Barnes as new TPA president leads slate of officers STAFF REPORTS July 21, 2017

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1 Volume 81 August 2017 No. 2 INSIDE Barnes: Your Presiding Reporter Page 2 Tracks Page 3 Industry News Page 3 By Design: Sports-front design needs big photo Page 5 Hawaii duo learning a lot by using Facebook Live Page 6 Obits Page 7 Commercial Appeal puts building up for sale Page 7 Writing Coach: How to ward off editor intrusions Page 9 Gibson: A fond farewell, a sentimental sayonara Page 12 Barnes as new TPA president leads slate of officers STAFF REPORTS July 21, 2017 Eric Barnes, publisher and CEO of The Daily News Publishing Company of Memphis, is the new president of the Tennessee Press Association (TPA). TPA is the trade association of the state s daily and non-daily newspapers. It is composed of 26 daily newspapers and 99 non-daily newspapers. Barnes succeeds W.R. (Ron) Fryar, owner and publisher of the Cannon Courier, Woodbury. The traditional passing of the presidential gavel from Fryar to Barnes took place during the 2017 TPA Summer Convention, held July at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs Hotel in Franklin, Tenn. Fryar gave his outgoing president s speech and Barnes his president s incoming speech during the TPA State Press Contests banquet held Thursday evening, July 20. In taking over as TPA president, Barnes has made it clear that newspapers still will have to make adjustments in conducting business because of a changing economic environment. While newspaper readership is as strong as ever, there are obviously challenges on the revenue front. That s hurt the Press Service, Barnes said. But for the Tennessee museum leaders should read TN constitution Last month s account of a state worker snatching a meeting agenda packet from a news reporter s hands was a low point in the open government ethic of Tennessee. I wish it were the only one. At a public meeting of the Douglas Henry State Museum Commission, Nashville Scene reporter Cari Wade Gervin picked up a meeting packet laying on the table that contained a proposed new operating policy, including a new Code of Conduct for commissioners. She was trying to copy down information in it. The Nashville Scene reported that the museum s media relations TPA photo by Mike Towle W.R. (Ron) Fryar (left), outgoing president of the TPA, passes the gavel to incoming TPA President Eric Barnes (right), during the 2017 TPA Summer Convention held July in Franklin, Tenn. Barnes one-year term encompasses A 2017 Summer Convention special section will be available in the September edition of The Tennessee Press. TCOG MATTERS DEBORAH FISHER officer grabbed the document out of Gervin s hands. To see it, the media relations officer maintained, Gervin had to file an Open Records Request with the Tennessee Attorney General s Office. After the meeting, still trying to find out exactly what commis- See FISHER Page 4 Association, I think we remain very strong as advocates for open records, public meetings and public notices. In some ways, in fact, I think we re stronger now in terms of advocacy with the legislature than we were when I joined the board. Much of that comes from the work Frank Gibson did along with lobbyist Bo Johnson and TCOG Executive Director Deborah Fisher. But we ve also seen publishers getting more engaged with their legislators. And that s critical. Barnes also made note of the recent addition of Carol Daniels to the TPS staff as executive vice president. With Carol Daniels joining the existing staff, we ve got the opportunity to do some really amazing things, Barnes said. The great work being done by the Tennessee Press Service will only get better. While no one can replace Frank Gibson, we ll now have the advantage of having someone in Nashville year round. That certainly is a priority for me helping Carol meet legislators and get up to speed on how the capital works. Fryar added high praise for his successor, citing Barnes suitability for the role of association president. Eric is a great fit at this time See BARNES Page 4 Daniels assumes new role as TPS executive vice president STAFF REPORTS July 24, 2017 I m very pleased to announce that Carol Goss-Daniels has been hired as the new executive vice president of the Tennessee Press Service (TPS), said Dave Gould, president of TPS. In her new role, Carol will lobby on behalf of our newspapers, lead the TPS ad sales efforts and oversee the staff. The Tennessee Press Association has contracted with TPS for TPS to provide government relations services, lobbying, management and oversight on behalf of the Association. Daniels will fill these roles. Daniels has a strong background in newspapers, serving most recently as general manager of the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle. Board members were impressed with Daniels Daniels experience, ideas and enthusiasm. Newspapers continue to play a vital role in their communities, as government watchdogs, community builders and sustainers, and touchstones that help readers and their families stay See DANIELS Page 8

2 Page 2 The Tennessee Press August 2017 (USPS ) Published monthly by the TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION, INC. 412 N. Cedar Bluff Road, Suite 403 Knoxville, Tennessee Telephone (865) /Fax (865) / Subscriptions: $6 annually Periodicals Postage Paid At Knoxville, TN POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Tennessee Press, 412 N. Cedar Bluff Road, Suite 403, Knoxville, TN The Tennessee Press is printed by The Standard Banner in Jefferson City, Tenn. Carol Goss-Daniels... Editor Mike Towle... Managing Editor Robyn Gentile... Production Coordinator The Tennessee Press is printed on recycled paper and is recyclable. The Tennessee Press can be read on OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION Eric Barnes, The Daily News, Memphis... President Chris Vass, Chattanooga Times Free Press... Vice President Doug Horne, Republic Newspapers, Knoxville... Vice President Joseph Hurd, The Courier, Savannah... Secretary John Finney, Buffalo River Review, Linden...Treasurer W.R. (Ron) Fryar, Cannon Courier...Immediate Past President DIRECTORS Scott Critchlow, Union City Daily Messenger... District 1 Keith Ponder, The Daily Herald, Columbia... District 1 Daniel Richardson, Carroll County News Leader, Huntingdon... District 1 Maria De Varenne, The Tennessean, Nashville.... District 2 Jack McNeely, Herald-Citizen, Cookeville.... District 2 William Mitchell, Shelbyville Times-Gazette.... District 2 Carl Esposito, The Daily Times, Maryville... District 3 Pauline Sherrer, Crossville Chronicle... District 3 Justin Wilcox, Johnson City Press... District 3 TENNESSEE PRESS SERVICE Dave Gould, Main Street Media of Tennessee, Gallatin... President Jana Thomasson, The Mountain Press, Sevierville... Vice President Ralph C. Baldwin, Cleveland Daily Banner... Director David Critchlow Jr., Union City Daily Messenger... Director W.R. (Ron) Fryar, Cannon Courier... Director Michael Williams, The Paris Post-Intelligencer... Director Carol Daniels... Executive Vice President TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION Gregg K. Jones, Adams Publishing Group... President Victor Parkins, The Milan Mirror-Exchange... Vice President Richard L. Hollow, Knoxville... General Counsel Laurie Alford... Interim Secretary-Treasurer CONTACT THE MANAGING EDITOR TPAers with suggestions, questions or comments about items in The Tennessee Press are welcome to contact the managing editor. Call Mike Towle, (615) ; send a note to 117 Township Court, Hendersonville, TN 37075, or editor@tnpress.com. The deadline for the October issue is Tuesday, September 5. Print journalism s value remains strong, regardless the platform Every day I walk into our office, past the editions of our various papers, most of which are still printed on our press in our more-than-100-year-old building. Beautifully printed, I believe, with high-quality color and very good design, printed on paper I still like to touch. I walk past these papers to get to my desk, where there are two very large, high-resolution monitors attached to my computer. And I sit down in my chair and read our papers on the tiny screen on my phone. It s a strange habit. But I ve gotten to where 75 percent of the newspaper articles I read are on that damn phone I keep with me 24 hours a day. Our papers, our competitors, The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal -- I read them all on that tiny screen. But that s different than saying reading on the phone is the best choice for all news and all papers. I haven t the slightest idea what the best choice is. For our papers, I ve always preached that we must be platform agnostic. Let the readers find us wherever they want, in whatever format they choose. That means , Web site, social media, print, and that damn phone. It is by no means a revelation for me to point out how uncertain a time it is for newspaper business models. Questions about revenue sources are, to say the least, constant. And the answers shifting and unclear. Yet this is also a time when the value of print journalism printed on paper, on a Web page, or on Twitter has proven its critical importance. The New York Times and Washington Post, for instance, are, on a sometimes-daily basis, proving not just the relevance of the printed word, but YOUR PRESIDING REPORTER ERIC BARNES the importance of the constitutional role of a free press. In Memphis, despite the conventional wisdom that newspapers are dying, there is intense competition among many printed newspapers. Our two Memphis papers, as well as The Commercial Appeal, The Memphis Business Journal, The Memphis Flyer and The New Tri-State Defender, all compete daily to break news on government, business, and issues of the greatest importance to the community. Ask the politicians in Memphis that all of us write about, ask the business leaders and school principals and neighborhood advocates, ask any of them if local newspapers in Memphis are somehow not relevant. They may say they see fewer copies of our printed papers around town, or fewer pages in print. But journalism, they would have to admit, is alive in Memphis that s why all of them contact each of us so often to ask for coverage, or complain about a story one of us has run, or why people lament the many stories we aren t able to do. That last point particularly the stories that we can t get to, because of staff limitations or time or money is very frustrating to me. It probably is for all publishers and editors. So many stories, never quite enough people or time. But that speaks to our importance as newspapers. People need us. They want us to do more. It should drive our every decision, even in a landscape where newspaper business models are so in flux. Although in my mind I remain 28 years old, I m faced with the reality that I m about to turn 50, meaning I ve been in publishing for more than 30 years, and thus am old enough to have pasted up articles, typed articles on a typewriter, and produced photos from negatives. I remember the introduction of desktop publishing software when I worked at a small paper in Connecticut. I remember the first modem we had at a small business magazine in Manhattan. I remember those AOL CDs that were sent to virtually everyone s home, and the introduction of the Netscape browser, and I remember approximately 6,000 new and different methods of converting print publications to HTML, all of which promised it would be quick, seamless and easy. (Spoiler alert: None of them were or are.) That s 30-plus years of a constantly changing landscape for the delivery of news. Thirty years of new ideas, resuscitation of old ideas, of imperfect execution, of good years and bad. But the journalism has always been what matters most. We know that. Readers do, too. Whether they read us on paper or via Facebook or on one of those damn phones, a phone like this one, on which I m writing this column. The point is the content and weight and the importance of what we must do. Eric Barnes is president of the Tennessee Press Association, and publisher and CEO, The Daily News, Memphis.. Tennessean has buyer for 10-acre property GETAHN WARD USA Today Network July 12, 2017 A team of Nashville s biggest office landlord and a Gulch-area investor has been picked to negotiate a contract toward buying The Tennessean s 10-acre downtown property. Upon finalizing the more than $55 million transaction, Raleigh, N.C.-based Highwoods Properties and Jim Caden could separately develop the various parcels. The property includes where the newspaper s office sits at 1100 Broadway and several parking lots. We ran a competitive process over the last three months and we ve reached the point where we have selected parties to negotiate terms of a sales contract, said La Guardia Myers, director of real estate for The Tennessean s McLean, Va.-based parent Gannett. Myers cited hopes of closing the deal this year. Under the terms The Tennessean could remain at the property for up to 18 months, but Gannett s USA TODAY Network Tennessee President Laura Hollingsworth said the search for a new location would begin immediately. I m thrilled that we have a prospective buyer who knows and understands Nashville, the potential of the site and the importance of it as a gateway, said Hollingsworth, who s also the publisher of The Tennessean. It s a powerful opportunity to enhance this city.

