Special section August 2012

Transcription

1 143rd Anniversary Convention TPA Summer Convention Special section August 2012 TPAers were treated to this view of the Tennessee River while at the Hunter Museum of American Art. PHOTOS BY ELENORA E. EDWARDS UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED Michael B. Williams assumes the presidency of TPA. Madeline Lake scales a wall at the Creative Discovery Museum in downtown Chattanooga. TPA past presidents attending summer convention: From left, front row, Hershel Lake, Pulaski Citizen; Bill Williams, The Paris Post-Intelligencer; R. Jack Fishman, Citizen Tribune, Morristown; and Bob Atkins, American Hometown Publishing, Franklin. Back row, R. Michael Fishman, Citizen Tribune, Morristown; Janet Rail, Independent Appeal, Selmer; Tommy Wilson, The Daily Post-Athenian, Athens; Steve Lake, Pulaski Citizen; Victor Parkins, The Milan Mirror-Exchange; and Jeffrey D. Fishman, The Tullahoma News.

2 2 - Convention The Tennessee Press AUGUST 2012 TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Eric Barnes, The Daily News, Memphis, makes a point. Beside him is Chris Vass, Chattanooga Times Free Press. TPAF President Gregg K. Jones, Jones Media Inc., Greeneville, reports on the group s activities. Jeff Fishman presides. Hershel Lake, Pulaski Citizen, reports for the Nominating Committee. Frank Gibson, TPA public policy director, Nashville Victor Parkins, The Milan Mirror- Exchange Terri Likens, Roane County News, Kingston, and Jim Zachary, then of Grainger Today, Bean Station, report for the Contests Committee. TPS PRESIDENT S REPORT TO TPA BUSINESS SESSION Presented by President Michael B. Williams June 14, 2012 in Chattanooga We re excited about some changes that have taken place at Tennessee Press Service. After starting a nationwide search late last year, we hired a new director of advertising, David Wells, who started work on April 9. He has strong experience at a newspaper, running an advertising agency and working for a media conglomerate selling new media. He will be sharing a little about his strategy and showcasing a presentation he s already put together on selling newspapers on Saturday morning right after the TPS Stockholders Meeting. I hope each of you can be present for his presentation and will share my excitement that he will do an outstanding job of representing all TPA member papers to our various agencies and potential clients across the state. After a very slow start, 2012 business has picked up over the past couple of months. TPS has placed just under $2 million of ROP business this fiscal year to date. This is up almost 16 percent from 2011 placement, thanks to a strong April and May. As recently as March, we were lagging behind TPS placed more than $351,000 of network (statewide classified, 2x2, 2x4 and online) advertising into newspapers. This is down about 8 percent from last year, although TPS is planning to roll out a new 2x6 option that may help to boost revenues. There are still some papers that are not taking advantage of these opportunities to turn remnant space into revenue. And even fewer are selling ads into the networks, which can really bring some big bucks to your paper. Please touch base with your advertising departments to make sure you are getting your share. TPS is contributing $20,000 to the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (TCOG) this year, a $7,500 increase from last year. This organization represents news media of all types, First Amendment attorneys and other citizen groups to advocate the public s right to know. Our contribution was increased this year to help TCOG bring on board a new executive director after former director Frank Gibson s departure to become the new TPA public policy director. The TPS Clipping Bureau has brought in almost $64,000 in revenue this fiscal year. The staff helped more than 100 clients, agencies and public relations firms keep track of what the newspapers in Tennessee are saying about their organizations and clients. TPS continues to fund Through this site and the efforts of our member papers to post all their public notices to it, we are working hard to keep public notice advertising in newspapers. We can argue with legislators that newspapers across the state are making these public notices available to all Tennesseans regardless of how they choose to receive their news. Why would the government want to pay to host these notices when our industry is providing them at no additional charge? TPS is fortunate to be able to bring the talents of Kevin Slimp to our member newspapers at very little cost. Kevin s technology wisdom and ability to train has positioned him as one of the great publishing computer experts known also by a very large number of international companies. In October he conducted the most successful internationally-acclaimed Institute of Newspaper Technology, where participants experienced hands-on intensive technology training. It has truly been a pleasure for me to serve as your TPS president. I wish to thank the TPS Board of Directors for its leadership and guidance during this year, and I look forward to another great year of your Tennessee Press Service working hard to help meet the needs of TPA member newspapers.

