Excellence in advertising recognized Each year the Arizona Newspapers Association honors the best in newspaper advertising in the ANA Excellence in Advertising competition. Winners in the ANA 2009 Excellence in Advertising Competition were announced May 22 at a reception at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University in Phoenix. The annual contest recognizes the hard work and creativity that
goes into designing, composing and selling newspaper ads. These professionals continue to raise the bar for the newspaper advertising community. Thirty newspapers submitted more than 600 entries in this year’s contest, the largest number of newspapers and entries since the advertising contest began. The entries were judged by the Mississippi Press Association. A complete list of winners can be found on the ANA Web site, at
WWW. ANANEWS.COM
MAY 2009
http://www.ananews.com. See page four for more photos of this year’s winners. If you missed this award reception’s festivities, stay tuned for Oct. 10, when ANA will team up with the APME to present the Better Newspapers Contest awards for the best in editorial writing, photography and multimedia, as well as Newspaper of the Year at the conclusion of the fall convention. Mark it on your calendars!
Mick Welsh, The Catholic Sun; Kimberly Kent, The Arizona Jackpot; Joe Gargulo, White Mountain Independent; Kelli Kent, The Coolidge Examiner; Wiley Acheson, White Mountain Independent; Kristi Freader, The Coolidge Examiner; Tauni Newman, White Mountain Independent; Lia Angelus, White Mountain Independent; Greg Tock, White Mountain Independent; Kara K. Copper, Casa Grande Dispatch; Brian Kramer, Casa Grande Dispatch; Don Johnson, Casa Grande Valley Newspapers; Ruth Kramer, Casa Grande Valley Newspapers; Zoe Cooper, Casa Grande Dispatch.
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Public notice legislation update
Paula Casey Executive Director
“If this legislation passes, the ANA Legislative committee will be asking member newspapers to become engaged...”
Last week, Nevada became the latest state to approve legislation allowing some public notices to be moved to the Web to satisfy the statutory “publication” requirement. There have been many other states which heard similar proposed legislation and were able to defeat these efforts, at least for now. In Arizona, HB 2253 (Legal Notices; Publication; Committee) continues to await third reading in the House, after receiving approval from the Committee of the Whole two weeks ago. In its original form, this bill, introduced by Rep. Jones (R-Yuma) at the request of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, would have eliminated all newspaper publication requirements for government public notices and instead allow those notices to be posted to government Web sites. After the original bill was defeated in the House Government Committee, a strike-everything amendment was later offered and adopted by that committee and the bill was approved on reconsideration as amended by the strike-everything amendment. As amended, the bill creates a twoyear legislative study committee made up of five members of the House and five members of the Senate, to be selected by the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, respectively. This study com-
May 2009 ■ ANAgrams
mittee is charged with examining existing city, town and county statutes requiring newspaper publication of public notices and considering the efficient use of taxpayer money, preserving the public’s right to know and the opportunity to receive appropriate notice and to appear and be heard. The study committee will submit a final report at the end of the two-year period identifying any recommendations for legislative action. If this legislation passes, the ANA Legislative committee will be asking member newspapers to become engaged in the study committee process. We will need publishers and editors to testify, write editorials, gather data and help with the research process. Over the summer, ANA will be updating the current Public Notice Handbook. It was originally written in 1999 by David Bodney of Steptoe & Johnson, in order to inform journalists of any new legislation dealing with public notice. It was last updated in 2006. This handbook may very well be the starting point as the committee begins the process of assessing the current government public notice law. Please contact Paula Casey at p.casey@ananews.com if you would like to be involved in this Public Notice Task Force.
