Departments

From reporting history to becoming history…

Matt Erickson is the director of presentation at The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, recently named the fastest-growing English language paper in the country. He is also a co-founder and consultant with M7 Agency. Reach him at matterickson@m7agency.com.

The Rocky Mountain News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer closed shop within three weeks of each other, ending nearly 300 combined years of newspapering

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Multimedia news sites, sports associations clash

Anthony L. Fargo is an associate professor specializing in media law at the Indiana University School of Journalism in Bloomington. He also is a member of the board of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE NEWSPAPER industry and the increasingly contentious world of sports coverage met on a Wisconsin football field last November.

The fans probably thought they were watching a high school playoff game.

The Appleton Post-Crescent's decision to stream live video from the game spawned a lawsuit over the limits high school sports associations can place on the media in return for game access. It probably won't be the last such lawsuit.

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Commitments are the path to lasting change

Edward D. Miller is a newsroom leadership coach and management consultant to newspapers around the world. He is a former director of ASNE and a founder of the Society for News Design. Reach him at miller@newsroomleadership.com.

SOME PEOPLE HAVE DIFFICULTY MAKING a commitment. They seem willing to change, but their resolve fails. They make promises, but soon slip back into old ways.

For some, the challenge is deadlines. They know how important it is to get the copy to the desk on time or to do the online text quickly. Repeatedly, they promise to comply with requests, but fail to deliver consistently.

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Journalism will prevail

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, LLC., a writing and management consulting firm in Tinton Falls, N.J. She was executive editor, Asbury Park Press; managing editor, Bergen Record; and Deputy Director of the National Credibility Roundtable Project. Reach her via e-mail at consultjody@aol.com.

Got news to share? Send an e-mail to consultjody@aol.com.

ASNE members, don't forget to let us know of your job changes. Contact ASNE (703-453-1122), and copy Jody to share the news with your colleagues.

MARTY KAISER, ASNE'S NEW PRESIDENT and editor of the respected Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, couldn't address his colleagues in Chicago this year, but you can bet he'll get out his message through every possible platform.

Ask anyone in his newsroom: Marty keeps it simple and adapts. Go forward. Do great journalism. Be interactive.

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Federal shield law closer

Kevin Goldberg is a lawyer for Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth and is the legal counsel to ASNE. You can address your legal questions to him at goldberg@fhhlaw.com and he will answer them in a later issue.

Update: Legislation ASNE is watching in the 111th Congress

HOW WILL ASNE'S LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES change with a new president and a new Congress?

A: The priorities are unlikely to change. ASNE's first priority is — nothing new here — the Free Flow of Information Act. There are other important issues, but they pale in comparison to bringing a federal shield law to fruition. Here's a bit on each of ASNE's top legislative priorities for 2009.

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Link journalism

Kurt Greenbaum is director of social media for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He can be reached at kgreenbaum@post-dispatch.com.

Sending readers away will keep them coming back for more

THE MOST-VIEWED STORY ON Jack Lail's Web site last year wasn't a story. And it wasn't news he or anyone in his newsroom produced.

No, the biggest story on KnoxNews.com was a list of updated, outbound links to blogs and other media sites, chronicling the drama between the departure of Tennessee Volunteers' football coach Phillip Fulmer and the hiring of his replacement, Lane Kiffin.

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Pushing forward

Bill Glauber is a general assignment reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Previously, he was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He also worked 25 years at the Baltimore Sun.

ASNE's new president, Marty Kaiser, is a self-described news nerd, online and on paper, who honed his management skills in a 'loony bin' sports department and now guides a staff in Wisconsin that is piling up prestigious honors in tough times

FIRST TIME I MET MARTY KAISER was in February 1984. I was a 26-year-old sports reporter with The Baltimore Sun, covering high schools and looking for a promotion, and he was the new guy brought in from Chicago to shake up the sports staff.

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Story count

Bobbi Bowman is membership/diversity director for ASNE

What the 2010 census means to news organizations

LESS THAN A YEAR FROM now every address in the U.S. will receive a short questionnaire from the U.S. Census asking about the race, ethnicity, age, income and number of folks in the family. These questionnaires are the prelude to the best story of our lives - the story of 21st Century America.

In these days of smaller newsrooms and growing Web sites, it's hard to focus beyond the weekend newspaper. Here are some frequently asked questions about the Census to remind incredibly busy editors that this great story looms on the horizon.

Tip: The census is not about numbers. It's about power and money.

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On deadline... Spring 2009

The On Deadline feature is compiled and edited by Mark Mahoney, editorial page editor of The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y. If you have an innovations or inspiration you'd like to share with American Editor readers, please e-mail it to Mark at mahoney@poststar.com.

Hillary’s ‘dear media’ letter, european papers thrive and a goat goes bad

Changing the face of America's newspapers

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc. in Tinton Falls, N.J., a writing, editing, and management consulting firm. She is a former deputy executive editor of The Asbury Park Press, Neptune, N.J., and former managing editor of the Record of Bergen County, Hackensack, N.J.