3 AUGUST 2012 The Tennessee Press Convention - 3 TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION Gregg K. Jones, Jones Media Inc., Greeneville, conducts TPAF business while Tom Griscom, Chattanooga, a former TPA president, sits nearby. TPAF PRESIDENT S REPORT TO TPA BUSINESS SESSION Presented by President Gregg K. Jones June 14, 2012 in Chattanooga Your Tennessee Press Association Foundation is stronger than ever. And I am excited about the potential of the current I Believe Capital Campaign that is already well under way. As of the end of May, we have almost $233,000 in pledges through the end of the campaign in This puts us almost one-quarter of the way to our goal of $1,000,000 for this campaign. My thanks to Doug Horne as chair of the Foundation s Development Committee and to committee members Susan Horne and Victor Parkins for their hard work. That said, the campaign still has a long way to go. Those robust pledges I mentioned come from just 16 of the Association s 122 member newspapers representing just 13 percent of our membership. If those 13 percent have already pledged 25 percent toward our total goal, I am confident that we can convince more newspapers to participate and easily surpass that goal by With Tennessee Press Association concentrating so many resources on defending public notice in our newspapers and keeping records and meetings open, I am proud that the TPAF was able to step up its contribution to the TPA Legal Hotline, which provides free access for member papers to basic legal help via a hotline number. TPAF funded the entire cost of the Hotline last year, as well as money for the Drive-In Training educational sessions for newspaper staffers at our Winter Convention. In just a few minutes, the Foundation board will be considering additional grant requests for this year and next to continue this service to the industry. Also requested is TPAF support for scholarships that will allow member newspapers to send one or more staffers to the Tennessee Press Service Institute of Newspaper Technology at a greatly reduced rate, saving each participating paper hundreds of dollars. The list of projects supported by TPAF over the years is impressive. Since the Foundation s inception in 1976, more than $645,000 has been granted to newspaper-related causes like the ones I previously mentioned. Your board of trustees is dedicated to making sure that the Foundation remains growing and strong for many decades to come, so that we can continue to build on this fine experience of service to our industry. HUNTER MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART Bill Williams, The Paris Post-Intelligencer Mike Fishman, Citizen Tribune, Morristown, left, and Tommy Wilson, then of The Daily Post-Athenian, Athens Carroll Duckworth, Chattanooga Times Free Press, left, and Hugh Jones, Shelbyville Times-Gazette From left, Keith Wilson, Kingsport Times-News; Richard Clark, Johnson City Press; and Lynn Richardson, Herald & Tribune, Jonesborough TPAers chat and enjoy a reception in the atrium of the Hunter Museum of American Art, which sits on an 80-foot bluff above the Tennessee River. The outing, the opening general event, was sponsored by the host for the convention, Chattanooga Times Free Press. (More photos on page 4) From left, Jack, Eliza and Emory Blackstone, Kennedy Newspapers, Columbia

4 4 - Convention The Tennessee Press AUGUST 2012 HUNTER MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART Sculpture on the patio of the Hunter Museum of American Art From left, Chris Vass and Alison Gerber, Chattanooga Times Free Press, and Hugh Jones, Shelbyville Times-Gazette Gerrie and Hershel Lake, Pulaski Citizen, at the refreshment table Adam Yeomans, Associated Press, Nashville, left, and Andrew Oppmann, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro Madeline Lake jumps from a wall surrounding a sculpture at the entrance to the museum. Janet Rail, Independent Appeal, Selmer, in leg braces. She injured both knees in a skiing accident in March, she explained. Gregg K. Jones, Jones Media Inc., Greeneville, commented that he was concerned about the braces because they had holes in them. Janet underwent surgery a few days after the convention and now is back to work. Victor Parkins, The Milan Mirror-Exchange, left, and David Wells, Tennessee Press Service advertising director Hugh Jones, Shelbyville Times-Gazette, and Janet Rail, Independent Appeal, Selmer, between sessions

