City, California, and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and Mildenhall, England.

After six years of active duty, he joined the

Mark Magie, an Arkansas Press Association Past President, served in the Air Force and the Arkansas Air National Guard. He retired from the Guard as a major heading up the Public Affairs Office for the 189th Airlift Wing based at Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville.

Arkansas Air National Guard, retiring there in 2000 as a major. While in the Guard, he attended Defense Information School and was the Public Affairs Officer for the 189th Air Refueling Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base.

“I was able to complete my military service fully and yet still work in the newspaper,” he said. “Our operations were so close to Little Rock Air Force Base that it was just convenient to do that…I would go out to the Base and fly usually one evening

a week. I’d just make sure it wasn’t Wednesday night when we were trying to get the newspaper printed.”

Magie said the newspaper and writing skills he learned as a journalism student at the University of Arkansas, along with the training he obtained in the military, has worked hand-in-hand over the course of his career. He found many ways to use his writing skills, and as an officer he received leadership training that he credits with helping him manage deadlines and co-

Continued on Page 2

Newspapers, military both family businesses for Mark Magie Continued from Page 1

Mark Magie’s parents, Cone and Betty Magie, attend his 1978 Commissioning Ceremony at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

workers. Those people and leadership skills were extremely helpful in producing newspapers on time.

“You can take those skills to any profession,” he said. “That’s something I took with me to the military, and it helped.”

The Magie family sold its newspapers in 2005. Mark Magie went on to work in communications for the American Red Cross before retiring in 2012.

He said he remains fond of his service to APA, where he was a longtime board

INDUSTRY QUOTE “I want the news delivered unbiased.

I thought that was the whole point with journalism.”

-Aaron McGruder Arkansas Publisher Weekly

member and president in 1999-2000. His parents, Cone and Betty Magie, were also presidents of the organization. Cone was APA president in 1967 and Betty in 1988.

“Growing up in the newspaper business as a kid, I thought those other publishers we’d visit were aunts and uncles and their kids were my cousins,” he said. “It was like a newspaper family. We helped each other. If someone would have a fire or a flood, we would all pitch in and help get the papers to their readers every week.”

LET’S GET SOCIAL Follow us on Facebook & Twitter

@ArkansasPressAssociation

@ARPressAssoc

2

He remains connected to the association through Arkansas Publisher Weekly and through attendance at conventions, he said.

He admonished Arkansas journalists to remember the importance of their work.

“I want to reassure all these working journalists that they’re working in an honorable profession,” he said. “They work hard to find the truth and present the truth to their readers. I want them to hold their heads up high and keep at it.”

LET US KNOW We want to know about your new hires, retires and promotions!

Send your staffing changes to info@arkansaspress.org to be updated online and included in the Arkansas Publisher Weekly.

November 12, 2020

2021 postal rates to stay steady for newspapers The United States Postal Service does not intend to raise postal rates for most community newspapers in 2021, according to Max Heath of the National Newspaper Association. When the USPS announced its rates for next year, there was no increase for “the most-used and most-efficient sortations,” Heath said.

Heath said newspapers benefitted from industry advocates’ long-time policies that promote the best practices in sortation and entry point.

According to Heath: “Prices stay the same for all carrier-route sorted copies, whether Basic (six or more copies per route), High-

Density walk-sequenced (125 pieces per route or 25 percent of Active Possible Deliveries), or Saturation walk-sequenced (90 percent of Active Residential deliveries or 75 percent of Active Possible deliveries.”

He said USPS will make up for the lack of

a rate change in other areas, included for

non-carrier route sorted copies in-county.

He urged publishers to check to see if they have copies at the higher prices and then

“work on address fixes to drop them to carrier routes.”

Fellowship applications now being accepted The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute is now accepting 2021-22 RJI Fellowship applications from individuals or organizations with an innovative journalism project idea that could also benefit the industry.

in 2021–22. Since launching in 2004, the fellowship program has hosted a wide variety of entrepreneurs and innovators that have come from different backgrounds including large legacy newsrooms and small nonprofits.