Got news to share? Send an e-mail to consultjody@aol.com.

ASNE members, don't forget to let us know of your job changes. Contact ASNE (703-453-1122), and copy Jody to share the news with your colleagues.

THESE ARE PERILOUS TIMES and no amount of cheerleading will make up for the recent carnage.

It's been a witch's brew of downsizing, sinister financial reports and drowned dreams. Even our most prestigious journalism graduate schools are being financially challenged.

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Reshaping american history

Matt Erickson is design director at The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, and the founder of Kern Redesign (kernredesign.com). He is the Region 4 Director for the Society for News Design, a member of its Competition Committee and past coordinator of its annual competition. Reach him at matterickson23@gmail.com.

Barack Obama broke the White House color barrier when he was sworn in as America's 44th president, but the newspaper world marked it with a lot of the same ol', same ol' ...

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Sunshine week focuses on digital public records

Pete Weitzel is a former managing editor of The Miami Herald and a member of ASNE's FOI committee. Debra Gersh Hernandez is the Sunshine Week coordinator.

WHAT'S IN YOUR COMPUTER? Or not?

That's the question we'd like you to ask this Sunshine Week.

In the course of governing, federal, state and local agencies collect an incredible array of information that can tell us much about how we live our lives and run our businesses and deal with the problems of society. They also keep extensive records that reveal how efficiently and effectively they go about their task of making our communities better places to live.

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Dealing with less

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc. in Tinton Falls, N.J., a writing, editing, and management consulting firm. She is a former deputy executive editor of The Asbury Park Press, Neptune, N.J., and former managing editor of the Record of Bergen County, Hackensack, N.J.

Got news to share? Send an e-mail to consultjody@aol.com.

ASNE members, don't forget to let us know of your job changes. Contact ASNE (703-453-1122), and copy Jody to share the news with your colleagues.

Layoffs, possible closures and reduced home delivery as the industry scrambles for an online business model that works

CREATIVITY AND FOCUS ARE WORKING at some newspapers, but not at others due to a drastic economic decline. The saddest news to date is the sale or possible closure of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

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A case to watch

Kevin Goldberg is a lawyer for Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth and is the legal counsel to ASNE. You can address your legal questions to him at goldberg@fhhlaw.com and he will answer them in a later issue.

This year, courts will likely decide if the protection of reporter's privilege extends to a Web site's comments and forums

Q: THERE APPEAR TO BE MANY legal protections available against liability for acts committed by visitors to our Web site, but do we have any obligation or right to protect those visitors?

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How to make story comments better

Kurt Greenbaum is Director of Social Media for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He can be reached at kgreenbaum@post-dispatch.com.

I DIDN'T WRITE THIS COLUMN by myself. But we'll talk more about that later. For now, let's acknowledge that the news industry has experienced several spasms of doubt over the inclusion of readers' comments on stories.

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Flexibility is the key to retaining good workers

Edward D. Miller is a newsroom leadership coach and management consultant to newspapers around the world. He is a former director of ASNE and a founder of the Society for News Design. Reach him at miller@newsroomleadership.com.

NEWS IS EXCITING, BUT NEWS organizations tend to be rigid, hierarchical and inflexible. Why does this matter? Two important groups will demand increasing flexibility from your organization: Boomers and Millennials. The Boomers are approaching retirement, but many will keep working longer. Their skills and institutional memory are important, but to maintain those assets, editors will have to be more flexible in assignments and scheduling. The Millennials (born after 1980) are a different breed altogether; 70 million of them are coming into the workplace with expectations of involvement and job flexibility. They will not perform well in traditional hierarchies.

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John Yemma, editor, the christian science monitor

Warren Watson teaches journalism at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. In his 35-year career, he worked for newspapers large and small, including the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, where he was assistant sports editor and graphics editor/art director from 1984-88. His is a past co-chair of The American Editor Committee. Reach him via e-mail at wwatson@bsu.edu.

JOHN YEMMA FIRMLY BELIEVES THAT his Christian Science Monitor is doing the right thing in becoming the first major newspaper to abandon a daily print format.

"Print today is seen as a luxury," he told National Public Radio in mid-January about the Monitor's decision to publish daily only on the Web. "It also has a lousy carbon footprint."

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On deadline... Winter 2009

The On Deadline feature is compiled and edited by Mark Mahoney, editorial page editor of The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y. If you have an innovations or inspiration you'd like to share with American Editor readers, please e-mail it to Mark at mahoney@poststar.com.

Buckets of alleged slime, a rotten onion and some good news in a bad year

Small newspapers pose management challenges

Warren Watson teaches journalism at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. In his 35-year career, he worked for newspapers large and small, including the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, where he was assistant sports editor and graphics editor/art director from 1984-88. His is a past co-chair of The American Editor Committee. Reach him via e-mail at wwatson@bsu.edu.