La Valley wins Arizona Press Women’s top honor Carol La Valley won the 2009 Outstanding Writing Award given by Arizona Newspaper Association through Arizona Press Women (APW). La Valley swept the 2009 APW Communications Conference. Carol Osman Brown, Patricia Gail Hearne and Jaimie Bruzenak also placed in the competition. A feature story appearing in the Roundup — “Brothers reunite at graduation” — was “a labor of love at the end of a long week,” La Valley said. “I was a bit disappointed when I heard the judge say honorable mention, so a few minutes later I was stunned to accept the Outstanding Writing Award.” “What makes this simple story so compelling continued on page 3
Cheryl Kohout, Arizona Press Women president, Carol La Valley, and contest chair Vera Marie Badertscher. [Photo: Ray Baxter]
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WMI tests NIE program at Show Low school Lia Angelus White Mountain Independent Advances in technology and a recession are threatening newspapers around the country. Media reports indicate the under30 age group may “not care” at all if the local newspaper were to completely disappear. Students and teachers at Show Low Intermediate School may say otherwise. Over the past semester, The Independent has embarked on a trial project in conjunction with Show Low Intermediate School. The Independent has been delivered free of charge every Tuesday to every student in every classroom for use in the school’s curriculum. A special section has also been created on the Independent’s Web site at www.wmicentral.com, providing downloadable newspaper related activities, lessons, calendars and resources to teachers and students. Newspapers in Education is a program designed to use articles and the resources of the local newspaper in school. As an instructional tool, the newspaper is known to strengthen teaching in every content area. NIE programs have proven to enhance critical thinking, increase vocabulary and improve skill levels in subjects like English, history, math, geography, science and more, as well as build awareness of local and world events. The Independent felt an NIE program would be a worthwhile investment in the community, encouraging literacy, civic responsibility and real world learning among the area’s youth. Show Low Intermediate School was more than willing to participate. Literacy experts believe that adults with low lit-
Mr. Bale’s fifth grade class studies the White Mountain Independent. Lewis Amador, Tanishia Ulibarri, Morgan Rankin, Mikayla Perez, Justin Berry and Samantha Topliss crowd around to read the latest issue. [Photo: Alec Pearce - White Mountain Independent]
eracy skills lack an adequate foundation of the basic skills to function successfully in our society. Providing newspapers and special curriculum materials to schools is a small step toward helping to prevent illiteracy. The Independent hoped to provide teachers in the school, and by ripple effect their students, a practical and real-life aid to improve long term literacy. There is substantial evidence that using newspapers in schools contributes to a student’s reading skills, writing skills and current event knowledge. Research indicates that 80 percent of students who have used newspapers in school have also participated continued on page 6
Con’t: La Valley wins Arizona Press Women’s top honor continued from page 2
is the way it is constructed,” writes Kristin Gilger, Assistant Dean, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “The writer sets up her story like a stage play. If it had been told in traditional journalistic feature-writing style, the story would have been fine, but indistinguishable from hundreds of other stories about Iraq veterans returning home.” La Valley won the Outstanding Writing Award in 2007 for “Happy endings,” the fourth in a series on foster care. Her column, “Papa, watch me fly” took first place
in the competition, and has been entered in the National Federation of Press Women 2009 Communications Contest. She also accepted a second-place award for editing the Rim Country Gazette, a second-place honor for travel writing and for a personality profile, and third place for a feature story. Carol Osman Brown won a second-place award in the Newsletter 1/3 color competition for the Beaver Valley Bulletin. Patricia Gail Hearne received honorable mention for a feature story in the Roundup.
