ANA/APME BNC Award winners The Arizona Newspapers Association, in partnership with the Arizona Associated Press Managing Editors, held their annual awards reception on Oct. 10, 2009, at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix. By merging the two organization’s contests, newspapers were able to enter into a total of 27 categories, eight for newspapers as a whole and 19 for individual excellence. New categories for ANA members included Best Multimedia Storytelling, Best Sports Column, Enterprise Writing and Story of
the Year. This year, 54 newspapers and 16 high schools entered in the Better Newspapers Contest. A special thank you to the Mississippi Press Association for judging the entries. The East Valley Tribune and Payson Roundup once again took the coveted award for Arizona Newspaper of the Year in their respective circulation divisions. Newspaper of the Year awards are calculated from honors won in the Excellence in Advertising Contest added together with winning entries from the Better Newspapers Contest.
WWW. ANANEWS.COM
OC TOBER 2009
Dean Knuth, Arizona Daily Star was selected as the 2009 Photographer of the Year for daily newspapers and Dave Brown, San Pedro Valley News-Sun and Arizona Range News was named the 2009 Photographer of the Year in the non-daily division. The 2009 Journalist of the Year in the dailies division is Rob O’Dell, Arizona Daily Star and in the non-daily division, Peter Aleshire, Payson Roundup. The event concluded the ANA 2009 Fall Convention. The complete winner’s list can be found at http://ananews.com.
The Arizona Capitol Times staff garnered 18 awards at the 2009 Arizona Newspapers Association/Arizona Associated Press Managing Editors Better Newspapers Contest. From left are Josh Coddington, Bill Coates, Matt Bunk, Ginger Lamb, Don Harris, Jim Small, Christian Palmer, Jeremy Duda and Luige del Puerto.
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Executive director’s annual report I would like to start by thanking Dick Larson for all his work as president this last year and for the last five years of service on the ANA board. It has been a pleasure to work with Dick. I do not have to tell you that this year has been an especially challenging year for our industry and ANA has not been immune to the same challenges Paula Casey that newspapers are facing. Executive Director ANA was forced to cut back on staff earlier in the year and layoff several long time employees. While this move has helped to bring some sanity to our budget, it has also offered more challenges to do the same work with 40 percent less staff. In the past, the ANA board of directors has conducted a retreat every two years, to reassess association goals and direction for the future. We last met in August 2008 in Payson and this is what our committees have done since then and throughout 2009. Our Marketing Committee, led by Rick Schneider, Eastern Arizona Courier, and staffed by Sharon Schwartz and Cindy Meaux, worked to find ways to bring new revenue sources to our members. Sharon and Cindy have gathered information from members so clients can place ads in the Online Marketing Program. While we have had only a few placements to date, we have the data ready when a client calls. Another program we have built up in the last three years is the classified aggregation Web site. With a huge drop in the numbers of classified ads, revenue to participating newspapers has also dropped. Vendors, such as Verican, has several new products which could give participating members new revenue sources such as an e-edition, a personals page and online business directories. ANA staff continues to look at new vendors with products which might also benefit our members. Sharon, along with network Sales representative Don Ullman, has recently developed a zoned version of the AzCAN network program which we hope will
October 2009 ■ ANAgrams
increase sales. Our Awards committee, led by Don Rowley, Arizona Daily Sun, and ANA staffer Perri Collins, has instituted several changes this year. As you all know, we went to the online entry system for both our advertising contest and BNC. Also in 2009, we partnered with the Arizona APME for the BNC contest and our Freedom of Information awards. This has reduced the time and expense for our newspapers to enter. Michelle Williams, AP Bureau Chief, was a great help in making this change. The Education committee, led by Pam Mox, Green Valley News and Sun, put together a great program for the convention. The 2010 committee will be led by Nicole Carroll, The Arizona Republic. While we have yet to start plans for 2010, we envision more opportunities for our membership to make use of Webinars. There are many organizations across the country (SNA, SNPA, Borrelle’s, etc.) that have created Webinars and allow press associations to utilize them at a discount. We will continue to keep a list of education opportunities available on the ANA Web site. Earlier this year, the ANA board elected to host only one meeting for 2009 and to cut the time to one (albeit very full) day. After this meeting we will re-evaluate and decide our convention and meeting format for 2010. Our Finance Committee, which consists of our Executive Committee led by Dick Larson, has continued to watch the finances of the association and ad services very closely. It was through the foresight of the finance committee in previous years, that ANA was able to build up a reserve account while economic times were good. Thankfully, we have not needed to draw from these reserves. On a cheerier note, ad services survived an IRS audit earlier in the year. What started out as an audit of 2006 soon grew to include 2007 and 2008. The only fault found was in how our legal and lobbying fees had been expensed. This has now been corrected. It should give you some security in knowing that we were highly praised by the investigating agent for our meticulous record keeping and procedures. continued on page 3
ANA office will be closed for the holidays
The Arizona Newspapers Association office will be closed for Thanksgiving, Nov. 26-27, Christmas, Dec. 24-25 and New Year’s, Dec. 31-Jan. 1.
