October/November 2013 by South Dakota Newspaper Association

Volume 27 – Number 3

An information publication of the South Dakota Newspaper Association, Brookings, SD

October/November 2013

Association transitions to newly designed logo

South Dakota Newspaper Association Board members met with Gov. Dennis Daugaard at the state capitol on Oct. 25 as part of the Public Notices Month observance in the state. From left: SDNA board members Jan Kittelson of Miller, Shannon Brinker of Rapid City, John Suhr of Webster, Gov. Daugaard, Steve Baker of Pierre, Charley Najacht of Custer and Becky Tycz of Tyndall.

SDNA Board meets with governor Public Notices Month in South Dakota wrapped up in October when South Dakota Newspaper Association Board members met with Gov. Dennis Daugaard at the state capitol in Pierre. SDNA President Steve Baker presented Daugaard with a Public Notices Month “VIP All-access badge,” signifying the public awareness campaign for public notices that newspapers have been promoting in October. “Public notices published in the local newspaper are verifiable, independent and permanent, all traits important to protecting the

integrity of public notices,” Baker said. The SDNA president added: “We are grateful for the opportunity to meet with Gov. Daugaard and convey the significance that public notices have in informing the public about the business of government.” You can learn more about public notices by visiting with the staff of your local newspaper or by going online at www.facebook.com/ PublicNotices. Other members of the SDNA board include Paul Buum, publisher of The Alcester Union & Hudsonite; John Suhr, publisher of the Reporter

& Farmer at Webster; Jan Kittelson, of the Miller Press, Wessington Times Enterprise and Wolsey News; Shannon Brinker, publisher of the Rapid City Journal; Becky Tycz, publisher of the Scotland Journal, Tyndall Tribune & Register and Springfield Times; and Charley Najacht, publisher of the Custer County Chronicle, Hill City Prevailer and Winner Advocate. South Dakota Newspaper Association, founded in 1882 and based in Brookings, represents the state’s 130 weekly and daily newspapers with total readership of more than 600,000.

SDNA has a new look. The new association logo is replacing one that has been in use since the 1989. “We are excited to introduce a new logo,” SDNA General Manager David Bordewyk said. “We think it’s a terrific, fresh, new look for our association.” The logo was designed by John Mollison of Mollison Brand Advocates in Sioux Falls. Mollison, an SDSU journalism graduate, does brand and creative work for businesses and non-profit organizations across South Dakota and the country. The new logo was approved by the SDNA board at its summer meeting. It’s designed to positively convey the newspaper association and industry moving forward and advancing on many fronts: print, digital and new media yet to come. The logo builds on our strong SDNA identity and history and incorporates a vision that is forward-thinking. This is what Mollison had to say about the new logo and his work with SDNA in developing it: “South Dakota is strong on newspapers. South Dakotans value deeply a sense of community and the truth. South Dakota newspapers reflect those values. It’s been an honor to work on a brand that represents one of the most important institutions in our (Continued to page 3)

Phyllis and Clarence: A marriage and newspaper bond in Milbank Reprinted with permission from the Oct. 2, 2013, edition of the Grant County Review. Longtime employees Debbie Hemmer and Holli Seehafer recently purchased the Review from Phyllis and Clarence Justice.

by Debbie Hemmer

Early in life, both Phyllis Dolan and Clarence Justice made a decision to choose the newspaper industry as a career path. That decision put them on a course to meet, marry and eventually work together for 61 years to produce the Grant County Review newspaper. They worked side by side as a married couple for 58 years. Their love of the paper and the satisfaction they derived from being able to make a contribution for the betterment of the community spurred them to work long past retirement age. However, the end of an era was reached this week when the Justices sold the business to long-time employees, Holli Seehafer and Debbie Hemmer. The sale also ends the 102-year ownership

of the paper by the Dolan family. Phyllis’ father, William “Bill” Dolan, purchased the paper in February of 1911 at the young age of 23. He married Christine Olson of Marvin, and Phyllis was their only child. Phyllis was bitten by the newspaper bug in her youth, often helping out while in high school. Following graduation, she attended college at South Dakota State College (now SDSU) in Brookings for two years before deciding to major in journalism and creative writing. Her mother urged her to take that path, and Phyllis transferred to the University of Minnesota to finish her degree. During her college years she returned home in the summer months to help out at the paper. It was during that time that she began her witty column Ain’t It Awful. The phrase was a favorite saying of a Milbank resident who was the source of the latest unpublished news, better known as gossip. No matter where she was living, Phyllis would forward the column back home to