5 AUGUST 2012 The Tennessee Press Convention - 5 CHALLENGES AHEAD/SOCIAL MEDIA Panelists, from left, Frank Gibson, TPA public policy director, Nashville; Jack McElroy, News Sentinel, Knoxville; Bo Johnson, Johnson Poss Government Relations, Nashville; and Kent Flanagan, executive director, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, Nashville Challenges panel: Local contact is key to legislative success BY ELENORA E. EDWARDS Managing editor Four men talked about what they see as challenges that the newspaper industry will face during the 2013 session of the Tennessee General Assembly. Bo Johnson, Johnson Poss Government Relations, Nashville, lobbyist for TPA, said, Nothing is more helpful for me than local people making contacts at home. He complimented Jack McElroy, editor of the News Sentinel, Knoxville, saying, people he contacts ask, What does Jack think about this? I hear it a lot, Johnson said. The news media have a constitutional responsibility to remain strong and make sure that government doesn t do anything to prevent it, Johnson said. McElroy, also a panelist, said the paper s efforts began a few years ago with concern over public notices. At the same time, the publisher, Patrick Birmingham, was very interested. They set up lunches with legislators to present their ideas. Birmingham s approach is, What do you want us to know, to cover in the newspapers, while also covering open government matters. Recently, the paper has reached beyond Knox County. Such meetings are held at least once a year. Frank Gibson, TPA public policy director, echoed McElroy s involvement. Gibson cited as an example that a legislator will say to him, Be sure and tell Jack..., and that he calls McElroy to explain what has happened. Kent Flanagan, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, commented that he and Gibson are doing the Texas Two-Step, Some of those in the Challenges Ahead session took refuge on the patio outside the meeting room to wait for a signal to return to the hotel. sorting out duties. He said Gibson will continue to write for The Tennessee Press and he, for newspapers. Social media are important for outreach, and he said he will send out a letter explaining how he plans to make use of it. The uploading of public notices to the TPA website was discussed, and Gibson said about half the newspapers are doing so. Newspapers are carrying them on their websites too, but seven Guests wait outside on Chestnut St. after a fire alarm necessitated the evacuation of the Sheraton Read House Hotel. newspapers do not have websites. Discussion was cut short at 8:30 a.m. when the Sheraton Read House Hotel alarm system came on, instructing everyone to leave the building. TPAers were slow to do so, and two hotel employees, bouncers, effectively, came into the meeting room to enforce the alarm. Some TPAers went into the hotel to exit, and others moved onto a patio outside the meeting room. At 8:50 a.m., people were allowed back into the hotel. The cost of not using social media BY ELENORA E. EDWARDS Managing editor Are social media a passing fancy, or will they continue to be used? John Moss, Moss Media Labs, Chattanooga, said he wasn t sure at first but now sees they will. There is a proliferation of them, and they serve as niches, places where people of common interests trade information. Moss gave this advice: 1. Don t think you must be in all social media. But in whatever form you are, own it, embrace it. 2. Consider your audience, readers and advertisers. Balance them. 3. It is important to think about how various platforms can be leveraged to communicate with your audience, how to use the new tools available, how to equip employees to use them. Ed Bourn, Chattanooga Times Free Press, gave examples of how the newspaper has used Facebook. During a Black Friday promotion, the Times Free Press From left, John Moss, Moss Media Labs, Chattanooga; Ed Bourn, Chattanooga Times Free Press; Jack Lail, News Sentinel, Knoxville; and Phil Fernandez, Bristol Herald Courier. Moss noted that his great-grandfather was a metro editor of The New York Times many years ago, before Moss was born. doubled its audience as it presented information about cheaper prices. He also mentioned sharing of experiences on snow days, how phones were still usable on April 27 after tornadoes knocked out other forms of communication and giving away VIP access to the Riverbend Festival. And Chris Vass, metro editor of the Times Free Press, noted that the paper got a tip on Rod Stewart s being in the area from Facebook. Jack Lail, News Sentinel, Knoxville, said Steve Buttry, with Poynter Institute, has said that if you re not using social media, you re irrelevant. Why use it, he asked? To be useful, the central guiding principle for a digital information service, to engage and grow audience. To hook the reader. To develop a bond with the audience. To create feedback with the audience. For use as a new platform for the newspaper. Phil Fernandez, Bristol Herald Courier, said a newspaper can use Twitter to help tell stories. He noted that after a student was killed, the paper was unable to get early information from authorities but that Twitter was used to push readers to the newspaper to find out more. A person in the newspaper s area was on the TV show Survivor, and Twitter was used to tell how he was doing. Ads were sold to support it. Twitter can be combined with live streaming by promoting discussion. After a state trooper was killed, Fernandez said, a fund-raiser was begun and there were 600 average tweets per day. It built good will for the newspaper. Moss recommended mixing the various media methods, social media, stories, video, with each referring to the others and providing links. He noted that Facebook is open to members only but that Twitter is available to anyone. EDITOR S NOTE: The rumor about Rod Stewart s being in Chattanooga turned out to be false (there was a look-alike, or impersonator). See the Chattanooga Times Free Press story on page10.