FOR DIANA FUENTES, EDITOR of the Laredo (Texas) Morning Times, multitasking is a way of life. She says that is the rule of the road at a typical American small daily.

With fewer resources, everyone needs to be able to handle multiple jobs in a quick, but still thorough and accurate manner, she says of her 17,000 daily circulation newspaper, which is part of the Hearst group.

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St. Petersburg's Neil Brown believes newspapers' future lies in smart, credible journalism

Warren Watson teaches journalism at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. In his 35-year career, he worked for newspapers large and small, including the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, where he was assistant sports editor and graphics editor/art director from 1984-88. His is a past co-chair of The American Editor Committee. Reach him via e-mail at wwatson@bsu.edu.

NEIL BROWN believes that a unique, political Web site started last year as a joint project of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times and Congressional Quarterly has the immediacy, urgency and interactivity that can be a formula for online success for newspaper companies: PolitiFact.com.

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Readers as editors

Kurt Greenbaum is Director of Social Media for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He can be reached at kgreenbaum@post-dispatch.com.

Now that the public can point out errors within minutes, can the modern newsroom afford to shed a layer of editors?

IN THE FRENZY FOLLOWING a fatal shooting in the Kirkwood, Mo., city council on Feb. 7, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Web site briefly confused the name of killed officer Tom Ballman with the name of another nearby St. Louis suburb: Ballwin.

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History in the Making

Matt Erickson is design director at The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, and the founder of Kern Redesign (kernredesign.com). He is the Region 4 Director for the Society for News Design, a member of its Competition Committee and past coordinator of its annual competition. Reach him at matterickson23@gmail.com.

When Barack Obama was elected to become America's first black president, newspapers gave us a refreshing reminder that print is alive and well and still the medium of choice for preserving history.

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Mayoral scandal proves FOI belongs to the public

Dave Rosenthal is Sunday Editor for The Sun in Baltimore.

AS THE NATION'S MEDIA DETAILED the personal and political scandal surrounding the September resignation of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, their reporting often overlooked a key factor in the drama: Michigan's Freedom of Information Act.

But the Detroit Free Press made sure to highlight how important the law was to its investigation, which helped topple the mayor.

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The virtual newsroom

Got news to share?
Send an e-mail to consultjody@aol.com.

ASNE members, don't forget to let us know of your job changes. Contact ASNE (703-453-1122), and copy Jody to share the news with your colleagues.

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc. in Tinton Falls, N.J., a writing, editing, and management consulting firm. She is a former deputy executive editor of The Asbury Park Press, Neptune, N.J., and former managing editor of the Record of Bergen County, Hackensack, N.J.

A New Jersey daily is selling its building to make way for a brave new world of mobile reporters publishing directly to the Web

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A rocky revenue stream

Kevin Goldberg is a lawyer for Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth and is the legal counsel to ASNE. You can address your legal questions to him at Goldberg@fhhlaw.com and he will answer them in a later issue.

Selling police-provided mug shots raises risky legal issues involving copyright and misappropriation of another's likeness

Q: OUR NEWSPAPER OFTEN OBTAINS MUG SHOTS from local law enforcement for use in stories. Recently, we were approached by a documentary filmmaker who expressed an interest in using reprints of stories, some containing mug shots, in a television program about a local crime. Is there any foreseeable problem that arises from our selling reprints of stories for commercial purposes?

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Growing circulation

Mike Jacobs is the editor of the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald. He chairs the ASNE Small Newspapers Committee.

Ten things every editor should know about circulation

NEWSPAPERS RISE AND FALL WITH circulation — so it seemed appropriate to ask a circulation director what editors should know about the number.

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Keeping your best people in tough times

Edward D. Miller is a newsroom leadership coach and management consultant to newspapers around the world. He is a former director of ASNE and a founder of the Society for News Design. Reach him at miller@newsroomleadership.com.

IN AN ERA OF BUYOUTS, layoffs and shrinking resources, how do you retain your best people? At too many newspapers the best and brightest are abandoning the ship. What would keep them on board?

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On deadline... Fall 2008

The On Deadline feature is compiled and edited by Mark Mahoney, editorial page editor of The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y. If you have an innovations or inspiration you'd like to share with American Editor readers, please e-mail it to Mark at mahoney@poststar.com.

Bad leads, blogging blues and good news for grads

The XXIX Olympiad
Matt Erickson is design director at The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, and the founder of Kern Redesign (kernredesign.com). He is the Region 4 Director for the Society for News Design. Reach him at matterickson23@gmail.com.

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On deadline ... Summer 08

The On Deadline feature is compiled and edited by Mark Mahoney, editorial page editor of The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y. If you have an innovations or inspiration you'd like to share with American Editor readers, please e-mail it to Mark at mahoney@poststar.com.

