Left: Scott Winfree, of the. Stewart, Pulaski Citizen, engaged in a discussion and likely shared opinions in between

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2 Page Winter Convention March 2016 GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MEETING Chris Vass (left), of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and Eric Barnes, The Daily News, Memphis, performed their co-chair roles for the Government Affairs Committee, which met Jan. 27. All photos in this section by Mike Towle, unless otherwise indicated Frank Gibson (standing), TPA public policy director, led discussion during the Government Affairs Committee meeting. Gibson reported the state legislature had about 30 new bills in 2016 affecting open records and meetings and public notices. Seated on either side of Gibson are Scott Critchlow (left), Union City Daily Messenger, and William Mitchell, of the Shelbyville Times-Gazette. The Tennessee Press can be read on The Tennessee Press is printed on recycled paper and is recyclable. Left: Scott Winfree, of the Carthage Courier, and Scott Stewart, Pulaski Citizen, engaged in a discussion and likely shared opinions in between meetings of the 2016 TPA Winter Convention, held Jan at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville. TPA CONCURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING AND BUSINESS SESSION (CONT. ON PAGE 4) Adam Yeomans (left), Associated Press Regional Director for the South, chats with Mike Fishman, Citizen Tribune, Morrristown, during a break on the first day of the 2016 TPA Winter Convention held at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville. Carol Daniels of the Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville, took part in the board meeting as its newest director, recently named to the District 6 post. TPA President Jack McElroy, of the Knoxville News Sentinel, presided over Thursday s Concurrent Board of Directors Meeting and Business Session. Pauline Sherrer, of the Crossville Chronicle, shares a lighthearted moment with Keith Ponder, of The Daily Herald, Columbia. This year s Winter Convention covered a lot of ground in an action-packed 24 hours.