Potential project ideas could include devising new strategies or models to solve a problem, building new tools, creating a prototype, or advancing a prototype, so it’s ready to launch.

RJI’s eight-month fellowship is a flexible program with three types of fellowship options — residential, nonresidential and institutional that give fellows the time, space and resources they need to work on projects.

This year’s fellowship projects address the increasing challenges in covering climate change, unpublishing, harassment of marginalized journalists and more.

RJI will be hosting its 15th class of fellows

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

Fellows can work from RJI’s headquarters in Columbia, Missouri, with a residential fellowship and an $80,000 stipend. They can also choose to work from the location of their choice with a nonresidential

3

fellowship, or with their newsroom or organization with an institutional fellowship.

Both institutional and nonresidential fellowships come with a $20,000 stipend.

Fellows get access to the intellectual and technological resources of RJI and the Missouri School of Journalism, including access to programmers, support to conduct market research and paid students to produce multimedia content.

Fellowships are open to anyone above the age of 18 from around the world.

Applications are due Friday, Dec. 18.

Visit rjionline.org/fellowships for more information.

November 12, 2020

Educators’ association taking nominations Do you know any journalism students or educators in your community who deserve recognition?

The Journalism Education Association is seeking applications for five of its national awards. The deadline for applications is Tuesday, Dec. 15.

JEA’s diversity award honors a journalism teacher, media adviser or group that demonstrates a commitment to cultural awareness. Honorees promote diversity in scholastic media and take steps to break down barriers.

The First Amendment Press Freedom Award is given to a high school with student media policies categorizing media as forums for student expression or open forums.

The Future Administrator Scholarship is awarded to a media adviser seeking a position in education administration. The award winner must be a member of JEA. The JEA’s Lifetime Achievement Award honors journalism-education retirees for lifetime dedication to journalism education as an advisor, or for other contributions to the education profession.

The Linda S. Putney Teacher Inspiration Award honors a teacher who has inspired others to pursue journalism education as a career and has made a positive difference in the teaching community.

To learn more, visit jea.org

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

4

November 12, 2020

WE'RE POWERING THE POWER OF THE PRESS. Many of our 17 Distribution Partners deliver power to the printing facilities that deliver news to communities just like yours around the state. And we’ll continue to be there where you need us, powering our future, together.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS Sandra Byrd, Vice President 501-570-2627 sbyrd@aecc.com Rob Roedel, Director 501-570-2296 rob.roedel@aeci.com DISTRIBUTION COOPERATIVES Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative .....................479-667-2176 Ashley-Chicot Cooperative ..................................... 870-853-5212 C&L Electric Cooperative .......................................870-628-4221 Carroll Electric Cooperative ................................... 870-423-2161 Clay County Electric Cooperative........................... 870-857-3521 Craighead Electric Cooperative ..............................870-932-8301 Farmers Electric Cooperative .................................870-523-3691 First Electric Cooperative .......................................800-489-7405 Mississippi County Electric Cooperative ...............870-763-4563 North Arkansas Electric Cooperative.....................870-895-3221 Ouachita Electric Cooperative ................................ 877-252-4538 Ozarks Electric Cooperative ................................... 800-521-6144 Petit Jean Electric Cooperative ...............................501-745-2493 Rich Mountain Electric Cooperative ...................... 479-394-4140 South Central Arkansas Electric Cooperative ....... 870-246-6701 Southwest Arkansas Electric Cooperative..............870-772-2743 Woodruff Electric Cooperative ...............................870-633-2262

1 Cooperative Way • Little Rock, AR 72209 • (501) 570-2200 • www.ecark.org

State Supreme Court affirms right to court records

The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled last week that one of its administrative rules indeed should be applied broadly to provide requestors with access to court records.

The court said a request in Benton County by a professional background screener was not considered “compiled information” as governed by Administrative Order 19.

Arkansas’s high-court judges affirmed a lower court’s decision.

The Arkansas Press Association and 24 other media entities had asked the Supreme Court to affirm the lower court’s ruling. In the case, the Benton

County circuit court clerk had denied a request for court records related to a specific individual, saying that under Order 19 anyone who requests “compiled information” must pay higher fees and meet certain requirements.

