newsclips
June 2012
thundeR bay RecoVeRs fRom hoRRible flood infoRmation pRoVided by thundeR bay’s souRce
Extensive flooding due to heavy rain left the City of Thunder Bay in a State of Emergency on May 28, 2012. Anywhere between 25 millimetres to more than 100 millimetres of rain were recorded by the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority. Roughly 640 homes were affected, many reported with having 1.2 to 1.5 metres of water in their basements. Homeowners were asked to avoid flushing or releasing any water down their drains until the situation was under control. It’s reported that sewage was seeping through floors, couches were floating in several feet of water, and valuables were not salvageable. Flooding in the area also washed away roads. The TransCanada Highway received the most damage. As pictured right, a portion of Highway 11/17 was destroyed. Rushing water had washed away a whole section of the road, forcing OPP to close it as precaution.
directly by the flooding made it out to donate.
Those with damaged homes were invited to Lakehead University to stay temporarily until everything was cleaned. The school made approximately 160 beds available and offered full meal service to those in need.
The McGuinty government committed $16 million to the City of Thunder Bay, the Township of Conmee and the Municipality of Oliver-Paipoonge to help recover from damage caused by the flood. The funding will be used to cover extraordinary costs to the municipalities and to assist individuals for costs not met by insurance.
Dougall Media hosted a 12-hour broadcast marathon at a local shopping centre to raised funds for the Salvation Army, which supplied assistance to those in immediate need. The marathon raised $268,217, an amount that surpassed an initial goal of $10,000. Radio stations from the area broadcasted live from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. encouraging listeners to attend and make donations. Even those affected
As of June 19, the City of Thunder Bay remained on alert, monitoring for city-wide flooding risks, and ready to deploy pumping equipment and staff recourses in case of flooding due to a series of forecasted thunderstorms. Heavy rainfall could put added strain on the Water Pollution Control Plant which continues to be staffed 24 hours a day to monitor the situation.
what’s inside:
reporter’s notes: to keep or not to keep?
along CaMe a spider
After the interview has been conducted and the article published, is it necessary to keep notes?
Three types of offers that will provide a good range of promotional tools for advertisers.
See Page 9
See Page 11
eMployee aCCountability Five ways to ensure employee objectives are being achieved.
See Page 12
June 2012 monthly puBlication of the ontario1community newSpaperS aSSociation www.ocna.org
industry news
ConCern for the neXt generation of journalists
by anne lannan ocna executiVe diRectoR I received a new kind of wake-up call recently while at the Sheridan College Journalism Program Advisory Committee meeting. It a group of engaged industry professionals who collaborate with the dedicated team at the college to continue to move the program along and ensure their graduating students are meeting the needs of employees. We were provided with two charts showing the number of applications to Print Journalism Programs to Ontario Community Colleges and another showing the number of students enrolled in the programs, dating back to 2003. While the number of first year enrolments at the colleges has remained steady at about 730 annually, the number of applications has been on a constant decline of 43% from 2003 to 2011. The number of applications in 2003 was 5,723 and 2011 was 3,226, and assuming each applicant applies to 2.5 colleges this could represent a significant drop of students from 2,290 to 1,290 in nine years.
newsclips Volume 01, issue 12 3050 Harvester Rd. #103 Burlington, ON L7N 3J1 p.905.639.8720 f.905-639.6962 e. info@ocna.org w. www.ocna.org ocna BoarD PRESIDENT
Mike Mount
FIRST VP
Maureen Keeler
SECOND VP
Gordon Cameron
SECRETARY/ TRESURER
Dave Harvey
PAST PRESIDENT
Don MacLeod
DIRECTORS
Dave Adsett Andrea DeMeer Abbas Homayed Rick Shaver Ray Stanton John Willems
Where have those 1,000 students gone and why do they no longer think that a career is print journalism is viable? There has been way too much negative press in the last 10 years about the newspaper business. Quite a bit has come from the competition, but a great deal has been written in the pages of newspapers worldwide. We can’t continue to shoot ourselves in the foot. The shift of news from newsprint to community news sites has been a reality for years, even if the business model has followed as swiftly as we’d like. Quality journalism will always continue to be critical regardless of the mode of communication. The younger generation is leading the way and we have to be able to meet their thirst and expectations about access to news and information. But we also have to continue to educate them on the difference between credible and trustworthy Continued on Page 8 >>>
in this issue...
ocna Staff EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Anne Lannan
CONTROLLER
Todd Frees
MEMBER SERVICES
Karen Shardlow Kelly Gorven
NETWORK CLASSIFIEDS
Carol Lebert
ACCOUNTING
Lucia Shepherd
AD*REACH
Ted Brewer Carolyn Press Erica Leyzac
04 .......................................................inDuStry aD campaign 05 .....................................................echo callS it a career 09 ..............reporter’S noteS: to Keep or not to Keep 10 ..................online gamBling aDvertiSing guiDelineS 11 ..........................................................along came a SpiDer 12 ................................................employee accountaBility
Want to contribute to NewsClips? Send your updates to newsclips@ocna.org. Photos are also welcome!