May 2009 â– ANAgrams
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ANA 2009 Excellence in Advertising awards reception 2 1
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1. Kara K. Cooper, Casa Grande Dispatch 2. Frank Laspisa, Bobby Davis, Jeff Lodge, Payson Roundup 3. Elise Bennett, Vernon Yazzie, Navajo Times 4. Christy Byerly, East Valley Tribune 5. Nadia Cerini, Ginger Lamb, Arizona Capitol Times 6. L. Alan Cruikshank, Fountain Hills Times 7. Craig Ludwig, Steve Escobedo, The Arizona Republic
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Newspapers fight negative perceptions with promotions Reprinted from the Texas Press Messenger We all know there has been plenty of bad press about the press in recent months. Most every day you can find a story somewhere about the dire straits facing the newspaper industry. More needs to be done to combat the negative perceptions about our industry. Brian Steffens, executive director of the National Newspaper Association, has assembled some examples of promotional materials that various newspapers and newspaper associations around the country have created. Go to NNA Newspaper Promotions Web page for samples. Feel free to use the ads featured on the NNA page. The Newspaper Project is another good place to look for materials you can use to promote newspapers. The Newspaper Project was launched earlier this year by a small group of newspaper executives who wanted to support a productive exchange of information and ideas about the future of newspapers. You can find a series of ads at www.NewspaperProject.org. You are welcome to download the ads and run in your publication. The Newspaper Project just released a new series of of ads this week, built around a baseball theme. Now more than ever we need to be promoting the value and strength of community newspapers to our readers, our advertisers and our communities. President Barack Obama affirmed that strength and value when he spoke at the Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., May 9: “Across the country, there are extraordinary, hardworking journalists who have lost their jobs in
recent days, recent weeks, recent months. And I know that each newspaper...is wrestling with how to respond to these changes, and some are struggling simply to stay open. And it won’t be easy. Not every ending will be a happy one. “But it’s also true that your ultimate success as an industry is essential to the success of our democracy. It’s what makes this thing work. You know, Thomas Jefferson once said that if he had the choice between a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, he would not hesitate to choose the latter. “Clearly, Thomas Jefferson never had cable news to contend with, but his central point remains: A government without newspapers, a government without a tough and vibrant media of all sorts, is not an option for the United States of America.” Readers are shopping Pulse Research has concluded its online Pulse of America Survey, conducted March 16 - April 15. Newspaper readers in all 50 states are represented in the findings with more than 250 publications participating. Publication types participating included daily, weekly, free, alternative, business and ethnic publications. The research shows encouraging signs of reader planned shopping activity. In the midst of a difficult economic climate, survey participants purchasing plans over the next 12 month is stronger than generally perceived. Despite the recent economic downturn, opportunities continue to emerge for retailers and publishers as 25.5 percent of readers plan to increase their spending in the next 12
months. Print media may face intense competition, but it is far from dead according to the Pulse of America survey. Approximately 12 percent of readers surveyed indicated their readership of printed publications will increase over the next 12 months, 41.6 percent indicate it will remain the same and 9.4 percent state it will decrease. Also of interest is that 32 percent of readers believe that the print edition of newspapers will be around 20 years or longer, while 28 percent state less the print edition will be around for less than five years. In key economic categories such as real estate and automotive, planned reader purchasing over the upcoming 12 months is becoming more positive: 9.6 percent of readers plan to purchase a personal residence, 6.4 percent plan to sell their residence, 6.6 percent plan to remodel their home, 22 percent of readers plan to shop a vehicle dealer in the next 12 months with 8.9 percent planning to purchase a new car and 3.7 percent planning to purchase a new truck. Retailers will find encouraging reader demand over the next 12 months in a wide range of categories according to the survey’s results: some examples: 14.1 percent plan to purchase living room furniture, 16.2 percent plan to purchase a laptop computer, 10 percent plan to purchase windows, 62 percent plan to purchase women’s shoes and 8.8 percent plan to purchase a major home appliance. The Pulse of America survey also indicates positive opportunities for service businesses during the next 12 months such as: chiropractors 13 percent, cellular phone continued on page 6
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Con’t: WMI NIE program continued from page 3 in civic involvement and voluntarism as adults. A study conducted by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation in 2002 showed that students who use newspapers score significantly higher on standardized tests than students who do not. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, only 30 percent of Arizona families subscribe to any type of periodical. When an NIE program is implemented, the entire family benefits. Many students see their parents read for the first time when they bring home the newspaper. “We felt that it was a valuable program and liked the idea of using the Intermediate School as a pilot for it,” said Greg Tock, publisher and editor of The Independent. He said that while The Independent would like to make the program available to all area schools, the current resources and economic environment for newspapers makes it unfeasible. With help from the community in the form of subscription donations, sponsorships of “community education” pages and such, the program may have a future in area schools. “We will work on bringing it back next year,” Tock said. Show Low Intermediate School principal Kevin Hall is excited about the program and looking forward to continuing it in the fall semester. “The teachers and
Con’t: Fighting perceptions continued from page 5 providers 16 percent, carpet cleaning 24 percent and massage therapists 20 percent. Purchasing plans are documented for 303 businesses, advertiser categories including everything from art galleries to wineries. The overall picture of the reader economy, in short, appears more vibrant than some conventional indicators may suggest. Publishers can get a complimentary copy of the Pulse of America survey results at www.pulseresearch.com. For more information contact: John W. Marling, President, Pulse Research, (503-784-5772) or marling@ pulseresearch.com. Pulse Research, Inc. is an independent research firm founded by a former newspaper publisher with over 35 years of experience in the industry. Pulse Research is one of the nation’s largest publication research firms, having completed over 4,000 surveys for more than 3,000 clients. Pulse Research conducted South Dakota Newspaper Association’s 2005 statewide readership survey.