Phyllis and Clarence Justice in the ofﬁce, with a photo of Phyllis’ father, William Dolan, on the wall in the background. He bought the newspaper in 1911. The Justices took over in 1957. (2008 photo by Bernie Hunhoff)

be printed. Her goal was to become a reporter in a news division of a daily paper. To that end, during her senior year of college she volunteered to work at the Minneapolis Tribune. Unfortunately, the strategy did not work. When she graduated, there were two openings in the news division, but the jobs were given to men. She was offered a temporary position

in the women’s department to fill in for an employee who was on leave. Although disappointed, Phyllis took the job for $87.50 per month. When the assignment came to an end, she returned home to Milbank and then went to Mankato, MN, where she briefly sold advertising for the Mankato Free Press in the summer of 1939. (Continued to page 4)

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South Dakota Newspapers

Any month of the year, we have a mission worth celebrating

UPCOMING EVENTS January 30, 2014 Newspaper Day at the Legislature Pierre, SD April 11-12, 2014 132nd SDNA Convention Ramkota Inn Pierre, SD

Here in the South Dakota Newspaper Association we took part in our first-ever observance of Public Notices Month in October. Many of you participated and we’re glad you did. In this business we help every other kind of organization or interest group celebrate certain designated days, weeks and months, but we sometimes ignore those dates set aside to single out our own industry for what it does. That’s a pity. Journalism is one of the few occupations expressly mentioned or strongly implied in the First Amendment because of what it does on behalf of the people. That’s partly through that watchdog role we celebrate, but also through the more low-key role of serving as a public log for what is being done at all levels of our government – carrying the public notices, in other words. Some of you have seen efforts in your

Presidential Perspectives Steve Baker President / SDNA Capital Journal, Pierre communities to question the value of public notices, or to represent the publishing of public notices as a money-maker for our industry. The answer to that is that people simply don’t know their own history. It was the first session of the First Congress in 1789, not the press, who first required the publishing of notices of bills, orders and congressional votes. If someone wants to portray that issue as a money issue for newspapers, inform them

that their quarrel isn’t with South Dakota newspapers, it’s with the Founding Fathers. The patriots put that requirement in place because they realized that such a printed record of what is done by government is fundamentally important to our American democracy. That’s a message we can print at any time of the year, not just October. So if you didn’t observe Public Notices Month, don’t worry about it. Write about it at your leisure, perhaps when your next important public issue rears its head. Feel free to use the column I’ve written about it for the Capital Journal, if it suits your needs. Or simply take the material in the column, or the other material SDNA has distributed, and adapt it to suit your needs. Any month of the year, it’s a mission worth celebrating.

Our opinion: It’s your business. It’s our commitment. (USPS Permit #003537) © Copyright 2013 By South Dakota Newspaper Association David C. Bordewyk ....... Publisher/Editor Sandy DeBeer .............. Pagination

Published bi-monthly by South Dakota Newspaper Association, 1125 32nd Ave., Brookings, SD 57006, and at additional ofﬁce Telephone: 800-658-3697 Periodicals Class Postage paid at Brookings, SD 57006 Subscription price: $15 per year. SDNA Ofﬁcers President Steve Baker / Capital Journal, Pierre First Vice President Paul Buum / Alcester Union & Hudsonite Second Vice President John Suhr / Reporter & Farmer, Webster Third Vice President Janet Kittelson / Miller Press At-large Director

