The new voice for rural Virginia

E&P Quick Reads

But the Iowa Press Association was suspect of the justification. In December 2021, the Iowa Press Association became a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds over freedom of information violations. In context to the filing, the new gallery restrictions seemed retaliatory.

Something similar is unfolding at Utah’s statehouse, where credentialed reporters are restricted from the House and Senate floors and now need “permission” to interview lawmakers.

In early February 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit against the state’s Attorney General (AG), Todd Rokita, on behalf of a journalist — Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, who’s covered state government for nearly two decades. He is the editor-publisher of the Indy Politics website and a radio show host. In October 2021, he was banned from attending the AG’s press events. Rokita alleged Shabazz was a “gossip columnist.” The ACLU explained in a statement: “The actions taken by the Attorney General came after Shabazz was selected to moderate a Republican Senate debate in 2018, in which then-candidate Rokita was participating. It is reported that then-candidate Rokita objected to Mr. Shabazz moderating the debate and stated that the debate should be moderated by conservatives, not ‘liberal media figures.’”

Fortunately, these incidents are anecdotal and not widespread.

Laurie Hieb, executive director for the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, reported to E&P, “Our capital has been closed for business for two sessions now, so it has been even more difficult for anyone to get to lawmakers. I know some states have been open the entire time. When we are open, we don’t have the problem you describe, or at least I haven’t heard of them from my members.”

California government reporters still enjoy access to state legislators. However, only lawmakers and their staff are allowed directly on the floor, Brittney Barsotti, general counsel for the California News Publishers Association (CNPA), pointed out.

“If you wish to speak with a member, you are allowed to have the sergeant at arms pass a business card to the member, or reach out to staff, and the legislator can leave the floor to talk to you. It has been that way for a while here, and it applies equally,” she told E&P in an email.

Things are different in Kansas, where new restrictive rules are in place.

“This was pretty out of the blue for us,” Emily Bradbury, the executive director of the Kansas Press Association, told E&P. “There really wasn’t much advanced warning. … It breaks an almost 150-year tradition here in Kansas.”

Proponents contended that reporters have more access to the statehouse than ever through live streaming — access the association had lobbied for, incidentally. They also questioned press credentials.

“We feel that access to lawmakers immediately, whether it’s during a vote or debate, allowed our reporters to make things even more transparent, to get clarification, to make their reporting even better because they were able to ask those questions in real time,” Bradbury explained to E&P in our follow-up. The association offered to help lawmakers fairly revise the rules. No one took them up on the offer.

Bradbury said Kansas is notorious for being “one of the most secretive states.”

“We are by no means the poster child for transparency,” she added, “and we really want to make sure this doesn’t go any further.”—GAP

The Cardinal News

The new voice for rural Virginia

Luanne Rife, a longtime journalist with The Roanoke Times, needed new inspiration for her career, so she left the Times in early 2021 as the staff and coverage continued to contract. (The Times had been purchased the year before by Lee Enterprises, who is currently in a battle to save its papers from takeover by hedge fund Alden Global Capital.) She wasn’t sure what would come next, but quickly she was involved in launching The Cardinal News.

Living and working in the Roanoke region of Virginia, she recognized the need for in-depth local news coverage that The Roanoke Times couldn’t offer. Her timing was excellent as the mostly rural area of the state The Cardinal News covers — what she calls “Southwest and Southside Virginia” — was evolving from its coal, textile and tobacco stereotypes to embracing the technology sector.

“The reinvention of our area of Virginia had many interesting stories,

E&P Quick Reads

but they weren’t receiving the coverage they deserved,” said Rife, executive director and chief development officer of The Cardinal News. “News media and journalism was also evolving across the country with more online-only entities primarily focused on local coverage and using a nonprofit business model.”

When Rife left The Roanoke Times, a nonprofit interested in supporting quality journalism approached to ask her opinion about the viability of an online-only news outlet. This led to a $100,000 grant. The grant and a matching amount were the seed money to develop The Cardinal News, which launched in September 2021.

The journalism of The Cardinal took a significant step forward when Dwayne Yancey also left The Roanoke Times after 38 years. He had been the Times’ editorial page editor for the last seven years. He was also motivated by newsroom and coverage contraction — especially political reporting — his interest as a student and a journalist. “We discovered a county government in the coal country was involved in a blockchain project, which certainly doesn’t fit the traditional view of the area,” said Yancey, who now serves as executive editor of Cardinal News. “It is expected to become the first courthouse in the United States to put its records on a blockchain. That’s the kind of interesting story that attracted me.”