students just loved it,” he said. “This was the first time for many students reading the newspaper. (It was) a valuable resource to strengthen our curriculum in teaching state and district standards.” Sixth grade teacher Kathy Kunde used The Independent throughout the semester in her classroom and had students prepare reports on current events. “It was nice to have the local newspaper as a tool to teach my students. We were able to focus on what was happening in the local community with local content and events rather than something out of the Arizona Republic. It was information that was relevant to them,” she said. “The kids really liked reading the paper and were excited to bring it home to their families,” Kunde added. “We really enjoyed it.” With the school year now officially over, students will be heading out for a summer filled with fun. “No more teachers, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks,” as the saying goes. But maybe now one or two will pick up a newspaper and use it for more than just the makings of a paper plane.
Can newspapers still increase sales during the recession?
They did.
MediaNews Group set a goal for 37 newspapers during the last four months of 2008: Increase co-op driven revenue $2 million over last year’s 4-month figure.
They beat this goal by $540,000. Want more details? Visit www.recas.com/recession.
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Freelancing and finances
If you’re an independent contractor in journalism, public relations or any other field, you could be losing money. The Valley of the Sun chapter of Society of Professional Journalists and the Phoenix chapter of the Public Relations Society of America are partnering to bring you a panel discussion on making smarter decisions with your business and your finances. Three accountants and three financial planners will guide you logically through the alphabet soup of LLCs, S Corps and SEP IRAS. They’ll discuss legal write-offs and how to maximize your retirement investments and savings. Afterward, attendees can meet briefly one-on-one with panelists to ask questions and get information on following up with them, if desired. Sandwiches, deli salads, iced tea and lemonade will be served. Payment in advance is required via PayPal or check; no refunds will be issued. Visit www.spjchapters.org/ arizona to register, or mail a check (please write your name on the comments line if using a business check) to: Valley of the Sun Chapter of SPJ, P.O. Box 1488, Phoenix, AZ 85001. Anyone arriving after 7 p.m. will not be admitted. “Freelancing and Finances” will take place at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, in downtown Phoenix, Monday, June 8, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The cost is $20 for SPJ and PRSA members, $30 for all others. Contact Stephanie Jarnagan, Stephanie@thinkcommaz.com, 480-201-7572 (PRSA), or Geri Koeppel, gerikoeppel@me.com (SPJ) for more information.