Early in the First Session of the First Congress in 1789, those patriots who have founded a new nation from the 13 newly independent colonies pass an important provision: That the Secretary of State shall publish all bills, orders and congressional votes in at least three publicly available newspapers. More than two centuries later, the great American experiment in democracy continues, and so does that assumption that all levels of government – from Congress down to the state, county, city, school district and township levels – shall publish a record of the official actions they take in their local newspapers. We take that mission very seriously in the newspaper business. We tend to think it’s why journalism is one of the occupations that is assumed in the First Amendment when the first freedoms of the Bill of Rights are articulated. That is why we in the media observe “public notice month” in October. To remind ourselves – and you – of what our

Times

Public notices keep citizens informed about the business of government at all levels: cities, towns, townships, schools, counties, state and federal government.

Public notices are woven into our nation’s founding and governance. Among the first official actions of the First Congress in 1789: That the Secretary of State shall publish all bills, orders and congressional votes in at least three publicly available newspapers.

The requirement of publishing public notices not only protects the public's interest and access to actions by elected officials, it also protects public officials by providing an independent, notarized and permanent record that accurately reflects their actions and decisions.

Past President Charley Najacht / Custer County Chronicle, Hill City Prevailer & Winner Advocate SDNA Staff David C. Bordewyk / General Manager Cherie Jensen / Assistant Manager John Brooks / Advertising Sales Manager Sandy DeBeer Advertising Assistant Darla McCullough / Advertising Assistant Pat Leary / Tearsheeting SOUTH DAKOTA NEWSPAPERS is the ofﬁcial trade publication for the South Dakota Newspaper Association, representing daily and weekly newspapers in the state.

Postmaster: Send change of address to South Dakota Newspaper Association, 1125 32nd Ave., Brookings, SD 57006

public notices and staying involved as a citizen. And if the need arises, South Dakotans can use an online database to find public notices they may have missed or need to find again for some reason. It’s not a substitute for the official publication of notices required by law and those notices still appear in local newspapers such as the Capital Journal. But it adds a search function to make it easier for citizens to track public issues that they have been monitoring; and it is provided by South Dakota newspapers at no cost to government. Find it online at www. sdpublicnotices.com. It’s your business to know what your government is doing. It’s our commitment to help make that process easier. Steve Baker President, South Dakota Newspaper Association Publisher, Capital Journal

A Top 10 about Public Notices

Shannon Brinker / Rapid City Journal At-large Director Becky Tycz / Scotland Journal, Tyndall Tribune & Springﬁeld

Founding Fathers thought as an absolutely essential requirement of good government. Don’t be fooled: Not everybody in America treasures a commitment to openness. There are people at every level of government who, sooner or later, enact policies that they would just as soon not have to drag out of the boardroom into the hard light of day. From publishing their salaries to publishing their plans for the parcel of property down the street from where you live, some of what we publish in the public notices and follow up on with stories of our own sooner or later generates complaints from public officials about newspapers being too “negative.” Our answer to that is that is the ordinary way we do business because it is the public’s business; and so it belongs in a public forum. It’s our commitment to publish the public notices of what’s to come and what has been done so that you, the people, can make your voices heard in that process. You can do your part by reading the

Newspapers publish public notices at uniform rates set by state government to ensure that costs are fair, consistent and affordable. Most public notices include the publication cost. On

average, the cost to South Dakota local governments such as school districts and cities to publish public notices in their official newspaper is less than one-half of one percent of their total annual budget.

The newspapers in South Dakota work together to provide an online site for all public notices at www.sdpublicnotices.com. It is a searchable website of all public notices previously printed in newspapers. It’s provided by newspapers at no cost to government.

South Dakotans do read public notices in newspapers. In fact, more than half of South Dakotans surveyed say they read public notices on a frequent basis.

One often discussed alternative to publishing public notices in the local newspaper is to put them on a government-controlled website. One major problem is that governmentrun websites are not designed or operated to build and attract

audiences. Putting the public notices there would be like hiding the needle in the haystack; hardly anyone would see them because no one goes there.