3 March Winter Convention Page 3 TPS President s Report to the TPA Business Session for Jan. 27, was a challenging year for TPS. Despite significant cuts to our staffing level, and a move to smaller office space, we are still not making enough commission off of existing business to reach profitability. There was a tremendous drop in 2015 nationwide of Networks advertising, which is our statewide classifieds and small display sales. TPS saw a 27% drop in sales volume over the previous fiscal year. The drop more than offset the entire expense reductions we have undergone in the past couple of years. The remnant-space Networks program has been the largest funding source for TPS in recent years, since ROP display advertising is sold at a much lower commission structure. Our sales team has pushed online advertising with both our ROP and Networks customers, but the demand for online has been low. Online advertising yields a lower TPS PRESIDENT VICTOR PARKINS Tennessee Press Service profit margin, and customers report not seeing the same results as with print. Despite the challenges, Advertising Director David Wells team has continued to grow gross revenue in the ROP department for the fourth year in a row. We placed almost $4.6 million of ROP advertising into TPS Stockholder newspapers in fiscal 2015, which was a 1% increase from the previous year. Led by Kevin Slimp, The Institute of Newspaper Technology held its 19th session in the fall. The worldclass program attracts students from throughout North America and boasts some of the brightest technology instructors in the industry. This coming session will mark the 20th anniversary of the Institute, and Kevin and the staff are planning for several return students and a special anniversary gala. This will help to boost the Institute s profitability as well. Our Board is committed to working to return TPS to profitability in the coming months. We look forward to a long relationship of bringing revenue to Tennessee newspapers. Tennessee Press Association expresses sincere appreciation to its members, associate members and others who provided sponsorship of the 2016 Winter Convention! Convention Sponsors TPAF President s Report to the TPA Business Session for Jan. 27, 2016 As you know, 2015 was a year of tremendous change for all three related organizations. With TPS and TPA moving to much smaller offices in Knoxville, we have been actively marketing our building there for lease or sale. A slow commercial market in our space range has resulted in few showings, and I have authorized some incentives to our broker to make the property more attractive. Until we find a rental tenant or a buyer for the building, TPAF will need to run leaner than we normally do with regard to funding grants and projects this year. We have a very strong endowment, but we cannot spend that principal on grant funding. The trustees voted at the July 2015 meeting to hold off on approving any new grants until we reach a resolution with our building. Our five-year I Believe capital campaign is nearing conclusion. We have approximately $35,000 in pledges to come in this year, and a few pledges will finish in 2017 for about $11,000. The campaign has received more than $200,000 in pledges already through the end of Much TPAF PRESIDENT GREGG K. JONES Tennessee Press Association Foundation of this money has come from the TPA member papers, and we truly appreciate their support. During the Summer Convention in Knoxville, we unveiled publicly the new Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame Gallery on the UTK campus. It s a state of the art, museum-quality experience that is a far cry from the former gallery of faded portraits devoid of any biographical information or detail. I m proud to say that through many generous donors, including the University, we have been able to raise more than $100,000 toward this project, which has not used any of the Foundation s capital or funding. And there is more we can do in the future, such as adding functionality to the gallery, or partnering with UT for internship possibilities to add information about the inductees there. Finally, I d like to recognize the Border War Golf Tournament. We wrapped up the third tournament in September at Fairvue Plantation in Gallatin, which was the largest yet. About 120 golfers played, and thanks to tremendous efforts by Trustee Bob Atkins and a host of sponsors we were able to net more than $12,000 for each of the Tennessee and Kentucky Foundations. I might add, that Tennessee took home the title this time, too! We are looking forward to working with our friends at Athlon Media for the tournament in the early fall of Your Foundation is active and strong, and stands ready to serve the newspapers of Tennessee in 2016 and beyond. Gregg K. Jones is co-publisher of The Greeneville Sun and president and CEO of Jones Media, Inc. Middle Tennessee State University The University of Tennessee Opening Reception Sponsors The Daily News, Memphis Jones Media & The Greeneville Sun Knoxville News Sentinel Citizen Tribune & Lakeway Publishers Carthage Courier Shelbyville Times-Gazette Tri-County Publishing Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis The Advocate & Democrat The Daily Post-Athenian The Daily Times Elk Valley Times Grundy County Herald The Herald-Chronicle The Herald-News Athlon Media Group Manchester Times The Moore County News The Newport Plain Talk News-Herald The Rogersville Review The Tullahoma News Cover design by Kevin Slimp, Tennessee Press Service

4 Page Winter Convention March 2016 TPA CONCURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING AND BUSINESS SESSION (CONT. FROM PAGE 2) Left photo (l.-r.): William Mitchell, of the Shelbyville Times-Gazette; Ron Fryar, of the Cannon Courier, Woodbury; Joe Hurd, of The Courier, Savannah; and John Finney, of the Buffalo River Review, Linden. The board of directors meeting was part of the 2016 TPA Winter Convention, held Jan at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville. Carl Esposito (left), of The Daily Times, Maryville, and Joel Washburn, of the McKenzie Banner, listen intently during the Jan. 27 board of directors meeting. One of the hot topics discussed was membership for free newspapers. Our brands resonate and engage readers through our national content with local relevance. Eric Barnes of The Daily News, Memphis, and vice president, dailies, of the TPA, stands and speaks during the board meeting. Top: Daniel Richardson, Magic Valley Publishing, makes a point. Right: Pauline Sherrer, of the Crossville Chronicle, pays close attention to what is being discussed. Jack Fishman, of the Citizen Tribune, Morristown, offers some thoughts during the board meeting. Jim Charlet, honorary TPA member, makes a serious point. One of Charlet s memorable statements: Bad news doesn t get better with age. Ask us about our free content! Sports pages, recipes, movie reviews and more! partners@amgparade.com

