Third Annual Press Freedom Gala Set for October 24
Guest Column: Ad-Libs: The Power of Being Specific
By John Foust
Arkansas Press Association PUBLISHER
Vol.19 | No. 34 | Friday, August 30, 2024 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
Family, community top priorities for Clarissa Reaves-Williams
A new publishing company has joined the ranks of newspaper ownership in Arkansas – and the organization clearly is a family affair.
Reaves & Williams Publishing Group is the new owner of the Era-Enterprise in DeWitt, a community in Arkansas County. The acquisition by RWPG of the property formerly owned by Lewis County Press officially was announced in mid-July.
Clarissa Reaves-Williams served as CEO and co-owner of LCP before she and her husband and business partner, Herbert Williams, purchased the group of newspapers that includes the DeWitt property. There currently are 10 other newspapers in the group – four in Missouri, three in Virginia, two in Oklahoma and one in Tennessee/Kentucky.
Reaves-Williams brings more than 35 years of extensive and varied newspaper experience to the operation. Her husband has been involved in various business ventures for 30 years. Their son, Cameron Williams, serves as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), while daughter Bethany Williams is the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). Greg McNutt is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the company.
The new owners emphasize they are Gen X, their son is Gen Z and their daughter is a Millennial. “I love that we can celebrate new ideas across generations within our family-run business,” ReavesWilliams said.
The company is based in Cookeville, Tennessee, along with the couple’s Hometown Digital Marketing Agency, a nine-year-old endeavor that provides cutting-edge advanced solutions for businesses.
“The newspaper, whether in print or online, is the soul of the community,” Reaves-Williams said. “In an era in which credible information is more critical than ever, we strive to grow our audience and serve our readers with quality community content
sourced from trusted and dependable sources. We understand that our community needs us, and we need them too – whether as the living history textbook, or in promoting local businesses, we are here for our readers, advertisers and team.”
Reaves-Williams said her team is committed to being an active part of the DeWitt and Arkansas County community and will be enthusiastically involved with the Arkansas Press Association. The initial staff includes publisher Natasha Jackson, editor Dawn Teer and corporate circulation director Rosalyn Love. “We are also building upon the established ties that LeeAnn Morgan, Bill Shrum and Jason Cox have within the community,” she added.
See Clarissa Reaves-Williams page 2
Herbert Williams and Clarissa Reaves-Williams
Clarissa Reaves-Williams
Reaves-Williams said exciting announcements about the future of the Era-Enterprise and its role in Arkansas County soon will be forthcoming.
“We believe that everyone has a story to tell, and newspapers do it better than anyone,” she said. “By providing trusted, in-depth coverage of local events, politics and issues, our newspaper remains an essential and trusted voice in the community.”
The Williamses are both natives of Kentucky and met while students at Union College (now Union Commonwealth University) in Barbourville, Kentucky. She was a journalism/psychology major with a minor in business, while he majored in psychology with a minor in sociology.
“I’ve loved newspapers since I was 15,” Reaves-Williams said. She was serving as a student ambassador giving tours of her school while wearing a sweater with a newspaper print design. One of the school officials noticed it and asked if she would consider contributing articles for the district educational newsletter. She was hooked from then on.
Reaves-Williams said her family background influenced her career choice — her mother was an art teacher, and her father operated a press for American Greetings.
She later was a member of the high school newspaper staff and learned such skills as layout and ad sales. Eventually that interest led to a position in college as a stringer at the local Barbourville Mountain Advocate, where she wrote numerous feature articles for the newspaper.
The Williamses married and eventually moved closer to her home area, where she landed a position in ad sales at the Times-Tribune in Corbin, Kentucky. “As they say, I moved from the light side to the dark side of the business,” she said with a laugh.
“My training involved riding with the newspaper’s ad rep for half a day and she quit before the day was over. It was both terrifying and exciting. One of my first clients was the local IGA grocery store and I was shown the clip art, hot wax and border tape for the ad. I told the manager, ‘I’m doing your ad this week and I definitely don’t
know what I’m doing.’ Fortunately, I knew him, since I had worked for him when I was in school, so it worked out okay.”
Reaves-Williams then worked briefly with the Kentucky Child Care Coalition, teaching children and youth how to produce a newspaper. It was a learning and training experience for youngsters from troubled or disadvantaged backgrounds. “I eventually decided I wanted to be back in the newspaper business. After that experience, I valued teachers more than ever, but it wasn’t for me. I didn’t have the patience.”
