Arkansas Publisher Weekly: March 7, 2024

Ad Libs: Put a stop to workplace silos 7 3

REMINDER: Sign up for new public notice website upload training

Guest Column:

By John Foust

Newspapers in Education Program is investment in community

Studies show that more than 60 percent of those with high exposure to newspapers in childhood become regular readers of newspapers as adults.

With that information in mind, Newspapers in Education Week, being celebrated this week, is especially important as the industry continues to search for ways to engage and develop young readers.

A committed proponent of the NIE program is Jason McNeely, corporate circulation director for Phillips Media Group.

Based at the company’s newspaper in Bolivar, Missouri, the Herald-Free Press, McNeely is an audience development professional with some 20 years in the industry. He has spent the last four years with Phillips Media, which owns Arkansas newspapers in Harrison, Mountain Home and Jasper.

everyone in those classrooms.”

Circulation staff members at each newspaper in the group contact appropriate school officials annually to determine if there is interest and to explain the details of the program. “Of course, we pick and choose which teachers to approach, with emphasis on reading and math,” McNeely said.

McNeely oversees an NIE program which generates 11,500 print and digital copies each week for elementary, middle and high school students in Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois. Every paid newspaper in the Phillips group participates in the program.

“In our eyes, NIE is an investment in the community,” McNeely said. “We definitely believe the newspaper is a living textbook for the students involved and the information in its pages affects

Both print and digital models are available, with the latter being especially appropriate for middle schools and high schools. When classrooms are identified as participants in the program, packets explaining how to best utilize the information are provided to teachers.

McNeely acknowledges that attracting younger readers is one of the paramount challenges of the newspaper industry today, thus magnifying the importance of the NIE efforts. “We just really need to emphasize ways to expose newspaper content to young people,” he said. “Additionally, we ultimately have to understand what young people will pay for and we are doing a lot of experimentation along that line.”

He said newspapers “have been terrible as an industry” in trying to identify what interests young readers and how to attract them. As one example, he praised the efforts of Chris Herbolsheiner, the

Phillips

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general manager of the company’s West Plains (Mo.) Daily Quill, in working to find ways to capture the younger demographic.

McNeely first became involved with newspapers when he served as a district circulation manager for the Logan (Utah) StandardExaminer while a student at Weber State University.

Following graduation, his first full-time position was as circulation manager for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News in Moscow, Idaho. From there his career path took him to newspapers in Huron, S.D., Torrington, Conn., Twin Falls, Idaho, and then to the HeraldJournal in Logan, where he was working before accepting the position with Phillips Media.

working to retain as many of our readers as possible.

Several of the company’s newspapers have gone to the printdigital format, while others have only the printed copies with a fillin during the week with newsletter information. The newsletters keep readers abreast of breaking news in between printed editions. “We are experimenting with both approaches,” he said.

Most of the company’s newspapers are delivered through the mail, but carriers are still being used in some Arkansas locations.

McNeely’s biggest challenge at present relates to the conversion of company newspapers from five printed editions a week at numerous locations to either two or three. That currently is the situation with the recently-acquired Herald-Whig in Quincy, Ill.

The Quincy newspaper now features both printed and digital editions on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with digital-only editions on the other three weekdays.

“A lot of my work now involves working with ways to help our readers make this transition, particularly on how to use their computers and navigate our websites,” McNeely said. “We need to educate them as to what is available. And, of course, we are

Circulation directors over the years have used many triedand-true methods for retaining subscribers and attracting new ones. While McNeely is always searching for new ideas, he notes there is often a “circling back” to the traditional efforts, such as direct mail or kiosks.

As for advice for other newspapers, McNeely said “I would encourage them to be as involved in the community as possible. I know that is a lot to ask of the smaller staffs that we now see, but it’s still important to have a presence and a voice in the community.”

Asked what he likes to do outside of work, McNeely joked that he “thinks about work.”

He did enjoy fishing during his days in Utah and feels Missouri is a great place to relearn that hobby. McNeely and his wife Amy have two children – a daughter, Madison, 15, and a son, Zachary, 11.

Renowned sales strategist to speak at APA Advertising Conference

E. Brown

Richard E. Brown, senior director of retention for The Daily Beast, will be sharing his expertise for sales success in the digital age at the upcoming APA Advertising Conference.

Brown began his sales career at age 17 by making his own online greeting card company for annual cards from businesses (i.e. happy Thanksgiving from your dentist). In 2012 he became digital product manager for the Omaha World-Herald before becoming director of digital operations and sales at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He has also served as director of renewal

and digital strategy for LPi and head of digital subscriber churn for Gannett | USA Today Network.