ANAgrams ■ October 2009
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Annual report continued from page 2 In addition to the cutbacks in staff and several other areas, we did not publish print copies of ANAgrams in 2009. Perri Collins has done a great job of sending out our weekly e-mail blast “This week at ANA.” Once a month, ANAgrams is distributed in .PDF format. This has proven to be an effective way for ANA to communicate with our membership. This will continue in 2010. We have also discontinued using the membersonly section of our Web site. I hope to find a more cost-effective alternative to the member-only section in the next year. Our Public Policy Committee, also known as the Legislative Committee is led by Ginger Lamb, Arizona Capitol Times, and staffed by myself. Ginger is in a perfect position for this committee, as she has her finger on the pulse of the capitol. Her proximity and contacts will continue to help ANA with our 2010 legislative agenda. Our PublicNoticeAds.com Web site currently has 16 states uploading their Public Notices to it. Nevada will join this group in the coming months for a total of 17 states. I would encourage your newspapers to remain vigilant in making sure that your uploads are done on a regular basis. A monthly e-mail, which is sent out directly from the system, alerts publishers to the actual number of notices uploaded by their staff. This allows them to match the number printed with the number. The ANA staff will be sending out another batch of promotional ads for the PublicNoticeAds. com Web site soon. Arizona has gone from approximately 82,000 page views in January 2009 to almost 180,000 page views in August. The site overall has received over 10 million page views through September 30, 2009. We know the site is being utilized, but I would love to see these numbers grow even more. If
our newspapers can run a promotional ad on a regular basis, more citizens will know about the Web site and hopefully use it. This makes our public notice arguments that much stronger! Moving on to our legislative agenda: As in 2009, we foresee the budget taking another huge role in what goes on at the 2010 legislature. Our lobbyist, John Moody, did a fabulous job for us this last legislative session. John was instrumental in our victories on the Public Notice front in 2009. Unfortunately, we have gotten wind that we may be re-visiting this issue in 2010. The League of Cities has officially listed the public notice issue as one of its resolutions for 2010. While this does not mean we will definitively see another public notice bill, we are definitely keeping a watchful eye. As in 2009, we will be asking publishers to help us out in many ways, including editorials, phone calls and direct contact with your legislators. We are asking our membership to re-engage on the public notice issue. The legislative committee recently created a Public Notice Task Force to look at strategies to specifically engage our membership and continue to fight threats to public notices. You will be hearing more from this committee in the coming weeks. In conclusion, as in previous years, I am sure I speak for our new president, Teri Hayt, and the entire board in asking you to consider becoming more active in ANA. I have given you a brief explanation of what our committees are doing and we are always looking for new participation. Please keep this in mind in the coming months. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have regarding time commitments for each committee. It has been an extremely challenging year, but I am ever hopeful that 2010 will show improvement for ANA and its member newspapers.
