Arkansas Publisher Weekly: November 8, 2018

3 4

C & H Hog Farms, ADEQ in court over records request Guest Column: “Showing” beats “telling” every time

by John Foust

ARKANSAS

Ar kansas

PRESS

Publisher Weekly

Vol. 13 | No. 45 | Thursday, November 8, 2018

ASSOCIATION

Serving Press and State Since 1873

Jacksons move from Clinton, remain close to industry Just because Patsy Jackson is out of the newspaper business doesn’t mean she’s out of strong opinions about the newspaper industry.

Patsy Jackson and her husband, Jay Jackson, ran the Van Buren County Democrat in Clinton for more than 46 years.

At age 85 and at a senior-living community in Rogers, she and her husband still subscribe to their old paper, as well as the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

In an interview with APA, she strongly defended the role of newspapers and journalism in society, and she questioned why there’s an increasingly hostile climate for media.

“I am so sick of this ‘fake news.’ We don’t have fake news,” Patsy Jackson said. “We have people who tell lies, but we don’t have fake news. It doesn’t sit well with me when people say that there’s no truth in newspapers. There’s truth in it, and I know what it takes to put a story together.”

Jay and Patsy Jackson with Roger Smith and Bill Hager at the time of the sale of the Van Buren County Democrat to Westward Communications in October 1997,

Her journalism experience dates to 1951, when the publisher of the Van Buren County Democrat asked Jay Jackson to operate the business. He purchased the paper outright in the late 1950s.

“I don’t understand why people don’t understand the news media, or why it’s getting blamed for so much stuff, but when you’ve been in the business all your life, Continued on Page 2

The Daily Guard in Batesville relocates to new offices

The Daily Guard in Batesville relocated to a new office on Nov. 1 and is now located at 400 Harrison St.

“We are happy with our new surroundings,” she said. “We feel like it’s a fresh start for us, and sometimes you just need that.”

“Trying to coordinate the move and still put out a newspaper was daunting at times, but we managed it,” Roberts said.

Angelia Roberts, general manager of the Guard, said the former office on the lower end of Main Street in Batesville was a little too big for the operation, which was acquired earlier this year by Paxton Media.

In addition, there was a need for newer and more modern accommodations, she said.

Roberts said the staff “threw away years and years and years of things we didn’t need.” The paper was fortunate to have the local university, Lyon College, agree to take thousands of photo negatives and older, bound editions to preserve in its library.

The business hours for the newspaper are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The paper keeps the same phone number, (870) 793-2383, and mailing address, PO Box 2036, Batesville AR, 72503.

The paper had been housed at its previous location for more than 35 years.

She commended the Guard employees for their dedication to continuing quality work while relocating.

Jacksons Continued from page 1

you have a different attitude about it, I guess,” she said. “We wouldn’t live without the newspaper.”

Clinton is finding it tough to go without the Jacksons, said Sid King, who operates a local radio station. They were an institution in Van Buren County, he said.

Jay Jackson, the APA president in 1968, also served for many years as the state’s representative to the National Newspaper Association. The couple still pays NNA dues, owing to a deep sense of community and loyalty to association friends, many of whom assisted them at one of their most trying times, when major flooding in early December 1982 sent nearly seven inches of water into the newspaper office and ruined everything in sight.

“People helped us,” she said. “We got right back into business and never missed an issue. People came from all over the state.

Charlotte and Melvin Schexnayder wrote stories for us. Melvin printed the paper. The Conway publisher cleaned our counters. We had other people that wanted to furnish equipment. People from

and said ‘Mother, where are you going?”

Patsy Jackson said. “They were having everybody get out of the area! I looked out the window and there were solid headlights going north.”

Patsy Jackson said they stayed because they had news to cover and a paper to put out, an everyday process for her and her husband. Her official title at the Van Buren County Democrat was society editor, but “I did everything from cleaning the place to delivering papers.”

Though they are both out of the business, both she and her husband agree that newspapers are here to stay.

“I don’t think we can get along without newspapers,” Patsy Jackson said. “I think there are changes that we’ve seen where we have to get back to running local news

Patsy and Jay at the APA 2011 Summer Convention.

“We miss them greatly,” King said. “Old newspapers are kind of like old radio station in that our business has changed so much. For someone who has been there and done that, you long to go back to those days where you had small-town newspapers that serve the community well. Ever since Jay and Patsy have been out of the newspaper, it has changed the face of journalism in Van Buren County.”

The Jacksons moved to Rogers to be closer to their family. They have two daughters who live in Northwest Arkansas. Patsy lives in an independentliving cottage, while Jay, who is 92, lives in an assisted-living apartment. They live about a block and a half from each other and eat all their meals together. She visits him about five times a day, she said.

When they’re not together, she spends her time “trying to find a place for stuff,” since the move required a substantial downsizing from their old home.

They missed the recent Arkansas Press Association convention in Eureka Springs because it’s more difficult for them to get around now, she said. The meeting is one of very few they’ve missed over their careers.

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

This archive photo shows the extent of the flooding in Clinton, December 1982. Photo courtesy Jay Jackson.

all over the country were nice to us. That’s one of those things we never forget.”

Another unforgettable memory for Patsy Jackson was the potentially dangerous situation down U.S. 65 from Clinton.

In September 1980, a Titan II missile exploded, killing an airman. With concerns about the potential of a radioactive leak from a nuclear warhead, many residents fled the area. Having been assured by police — before the explosion — that everything was OK in Damascus, the Jacksons had gone to bed.

“About 2 a.m., our daughter called us 2

to have a successful weekly in these smaller areas. When you get away from local news, people don’t like it.

Jay and Patsy Jackson encourage cards, letters and phone calls. Their contact information: Village on the Park 2200 W. Laurel Ave. Apt. 204 (Jay) or Cottage 511 (Patsy) Rogers AR 72758 Jay Jackson phone: (479) 256-6038 Patsy Jackson phone: (479) 878-8081 November 8, 2018

Sun-Times columnist C&H Hog Farms, ADEQ in court over records remembered with request local tribute Long-time “Susan Says” columnist Susan Ruland of Heber Springs passed away on October 23 at the age of 76. Ruland had recently switched from political and opinion commentary to writing a religion column. A memorial was set up at the local Subway restaurant, where she would regularly meet friends for a Scrabble match.

The owners of a controversial hog farm in the Buffalo River watershed has sued the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, accusing the state agency of failing to turn over documents from a Freedom of Information Act request.

The placard on the table reads in part: “At this table on January 7, 2009, Susan Ruland and Jim Lewis played the first of nearly 400 games over almost 10 years.

The final game was played August 23, 2018, with Susan going out a winner.”

According to the Arkansas DemocratGazette, C&H Hog Farms filed suit in Newton County Circuit Court in late

NIE making an impact

The tribute to columnist Susan Ruland at Subway on Main Street in Heber Springs.

Mark Your Calendar November 23 & 24

Arkansas Press Association will be closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Let’s Get Social Follow Us on Facebook & Twitter

@ArkansasPressAssociation @ARPressAssoc

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

Many Arkansas Press Association member newspapers are committed to helping students learn the importance of good journalism through the Newspapers in Education program. The Searcy Daily Citizen last month used its Newspapers in Education page to highlight the benefits of good character as well.

The Citizen offered a “Kids of Character” activity page where children could learn six ways to demonstrate honesty and were taught a lesson in differentiating between truth and myths.

October. C&H Hog Farms is seeking records, according to the report, that “include communications between the department (ADEQ) and several outside agencies and individuals regarding the application for a new operating permit,” as well as numerous other related records.

C&H Hog Farms sought the records, the report stated, in order to file its comment in response to ADEQ’s draft ruling to deny C&H’s application for a new operating permit.

In denying C&H’s initial request for the documents, ADEQ cited Ark. Code Ann. 25-19-105(a)(2)C). That provision of FOIA states that a request must be sufficient enough for a records custodian to locate a public record or records “with reasonable effort.” ADEQ contends that the request is so large that it could not meet the request with reasonable effort. C&H maintains the state agency would know which documents are responsive to the request, and the company stated in its complaint that it needed the documents so that it could file its public comments.

Industry Quote of the Week “The newspaper is a greater treasure to the people than uncounted millions of gold.”

-Henry Ward Beecher

Children also were asked to draw a comic strip that would demonstrate what they think it means to be honest.

Newspapers in Education, also known as NIE, is a national program designed to promote literacy, increase hands-on learning in the classroom and develop lifelong reading habits among young people and their families NIE is just one of many ways APA member newspapers can promote themselves and show value within the community.

If your publication has an innovative or interesting marketing idea worth sharing in future editions of the Arkansas Publisher Weekly, please contact APA Executive Director Ashley Wimberley at ashley@ arkansaspress.org.

3

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 our weekly bulletin and monthly newsletter.

November 8, 2018

Guest Column: “Showing” beats “telling” every time

By John Foust, Raleigh, NC Back in my ad agency days, I learned a big lesson about what to do – and what not to do – in a sales presentation.

I was sitting in the office of the owner of a construction business, ready to show him that I was the right person to handle his advertising account. I had been referred to him by a mutual acquaintance at a much larger ad agency, an agency that was pursuing only much larger accounts.

At that point in my young advertising career, my sales presentations consisted mostly of showing samples of my work and evaluating the state of a prospect’s current ads. So I opened the portfolio book of ads I had created for other clients and proceeded to describe the strategy behind each ad. After a few pages, this prospect stopped me cold in my tracks. He said, “I don’t care what you’ve done for other people. All I care about is what you can do for me.”

All of us have experienced events that were turning points. Meeting our future spouse. Finding a new job. A conversation with a favorite teacher or coach.

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

WII-FM has been a sales cliché for years. It’s an acronym for everyone’s favorite radio station: “What’s in it for me?” That acronym came to life for me that day – in a comment that became a turning point in the way I conducted business presentations. Of course, he was one hundred percent correct. Why in the world should he sit there and listen to me talking about me, when all he cared about was himself and his business? Thank goodness, I was able to shift gears and ask about his business situation and his marketing goals. And thank goodness he threw caution to the wind and gave an assignment to me.

I’ll always be grateful to that direct – but exceedingly wise – advertiser for teaching me an important lesson. As it turned out, the assignment was an audition. I handled his company’s ad account for 24 years. Over time, I realized that he was not being intentionally rude that day. His philosophy was, “Give me the information I need to make a decision and do it quickly.”

Sometimes I joke that his words should be posted in advertising departments:

4

“I don’t care what you’ve done for other people. All I care about is what you can do for me.” That cuts right to the core of a There’s nothing earthshakingly new about all of this. Every time a sales person prepares for an appointment, he should simply ask himself, “How can I make this presentation revolve around the prospect’s needs?” And every time a sales person displays samples of ads, she should ask herself, “What’s relevant about these ads? How can I relate the characteristics of these samples to the goals of this specific advertiser?”

Do these things and stay in step with your advertisers.

John Foust, based in Raleigh, N.C., has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from inhouse training. E-mail for information: john@johnfoust.com

November 8, 2018