Arkansas Publisher Weekly: November 21, 2018

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Conway’s Log Cabin Democrat moving to new offices Guest Column:

UALR a strong training ground for future journalists

by Chris Etheridge

ARKANSAS

PRESS

Ar kansas

Publisher Weekly

Vol. 13 | No. 47 | Wednesday, November 21, 2018

ASSOCIATION

Serving Press and State Since 1873

APA members share reasons they are thankful

Editor’s Note: This year, several newspaper industry veterans in Arkansas were asked to tell Arkansas Publisher Weekly in their own words what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving. Here are their responses. We appreciate Phyllis Britton, Tracy Denny-Bailey, Frank Fellone, Kelly Freudensprung, Janice Hibbard, Vicki Kelly and Steve Knox for their thoughts and their time.

“What to be thankful for? That’s easy.

Four things.

Phyllis Britton and husband Jim

Tracy Denny-Bailey and husband Scott

Phyllis Britton, Arkansas Times advertising manager:

Tracy Denny-Bailey, Nashville Leader advertising manager:

“I’m thankful every day for marrying the man I did 33 years ago, Jim. He is a character.

And for my career at the Arkansas Times for 33 years (and counting) and powering through the changes we all have in the business of media. I’m thankful for health insurance and believe it should be available to all. I’m thankful for all the great folks I work with, those in the office and those in other business around the state.

I’m especially thankful for all the past presidents.

“I am always thankful for my family. I’m very blessed and I’m thankful for my immediate family and, of course, all my in-laws. My husband was diagnosed with renal cancer a couple months ago and he had to have his kidney removed. We’ve been really lucky that all our family, friends and our Delight Methodist Church family have supported us through this. We’re going back in December for a scan, so we’re really thankful he’s doing good.”

“I can’t forget my family, which includes a bunch of cousins, brothers and sisters and the extended family of friends too numerous to name. Also, my current dogs Rosey and Eddie, and all the rescues that have come before them.

“Thanksgiving always brings memories of family and friends that are no longer here – just in my heart and head – and they frequently cause me to smile.”

“First, to live in the United States and realize, on reflection, that Americans are the most free and most prosperous people in the history of the world.

Second, to have worked in a business whose purpose is enshrined in the Constitution, a document created by the wisest group of statesmen ever assembled in one place. Gee whiz — I wonder if those two are related?

“Third, that our industry is represented ably by the Arkansas Press Association.

Fourth, that winter will come and winter will go, and when March comes along I’ll go back to playing golf four times a week.”

Kelly Freudensprung

Kelly Freudensprung, Saline Courier publisher: “I am always thankful for family and good health, but having a business that’s still viable and having an ability to keep Kay and Frank Fellone, with grandsons Michael and people employed is a huge one right now.

Those are my biggies: family and health Matthew. and having a business that is viable in the Frank Fellone, board president of the community.”

Arkansas Newspaper Foundation: Continued on Page 2

APA members share reasons they are thankful Continued from Page 1

Janice Hibbard, Times Dispatch (Walnut Ridge) advertising manager: “Certainly, I’m thankful each day for each day that I have. I am one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and we’re thankful Janice Hibbard for everything Jehovah provides for us. We’re thankful that soon these bad things will be in the past. We had a talk Sunday from Revelation 21:3-4. These bad things will be something that we will forget, and we’ll have so many privileges that Jehovah gives us in the future.

“I’m thankful for what good health I have, which at 72 years, is not as good as it once was. I appreciate all my friends and family we have in the congregations and at the newspaper. We’re like a family there, also.

I’m thankful to be able to work, even for just one day a week. It keeps my brain flowing. I spend the morning figuring out the advertising and news percentages to send to the post office. I’m also circulation manager, so I take care of doing the labels, and I really appreciate being able to do that because it keeps the brain stimulated. Times Dispatch Publisher John Bland has been good to me to allow me to do the one day of work.“

Vicki Kelly, Advance Monticellonian (Monticello) advertising manager:

Vicky Kelly

“As I sit and reflect I ponder up on my many blessings that I’m so undeserving of.

“First, my Jesus Christ and the eternal life that only He can bring. I’m so thankful for His love, grace and new mercies each morning. Any blessings or success that I experience in my life comes from Him. “Secondly, my precious family: Tommy, my husband of 43 years; my daughter Amanda and the awesome grandchildren that call me GG. “Also, my work family which is like no other: Always loving, kind and supportive like family should be. I have never experienced such dedication and pride as our employees at The Advance Monticellonian demonstrate. From the front door clean to the back, they are united in doing the best job, being the best and always lending a helping hand to one another or a shoulder to cry on if needed.

“My husband is a retired police captain, his having been an officer prior to my newspaper career, I couldn’t understand when he said “this job is in my blood”, or the excitement and never ending pursuit.