3 August 2017 The Tennessee Press Page 3 TRACKS FOR YOUR CALENDAR Russell is CA s new executive editor Russell Mark Russell, who had served as interim executive editor, was named in June as the new executive editor of The Commercial Appeal, Memphis. Russell, 54, replaces former editor Louis Graham, who left the Commercial Appeal to become executive director of content strategies at ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization of St. Jude Children s Research Hospital. Russell becomes the first African-American to lead The Commercial Appeal no small footnote for a 176-year-old newspaper that was long known for reflecting Old South attitudes toward race but now serves a city nearly 63 percent black. A veteran newsroom leader, Russell came to The Commercial Appeal as managing editor in 2013, after serving as managing editor and executive editor of The Orlando (Florida) Sentinel. Under his leadership, the Sentinel was a Pulitzer finalist in 2013 for coverage of the hazing death of a band member of the Florida A&M University Marching 100. Previously, Russell had held editing positions at The Boston Globe and The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. He also had worked as a reporter at the Wall Street Journal and Plain Dealer. Married for 30 years, Mark and Christina Russell have two grown children: Mark Jr., 27, and Alexandra, 23. INDUSTRY NEWS Pope promoted to Open Records Counsel, replaces Butterworth Lee Pope, who joined the Office of Open Records Counsel last year as deputy open records counsel, has been promoted to open records counsel, replacing Ann Butterworth. Butterworth is returning to her primary role as assistant to the comptroller for public finance. Butterworth had served since 2014 as the open records counsel after Elisha Hodge left. Comptroller Justin P. Wilson said Pope has played a key role in eliminating a backlog of requests for assistance and in developing a model public records policy for He s a proven and extraordinary newsroom leader, said Michael Anastasi, vice-president of news for the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee. He s an editor who literally could work in any city in America, but there s a reason he chose to be here - because he knows what The Commercial Appeal can be and what Memphis can be. The Commercial Appeal became part of the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee with Gannett s purchase in 2016 of Journal Media Group, the paper s previous owner. With his experience and background, Russell is uniquely positioned to guide the newspaper to serve all of our community, Anastasi said. He noted that Russell, while in Orlando, directed the Sentinel s coverage of the shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, by a neighborhood watch volunteer who was later acquitted of murder charges. That case was something of a precursor to a spate of highly publicized police shootings of unarmed African-Americans that roiled communities across the nation, including Memphis. Michael Jung, president of The Commercial Appeal, said he s excited about the promotion of Russell, who he said has demonstrated a strong sense of fairness and professionalism since arriving in Memphis. He is a topnotch journalist, highly engaged with the Memphis community and is the perfect person to lead our newsroom, Jung said. The Commercial Appeal, Memphis June 28, 2017 use by government entities. Pope previously worked as assistant director and general counsel for the Tennessee Emergency Pope Communications Board, and as an assistant attorney general in the Tennessee Attorney General s Office. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and Cleveland State University s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Wilson also announced that Rachel Buckley would join the two-person staff as assistant Open Records Counsel. Rowan is new publisher in Collierville The Collierville Herald s new publisher brings years of experience in the industry, a love for small-town life and a desire to serve the community well as she looks to guide the newspaper into the future. Publisher Toni Rowan joined the team at The Collierville Herald in June. Rowan I m getting to know Collierville, and so far, I love it. It s a beautiful place with history being preserved yet growing and prospering all the while, Rowan said. She added she s eager to reach out to the public to get feedback on how The Herald can best serve the community s needs. Rowan grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and then attended Belmont-Abbey College, where she studied business administration and accounting. She relocated to the Mid-South in 2004, beginning her newspaper career with The Commercial Appeal in Memphis. There, she worked in advertising for six years and as advertising sales manager. After her time at The Commercial Appeal, Rowan joined the Memphis Business Journal as audience development director for the next two years. Most recently, she published the Clipper Magazine in Desoto County. American Hometown Publishing owns newspapers in Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma and Florida as well as Hometown Buckley also previously worked in the Tennessee Attorney General s Office, and in state government as assistant Buckley general counsel in the Tennessee Department of Children s Services. Buckley is a graduate of Saint Louis University and the University of Tennessee s College of Law. The Office of Open Records Counsel was created in 2008 to answer questions about the state s public records law and issue informal advisory opinions. It receives inquiries from government Digital Solutions, a full digital advertising agency. Collierville Herald June 29, 2017 News names Hollenhead as editor Hollenhead Michelle Hollenhead has been named editor of the Morgan County News, Wartburg. A resident of Knoxville, Hollenhead had been serving as interim writer/editor for two months before the position became official. She has nearly 18 years of full-time newspaper experience, starting with the Montgomery County News Messenger in Christiansburg, Va., in 1988, where she worked for 18 months overseeing the newspaper s features department. While there, she won two Virginia Press Association Awards. She joined the Landmark-owned Harriman Record in Harriman, Tenn., in 1991, where she served as editor for a year, before being named features editor at the Roane County News, in Kingston. While at the Roane County News, she won a first-place Tennessee Press award for Best Single Feature story in Hollenhead was features editor for about five and a half years, then worked for the Roane County Board of Education for two years. She returned to journalism at the Knoxville News Sentinel in 2000, where she worked writing See TRACKS Page 5 entities, citizens and journalists. Last year, the General Assembly increased funding of the office to pay for a second position. For the past 10 years the Office of Open Records Counsel has provided invaluable insight and guidance for thousands of Tennesseans, said Wilson in a press release. I am pleased to announce that Lee and Rachel will now continue this important work. I also want to thank Ann Butterworth for providing excellent leadership over these last few years, and I m pleased to have her back by my side. Deborah Fisher Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, July 5, 2017 AUGUST : Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Conference, Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile Hotel 9-13: NABJ, NAHJ Convention and Career Fair, Hilton New Orleans Riverside, New Orleans, La. SEPTEMBER : Society of Professional Journalists Annual Convention, Anaheim Marriott, Anaheim, Calif. OCTOBER : The Newspaper Institute, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn. 5-7: National Newspaper Association s 131st Annual Convention and Trade Show, Hyatt Regency Tulsa, Tulsa, Okla. 8-11: ASNE - APME - APPM News Leadership Conference, Washington Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C : Freedom of Information Summitt, First Amendment Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. JANUARY 2018 Jan : Tennessee Press Association Public Notice Week Jan. 31-Feb. 1: TPA Winter Convention, Nashville FEBRUARY 2018 Feb. 16: Deadline for TPA State Press Contest entries MARCH : National Newspaper Association Ciommunity Newspaper Leadership Summitt, Crystal City Marriott at Reagan National Airport, Arlington, Va. JULY 2018 TBA: 2018 Tennessee Press Association Summer Convention