Russert's roots; a crime reporter who's a little too good; a bad report card

Iowa flood coverage
Matt Erickson is design director at The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, and the founder of Kern Redesign (kernredesign.com). He is the Region 4 Director for the Society for News Design. Reach him at matterickson23@gmail.com.

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2008 goal: Getting more digital records online

Timothy Franklin is the co-chair of ASNE's Freedom of Information Committee. He is editor and senior vice president of The Baltimore Sun. Reach him at tim.franklin@baltsun.com.

IMAGINE THAT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY are about to relocate across the country, moving from the punishing winters in Boston to the sunny calm of Los Angeles.

You'll not only be thinking about how to get rid of those old snow boots and the down coat you won't need anymore. You'll also be pondering more profound questions. Where are the communities that we can afford? Which neighborhoods have the lowest crime rates? Which schools have the highest academic achievement scores?

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The first rule of saying 'no' is 'don't say no'

Edward D. Miller is a newsroom leadership coach and management consultant to newspapers around the world. He is a former director of ASNE and a founder of the Society for News Design. Reach him at miller@newsroomleadership.com.

HOW GOOD ARE YOU AT SAYING “NO"? For many, it's surprisingly difficult. This is especially true of editors, who by nature tend to be eager and engaged participants in everything they do. Consider these scenarios:

It's late in the day. That front-page package you've been working on is nearly complete; one last edit and it's finished. Enter the executive editor, who makes a suggestion requiring a more-than-modest rearrangement of the design and the addition of an info box. You want to scream: “No! It's done!” What do you do?

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Innovation — Summer 2008

A paper in Wisconsin puts its focus on the Web, cuts back to two print editions and reaches out to the other paper in town

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc. in Tinton Falls, N.J. Reach her via e-mail at consultjody@aol.com.

CHANGE SPURS INNOVATION, AND THERE’S a lot of it out there. The Capital Times, a 90-year-old publication in Madison, Wis., took innovation a step further this spring when it stopped publication of its six-day-a-week newspaper.

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The Money Game
Kevin Goldberg is a lawyer for Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth and is the legal counsel to ASNE. You can address your legal questions to him at goldberg@fhhlaw.com and he will answer them in a later issue.

Why you should be concerned when sport leagues use credentials to control the flow of information

Q: I'VE RECEIVED SEVERAL MEMBER NOTIFICATIONS from ASNE about the ongoing fight with Major League Baseball over the credentials issued to reporters. My paper isn't in the vicinity of an MLB team, so we don't apply for credentials. Why should I be paying attention to this issue?

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Getting all aTwitter makes a difference in a disaster

Kurt Greenbaum is Online News Director for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He can be reached at kgreenbaum@post-dispatch.com.

BY NOW, MOST JOURNALISTS KNOW the story about Steve Buttry: New guy comes to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to take over as editor of The Gazette on June 10. Two days later, floodwaters plunge a staff he's barely met into the story of the year.

What they might not know is why Buttry left the American Press Institute, where he had been director of tailored programs for the past three years. Why would he move to the middle of the country to run a newspaper newsroom in the midst of a well-documented slump in the newspaper industry?

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A passionate purpose

Charlotte Hall
Senior Vice President/Editor
Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel
2008-09 ASNE President
Slide show

ASNE’s new president, Charlotte Hall, has a reputation as a straight shooter who fights for her staff and presses for fairness in all things

Tony Marro is a former editor of Newsday, Long Island, New York.

THE HAPPIEST DAY CHARLOTTE HALL ever spent in a newsroom wasn’t the day she was named assistant managing editor of the Boston Herald American, night city editor of the Washington Star, managing editor of Newsday, or editor of the Orlando Sentinel. Nor was it the day that Newsday won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting that she had overseen and edited. Rather, it was the day that a news clerk turned to Newsday’s foreign editor and said in a remarkably calm and matter-of-fact way, given the circumstances: “Matt’s on the phone."

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Hope everywhere

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc., in Tinton Falls, N.J. Reach her via e-mail at consultjody@aol.com.

IT’S A NEW YEAR, AND WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH THE OPPORTUNITY? A LOT!

Got news to share?
Send an e-mail to consultjody@aol.com.
Yes, some of the negative trends continue. Stocks are down, chains were sold, major papers announced deep buyouts, there’s talk of more consolidation and some newspapers dimmed their lights.

Still, there is innovation and hope everywhere. ASNE and the industry itself are energized, focused, strategic and proceeding intelligently.

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Changes — Fall 2007

News of three ASNE presidents, including Gilbert Bailon, other people moves and ... a few farewells

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc. in Tinton Falls, N.J. Reach her via e-mail at consultjody@aol.com.

ASNE PRESIDENT GILBERT BAILON, has been named editorial page editor of the St. Louis (Mo.) Post-Dispatch. ...

