Arkansas Publisher Weekly: December 17, 2020

6 7

Media directory, t-shirts, masks for sale in online store

Guest Column:

Why are Some Newspapers Growing? Answers from publishers at growing papers

Arkansas Press Association

Publisher Weekly

By Kevin Slimp

Vol. 15 | No. 51 | Thursday, December 17, 2020 | Serving Press and State Since 1873

Trailblazing editor and politician dies at 96 Charlotte Tillar Schexnayder, the matriarch of the Arkansas newspaper industry, and was a trailblazer and champion for women in journalism and politics, died Friday, Dec. 11, in Little Rock. Schexnayder, longtime publisher of the Dumas Clarion and a former Arkansas state representative, was 96.

Schexnayder was the first-ever female president of the Arkansas Press Association, the first-ever female president of the National Newspaper Association and a member of the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame.

She was a member of the Arkansas General Assembly from 1985 to 1999, and her time in the Legislature was marked by a passion for the free press and an unwavering commitment to the southeast Arkansas community she represented.

She and her husband, Melvin, owned Clarion Publishing Company for more than 44 years, publishing the Clarion and the Delta Advertiser until their retirement in 1996.

Schexnayder was president of APA in 1981-82 and NNA in 1991. Before that, she was the first woman to be president of the Little Rock chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the first female president of the Dumas Chamber of Commerce and the first woman appointed to the Arkansas Board of Pardons and Parole.

In 1992, she was a presidential elector for then-Gov. Bill Clinton, who told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this week that he and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, “will always be grateful for her unfailing friendship, strong support and good humor.”

Charlotte Schexnayder at the Clinton School of Public Service, June 6, 2012.

“Charlotte was a legendary journalist, a devoted public servant, and a wonderful friend,” Clinton told the newspaper. “She was a voice of moral courage who also proved the value of quality local news coverage. In her second career in the Legislature, she found new ways to fight for the causes she had always cared about and advocated for.”

She was born on Christmas Day 1923 in the Tillar community in southeast Arkansas. As an assignment for seventhgrade English class, she launched her journalism career by crafting a homemade newspaper with a pencil and sheet of butcher paper. In an interview last year, Schexnayder said she “fell in love with

writing then, and I’ve been writing ever since.”

She wrote her memoirs, Salty Old Editor: An Adventure in Ink, in 2012. She wrote several opinion columns weekly while editor of the Clarion, including some controversial and impactful pieces during the school desegregation era.

“There were always contentious issues in the newspaper business from the beginning,” she said in a 2019 interview.

“We were threatened because of my editorials, but we stood firm and peaceful integration did come to Desha County.”

As a legislator, she was an advocate for rural development, after-school programs

Continued on Page 2

Trailblazing editor and politician dies at 96 Continued from Page 1

hard work and grit can accomplish.”

and ethics and campaign-finance reform. She sponsored a bill backed by Clinton to establish the Arkansas Ethics Commission. Though it failed in the Senate, the people of Arkansas enacted the legislation through a citizens’ initiative the following year.

Schexnayder served on multiple local and state boards and commissions, and was a former chairman of the Arkansas Rural Development Commission and one of the seven founders of the Arkansas Endowment for the Humanities.

Schexnayder was a member of Holy Child Catholic Church in Dumas.

She was a leading voice at the Capitol for the Freedom of Information Act and other issues important to the newspaper industry.

She earned dozens of awards, including the Arkansas Press Association’s Distinguished Service Award.

Schexnayder told a reporter in early 2018 that she believed “a free press is the guardian of our democracy. In whatever form, it must be preserved.”

Schexnayder’s first newspaper job was at the McGehee Times as assistant editor during the summers she was in college.

While in school, she was advertising manager of the Weevil Outlet at thenArkansas A&M University in Monticello.

After transferring to Louisiana State University, she was campus editor for the LSU student newspaper, The Reveille.

After returning to Arkansas, she was editor of the McGehee Times from 1944 to 1946. Later, in 1954, she and her husband purchased the Clarion.

In addition to her other leadership roles, Schexnayder was extremely active in Arkansas Press Women, and she was president of that organization in 1955.

From 1975 to 1979, she was president of the National Federation of Press Women.

She was that organization’s National

MARK YOUR CALENDAR The APA office will be closed Thursday, December 24 & Friday, December 25 for Christmas.

APA

“Charlotte was a colleague, a mentor and a friend who touched so many lives in the newspaper industry, in Arkansas, and across the country,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Wimberley. “She was an example to all of us, and especially to the women of our industry. I’m glad to have known her nearly all my life and I’ll miss hearing from her.”

Charlotte Schexnayder

Communicator of Achievement in 1970.

Schexnayder made an impact on countless women in the journalism profession, former Arkansas Press Women President Helen Plotkin said. “(She) showed me that it was possible for a woman from a small Arkansas town to have influence on a national level,” Plotkin said in a social media post. “She has been an inspiration to me and to many others and an illustration of what intelligence,

She is survived by three children, John Schexnayder, Steve Schexnayder and Sarah Steen; nine grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

Burial will be private. A public memorial service will be scheduled when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the family announced. That service will likely be in the summer.