4 Page 4 The Tennessee Press August 2017 BARNES, from Page 1 in TPA history, Fryar said, due to the many needed changes in what defines a newspaper as well as what we need to do to take back FAKE NEWS to what is real news in the printed word that has historically been held to be the facts as presented. Obviously he is more attuned to modern demographics than I am. But like the story of the old bull and the young bull sitting on the hill... well, enough said! This concluded Fryar s second term as TPA president, exactly 20 years after his first term. Twenty years ago, business was brisk and government relations were on the back burner, not because of our TPA efforts but because of the sleepiness of our member papers, Fryar said. The call was put forth to awake and face the imminent threat of public records, public notice and Sunshine Law abuses. Those hold true still today. Stay the course and be vigilant to what is changing into a more subtle social media evil! Other officers elected at TPA s Business Session during the convention in Franklin were Doug Horne, owner of The Courier News, Clinton, re-elected vice president for non-daily newspapers; Chris Vass, public editor of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, elected vice president for daily newspapers; Joseph Hurd, publisher of The Courier, Savannah, elected secretary and John Finney, vice president of the Buffalo River Review, Linden, re-elected treasurer. Directors elected for two-year terms representing District One are Scott Critchlow, co-publisher of the Union City Daily Messenger; Keith Ponder, publisher of The Daily Herald, Columbia; and Daniel Richardson, publisher of the Carroll County News Leader, Huntingdon. Directors representing District Three are Carl Esposito, publisher of The Daily Times, Maryville; Pauline Sherrer, publisher of the Crossville Chronicle; and Justin Wilcox, publisher of the Johnson City Press. Directors elected for one-year terms representing District Two are Maria De Varenne, executive editor of The Tennessean, Nashville; Jack McNeely, publisher of the Herald-Citizen, Cookeville; and William Mitchell, publisher of the Shelbyville Times-Gazette. W.R. (Ron) Fryar will continue on the board for one year as immediate past president. The TPA Board of Directors elected trustees to serve on the Tennessee Press Association Foundation (TPAF) Board of Trustees for three-year terms. Re-elected trustees are: Jim Charlet of Brentwood; Elenora Edwards of Clinton; John Finney; Jeffrey D. Fishman, publisher of the Moore County News, Lynchburg; R. Michael Fishman, publisher of the Citizen Tribune, Morristown; Victor Parkins, publisher of The Mirror-Exchange, Milan; Dennis Richardson, owner of Magic Valley Publishing; and Michael Williams, publisher of The Paris Post-Intelligencer. TPAF officers elected at the July 20 TPAF Board of Trustees meeting are: Gregg K. Jones, executive vice president of Adams Publishing Group, Greeneville, re-elected president, and Victor Parkins, publisher of The Mirror-Exchange, Milan, re-elected vice president. Directors of the Tennessee Press Service (TPS), business affiliate of TPA, elected to three-years terms Eric Barnes, publisher and CEO of The Daily News Pubishing company, has served on the TPA board since during the July 20 Stockholders Meeting are Dave Gould of Main Street Media of Tennessee; and Michael Williams. Continuing as directors are Ralph Baldwin, publisher of the Cleveland Daily Banner; David Critchlow Jr., co-publisher of the Union City Daily Messenger. W.R. (Ron) Fryar; Jana Thomasson, publisher of The Mountain Press, Sevierville. At the July 21 TPS Board of Directors Meeting, Dave Gould was elected president for a oneyear term and Jana Thomasson was re-elected vice president for a one-year term. About Eric Barnes Eric Barnes is Publisher & CEO of The Daily News Publishing Company, which was founded in The company publishes The Daily News in Memphis five days a week, as well as a free weekly, The Memphis News. Together, the two publications cover business, politics and community issues in the greater Memphis area. In 2010, the company acquired The Westview, a Nashville-based community newspaper founded in 1978, and rebranded The Ledger in The Ledger launched a Knoxville edition in In 2016, The Daily News acquired Submitted The Hamilton County Herald, which has been published since Prior to joining The Daily News, Barnes was COO & Executive Publisher of Towery Publishing, which produced city guides, business directories, coffee table books, maps and web sites in hundreds of cities around the country. Prior to that, he worked in several editorial positions at a small business magazine in New York City, as a reporter for a small Connecticut newspaper, and other freelance and staff positions. Since 2009, Barnes has hosted and co-produced Behind the Headlines, a weekly news program on WKNO, Memphis public television station. Barnes has published two novels, Shimmer, an IndieNext Pick in 2009, and Something Pretty, Something Beautiful, in 2013, along with numerous short stories in journals and magazines nationwide. His third novel, The City Where We Once Lived, will be published in Along with serving on the board of the Tennessee Press Association since 2007, Barnes is currently president of The American Court & Commercial Newspapers Association, vice president of the board of the Public Notice Resource Center, and chairman of the board of trustees of the Overton Park Conservancy. Barnes has two children, Reed Barnes, a sophomore at the University of Southern California, and Mackenzie Barnes, a senior at St. Mary s Episcopal School. He graduated with a BA from Connecticut College and an MFA from Columbia University. About TPA The TPA was founded in for the purpose of creating a unified voice for the newspaper industry in Tennessee. Today, TPA continues to provide assistance to its 125 member newspapers by monitoring legislative activities, providing training programs, issuing press credentials, and providing regular meetings and forums to foster the exchange of information and ideas. The TPA presidency rotates among TPA s three divisions of Tennessee, east, middle and west, and alternates each year between a daily and non-daily publication. It is customary that, when a person is elected a vice president, he or she will serve two terms as vice president before being elected president. Andy Meeks, of The Daily News, Memphis, contributed to this report. FISHER, from Page 1 sioners just approved with little discussion, Gervin talked with House Speaker Beth Harwell, who is on the commission, and was still there. Harwell gave Gervin her copy of the meeting packet with the relevant new policy. Another museum employee attempted to take it from Gervin until a bystander spoke up and said that Harwell had indeed given her copy to the reporter. The museum employee then backed off. First, a meeting packet with proposed policies to be voted upon by a governing body in Tennessee is a public record and open for any citizen to see. It is a public record as soon as it is created. Second, wherever this particular hostility toward open government came from, we should dispense with excuses for the bad behavior of an individual and focus instead on the culture that allowed it to blossom (Note: In a step toward that, the museum s executive director announced in mid-july they will start proactively providing meeting materials to the media.) Speak up, please Just a few years ago, a man was arrested at a meeting of Greene County s industrial development board because he interrupted to ask board members to speak louder so the audience could hear. More recently, the Sumner County Board of Education has been in a $200,000-plus losing legal battle to refuse records requests from citizens if they communicate via . It was over a request to see, of all things, their (top secret?) public records policy. In both cases, the public officials didn t particularly like the citizen involved and I m guessing the state museum official didn t particularly like the Nashville Scene reporter s stories. So, they made up rules and exercised government force to try to control and push out those with viewpoints opposite theirs. Controlling the message seems to be the goal here In this information age, everyone wants to be the master of controlling the message. Controlling the speaker is one way. Controlling access to information is another.that s why it s important that Tennesseans regularly affirm their right to access government documents and meetings. What someone says about what s in a proposed government policy may or may not be exactly what s in it. The rest of the story is what Gervin reported from the documents that the museum s media relations official tried so hard to keep from her. The new policy requires all commissioners except the chair and vice-chair to notify the commission before they speak to the public or to journalists about anything related to the museum, and provide advance written copies if they write something. If a commissioner doesn t give advance notice, or says anything that is thought to disparage or malign the museum, the board can force the commissioner to resign. The First Amendment should protect those commissioners rights to free speech despite this overreaching policy. Just as it protects troublesome citizens and entitled reporters. But perhaps commissioners, which includes four lawmakers and nine people appointed by the governor and General Assembly, should check their museum for a copy of the Tennessee Constitution for some guidance. In the Declaration of Rights, they ll find this: That all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and happiness; for the advancement of those ends they have at all times, an unalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper. And in Section 19, That the printing press shall be free to every person to examine the proceedings of the Legislature; or of any branch or officer of the government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions, is one of the invaluable rights of man and every citizen may freely speak, write, and print on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty Deborah Fisher is executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government.