Education is at your fingertips! See a list of all webinars and events on our Web site:
www.ananews.com/calendar Arizona Capitol Times steps up to help support journalism education
The Arizona Newsppers Association was warmed by the generosity of the Arizona Capitol Times, as they increased their donation to the Arizona Newspapers Foundation scholarship program. In 2008, two worthy students each received a $1,000 scholarship to Arizona State University, the University of Arizona or Northern Arizona University. You can also contribute and help a young journalist pay for college. It’s true -- we can’t do it without YOUR help! Every $5 or $10 you donate will help a talented journalism student achieve his or her dream. And your donations are tax-deductable. If you are ready to donate or have questions regarding this fundraiser, please contact Sharon Schwartz at (602) 261-7655 ext. 108 or s.schwartz@ananews.com. Both individual and corporate donations are welcome. Fill out the slip below and mail it to us with your donation, today! Arizona Newspapers Foundation
- PLEDGE CARD Your pledge will fund scholarships as well as provide resources to train Arizona’s next generation of journalists.
□ This is my pledge for the 2009 campaign. □ $10 □ Check enclosed.
□ Bill Me.
□ $20
□ $50
□ $100
□Other:_________
□ Charge to: □ VISA □ MasterCard □ AMEX □ Discover
Card No._________________________________________ Exp. Date________ Your name________________________________________Signature__________________________Date___________ Newspaper/Organization_____________________________ Address___________________________________________
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Obama expects FOIA recommendations within 90 days John Eggerton Multichannel News Following up a Jan. 21 memorandum on government transparency and the Freedom of Information Act , President Obama Wednesday told the heads of departments and agencies that within 90 days he expects to get recommendations and proposed revisions to policies on classifying information. According to a copy of the memo, the administration is considering 1) establishing a National Declassification Center that would “bring appropriate agency officials together to perform collaborative declassification review under the administration of the Archivist of the United States”; 2) possibly restoring the presumption against classification, thereby “preclud[ing] classification of information where there is significant
doubt about the need for such classification,” as well as increasing accountability for the decision to classify. The memo also asks for input on what needs to be done to make it easier to share information, and to prohibit reclassification of material once it has been declassified. “[M]y administration is committed to operating with an unprecedented level of openness,” said the president in the memo. “While the government must be able to prevent the public disclosure of information where such disclosure would compromise the privacy of American citizens, national security, or other legitimate interests, a democratic government accountable to the people must be as transparent as possible and must not withhold information for self-serving reasons or simply to avoid embarrassment.”
Newspaper sites now eligible for broadcast awards Joe Strupp Editor & Publisher Newspapers using online video are now eligible for one of the most prestigious awards in broadcasting. The Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards for excellence in broadcast journalism have expanded the categories of entries to include Web-only news broadcasts, a release states. Newspapers posting online video reports are among those now eligible, a Columbia spokeswoman said. “The jury will look for the best example of an
original news story using video or audio that is broadcast exclusively online. The deadline for entries is July 1,” a release stated. “The duPont jury looks for excellence in reporting and evidence of commitment to important stories.” Columbia spokeswoman Clare Oh told E&P the expanded criteria means newspapers can submit their online news reports and related video as well. The change comes just months after Columbia’s Pulitzer Prizes expanded its criteria to allow Web-only news outlets to compete with the print newspaper entries. Submissions can be made at www.dupont.org.
JV CircLabs to offer publishers new ad-targeting service Tameka Kee paidContent.org Can a new tech service that packages online news with social media features and a multi-tiered payment system (including subscriptions and micro-payments) save journalism? That’s the question CircLabs, a new JV between the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) and a group of media entrepreneurs, will try to answer when it rolls out “Circulate,” a personalized news syndication service later this year. Full details on how Circulate will work aren’t clear, but CircLabs says the service will use technology to solve two specific publisher problems: the issue of attracting “loyal” readers on both a local and na-
tional scale, and monetizing them effectively through both direct sales and advertising. The advertising?like the content?will be targeted based on user-supplied demographic info; CircLabs co-founder and principal Bill Densmore said Circulate will have “stringent protections” for consumer privacy built in from the start. The product is an expansion on research Densmore conducted during an RJI fellowship over the past year; he’s joined by CircLabs principals Martin Langeveld (of Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab), Joe Bergeron (a product development expert and serial entrepreneur) and Jeffrey Vander Clute (also a software and systems developer). The company said it was in “conversations” with several strategic partners like the AP, though there were no official deals to announce yet.