Postal Service pledges no rate increases for 2010 Christopher Hosford BtoB Magazine The U.S. Postal Service has announced it will not increase prices in 2010 for such market-dominant products as first-class and standard mail, periodicals and single-piece parcel post. “We want mailers to continue to invest in mail to grow their business, communicate with valued customers and maintain a strong presence in the marketplace,” Postmaster General John E. Potter said
in a statement. “We are committed to working with customers to find ways to grow the mail through innovative incentives like the Summer Sale and contract pricing.” Potter made the announcement, he said, to allow business clients to prepare their 2010 direct-mail budgets more confidently.
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October 2009 ■ ANAgrams
In conclusion …. See you at the dinner table
I have just concluded my year we know intellectually that we are as President of ANA. When it’s part of a larger something, but it a difficult year for newspapers, it is thought, not an experience. At only follows that it’s a difficult year the dinner table, we get a concrete, for the newspapers’ association. visceral picture of what the place is Some people have kidded with me like and how it is doing. Whether saying, “What did you do to dethe meal becomes a warm converserve this?” or “You got the year sation or a food fight, we still get from…..” the picture. Of course, we are all dismayed A year as President of ANA by the economic conditions that rekindles your fire for the industry have undeservedly affected friends, and reaffirms what can be accomfamily, staff and have made our plished when we work together. jobs more difficult. On a lighter That was never more apparent note, it took me about thirty years than the outcome of our legislato step up and serve this associative efforts this year. Once again, tion, so maybe you get what you members doing their part protected deserve. publication of public notices in I’ve now spent five years on newspapers and access to public High school football. Photo by Patrick Ng. the ANA Board and this year as information for all. president, but the fact is, over a So I would ask that you conlong career in Arizona newspapers, I have been rather sider not being like me -- erratic in your involvement erratic in my support and involvement with ANA. In in this wonderful association that does so much good the mid 70’s, I was a young advertising rep and privifor our industry and the public we serve. leged to attend ANA conventions, especially in FlagYou will be hearing from us. We will be asking staff at Little America. For me, they were stimulating, you for help with the public notice fight. We invite educational and one of the high points of the year. I you to “come to the dinner table” and be part of somealways came away feeling on top of the world and so thing larger, whether as a board member, a committee proud to be a part of newspapers. Like many of us, member, a participant in ANA events or as a shortpriorities and responsibilities changed. My time was term contributor to a task force working on a specific consumed with my job, my family and my activities in project. Maybe you have a rising star on your staff the local community. There were many years when I who deserves wider exposure to the industry through didn’t attend ANA conventions and awards receptions. ANA participation. Let us know. I missed out on learning experiences, interactions beAnother thing a year as president will do for you: tween colleagues and I missed out on opportunities to I’ve developed a huge appreciation for the sixty-six contribute and be a part of such an important associaANA presidents before me. I know every one faced tion. his or her challenges with the position. You don’t give Richard Axelrod, in his book Terms of Engageyour predecessors much thought until you’ve been ment - Changing the way we change organizations, there. says this about meeting and associating with one I’ve also learned that we all should have a huge another and contributing for the larger good: appreciation for Paula Casey and the ANA staff. It’s It is much like the meaning dinnertime has for our the people doing the job day-to-day who are really experience of the family (on those occasions when meeting the challenges. Paula and her staff have done we eat together). It is when all of us are at the dinner a remarkable job. table together that we get the sense of a wh+ole. It is Thanks for this opportunity. I’ll be back at the dinthe moment that we are physically reminded that we ner table as past-president next year. In whatever way are part of something larger. When we are on our own, you can, I hope you will join me.