5 Many community newspapers put strong effort into covering high school sports. They understand that their high school teams are a key ingredient in the glue that holds the community together. When designing their sports front page, however, many sports editors try to give all sports fair play. By doing so, they often create pages much like the one at left in the illustration. There s only so much space on their front page (and sometimes less, to allow for ads), and they cram in too many photos. As a result, none of the photos is large enough to be the lead visual. When too many photos of like size are placed on the page, it s difficult for readers to know which of the packages is more important. There s no focus each package calls for attention with the same visual volume as those around it. What s the lead? What s the second-most-important report? What s the third, and so on? Readers get no sense of hierarchy on a page with four or five likesized photos. The page at right works much better. It immediately gives readers a sense that the larger photo is part of a lead package. The other photos are no BY DESIGN ED HENNINGER more than half the size of the lead photo, helping readers to understand that those packages are not as important as the lead report. I appreciate that sometimes it s difficult for us to decide which is the lead item. What if the boys basketball team just lost in overtime to their cross-county rivals, but the girls volleyball team won a squeaker over the same cross-county school? Hmmm... which gets the lead? Well, there you may have to rely on the better photo. If the picture shows the winning spike by the girls volleyball team, I d want to make that the lead. Another point: You can t make everyone happy. I recall a sports editor years ago asking me: I report on three high schools. Can you design me a front page that gives them all equal play? I thought that over for a moment and responded: Yes, I can... but I won t. Why not? the editor asked. If I don t try to give them equal coverage, I get calls from upset parents. I answered: You re the sports editor. You re paid to handle those calls. What if one of the teams you cover has a record of 11-1 and the other two are 3-9 and 2-10? Do you really think it s good journalism to give them all the same space? When I shared that story with the publisher, he just shook his head, grinned and said: Yeah. That s Bob. Don t be Bob. Make choices on your sports front. And let the photos guide you to making choices that will help your readers. WANT A FREE evaluation of your newspaper s design? Just contact Ed: edh@ henningerconsulting.com IF THIS COLUMN has been helpful, you may be interested in Ed s books: Henninger on Design August 2017 The Tennessee Press Page 5 Dominant photo is a basic of sports-front design Ed Henninger Too many photos, most the same size (left) create a cluttered, confusing sports page. Photo use on the right is much better. and 101 Henninger Helpful Hints. With the help of Ed s books, you ll immediately have a better idea how to design for your readers. Find out more about Henninger on Design and 101 Henninger Helpful Hints by visiting Ed s web site: Ed Henninger is an independent newspaper consultant and the Director of Henninger Consulting. On the web: www. henningerconsulting.com. Phone: TRACKS, from Page 3 features for more than eight years. She came home to the Roane County News in 2015, where she worked part-time then as a correspondent for both the Roane County and Morgan County newspapers. Morgan County News, Wartburg June 29, 2017 Stidham named Leader publisher American Hometown Publishing, parent company of The Leader, has named Rochelle Stidham the Leader s new publisher. Having most recently served as the publisher of the Guthrie News Leader and the Blackwell Journal two of The Leader s sister papers in Oklahoma Stidham has spent more than three decades in the newspaper industry. Rochelle is a veteran publisher with a track record of building strong relationships within the communities she serves, said Clarissa Williams, chief operating officer of AHP. She s enjoyed success at every stop, and we believe she s an ideal fit for The Leader. Stidham, a native of San Antonio, Texas, began her career in classified advertising in Del Rio, Texas. From there, she went to Orange Park, Fla. Stidham as an advertising director and then to Corbin, Ky. It was there she first became a publisher and met her husband, Juder Stidham III. After Corbin, she went to Richmond, Ky. as the publisher of the Richmond Register and from there went to Stephenville, Texas to publish the Empire Tribune. Stidham says a local newspaper thrives on its uniquely local content and is eager to revitalize the paper s relevance in the community as its trusted source for Tipton County s news and information. She is also thrilled to be the first woman to hold the publisher title at The Leader. That is just unreal, she said. I m glad to be at the helm, though. The Covington Leader June 15, 2017

6 Page 6 The Tennessee Press August 2017 What a team in Honolulu is learning about Facebook JENNIFER NELSON Reynolds Journalism Institute June 20, 2017 Reporter s note: The Honolulu Civil Beat s weekly Facebook Live broadcast is an ongoing experiment for the two-person team behind it as they try out new technology, locations and formats. During Office Hours, which streams every Friday, engagement editor Anthony Quintano and audience development editor Landess Kearns talk about the latest news, ask the audience for feedback and answer viewers questions. We asked newsrooms and ad agencies what they are doing today that they weren t doing a year ago. Turns out quite a lot! This new RJI series will highlight some of the innovations and experiments we discovered and share what leaders are learning along the way. We call it The What s New? Q&A. In this first installment of the series, we meet Anthony Quintano and Landess Kearns, of the Honolulu Civil Beat. Their Submitted photo During Office Hours, a weekly Facebook Live broadcast produced by the Honolulu Civil Beat, engagement editor Anthony Quintano and audience development editor Landess Kearns talk about the latest news, ask the audience for feedback and answer viewers questions. weekly Facebook Live broadcast, Office Hours, is an ongoing experiment for the two-person team behind it as they try out new technology, locations and formats. During Office Hours, which streams every Friday, Engagement Editor Anthony Quintano and Audience Development Editor Landess Kearns discuss the latest news, solicit audience feedback and answer questions asked by viewers But they ve also used the broadcast to raise money for their nonprofit news site, and share internal news. One lesson has stood out: Greeting folks and reacting to their inquiries on air leads to more interest from viewers, says Quintano. The duo also learned that they get more viewers when they leave the newsroom and take their show outside, whether at the beach or the state capitol. Typically, Office Hours brings in between 2,000 and 4,000 views but a 42-minute broadcast at the beach resulted in 113 shares and more than 24,000 views. Quintano attributes the higher numbers not just to the scenery, but also people s interest in seeing the higher than normal recent king tides. Quintano and Kearns recently experimented with 360 video during one broadcast in the newsroom and attracted more than 7,000 views. I (Jennifer Nelson) visited with Quintano and Kearns to learn more about Office Hours and Civil Beat s other uses for Facebook Live. What is Office Hours and what prompted you to launch it? Kearns: It s basically an effort to have full transparency with our readers. We have pretty loyal readers so they re pretty engaged on our Facebook page. But we really just wanted to open a conversation with them so they could give us direct feedback. Quintano: I came up with the idea last year when I started but I never really pursued it myself. But when Landess came on board with us in January, I felt like it would be better to have someone to banter with. I come from a real social background. I worked at NBC News for five years and did a lot of livestreaming stuff back then. The biggest way to be successful with livestreams is through engagement and talking to the people who are watching. We streamed a lot of things like press conferences but we didn t do a lot to directly engage with our readers. We really wanted to have a platform that we could talk directly to folks. What kinds of resources extra money, equipment or staff did it require to launch Office Hours? Quintano: We didn t want something that took up a lot of resources or inconvenienced anybody because everybody here is very busy. It s been the two of us for the most part, but we have had some special guests. Kearns: In terms of equipment it s as complicated as we want it to be. The first couple of times we streamed, we just used an iphone no mics or anything and a tripod. We ve also used a camcorder and two microphones, so we re kind of experimenting with equipment as we go and seeing what works best. Quintano: Office Hours has given us the opportunity to experiment with the tools we have so we know how to best use them for our other livestreams. How has your audience responded to Office Hours so far? Kearns: A lot of people just pop in and say hello and say where they re watching from. That s been one of the coolest things. Some people are watching from Scotland. It can get really cool to see what kind of reach we re having. Other times it s slow. Quintano: We ve seen ups and downs in viewing habits but have learned that viewers love when we go on location. We ve streamed on beaches and on an Air Force base. We ve seen that viewers love acknowledgment. When we verbally respond to their comments and questions, it keeps them sticking around longer. We also did an Office Hours live in 360 and people got a kick out of the experience. Our last Office Hours we used the donate button on our broadcast and asked folks to support Civil Beat and received donations from five people totaling $200 in a window of 30 minutes. Now that you have several episodes under your belt, what would you do differently if you were launching Office Hours for the first time? Kearns: I don t think I would do anything differently. It s been such a growing experience. I kind of feel like we begin new each week. We re just constantly trying to find ways to improve. It s fun to see the progression. Quintano: We ve definitely become more comfortable on camera. If anyone is going to start doing this, it s really helpful to be on camera regularly to get comfortable. Even if you re doing it on the web cam on the computer in your office, it s still a little nerve wracking. The hour before we start we always get a little nervous. Is there any topic you talk about that seems to make your audience engage with you more? Quintano: The most engagement we ve seen has been when we respond directly to the viewers and answer their questions in real-time. There hasn t been any one particular topic that has stood out among the others. How else are you using Facebook Live? Quintano: We cover a lot of press conferences and town hall meetings, especially when nobody else is streaming them, to make sure we can bring that information to people who can t be there. We also stream our events to make sure those who can t attend in person can still view or participate from home or on the mainland. For our last event, we coordinated watch parties at multiple libraries across the neighboring islands to view a discussion on news literacy. Interested in trying Facebook Live in your newsroom? Send an to Anthony Quintano at aquintano@civilbeat.com or Landess Kearns at lkearns@civilbeat.com for more information.