“I had only held job positions prior to newspaper, nothing in the blood. Then one day I completely understood the meaning, ‘the day the ink started flowing through my veins.’ After 35 years in newspapers, I’m still excited daily about my job. It’s challenging, yet sometimes stressful, I can’t imagine doing anything else.

“There are so many wonderful, lasting friendships and opportunities to serve others in my community made possible because of the job that God placed me in many years ago.”

Steve Knox, Osceola Times advertising manager and sports editor: “I’m thankful for the community that I live in and the wonderful people that making Steve Knox working at this newspaper what it is. The people are good in this community and they’ve been very good to the newspaper. They’ve supported the newspaper for well over 100 years and they continue to do so. We couldn’t do the job we do without the support of the community here in Osceola.”

APA will be closed November 22 & 23 for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Mena Star gives back to community during Breast Cancer Awareness Month The Mena Star, an Arkansas Press Association member, joined other community businesses to raise money for and support breast cancer research and treatment during October, recognized nationally as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The Star published a feature on breast cancer awareness and provided a donation to Clarice’s Room of Hope, a Mena-based nonprofit organization that offers assistance to women who have lost their hair during cancer treatment.

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

The organization consults with women to find wigs, turbans or scarves.

“Clarice’s Room of Hope performs a tremendous service not only to our community but for our region,” Tom Byrd, publisher of the Mena Star, said in a statement. “The Mena Star and its employees support the cause, so thank you to them and to the sponsors of this year’s Breast Cancer Awareness feature.

I urge everyone not to limit their support to one month, or to limit the focus to breast cancer. There are so many types of cancer that impact so many people.”

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Mena Star Publisher Tom Byrd presents a donation on behalf of the newspaper to Teena Brown of Clarice’s Room of Hope in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Clarice’s Room of Hope is a Mena business that assists cancer patients.

November 21, 2018

Mark calendars for FOIA Coalition Meeting, Legislative Forum Arkansas Press Association members are encouraged to “save the date” for two events coming up as the Arkansas General Assembly reconvenes in January.

First, the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act Coalition will hold an organizational meeting on Thursday, Dec. 13 at noon at the APA headquarters, 411 Victory St., in Little Rock. The FOIA Coalition is made up of newspaper leaders, journalists and others from across the state who are committed to protecting the Arkansas FOIA. A boxed lunch will be provided to participants who RSVP to APA Executive Director Ashley Wimberley at ashley@ arkansaspress.org.

In addition, the APA and the Associated Press will jointly host a Legislative Forum and roundtable for reporters starting at 10 a.m. on Jan. 11. in Little Rock. The session will feature legislative leaders and Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The governor and legislators will discuss their agendas and expectations for the upcoming session.

More details for that event, including the specific location in Little Rock, will be released in coming weeks.

Industry Quote of the Week “Journalism is an act of faith in the future.”

- Ann Curry

Let’s Get Social

Conway’s Log Cabin Democrat moving to new offices The Log Cabin Democrat in Conway will be under a new roof by next month as it relocates to 1121 Front Street in Conway, that newspaper reported last week. The publication will move from its offices on Main Street on the first floor of the Federal Building to the first floor of a two-story, mixed-use space on Front Street.

The 140-year-old newspaper is moving to make way for a new City Hall, according to the Log Cabin Democrat article. The city will renovate the building where the paper is currently located.

The move is expected to be completed by Dec. 5.

Publisher Kelly Sublett said that the developer and construction company have worked to have the space ready on time.

“The square footage will not change drastically, but the floor plan will certainly fit our needs better,” she said in the article.

“We had an opportunity to design a space that will enhance customer service and newsroom security, which is a necessary consideration.”

Sublett said customers will continue to

“That doesn’t mean reporters will not be accessible,” Sublett was quoted as saying.

“It simply means more consideration will be given to their schedules and safety when interacting with the public.”

The paper’s office has been in the Federal Building in Conway for six years. Before that, it was at 1058 Front Street. Phone numbers, email and Internet contact information for the paper will remain the same.

The paper plans to host an Open House at its new location mid-December.

The Log Cabin Democrat’s new office on Front Street in downtown Conway is pictured above. The move should be completed by early December.

In North Dakota, newspapers were on the ballot Aside from the Election Night pizza, newspaper managers in some North Dakota communities were probably sharing champagne on Nov. 6.

North Dakota is apparently the only state in which voters get to decide which newspaper in each county is designated the “official newspaper” for purposes of legal notice publication.

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According to Public Notice Monthly from the national Public Notice Resource Center, “when a county has at least two newspapers, local voters often get to decide which one is designated as the official newspaper.”

@ArkansasPressAssociation @ARPressAssoc

The publication notes that in every election cycle, newspapers must file a

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

have easy access to the paper’s sales and circulation departments. The newsroom, however, will be designed differently than in years past.