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Web classified ads double in use over the last four years Andrew LaVallee Wall Street Journal Almost half of Internet users have used online classified ads, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Forty-nine percent of online adults surveyed said they’ve visited sites like Craigslist, Kijiji and Oodle, up from only 22 percent in 2005. The study says that 9 percent of Internet users visit these sites on any given day, compared with 4 percent four years ago. “Classified ads sites are a onestop-’shop’ for everything from jobs to apartments to furniture to movers to puppies,” Pew researcher Sydney Jones writes. “However, users don’t buy anything directly on classified Web sites — they use the sites to set up meetings, and transactions are conducted in per-
son or by mail — a characteristic which separates online classifieds from auction or shopping Web sites like eBay and Amazon.” They are particularly popular with 25- to 44-year-old Web users, more than half of whom use Web classifieds, while just under half of 18- to 24-year-olds and 45- to 54-year-olds — 49 percent and 48 percent, respectively — use them. Those figures fall for users over 55: 35 percent of 55- to 64year-olds browse the sites, while 26 percent of Internet users over 65 do. Use of classified sites also increases with income and education, with online adults earning $50,000 or more, as well as college graduates, considerably more likely to have visited them.
The findings point out “the growing importance of such sites to Internet users and reflect the changes in the audience for classified ads — both those who place them and those who make purchases — that have devastated a key revenue source for traditional newspapers,” Ms. Jones writes. As Eric Savitz noted on Tech Trader Daily, newspaper classified revenue fell to $10 billion from $17.3 billion over the same period. Real-estate classifieds are down 52 percent since their peak in 2006, while classified advertising for cars and jobs have also tumbled. Total Web ads for newspapers in 2008 were $3.1 billion, the Newspaper Association of America says.
To the rescue: Newspaper content cops Evan Hessel Forbes.com It’s a publishing paradox. Newspaper executives complain that bloggers and small Web sites are stealing their content and, as a result, their advertising revenues. Yet each day, their publications post the raw text of thousands of articles, free for anyone to copy and repurpose. So far, content piracy by bloggers and small Web sites has sparked angry pronouncements but little action. At a newspaper industry conference in San Diego last month, Dean Singleton, chief executive of newspaper publisher MediaNews and chairman of the Associated Press, said publishers were “mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore.” Shortly thereafter, the AP announced its intention to build an “Intellectual Property Protection” program to help publishers make sure their content is used legally and to help readers more easily find newspaperproduced sources of news. But the AP hasn’t specified the technological tools it will use to track news on the Web. While the AP tries to figure out how it will attack text pirates, two start-up companies have already
developed content tools that could potentially reshape how content is distributed and monetized on the Web. This week, Scribd, a document-sharing outfit in San Francisco, unveiled a system for publishing secure bodies of text and distributing them across the Web. The product, called Scribd Store, allows publishers to post documents on their Web sites in a secured widget. Redistributors, such as bloggers, can repost the document on their site only through the widget and cannot extract the raw text. Scribd can also use the widget to track precisely which sites reuse the content. Scribd Store’s initial users are mostly publishers of long-form electronics books who sell access for one-time payments, says co-founder Jared Friedman. But the distribution system could easily be applied to newspaper and magazine Web sites. By making the secured widget the only mechanism for reposting the content, the news publishers could make sure that all editorial and advertising content remains in tact as other Web sites post their work. Another Bay Area start-up, Attributor, hopes to attack the piracy problem by giving publishers tools to hunt down republications of their text and claim a chunk of any advertising sold against it.