APA seeks information on industry deaths With the end of the year approaching, the Arkansas Press Association plans to publish a complete listing of deaths within the state’s newspaper industry in the final weekly edition of Arkansas Publisher Weekly for 2020, on Wednesday, Dec. 30.

have been missed. APA is asking readers to submit the names of any individual whose obituary may have been inadvertently omitted this year, so that the obituary can be included in the year-end necrology.

—30—

While APA has worked throughout the year to chronicle deaths and publish obituaries in the newsletter as they happen, some may

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

She was preceded in death by her husband. Melvin Schexnayder was also a past Arkansas Press Association president.

2

Readers who are aware of someone who passed away and had connections to the Arkansas newspaper industry should email the APA at info@arkansaspress.org.

December 17, 2020

—30­— Courier’s Hostetler to retire Harold Camp Jameson

For the last seven years, Hostetler has been a sales representative for the Courier. Before that, she worked for the Leader in Jacksonville, the Sherwood Voice, the Jacksonville Patriot, Cabot Star-Herald, Lonoke Democrat, Carlisle Independent and Helena World. Most of her newspaper experience is in outside sales.

“One of Linda’s greatest qualities is how she cares for her customers,” says Kelly Freudensprung, publisher of The Saline Courier. “She is so detail oriented that you never have to ask if her tickets or copy are turned in, because we know that it is.”

Linda Hostetler

Harold Camp Jameson

Harold Camp Jameson, 88, of Magnolia, died Dec. 1, at his home in Magnolia.

Jameson was a Magnolia native and longtime sports editor for the Magnolia Banner News, where he worked for 40 years. He was sports information director at Southern Arkansas University for 13 years, and he was a correspondent for a number of newspapers, including the Arkansas Democrat, Arkansas Gazette and the Shreveport Times.

He was inducted in the SAU Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and earned the Arkansas Activities Association Distinguished Service Award in 2006.

Jameson was a retired first sergeant in the Arkansas Army National Guard. He was a Gideon and a member of Central Baptist Church in Magnolia.

He is survived by his wife, Betty; one son; one daughter; one sister; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Linda Hostetler, an advertising sales representative with more than 40 years of service to the newspaper industry, is retiring this month from The Saline Courier in Benton.

She has been recognized for her persistence and diligence by her clients and in the APA’s Better Newspaper Advertising Contest.

The newspaper is hosting a retirement party for Hostetler on Dec. 30.

Fort Smith’s Sanderford retires as Times Record sports/photo editor The photo and sports editor at the Times Record in Fort Smith has retired. Brian Sanderford’s last day was earlier this month, following a two-decade career with the newspaper.

Sanderford joined the Fort Smith newspaper in September 2000 as a photographer, and was also an editor for five years.

“He elevates news photography to an art,” Times Record regional editor John Lovett said in the newspaper’s announcement of Sanderford’s retirement. “He’s among the best photographers I’ve ever worked with.

Any time he takes a photo, even if it’s for a story on traffic, somehow he finds a way to

make the composition of that photograph look interesting to me.”

Sanderford is a native of Levittown, Pennsylvania, and an Army veteran.

He was hired at the newspaper after a freelance assignment. Eight years into his tenure, he was laid off from the newspaper during a downsizing, but continued to contribute freelance photography and was hired back a year later.

He was a portfolio award winner in the Arkansas Press Association’s Better Newspaper Editorial Contest in 2002.

Sanderford said he and his wife, Cheryl, plan to do some travelling during retirement.

Interment was a Memorial Park Cemetery in Magnolia.

INDUSTRY QUOTE “A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself.”

-Arthur Miller Arkansas Publisher Weekly

4

December 17, 2020

National groups urge CDC to consider journalists in COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan More than a dozen national media organizations, including the News Media Alliance and Society of Professional Journalists, have asked the Centers for Disease Control to consider journalists to be considered in an upcoming phase of COVID-19 vaccine deployment.

The letter was delivered to Dr. Jose Romero, the secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health. Romero is chairman of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

The news organizations stressed that front-line health care workers, first responders and at-risk Americans are and should be at the front of the line for the vaccine, but that journalists should be part of the next phases of vaccine delivery.

Journalists have taken on a vital role during the pandemic as “the connective fabric for Americans who are isolated and physically separated from each other, and informing them of the constantly evolving risks in their individual communities,” the letter stated.

In order to continue journalism’s critical role, journalists “must interact with government officials and the public to report on the stories that matter, regardless of the risks they assume,” the letter continued. Reporters are “first informers” and have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus while doing their jobs.

The letter asked Romero and the CDC to “consider the inclusion of journalists in subsequent phases of priority vaccine deployment.”

Experts point out difference in “efficacy” v. “effectiveness” The first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Arkansas this week, with more expected and other vaccines in line for FDA approval. With that, journalists are necessarily writing about vaccines.

Because of the timeliness of such reporting, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement recently pointed out the difference between the definitions of “efficacy” and “effectiveness” of vaccines.

According to ACHI, the terms “have different meanings in the context of

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

vaccine development, despite often being used interchangeably in news stories.”