ANAgrams ■ October 2009
The Next ANA President
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Teri Hayt
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Managing Editor of the Arizona Daily Star. Since June of 2004 she has been responsible for the day-to-day operations in the newsroom including building a strong front page that reflects the interests of the community, engages readers with stories that make them smarter, looks out for their interests and gives them something to talk about. During more than 30 years in the publishing industry, Hayt has held staff management positions at Time-Life Books, Inc., Sports Illustrated, The San Diego Union, Newsday and The Orlando Sentinel. Hayt holds a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Maryland. Hayt is a member the Society of News Design, serves on ANA’s legislative committee, is a member of the board of the Arizona Associated Press Managing Editors organization and is a member of the First Amendment committee for the national Associated Press Managing Editors organization. POWER AND FUTURE OF THE ASSOCIATION: The Arizona Newspapers Association is a powerful voice for newspapers and our communities throughout Arizona. Our influence is vital in the Legislature and across the state as we look for new business models within our industry and help influence and draw businesses to Arizona. Newspapers are going through a sea change. The ANA must become a beacon for smaller papers and an example for editors and community leaders to look to in the next several years. We must lead at this time of change, finding new revenue, continuing to push watchdog journalism in our state and make innovation a priority. Our members are our greatest resource and we must engage the very talented journalists, editors and publishers in forward-thinking conversation. The ANA’s mission has not changed; being a powerful advocate for open government, finding new revenue and supporting current revenue streams for ANA member papers, identifying new skills needed for our members to succeed in this changing economy and honoring Arizona member paper’s commitment to excellence. 2010 GOALS: ANA will assess our current business model and make recommended changes to the board. We must identify at least one new business model to drive revenue in the next six months.
October 2009 ■ ANAgrams
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PublicNoticeAds.com sees increase in use Over the past eight months, PublicNoticeAds. com has shown a continual increase in visitors to its Web site, both in Arizona and as a whole. There are 16 states that currently participate in the program. Public notices are an important service for many newspapers, and promoting PublicNoticeAds.com offers your readers another way to access the information they need, from a trusted source. PublicNoticeAds.com is a collaboration with participating newspapers to provide online access to legal advertisements in Arizona and other states. Public notices have traditionally been published in local newspapers, but in the past few years, the Arizona legislature has proposed modifications to the current public notice laws, from changing the print requirements to eliminating them altogether. The site was the brainchild of Diana Creighton, the former publisher of the Arizona Capitol Times, in 1998. Even then, legislators were discussing the benefits of placing public notices online. She wanted to be proactive and create a centralized Web site for all Arizona’s newspapers to post their legal ads. It was so successful that other states soon began joining in. “It’s obvious it has immense value,” said Paula Casey, ANA’s executive director. One way newspapers can inform their readers
about the importance of public notice is to start a column or series about it. Publishers can also use the promotional ads on ANA’s Web site. New promo ads are being developed and will be emailed to publishers in a few weeks. See the example below.
Want to search Arizona legal notices? Subscribe now to have legal notices emailed to you based on YOUR custom search criteria.
Public Notice Arizona www.PublicNoticeAds.com
A public service provided by Arizona Newspapers Association
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
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July
Aug.
sep.
Arizona
104,665
127,829
107,255
134,146
133,855
160,094
179,196
142,369
All states
1,061,854
1,381,758
1,120,675
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1,449,756
www.PublicNoticeAds.com Remind your readers! together, Arizona’s newspapers and the free web site www.Publicnoticeads.com offer our state’s citizens the widest possible access to public notices. in print and online, Arizonans have access to the important community information they need. looking for house ads to help promote Publicnoticeads.com? Find them online at http://ananews.com/pubnot/pubads.html
ANAgrams ■ October 2009
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Cronkite offers Ph.D. to mid-career media professionals
The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University is announcing a new research Ph.D. program targeting mid-career media professionals who want to work in education or sharpen skills and return to the media consulting professions. The Cronkite Ph.D. is designed to retool the career professional. The program is different from most in several ways. It is a mentoring program matching students’ needs with faculty expertise, providing an individually tailored program of study. The intent of the new Ph.D. is to immerse the student in the activities of original research. The degree is based in the study of philosophy, theory, differing scientific methodologies and critical thinking. People with media experience are expected to bring divergent topical interests and will work with faculty mentors researching and developing those interests.