Get your scissors and tape ready: Here’s Kevin’s list of favorite products Kevin Slimp Institute of Newspaper Technology kevin@kevinslimp.com Each year, I release a list of hardware and software recommendations for newspapers. With newspapers spending less this year, I’ve trimmed this list to items which tend to be of most interest. So get your scissors and tape ready. Here’s my 2009 list of recommended hardware and software for newspapers: Mid-Priced Cameras It’s a great time to purchase a new camera. The mix of quality and prices has never been better. Here are a couple of my favorites: Canon 450D (Rebel XSi): Even though it’s been on the market for over a year, the 450D still packs a lot of punch for the money. With a resolution of over 12 Mb, the Rebel XSi boasts LiveView, which allows you to see the image you’re shooting through the screen on the back of the camera,
as well as the ability to shoot up to 53 continuous pictures at 3.5 frames per second. And it’s hard to beat the ever-decreasing price, which is getting closer to $500 with each passing day. Nikon D5000: Just released in April, the D5000 is built upon the small chassis of the D60 but adds many attributes of the D90. A notable feature borrowed from the D90 is high-definition video capability. The D5000 can record video at 720p (1280720 pixels at 24 frames per second), and video can be captured using a Nikkor lens. With a resolution of 12.3 Mb and a speed of 4 frames per second, the $729 price tag seems almost too good to be true. Scanner Epson 4490: Epson continues to offer the best scanners for the money. The 4490 has been around for over a year, but it still offers the most bang for the buck. At a minimum, scanners should be replaced every two years. The quality of the scans depreciates significantly after a b o u t 18 months. If it’s price that’s holding you back, Epson has
Institute of Newspaper Technology Announces October Lineup Many of you know that Kevin directs a training program for newspaper designers, publishers and I.T. related staff called the Institute of Newspaper Technology. The schedule for the October 15-17, 2009 session is complete and includes classes in InDesign, scripting, photo editing, video production for Web sites, Flash, Illustrator, InCopy, Adobe Bridge, digital photography, audio slideshow creation, fonts, editing photos in camera raw, Photoshop, font management and more. Basic and advanced classes are offered. Instructors include Lisa Griffin, Russell Viers, Lesa Snider, Jay Nelson, Rob Heller and Kevin Slimp. Guest speakers will also be on hand. For more information, visit newspaperinstitute.com.
The Sony Webbie comes in three colors and two styles. Use it to shoot high denition video or 5 megapixel photos.
models starting at $49 and, if you want to spend a little more, the Epson V500 offers twice the resolution for $199. For value and quality, it’s hard to beat the 4490. Desktop Computer iMac: For page layout and design, you can’t beat the iMac. Well, you can beat it (Mac Pro), but you’d spend about $1,500 more (with the monitor) and rarely notice the difference in speed. For $1,499, you get 4 Gb RAM and a built-in 24 inch monitor. Software Adobe Acrobat Pro 9.0: The latest rendition of Acrobat includes two features that make it well worth the $150 upgrade price. The first is Acrobat’s ability to convert fonts to curves, relieving users of all the printing errors that can occur when CID fonts make their way into PDF files. The second is the Color Conversion tool that actually works the way you hoped it would. With a couple of clicks of your mouse, all colors are converted to grayscale, CMYK or whatever. GIMP: A free application offering many of Photoshop’s features. Available on both Mac and PC platforms, GIMP lacks the ability to work with RAW format images but includes most other features used by newspapers when editing photos. It’s very handy for folks who normally wouldn’t have Photoshop available, yet need an option for quickly changing the wrong color format or resolution. Free downloads are avail-
able at gimp.org. Backup Drive LaCie Big Disk Quadra: LaCie has built my favorite backup disks for a long time and they continue to bring home the awards to prove their merit. The Big Disk Quadra offers four interfaces - eSATA, USB, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 to satisfy just about any computer specifications. Available in several sizes, the 2 Tb version lists for $399. Online Tools Publish2.com: Create your own Web page - increasing traffic to your site - using links to content that’s already been created on other sites. It couldn’t be easier. Plus it’s free. Ning.com: Don’t go to the trouble of programming your own social networking site when Ning does it for you for free. In just a few minutes, you’ll have a site up and running. To see an example of a site created by a newspaper, visit gosmokies.ning.com. Video Camera Sony Webbie: There are two versions of this handy camcorder. Both offer high definition video and 5 MP still photos. The audio is excellent for the price, and the camcorders are small enough to fit in your jacket pocket. Choose from two styles and several colors. $169-$189. OK. Go ahead and tape this to your wall or, better yet, your boss’s wall. There’s a good chance it will still be there in 20 years.