Vaccine efficacy is the performance of a vaccine during ideal conditions, such as a trial. Effectiveness is how a vaccine performs in the real world. Since the COVID-19 is only now being administered in the real world, its effectiveness is not yet known.

On the other hand, pharmaceutical companies have determined high efficacy rates for vaccines. The Pfizer vaccine,

5

which is being administered to select health care workers this week, has a 95 percent efficacy rate, and the Moderna vaccine has a 94.5 percent efficacy rate.

“While the 90 percent efficacy rates for these COVID-19 vaccines when given in ideal circumstances is very encouraging, the effectiveness of the vaccines when they are administered in the real world remains to be seen,” according to ACHI. To read ACHI’s full article, visit achi.net/ newsroom

December 17, 2020

Media directory, T-shirts, masks for sale in online store Arkansas Press Association members and supporters may purchase a variety of items in the APA’s online store as the year nears an end. Some items, like journalism T-shirts and face masks, make great gifts or stocking stuffers.

The tees feature an inspiring quote about newspapers on the front and the APA logo on the back. Specially designed for the APA, the soft cotton shirts are available in S, M, L, XL and XXL. The cooling masks contain a logo with the message,

“Arkansas Newspapers: We’ve Got You Covered.”

Masks are $10 each and T-shirts are $20 each.

The APA has also published its annual Arkansas Media Directory in digital format for the first time ever, and the digital edition of the directory is available in the online store.

The 2020-21 version of the directory is the only publication in Arkansas to provide

comprehensive listings and detailed contact information for every media outlet in the state. The directory offers up-to-date listings for newspapers and broadcast outlets as well as other media organizations, APA associate members, elected officials and government agencies.

The directory is $40. Printed versions of the directory are also available in limited supply. To purchase both a digital and printed version, the cost is $60.

2020-2021 ARKANSAS

Media Directory Arkansas Press Association

and

“In these times we fight for ideas, newspapers are our fortresses.”

-Heinrich Heine

Arkansas Media Directory | 1

press ARKANSAS ASSOCIATION

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

6

December 17, 2020

Guest Column: Why are some newspapers growing?

Answers from publishers at growing papers

By Kevin Slimp Over the past few weeks, I’ve spoken (virtually) at five state and regional press association conventions. In all but one, my leadoff topic was “What’s Going on in Newspapers Right Now?” based on my most recent research among newspaper publishers throughout the U.S. and Canada. At all five conferences, I spoke on the topic, “Getting People to Pick Up Your Paper,” using information from my research and other sources to help publishers and others understand what we can do to get more readers which, in turn, gets more advertisers to read and advertise in our papers.

In my past few columns, I’ve discussed results of my 2020 Publishers survey, completed by publishers and managers representing more than 600 newspapers and groups. Today, I’d like to look at the last section of the survey, which gives participants the opportunity to share advice about what has worked for them over the past year. There were thousands of responses from folks eager to share their thoughts, so I’m going to stick with responses from the 16 percent of newspapers that have grown over the past five years.

Respondents in this group universally commented that “keeping everything local” was important to sustaining growth, and I’ve written enough about that, so we’ll move on from there.

One respondent, from a the Northeast region of “We began a ‘Support Subscription Campaign.’

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

small weekly in the U.S. wrote, Local Business When someone

subscribes in the name of a business and we’ll give them $5 in advertising credit.”

Here are just a few nuggets of wisdom from publishers of growing papers:

A midsize weekly (4,000-7,000) on the West Coast wrote that some of their growth correlated with a stronger opinion section in the paper.

● A publisher at a free weekly in the Southeast U.S. wrote, “Network with other publishers to learn new methods of generating revenue and survival.”

A large weekly (12,000-20,000) in the Southwest U.S. confirmed what a lot of growing newspapers noted. A redesign of the newspaper was credited as one reason for their growth. Another publisher from the Southwest U.S. indicated one key to growth at their newspaper was “Getting copies in people’s hands with subscription forms.”

● Another publisher from the Southeast U.S. wrote, “Always make sure your employees are happy. When they are, they will do a good job.”

A small weekly in the U.S. Great Plains region noted some of their growth was due to a focus on children and family activities, while a midsize weekly in the Southwest noted, “daily calls for subscriptions that are one month from expiring” was very successful for them. The respondent went on to add, “We are renewing 75 percent of them over the phone.”

The publisher at a growing midsize weekly in the U.S. Great Plains region wrote, “We did a county-wide saturation mailing for two weeks.”

A free weekly publisher in the Midwest responded that a key to their paper’s growth was “aggressive sales and marketing.”

One of the last questions on the survey was, “If you were asked to share one lesson you have learned in your newspaper career, what would it be?”

7

● “Listen to your readers and develop a product people want to read.” ● Quality local stories, written by local people who live in the community, plus great photos and good layout make for something that will interest most members of a community.” ● “Give readers and advertisers more than they expect” ● “Always under-promise and overdeliver.” ● “Believe in your product. Those who work for a newspaper, really work for their communities. It’s a privilege and it’s a service.”

I couldn’t have said it better.

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

December 17, 2020