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Photo by Brian Indrelunas.
The new program is interdisciplinary, requiring complementary course work outside of the Cronkite School as a part of the student’s program of study. A Ph.D. in addition to professional experience provides a mid-career professional a balanced base for careers in either education or the
related business research professions. The deadline for student applications is February 1, 2010 and the first class begins August 2010. Detailed information can be found online at: http://cronkite.asu.edu/
Riggins recipient of WCAA Horn Award On September 15, Sandra Riggins, classified advertising manager at Tucson Newspapers, was named the recipient of the Western Classified Advertising Association’s prestigious Charles W. Horn Memorial Award for her “outstanding contributions to classified advertising.” Riggins became just the 30thWCAA member to win the award since it was first handed out in 1960. Riggins’ impressive career got it’s start 34 years ago. In 1975, after earning a fine arts degree from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Riggins entered the newspaper business as a graphic designer at the Yuma Daily Sun in Yuma, Ariz. Soon after, she left design work for advertising, where her passion, natural talent and hard work helped her rise quickly up the ranks.When Riggins left the Yuma Daily Sun in 1986 she has achieved the position of advertising director. Over the next five years, her career gained momentum with stints at the Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.), Miami Herald (Miami), and Sarasota Herald Tribune (Sarasota, Fla.), before returning to the Yuma Daily Sun in 1991. In 1995, Tucson Newspapers became the lucky recipient of Riggins talents when she was hired as Classified Manager. Since then, she has led a team of dedicated sales people for Tucson Newspapers and the Arizona Daily Star. To the folks at Tucson Newspapers, the award is just further recognition of the tremendous influence that she has had on the newspaper industry, her colleagues and her staff.
October 2009 ■ ANAgrams
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Social Science Research Council grant funds workshop, panel discussion, new course A $50,000 grant from the Social Science Research Council is enabling three University of Arizona units to partner to improve public understanding of Islam and the Middle East. The grant, awarded to the UA’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies in partnership with the School of Journalism and the Department of Near Eastern Studies, aims to improve the understanding of Islam and Muslims among journalists and the audiences with whom they communicate. A second goal involves training academic experts on Islam and Muslim communities to effectively communicate with journalists. In spring 2010, Sarah Gassen, editorial writer at the Arizona Daily Star, and Maggy Zanger, an associate professor of practice in journalism, will teach an international opinion writing class in the School of Journalism with funding from the grant. The course will enable students to explore the role, importance and process of writing editorials about international issues. The Center for Middle Eastern Studies also has built a database of UA faculty members who are experts in different areas of the Middle East and are willing to talk to the media. The School of Journalism will assist in turning this into a Web-based searchable database.
The grant has already funded other successful initiatives. On Oct. 10, three faculty members traveled to Phoenix to speak to journalists attending the Arizona Newspapers Association convention. Shahira Fahmy (journalism) and Maha Nassar and Scott Lucas (Near Eastern Studies) were part of a panel discussion on “Islam In the News: Bridging the Worlds of Academia and Journalism.” A panel of experts offered tips to professors and graduate students on writing effective commentaries at a Sept. 25 workshop called “Writing for the Media: Helping the Public Understand the Middle East & Islamic World.” The panel featured Gassen; William O. Beeman, a professor and chair of anthropology at the University of Minnesota and the author of more than 600 opinion pieces; and Mark Kimble, former editorial page editor of the Tucson Citizen. The Social Science Research Council, according to its Web site, is an independent, nonprofit international organization founded in 1923. It nurtures new generations of social scientists, fosters innovative research, and mobilizes necessary knowledge on important public issues.