State law directs all cities, counties and schools to annually designate at a public meeting their “official newspaper” for publishing all of their public notices for the coming year. This protects the public’s right to know, creating an expectation among citizens as to where to find that government entity’s published public notices.

Once printed, all public notices must be accompanied by a sworn, notarized affidavit of publication by a representative of the newspaper. The entire process is dictated by state law. In effect, a legal record or document is created.

good government depends 10 Finally, on citizens who are informed. Public notices in the local newspaper help make that happen.

October/November 2013 • 3

South Dakota Newspapers

An aMUSEing tale from Adobe Back in the days of CS5, it became relatively simple for an InDesign user to design a website in InDesign, then export it as a Flash file that could be viewed online. Although it worked well, it wasn’t very long before Flash files became problematic, primarily due to Apple’s refusal to support them on iPads and iPhones. So even though I’d created several websites in InDesign, I quickly changed that practice. Then came InDesign CS5.5 and CS6, which made it possible to export HTML5 directly from InDesign. Frankly, though, the process always seemed to work with less than perfect results for me, so I gave up on that idea. When I subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud a few months ago, I looked around the site for apps available through the normal subscription. Along with InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop and other applications I used regularly, there was a name I hadn’t thought of in a while: Muse. I’ve done a lot of beta testing for companies through the years. With Adobe, some of the titles included InDesign (we called it “K2” back then), Acrobat and more. Somewhere around 2010 or 2011, I remember beta testing an app called “Muse,” which purported to be the easiest website tool ever developed. I had my doubts, but I remember being quite impressed with Muse as I went through the beta. Fast forward a couple of years and I’m looking through the Creative Cloud options and, lo and behold, there is Muse CC. Wanting to find new apps for professional designers who are already subscribed to the Cloud, I decided to take Muse for a spin. It was a nice ride. To do a full review of the project would take pages, so let’s take a quick overview and you can decide if it’s worth downloading Muse and trying it out for yourself. Creating New Documents The first thing I noticed about Muse was that the process for creating a new website was much the same as creating a new document in InDesign. I simply entered the size (in pixels instead of inches), the margin and a few other details. When I hit the OK button, there appeared before me a white page, much like I would see in InDesign. The Muse Desktop For an InDesign or Illustrator user, Muse is very straight forward. Most of the same shortcuts work that work in those apps. Most of the same panels that we’re used to are in the same place. You’ll fine the Character Panel, various styles and more. Working with Tools The toolbar in Muse looks surprisingly similar to the toolbar in InDesign. Placing files on the page works the same. Elements can be copied and pasted from InDesign and other applications.

SDNA Logo communities in South Dakota.” We are transitioning to the new logo in our association publications and products and website over a period of time. A redesigned association website will incorporate the new logo later this fall. Bordewyk said that changing the look of an organization’s logo or brand is not something that should be done on a whim or taken lightly. He noted that the SDNA board worked through a strategic plan process over a period of about two years. One of the