One of her first breaks in the newspaper industry came when she was hired as the ad director at the Courier News in Clinton, Tennessee. She was successful there, helping the newspaper double revenue in the first six months and then again after two years.
Reaves-Williams went on to a successful advertising and marketing director role at the Richmond (Kentucky) Register, before landing her first publisher position at the Mt. Vernon (Illinois) RegisterNews, then a CNHI newspaper.
“I really didn’t think I would get the job,” she said, citing earlier experiences relating to discriminatory policies and pay inequality faced by women. But she had a great interview with CNHI regional manager Mark Cohen and was hired, achieving her goal of becoming a publisher prior to age 30.
While at Mt. Vernon, she developed a disaster recovery plan for the newspaper. This proved to be timely as a significant tornado hit the area shortly thereafter, disrupting the community and causing power outages.
Her next career stop was working for Halifax Media in Sebring, Florida. “We went from cornfields to orange groves,” she said. “It was one of the best places we ever lived.”
But her husband’s mother developed health problems, and the Williamses moved back to Kentucky, serving as publisher of a weekly newspaper in La Grange, a community in the Louisville area. After being recruited by her former boss, the family moved back to Florida, where Reaves-Williams oversaw the Pennysaver
See Clarissa Reaves-Williams page 3
Reaves-Williams participating in a panel discussion on audience expansion at the Newspaper Association of America mediaXchange 2015. With her are, from left, President and CEO of Deseret News/Deseret Digital Media Clark Gilbert, Austin American-Statesman Publisher Susie Ellwood and Washington Post President/General Manager Stephen P. Hills.
Clarissa Reaves-Williams
division for a company that had a combined circulation of more than 280,000. While there, her husband worked for Volunteers of America, helping convicted felons and others with troubled pasts find employment.
It was at that stop that Reaves-Williams was diagnosed with breast cancer. “It was then that I realized that climbing the career ladder was not so important. I began to take my Christianity seriously and focused on my relationship with Jesus.” She experienced what she considers something of a miraculous recovery. She and her husband have since placed a high priority on faith in their lives and their work.
Reaves-Williams had two other major corporate stops before embarking on a more independent career path. She was publisher of the Dover Post and managed all the Delaware operations (circulation 380,000) for GateHouse Media before accepting the publisher position in 2012 at the Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois, owned at the time by the same company.
Reaves-Williams became chief operating officer for American Hometown Publishing, based in Nashville, in 2016. AHP at the time owned and operated newspapers and magazines in Florida, Tennessee, Virginia and Oklahoma. It was through that connection that she developed a relationship with the 10 newspapers that eventually were spun off as Lewis County Press, for whom she was CEO and part-owner for more than four years. Subsequently, she and her husband earlier this year formed the new family corporation that acquired the publications.
Several important challenges are being faced by community newspapers in the current environment, the new owners acknowledge. They include attracting and retaining young readers, staying ahead of technological advancements, financial struggles and retaining and recruiting talent.
In addressing technological revenue and technological issues, Reaves-Williams points to the importance of the company’s Hometown Digital Marketing Agency, as well as its Marketing Communications Strategy Plan. “This plan is devoted to growing our readership and revenue by leveraging our own services, such as programmatic emails, geo-fencing and programmatic targeting,” she said. “These tools allow us to target specific audience segments effectively, ensuring that our content and advertisements reach the right people at the right time.”
Reaves & Williams Publishing Group also owns Shine Messengers, a Christian-based company, and Cookeville Now, a digital outlet which includes a YouTube channel and podcast dedicated to uplifting content and community stories.
The Williamses spend time antiquing, collecting unique marketing memorabilia and enjoy visiting coffee shops, especially those that also include extensive tea offerings. The couple also have an extensive vinyl record collection, love to travel and become involved in history and are interested in photography and new technology.
Looking ahead, the couple plans to continue serving the communities in which their newspapers are located and emphasize they are in a growth mode, interested in talking with present owners who might want to consider selling their publications.
“The newspaper industry is personally fulfilling because it allows us to make a meaningful impact in the communities we serve,”
Reaves-Williams said. “There is immense satisfaction knowing that our work helps inform, connect and empower our readers. As stewards of local journalism, we take pride in being a voice for the community, providing accurate and relevant news and advocating for issues that matter to our readers.