6 6 - Convention The Tennessee Press AUGUST 2012 PRESIDENT S AWARD Barnes is Fishman s choice for President s Award Eric Barnes, publisher of The Daily News, Memphis, and a member of the TPA Board of Directors, received the President s Award from Jeffrey D. Fishman. The award was conferred at a luncheon June 15. Fishman commended Barnes leadership on the Newspaper Definition Task Force as well as on the Winter Convention and Press Institute Committee. Barnes has represented District 10 on the TPA board since Publisher of The Daily News since 2003, Barnes first newspaper job was as a reporter for a small biweekly in Old Saybrook, Conn. Then he worked at I.O. Publications in New York City LUNCHEON as managing editor of a business magazine. He worked as a broadcaster of health news and in marketing at finance companies. Then he joined Towery Publishing, which produces city guides, business directories and city books, as executive publisher and chief operations officer. Barnes is a writer, having published a number of short stories and a novel, Shimmer. The publisher and his wife, Elizabeth, a teacher in a private boys school, have four children, Mackenzie, Lucy, Reed and Andrew. The Daily News celebrated its 125th anniversary in TPA President Jeff Fishman presents the President s Award to Eric Barnes. Rare event: Bennett speaks again at TPA luncheon BY ELENORA E. EDWARDS Managing editor On receiving the award, Barnes said, It was a certainly an honor to receive it. I was greatly surprised, as the efforts I worked on this past year were really group undertakings involving the TPA staff and other board members. To that extent, the award was actually an honor to all the people involved with the Winter Convention and the Public Notice Task Force. Something about the award reminded me that TPA has a great deal of history, a history shaped by its members, he said. It was nice to be recognized, in this way, as part of that long flow of effort by so many people over time. According to Clay Bennett himself, it was a rare occasion when he spoke to TPA on June 15. Once having spoken to any group, he said, he is rarely asked back. But he was, since his talk to TPA Feb. 10 at the Winter Convention in Nashville was a hit. The editorial cartoonist keeps his audience riveted as he shows his cartoons on screen and comments on what prompted them and how they were received. This time he was speaking in Chattanooga, where he has been on the staff of the Chattanooga Times Free Press four and a half years. He called them the best years of his 30-year career. Bennett moved to Chattanooga from Boston and the Christian Science Monitor, where he won a Pulitzer Prize in An editorial cartoonist elicits the broadest array of sentiments from his readership adoration if you agree with him or her and disgust if you don t. Really, a mixture of both, of course. Even Bennett s publisher, Jason Taylor, introduced him with the proviso, Don t judge the Chattanooga Times Free Press by the speaker today and that got him a laugh. Bennett told his listeners that the cartoonist s job is to offer humor, ridicule, exaggeration and mockery. Of course, like a lighted mirror, so readers and the subjects themselves can took a good look at what has happened. Editorial cartoons aren t supposed to be even-handed, they aren t supposed to be impartial, and they aren t supposed to be fair. Which is really fortunate for me, because I am none of those things, Bennett said. Bennett said he began drawing cartoons at age 14 and that his family helped shaped his future career. His mother and two older sisters were liberal and argued with their hearts. His father was a career Army officer and a Republican and argued with his head. Debates at the dinner table were spirited. His father s dissenting view was presented with good nature, and Bennett said that even though he disagreed with almost everything his father said, the old man was instrumental in his political development. The cartoonist said while the past 30 years have not been great for the country, they have been good for the editorial cartoonist. Speaking of his best four and a half years, Bennett said, Of course, the best thing is the newspaper itself. The support I get from everyone at the newspaper, from Alison Gerber, Chris Vass and all of the other editors in the newsroom, to the company s president, Jason Taylor, has been unflinching. Some days, I m sure it doesn t seem like a very fair trade. The newspaper GIVES me so much editorial freedom and in return GETS so much grief from our readers, he said. Other reasons for his having a great job: fabulous Chattanooga; living in a state with a legislature like Tennessee s; and the opportunity to draw local cartoons. Here at the Times Free Press, I feel like I ve bought a home.