Rife had to transition from a journalist to a business leader. She speaks to local groups to promote the

} Luanne Rife,

executive director and chief development officer of Cardinal News

Cardinal brand, writes grants and seeks donations from larger companies.

“As a nonprofit, we are answerable to our board,” said Rife. “Two-thirds of the board members, however, are former journalists who understand both sides of the operation as well as the intricacies of working in the nonprofit world.”

The Cardinal News has a staff of five journalists, all of whom work remotely. Yancey has also tapped into his network of freelance journalists who have experience reporting in that region of Virginia. Although the news outlet has had some challenges — such as a lack of broadband internet coverage at the editor’s home — Cardinal News is making a real impact in their community and attracting more local readers.

“The e-commerce channel has worked very well for us. People opt-in for our newsletter, and many donate small, monthly amounts,” said Rife. “We are surprised by how quickly the Cardinal News has become known throughout the state. Richmond has the second-largest number of our readers, and many say it’s because they are looking for different coverage.”

Rife welcomes inquiries about The Cardinal News’ nonprofit business model. She can be contacted at luanne@cardinalnews.org.—BS

} Cardinal News covers “Southwest and Southside Virginia” — an area that is evolving from coal, textile and tobacco to embracing the technology sector.

} Dwayne Yancey, executive editor of Cardinal News

} Reporter Megan Schnabel interviews county supervisor Trey Atkins in flood-

ravaged Hurley, VA. (Photo by Lakin Keene)

Catch the “E&P Reports” vodcast featuring E&P Publisher Mike Blinder, Luanne Rife and Dwayne Yancey at editorandpublisher.com/vodcast.

SPONSORED CONTENT

PAGE Cooperative – Membership Drive

Still Growing savings and revenue for newspapers

The PAGE Cooperative has seen an increase in publishers exploring membership over the past few months.

Perhaps this is because publishers of all sizes are pro-actively examining their invoices and checking whether their prices from the same supplier, are lower by buying through PAGE.

The PAGE Cooperative was established in 1984, and rapidly attracted newspapers as well as key suppliers who understood the advantage of a centralized payment organization that removed credit risk and streamlined accounts payable and receivables.

As recently expressed by retiring Board Chair Jeff Brown, “the PAGE model enabled the publisher to maintain the relationship with the supplier while leveraging the best prices through the Cooperative”. Gary Blakeley, who was appointed CEO in 2019, has taken steps to renew and grow PAGE with initiatives which are timely and beneficial, and all newspapers should visit PAGE to learn how they can save and benefit. Gary added, “in 2022 and beyond, PAGE is focused on savings and growth. } Gary Blakeley, We want to attract new members and have CEO of PAGE Cooperative our 450 current members, easily check their prices, and explore solutions with us. We have placed a link on our site for this very purpose. https://pagecooperative.com/maximize-membership

This may be one of the reasons why we are experiencing a kind of PAGE Spring of interest in checking prices and applying for membership so publishers can recognize savings and take advantage of other PAGE benefits.

As a Cooperative that was formed almost 40 years PAGE has now served generations of newspaper leadership. PAGE bands members together with a common objective of controlling costs but with additional benefits of best practices, advisory and intervention during shortages.

These benefits are added to revenue PAGE spins off to members who own the Cooperative and retain the equity they invest. Members then receive lower pricing from suppliers while accumulating dividends which when added to the savings are significant contributors to their bottom line.

PAGE suppliers/preferred partners, also benefit from working with members, as they gain the efficiency of marketing and selling while receiving guaranteed management of accounts receivable. We see this represented by the interest from new preferred partners, in solutions not traditionally provided by PAGE, such as Digital Revenue, Insurance Advisory and IT Security.

So, we can report that PAGE is running a Membership Drive throughout 2022, because the time to look for savings, and PAGE benefits is all the time.

GANNETT CO., INC.

HAS SOLD

LA JUNTA (CO) TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT FOWLER (CO) TRIBUNE BENT COUNTY (CO) DEMOCRAT AG JOURNAL

TO CHERRYROAD MEDIA

We are pleased to have represented Gannett in this transaction.