14 .................................turn proofreaDing upSiDe Down June 2012
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Association News
OCNA and Ad*reach are moving! Effective July 1, OCNA/Ad*Reach will be moving to new premises. Please update your records accordingly. Our new address will be:
3228 South Service Rd. Suite 116 Burlington ON L7N 3H8 Phone, fax, e-mail all remain the same. If you have any questions, please contact us at 905-639-8720 Please note: Our phones will be down most of Friday June 29. Call us for urgent matters at 905-220-4443
Metroland’s Durham Region Covering Upcoming Olympics With the London 2012 Olympics rapidly approaching, Metroland Media Group's community newspapers are pooling their resources to provide readers extensive coverage of all the Ontario athletes going to the London 2012 Olympics. Following their success in Beijing, Metroland's Durham Region division is once again coordinating the coverage which includes a new Olympic section on each of nine community Web sites. "We love the challenge," says Joanne Burghardt, Editor-in-Chief of Metroland's Durham Region division. "It's a great team experience for our local journalists and an opportunity for all Metroland newsrooms to work together in a way they seldom have an opportunity to." Sending community journalists to the Olympics "brings hyper local to a whole new level". "For us, it's not about whether the athletes are good bets for medals -- although many are! It's about where the athletes comes from and about ensuring that no matter how they finish, friends and family can read about their Olympic accomplishments on their community newspaper website and on the front page of the local paper," says Burghardt. Coverage of the 2012 Games launched officially in May with a new Olympic section on durhamregion.com. On June 5 the section was rolled out on northumberlandnews. com, yourottawaregion.com, mykawartha.com, yorkregion.com, simcoe.com, cottagecountrynow.com, bramptonguardian.com and insidehalton.com. As they ramp up for the Games, Metroland's community newsrooms are working together to produce features on as many of Ontario's Olympic hopefuls as possible. Coverage includes a thumbnail profile on each athlete, feature stories, photo galleries and videos.
classifieds Reporter/Photographer Cochrane Times-Post, the only community newspaper in Cochrane, ON, currently has an opening for a general reporter/ photographer. Qualifications: • Excellent interviewing, writing and editing skills • Experience with Mac platform an asset • An eye for photography • Familiarity with CP style an asset • Comfortable with on-line news and social media • Good organizational skills and must be able to meet deadlines • Reliable transportation and valid license • Self-motivated The successful candidate will be expected to cover municipal councils, politics, sports, community news and events, feature stories and will report directly to the Regional Managing Editor – Digital and Print. Must be proficient with computers and digital photography. Requires evening and weekend availability. Must have own vehicle. Hours of work: Full-time position, with a flexible schedule to accommodate weeknight and weekend work assigned Please reply in writing to: Kevin Anderson 51 Riverside Dr. Kapuskasing, ON P5N 1A7 or e-mail: kevin.anderson@sunmedia.ca Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
Continued on Page 8 >>> June 2012
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AssociAtion news
industRy ad campaign Dear OCNA members: The Ontario Community Newspapers Association is pleased to provide its members with an industry advertising campaign – fully adaptable to include newspaper flags. The campaign includes a series of seven ads and an editorial and has been designed to remind readers and advertisers that Community Newspapers are the original Local Social Network. With the tagline ‘Did you see in the paper…’, the series reflects that articles and ads get people connecting with one another and calls them to action, and this is what builds community.
what to do: 1. Go to www.ocna.org and log into the Member’s site
(user: member, password: ocmb2010) Under the left hand navigation bar under ‘member’, go to the OCNA Programs & Services folder. Here you will find the folder ‘2011 Social Media Ads’ which contains a subfolder for each of the ads and contains the necessary fonts and graphics.