The Supreme Court said that, since the request was not for “compiled information,” then it was governed by the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. The circuit court clerk violated FOIA by not disclosing the requested records.

In the APA’s brief, the media organizations said the case would have an impact on a First Amendment right to judicial records.

Also signing the brief were the Arkansas Broadcasters Association, Arkansas Times, Associated Press, Gannett Co., National Newspaper Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, WEHCO Media, Inc., and others.

The decision “is a victory for journalists and the press who seek access to court records in Arkansas, because the decision makes clear that those requests are governed by FOIA and not the restrictions of Order 19,” the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press stated.

Alec Gaines and Ryan Owsley were RCFP’s local attorneys in the case.

Slimp sets two webinars on design and photo editing Newspaper guru Kevin Slimp will host a webinar on Friday, Nov. 13, and another on Friday, Dec. 10, for newspaper designers, photo editors and others interested in improving their design skills.

overview of Affinity Publisher for publishers, editors, designers and ad staff.

According to Slimp, Affinity is “the layout application that is giving Adobe users hope of life without monthly subscription payments.” In the session, Slimp will talk about how Affinity compares with Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress, and will discuss designing pages and ads. The webinar starts at 2 p.m. and registration is $49.

The Nov. 13 webinar, titled “Advanced Photoshop: Getting Those Photos To Pop Off the Page!” is for both novice and experienced photo editors, and will last about 90 minutes. The webinar starts at 10 a.m. and registration is $59.

To learn more and to register, visit newspaperacademy.com.

The Dec. 10 webinar is a 60-minute

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

6

November 12, 2020

Guest Column: Monthly software subscriptions

Affinity Publisher gives Adobe InDesign a run for its money

By Kevin Slimp A few years back, I received an email from Nebraska publisher Rob Dump about a design application he’d read about named Affinity Publisher. He asked if I thought he might be able to replace InDesign, thus saving the monthly subscription fee to Adobe. A few days later, I received the same question from another newspaper publisher.

These requests prompted me to contact Serif Ltd. in West Bridgeford, Britain to find out just what was up with their line of “Affinity” graphics software products. The folks at Serif were very helpful and sent me a registered copy of their software so I could see what Affinity Publisher, Photo, and Designer are all about. I quickly realized that, while it’s enticing to get away from monthly subscription fees for software, Affinity Publisher just wasn’t ready for prime time.

I continued to visit with the folks at Affinity and took another look at Publisher earlier this year. Some readers might remember a column I wrote in January titled, “Affinity Publisher and IDMarkz: One thumbs up, and one thumb sideways.”

The big issue with Affinity Publisher has always been the integration of PDF files.

By creating a “pass-through” option in their 2020 beta version, they went a long way toward fixing that problem and I had some good conversations with Affinity folks about what I thought might be causing the remaining issues. In their just-released latest beta, it seems like they are close to having the PDF issue handled. I did find some “quirks,” but PDF handling in the latest beta version looks very promising.

I could write chapters about Affinity software, but I’d like to get straight to the point in this column (although I might have to go over my 800-word limit to do it). The pros outnumber the cons when taking a close look at Affinity Publisher, but it’s still important to know what they are.

Pros • Affinity Publisher works much like InDesign or QuarkXPress. There is a Arkansas Publisher Weekly

On the left is an InDesign (IDML) file opened in Affinity Publisher. From what I see, they look identical.

Notice how similar the workspace in Affinity Publisher is to the workspace in InDesign.

learning curve, but a few weeks of use should work out most issues.

• The cost of Affinity Publisher is $50. No monthly fee afterwards. That’s a pretty big pro.

• With the help of Markzware’s IDMarkZ application, InDesign files can quickly be converted to Affinity Publisher files without going to the trouble of converting them to IDML first in InDesign.

• Affinity Publisher will open IDML (a special type of InDesign) files.

• Importing and Placing text works pretty much the same as InDesign and QuarkXPress.

• In the latest beta, PDF files generally seem to work well.