5 March Winter Convention Page 5 CONVENTION OPENING RECEPTION David Critchlow, Jr., of the Union City Daily Messenger, and District 77 State Rep. Bill Sanderson enjoyed the chance to chat at the opening reception. Left: Pauline Sherrer, of the Crossville Chronicle, and John Finney, of the Buffalo River Review, Linden, enjoy a break from what would be two days of meetings at the 2016 TPA Winter Convention. Harpist Phyllis Sparks once again provided the musical entertainment for the opening reception. District 51 State Rep. Bill Beck; Blake Lawrence; and Bruce Jackson, state senate sergeant at arms, were among the large state legislature contingent in attendance at Wednesday night s festivities. Right: The Buffalo River Review s John Finney (on the left) chats with District 28 State Sen. Joey Hensley during the opening reception event held on the evening of Jan. 27. Dan Howell, District 22 state representative (left), meets with Andy Sher and Alison Gerber, both of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, during the opening reception at Nashville City Center. David B. Hawk, District 5 state representative, met with Amber McDonald, director of government and external affairs for the State of Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Elizabeth Blackstone, of Kennedy Newspapers, and District 82 State Rep. Craig Fitzhugh had a chance to catch up on things. Sherry Byrd (left), wife of District 71 State Rep. David Byrd, and Annette Hurd, wife of Joe Hurd, The Courier, Savannah, enjoyed the meet and greet. Legislative staffers were out in full force for the opening reception, where the room was also packed with sociable journalists and politicians. Larry J. Miller (left), District 88 state representative, and Bill Beck, District 51 state representative Save the dates for the 2016 TPA Summer Convention July Franklin

6 Page Winter Convention March 2016 CONVENTION OPENING RECEPTION (CONT. FROM PAGE 5) Andrew Oppmann (far left), vice president of communications at Middle Tennessee State University, spent some time at the opening reception touching base and catching up on things with Ron Fryar, owner of the Cannon Courier and a TPA vice president of the board of directors. Joel Washburn of the McKenzie Banner and Pauline Sherrer of the Crossville Chronicle take the shuttle bus from the hotel to the reception. Matthew Richardson and Daniel Richardson of Magic Valley Publishing take a break from working the room at the Jan. 27 opening reception. C M Y K District 28 State Sen. Joey Hensley gets serious while in conversation with Scott Critchlow, of the Union City Daily Messenger. Left: Jack Fishman, of the Citizen Tribune, Morristown, appears to be having a lively discussion with District 10 State Rep. Tilman Goins, during Wednesday night s opening reception, held at the Nashville City Center. Frank (Buzz) Trexler (left) of The Daily Times, Maryville, and District 8 State Rep. Art Swann appear to be sharing a good chuckle. Left: TPA Public Policy Director Frank Gibson (left) chats with Jason Mumpower, chief of staff of the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury. William Mitchell, Shelbyville Times- Gazette, and Dennis Richardson, Magic Valley Publishing, renew acquaintances. LuShep Baldwin, of the Greenville Sun, and David Critchlow Jr., of the Union City Daily Messenger, enjoyed getting the chance to mingle with many of their cohorts at the opening reception. Scott Brooks, Gail Rymer and Scott Fiedler of the Tennessee Valley Authority public relations department were all smiles during the opening reception at the Nashville City Center. C M Y K

7 March Winter Convention Page 7 TPAF BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING Victor Parkins, of The Mirror-Exchange, Milan, and foundation VP, filled in for TPAF President Gregg Jones at the foundation board meeting. Elenora Edwards, Clinton; Doug Horne, Republic Newspapers; and Joel Washburn, McKenzie Banner, listen closely to a point being made at the other end of the table. At one point in the meeting, Horne raised the prospect of consolidating TPA, TPS and TPAF into one organization. Michael Williams (top), of The Paris Post-Intelligencer, and Nate Crawford (bottom), of Nashville, read over the meeting s notes. C TPA LEGISLATIVE MATTERS M Y K Ken Paulson, MTSU s dean of the College of Media and Entertainment and president of the First Amendment Center, was an interested attendee. Charles Primm and Karen Dunlap, public relations specialists at the University of Tennesee, Knoxville, took in the Legislative Matters session with interest. Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, was one of three panelists involved in the legislative discussion. Frank Gibson, TPA public policy director, moderated the legislative session. Also taking part in the legislative panel discussion were Matt King (left), King Public Strategies, and Bo Johnson, of JohnsonPoss Government Relations. Jimmy Hart, director of news and media relations, MTSU, studied the agenda. Darrell Richardson (front left), of The Oak Ridger, and Chas Sisk (middle, second row), a reporter for Nashville Public Radio, listened to the panel discussion amid a packed room. C M Y K