Affordable media insurance for Canadian Community Newspapers Service includes: •Libel • Invasion of Privacy • Plagiarism • Piracy • Infringement of Copyright • Pre-Publication Hotline Contact us for a quote: Todd Frees, General Manager 905-639-8720 ext. 234 t.frees@ocna.org
2. Download the files. Ads have been created in CS2 – InDesign. If you do not have InDesign at your newspaper, please contact OCNA Member Services Coordinator Kelly Gorven at k.gorven@ocna.org and send her your newspaper flag. She can then send you PDFs of the ads customized for you. 3. The seven ads reflect – news, entertainment, advertising, sports, seniors, community events. Respecting copyright, trademarks, and libelous material, you may change the text and images to better reflect something in your own community, without having them look like an ad for a specific local advertiser or event. 4. Translation – member newspapers publishing in other languages may translate the ads. 5. The bubble ‘Did you see in the paper…’ can be used as an online icon on your web site if you would like to have it link directly to your ad material or editorial. A special note of appreciation to the Marketing Task Force for their input in this campaign. June 2012
Did you see in the paper...
we have a new doctor coming to town?
We need more doctors.
Community Newspapers Your Local Social Network
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Association News
After 35 years of publishing, the manitouwadge echo is calling it a career After 35 years of providing weekly news and views for the community, the Schermann family has decided to call it a career. The Echo, a weekly newspaper based in Manitouwadge, ON, will publish its last edition sometime this year, unless a new owner is found. "The economy is bad, and it’s not going to get better fast enough for us to continue," said Bunny Schermann, publisher. Schermann said she and her son, Scott - the registered owner of Manitouwadge Printers Ltd., which publishes The Echo, would like to continue publishing. "But I don't think it is possible," she said. "You have got to pay people to print the newspaper, and without enough advertising revenue coming in to offset the printing costs, we’ve decided to pack it in.” Scott Schermann said he was very disappointed, believing they could make the newspaper work, with more support. “Sometimes, it’s time to make a change to move on to something new and exciting. We put our heart and soul into it," he said. This might not be the end, as The Echo is officially on the selling block. The Schermann’s hope is that a new owner will purchase and breed new life into the paper. "I've worked with the The Echo for over a decade, and have seen and implemented many changes in that time," said editor and advertising manager Scott Schermann. "In its heyday, the Echo was where readers looked for local, communitybased news and information. With the shift to online and social media, it's become hard to compete with a much faster and less expensive way to broadcast this information to the public. I'd like to personally give a huge thank you to our loyal advertisers and readers," Schermann said. "It has been a pleasure working with you all." The Echo is more than just a newspaper. With its official Web site www.theecho.ca, news blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts, it reaches more people who love Manitouwadge and still call it their home, then ever before.
Valley Gazette continues to grow The Barry’s Bay Valley Gazette is expanding to a bigger office after just two short years in the newspaper business. They also recently hired another full-time reporter bringing the total staff to nine local people and a number of contributors. They have two full-time reporters, two part-time reporters, two distribution staff members, a production manager, a sales representative and a sports columnist. Publisher, Michel Lavigne mentions that the community has really embraced the newspaper and is the reason for its fast-paced growth. June 2012
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member news north Oakville today wins three awards Not including the three BNC awards recently won, North Oakville Today has also brought home: Best Editorial, Michael Howie, Halton Regional Police Media Awards. Best Feature Story, Ian Holroyd, Halton Regional Police Media Awards. Conservation Awards of Excellence, first winner of the new ‘Media/Blogger’ Category, Michael Howie, Conservation Halton
New Editor for elgin Weekly News Anita LaRue recently joined the team at St. Thomas Elgin Weekly News as editor and associate editor of Elgin This Month.
elgin weekly news takes home chamber award St. Thomas Elgin Weekly News recently won the Chamber of Commerce Free Enterprise Master Award.
senior reporter retires from fergus wellington advertiser David Meyer has retired from the Wellington Advertiser in Fergus concluding 35 years in the business. He started reporting with the Elmira Independent in 1977. After the Elora Sentinel and Fergus Thistle closed in 1995 he joined the Advertiser two weeks later. He intends to enjoy retirement in the Chatham-Kent area.
www.ocna.org
AssociAtion news
independent publisheRs lunch OCNA is once again inviting our member independent publishers to lunch with Board President Mike Mount and Executive Director Anne Lannan to network with your peers. No strings attached, no cost, no long speeches - just a relaxing opportunity to gather with a group of like-minded individuals to meet and mingle over lunch. Choose the location closest to you and RSVP to 905-639-8720 ext. 232 or e-mail k.shardlow@ocna.org no later than one week prior so lunch arrangements can be made. If you are unable to attend, please feel free to invite your editor, ad manager or another appropriate staff member. Stay tuned for more information regarding restaurants and locations and.