“The sense of community, the celebration of local stories and the thrill of delivering news that matters – these are the things that make the newspaper industry so personally fulfilling for us. We are committed to ensuring that our newspapers continue to serve as a trusted resource and a cherished part of the community’s fabric.
“It’s important to note that we believe in the resilience of local journalism. Despite the challenges, we are committed to evolving and adapting to ensure that community newspapers continue to thrive. Our goal is to blend the best of traditional journalism with innovative digital solutions, assuring that we can serve our communities effectively for years to come.”
Dawn Teer announced as new editor of Era-Enterprise in DeWitt
Dawn Teer is the new editor of the EraEnterprise in DeWitt, the newspaper announced on August 22.
Teer started her journalism career in 2013 as a reporter for the former Stuttgart Daily Leader, a role she held for more than three years. She worked briefly for the former White Hall Journal before becoming managing editor of The Sun-Times in Heber Springs. In late 2019, she left the newspaper to form her own freelance writing company, DRT Media, working as a correspondent for the Era-Enterprise and In The Loop Stuttgart, a digital news outlet.
Teer holds an Associate Degree from Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas in Stuttgart and a Bachelor of
Arts Degree in Professional and Technical Writing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is a member of Phi Theta Kappa International College Honor Society, Stuttgart Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Stuttgart.
“I have worked with Dawn in the past when we were at the Stuttgart Daily Leader, and she was an absolute delight,” said EraEnterprise Publisher Natasha Jackson in the announcement.
“She is great with the community, compassionate about her writing and genuinely cares. I look forward to the journey ahead and am absolutely excited about the direction we are headed with the Era-Enterprise.
Nonprofit launches ‘Free Press Isn’t Free” news literacy campaign
The nonprofit Oklahoma Media Center has released a “Schoolhouse Rock!”-inspired animated video with a song designed to bolster trust and support for local newsrooms.
OMC Board of Directors Treasurer Angel Ellis suggested creating a “Schoolhouse Rock!”-influenced video to promote its local news literacy campaign on journalism’s role in facilitating an informed citizenry and the value of local news. OMC commissioned the creation of the 60-second “Free Press Isn’t Free” video with animation designed as an homage to the vintage educational cartoon series.
“Small, impactful segments geared toward educating the audience could be the perfect answer to making the public more aware of news-gathering processes and increasing their confidence in journalism,” said Ellis, the award-winning director of Mvskoke Media, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s independent tribal media agency. “Reviving these formats to teach the audience about news gathering is a triedand-true method that can be fit to our current audience needs. Their success wasn’t just about the short segment, it was also about clear, concise information, paired with great music and pop culture.”
The campaign’s theme song was composed
by Oklahoma musician Mike Hosty, a big fan of the late Arkansas native Bob Dorough, who was best known for composing and performing the iconic 1970s “Schoolhouse Rock!” songs. The lyrics of “Free Press Isn’t Free” illustrate the patriotic importance of a free press to remain independent from government rule.
OMC Executive Director Rob Collins said the campaign is targeted for Generation X and Baby Boomers not currently paying for news in Oklahoma, where the trust issue is reaching a tipping point.
“Many citizens do not read, believe or trust the media,” Collins said. “Grievance
merchants are ratcheting up the rage with social media, which exacerbates our nation’s shortcomings in civic literacy to the detriment of our democracy. At the same, local newsrooms are suffering from revenue shortfalls and staffing issues. They all need more resources and more folks to cover the important issues affecting their communities.”
Watch the video at https://youtu.be/ cERtOB9JD9Q?si=ADcgH1aVtz3y4ZAl
Learn more about the Oklahoma Media Center at https://oklahomamediacenter.com/
Dawn Teer
Civic Arkansas holds summit at Winthrop Rockefeller Institute
Kemp
and Board
attended the Civic Arkansas Summit on August 1617 at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain. Civic Arkansas is the Institute’s initiative to improve Arkansas’ civic health by leveraging a network of organizations across the state and empowering communities to practice collaborative problem-solving.
Gaps cited in new study are opportunities to grow audience
People consume a lot of local crime news, but they cannot find the news they need, writes Kelly McBride for Poynter. Those gaps in coverage point to opportunities for local newsrooms to grow their audience by adjusting the way they cover crime.