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Changes — Winter 2008

As a new year dawns, The Associated Press restructures, a real estate billionaire buys Tribune, and other friends take new jobs

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc. in Tinton Falls, N.J. Reach her via e-mail at consultjody@aol.com.

ASNE MEMBERS, DON'T FORGET TO let us know of your job changes. Contact ASNE at asne@asne.org or 703-453-1122, and copy Jody to share the news with your colleagues.

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National pastime's shame

Baseball has suffered scars, from Pete Rose to the ’94 strike – but none worse than the steroids scandal

Matt Erickson is design director at The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, and the founder of Kern Redesign (kernredesign.com). He is the Region 4 Director for the Society for News Design, a member of its Competition Committee and past coordinator of its annual competition. Reach him at matterickson23@gmail.com.

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Local college student bloggers bring fresh ideas

Diane Barney is editor of The Reporter in Vacaville, Calif., and can be reached at dbarney@thereporter.com. Visit Reporter U.

HOW CAN A SMALL DAILY NEWSPAPER develop a team of young and enthusiastic correspondents in cities across the country? By asking college students to share their experiences.

The Reporter, a 20,000-circulation newspaper in Vacaville, Calif., began a college blogging experiment, dubbed “Reporter U” with five college students in 2006. We now have nine students who file weekly reports from across the state, and even at campuses as far away as Arkansas and Utah.

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The leadership challenge of transformation

Edward D. Miller is a newsroom leadership coach and management consultant to newspapers around the world. He is aformer director of ASNE and a founder of the Society for News Design. Reach him at miller@newsroomleadership.com

BRITISH AUTHOR CHARLES HANDY RELATES the story of a member of Parliament, who in his frustration with the accelerating pace of change in England, cried out in the House of Commons: “Why can’t the status quo be the way forward?” Who among us has not yearned for a return to a status quo when newspapers had readers and revenues in abundance? It’s clear that those days are gone; the business model that has supported daily journalism since World War II is unsustainable. What’s not clear is what will replace it. Inventing that future will test our industry’s power of transformation.

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How to save on legal fees when budgets are tight

Kevin Goldberg is a lawyer for Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth and is the legal counsel to ASNE. You can address your legal questions to him at goldberg@fhhlaw.com and he will answer them in a later issue.

Q: OUR PAPER, LIKE MANY, is reviewing its budget in light of the financial constraints that have hit many in our industry. One of the more unpredictable, but potentially expensive, expenditures we encounter each year is legal. For instance, we have had a state open records law request pending for over a year and are likely to have to go to court to get the records, but we are not sure whether we will have the money for a court fight. How can we more cost-effectively protect ourselves and advocate for a free press?

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Ducking and crying foul in tough times

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc., in Tinton Fallas, N.J. Reach her via e-mail at consultjody@aol.com

THE INDUSTRY IS SWIRLING, streamlining, downsizing, ducking and crying foul.

We know about the earthquake-magnitude shake-ups in leadership, skirmishes over unidentified sources, arguments over access and disagreements with the military about war coverage and with politicians about private affairs. Layoffs continued, as did sales of publications. And editors were warned the trend will continue.

But here’s the truth: More people than ever are reading newspapers and newspaper online sites and there are 82 million of the up-and-coming under-30 crowd.

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If you aren't blogging, you should be

Kurt Greenbaum is online news director for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He can be reached at kgreenbaum@post-dispatch.com

THE SUBJECT OF THIS COLUMN IS blogging. But the truth is, that’s just the beginning. You need to be using a smart-phone to pick up your e-mail from work, text with your kids and browse the Web. You should have a Facebook page and spend time on social bookmarking sites such as NewsVine, del.icio.us and Digg.

But for now, let’s just stick with blogging. If you’re not blogging, you should be. Here’s why.

Your industry needs you to do this.

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On deadline ... Spring 2008

The On Deadline feature is compiled and edited by Mark Mahoney, editorial page editor of The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y.

Editorial writers and the vote; baseball; and a dark anniversary for classifieds

On Deadline ... Winter 2008
The On Deadline feature is compiled and edited by Mark Mahoney, editorial page editor of The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y.

2008 New Hampshire Primary

When dueling candidate centerpieces were the norm,some front pages broke the mold

Matt Erickson is design director at The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, and the founder of Kern Redesign (kernredesign.com). He is the Region 4 Director for the Society for News Design. Reach him at matterickson23@gmail.com.

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Our future is in the intensely local story

Jack Telfer has been editor of the Midland (Mich.) Daily News the past 16 years and been in the newspaper business for 29 years. He can be reached at jtelferii@mdn.net

WHILE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ARE PART of the sea change that is occurring in this industry, they continue to be an important source - in many cases the most important source - of information for advertisers and readers. Yet far too often the only story being told by our industry is that of falling circulation, lost relevance and declining revenues.