Chatham : July 25 11:30 am
Stratford: July 26 11:30 am
Belleville: August 15 11:30 am
Ottawa: August 16 11:30 am
Make Money with Network Classifieds OCNA’s Network Classified Advertising is an easy way for you to earn additional revenue. Upsell your retail and classified advertisers and earn a 35% commission. An all Ontario 25-word ad is $475. You earn $166.25 each time you upsell your client into the program. You already know that advertisers in community newspapers get results. Help your advertisers extend their reach into a region of the province, across Ontario, or right across the country. They Win – You Win. The possibilities are endless: »Online revenue – any retailer with a web site. Let the Networks drive traffic to their site for increased sales »Real estate – any agent with vacation properties, commercial properties, and luxury homes. Buyers from outside your newspaper distribution area need to know »Events – Fairs, Markets, Shows, Theatre, Concerts, Sports. Spread the word to draw more people »Help Wanted – Trades and other positions that individuals would relocate or commute to should be advertised here
Contact Lucia Shepherd for full details at l.shepherd@ocna.org or 1-800-387-7982 ext 223.
June 2012
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GET YOUR PRESS IDENTIFICATION CARDS OCNA can provide you with laminated, business card-sized Press Cards. Cost is $10 each for the first three, and $5 for each one thereafter.
Contact Kelly Gorven at k.gorven@ocna.org or call 906-639-8720 x239 for a Publisher’s Authorization Form and instructions on how to send photos.
June 2012
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association news
>>> Continued from Page 2
encouraging journalism as a career for students journalism versus opinion, speculation and blogs. We have to do this for the longterm success of journalism in every size of community in this province. We have to stop the erosion of young people who aren’t considering journalism as a career. Stop the perception to ensure many more generations of young news hounds continue to be trained by our community colleges and move onto our community newspapers. At the local level, community newspaper editors should be speaking at their high schools when students are looking for guidance about career choices. Community newspapers should be participating in local career fairs to promote careers in all departments within a newspaper. We also need to produce an industry campaign to showcase that a career in journalism is rewarding and exciting. We are up for the challenge.
classifieds EMPLOYMENT WANTED For more than 20 years, Scott Schermann has worked full-time as Editor and Adveritisng Manager at the Manitouwadge Echo, a family run newspaper. After 35 years of publishing, the family is looking to sell the Echo.
Metroland only granted one reporter at upcoming olympics
Scott is ready to take on a new challenge in the newspaper business and is willing to relocate to any part of Canada where he can further his career. He wishes to continue working for the newspaper industry, but is looking for more of a managerial or directorial aspect.
Brian McNair, sports editor of Oshawa, Whitby and Clarington This Week, is anchoring the coverage and will be in London for the duration of the Games keeping Metroland's readers up-to-date.
He hopes to find a career as an Editorial, Publisher or Department Manager at a high circulation paper.
But it's not without a level of frustration. Metroland was not granted accreditation for a photographer, an issue Burghardt points to as being a disservice to the readers of community media.
Scott is able to work under pressure both as a genuine team member as well as indivdually. He is an exceptional listener and communicated who effectively conveys information verbally and in writing.
>>> Continued from Page 3
Noting that weekly newspapers outnumber the dailies by upwards of 8 to 1 in Ontario, she says a disproportionate number of accreditations go to the big dailies and television. "Metroland has 112 community newspapers across Ontario yet we were granted accreditation for only one reporter. We're not just covering the brand name athletes," says Burghardt. "In Beijing many of the athletes we did stories on did not receive coverage from any other media outlet." She points out that community newspapers can't afford the cost of wire service content sold by Canadian Press and photo services like Getty Images and Reuters, making coverage of national and international events very difficult. "The COC is missing a fantastic opportunity to bring coverage of high performance athletics to a very local readership."
He has experience with QuarkXpress, Adobe Photoshop, Acrobat and some with Illustrator. He has only worked on PC, but is quick and willing to learn new programs and computer systems. Scott can be reached at 807-228-1151. To view Scott’s complete resume, please visit the careers section of our Web site: www.ocna.org/careers
"At a time when the media industry is reshaping itself on many fronts, cutting costs where necessary, it's very encouraging that Metroland recognizes what a great service this is to our readers and that they are willing to give us the financial support required to take on projects of this size," says Burghardt. June 2012
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law
Reporter’s Notes: To Keep or Not to Keep By Doug Richardson O’Donnell, Robertson & Sanfilippo Should I keep my notes or toss them after my story has been published? How long should I keep my notes for? These are common questions reporters ask our law firm. The answer depends on the quality of your notes.
disclosed if the article becomes the subject of a lawsuit. If you and the newspaper are sued in relation to an article you wrote then you and the newspaper are obliged to produce any document that in any way related to the article. This includes all notes, drafts or the article or e-mail messages that are in any way connected to the subject matter of the article. In our experience, reporters are often surprised and unhappy to learn they are required to disclose every little scribble in a notebook and every seemingly insignificant conversation about the article to the other side in a lawsuit.
