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Next Friday is deadline for return of APA ballots 2018 APA SuperConvention schedule & hotel information
ARKANSAS
PRESS
Ar kansas
Publisher Weekly
ASSOCIATION
Serving Press and State Since 1873
Vol. 13 | No. 20 | Thursday, May 17, 2018
Pat Jones retires today surrounded by her Batesville Daily Guard family Pat Jones began working at the familyowned Batesville Daily Guard after her youngest daughter April turned six. She expected to be there a few weeks, maybe a month or so. Today she is retiring as publisher and general manager after 46 years at the helm. “IBM was installing new software at that time, and I came to help. There were lots of changes to make – it fascinated me,” said Pat. The Guard has been owned by the family of her late husband, O.E. Jones, since 1929. It remains one of the few familyowned dailies in the region. She is proud of the contributions of family-owned newspapers like the Guard and believes their long-time ties to the community are an asset.
The paper has very little employee turnover, and its staff is like an extended family. One of her long-time employees was a pressman who tells the story of riding a horse to deliver the newspapers when he started at the paper. “I hire top-notch people and let them make the decisions,” Pat said. “I expect them to run the paper without coming to me for all the answers.” That spirit of trust and loyalty is reflected in the attitudes of the people who work with her. “We have the privilege of working for the best boss ever,” said Angelia Roberts, executive director of advertising and editorial, an 18-year employee. “She didn’t try to control us; she trusted us to run a good newspaper. When we decided Continued on Page 2
Pat Jones
Bill introduced to suspend newsprint tariffs while studied On Monday, a bill was introduced under the sponsorship of Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) to require the Department of Commerce to suspend newsprint tariffs while it carries out a study on the impact on the newspaper industry.
Because of the astounding grassroots efforts of our industry nationwide, the bill was dropped in with an unusually strong bipartisan coalition of original co-sponsors Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Claire McMcCaskill (D-MO), Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
Your Access To Local News Just
Got More Expensive.
The U.S. government just imposed a new tax on newsprint, increasing the cost of the paper you are holding. These tariffs hurt newspapers, readers, workers and local communities.
Protect your right to read.
Tell your representatives in Congress to stop the tariffs on newsprint.
202.225.3121
stopnewsprinttariffs.org
On Tuesday, APA distributed a press release to member newspapers that the News Media Alliance (NMA) issued when the bill was filed. “Please consider running this release in your newspaper as we continue to fight this battle,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Wimberley. “If you need us to resend the release, call the APA office at (501) 374-1500.” “As an APA member, please make every effort in the next few weeks to persuade our senators to join as sponsors. If they cannot, please ask them to send a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and to the International Trade Commission,” Wimberley added. New quarter and full page house ads are also available for download from the National Newspaper Association website, https://tinyurl.com/y84h3jd3, to help educate Arkansans about how these tariffs impact workers and local communities access to news.