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You can't blame everything on Clyde

Edward D. Miller is a newsroom leadership coach and management consultant to newspapers around the world. He is a former director of ASNE and a founder of the Society for News Design. Reach him at miller@newsroomleadership.com

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMETHING goes wrong? Odds are you look for someone to blame. Your motives are good - fix the problem and instruct the guilty. But consider this: You may be missing the real problem.

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An $80 fix to stave off Web copyright headaches

Kevin Goldberg is a lawyer for Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth and is the legal counsel to ASNE. You can address your legal questions to him at goldberg@fhhlaw.com and he will answer them in a later issue.

Q: IN AN EARLIER COLUMN YOU WROTE ABOUT immunity from defamation liability for postings by third parties on my Web site, but noted that the statute does not protect me from copyright or trademark liability. It is equally, or perhaps more likely that someone will post copyrighted material to my site in a comment or discussion area. Am I liable for this?

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Make way for readers

The future of online journalism will be professionals and readers working together to get the real story

Kurt Greenbaum is Online News Director for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He can be reached at kgreenbaum@post-dispatch.com.

A RECORD NUMBER OF JOURNALISTS showed up for this year's annual Online News Association conference in October. Our interpretation: Newsrooms were more eager than ever to get up to speed on publishing news stories, graphics and video to the Web.

The irony: Fully a third of the sessions at this year's conference were dedicated to just the opposite proposition. Instead of journalists publishing the content, get 'em out of the way.

Make way for the readers.

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Pedestal salesman

Amanda Bensen is a freelance writer who currently works as an assistant editor at Smithsonian Magazine. She can be reached at abensen@gmail.com

THERE'S NOTHING PARTICULARLY EYE-CATCHING about Ken Paulson - his blue shirt and red tie, grayish hair and pleasant smile could blend in almost anywhere. Sitting next to him on a plane, you might guess he's any number of classic professions: an executive, a lawyer, an author, or maybe a salesman.

Actually, he's a combination of all those.

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On Deadline ... Fall 2007
The On Deadline feature is compiled and edited by Mark Mahoney, editorial page editor of The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y.

Even a small newspaper can do this ...

Randy Wright is executive editor of the Daily Herald, a 32,000 daily in Provo, Utah. He can be reached at rwright@heraldextra.com.

ACROSS THE NATION, BASIC CITY infrastructure is expanding. In at least a hundred communities to date, government has added fiber optics to the usual lineup of roads, sewers, bridges and water lines. You can connect your computer to the Internet, make a phone call and watch your favorite television program all over one little cable of glass filaments

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The high-maintenance work force is coming

Edward D. Miller is a newsroom leadership coach and management consultant to newspapers around the world. He is a former director of ASNE and a founder of the Society for News Design. Reach him at miller@newroomleadership.com

NEWS CAN BE A SURPRISE; demographic trends should never be. Here are some thoughts about a generation that will change our newsrooms in the years ahead.

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You've got revenue

More newspapers are offering their readers e-mail newsletters based on their interests and turning those subscriber lists into a cash stream

Kurt Greenbaum is Online News Director for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He can be reached at kgreenbaum@post-dispatch.com

IN THE QUEST FOR ONLINE READERS AND REVENUE, some news companies are turning to an old technology for opportunity. Well, "old" in Internet terms: They're turning to e-mail. News organizations such as The Arizona Republic's azcentral.com have launched dozens of newsletters. The Boston Globe's boston.com has 10 newsletters, some with subscriber lists of 70,000 to 100,000 readers.

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The copyright issues of linking to other sites

Kevin Goldberg is a lawyer for Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth and is the legal counsel to ASNE. You can address your legal questions to him at goldberg@fhhlaw.com and he will answer them in a later issue.

Q: AS OUR ONLINE PRESENCE INCREASES, I fear that my reporters have not fully grasped the concept of copyright, especially fair use as it applies to audio and video. How much is too much when we link to clips we find elsewhere?

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The 2007 World Series

The fall classic between the Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox was unique in that both teams were from two-newspaper cities

Matt Erickson is design director at The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, and the ounder of Kern Redesign (kernredesign.com). He is the Region 4 Director for the Society for News Design, a member of its Competition Committee and past coordinator of its annual competition. Reach him at matterickson23@gmail.com.

The Boston Globe
In Game 1, above, and Games 2 and 3, it was a traditional Globe. It devoted just the top half of the page to the game with strong photography and simple typography.

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Fighting the good fight

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc., in Tinton Falls, N.J. Reach her via e-mail at consultjody@aol.com.

AFTER A THREE-YEAR SLUMP, EDITORS ARE TOUTING HOW LUCKY they are to be the truth tellers and the watchdogs of government.

Got news to share?
Send an e-mail to consultjody@aol.com.

In a heartening march that is alive in the smallest newsrooms to the largest, the call to arms includes freedom of information priorities, the advancement of a national shield law, a focus on hard news content, protection of journalist’s abroad and new multiplatform action plans that are not only impressive but practical and necessary.