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Helping reporters out thing to say.” In just under a year, HARO, has become the de-facto standard for thousands of journalists looking for sources on deadline, offering them more than 100,000 sources around the world looking to be quoted in the media. HARO is currently the largest free source respository in the world, sending out more than 1,200 queries from worldwide media each week. Each day Peter sends out three emails Perri Collins including a total of around 100 requests each from folks in the media (journalists Communications Manager and bloggers alike) seeking sources for their forthcoming articles. Have you heard about HARO? Finding experts can be a very time I was at a journalism networking event last night and many of the consuming process and especially difficult for obscure subjects. HARO’s tagline is freelancers I spoke with mentioned “Everyone’s an expert at something,” and HARO and the success they’ve had to be sure, people have not been shy about using it. sharing their expertise and gaining some HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out, and it began when author exposure while helping a reporter out in the and PR professional Peter Shankman process. His army of sources continues to decided to help connect his journalist grow fast, spreading by word of mouth and reputation. friends with sources for stories. If you freelance, and even if you don’t, According to Shankman, “I built check out HARO. It’s free, it’s informative this list because a lot of my friends and you never know where your next big are reporters, and they call me all story will come from. the time for sources. Rather than go Interested in more information? Surf through my contact lists each time, I figured I could push the requests out over to www.haro.net and tell us about your experiences with this unique service. to people who actually have some-
Contact ANA Staff Executive Director Paula Casey............... Ext. 102 p.casey@ananews.com Communications Mgr. Perri Collins............... Ext. 110 p.collins@ananews.com Accounting Assistant Liisa Straub................ Ext. 105 l.straub@ananews.com Media Buyer Cindy Meaux............. Ext. 112 c.meaux@ananews.com Network Ad MGR. Sharon Schwartz....... Ext. 108 s.schwartz@ananews.com Network Sales Rep. Don Ullmann............. Ext. 111 d.ullmann@ananews.com
2008-2009 ANA/Ad Services Board of Directors President Dick Larson, Western News&Info, Inc. One-Year Dir./Daily First Vice President Teri Hayt, Arizona Daily Star Two-Year Dir./At-large Second Vice President Ginger Lamb, Arizona Capitol Times Two-Year Dir./Non-Daily Third Vice President Don Rowley, Arizona Daily Sun Two-Year Dir./Daily Secretary/Treasurer Rick Schneider, Eastern Arizona Courier One-Year Dir./Non-Daily
Events Calendar June 8, 2009 • SPJ Freelancing and Finances workshop, Phoenix June 11-14, 2009 • IRE conference, Baltimore June 26, 2009 • DEADLINE for BNC entries October 10, 2009 • ANA 2009 Annual Meeting and Fall Convention October 15-17, 2009 • Newspaper Institute, Knoxville, Tenn. November 12, 2009 • Volunteers needed for Mississippi Press Assoc. contest judging, Phoenix November 14-15, 2009 • PodCampAZ, Tempe
STAY in touch with ANA on the Web! Facebook: www.facebook.com/group.php ?gid=30800632683
Directors Tom Arviso, Navajo Times Two-Year Director/Non-Daily
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com /photos/ananewsflash
Nicole Carroll, The Arizona Republic Two-Year Director/Daily
Myspace: www.myspace.com/ananews
Pam Miller, The Verde Independent Two-Year Dir./At-large John Naughton, Payson Roundup One-Year Dir./Non-Daily Jody VandenHeuvel, East Valley Tribune One-Year Dir./Daily Pam Mox, Green Valley News and Sun Past President
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