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ANAgrams ■ October 2009
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Understanding Arizona’s fiscal challenges: An economics conference for journalists Join journalists from throughout Arizona for a daylong educational conference designed to help reporters and editors in their coverage of the critical fiscal/ economic issues impacting communities throughout the state. Arizona is facing a series of tough financial years with ramifications that will impact every citizen. This interactive conference will feature a faculty of experts who will help participants improve their knowledge and provide helpful context with the goal of strengthening content. Some of Arizona’s top newspapers are joining together to provide this forum for journalists. The journalism conference is part of the Governing Arizona project conducted by the Thomas R. Brown Foundations and TRBF. The conference will include: • The Economics of Government - An economics primer for journalists on government tax and revenue policies and their relationship to the overall economy. • Covering State Fiscal Issues: Putting Arizona in a National Context - Arizona is one of many states facing serious fiscal economic challenges. This session puts Arizona revenue and spending policies in a national context. • Governing Arizona: Evaluating Arizona’s State
Spending and Revenue and the Challenges Ahead This session is based upon a new report which will be released to the public the day after this journalism conference that is a 30-year summary of Arizona state government revenue and spending patterns. Journalists will be provided a copy of research for use in future coverage of these stories on both the state and local levels. • Journalist Roundtable Discussion - Journalists will join with faculty to discuss story ideas and approaches to fiscal and economic issues at the state, local, and national levels. The conference is opened to working journalists from all media and is available at no cost through the Thomas R. Brown Foundations (TRBF). The conference is part of the TRBF-TCI Governing Arizona programs which includes a series of educational programs and research studies. All conference materials and lunch are provided. This conference is sponsored by The Communications Institute, the Arizona Newspapers Association, The Arizona Republic, the Arizona Daily Star and the Arizona Capitol Times. Register online at http://bit.ly/tciaz.
TownNews.com joins AP in advancing the presentation of news online
The Associated Press and TownNews.com, a leader in publishing interactive content for newspapers in the United States, are expanding their affiliation to embrace hNews, the first microformat designed solely for online news content. The AP has announced the completion of the first draft of the microformat specification and TownNews.com plans to use hNews templates in its new BLOX Web content management system. Earlier this year, the AP and Media Standards Trust, a British nonprofit aimed at supporting high journalistic standards, jointly developed the non-proprietary, standards-based hNews microformat in a global effort to help the news industry adopt consistent news formats for online content. The hNews proposal was published as a draft microformat during the week of Oct. 12 at http://microformats.org/wiki/hNews. “hNews provides a consistent and higher fidelity way of presenting news online and enables the semantic interpretation of news for humans and machines,” said Todd Martin, vice president for technology and director of the AP news registry. “It also enables news publishers to add enriched metadata -- or tags -- to their content to improve the user experience, attract audiences and advertisers, and facilitate searching for specific types of content.” Martin announced the completion of the first draft of the hNews standard and said the latest development “extends microformat efforts by applying the basic principles of simplicity, reuse and semantic presentation specifically to news content on the Web.” TownNews.com helps more than 1,500 newspapers in the U.S., including members of the AP, publish interactive editions. TownNews.com’s new content management system will offer hNews as part of its core library of templates for its customers, enabling them to use hNews out-of-the-box on the new CMS platform. “We are pleased to work with The Associated Press to help newspapers move to the next level of content publishing,” said Marc Wilson, general manager of TownNews.com. “I believe every effort needs to be made to enhance the value of content produced by newspapers.”
October 2009 ■ ANAgrams
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SPJ’s ‘After Deadline’ meets next week
It all begins at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, October 28. Join the Valley of the Sun Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for this month’s exciting After Deadline mixer at Half Moon Sports Bar & Grill, 2121 E. Highland Ave. in Phoenix. Enjoy drinks (on you) and appetizers (sponsored by SPJ Phoenix).
Southwest Fair Housing Council offers refresher for newspaper sales staffs SWFHC is pleased to offer no cost, orientation and refresher sessions regarding the application of fair housing law to advertising for classified advertising staff of newspapers – large or small – serving communities throughout greater Arizona. Call Sandy Fagan at (520) 798-1568 or (888) 624-4611 or email to swfhc@dakotacom.net for more info and/or to arrange a free, fair housing refresher for your classified ad staff.