The first point to be made is that you do not have a legal obligation to keep your notes unless and until you or your newspaper has received some sort of notice that the notes might be relevant to a lawsuit. A court would not view your conduct favourably if you discarded your notes after you or your newspaper had received a complaint from someone claiming the article you wrote is defamatory.
Our experience is that notes can be of great assistance in defending your story and the newspaper in a lawsuit. However, notes will only assist when done properly. Reporters should assume all notes taken will be scrutinized by a diligent lawyer in search of ammunition to win a lawsuit against the newspaper. Be accurate and professional in your note taking and your notes will not come back to bite you.
The second preliminary point to remember is that the newspaper owns your notes if you are employed by the newspaper and you take your notes in the course of your employment. As such, it is ultimately the decision of the newspaper as to whether you should keep the notes. A reporter should consult with his or her employer to determine what policy exists as to the retention of notes. If a policy does not exist then the newspaper should adopt one.
Another consideration when taking notes related to confidential sources. If your story involves information obtained from a confidential source then it is advisable to omit the name or any information (such as a telephone number) that would identify the same source. Battles will be fought over whether you are required to reveal the identity of a confidential source but omitting such information from your notes makes the battle that much easier for you.
Lawsuits against newspapers have demonstrated the pros and cons of holding on to your notes. There have been cases where a court has concluded that the newspaper was acting with malice because internal memorandums or notes have included derogatory terms or describe persons who are the subject of the news report. The finding of malice against the reporter and the newspaper, as evidenced by the notes, resulted in the newspaper losing the case and amounted to a significant increase in the damages the newspaper was ordered to pay.
Now that we have concluded that keeping your notes makes sense, the inevitable follow-up question is – How long should I keep my notes? Most lawsuits against newspapers are defamation claims. The Libel and Slander Act of Ontario stipulates that in order to commence an action against a newspaper for defamation, a complainant must serve a notice specifying the matters complained of within six weeks of the article coming to his or her attention. Usually, it can be said that an article came to the attention of a complainant when it was published. As such, it is wise to retain your notes for at least six weeks after the date your article was published.
On the other hand, cases have also demonstrated that a reporter’s notes can be an important factor in proving the newspaper’s case. Often, cases will come down to the reporter’s word against that of a person who was interviewed for the story. When faced with conflicting evidence that amounts to a ‘he said – she said’ scenario, a court is forced to choose between the two versions of events. When making its decision, the court considers factors such as the credibility of the witnesses and the reliability of the evidence. If the reporter has retained notes that were made at or near the time of the interview and the other party is providing her account of the interview based solely on her memory then the reporter’s notes will often tip the scales in favour of the reporter’s version of events. At trial, a court will usually find that notes taken at the time of the interview are more reliable than a person’s recollection of an interview that occurred some time ago.
Hopefully you will not need your notes again. However, if you are sued then the notes you frantically scribbles and have since filed away could be the deciding factor in defending your article.
Doug Richardson is a lawyer representing daily and community newspapers. He can be reached at O’Donnell, Robertson & Sanfilippo at 416-214-0256.
The important lesson to take from the case law is that everything you write, say or do throughout the newsgathering process will be June 2012
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Advertising
Advertising alerts: Online Gambling Advertising Guidelines Source: Department of Justice http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-5.html#anchorbo-ga:l_VII-gb:s_201 Last updated: August 2011
Criminal Code ▄▄
The Criminal Code of Canada (Code) defines what types of gaming activities are illegal in Canada, and the provinces are assigned responsibility to operate, license and regulate legal forms of gaming.
▄▄
Part VII of the Code prohibits gaming in general, while section 207 allows for a number of exceptions to the general prohibition. Specifically, it permits ‘lottery schemes’ provided that they are:
1. Lottery schemes ‘conducted and managed’ by the province in accordance with any law enacted by that province 2. Lottery schemes ‘conducted and managed’ by a licensed charitable or religious organization pursuant to a license issued by a provincial authority, provided that the proceeds of the lottery scheme are used for a charitable or religious purpose 3. Lottery schemes ‘conducted and managed’ by a licensed board of a fair or exhibition or by an operator of a concession leased by that board ▄▄
Canadian laws allow provincial governments to conduct and manage lotteries and games of chance that are operated on or through a computer, such as Internet casinos; however, in most circumstances, it is a crime in Canada for anyone else to run an online gaming operation.