7 August 2017 The Tennessee Press Page 7 OBITUARIES Kevin Kiser Kevin Kiser, sports editor for The Advocate & Democrat, Sweetwater, and a well-known local pastor, has died after battling a series of illnesses the past several years. He was 46 years old. Kiser served as sports editor for the newspaper from 2006 to 2007 and came back to work for the paper in He was a Vonore High School graduate but loved covering student-athletes from all the county s high schools. The Advocate & Democrat family is truly heartbroken by the loss of our colleague and dear friend Kevin, The Advocate & Democrat General Manager and Editor Tommy Millsaps said. Kevin faced a lot of sickness in his life but never once did he complain. He was always more concerned about what he could do for someone else. Kiser Kiser was also noted for his sense of humor and enjoyment when he pulled off a good prank. He leaves behind his loving wife, Cindy, and twin daughters, Kristyn and Cameryn, and son Cabe, along with other loving family and friends. Though not feeling well at the time, Kiser was adamant about seeing his daughters graduate from Sequoyah High School this spring and was able to attend their graduation after giving a stern lecture to his doctors. The Advocate & Democrat, Sweetwater June 16, 2017 David Lee McCoy David Lee McCoy, 82, former publisher of The Clinton Courier- News and a long-time employee of The Oak Ridger, died peacefully at home on June 22, He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1935 to Luther and Ethel Huse McCoy. He is survived by his children, Jeff McCoy (Melissa) and Jennifer McCune (Gary), both of Knoxville, and his sister, Janet Smith Barnett of Tamarac, Fla; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his wife of 28 years, Barbara Ferrell; her three children, David Cleveland (Eleanor), Sylvia Cleveland McCoy (Andy), and Emily Cleveland-Job (John); and seven grandchildren. McCoy moved to Oak Ridge from Lexington, Kentucky when he was 16. He graduated from Oak Ridge High School in the class of 1954 as David Smith. He attended The University of Tennessee and served in the U.S. Navy aboard the aircraft carrier The USS Randolph. During high school and college, he worked at The Oak Ridger newspaper and returned there after the Navy. He held several positions at The Oak Ridger for a total of 36 years, most of them as Advertising Director. He also served as publisher of The Clinton Courier-News and as director of development for Methodist Medical Center Foundation. After his retirement, he worked part-time for Covenant Health Senior Services, Knox County Office on Aging, and CapitalMark Bank. He was an enthusiastic volunteer in the community for decades. McCoy loved people and was always ready for a laugh or to lend a helping hand. He will be remembered fondly for his caring heart. The Oak Ridger, Oak Ridge June 29, 2017 Commercial Appeal puts building up for sale, seeks new Memphis locale WAYNE RISHER USA Today Network June 19, 2017 The Commercial Appeal will sell its home of nearly 40 years at 495 Union Avenue and relocate, president Mike Jung recently said. Jung told employees during a town hall meeting in mid-june that the company was expecting to put the building on the market within two to three weeks. Jung said the company wants a new location that s more suited to the size of the current enterprise. He asked employees to share ideas about potential locations in the Memphis area. Photos by Brad Vest, The Commercial Appeal The Commercial Appeal has been at its Union Avenue site since the opening of a 150,000-squarefoot production building. Plans for the 125,000-squarefoot, five-story office building costing $6 million were announced in It was designed by the late architect Francis Mah of Walk Jones & Francis Mah Inc. Join us for the 21st session of the... Built at a time when Memphis Publishing Co. had about 1,300 employees at The Commercial Appeal and the former Memphis Press-Scimitar, the buildings now house fewer than 200 employees. The Commercial Appeal has been at the Union Avenue site since 1932, when it bought a former Ford assembly plant. The decision comes at a time of renewal in the Edge neighborhood on the eastern fringe of Downtown Memphis. Investors have been buying property in the area for future development, an Enterprise rental car facility is under construction, and organizations including the Downtown Memphis Commission and Medical District Collaborative have been working to spark redevelopment. We are a Memphis-based organization with long ties to the community and we will remain in Memphis at a newer, more modern location that reflects our digital future, he said. The news came about two months after the company discontinued printing the daily newspaper in Memphis. Printing was moved to another Gannett property, The Jackson Sun, that had newer presses with better technology. The Commercial Appeal moved into the new office building in November 1977, a couple years after More Instructors More Labs Internationally Recognized newspaperinstitute.com Knoxville, Tennessee USA October 5-7, 2017 Since Since 1997, 1997, newspaper newspaper designers, designers, publishers, publishers, editors editors, and IT IT gurus professionals, have gathered digital at the gurus University and ad of Tennessee managers Newspaper have gathered Institute. at the University The Institute of is Tennessee internationally-recognized Newspaper Institute. as the The leading Institute program is of internationally-recognized its type in the world. as the leading program of its type in the industry. Held each fall on the campus of The University of Tennessee (Knoxville), the Institute offers basic and advanced classes in InDesign, Photoshop, Social Me- Held each fall on the campus of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Institute offers basic and advanced classes in sales, editing, writing, photography, color correction and layout, dia, Improving Customer Service & Sales, Writing & Editing, Layout & Pagination, as well as software applications like InDesign, Photoshop, InCopy, Illustrator and more. InCopy, Attracting Younger Readers, Cloud Technology, Color, Digital Journalism, Photography, network management and much more. Last year, attendees from more than 20 states and Canadian provinces joined us for the 20th session of the Institute. Individuals, as well as staffs, are welcome. Classes are hands-on and held in state of the art labs in the UT College of Communication. The 2016 session had attendees from 22 states and Canada. Don t miss our 21st session in October! For more information, visit newspaperinstitute.com. Ed Henninger Rob Heller Kevin Slimp Karl Kuntz Tim Smith Brian Hurley John Hatcher newspaperinstitute.com TPAF scholarship registration at newspaperinstitute.com/tpa.html TPA members are eligible for a scholarship from Tennessee Press Association Foundation, reducing your registration fee by $450. Stephen Anderson, Partner sanderson@weshaw.com P.O. Box 2185 Hendersonville, Tennessee Mike Dodd, Partner mdodd@weshaw.com Bob Atkins, Relationship Manager batkins@weshaw.com We re the insurance and benefits experts... so so you you don t don t have have to to be. be. Send your industry news to editor@tnpress.com and rgentile@tnpress.com (phone) (fax)

8 Page 8 The Tennessee Press August 2017 My two cents on how to make a good second impression Don, who manages a newspaper sales department, is always looking for ways to strengthen customer relations. We understand the importance of first impressions, he told me. Know something about the prospect s business before calling. Show up for the first appointment with a big smile and a firm handshake. Ask questions to learn about their overall situation and their marketing goals. All of that is important, he said. But what about second impressions? I ve been hearing a lot about that lately. We all know from personal experience what it s like to for a salesperson to treat us like royalty during an initial meeting, then act like they barely know us after that especially if we don t buy something right away. That s why the things we do AD-LIBS JOHN FOUST in that second contact can make a big difference in the sales person-customer relationship. Here are some ideas: 1. Express appreciation immediately. A good old-fashioned thank you is a must, Don said. Simply thank them for taking the time to meet with you. An is faster, but a handwritten note is more memorable. 2. a summary of your meeting. This can save a lot of headaches down the road, Don explained. The more you discussed in your first conversation, the greater the need for a summary. For example, here s a short version of what you could say: Thank you for taking some time to meet with me to discuss marketing ideas. We discussed: Point 1, Point 2 and Point 3. The next step is for me to provide you with a detailed proposal by the end of next week. Looking forward to our next conversation. 3. Send business-related information. Obviously, this can be related to your conversation, he said. For example, if you talked about zoned coverage or click rates, send more details. If you can do a little online research, find some relevant ads that worked well for a similar business in another market. Or maybe you can find a couple of famous ads for national brands, which your prospect could find interesting. Make sure they illustrate advertising principles that can help his or her business. 4. Send non-business information. If you learned that he is a golfer, a link to an interesting video about golf. If she mentioned that her family is planning a vacation to Europe, send a related link or clipping from your paper s archives. 