Kevin Slimp Director, Institute of Newspaper Technology kevin@kevinslimp.com Want to place a photo? Place it like you do in InDesign or Illustrator. Want to place a video? Place it like a photo. All That HTML Stuff HTML code. That’s what separates the design from the web guru. Not to fear. I wanted to place a Google Map right on my page. I simply went to maps.google.com in my browser and copied the HTML code by clicking a button on the site. I then went to Muse, entered Object>Insert HTML, and there it was. A Google Map on my page. I could move through the map on my website just like I could on maps.google.com. I was nothing short of amazed. Text I’m a Dreamweaver hack from way back. I always hated working with text in Dreamweaver. It never seemed to look the way I wanted when I saw the final product. Not so with Muse. Text works like text in InDesign. Even more amazing, you can choose from thousands of web safe fonts using Type Kit, a service included in Creative Cloud. You don’t even have to leave the application to visit a website. It’s built right into Muse. Exporting HTML I’m not one for hyperbole, but seriously, this is nothing short of fantastic. Not only will Muse export the HTML, which it does just fine, but it will FTP it to your web host for you. Just enter the necessary information and password and, boom!, you’re online. And if that’s not enough, Adobe will host the site for you. When you finish designing a Muse site, it’s already online, so others can view it. You’re given the necessary URL so others can find it. If you want, and probably do, you can purchase your own URL (KevinSlimp.com, for instance) and point it to Adobe’s server. A Creative Cloud subscription includes hosting up to five Muse sites. Listen, I don’t work for Adobe. It matters not to me whether you subscribe to the Creative Cloud or not. But I’m guessing, for many smaller papers, we could pay for our Cloud subscription in web hosting fees alone. That should be enough to whet your appetite. For more information, visit Adobe. come to download a free trial version of Muse. I was so impressed with Muse that I decided to add it to the curriculum of the Institute of Newspaper Technology. I must really like it.

(Continued from page 1) re-occurring themes that emerged from that process was the need to convey a positive message for our association and industry to help rebut the wrong perceptions that exist about newspapers. Our previous logo had been with us since 1989 when the association name was changed from “South Dakota Press Association” to “South Dakota Newspaper Association.” The association has had only a handful of logos throughout its 131-year history.

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(Continued from page 1)