7 AUGUST 2012 The Tennessee Press Convention - 7 RIVER GORGE EXPLORER ELENORA E. EDWARDS TPS Bending over backward for a photo, from left, Honey Taylor, Haley Taylor, Tia Ward and Corie Kaimikaua Joan W. Stevens and her father, Bill Williams, look at an image on a smart phone. From the Explorer, sunset on the Tennessee River ROBYN GENTILE TPA Matthew Jones in the arms of his mom, Gina TPAers helping themselves to goodies Honey and Jackson Taylor ROBYN GENTILE TPA (More photos on page 8) From left, Elise and Andrew Oppmann, with daughter Rachel playing peekaboo with the photographer Jay Vass ROBYN GENTILE TPA ROBYN GENTILE TPA Corie Kaimikaua, Haley Taylor and Tia Ward The Tennessee Aquarium, the Coca-Cola stage and boats of festival-goers ROBYN GENTILE TPA

8 8 - Convention The Tennessee Press AUGUST 2012 RIVER GORGE EXPLORER & RIVERBEND FESTIVAL Ashley Casey smiles for the camera... then looks out on the river... then sees the huge splash as the Explorer reduces speed. Ashley with her parents, William Casey and Bea Casey, Herald & Tribune, Jonesborough James and René Webb. James is with the Chester County Independent, Henderson. Andrew Oppmann, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, with daughters, from left, Emily, Sarah and Rachel Wake created by the engine of the River Gorge Explorer The Explorer s captain prepares to guide the catamaran into the busy water near the Riverbend Festival. After leaving the Explorer, some TPAers attended (left) the concert of 2011 American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina, a north Georgia native, and stayed to watch (right) fireworks that concluded the Riverbend Festival. David Lake, Pulaski Publishing, and daughters, Anslee, left, and Addie ROBYN GENTILE TPA

9 AUGUST 2012 The Tennessee Press Convention - 9 ONLINE COMMENTS KEVIN SLIMP How to handle online comments not an easy matter BY ELENORA E. EDWARDS Managing editor Whether to allow readers to post comments online that s a hard one. The topic was discussed by a panel and audience June 15 at the TPA Summer Convention. Panelists were Eric Barnes, publisher of The Daily News, Memphis; Jack McElroy, editor of the News Sentinel, Knoxville; and Alison Gerber, managing editor of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Gerber said that the Times Free Press stopped allowing comments on news stories on Jan. 1 but still allows them on cartoons, editorials and other matter. The tone and tenor was pretty well in the gutter, with racial slurs, personal attacks, some of which would be libelous if in print, she said. Some of the public and some in the newsroom disagreed. The change has not affected Web traffic, she said. When this was done, there were 6.5 million views a month. Now there are 8 million. Gerber said The New York Times checks all comments before they are put online, but the Times Free Press does not have adequate staff for that. We have trusted our commenters, and if they begin to be uncivil, they are uninvited. McElroy said the News Sentinel has been wrestling with the subject of comments for some time and has tried to come up with best practices and is trying to elevate the level of discussion. It continues to be a challenge, he said. The philosophy of free speech is very important, he noted. McElroy said a local blog, which was growing enormously, was becoming a focal point for discussions, and that began to worry him. The paper moved to the comments arrangement currently in place and that resulted in an enormous shift back to the paper. Comments are monitored by degree of use, with between midnight and 5 a.m. being a rest time. Bad comments are removed as soon as possible. Anonymity is not a problem, but lack of civility is, McElroy said. If one enforces anonymity, how can government workers comment? Some comments are added during working hours. I see comments as one social media platform, he said, adding he was hesitant to stop them. The editor said that if the paper couldn t keep an eye on them the comments would get out of control. He said he was pinning his hopes on when the paper moves to a pay/digital model and comments will be by subscribers. Barnes said his newspaper doesn t allow comments. With only 10 on the editorial staff, he doesn t want to devote a person to it. Lately, he said, the newspaper uses Facebook and allows comments there. If they get nasty, we take them off, he said. The newspaper doesn t carry crime but does carry politics and doesn t want to be in the gutter or a forum for anonymous, ugly talk. He said he reads the Paul Krugman blog, which