Brown is a member of the board of directors for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation and a monthly columnist for Editor & Publisher magazine. In 2017, at age 28, he was chosen as the recipient of the News Media Alliance Rising Star award.

The APA Advertising Conference will be held April 18 and 19 at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain. Registration will open March 11.

Richard

The Phillips Media website makes clear their dedication to community services.

Lane retires from Harrison Daily Times after 23 years

Customer Service Representative Debbie Lane retired from the Harrison Daily Times on February 28, after more than a quarter century of service to the newspaper industry, having been with the Harrison Daily Times since March 2001. Prior to that she served as ad and page designer in the composing department at the former Stuttgart Daily Leader.

According to the announcement of her retirement, Lane plans to fill her newly-free schedule with gardening and travel.

REMINDER: Sign up for new public notice website upload training

The free public notice website hosted by APA, arkansaspublicnotices.com, will be getting a new look later this month. As such, APA member newspapers will need to become familiar with the new site’s functionality.

Brief Zoom meetings for APA members to learn how to upload to the new site have been set for the following dates and times:

• Tuesday, March 19, 10-10:30 a.m.

• Thursday, March 21, 2-2:30 p.m.

• Monday, March 25, 10-10:30 a.m.

• Wednesday, March 27, 2-2:30 p.m.

Please email ashley@arkansaspress.org with the date and time you prefer for your newspaper staff to attend.

Annual Sunshine Week to be observed next week, March 10-16

Next week is Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of access to public information that occurs each year mid-March, coinciding with President James Madison’s birthday on March 16 (1751). Prior to being elected to the presidency, Madison was a driving force behind the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and presented the first version of the Bill of Rights to Congress.

APA is proud to be a partner in Sunshine Week 2024 and encourages all member newspapers, Media Members and other supporters of government transparency to shine a light on Sunshine Week, the Freedom of Information Act and the public’s right to know.

More information, editorial cartoons, sample social media posts and more are available at sunshineweek.org/

Debbie Lane

Arkansas SPJ sets free legal literacy workshop at APA Office

The Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is holding a workshop for journalists on understanding legal documents at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, at the APA Headquarters in Little Rock.

Debrah Hale-Shelton with the Arkansas Times and John Lynch with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette will share their expertise and insights by using their work as examples to demonstrate how legal documents can be effectively utilized in reporting.

Hale-Shelton will guide attendees through the process of filing a Freedom of Information Act request. Using her own investigative stories as case studies, she will provide valuable tips on effectively using and filling out a FOIA request to gain access to critical information for investigative reporting.

Lynch is also a veteran journalist with extensive experience in analyzing legal documents. He will use his own reporting stories to illustrate how to decipher complex legal terminology and concepts commonly encountered by journalists, and share practical examples from his work for better understanding of legal documents and how they can be used to strengthen reporting.

There is no charge to attend. Find more information at facebook.com/ events/871727081304252

Slimp to present webinar on mastering new InDesign Tools

Popular newspaper consultant Kevin Slimp will present a 70-minute live webinar on Adobe InDesign tips and tricks on Thursday, March 21 at 2 p.m.

In this session, Slimp plans to share insights into using many of InDesign tools that most users never learn to use, or have simply forgotten about. A few of many topics he will discuss include:

• Anchored object options

• Text frame options

• Various methods of creating clipping paths (cutouts)

• Preflight tool

• The correct way to setup bulleted and numbered lists

• Creating print presets

• The newest tools in InDesign 2023 and 2024

“One thing that still surprises me is that I still learn something new almost every day while using this application,” said Slimp. “There’s so much to InDesign that most folks learn on their own, so they never get a grip on many of the basic tools that make the application so powerful. During this session we will look at many of the tools (in the toolbars, menus, and other places) that often get overlooked by InDesign users. Learning to use these tools will save hours in your production workflow, and improve the quality of your layout at the same time.”

The cost of the webinar is $69. If you can’t attend at the set time you can register and request a recording of the webinar be sent to you.

Registration and more information can be found at newspaperacademy.com/webinar/indesign2403/

Herald staffers win at regional student journalism conference

Editors of Arkansas State University’s student-run newspaper, The Herald, won six awards in Best of the South and on-site competitions at the Southeast Journalism Conference at Troy University in Alabama in late February. This is the second consecutive year The Herald has won awards at SEJC.

The winners in the Best of the South categories were:

Opinion Editor Elijah Templeton, First Place Best Opinion Writer

Former Herald Editor-in-chief Rebecca Robinson, Second Place Best Page Designer

Editor-in-chief Rachel Rudd, Third Place Best News Writer and Fifth Place Best Photographer

In the on-site competitions Herald Sports Editor Anna Cox won Second Place Page Design and Templeton won First Place Opinion Writing.