▄▄
Advertising of online gaming services, involving the exchange of money, according to Canadian authorities is illegal. There are some who disagree citing loopholes like the location of the hosting server, while deemed illegal by the attorney general, no legal action has been taken. There are not many media outlets who would risk criminal prosecution to test the validity of this position.
▄▄
Based on member company experience, advertising promoting the following appear to be acceptable, but do not constitute official gambling sites:
4. Free game play Web sites 5. Promoting gaming Web sites ending in ‘.net’ 6. No official documentation was found to support this
June 2012
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Advertising
Along came a spider By John Foust Raleigh, NC
Some years ago, I met with a foreign car dealer to learn about his advertising. In the showroom, there was a beautiful red sports car – a new model that had just arrived that week. When I commented on the car, the dealer said, “Yeah, and we didn’t even find a Black Widow spider in this one.”
Someone in my family recently extended a magazine subscription – long before its expiration date – because the publisher offered a free booklet for renewing now. The offer was right on target. The health-related booklet was a natural tie-in with the health-related magazine.
Say what?
The key is relevance. When consumers see a giveaway as meaningful and desirable, there is likely to be a strong response rate.
“When these cars are shipped from Europe, they usually pick up spiders along the way,” he explained. “Just about every car we’ve gotten lately has had a spider under the hood. But our customers don’t have to worry about that. We always find ‘em when we clean the cars.”
Ideas include free product samples, free trial periods, bonus products, free demonstrations, no-cost installation, free delivery and free introductory consultations.
Aw shucks! For a minute there, I thought we had a great headline: ‘Free spider with every car.’
3. Special Events: Many people enjoy being part of a special occasion, especially when it gives them a chance to share the experience with likeminded consumers. Think of the high energy that Black Friday creates in the retail world. And consider the luncheons and seminars that are sponsored by financial advisors.
As discussed here before, relevancy is a key factor in the creation of effective advertising. Although that car dealer might have been joking, something tells me that ‘free spider’ is not the right offer. Let’s take a look at three types of offers. Being familiar with these choices will provide you with a good range of promotional tools for your advertisers.
There are plenty of possibilities. For example, you could use ‘turn back the clock pricing’ to celebrate a business anniversary. You could arrange a celebrity appearance, like bookstores frequently do with authors. Or you could plan an open house, a grand opening or a product roll-out party.
1. Special Pricing: In many product categories, this is the most common offer in today’s tight economy. In fact, many consumers will not make a favourable buying decision unless there is a discount.
It’s all a matter of making the right offer. To the right audience. At the right time.
It makes perfect sense: media outlets want advertisers, advertisers want customers and customers want bargains. The most radical example is Groupon, where the average discount is an eyepopping 56 percent. And of course, direct mail packages – a more traditional newspaper competitor – consist primarily of discount coupons. Newspaper advertisers can easily jump on the special pricing train. Examples include multiple-purchase offers, trade-in programs, early bird incentives, rebates and coupons.
2. Giveaways: Everyone likes to get free stuff. June 2012
(c) Copyright 2012 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. E-mail for information: jfoust@mindspring.com
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Human Resources
Employee Accountability A TwoGreySuits Article
and helping to ensure the objectives are met. This is where the solid people management acumen pays off. In the performance management section of the HR Power Center, everything is there to help managers and companies do proper job descriptions, set performance objectives, manage/coach in the interim, and conduct the formal year-end review.
These articles are part of the TwoGreySuits Employee Performance Management Series and is offered by our partner, the TwoGreySuits HR Power Centre as a free service to our members. Ron Guest, Management/HR Consultant
There are lots of ways managers can make sure their employees’ objectives are achieved. Here are five of them:
Employees generally want to know what is expected of them and how they are going to be measured. The start of a New Year or new fiscal period is often the time when we set objectives with employees, aligned of course to those of the department and organization.
1. Encourage the establishment of SMART objectives 2. Help with prioritization 3. Remind employees regularly about objectives,
milestones and due dates
However, even with the best intentions, objectives are often forgotten within a few weeks or months.
4. Align employee and organizational goals 5. Monitor progress by having regular
performance review meetings
Why is this?
ongoing
It is because once the objectives are set, it is often back to the normal day to day routine of work, not necessarily aimed at an end result or agreed objective. One of Steven Covey’s habits of highly effective people applies here. ‘Start with the end in mind’.
In fact, our website has a number of documents that can help you and your managers do a better job of objective management.