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Dennis Ryerson, editor, The Indianapolis Star

Warren Watson is the director of the J-Ideas high school initiative at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. He is also an associate at the American Press Institute, a past president of the Society for News Design and was co-chair of The American Editor Committee in 2004-05.

DENNIS RYERSON, EDITOR OF The Indianapolis Star, spends his days as a juggler, balancing the needs of the main print edition, while fortifying an ever-evolving package of other print and online products.

Such is the routine of the American editor in late 2007.

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Glenn Proctor, Richmond Times-Dispatch

Warren Watson is director of the J-Ideas high school initiative at Ball State University, Muncie, Ind.

GLENN PROCTOR AIMS FOR PERFECTION in his role as vice president and executive editor of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, a position he has held since November 2005.

He admits, however, that perfection is unattainable. “But being very good is worth achieving,” he told The American Editor. “With my name at the top (of the masthead), that’s what I want. I am very proud of our hard-working and dedicated staff.”

His mantra for the T-D newsroom: “Get It First, Get It Right, Make It Matter.”

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Hurricanes and hostages, preparing a disaster plan

Edward D. Miller is a newsroom leadership coach and management consultant to newspapers around the world. He is a former director of ASNE and a founder of the Society for News Design. You can reach him at mailto:miller@newsroomleadership.com

Managing disaster coverage can itself be a disaster. The shock of the event, the disruption of routines and the severe time and resource restraints test all our management skills. The good news is that we’re good at it. When the “big story” hits, people from all quarters of the newsroom react by refocusing effort toward a common goal. But can we do more than react? Can we actually prepared for disaster coverage?

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September 2007 Industry Watch

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc., in Tinton Falls, N.J. Reach her via e-mail at consultjody@aol.com.

ADVERSITY SPARKS CREATIVIY and that could not be truer than now in the newspaper industry.

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Online reporters no longer fighting for seats at the game

Kevin Goldberg is a lawyer for Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth and is the legal counsel for ASNE. You can address your legal questions to him at Goldberg@fhhlaw.com, and he will answer them in a later column.

Q: Is there any legal distinction between the online writers at my paper and those who work for the print edition? Are the online reporters viewed as “bloggers” in the eyes of the law, or do they have the same protections as the print reporters?

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Breaking and local news get most hits online

Kurt Greenbaum is online news director for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He can be reached at kgreenbaum@post-dispatch.com

ON APRIL 16, IT’S POSSIBLE THAT ALL OF US POSTED THE SAME LEAD STORY on our Web sites. That’s the morning that a gunman massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech.

Maybe we did that morning in October 2006, when a gunman killed five girls and himself at an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pa. Or on April 2005, when Pope John Paul II died.

These are the “big stories,” the ones that you barely need to think about to understand their impact on readers and how to play them.

But during the regular hum of a news day, how much attention do you pay to national and world news on your Web site?

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The Learning Newsroom instills new energy and team work for lay-off weary staffs

Libby Averyt is editor/vice president at the Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times

LIKE ANY GOOD JOURNALIST, my editors taught me to avoid clichés. But sometimes, they just fit.

So, allow me to say: Times are tough. Really tough.

Little hiring is happening. Training budgets are being cut. The lucky papers are those reducing news departments through attrition rather than layoffs.

Preventing morale from going down the toilet is a daily challenge. Sometimes, it feels like editors are just one flush away from total mutiny.

Things aren’t perfect in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times newsroom, but they’re certainly better than they could be. Our saving grace has been a philosophical change in the way we do business. We were a pilot participant in the Learning Newsroom, a joint venture of the American Press Institute and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

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A boots and jeans kind of guy

Gilbert Bailon
Publisher and Editor
Al Día, Dallas
2007-08 ASNE President
Photo gallery

Warren Watson is director of the J-Ideas high school initiative at Ball State University, Muncie, Ind.

Gilbert Bailon (pronounced buy-loan) describes himself as a “boots and jeans kind of guy."

Folks who know the new president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors describe him as a down-to-earth conciliator, whether those Texas boots are resting in a community meeting over sausage and soup in Dallas, dancing the salsa in a cool, smoky jazz club near the Grand Nacional Hotel in Havana, or walking briskly between ASNE visits with government officials in the midday bustle of Mexico City. ...

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Diverse community coverage priority No. 1

Diana R. Fuentes is the editor of the Laredo Morning Times on the Texas-Mexico border. She is also the chair of the Small Newspapers Committee for ASNE.

... Today, new immigrants are adding color to small communities across the nation. They are becoming a part of “local” that we just can’t ignore. Covering these diverse populations means finding ways to reach out to people and cultures that we may only have read about in books. ...