“I’m very proud of my staff for coming to this conference and doing so well,” said Rudd in the announcement of the awards. “To see us go up against much bigger schools and staff and do so great was such a rewarding experience.

SEJC is an annual conference where students from more than 35 member colleges and universities from states including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee compete in Best of the South categories and on-site competitions. Students also attend seminars to learn more

about journalism and hear from working professionals. For more information visit sejc.org.

“Being recognized for your work is an extremely gratifying feeling,” said Templeton, a junior creative media production major from Jonesboro and The Herald opinion editor. “It was a great experience and I am excited to go again next year.”

SEJC is a yearly conference where schools from across the southeast compete in Best of the South categories and onsite competitions. Students also attend seminars to learn more about journalism and hear from working professionals.

SEJC has more than 35 member colleges and universities from states including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

“My biggest takeaway from SEJC was learning how to report on a deadline. For the on-site competition, I had to turn around a story in about two hours, which is an insanely short amount of time for someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with deadline reporting,” said news editor Jerry Don Burton of Wynne, a sophomore multimedia journalism major.

Anna Cox of Paragould, sports editor and a junior English major, said the SEJC speakers helped her learn more about sports journalism.

“They provided so much valuable feedback such as how to make better connections

with coaches, players, sports information directors and how those connections will help me when I need to cover something quickly,” Cox said.

The conference featured keynote speakers Tom Foreman, an award-winning CNN broadcast journalist, and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Ashley Remkus, investigative editor for AL.com.

“You’re here because you want to have a front row to history and to what happens in our world. It’s glorious. It is the most interesting thing in the world,” Foreman said.

Burton and Herald life editor Caroline Averitt of Jonesboro, a senior multimedia journalism major, met with Foreman after his presentation. Averitt said Foreman encouraged them to continue writing and wished them luck in their careers.

In addition to being a keynote speaker, Remkus led a seminar on her investigative journalism and how students could get involved.

“I’ve been fortunate to work on other investigative projects. But the one thing that I would say is that people I’ve met while working here said they got their lives back,” Remkus said. “That was the most impactful part. It was people saying that they got their lives back, that somebody believed.”

The next SEJC will be held in January at Mississippi State University in Starkville.

Herald staffers attending the Southeast Journalism Conference were (from left) Anna Cox, sports editor; Jerry Don Burton, news editor; Elijah Templeton, opinion editor; Caroline Averitt, life editor; and Rachel Rudd, editor-in-chief.

Jim, who used to work with a local volunteer fire department, told me about the technique they used to keep everyone on the right roads to arrive at fire sites. “It was in the days before GPS,” he said. “We were in an area with a lot of rural roads –and since we were driving to the fire from different directions – we couldn’t afford for someone to miss a turn. Lives were in the balance, and time was crucial.”

He explained that the lead vehicle – the firetruck – had bags of lime on the front seat. Lime is the powder that is used to mark baselines on baseball fields. Rain washes it away eventually, so there is no long-lasting image. Every time the truck made a turn, someone threw a bag of lime onto the pavement (or the gravel) at the intersection. The bag burst open and made a large, unmistakable mark on the road. The lime left an easy path to follow for the entire firefighting team.

“The system got us to fires as quickly as possible,” Jim said. “Night or day, there were clear signs at each turn. Without the lime, there’s no telling how many houses and barns – and most important, lives – would

Guest Column: Ad Libs: Put a stop to workplace silos

By John Foust

have been lost. One way to say it is that we were all on the same page.”

In business as well as in life-saving situations, it’s imperative to be informed. Like Francis Bacon so succinctly wrote: “Knowledge is power.”

I recently talked with Abby, who said her entire media company is siloed. “That has filtered down to our ad department. No one knows much about what anyone else is doing. “It’s frustrating,” she said, “We could provide a lot of help to each other, but management has the philosophy that we should think about our own accounts and nothing else. When a new advertiser comes on board, sometimes we don’t know about it until their ads start running.”

Abby has a simple suggestion that might be of help: “Talk and listen. Every now and then, some managers like to organize team-building activities, but honestly, I think structured team exercises are a waste of time. The biggest thing that will build teamwork is to know what’s going on around us. Our work is impacted by the people in our department, along with the work they are doing. Real teams work in an

informed and supportive environment.”

Abby’s story represents an extreme example, but I’ll bet there are companies in your hometown that have silos. It’s difficult to work for a company like that, and it’s difficult to work with a client like that.

Patrick Lencioni, in his excellent book  Silos, Politics and Turf Wars, writes: “Silos – and the turf wars they enable – devastate organizations. They waste resources, kill productivity, and jeopardize the achievement of goals.”

Are there silos in your ad department? If so, maybe it’s time to put down some markers to let others know what’s going on.

(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