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letter to request placement on the ballot that the paper is authorized under state law to publish legal notices. Since some counties only have one newspaper, those counties would not have an election.

Likewise, in counties with no newspaper that qualifies for the ballot, a newspaper in an adjacent county is considered “official.”

The article said newspapers were involved in 12 contested elections in North Dakota this year. In one county, the challenger to an incumbent newspaper bought an advertisement in a competing newspaper.

In another county, the same owner owns both newspapers that were on the ballot.

That owner told a local reporter he wanted to give voters a choice “in the interests of democracy.”

November 21, 2018

Guest Column: UALR a strong training ground for future journalists

By Chris Etheridge, assistant professor of multimedia storytelling at UA Little Rock Among the ongoing chatter about President Donald Trump’s claims that the media are “the enemy of the people” — enthralled with “fake news” and whatnot — is a smattering of stories about how some of our teenaged citizens are watching, listening, and responding to these charges.

A web search for “Trump effect” and “journalism” shows several thought pieces about how some college students are motivated to enroll in journalism schools across the United States as—more and more—the legacy media feel under direct attack from the White House.

American journalism schools and departments have experienced a minisurge in enrollment over the last few years, according to a story in The Washington Post (“A Trump effect at journalism schools? Colleges see a surge in admissions,” Sept. 16, 2018). The University of Maryland saw a 50 percent increase in freshman enrollment this year.

At Arizona State, the incoming class is the largest in 10 years. Here at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Mass Communication, numbers remain level despite an overall drop in enrollment across the campus.

Some journalism school deans are cautioning that it is too early to tell if this increase will be sustained, but could Trump’s attacks on media have triggered a renewed interest in the great calling?

Can we be so lucky? Maybe.

Many of these thought pieces inevitably draw comparisons between the “Trump effect” and the popularity journalism experienced in the late 1970s and 1980s.

President Richard Nixon’s challenges to the free press during the Watergate scandal served as a siren “call” to wouldbe journalists, wrote Margaret Sullivan in a recent issue in the Columbia Journalism Review (“Trump and the Watergate effect,” Fall 2017).

For high school and college journalism Arkansas Publisher Weekly

students in the 1970s, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward were akin to rock stars. The idea that solid investigative journalism could root out corruption even at the highest levels of government was awe-inspiring.

With all of the challenges that have faced professional journalism and journalists in the last few decades, perhaps this enrollment-surge-come-new-age-ofjournalism argument is a bit of wishful thinking. Perhaps.

But the skills students will learn when they head over to “the j-school”—the values of ethical and transparent storytelling, inquisitiveness, and curiosity will be highly valued in the workplace no matter where they end up.

Instilling and nurturing such values is not new. Starting first with the Missouri School of Journalism in 1908, formal journalism education has flourished over the last century. When schools first started to pop up around the country, editors and publishers knew formal education and training would be necessary to transition the industry to a more objective style of reporting.

At the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the School of Mass Communication was founded in 2000 from the merger of the Departments of Journalism and Radio, Television, and Film. Our broadcast students and print students were now under the same roof.

of storytelling with the critical skills that are necessary to contemporary journalism.

UA Little Rock’s School of Mass Communication has an incredible faculty of people who have been there and done it. They also know how to teach it. We have people who have produced and directed movies teaching documentary film. We have seasoned reporters and editors teaching writing and reporting. We have strategic communication faculty who know that public relations students must be prepared with ethical decision-making skills.

What I think makes our school outstanding are the unique and varied backgrounds of the students. When working on the copy desk at a small metro newspaper, one of my favorite editors told me once that he wants to hire people who have lived.

At 18 or 19—fresh out of high school— students often don’t know what it’s like to buy a house, to lose a job, to witness (or experience) tragedy. They don’t yet know what it is like to really live. Journalists are more effective when they can better understand their sources.

Our students have lived. Many are coming to us after working somewhere else for years. They have struggled with real-life problems such as paying bills, putting food on the table, or getting the car to start on a chilly morning. You can see it in the way they approach coming up with stories, sourcing, and troubleshooting.

Graduating dozens of journalism students each year, our program actively works to put students in internships and jobs where they will thrive. We have graduates at a number of Arkansas Press Association member organizations. Our graduates have thrived in the news storytelling environment.

We take these life experiences and teach them to tell stories about people like them.

Then we inspire them to stand up to the powerful and stand up for the powerless.

In December and May, when our next groups of graduates walk across the stage, it will be your turn to give them a place to hone their craft. The symbiotic relationship between the j-schools and industry continues.

Additionally, our graduate program for either pre-professionals or those who are already in the field focuses on combining deep thinking about the future

Chris Etheridge can be reached at ceetheridge@ualr.edu

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November 21, 2018