Cons • There are strange quirks that the folks at Serif say they will work out by the next beta release, but they are there. In one PDF I placed, printer’s marks (which were part of the PDF) disappeared for no reason.

The page was perfect otherwise, but I still haven’t figured out what happened to those marks. It makes me worry about other things that might disappear. Creating 7

pages is cumbersome, because there’s an issue with changing page sizes in the new document dialog window. I’m sure they’ll have it fixed by the next beta, but for now it’s an issue that requires a workaround.

• Merging data is still a problem in Affinity Publisher. They’re working on it, but it’s something that newspapers and magazines do a lot, and it might (or might not, if you don’t use it) be a deal breaker.

• Imported Word files sometimes have character issues (like quotation marks looking funky), which can happen in InDesign, but can be easily fixed with the “import options” in InDesign.

• Your Adobe CC fonts won’t be available when you’re no longer subscribed to Creative Cloud. Most newspapers I visit use the CC version of InDesign and the fonts that come with it. Plan to shell out a few hundred dollars for fonts right off the bat for typefaces that won’t be available to you after you cancel your CC subscription.

So, you ask, after two years of testing Affinity Publisher, Photo, and Designer, what do I think? Honestly, I think they’re Continued on Page 8

November 12, 2020

Monthly Software Subscriptions

Affinity Publisher gives Adobe InDesign a run for its money Continued from Page 7

great. However, I wouldn’t get rid of my Adobe applications just yet.

Like many of you, I own a publishing company. Like many of you, I have employees and I have to subscribe to the Adobe Creative Cloud and pay monthly fees … just like you.

If you’re going to use Affinity Publisher, you should have IDMarkz from markzwre.

It converts InDesign files quickly to open in Publisher.

However, I also realize that my biggest expense is paying people. For me, printing comes next. Monthly software fees are pretty far down the list.

To me, it looks like Affinity is close. Close to being something most publishers can use to get their products designed.

However, I’m not quite ready to convert everything to Affinity Publisher quite yet.

We’d still have to use InDesign for merging data with Microsoft Excel (something we do a lot). We’d still save a lot of time using the InDesign scripts for complex processes, scripts that aren’t available yet in Affinity Publisher.

There are several other reasons I’m not going to make wholesale changes to Affinity Publisher just yet, but I will offer some advice. Affinity Publisher sells for $50 U.S. That’s a one-time fee. Go ahead and order a copy at https://affinity.serif. com/en-us/publisher. When you have it, go online and download the free beta for registered users.

I would suggest you begin creating some ads in Affinity Publisher and get a feel for the application. Place some PDF files yourself and see how Affinity Publisher handles them. Pay close attention to the fonts in PDFs. We don’t want any surprises when we begin using it.

You might decide you want your paper to make the leap from InDesign or QuarkXPress to Affinity Publisher. If you’re not using advanced features like scripts, tables and data merge in InDesign, you won’t miss them. However, I would suggest you not rush. Get Affinity Publisher, try it out, see what you think,

then decide if a move from InDesign or QuarkXPress to Affinity Publisher is a good idea for your paper.

Years ago, I worked on the K2 Project (the name for InDesign before it went to market) with Adobe for two years before it was available to the public. I worked on Acrobat (PDF files) for a year before printing the first newspaper ad in 1994.

I used to work with lots of software companies to make their products work the way we need them to in our business.

One thing I’ve learned: there’s no rush.

Serif (maker of Affinity Publisher) has made giant leaps toward working the kinks out of Affinity Publisher. It’s already a very good product, but it might not be quite ready for all the work you do at your newspaper.

My suggestion … check it out. What can it hurt? Be sure to write to me and let me know what you learn.

Kevin Slimp served as director of the University of Tennessee Newspaper Institute from 1997-2017. He still speaks at newspaper conventions internationally and works individually with newspapers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

MEDIA SALES

Helping you with a purchase or the sale of your publication.

(850) 532-9466 lfloyd@mediamergers.com

Lewis Floyd Senior Associate

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

www.mediamergers.com

8

November 12, 2020