In other words, know what overall objectives are to be attained each day, and just as importantly, why. We see it very important to involve your employees in setting their objectives. Another significant reason employees often fall short is because their manager does not manage employees to these objectives. It is not unusual these days to see managers over-loaded with their own work that the people management part of their responsibilities goes ignored. By ‘managing to these objectives’, I mean the process of periodic performance review feedback, where you would purposefully look at the objectives set, progress to those objectives
The HR Power Centre and HR Hot Line is a one-of-a-kind product specifically designed to get you the answers you need fast, in hundreds of different HR situations. Signing up is simple and free for OCNA members. Just visit https://www.twogreysuits.com/sign_up/regform/index. html?r=OCNA complete the signup page and you’ll have immediate access. Why wait? Don’t let important people management issues go unresolved when you can deal with them today.
HR ISSUES KEEPING YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT? Absenteeism, performance problems, hiring good people, performance reviews. Every business has people management issues and OCNA has the solution for you. We’re offering the TwoGreySuits HR service to our members absolutely free! Have a look at the video and then explore the HR Power Centre at www.twogreysuits.com. It contains everything you need for effective people management. And, when you need answers fast, you can talk to a senior HR Professional 24/7 through the HR Hot Line. Signing up is hassle free. Just click on the URL below and you will be taken to OCNA’s customized sign up page. Fill in the information and you will receive immediate access to the HR Power Centre. Sign up here. Hassle-free, effortless HR Solutions for your Business ... Because HR Happens. June 2012
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business
Seasoned Business Negotiators Navigate the Bargaining Continuum By Patrick Tinney Managing Partner Centroid Training & Marketing In the early development stages of Centroid Training and Marketing I had great fortune to meet a bright MBA graduate we’ll call Cheryl. She was a strong, clear-eyed business person wise beyond her years.
reciprocity and I say ‘let’s just split the difference’ I am effectively discounting the offered price by a wide margin. Here’s the trick with a split the difference strategy. As you enter the Bargaining Continuum…we always want to control the split price. If we do not control the split price we are going to get taken to the cleaners!
We discussed and dissected several business negotiation tactics and strategies. She offered her MBA view of the world and that of growing up working in a successful family manufacturing business.
Split the difference is versatile in that the split can be useful to drag prices up or drag them down. If I am a seller using split the difference I will drag them up harvesting more price yield. If I am a buyer and drag the split down I am asking for a deep discount on top of the quoted seller price.
While building Centroid I documented over a dozen effective negotiation strategies and had attached useful business metrics for them. As we debated negotiation strategy we got to the ‘Split the Difference’ strategy.
If a bargaining partner tries to draw you into the Bargaining Continuum with a split the difference strategy….here are a few things you can do to blunt their efforts.
“Oh I know that strategy too well,” said Chery. “There is an old buyer my Dad has been selling to forever. He comes to our offices and low balls our manufacturing lines. He tells my Dad he doesn’t have much money and uses a lot of not so nice tactics to get Dad feeling sorry for him. Eventually, it turns into a messy debate about price until finally the buyer says let’s split the difference …c’mon help me out. Dad in his frustration takes the deal almost every time.”
1. Call a time out to analyze and cost model the split the difference offer 2. Call the other side for using split the difference to create a win/lose outcome 3. Stop negotiating and recommend a new strategy to recognize both partners needs 4. Walk away if your negotiation partner is not vital to your business
The Bargaining Continuum can be tough to navigate. Cheryl wishes her Dad could see it and just say ‘no’ to the split the difference negotiation strategy.
The moment you hear split the difference, stop and think the situation through. Review your back up plans. Avoid the obvious canard and restart the negotiations if you are not comfortable.
The complicating factor with this case is the old buyer is actually using two strategies in tandem. He is using the ‘Poor Mouth’… ‘I really like your products but I just don’t have enough money strategy.’ This negotiation strategy grinds on some people to the point where the seller just wants to put an end to the dramatic discussion. The buyer waits until he sees a moment of frustration on the sellers face and then applies the ‘Split the Difference’ strategy.
Patrick Tinney is the founder of Centroid Training and Marketing, a consulting firm helping organizations make and save money through consultative selling, sales prospecting and business negotiation training.
As we enter the Bargaining Continuum, (also known as ZOPA or Zone of Potential Agreement) most business negotiation partners can generally see the net difference in each other’s cost objectives and work toward reciprocity where both imagine a profitable price and fulfilling deal.
Prior to Centroid, Patrick held various corporate sales and management positions at The Southam Newspaper Group, CanWest Media and more. Over his 30 year career Patrick has concluded multi-million dollar media sales and negotiation solutions. For more on Patrick visit centroidmarketing.com
However, if we draw a negotiation partner into the Bargaining Continuum with a price that is far from our partner’s price it sets up potentially volatile exchanges. If neither party moves toward June 2012
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design
READING PROOF IS A TOUGH TASK By ed henninger henninger consulting
There’s always the concern that something will get through, no matter how careful you are. You’re usually checking pages right on deadline and there’s that extra pressure to get it done quickly. What’s worse—and you know it happens—is when you wind up proofing a page you designed or a story you wrote.