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'Nobis Propositum Neccesarium Est'

Edward D. Miller is a newsroom leadership coach and management consultant to newspapers around the world. He is a former director of ASNE and a founder of the Society for News Design. Reach him at miller@newsroomleadership.com.

A lot of editors are feeling depressed. And why not? The journalism most of us enlisted to do is threatened by disrupting technologies, erosion of revenue and the changing expectations and demands of readers. What’s deeply upsetting is an apparent loss of control over the future of our craft.

One of the dangers of this state of mind is emotional contagion. Editors’ depression over layoffs, buyouts and the constriction of available resources can easily be magnified throughout the newsroom.

How can editors under stress continue to provide steady emotional leadership? ...

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Reader comments online: Have we lost control?

Kurt Greenbaum is Online News Director for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and will be writing about online issues in The American Editor for the next year. He can be reached at kgreenbaum@post-dispatch.com.

In the reader comments on an April 24 crime story on the Arizona Daily Star's Web site, one reader posted exactly the sort of remark that makes Executive Editor Bobbie Jo Buel's skin crawl. ...

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Navigating a World Wide Web of online protocol

Kevin Goldberg is a lawyer for Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth and is the legal counsel to ASNE. You can address your legal questions to him at goldberg@fhhlaw.com and he will answer them in a later issue.

Q: As papers increasingly incorporate reader-generated content on Web sites, are we exposing ourselves to risk for defamation, obscenity or copyright issues unless we edit everything that is posted on the site? ...

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On Deadline — Summer 2007

The On Deadline feature was compiled and edited by Mark Mahoney, editorial page editor of The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y.

Diversity moving forward begrudgingly — David Stoeffler ...Where is the community spirit? — Don Huebscher ... I hope they make it — Jody Calendar ... Yesterday's news — Ken Tingley ... In the victim's shoes — Mark Mahoney ...

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Embracing the changes

Jody Calendar is president of Calendar Communications, Inc., in Tinton Falls, N.J. Reach her via e-mail at consultjody@aol.com.

Ask anybody. It’s been tough. But it’s looking up.

Buyouts, layoffs, sinking circulation, poor returns and ownership changes have clobbered the industry. Grief counseling has been suggested for those still in newsrooms, let alone the departed.

Papers that posted miniscule circulation advances were considered victorious when figures were announced April 30. Still, there’s good news out there and positive energy. ...

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Q&A: Kinsey Wilson, executive editor, USA TODAY

Warren Watson is director of the J-Ideas high school initiative at Ball State University, Muncie, Ind.

KINSEY WILSON is executive editor of USA TODAY and USATODAY.com, and faces the challenges and pressures of our changing industry from the front lines.

A veteran reporter and editor, he has been a leader in digital media since the late 1990s. He began his current position in December 2005 upon the merger of USA TODAY’s print and online newsrooms.

The president of the Online News Association, Wilson began his journalism career at City News Bureau in Chicago. He also worked as a reporter at Newsday from 1988-95.

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A small paper enters the digital revolution

Terry Headlee is the executive editor of The Herald-Mail, Hagerstown, Md.

Jan. 15 was a breakthrough day for our daily newspaper on the digital media front.

On that day a reporter took a $120 video camera that was no larger than a stack of index cards and filmed portions of a Martin Luther King Day event at a local community college. ...

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Don't forget your RSS subscriptions

Mike Reszler is the senior editor for online at the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press. He can be reached at mreszler@pioneerpress.com.

As newsrooms make the transition from print to digital, editors are confronted by the problem of staying abreast of all the changes in the industry. Fortunately, the same technology that many sites use to distribute their own headlines can also help you keep up with industry news. ...

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A look at the Ant Farm

Ben Garvin is a staff photographer at the St Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press.

A photographer in Minnesota tries to capture a slice of everyday life in the various corners of his community.

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The historical context of immigration

Bobbi Bowman is diversity director for ASNE.

Immigration bookends 20th century America. A hundred years ago, the Italians, the Poles, the Jews and the Greeks came. Some of them were probably your grandparents or your great grandparents.

Now in the infant years of the 21st century, the Mexicans are coming, along with the Indians, the Chinese, the Salvadorans and the Guatemalans. ...

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Photographing the invisible

The events of everyday life are virtually invisible in today’s mass media. Brian Peterson, Minneapolis Star Tribune photo coach, explores the themes of daily life with a photo column titled Witness.

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The Mini Cooper of journalism

Don Nelson is editor of the Skagit Valley Herald in Mount Vernon, Wash.

I sometimes describe my 17,500-circulation newspaper as akin to a Mini Cooper — it’s just like the big cars, with all the same moving parts. It’s simply smaller. And it is nimble enough to out-accelerate and out-maneuver the hulking SUVs any day.

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The opportunity of multimedia reporting

Michael D. Reszler is Senior Editor/Online at the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press.

Video and multimedia might seem like 'one more thing to do,’ but savvy editors are discovering they can use these new tools to tell the story better.

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