8 Page Winter Convention March 2016 TPA-AP LAWMAKERS SESSION Andrew Oppmann, MTSU, closes in on his subject. AP Photos Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell spoke to convention attendees. Elenora Edwards asked a question of one of the panelists present at the Lawmakers Session - Lt. Gov. Ramsey and House Speaker Harwell. The hotel s Grand Ballroom East was a packed house for the Jan. 28 Lawmakers Session. Doug Horne, Republic Newspapers, also took part in the Q&A exchange during the Lawmakers Session. Associated Press Regional Director for the South Adam Yeomans made introductory remarks at Thursday s Lawmakers Session that included a slide presentation made by MTSU detailing recent survey results of Middle Tennessee voters concerning their presidential preferences. TPA LUNCHEON AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS Haslam addresses education in keynote speech ASSOCIATED PRESS January 28, 2016 Buzz Trexler, of The Daily Times, Maryville, delivered the invocation. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said Thursday, Jan. 28, that the state budget he was to unveil Monday night, Feb. 1, would invest heavily in education, and indicated it would also start paying back the $260 million transferred out of the highway fund to balance the budget during the depths of the recession. The governor also said he would spend a good part of his annual State of the State and budget address to the Legislature and a statewide public television audience talking about how he believes the state should handle its revenue surplus, as of late January more than $500 million beyond projections for the current fiscal year. Haslam told newspaper executives at the Tennessee Press Association s annual Winter Convention that the hardest thing to do in government is hold in the reins when times are good, but if you don t hold in the reins when times are good, you will get smeared when times go bad. Our object in this budget will be to spend those dollars on places where the state has either underinvested in the past and I would say education is at the top of that list or that will be smart investments that will save us money in the long run: taking care of AP Photo Gov. Bill Haslam told TPA members their mission is to inform and explain. our own buildings and things like that that there is not a lot of sexiness or glamour to, the governor said. Haslam s speech followed an earlier joint discussion on legislative issues by Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell. All three top state officials also indicated that college students can expect some relief from the steady, steep state tuition increases of the past two decades. Ramsey, R-Blountville, touted a bill filed in the Senate in January that would impose a two-year freeze on tuition at all public colleges and universities in the state, followed by a plan in which entering freshmen would pay the same tuition rate through their four undergraduate years. We can t continue allowing tuition to grow 452 percent over 20 years, Ramsey said. The governor said the state has to do something to limit tuition increase and said he is going to fight really hard to make it so we hold up the state s end of the deal. Costs at the universities is a reflection of what the state Haslam met with a group of reporters following the TPA luncheon. puts in and what it costs the school to operate and what parents pay. We ve got to look at all three. I m going to do that. Rather than a fuel tax increase to pay for a growing backlog of highway needs cited by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, state lawmakers have focused on the $260 million transferred from the highway fund into the state s general operating fund in the early 2000s during a revenue shortfall. The governor acknowledged he won t ask the Legislature to raise gasoline taxes this year, for the first time since 1989, but will next year. But he said the budget plan will include a plan on repaying the highway fund. It s about $261 million that the general fund owes the transportation fund. We recognize that and we will have a proposal for how to make certain that gets paid back over time, he said. But I don t want anyone to think that will solve the problem if that whole $260 million is paid back tomorrow. We have one project in Memphis, Lamar Avenue, which is $260 million by itself, and Alcoa Highway near Knoxville is $275 million. I can keep going. Haslam said he believes it s important to repay the money because if you re paying that for a road tax when you fill up at the pump, you should know that the state s using that money for what they said they would use it for. Jed DeKalb, State of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam shares a laugh with Chris Vass and Andy Sher of the Chattanooga Times Free Press Frank Daniels III, of The Tennessean, and Carol Daniels, of The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville