WWW. ANANEWS.COM
OC TOBER 2008
Legislature improves public access to CPS records By David J. Bodney and Chris Moeser The public now has unprecedented access to Child Protective Services records involving child fatalities or serious injuries under a package of reforms approved in June by the Arizona Legislature. The measures, which took effect on September 26, were sponsored by Reps. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, and Kirk Adams, RMesa, and were supported by the Arizona Newspapers Association and Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. The laws are designed to open CPS actions to public scrutiny by making it easier for the press and public to inspect records concerning cases of severe child abuse. The keystone measure allows CPS to release records regarding cases of child abuse and neglect that result in fatalities or near-fatalities upon request. The old law required the press and public to petition a superior court judge to order disclosure of these records – a costly process that often took months. The measure clarifies that CPS records are public records subject to the Arizona Public Records Law and that CPS has a duty to provide CPS records “promptly” upon request. The new law also requires disclosure of the records unless CPS or prosecutors demonstrate that disclosure “would cause a specific, material harm to a criminal investigation.” The law preserves existing protections for privacy and confidentiality mandated by federal regulations. A second new law makes
Adams and Paton holding up their 2008 ANA FOI awards for their legislative breakthrough in opening CPS records. (Photo: Alec Pearce/White Mountain Independent)
clear that disciplinary records of all public employees are public records subject to inspection under the Arizona Public Records Law. Paton and Adams proposed the change after CPS refused to disclose disciplinary records of a CPS employee accused of wrongdoing. The measure was approved with the support of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers. A third change adopts the recommendations of a pilot program that required open court proceedings in many cases involving children. The new law requires that court proceedings regarding dependent children, permanent guardianships and termination of parental rights be open to the public, with significant protections for privacy on a case-by-case basis. The changes arose from legislative hearings held in late 2007 by Paton and Adams concerning the deaths of Brandon Williams and Tyler and Ariana Payne, three
Tucson children who died after significant contact with CPS. Paton and Adams were unable to review some of the records in the cases until The Arizona Republic and Arizona Daily Star sued and obtained a ruling ordering CPS to disclose the records. Paton said the increased openness would lead to additional reforms for the agency. “Altogether, what we tried to do was leverage the public’s right to know in order to reform a system that was fundamentally broken,” Paton said. “We had no idea what was wrong with CPS until we sued to get those records opened up. When we were able to get them, those records told the story of what was wrong with the agency.” David Bodney and Chris Moeser of Steptoe & Johnson LLP worked on passage of the CPS legislative package for Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., which publishes The Arizona Republic.
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Executive director’s message
Paula Casey Executive Director
“In these challenging economic times, your association is looking at ways to continue to offer members the same level of services without hurting our finances.”
There was a sigh of relief from the ANA staff as we have once again survived another fall meeting, and having done so with some very high reviews from attendees! The new ASU Cronkite School facility proved to be a fine venue for our membership. Tours of the facility were met with high praise for the design and programs contained therein. For those of you who could not attend the 2008-2009 ANA annual meeting, I am happy to share a synopsis of the issues discussed. After our August board retreat in Payson, the ANA board agreed to some new initiatives for our membership, including a one-time “rebate or discount” for members on their 2009 ANA Membership dues. The reduction will be reflected in the upcoming dues invoices, which will be mailed in late December. Our new ANA president, Dick Larson, felt that this “sends a message to membership that we understand the financial struggles that our membership is experiencing.” ANA had two of its best years in 2006 and 2007 and the board felt that now was an opportune time to share some of our profits with our member newspapers. Recently, Network Advertising Manager Sharon Schwartz has been focusing on putting together a cohesive Online Marketing program. Notice was recently sent out to member newspapers with program details. The most important starter here is that newspaper Web sites need to be using the three standard IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau) sizes outlined. For more details about this program, contact Sharon. Our Awards committee is also looking at implementing an online entry process for our Advertising Contest and BNC. We are also looking at partnering with the AAF/Ad Club, The Associated Press and the Arizona Press Club in order to make entering contests easier for our newspapers. The Education Committee will look
October 2008 ■ ANAgrams
at a more convenient and less expensive way to get training to our membership through the use of webinars. We will most likely continue with one convention a year, held in the fall with our Advertising Awards reception in the spring. In these challenging economic times, your association is also looking at ways to continue to offer members the same level of services without hurting our finances. We have sadly decided to cut back the NIE State Coordinator position. Pat Oso will continue to produce monthly NIE pages and will still be available to do Teacher Workshops for your newspapers on an individual contract basis. We have also decided to reduce the number of months that we print our monthly newsletter, ANAgrams. We will print ANAgrams only four months during the year, and provide it online-only during the other months. On the upcoming legislative front, John Fearing expounded on the challenges we know are coming. We have been told by the League of Cities that they will be introducing a bill to do away with government public notices in newspapers and replace them on municipal Web sites. The ANA is working on strategies to fight this bill. We have contracted with Belden Associates to update the public survey on the use of public notice, which we had initially done in 2001. Watch for future Legislative Alerts with more information on what we need you to be doing to help on this issue. A thank you gift was presented to outgoing ANA President, John Wolfe, with our sincere thanks being expressed for his eight years of service to the association. John is embarking on the Executive MBA program at ASU and we wish him much luck in the future. We welcome new ANA board members: Jody VandenHuevel, VP of Sales and Business Development, East Valley Tribune; Nicole Carroll, Executive Editor, Arizona Republic and John Naughton, Publisher, Payson Roundup.
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Online visitors up 15.7% By Jennifer Saba Editor and Publisher The semi-annual report expected from the Audit Bureau of Circulations next week will show more drops in paid circulation -- but at the least the industry can console itself with the latest online numbers. The number of unique visitors to newspaper Web sites hit another record high in Q3, up 15.7% to 68.3 million compared to the same period a year ago. The Newspaper Association of American reported the custom data provided by Nielsen Online (owned by the same parent company as E&P). Total uniques in the month of August spiked 17% to 69.3 million, thanks partly to the Olympics and the intense interest in the presidential campaign. While
the financial crisis loomed large in September, the month was third in terms of unique visitors for Q3 with 67.7 million. In July it was 67.9 million. Page views for Q3 soared 25% to 3.5 billion compared to the same period a year ago. Time spent also marched north. The average time spent per user during the quarter was 45 minutes and 49 seconds, up from 41 minutes and 54 sections in Q3 of 2007. This September the average time spent per person was 49 minutes and 20 seconds compared with 43 minutes and 44 seconds. Page views in September were
the highest during the quarter to 3.6 billion. The NAA started tracking newspaper Web site data in 2004. Total unique visitors grew 68.6% in Q3 compared to the same quarter in 2004.
ANA CALL FOR JUDGES WE NEED YOUR HELP! The Kentucky Press Association has graciously judged the ANA Better Newspapers Contest and now it is our turn to return the favor. We need newsroom judges, feature writers, sports editors and more! Lunch will be provided.
Judging will take place 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at: NOV. 13, 2008 NOV. 12, 2008 Arizona Daily Star building Best Western Central Phoenix Inn 4850 S. Park Ave. 1100 N. Central Ave. Tucson, AZ 85714 Phoenix, AZ 85004
Send ANA your updated information by Nov. 10 Update your newspaper information on the Web at http:// members.ananews.com. If you cannot log in or have forgotten your password, contact Perri Collins at 602.261.7655 ext. 110 or p.collins@ananews.com. In addition, please remember to send ANA proof of circu-
lation (audit, statement of ownership, etc.) and two copies of your 2009 (or most recent) rate cards in order for us to update our 2009 directory and provide the most accurate information possible to potential advertisers. Circulation figures are used for advertising rate cards, directory
information and contest classification purposes. If ANA does not receive updated information for your newspaper, we use the circulation figures from last year. THE DEADLINE FOR TO UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION IS NOV. 10, 2008. NO EXCEPTIONS.
October 2008 ■ ANAgrams
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86 percent of adults read community newspapers Just when Americans find themselves drawn to news reports from a contentious presidential election and deflating economic challenges, new research from the National Newspaper Association (NNA) again demonstrates that Main Street America relies upon community newspapers to inform and empower citizens from coast to coast. In a follow-up to its landmark 2005 research and 2007 update, NNA finds that 86 per cent of adults read a local community newspaper each week, which compares with 83% in 2007 and 81% in 2005. The survey was conducted this past summer, before the presidential race heated up and the stock market took a dive. “This is in stark contrast to news reports trumpeting the decline, if not demise, of newspapers,” says John Stevenson, president of NNA and publisher of the Randolph Leader in Roanoke, AL. “We learned three years ago that we had a different story to tell, and with this second update we again prove that our initial findings hold up.” According to the 2008 NNA survey, conducted by the Reynolds Journalism Institute’s (RJI) Center for Advanced Social Research at the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri: • 86 percent of adults over the age of 18 read a newspaper every week. • 75 percent of those readers read most or all of their paper. • On average, readers spend 45 minutes reading an issue of their paper. • More than one-third of readers keep their paper for more than six days, enabling them to revisit a story or advertisement at their leisure. “Readers and advertisers have
not abandoned community newspapers that serve their communities well, that are involved in their communities,” Stevenson said. “In towns and cities across the country, vibrant local newspapers continue to help strengthen their communities, and those communities in turn strengthen and support their local news source. They grow, together.” “Just about all of the research and news reports on the “struggling” newspaper industry have been based on what’s happening at the top 100 major metropolitan newspapers, maybe the top 250,” said Brian Steffens, NNA executive director. “That doesn’t tell
the story of the remaining 1,200 daily newspapers or 8,000 community weekly papers in America. Many of those troubled papers started as community papers and then enjoyed decades of growth as they expanded into adjacent communities and surrounding suburbs, becoming regional newspapers and losing that tight community focus. That worked for awhile, but that model may not be as successful going forward. But it doesn’t seem right to paint the rest of our industry with that brush.” To capture a snapshot of readership along Main Street America, NNA surveyed adults in markets continued on page 5
It’s not print vs. Web anymore
Blurring the lines between print and online, AdBuilder.com is making it easier to increase sales with complete print and Web ad packages. Now offering Flash banner ads that your staff can easily edit—no experience needed. 800.245.9278, ext. 5324 • sales_builder@multiad.com
ANAgrams ■ October 2008
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Goddard OKs online public meetings Attorney General Terry Goddard has given his blessing to public bodies conducting at least some of their meetings in cyberspace. In a formal opinion, Goddard said members of the Camp Verde Unified School District board can engage in discussions and deliberations on the Internet. Goddard said this would not violate the state’s Open Meetings Law. But Goddard cautioned that the public must have access to the meeting. That means not only ensuring that people can log in to watch but also that there are alternatives for people who don’t own computers.
Freireich inspires NY man to start new paper
Elliott Freireich
Inspired by Elliott Freireich’s experience with the West Valley View, Jim Kevlin, editor and publisher of The Freeman’s Journal, in Cooperstown, N.Y., launched Hometown Oneonta, a free-distribution, full-service newspaper in the city of 14,000 people, on Sept. 19. Kevlin said the spark for the undertaking was a conversation he and Freireich had one evening in the hospitality suite during a recent conference of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
Prescott hires circulation manager
Brett Weaver
Brett Weaver, who has worked nearly two decades in newspaper circulation, recently joined Prescott Newspapers Inc. as circulation director. Weaver, 39, replaces John Harrell, who retired Oct. 3 after heading the circulation department for PNI for nearly 18 years. “We welcome Brett to the PNI family and believe he brings a wealth of experience to The Daily Courier and its publications,” Kit Atwell, PNI publisher and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.
continued from page 4
NNA survey served by newspapers of less than 25,000 circulation to examine the relationship between Main Street America and newspapers. The 2007 survey included population centers less than 50,000; the 2005 survey targeted population centers less than 100,000. According to the 2008 NNA survey, local community newspapers are the primary source of information for both news and advertising in local communities— by a 5-1 margin over the next most popular media. To reinforce the concept that the public, or newspapers on the public’s behalf, should hold government accountable, 81 percent of readers said that government should be required to publish public notices in newspapers. This compares to 79 percent in 2007 and 71 percent in 2005. “This is an excellent report card on the value of community newspapers,” says Stevenson. “Despite a sizable growth in Internet and broadband access in smaller communities, these results indicate tremendous community support for their community newspapers,” Stevenson said. “The value proposition to readers and advertisers remains strong.”
Longtime Arizona Star newsman Della Betta, dead at 81
Leo Della Betta
Leo Della Betta was an atypical curmudgeon. A newsroom fixture at the Arizona Daily Star for 40 years, Della Betta was as well known for the cookies and muffins he baked for fellow staffers as he was for his expletive-laden outbursts when peeved by some readers’ phone calls. Della Betta’s eccentric reputation elevated to legendary in the early 1970s after he was captured on film streaking through the newsroom clad in nothing more than sneakers. As word spread through the newsroom Wednesday of Della Betta’s death, Star staffers traded stories of the cantankerous old-school newsman. Della Betta died Tuesday. He’d been in failing health for several years, surviving several strokes before he succumbing to congestive heart failure. He was 81. Log on to www.azstarnet.com for more great stories about the life of Della Betta.
October 2008 ■ ANAgrams
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AP backs further rate reductions “We fully understand the pain and the challenges of our members...” For months, several top newspapers and chains have voice concerns about Associated Press Tom Curley rates and services, so going so far as giving two-year notice that may pull out of the news co-operative altogether. AP has continued a dialogue with these papers, and late this afternoon, with the U.S. economy sinking, it announced that it “will reduce U.S. newspaper member assessments by another $9 million next year and immediately begin a re-examination of the AP membership structure.” According to AP’s press release: By the middle of 2009, AP will complete a review of its pricing and governance structure, re-examining all current policies and rules, such as the two-year notice now required for leaving the news cooperative, and considering other potential changes, including the creation of different classes of membership and services. In the meantime, the AP Board of Directors voted at its quarterly meeting to provide all member newspapers complete access to all AP text content, at no extra cost. In addition, it voted to approve a moratorium on the rate increases that a minority of newspapers were expected to see in 2009 under the current AP pricing structure. AP estimates these steps will save newspapers another $9 million, on top of the nearly $21 million in savings previously announced in rate assessment reductions. In addition, AP will study the potential for rate adjustments for AP Broadcast members as well. “Our industry is in the midst of an unprecedented confluence of fast-moving and extraordinary events. Challenges to newspapers and to the economy as a whole keep changing the equation
for AP and its members,” said William Dean Singleton, chairman of the AP Board of Directors and vice chairman and CEO of MediaNews Group, Inc. “It is time to consider fundamental change to address members’ rapidly changing needs and to assure that AP remains the world’s leading news organization.” “We fully understand the pain and the challenges of our members, and we have worked to address these concerns,” said Tom Curley, president and CEO of AP. “For two years, we held rates flat, with no increases...Because of the downturn in the global economy, we are at a point where we must now examine more than just what content costs – but also how AP deals with all of its members and customers.” This year, AP has been rolling out to members a new pricing and services packaging plan, called Member Choice. Under Member Choice, newspapers were eligible to receive nearly $14 million in assessment reductions. In addition, they would get up to another 5 percent – up to total of $7.5 million - in reductions by enlisting in the AP’s Content Enrichment program. About 10 percent of AP newspaper members saw an increase in rates under this plan, although most of them were part of groups getting overall rate reductions. Those increases will now be put on hold until AP completes the review of its structure. All members will now receive AP Complete, with full access to all of AP’s English language text content, including analysis and enterprise. AP will immediately launch the study of the cooperative structure and of service options, with plans to report back to the Board of Directors by AP’s annual meeting in April of 2009 with suggestions on how it might be reorganized.
UPDATE The Arizona Newspapers Association has made significant progress in dealing with the Arizona Interscholastic Association regarding the photo credentialing issue. Randy Lovely, Executive Editor at the Arizona Republic, was able to get the AIA to agree to have the Gannett and Lee in-house attorneys rewrite the credential document. This revised document was recently transmitted to the AIA. The response was that the AIA has temporarily suspended the enforcement of the current policy for two weeks (with the option to extend the suspension) while we continue to work out the language for a new credentialing document. It is our hope that this will all be in place before football playoffs begin. For more information about the AIA dispute, contact ANA Executive Director Paula Casey at (602) 261-7655 ext. 102 or p.casey@ananews.com.
Here are a few new products to consider for your paper Kevin Slimp Institute of Newspaper Technology kevin@kevinslimp.com
I can’t
remember a time when so many exciting upgrades and products were released at once. After speaking to a room filled with newspaper owners and publishers at a national convention in St. Paul, Minnesota this week, I was a little overwhelmed by the number of folks ready to make wholesale changes and upgrades in their operations. I addressed the crowd in St. Paul on two topics: “What Newspapers Need to Know about Trends in Converging Media” and “What’s New and Coming in Newspaper Technology.” While all this information is fresh, let me share some of the software and hardware products I recommended:
Cameras So many new cameras to consider. A few noteworthy: - Nikon D90. With a street price of $1,299 (US), this camera packs a lot of punch. Boasting
a resolution of 12.9 megapixels and 4.5 frames per second (fps) speed and the ability to shoot high quality video (up to 1280 x 720 pixels) and you’ve got a game changer. One camera for both still photos and video. - Canon 50D. Canon users are going to love this. Priced at $1,299, this camera doesn’t boast the high quality video of the Nikon, but consider the following: 6.3 fps and a resolution of 15.1 megapixels. Sure, that’s not the speed of a $5,000 camera, but for the price it is incredible. - Canon Rebel XS (1000D). At a price of $689, this camera packs a lot of punch at an affordable price.
Scanners Scanners are only made to work well for two years. After that, you can clean the glass all you want and still get noisy images. So it’s important to replace your scanners every two years. Here are two good ones: - Epson V200. For $79, you’ll see marked improvement in scans over your existing scanner. - Epson V500. While the V200 offers excellent results, spend a few dollars more - well, $100 more - and get this higher resolution version.
External Backup Drive
Adobe announced CS4 in September with new versions of Photoshop, InDesign, Flash, Illustrator and other products used by newspapers.
- Lacie Bigger Disk Extreme. Who would have believed it a few years ago? A two terabyte (that’s 2,000 megabytes) triple interface (USB, Firewire 400, Firewire 800) drive for $449. Software - Quark 8.0. Man, Quark got it right this time. Finally stiff com-
New products by Nikon and Canon offer newspapers lots of choices in high resolution digital cameras. Some even offer high resolution video.
petition for InDesign. - Adobe Creative Suite 4.0. I’ve been using CS4 for several months and can finally tell folks how great it is. Upgrades from $499 allow users to get new versions of all their favorite programs like Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat Pro, Dreamweaver, Flash and lots more. You’ll be tempted to spend some of your savings - upgrades for Creative Suite owners start at $1199 - for the Master Suite. Finally, it’s affordable to own all the Adobe products you’ve wished for over the years. - Acrobat Pro 9. Speaking of Acrobat, upgrade to this version. Take my word for it. I’ve never led you down the wrong path before.
Font Management - Extensis Universal Type Server Lite. Finally, a network based font management system that’s affordable for the small newspaper. In addition to hardware and software, those of us at the convention had honest discussions concerning the future of our business. Topics including Web site vendors, editorial workflow systems and the future of digital printing were tackled head on. In tough economic times, it’s fortunate that so many products are being released at prices much lower than what we were
spending a few years ago. One publisher I spoke to summed it up well when he spoke of his surprise at the significant increase in production after upgrading his newspapers. “I was amazed,” he told me, “with how much more we are able to get done since upgrading our computers and software.” Another publisher from Minnesota told me, “Since we upgraded our systems and software earlier this year, almost all of our production problems have disappeared.” In my next column we’ll take a closer look at some of the latest upgrades to software that most newspaper use.