As part of their Knight Foundation-funded research series on how local news influences civic identity, Pew asked 5,146 people about where they get their crime news and whether they are satisfied. The respondents told Pew researchers that they get local crime news from two sources: from local news providers and also from their network of family, friends and neighbors.
“While those two sources were by far the dominant methods for receiving crime news, when Pew asked where people turn when they actively want to find out information about local crime, no dominant source emerged,” said McBride on www.poynter.org.
“Just over 25% of people go to local news outlets. And just under 20% said they go to search engines, and the same number turn to social media. Only a handful of people said they rely on local apps like Nextdoor or Ring and even fewer said they turn to local police.”
According to McBride, that points to a clear opportunity for local newsrooms to tap into an unmet need. Among the Pew respondents, 85% said they wanted to know what local officials were doing about crime, yet only 22% found it relatively easy to access that information.
Poynter has collected resources at https://www.poynter.org/tag/ transforming-crime/ to help newspapers alter the mix of their crime coverage to better serve their communities.
“When newsrooms commit to documenting crime trends on an ongoing basis, they offer audiences easy access to satisfy their curiosity about whether crime is rising or falling,” said McBride. “It takes some effort in the beginning, when trying to track crime trends. Because federal data lags by 18 months, journalists have to work with local police, academics and state agencies to get more up-to-date data. This requires developing a method for gathering numbers every month or every quarter, and then presenting them in a way that is easy to digest.”
McBride asserts the Pew study confirms what every local website editor, news director and social media specialist already knows — that Americans really care about crime news. “By paying attention to the nuances of what people are really looking for, newsrooms can deepen their connections to their audiences and even broaden their reach,” she said.
Read the Pew Research Center study at https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/08/29/americansexperiences-with-local-crime-news/
LET’S GET SOCIAL
APA Executive Director Ashley
Wimberley
President Andrew Bagley
Guest Column: Ad-Libs: The Power of Being Specific
By John Foust
Motivational speaker and author Zig Ziglar used to ask, “Are you a meaningful specific or a wandering generality?” He related his comment to a number of areas: long and short-term goal setting, day-today activities, and dealings with family members, coworkers and customers.
On closer examination, it’s easy to see that his words could apply to just about any area of life or profession. Even advertising.
Why should we aim for “good” results for advertisers, when it’s much better to strive for x-percent increase in sales for their businesses? Why should salespeople accept vague answers to key questions, when it’s more useful to structure questions to get specifics? And why should we tell someone they did “nice work,” when it would mean a lot more to them to hear specific reasons why they did well? (Besides making them feel good, that kind of sincere praise encourages them to repeat the same successful behavior.)
It’s easy to be vague. It’s challenging to think – and communicate – in specifics. Yes, specifics are meaningful and generalities wander all over the place, without much significance at all. Generalities have no sticking power.
Let’s take a look at two areas that have a particular need for specificity:
1. Sales presentations. It’s natural to open a sales conversation with a general question like, “How’s business?” The answer is usually a mundane “fine” or “could always be better.” The person asking the questions is in position to steer the dialogue, so it’s up to the salesperson to transition away from vague back-and-forth generalities. Get specifics by asking for specifics.
For example, “It’s great to hear that business is fine. What’s creating those results?” Or, “I understand wanting business to be better. What kinds of things do you think would help?”
See what’s happening? This type of response can move the discussion into areas that give the salesperson something to work with.
2. Ad copy. Every salesperson should have antennae for good and bad copywriting. When an advertiser wants to say “save big” or “large residential lots,” alarms should go off. Neither “save big” nor “large residential lots” says anything of value to readers. Exactly how much can people save when they save big? And just how large is a large lot? We’ll never know unless the ads tell us.
Think of sports. Wouldn’t football fans rather know that their team won 33-32 than by “a narrow margin?” Isn’t a headline like “Jones hits three home runs to set conference record” more descriptive than “Jones has great game?”
Look for the specifics in these product statements: Save up to $300 on your new refrigerator. Reduce your heating and cooling costs by as much as 20 percent. Each home in Lakeside Village will be built on a one-acre lot. Place your order by this weekend and get free delivery and installation.
Vague generality or meaningful specific? When it comes to advertising, this can make the difference between a marketing campaign that works and one that falls flat.
(c) Copyright 2024 by John Foust. All rights reserved.
John Foust 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 in-house training. Email for information: john@johnfoust.com