brings awesome, intelligent comments. Krugman is a columnist with The New York Times. Gerber asked McElroy about stories about the arrest of a member of the Knox County Commission for indecent exposure. He said comments are cut off at 200, and he added that certain topics go awry quickly, such as about groups such as Hispanics and Muslims. He said comments were not allowed with the first two stories but were with the third and by that time comments were civil. Someone in the audience asked McElroy about the Christian-Newsom case in which two young people were killed by four others. McElroy said the defense attorney tried to get the judge to have the News Sentinel website taken down, but the judge ruled in support of the newspaper and free speech. Hugh Jones, publisher of the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, said the paper had stopped comments, because of ugly ones, two years ago until it could go to another mechanism. Gerber noted that people today feel entitled to make comments. Bob Atkins, American Hometown Publishing, Hendersonville, said that in these days, responsibility is missing. This reporter interjected that even good comments today show that the population is illiterate. Michael Williams, The Paris Post- Intelligencer, said his newspaper gets about 50 comments a day and that he monitors them himself. McElroy pointed out that some comments give the paper ideas about what it should cover. Kevin Slimp, TPS technology director, speaks on generating revenue through a newspaper website. TPAers listen to Slimp s presentation. FACTOIDS 139 registrants 12 non-dailies with 38 registrants 12 dailies with 75 registrants 5 associate members with 11 registrants Paper with the most registrants: Chattanooga Times Free Press, with 35 Non-local paper with the most registrants: The Paris Post-Intelligencer, with 15 Event with the highest attendance: Opening Reception, with 73 Sponsors, we thank you! TPA sincerely appreciates its summer convention sponsors and thanks them for their support! The Meeting Company Solid Rock Freedoms "No single social movement in our country came about without the implementation of one of the five freedoms of the First Amendment." John Seigenthaler, First Amendment Center founder, 2002

10 10 - Convention The Tennessee Press AUGUST 2012 Americans are protective of First Amendment freedoms Americans once again don t run up big positive numbers in an annual First Amendment Center survey when it comes to being able to name all five freedoms in the opening 45 words of the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution. But once reminded of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition, they do have some strong opinions about how those freedoms ought to work. The annual State of the First Amendment national survey was released earlier this week. For all of the results from this and past years, see org. The 2012 survey shows that although just 4 percent of us can name all five freedoms, and only speech is named by more than half of respondents, we re pretty protective of our rights. We support videotaping police, think it s OK to use copyrighted material just for fun and oppose giving the government too much power over the Internet, even in a national emergency. Just 4 percent of the 1,006 adults sampled in this year s survey, conducted in June for the First Amendment Center, could name petition, and just 13 percent could name either press or assembly. There were some slightly encouraging results: First Amendment 28 percent identified religion and 65 percent cited speech. Though not exactly jump-for-joy figures, both were the highest for those freedoms since the survey began in But once past that opening question, participants were reminded of all five freedoms, and generally a majority took a protective stance when it came to their freedoms. Just 13 percent said the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees, the lowest figure ever on that question. Still, that means about one in eight of our fellow citizens would cut back on some part of the First Amendment, even though in much of the world, people are willing to risk lives and liberty to get even a portion of the rights that we have enjoyed U.S. Constitution since Some states most notably, Illinois have laws that limit or even criminalize the act of taking video or photographs of police activities in public. But the public overwhelmingly endorses the idea of holding authorities accountable through digital imagery, with 85 percent saying Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. INSIDE