LIC NOTICES B U

The Tribune called her back for reemployment in Clarence made several moves in his career before the women’s division, but this time Phyllis held out settling down in Milbank. for a higher wage of $126 month and received it. It could also be said he came from a newspaper She was thrilled to be working at a daily newspaper. family. Hailing from Ree Heights, the three sons in “While printer’s ink had been instilled in me in my the Justice family all pursued careers as printersyouth in the Review office, the thrill of beginning a journalists. day’s work in the news room of a daily newspaper Both of Clarence’s two older brothers worked for offered excitement I cannot describe,” she said in a the Miller Gazette, and when the publisher needed a past interview. “I would compare it to the first time printer’s devil, he hired the younger Justice brother. an actress walks on stage to face After his high school the dazzle of footlights.” graduation, Clarence worked for Just a few short weeks into her a short time in 1942 as a printer new job at the paper, the Tribune at the Advertiser in Galena, IL. was sold to the Minneapolis StarWorld War II interrupted Journal. Clarence’s career. He served in All Tribune employees had to the Navy as a radio man aboard go through an interview process, the USS Koiner. One of his duties and Phyllis was one of those was to provide a daily edition of offered a position on the new The Koiner News which was two combined staff of the newspapers. to three typed pages of news. She advanced at the paper and He returned to Miller after his was eventually writing a front discharge and worked as a printer page feature for the women’s for the Miller Press. section in the Sunday edition. She He later took a job as a printer was given the authority to choose in Kalispell, MT, but it did not last any subject she wanted. long. “When it started snowing Ye a r s l a t e r , P h y l l i s in August, I knew it was time to Phyllis Justice acknowledged it was a great leave,” Clarence jokingly said in opportunity, but at the time it a previous interview. rankled her that she was classified He returned to employment a women’s department staffer and at the Miller Press in 1951 and was passed over to work in the answered the Review ad in 1952. news department because she was Phyllis and Clarence married a woman. in October of 1955. They took “I never wanted to be a woman over the duties of running the reporter; I wanted to be a reporter, newspaper when Bill died in July given a fair shake and judged on of 1957. Phyllis handled the news my ability,” she was quoted as side of the paper, and Clarence saying in a past award acceptance was the sports editor. speech. Both have received many Lacking opportunity to advance accolades during their long into the news department at the careers. Phyllis was the first Star Tribune, she quit in 1944. woman to be elected president She spent a few months in of the South Dakota Newspaper Milbank but then took a position Association (SDNA). She served Clarence Justice as an assistant director at a USO in that capacity in 1982. Club in the Seattle, WA, area. While there she also She received the Emma C. McKinney Award in published a newspaper for war plant workers. 1985 at the National Newspaper Association’s annual In 1946 she moved to Washington, DC, where she convention in Minneapolis, MN. The award honors served as a public relations director for the National one woman in American journalism who epitomizes Catholic Community Service in Washington, DC. the spirit of Emma McKinney, a pioneer journalist. However, she soon found herself back in Milbank, Phyllis was inducted into the South Dakota and this time it would be a permanent relocation. Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1988. Her father was a Her father never asked her to return to help with Hall of Fame honoree in 1962. publishing the paper, but her mother could see Bill She earned the SDNA Distinguished Service needed help and urged Phyllis to return. Award in 2000 and was also inducted into the South Foregoing her own personal career goals, Phyllis Dakota Press Women Hall of Fame. agreed to return to her roots and teamed up with her Clarence received the SDNA Distinguished father. Service Award in 2008. He is a past president of She was involved in all aspects of the business, the South Dakota Chapter of Sigma Delta Chi (now even collecting delinquent subscription fees. Professional Journalism Society) and past president During the depression years, Bill knew people of the Northeast Press Group. could not afford the subscription rate, but he He was also the founder of the South Dakota continued to send the paper. Some had gone 10 years Knights of Columbus state bulletin. He started without paying. publishing it in 1960 and worked as the editor and As the war ended and the economy improved, it publisher of the publication for seven years. was time to start collecting again. Phyllis and her He also served as a member of the publication aunt, Victoria Olson, who was also a member of the committee for the Department of South Dakota staff, would set aside days to collect subscriptions. American Legion for nine years. With the printed subscription list in hand, they Both have received numerous awards in the annual would drive the country roads, requesting payment. SDNA Better Writing contests throughout the years. Sometimes they were ordered off properties, but most Together, they received the first ever Bishop days were good and they brought payments in. Dudley Excellence in Media Award in 1997. Bill and Phyllis formed a good team, and things It is probably the award that means the most to clicked along smoothly at the Review. the couple. “Speaking out in print for what is right, They placed an ad in the Minneapolis Tribune in admirable and in keeping with Catholic principles is 1952 for a printer, and Bill hired a young gentleman a privilege and also obligation which we take very over the phone, asking him to report for work on seriously,” said the couple when they accepted the Monday. award. When Phyllis asked what his name was, her father Together, the couple has a combined 128 years replied that he forgot to ask him. with the Review. Phyllis has logged 67 years and Phyllis doubted the printer would show, but Clarence 61. Clarence Justice reported for work that Monday, and Their legacy will be forever etched in history their lives would become entwined forever from that in the bound copies of the past issues of the Grant point on. County Review.

Justices

South Dakota Newspapers

P E N E W S PA

What are public notices?

Public notices published in newspapers inform you about government and government-related activities. Examples of public notices are school board, city council and county commission minutes, election notices, advertisements for bids, proposed government budgets and much more.

PUBLIC NOTICES KEEP SOUTH DAKOTANS INFORMED SOUTH DAKOTANS BELIEVE IN PUBLIC NOTICES.

More than half of all South Dakotans surveyed say they read government public notices in their local newspaper on a regular basis.*

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SOUTH DAKOTANS WANT PUBLIC NOTICES PUBLISHED IN THEIR LOCAL NEWSPAPER.

Three-fourths of all South Dakotans surveyed believe public notices should be published in newspapers.* Newspapers are the most effective medium for

ALERTING THE PUBLIC

about the business of government. More than 7 in 10 South Dakotans read their local newspaper every day and every week.* *Pulse Research Inc. survey of 500 South Dakota households. October 2011.

PUBLIC NOTICES ARE:

V ERIFIABLE. I NDEPENDENT. P ERMANENT. The newspaper is The local newspaper accessible to all delivers an segments of the independent, public and is trusted third-party check as a valid, credible in the process of source for public informing the public notices. about the business of government.

Public notices in the newspaper cannot be altered, manipulated or deleted. The same is not true in the digital world.