Where’s Kevin? October 9-11: Knoxville, Tennessee October 23: Alexandria, Louisiana October 29: Columbus, Ohio November 4: Gallatin, Tennessee November 9: Brookings, SD November 12-13: Phoenix, Arizona Want to bring Kevin to your office or training event? It’s easy. Email him at:
kevin@kevinslimp.com
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It’s a sad, sad, sad, sad state of affairs It’s a sad world when newspapers promote other people’s products and services to their readers and not their own. The Arizona Newspapers Association strives to give newspapers the training and tools they want and need to have an extensive community presence, but it often seems that newspapers are not taking full advantage of that. For example, as a way to compete with CraigsList, ANA developed www.ClassifiedArizona.com. We help to provide prescreened, statewide, quality online classified ads for readPerri Collins ers. How many of you are promoting the ClassifiedArizona Communications aggregation program? What if I told you that two guys in Manager Phoenix have developed a similar product that has grown exponentially in the past 10 months? What if I told you those same guys used newspapers to advertise their product? Did you use your newspaper to advertise your product? 2008-2009 ANA/Ad Services Board of Directors More visitors = more revenue. The numbers don’t Directors President Tom Arviso, Navajo Times lie. Just last month, 75,294 Dick Larson, Western Two-Year Director/Non-Daily classified ads were uploaded News&Info, Inc. One-Year Dir./Daily to ClassifiedArizona.com. Nicole Carroll, The Arizona Republic The newspapers that use Veri- First Vice President Two-Year Director/Daily can’s online order entry sysTeri Hayt, Arizona Daily Star tem earned $58,329 and that’s Two-Year Dir./At-large Elvira Espinoza, La Voz Two-Year Dir./At-large not counting newspapers who Second Vice President have their own order entry Ginger Lamb, Arizona Capitol John Naughton, Payson system. The revenue that the Times Roundup Two-Year Dir./Non-Daily online classifieds generated One-Year Dir./Non-Daily could easily be double that Third Vice President Jody VandenHeuvel, Don Rowley, Arizona Daily Sun figure. East Valley Tribune As we learned at the ANA Two-Year Dir./Daily One-Year Dir./Daily fall convention this month, Secretary/Treasurer Pam Mox, Green Valley News newspapers need to capitalize Rick Schneider, Eastern and Sun Arizona Courier on what they provide to their One-Year Past President Dir./Non-Daily communities. One of those things is trust and dependability. Why sort through Contact ANA Staff hundreds of offensive, nonExecutive Director Network Ad MGR. relevant ads on national Web Paula Casey............... Ext. 102 Sharon Schwartz........ Ext. 108 sites when there’s a local p.casey@ananews.com s.schwartz@ananews.com alternative that provides more Deputy Executive Dir. of Network Sales Rep. class and less trash? Government Affairs Don Ullmann............. Ext. 111 If you participate in the John F. Fearing....................... d.ullmann@ananews.com j.fearing@ananews.com ClassifiedArizona.com agAd Services Assistant gregation program, promote Communications Mgr. Kay Wilmoth.............. Ext. 103 it! Don’t let readers forget Perri Collins............... Ext. 110 k.wilmoth@ananews.com p.collins@ananews.com what you do for them. Newsarizona State NIE papers need to embrace the Accounting Assistant Coordinator Internet as never before. Now Liisa Straub................ Ext. 105 Pat Oso...................... Ext. 109 l.straub@ananews.com is not the time to sit back and beartracks@cox.net watch. Now is the time to act. Media Buyer Reception/Tearsheets Promote your services online Cindy Meaux............. Ext. 112 Lorraine Bergquist......... Ext. 0 c.meaux@ananews.com and in print. Spread the word. l.bergquist@ananews.com Take no prisoners.
October 2008 ■ ANAgrams
ANA Calendar November 8,2008 • Arizona Press Club fall workshop, Flagstaff November 10, 2008 • ANA directory updates deadline November 19-21, 2008 • SNA Classified Advertising Conference, Las Vegas November 21, 2008 • ASU’s Cronkite Luncheon December 12-13, 2008 • Special training workshop with Kevin Slimp January 15, 2009 • ANA Legislative Luncheon April 3-5,2009 • SPJ Region 11 Conference, Phoenix
STAY in touch with ANA on the Web! Members-only site: http://members.ananews.com ANA Blog: www.ananews.com/blog Myspace: www.myspace.com/ananews Twitter: twitter.com/ananewsflash YouTube: youtube.com/ananewsflash
ANAgrams is an official publication of the Arizona Newspapers Association 1001 N. Central Ave., Suite 670 Phoenix, AZ 85004