THE FIRST AMENDMENT Gene Policinski Book about librarians vs. censorship a worthy read BY DAVID L. HUDSON JR. First Amendment scholar Librarians are often the unsung free-speech heroes or heroines in our supposedly free society. They protect the rights of the public to read and obtain material that offends others. These gatekeepers often face censorship challenges. An angry parent might complain about a school library book featuring sexual themes, racially charged language, witchcraft or other material offensive to the parent. A public library patron may complain about a certain book or display. There may be community or school pressure to remove a particular book. A new book, True Stories of Censorship Battles in America s Libraries, offers first-person insights of numerous librarians embroiled in censorship battles. Edited by Valerie Nye and Kathy Barco and published by the American Library Association, the book is an excellent read. Many of the stories are fascinating. One librarian had to deal with library employees who would hide or destroy books. Another had to defend the library s right to carry Kurt Vonnegut s classic novel, Slaughterhouse Five. Another had to ward off censorship efforts by people opposed to a display of books on gay and lesbian themes. One particularly poignant story features a librarian who initially decided against acquiring the book The Rainbow Boys for the library collection, in part because of the gay characters in the book. Later, the librarian, feeling guilty about her initial decision, changed her mind and ordered the book. In the introduction, editors Nye and Barco write: We hope that this book provides insights into how librarians protect the First Amendment in their communities. The editors have succeeded, as readers of this book will understand that many librarians have learned that defending the First Amendment can be stressful and difficult though ultimately rewarding. (First Amendment Center, Nashville) Vigilance required As newspaper publishers, we must be vigilant against those who would use national security as a blanket excuse to withhold information that s critical to our nation s right to know. William Dean Singleton Chief executive, Media News Group, 2003 such activities should be allowed. A majority, 57 percent, opposes allowing public schools to discipline students who use personal computers at home to post material that authorities say is offensive. And though 59 percent of respondents are OK with the government s being able to prosecute those who illegally distribute copyrighted music and movies online, they draw a distinction on what s illegal or not: 46 percent say using copyrighted material without paying a fee is fine as long as no money is being made. If there s a profit motive, 64 percent say a fee should be paid. About two-thirds of respondents said the U.S. Supreme Court got it wrong in a 2010 decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which removed federal campaign spending limits on corporations and unions. The Court said it was protecting political free speech, the most protected kind of speech, for those groups. But by 65 percent to 30 percent, those surveyed opposed the idea of such wide-open spending. Even in the event of a national emergency, it would seem, we want our Facebook and Twitter and all the rest of the World Wide Web: 59 percent disagreed with giving the government the power to take emergency control of the Internet and limit access to social media. Rod Stewart look-alike dupes folks in Chattanooga BY ADAM POULISSE Singer Rod Stewart was spotted in Chattanooga on Thursday (June 14), an incredible feat, since the man isn t even in the United States right now. Unless Chattanooga, Tennessee, is located 40 miles outside of London, that wasn t him, said Arnold Stiefel, Stewart s manager of nearly 30 years at Stiefel Entertainment. Rod is with his family at an estate just outside of London. He s very visible somewhere else, and it s not in your city. A Rod Stewart impersonator making rounds throughout the Scenic City pulled the wool over the eyes of area tourists, business owners and the Chattanooga Times Free Press. One person duped by the doppelganger was Ruth Oehmig, who owns Cafe on the Corner on Lookout Mountain. There was no question in my mind that it was him. I shook his hand, I brought him another beer, Oehmig said after being informed that the man who introduced himself as Rod Stewart, and even posed for pictures with other lunching guests, was not the singer of Maggie May, Oehmig s favorite song growing up. It was identical, absolutely identical, she said. Cindy Roberts, the city clerk of Lookout Mountain, Ga., was at the restaurant and saw that he had on that suit that you would imagine Rod But at least for now, such power is in place. Last week, President Barack H. Obama signed an executive order, the Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions, that authorizes federal officials to take control over telecommunications and the Web during natural disasters and national-security emergencies. For those aiming to roll back that order, consider that history says we may well be only one crisis away from broad public support for such federal control. In 2002, about eight months after the 9/11 terror attacks, the State of the First Amendment survey found that 49 percent said the amendment went too far in its freedoms. The larger meaning in that 10-year-old result is chilling but also a call to action, to be better prepared and more engaged in society s ongoing discussion about how our core freedoms are applied in the 21st century. Such efforts start with a very simple exercise: memorizing what those freedoms are. All together, now: RELIGION, SPEECH, PRESS, ASSEMBLY, PETITION. Give it a try right now. Feel free to go on from there. GENE POLICINSKI is senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center, th Ave. S., Nashville, Tenn., Web: gpolicinski@fac.org. Stewart wearing, she said, which included white Capezio shoes. White Capezio shoes? Yeah, right, Stiefel said. People dress like what they think he dressed like 25 years ago, and they fool many people. Chattanooga isn t the first city that has had a Rod Stewart impersonator, Stiefel said from Beverly Hills, Calif. I remember one time many years ago I had a call from [a] sheriff, and they said Do you know we have your client in a holding cell? I said, Really, then who is it I m with now? Knoxville residents Dale and Anita Newman, guests at the La Quinta Inn on West 21st St., also were fooled into believing they were in the same hotel as Stewart. A woman with the pseudo-stewart asked Newman to hold the door open, and Dale Newman took a lengthy elevator ride with the man. He said he believed his elevator partner was Stewart, but the man would not confirm it. It wasn t until Newman searched photos of Stewart online that he noticed small differences in facial features, indicating that it was not the famed rock star. Nobody under the name Rod Stewart was checked into the La Quinta Inn as of Friday, according to hotel employees. (Chattanooga Times Free Press, June 16, 2012)

11 AUGUST 2012 The Tennessee Press Convention - 11 INSTALLATION DINNER AT ROCK CITY From left, Evonne and Michael Williams, David Wells, Christen Coulon and wife, Lanessa Miller, and their baby, Pixel, and Lyndsi Sebastian are making their way to the Rock City overlook. Arriving, from left, Bob Atkins, Jack and Nancy Fishman Flags represent the nation, Tennessee and the seven other states that can be seen from the Rock City overlook. Lydia Fishman tries out a unique glider. A point of interest notes that Rock City goes back to TPAers take in the magnificent view. Addie Lake Convention Chairman Lyndsi Sebastian greets the incoming president and TPA first lady, and Michael and Evonne continue to the overlook. Walton Dunn and Marne Carroll Katie Williams, left, with her aunt, Julie Williams Ray, and grandfather, Bill Williams (More photos on page 12) TPAers visit and enjoy beverages along with the scenery. The Fishmans, a father and sons trio who have led TPA. From left: Immediate past president Jeff, ; Jack, ; and Mike,

12 12 - Convention The Tennessee Press AUGUST 2012 INSTALLATION DINNER AT ROCK CITY Jeff Fishman hands over the TPA gavel to Michael Williams. Jeff Fishman accepts the past president s plaque from president Victor Parkins. Bill Williams films events of the installation dinner. Members of the Williams family attended the convention to see Michael installed. From left: Front row, Audrey Ray; Julie Williams Ray; Michael s parents, Anne and Bill; Cindy Williams Barnett; and Joan Williams Stevens. Back row, Ashley Ray; Adam Ray; Katie Williams; Daniel Williams; Evonne and Michael; Matthew Williams; Jim Barnett; and Erin Stevens. Janet Rail holds Pixel Coulon, the youngest attendee of the convention. Michael Williams watches a video of his employees at The Paris Post-Intelligencer congratulating him on his new post with TPA. Producers, who operated in secrecy, were his wife, Evonne, at his left in the photo, and his oldest offspring, Daniel, pointing out something.