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Newspaper public notices survive in challenging year across the country Guest Column:
Christmas catalogs prove value in printed advertising By Peter Wagner
Ar k ansas
ARKANSAS
Publisher Weekly
PRESS ASSOCIATION
Vol. 14 | No. 51 | Thursday, December 19, 2019
Serving Press and State Since 1873
NIE program keeps educational community engaged A program launched by American newspapers nearly a century ago continues to thrive across the country and even in Arkansas, where the “living textbooks” provided by Arkansas publications are hopefully setting the stage for future newspaper subscribers. Newspapers in Education (NIE) programs flourish in the Natural State, including in
north Arkansas, where the Harrison Daily Times and Newton County Times are delivered to classrooms in Boone and Newton counties. At its peak, close to 70 classrooms participated in the Harrison Daily Times’s NIE program. Fewer classrooms participate now, said Dane Milner, program coordinator and the Harrison newspaper’s circulation manager. That said, the educational benefits make it more than worthwhile to continue an effort that began at the newspaper more than a decade ago. For Milner and the Harrison Daily Times staff, it’s the learning opportunities that are the most important aspects of the program. Any residual benefit to the newspaper itself is just a bonus.
Dane Milner of the Harrison Daily Times
APA sign restored
“I think it’s making people aware of the newspaper and not to forget about the paper, because there’s a lot of really cool stuff in here,” Milner said. “I’m sure some
of the teachers send (the newspapers) home with the kids, and there’s the hope that they maybe will see a story or an ad in there and consider subscribing, but we would still do this anyway. “It’s keeping us on people’s minds, yes, but it’s more of a benefit to the teachers and the students,” he added. “It’s a good way to give back, really.” The Harrison newspaper funds its program through a mix of revenue sources and through appeals to subscribers to donate in support of NIE. The subscriber support largely comes from readers who may be moving or going on extended vacations and who, on request, donate the balance of their subscriptions for NIE. In Harrison and Newton counties, the 20 participating classrooms receive their NIE newspapers each Wednesday. Milner estimates his company donates between 600 and 700 newspapers to the classrooms each week. The newspaper Continued on Page 2
A large hand-painted redwood sign, arguably the most visible public identifier of the Arkansas Press Association, has been restored and rehung in the APA front office. The sign, which was custom made in late 1991 by Allwood Signs of Little Rock, hung in front of the old APA building at 17th and Broadway Streets for nine years. It was moved to APA’s new Victory Street location in 2000, where it hung until 2004, when it was removed from the building during remodeling and placed in the Arkansas Newspaper Museum.
Left: The original sign made by Allwood Signs of Little Rock. Right: The sign, newly restored by Northeast Arkansas artist Jared Vaughn, now hangs in the lobby at the APA Headquarters.
NIE program keeps educational community engaged Continued from Page 1
staff compiles two full pages of NIE content from free, educational sources they find online.
programs was changed to “Newspapers in Education.” Now, national newspaper industry estimates are that more than 94 percent of newspapers with a circulation of 15,000 or more have an active NIE program.
“There are just tons of different activities and things they can do,” Milner said. “Sometimes it’s topical, related to current events, and there are a lot of educational items, extra stuff outside of the regular reading, writing, ‘rithmetic-type thing.” The NIE program is another good resource for educators, noted Dr. Stewart Pratt, superintendent of the Harrison School District. “As educators, we strive for students to gain knowledge and skills in their PreK through 12 grade experience,” Pratt Harrison Daily Times current NIE page said. “However, using media such as the see improvement of between 10 percent Harrison Daily Times allows students to integrate their knowledge and skills to to 29 percent on standardized test scores. events occurring at the local, national and Early newspaper in education programs global levels.” began in the 1930s and grew to NIE programs are designed to help prominence in the late 1950s with a students develop the kinds of reading national “Newspaper in the Classroom” habits that will stay with them for a lifetime. program. By the 1970s, and with more Research has indicated that middle school than just classrooms participating in the students who regularly read a newspaper educational effort, the name for such
APA to publish obituary list
Most obituaries of APA members and friends of the organization who died this year have already been published in Arkansas Publisher Weekly, but it’s possible that some may have been inadvertently omitted.
It is this publication’s goal to list the name of every industry loss in 2019. If you know of a name omitted, please email aaron@arkansaspress.org by Dec. 30. It is important to preserve this information for the APA’s archive, and APA would appreciate including the name of every individual who passed away this year. Arkansas Publisher Weekly
Milner starts every school year with calls and emails to teachers and school administrators in both Boone and Newton counties, asking them if they would like to participate in NIE. More often, though, he will hear from teachers themselves. “A lot of them know about this and they’ll contact me or the paper directly,” he said. “It’s absolutely a community service, and we are happy to do it. As long as the teachers want it, we’ll keep doing it.”
Happy Holidays
With the year nearing an end, the Arkansas Press Association is planning to publish its annual necrology, a list of individuals associated with the newspaper industry in Arkansas, who passed away in 2019.
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Milner has managed the program in Harrison for nearly six years, and said he would be willing to offer assistance or suggestions to others in the newspaper industry attempting to launch an NIE program. Dozens of NIE resources are also available online.
APA will be closed on Wednesday , December 25 for the Christmas holiday. let’s get social
INDUSTRY QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”
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-Benjamin Franklin December 19, 2019
Lake Area Weekly Newspaper public notices survive in undergoes challenging year across the country Though American newspapers have faced The Public Notice Resource Center noted changes significant challenges on other fronts in that, in 2019, bills in 11 states to remove The Lake Area Weekly in Fairfield Bay has bolstered its digital presence and changed its printed size and stock.
The Arkansas Press Association member newspaper owned by Fairfield Bay Community Club, Inc., is no longer printed on newsprint. The new, full-color printed version is on heavier stock and is now 17by-22 inches in size. The Fairfield Bay board discussed the changes in its October meeting, according to an account in the newspaper. The subscription price for the newspaper increased to $80 a year, reflecting the higher cost of home delivery and improvement in the quality of the printed product. An enhanced digital subscription is also available. According to the newspaper’s report, the digital edition has “news items added daily and everyone will see great improvements.”
2019, the National Public Notice Resource Center reports that, overall, transparency and the public’s right-to-know won major victories this year in state Capitols across the country.
According to the Center, only about 80 of the 360 public notice bills filed in state legislatures this year were approved. Of those, the vast majority actually added new public notice requirements.
The Center said that one of its metrics it view as a “rough proxy for the general health of newspaper notice in the state capitals turned sharply positive this year.”
In Arkansas, Act 1075 requires the state’s cities, counties and schools to use newspaper public notices when soliciting competitive bids for construction projects. As initially filed, that bill would have made newspaper notice merely optional. After significant debate and compromise, the final act here in this state actually strengthens current law and enhances transparency.
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Buying or Selling?
Maretta “Garnette” Duncan Traylor
Maretta “Garnette” Duncan Traylor, 80, of Brinkley died Dec. 14 in Memphis. Mrs. Traylor was a former staff member for the Monroe County Herald in Brinkley and the grandmother of Herald Publisher Hayden Taylor.
Garnette Duncan Traylor
most public notices from newspapers never even made it out of committee.
I can help you with a new purchase or the sale of your publication
LEWIS FLOYD Senior Associate
A Brinkley native, she was a graduate of Brinkley High School and member of First Baptist Church in Brinkley. She and her husband, Drury, were Southern Baptist missionaries to the Central American country of Belize in the 1990s.
(850) 532-9466 lfloyd@mediamergers.com
She is survived by her husband; her daughter, Beth; grandchildren Hayden and Catherine; and three siblings. Funeral services were Wednesday, Dec. 18, at First Baptist Church in Brinkley. The family asks that lasting memorials be made to First Baptist Church Music Ministry, 215 West Elm St., Brinkley, Arkansas, 72021. Arkansas Publisher Weekly
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December 19, 2019
Guest Column: Christmas catalogs prove value in printed advertising By Peter Wagner Every once in a while, someone asks me what I plan to do now that “newspapers are dead.” But if print is dead, why are so many national companies still sending me their thick, slick, full-color catalogs? Connie and I usually get at least two or three catalogs every day. We’ve received catalogs this past month from L.L. Bean, J.Jill, Coldwater Creek, Nordstrom, Harry & David, Front Gate, Hammacher Schlemmer, Kansas City Steak Company, The Vermont Country Store, Pier 1, Artful House, Wine Enthusiasts, Crate & Barrel, Talbots, Pottery Barn, Chico’s and more. Many of the firms are ones we’ve never shopped. We even got a catalog from American Girl, the doll company. We haven’t bought an American Girl doll or the company’s doll clothing since our granddaughters were in grade school. Zoey, the oldest, is a mature woman today working in Chicago and Katie, her cousin, is a sophomore at Iowa State University. I’ve wondered how Katie would react if I mailed her the American Girl catalog at her sorority house and suggested she pick out which one she’d like for Christmas. It has been at least seven years since we’ve been a customer and we’re still getting American Girl doll catalogs. Many of the catalogs are the size of popular women’s magazines featuring nothing but advertising. From experience I would guess each one costs the company at least a dollar, often much more, to cover the design, printing and postage. Clothing, food and home decor firms are not the only ones pitching their products
Arkansas Publisher Weekly
and services with catalogs. Year around, nothing exceeds the number of direct-mail cards, letters and catalogs Connie and I get from various cruise lines. We took a Viking River Cruise on the Danube at least four years ago. Ever since that time we seem to get at least one printed piece from Viking cruises each day. Sometimes we get two or three a single day. Usually one is a thick catalog promoting the various river cruises and a second one pushing the firm’s new, small ship ocean cruises. Some days the catalogs are accompanied by an oversized postcard promoting a limited time deal. Connie and I are convinced the Viking Company has reinvested all the money we spent with them for that one cruise attempting us get us to do it again. Evidently the mailing companies share or sell each other their prospect mailing list. Along with Viking we also get promotional mailings from a dozen cruise lines even though we have booked cruises on only a limited few. So, and I admit I am prejudiced, what does this tell me? It tells me print advertising is still an effective way to reach the mostdesired, best-qualified buyer. All the above firms also blast us with e-mail and Facebook advertising. Like many local merchants, these national giants are doing digital advertising at a significant savings compared to print advertising. National marketers have huge buyer research firms and heavily monitored result-to-spending budgets. They wouldn’t be sending all that printed advertising if it
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wasn’t getting significant results. But here is the local difference. What those national catalog firms don’t have is the easy reach of the local paper offering inexpensive, dependable, full-color print advertising. Since they can’t enjoy the ease and savings offered by a local print publication, they have to turn to the more expensive direct mail. Today’s leading businesses are depending on a wide variety of media: radio, Facebook, e-mail, websites, cable TV and direct mail as well as select local newspapers and shoppers. But the leading firms never overlook the power of print. Local newspapers and shoppers can present a powerful message that features a combination of beautiful photographs or illustrations, original, highly-crafted copy and marvelous process color. Locally published papers remain in a home for a full week or more. They are available to be read and reread any time and can be referred to as often the reader desires. But most of all, local papers are a welledited, creatively designed, credible and trusted information source. In the minds of the readers, that credibility often extends to cover the advertising, too. Peter W. Wagner is founder and publisher of the award winning N’West Iowa REVIEW and 13 additional publications. Wagner can be contacted by emailing pww@iowainformation.com or calling his cell at (712) 348-3550.
December 12, 2019