Some thoughts: 1. Get someone from outside the newsroom
to help in the proofing process. Perhaps its someone in advertising. Or circulation. That person probably hasn’t even heard of the story or the package you’re working on, so they can give it unbiased attention.
2. Set earlier page deadlines. If a page has to be proofed by 11 a.m. to get to the press on time, let’s set the page deadline for 10:30 a.m. 3. Never, never, e-v-e-r proof your own page. You’re too attached to the story or the package. You wrote the headline. If your headline says ‘Mayor says city debt to high,’ then the odds are pretty strong that you are not going to notice on the second, third, fourth or fifth time around that the phrase should read ‘…too high.’ Proofing is important. It gives us that one last look to ensure a quality product for our readers. Let’s give it the attention it needs. ED HENNINGER is an independent newspaper consultant and the Directorof Henninger Consulting, offering comprehensive newspaper design services and design evaluations at www.henningerconsulting.com.
TURN PROOFREADING UPSIDE DOWN There it is. In one brief sentence. An approach to proofreading guaranteed to help you find errors more quickly and more often. It works because reading the copy upside-down-andbackwards slows the proofreader down. It makes that person actually pay attention to what is on the page, without the mind wandering off. Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself. What have you got to lose? June 2012
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Technology
Adobe releases sixth version of creative suite By Kevin Slimp institute of newspaper technology
It was with much fanfare that Adobe released the sixth version of Creative Suite. With new versions of InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop and more, newspaper designers and publishers are asking, ‘Is it time to upgrade?’
for print and an alternate layout for Kindle. When I made changes to the original page, I could move to the Kindle layout and see yellow symbols, letting me know that a change had been made. By updating the link, the change was made for the Kindle as well.
Many of the features might take newspaper designers a while to get used to. Not because they’re hard to learn, but because they accomplish tasks not available before. You might forget about them and keep putting in extra hours to accomplish the same jobs.
There are dozens of other new features in InDesign that might not get the same attention as Liquid Layouts, but will turn out to be quite useful:
The Linked content feature was introduced in CS5.5, but the user can do even more with it in the latest version. To understand linked content, think of how links normally work. When you place an image on the page, a link is automatically created in the Links Panel. Now, imagine that you’ve created a text block on a page. Perhaps the same text frame will be used in more than one place within a document or in separate documents.
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PDF Forms: A lot of us create forms that are converted to PDF files for various reasons. Previously, these forms were designed in one application, then interactive elements were added in Acrobat. With InDesign CS6, most PDF items, including text fields, radio buttons, signature fields and more, can be created within the InDesign document.
Using the Linked Content feature, when changes are made in the original ‘parent text,’ the user can click on the link in the Links Panel and update the parent link so that the text is changed in other instances in the same document and other documents.
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Fonts List: The InDesign font menu now groups most recently used fonts at the top. ▄▄
Text Frames: It’s more efficient to work with text frames in CS6. When placing a text frame with multiple columns, for instance, you can add or remove columns when you resize a frame.
As you might imagine, this could be very valuable to the designer working on multiple versions or zoned editions of a newspaper.
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Align to Key Object: You can set any object as a ‘Key Object’ for the purpose of making other objects align to it.
Alternate layouts - the ability to add groups of different sized pages to an existing document is quite handy. The ability to create one layout, then use that same layout with multiple page sizes, is quite amazing.
Whether you’re a Mac or PC user, you’ll need to have a newer machine to enjoy the enhancements in CS6.
Before ‘Alternate Layouts,’ the user would have had to create separate documents. With Alternate Layouts, these pages can now be created and managed within the same document.
My advice? If you’re ready to upgrade your editorial workflow system or just looking for something to improve your design experience at home, InDesign CS6 is a definite ‘yes!’ If, however, you’re not ready to upgrade your hardware and your computer is a few years old, you will want to hold off before purchasing CS6 for your entire staff. And, as always, don’t mix and match versions. When you do decide to upgrade some machines to CS6 in your office, be sure to upgrade all of them.
The CS6 ‘Liquid Layout’ feature assists users in creating a layout for one purpose, say a newspaper page, then repurposing it for different devices.
KEVIN SLIMP serves as the director of the Institute of Newspaper Technology. He is a faculty member of the University of Tennessee College of Communication and Information and makes his home in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kevin’s insight on technology is highly sought after at various industry events across North America. www.kevinslimp.com
In my testing, I created a page June 2012
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