5. Ask for more details about the things you discussed. For example, if you re working on a marketing proposal, do you need more information about prospective target audiences? Would you like to have more statistics on sales of their seasonal products? Would it help to have a list of loyal customers who could be willing to provide testimonial quotes? It s smart to ask questions at this point, Don said. It helps you learn more and it keeps the client engaged in the development process. Don s ideas make a lot of sense. A sales person has only one chance to make a second impression. (c) Copyright 2017 by John Foust. All rights reserved. John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from in-house training. for information: john@johnfoust.com. Working the numbers to calculate your purchase price JUST SAYING! LEWIS FLOYD From the seller s view, the value of their publication(s) is usually not as high as they would like; the industry used to use a multiple times revenue, now it is mostly a multiple of cash flow which is often less than one times revenue. Regardless of how a buyer and seller come to terms, even if the value seems to be there, there is one more factor a buyer should consider can this business repay my investment in a timely manner or make loan payments and still provide me with an income? From the buyer s view, this is the most important question they should ask before committing to the purchase. Depending on the type of loan, the security of a loan, or a buyer s return on investment needs, the most typical time periods are 5, 8, and 10 years (note: if real estate is involved, the terms may be longer, or at least the repayment terms for the real estate normally are longer, 15 to 20 years) Get out your calculators The calculation I use as a business broker to validate a sales price can be used to comfort a buyer with the probable payback and income they should expect. Let s take an example: The current revenue is $950,000, and the current cash flow is $200,000 The first thing to do is determine a price; assume the multiple is 4.5 times the cash flow, which works out to $900,000. Using the $900,000 as a return on investment, you can consider the following: Purchase Price 900, , ,000 Investment recovery years Annual recovery amount 180, ,500,90, Cash Flow 220, , ,000 Balance funds for Buyer 40, , ,000 DANIELS, from Page 1 connected to what is important to them and to the places they live, Daniels said. I am excited to work with the 125 newspaper members of the Tennessee Press Association and Tennessee Press Service to fulfill their mission and make their businesses stronger. She officially began in her new position July 24 and can be reached at (615) or cdaniels@ tnpress.com. Using the price determined by the seller, the buyer does not have a lot left, so perhaps the buyer will make a counter offer of $700,000: Purchase Price 700, , ,000 Investment recovery years Annual recovery amount 140,000 87,500 70, Cash Flow 220, , ,000 Balance funds for Buyer 80, , ,000 The buyer may have other factors that allow them to make the higher offer, e.g. they may be able to do a longer recovery time, or could see growth the seller has not accomplished, or synergies the seller has not acted on, which could allow for a higher price close to the seller s asking price. If the investment recover amount is a loan for the purchase, the buyer really needs to consider the funds left after paying the loan note if they cannot live on the funds, left they should not purchase it at that price. Just saying Lewis Floyd, Sr. is an associate with W.B. Grimes & Company. He can be contacted at ( ) or lfloydmedia@gmail.com. Thank you! These TPA members and friends served as judges for the South Carolina Press Association s PALMY Ad Contest in July. We thank you for your time and assistance, which supports TPA s Ideas Contest. Kari Collins, Iowa Park Leader Carol Daniels, TPS Krista Etter, Grainger Today Carrie Frye, Outreach NC Magazine Earl Goodman, TPS Damaris Higgins, The Erwin Record Sherry Long, Farragut Press Angie Meadows, Smithville Review Julie OKeefe, Arizona Newspapers Association Debbie Scalf, Chattanooga Times Free Press Gloria Slaughter, Grainger Today Artie Wehenkel, The Greeneville Sun

9 A recent enjoyable exchange with a reporter I once supervised included this from him: OK, maybe we don t miss the inevitable entreaties to make just one more phone call, but we do miss most everything else you brought to the newsroom. I do especially value the reporter who, without being prodded, makes that one more phone call. But I also realize that if any reporter actually required entreaties that were inevitable, I did a poor job of helping him or her frame the story. I almost always resisted my editors efforts to guide what I wrote. Part of my attitude was immaturity who wants to have his work follow a blueprint handed down by someone else, no matter how experienced or wise? but part of it was my wish to have a story reflect who I am, not who my editor was. I know, I know, I sound like some egotistical artist who cannot accept anyone s help, advice or rules. I also know that journalism, unlike such arts as painting, music, poetry or the writing of fiction, requires a devotion to facts. So when I became an editor and a coach (and later, a combination editor-coach), I tried to instill in reporters a set of general expectations within which they could express themselves as individuals rather than as editor-pleasers determined to finish each story and head home confident that they wouldn t have to put up with my tracking them down with entreaties to make just one more phone call. Here are a few tactics reporters should adopt to ward off editors intrusions: Scratch the itch: As you re listening to a debate in a government meeting, something tells you the course of action being considered violates some ordinance, law, charter or constitution. But no one raises that issue. Take the trouble to look up documents that spell out or restrict what a government can do. But, you reason, the government (be it city council, county commissioners or state legislature) has lawyers who advise the decision makers, and surely the lawyers would point out the error. Don t be so sure. Government lawyers are neither infallible nor immune to political pressure. Your editor probably will have the same question that made you wonder, so checking and explaining may prevent a bounced-back story. Push the source: A former colleague wrote a story about a man in the prime of a successful career who suffered a devastating injury, leaving him a quadriplegic. The reporter included an interview with the man s wife, who described her new, unexpected and difficult role of constant caregiver. All of us would wonder: Will the wife stick with the man for another 25 or 30 years? None of us would be comfortable asking that question. But when the reporter did, the wife acknowledged that the future was uncertain, and although her answer was colored with hope and love, it also was realistic and no doubt painful for both her and her husband. Get to the point: You re convinced an anecdotal lead fits the story you re working on, but when you write the lead you love, you realize you then need to contort five (or more) paragraphs to get back to revealing the story s central conflict. Many editors will either rewrite the top or, if there is time and there often isn t instruct you to do so. If an anecdotal lead requires that much explanation, it is a reach. And a hard-news lead, while not as satisfying to your artistic side, almost never is wrong. Be creative: This is a follow-up: Stop thinking that the lead sentence is the only place to show off your individuality. Find ways to weave into your stories a vivid description of a scene, an enticing slice of history, a source s quotation that is not only relevant but also thought-provoking, original, amusing or unexpectedly emotional. Analyze: Show your editor (and thus, your readers) that you re thinking ahead, that the hard news means something more than just what happened that day. Maybe an isolated traffic accident August 2017 The Tennessee Press Page 9 A proactive reporter can ward off editors entreaties is part of a pattern no one else noticed, or a public official s latest proposal is based on some significant experience in his or her life, or a school district s policy revision may lead to bigger problems than the one the revision is designed to solve. Rehearse: Before your fingers hit the keys, tell your editor the story. If he or she wants more questions asked, you can find that out before laboring over the writing, then being asked to revise. You also can explain why you think you don t need the extra call. Remember, no editor s entreat(y) has to be inevitable. THE FINAL WORD: In one of William Safire s compilations of his language columns, he highlighted the verb obnubilate, which means to make unclear, indistinct, vague, etc., something we journalists do when we re too lazy or too busy to fully explain. (I used to say, I fuzzed that up, but now I can say it more eruditely.) Writing coach Jim Stasiowski welcomes your questions or comments. Call him at (775) or write to 2499 Ivory Ann Drive, Sparks, Nev Good at what you do and good at what you might do You love to sell even in a tough economy like today. Your associates, clients, friends and publisher have repeatedly told you that you are good at what you do. You are beginning to wonder if you would be good at what you may do, managing others. Perhaps you could lead and manage others. Or more recently, you have been named manager, a first-time event for you. Perhaps you were named manager due in a large part to your success as a salesperson. In either situation, you feel very competent and confident, even when your selling environment makes it tough to bring in any new business. But now you are moving on to a new challenge and you re somewhat unsure about just what it is that management entails. In the past, your independence, attention to detail, strong organizational skills, perfectionist streak, and the ability to get it done (in most cases by yourself!) have served you well. Your movement from one who does to one who manages requires a willingness to change, a focus on energy, and a steady and dependable perseverance. WRITING COACH JIM STASIOWSKI SIMPLY PUT CHUCK NAU Regardless of the size or scope of your newspaper, management team, or your newly assigned staff, the following recommendations will serve you well in your development in becoming an effective manager and leader. Move off the field, into the dugout. You re no longer a player or a doer; you are now the coach. Let go and coach your new staff. Develop a strong ability to communicate ideas and views so others will understand and accept them. Encourage initiative, while minimizing staff frustration. Listen. Of all the sources of information to help you know, understand, and evaluate the abilities and personalities of each of your staff, listening to individuals is most important. Much like when you were selling, there were times to sell, and times to ask questions and listen. Remember, too, that to be a good listener you should always strive to be objective. Good listening skills are paramount to looking for ways to improve productivity, identify and solve problems, plus develop your people. Embrace conflict. Conflict or complaints from your staff members and others about fellow employees or systems or procedural requirements are going to happen. Be prepared to handle the conflict fairly, positively, and in a timely fashion. Work to have all parties involved focus on the issues at hand rather than the personalities in the disagreement. Listen, and listen again! Start Strong, rather than easy, unsure, or misdirected. Communicate your expectations, particularly in this challenging economic environment. When an employee or group of employees does not meet them, a casual reminder (... our work day is 8 to 5) rather than discipline may be all that it takes. However, when discipline is warranted, don t hesitate to step up. As a collegiate soccer referee, I learned long ago that if a referee does not enforce the laws of the game, those players who were wronged will begin defending themselves. Discipline sets the parameters, it also confirms who is in charge and keeps everyone on track. The more you are successful, the louder your critics will be. Expect people to disagree with you. Be willing to defend what you believe is right and be flexible enough to know when to compromise. Goals - Expectations - Dreams. Begin developing, outlining, and communicating your goals and expectations (and those of the paper, too) to your staff and others. Double check that they are S.M.A.R.T. Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon (in the newspaper, or among the staff), Realistic and Time Sensitive. Assess and enhance your resources - both your people and your physical resources. Observe, understand and decide when it is best to utilize your staff s strengths, as individuals or as a group. Be sure you have thought through both individual and group reaction to your ideas or goals, or any changes in policies. Plan - plan - plan. Plan your work and work your plan. Assign activities and assign responsibilities and continually seek feedback. Many staff members, when asked, will say that they want their new manager to succeed as their leader... usually they will also say that they are going to be sure she earns it! Management is a challenge. It is also hard work. But though the rewards are usually hard earned, they are well deserved. Have fun!!!!... and good luck Murray & Nau, Inc. Chuck Nau of Murray & Nau, Inc. is a Seattle area based consultant and sales and management trainer. He is a twenty-five-year veteran of advertising, sales, media and management, who knows and understands the everyday challenges of starting up, growing, and surviving in today s ever-changing retail climate. He has spoken to and conducted workshops for a number of local retail and chamber organizations, national publishing groups, national retailers and manufacturers, state press associations, and newspaper groups. Comments and questions are welcome and may be directed to Chuck via murnau@ nwlink.com. or at (425)

10 Page 10 The Tennessee Press August 2017 Optimizer Opt In allows newsrooms to improve newsletters SANGEETA SINGH-KURTZ Reynolds Journalism Institute June 5, 2017 Editor s note: This free, easy-touse tool was built for newsrooms and freelancers to begin addressing the challenges of newsletter curation. As it stands, newsrooms no longer have the time nor the resources to maintain unfocused newsletter programs that don t achieve their goals. After more than a year of research, Crosscut Public Media, in partnership with the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, is thrilled to announce the release of our much-anticipated digital tool: Opt In, the newsletter optimizer. Why newsletters? isn t going anywhere. In fact, not only has outlived and outshone other tools, it has remained the one constant in a stream of new technologies. As ReDef executive Jason Hirschhorn told The New York Times, is the cockroach of the internet. In recent years, e-newsletters have become essential engagement, branding and revenue-generating tools for modern newsrooms. Newsletters can help freelancers and newsrooms: Grow reader loyalty with both your news product and network. Gain valuable insight into the content that matters most to your audience. Recruit relevant sponsorship and underwriting partners. Communicate membership or subscription value propositions. Grow sustainable support and traffic for your coverage. Why did we create this? This free, easy-to-use tool was built for newsrooms and freelancers to begin addressing the challenges of newsletter curation. As it stands, newsrooms no longer have the time nor the resources to maintain unfocused newsletter programs that don t achieve their goals. Likewise, poorly curated or automated newsletters are no longer effective, failing to achieve adequate open rates or maintain healthy subscriber bases. Our team has bundled a powerful package of best practices, strategies and resources into one digital newsletter wizard, which walks newsrooms and writers through Submitted photo Opt In is an online tool that gives news organizations, freelancers and regular people the ability to build an e-newsletter strategy from scratch, or create a plan to improve upon an existing one. the essential planning, considerations and decisions needed to curate effective newsletters. What does it do? Opt In is an online tool that gives news organizations, freelancers and regular people the ability to build an e-newsletter strategy from scratch, or create a plan to improve upon an existing one. The tool addresses all elements of newsletter production and maintenance, including various design and revenue models, content, marketing, and metric dashboard options, as well as resources and staffing considerations. What do you get out of it? Whether you plan to iterate and optimize an existing newsletter or create a new one, the tool homes in on the user s primary intention for creating the newsletter and builds out from there. Upon completion, users are given a full newsletter creation strategy in the form of an Opt In playbook, which they are then able to use to generate a brand-new product or improve one they already have. Refer to your playbook to create and maintain your own newsletter, or share it with your newsroom as a ready-made, comprehensive strategy for your newsletter program. How do you use it? It s simple. Create an account and get started. The planning process should take about an hour, and you can save your work and log back if necessary. Here s to a happy inbox. Thanks for optin in! Eight tips from Google for help in using YouTube Live JENNIFER NELSON Reynolds Journalism Institute April 20, 2017 Google s YouTube Live is one of several live-streaming platforms and apps journalists can use to reach and interact with their audience. Nicholas Whitaker, Google training and development manager, spoke about YouTube Live during the recent Walter B. Potter Conference at the Reynolds Journalism Institute. YouTube channels must be verified and have at least 1,000 subscribers before channel owners can stream from a mobile device, says Whitaker. Here are eight tips he gave for live streaming: 1. Post videos on a regular basis so your audience learns to expect video content from you. This is one way to build a following. 2. Invite viewers to subscribe to and receive notifications from your channel. (Once a viewer subscribes to your channel, a bell symbol will appear next to the subscribe button. Clicking the bell will generate a prompt to receive notifications from your channel.) 3. Promote upcoming live streams on other platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. 4. Plan ahead for a user-friendly experience. For example, should you shoot in landscape mode or portrait? Do you need to use a microphone to help boost the quality of the audio? People will forgive bad video. They won t forgive bad audio, Whitaker says. 5. Check your device s Wi-Fi or cell signal before launching your live broadcast. If a signal is weak, move away from interfering objects such as a building. 6. Join online groups like MoJo- Con to learn more about shooting mobile video. 7. Title your video properly so archived video will be easier to find. Use Google Search or Google Trends to see what words others are using to describe similar videos. 8. Edit a video into smaller clips with YouTube s editor and continue to promote it so it doesn t get buried in the archives. Jennifer Nelson is the senior information specialist at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. OwnLocal acquires consortium-owned Wanderful Media SUBMITTED June 9, 2017 Startup technology company OwnLocal announced June 9 they have acquired newspaper consortium-owned Wanderful Media. The acquisition of Wanderful will allow OwnLocal to expand their media-partner network and augment the suite of digital services they provide to local advertisers. OwnLocal automatically turns print and broadcast advertisements into localized digital marketing campaigns. Wanderful Media operates Find&Save, a website and mobile app solution powered by newspapers that promotes local coupons and sale content for consumers. Find&Save has more than 400 sites that offer daily deals from large retailers and brands, such as Walgreens, Kohls, and Office Depot. The app streamlines communication between newspapers and the national brands who purchase circulars and inserts (est. $4 billion industry), and utilizes geo-targeting to show consumers the best bargains and shopping content customized for their area. Twelve major media companies in the United States including Cox Media Group, Gannett Co., The Hearst Corporation, and The Washington Post Co. joined together in 2011 to create Wanderful Media as a way to purchase Travidia, Inc. and their Find&Save product. Since then, Wanderful Media has raised a total of $50.5 million in four rounds of funding between September 2012 and April 2014 that they invested into the Find&Save App, as well as the acquisition of icircular from the Associated Press in Bob Clark, VP of Technology for Wanderful Media, said, Both Wanderful and OwnLocal have a history of successfully introducing new products to better local advertising. On top of that, OwnLocal provides fresh ideas and new technology. Experience merged with innovation will bring the best-of-breed digital solutions to the publishing industry, and in turn, to their advertisers. OwnLocal works with more than 3,300 newspapers globally such as Gannett, tronc, and GateHouse Media and powers digital campaigns for more than 129,000 local businesses. The mission of OwnLocal is to transform the way businesses tell their stories online to a local audience, said Lloyd Armbrust, founder and CEO of OwnLocal. We re happy to have acquired deep expertise and supporting technology from Wanderful to help more businesses be seen and found online through our media partners. Wanderful Media will continue to operate as an independent company and their products will be supported for the foreseeable future. Clark, along with nine other Wanderful employees, were to join the OwnLocal team. A few of these employees will relocate to Austin, Tex., and Wanderful will maintain an operational office in Chico, Cal. This is OwnLocal s fifth acquisition in four years. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. OwnLocal, Austin, Tex. June 9, 2017

11 Taking stock two years ago, ahead of a 50th high school reunion, I realized that some of my classmates had retired to a life of golf. I had not and was in fact in my third career. Millennials may expect to have multiple jobs, but my contemporaries feel lucky to have one good career. Many have chosen to keep going. I have spent 40 years in some form of the practice of journalism, six years of organizing and running a non-profit advocacy group (TCOG), and nigh on to six years serving as TPA s public policy director. A stint in the Army with the Southern Command News/Armed Forces Radio and Television Service in Panama and two terms as editor of the UT Daily Beacon count in the 40. Got started in newspapers by throwing papers in Memphis Not counted: two years of throwing (from a bicycle) the afternoon Memphis Press-Scimitar, three years phoning in Gleason High School basketball and football scores to the Commercial Appeal and The Tennessean for $2 a pop, and writing weekly school and sports news columns for the The McKenzie Banner and Dresden Enterprise. My sixthgrade novel; I don t know where it belongs. My first exposure to declining newspaper readership came when a dropped subscription left my list below 97. The weekly newspaper column fell on my shoulders when schoolmates elected me class reporter, alongside four more conventional offices. How s that for democracy in action? There was no campaigning, no lobbying and no opponent. Apologies for the boring trivia, but there is a point. I feel blessed to have had these related careers. All of them added purpose to life. As Chinese philosopher Confucius said: Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. The Tennessee Press Association has been a constant presence through most of that. I began attending TPA winter conventions in the early 1970s as a UT student. Our journalism professors brought us to Nashville for networking ours and theirs. We introduced some of them to Printers Alley. In the early 1980s, I brought proposed legislation to TPA Government Affairs Chairman Sam Kennedy to improve really bad enforcement provisions in the Tennessee Public Records Act. It was on behalf of Society of Professional Journalists chapters in Knoxville, Memphis, and Nashville. TPA got it passed just as it had passed the sunshine law and the reporter s shield law before that. Sam Kennedy is TPA I took the legislation to Mr. Chairman Kennedy at the suggestion of John Seigenthaler. He always maintained, You can t do anything like that without TPA, and Sam Kennedy is TPA. One of many times the mentor was right. Chaired Freedom of Information Committee for a decade My friend and Nashville Banner managing editor Elise McMillan was chairing TPA s Freedom of Information Committee in the early 1990s. She asked me to be vice chair. She left the Banner the following year; I was asked to take over as chair and work alongside Sam and his committee. I chaired the committee for 10 years, all the while serving as political editor at the newspaper and grappling with that ethical issue. I served one uneventful term on the TPA Board. I stepped aside in 2005 upon early retirement from The Tennessean to run TCOG. It seems there is some TPA law that you must be employed by a member to chair a committee, so I was asked to be the committee coordinator. The practical effect was for me to continue supervising TPA s lobbying efforts. I kept the volunteer coordinator position for six years, while I was running TCOG. TPA was a charter member and major financial supporter of TCOG from the start in Then, in 2011, TPA created the public policy director s position and asked me to take it. Filling the TCOG job added firepower and gave TPA another partner at the legislature. The main reason for my heavy volunteer involvement was that since the early 1990s TPA s executives did not choose to come to Nashville to lobby. The model became having contract lobbyists when the General Assembly was in session. Volunteer chairs gave day-to-day supervision and staff provided support. At deadline, the association and Tennessee Press Service were in the process and going back at least partly -- to the old model. The duties of my position will be incorporated into a new TPS position --executive vice president. I have been asked to help the new director through the transition. Journalism as highest form of public service I ve been fortunate to have August 2017 The Tennessee Press Page 11 Who needs a hobby when the work has purpose? PUBLIC POLICY OUTLOOK FRANK GIBSON TPA photo by Mike Towle Outgoing TPA President Ron Fryar (left) honored outgoing TPA public policy director Frank Gibson (right) during the the TPA State Press Contest awards banquet held July 20 during the 2017 TPA Summer Convention held at the Franklin Marriott <> in Franklin, Tenn. Without a commemorative plaque in hand to honor Gibson, Fryar instead playfully presented Gibson with a piece of pie, which Gibson gratefully accepted. a rich and rewarding life and have always thought of journalism as the highest form of public service. And I have had more than ample volunteer opportunities at TPA and SPJ. Volunteering to serve a profession and bumping elbows with some of the greatest people in the world enhanced the sense of purpose. One benefit: It gets you out of the office for fresh air every now and then and you don t have to find a hobby. Frank Gibson just finished serving six years as public policy director of the Tennessee Press Association. Trump Department of Justice abandons salary level of 2016 overtime rule On November 22, 2016, the U.S. District Court in Texas enjoined nationwide the Obama Department of Labor s Overtime Rule, which would have increased the salary threshold for overtime exemption to $47,476. The District Court decision indicated that the DOL has no authority to set any salary for bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employees. President Obama s Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez immediately appealed that ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Due to the change LEGAL UPDATE L. MICHAEL ZINSER in administration, several requests for extensions of time were granted and the DOL s final briefing deadline was pushed back to June 30, In its brief filed on June 30, the Department of Justice, representing on behalf of the DOL, abandoned its defense of the increased salary level. The brief states that the DOL intends to revisit the salary threshold by new rulemaking. The DOJ is appealing a portion of the November 22, 2016 District Court decision that says the DOL does not have authority to set any salary level thresholds for the exemptions. It is apparent from this briefing that Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta and the DOL would like a ruling that the DOL has authority to set a salary level under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The DOJ is appealing only that part of the lower court s order. During his confirmation hearing earlier in 2017, Secretary of Labor Acosta stated that while he favors raising the salary threshold for exempt status from $23,666 the amount in place before the blocked 2016 Overtime Rule he believes the new threshold should be somewhere around $33,000. The DOL says in its brief that it will not issue a new Proposed Rule until the litigation is resolved or at least until its authority to set a salary level is resolved. Editor s Note: This writer had hoped the DOL would totally abandon its appeal and leave in place the decision of the U.S. District Court in Texas. That would have been the cleanest way to handle the situation. It would have made it more difficult for a future pro-labor administration to impose a high salary level threshold. Michael Zinser is a Nashville attorney with the Zinser Law Firm. His office telephone is

12 Page 12 The Tennessee Press August 2017 Creating an Online Poll Slimp considers the options when asked by a Tennessee publisher While meeting with publishers oneon-one at conventions, the conversations run the gamut of running a newspaper or newspaper group. Over the weekend, while at a newspaper association convention in Oregon, publishers arrived at our scheduled meetings with questions about structuring groups, designing pages and increasing revenue, among other topics. As I write this, in mid-july, I m about to be with my Tennessee Press Association friends in Franklin this week and I hear we have a list of publishers scheduled for one-on-one meetings. One publisher, Dale Gentry, was nice enough to and give me advance notice of Creating an online form in Wufoo is very intuitive. our topic of discussion. He wrote, We re going to be doing The Best of Jefferson County in the fall, and I wanted to get your input on the best way to tabulate votes. Our concern with an online survey is readers voting more than one time. Fortunately, I ll get the chance to meet with Dale before he sees this column, THE NEWS GURU KEVIN SLIMP so I m not giving away all my secrets in advance by answering his question here. I ve had the opportunity to do a lot of online polling. If you ve filled out a questionnaire related to my newspaper research in the past, you ve seen examples of these polls. Survey Monkey effective at preventing stuffing of the ballot box In the past, I ve used Survey Monkey for most of my polling. The paid version gives the user a lot of flexibility concerning data collection. In my research, it s important that no one stuffs the ballot box by sending in multiple responses to the same questionnaire. Survey Monkey makes it easy to create a setting to keep that from happening. Earlier this year, my form creation needs increased, so I took a look at other options besides Survey Monkey and came up with an application that has become my favorite: Wufoo (wufoo. com). Wufoo is an online form builder that provides the tools to easily design and build these forms intuitively, using your own colors, logos and other elements. Two features sold me on Wufoo, its ability to easily integrate online payments with forms and its ease in copy-andpaste code snippets, which allow me to place the form directly on the page of the website, rather than creating a link to an external page. Creation of simple forms is simple with Wufoo An additional benefit of Wufoo is its ability to quickly create simple forms for various uses. For instance, a few days ago I was looking for the best way to create an unsubscribe button for my blog. It dawned on me that I could create a simple form in Wufoo to allow the user to click on the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the blog and send the necessary data to a form database. I ve also found Wufoo valuable when creating a simple online marketplace. For instance, I was receiving a num- I created this quick form to demonstrate how simple it is to create an online form with Wufoo. Using the tools (inset), I created a form that can be embedded directly into a website page. ber of s asking how to order an autographed copy of a book that was recently published. Wufoo works with most payment software. A little research led me to move my online customer payments from PayPal to Stripe, simply because Stripe integrates directly with Wufoo. What this means to my customers is they can go to my website, complete a form right there without having to go to an external link, and make a payment without being transferred to PayPal or some other site. It all happens right on the original web page. That s more information than Dale needs to prepare for his upcoming reader s poll, but once he begins using Wufoo, I ve got a feeling he ll use it in ways he never previously imagined. Check the wufoo.com website for various plans. I ve found Wufoo is definitely worth the small monthly fee I pay. Forms can be shared with a simple link or code and can be directly embedded on your web page. Mark your calendar and reserve your spot for the Newspaper Institute Oct. 5-7 at UT-Knoxville