NNA’s annual readership study confirms strength of small market community newspapers Did you know that 80 percent of America’s newspapers have a circulation of 15,000 or less? Did you know that there are about 8,000 community newspapers in America that fit that description? Did you know that 86 million Americans read those community newspapers every week? Yet if you read the “the newspaper industry is failing” stories online, in the major daily newspapers and on television, it’d be a good guess that those reporters and bloggers don’t have a clue, don’t care, or can’t be bothered. Those stories tend to be based on readership and advertising numbers for the major daily newspapers in America, usually the top 100, sometimes the top 250. Yes, absolutely, those are big papers, important papers. But they are not the whole story. The National Newspaper Association, working with the research arm of the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism is completing its fourth year of research on the readership patterns of America’s community newspapers. The early data indicates fairly consistent findings all four years:
• 81% of those surveyed read a local newspaper each week. • Those readers, on average, share their paper with 2.36 additional readers. • Community newspaper readers spend about 40 minutes with their paper. • 73% read most or all of their community newspaper. • Nearly 40% keep their community newspaper more than a week (shelf life). • Three-quarters of readers read local news often to very often in their community newspaper while 53 percent say they never read local news online (only 12 percent say they read local news often to very often online). • Of those going online for local news, 63 percent found it on the local newspaper’s website, compared to 17 percent for sites such as Yahoo, MSN or Google, and 12 percent to the website of a local television station. • 60% read local education (school) news somewhat to very often in their newspaper while 65 percent never read local education news online. • Nearly half read local sports somewhat to very often in their newspaper while 70 percent never
read local sports online. • 62% read editorials or letters to the editor somewhat to very often in their newspaper while three quarters never read editorials or letters to the editor online. Three quarters of readers have read public notices in their community newspaper. • 68 percent have never visited the website of local government. • 47% say there are days they read the newspaper as much for the ads as for the news. • 30% do not have Internet access in the home. • Of those with Internet access at home, three-quarters have broadband access. The local community newspaper is the primary source of information about the local community for 60 percent of respondents: that’s four times greater than the second and third most popular sources of local news (TV/14 percent and friends and relatives/13.4 percent). Readers are 10 times more likely to get their news from their community newspaper than from the Internet (5.8 percent). Less than 5 percent say their primary local news source is radio.
Kevin: Brighter days ahead for newspapers Kevin Slimp Institute of Newspaper Technology kevin@kevinslimp.com
I’m seeing good things of late. People are starting to come out to conventions and training sessions again. Newspapers tell me they’re starting to refill positions that were cut last year. There’s an air of confidence in the industry, be it ever so slight, that gives me sincere hope for our future. One of the changes I’ve noticed most is the dissipation of gloom that seemed to pervade our industry just a few months ago. It’s like we woke from a bad dream to find that things aren’t really as bad as we thought they were. Sure there have been some scary months. And there will be more to come. But I think most of us have decided we’re going to be around for a while, so we might as well get things in order. The atmosphere at recent conferences in Saskatoon and Chicago was almost - dare I say - giddy. When newspaper people gather, they’re laughing again. Six months ago, I worried whether we’d be able to attract enough attendees to hold another session of the Institute of
Where is Kevin? Oct. 29: Wichita, Kansas Nov. 03: Knoxville, Tennessee Nov. 07: Toronto, Ontario Nov. 12-13: Timisoara, Romania To contact Kevin directly, email:
kevin@kevinslimp.com
Newspaper Technology. But October came and the session filled to capacity. We’re starting to give serious thought to questions about the future of newspapers. Maybe news won’t be printed on paper in a few years, as my friend Ken Blum has stated. Then again, maybe it will. He and I can continue to fight that battle over lunch the next time we’re together. The fact remains that we as an industry are finally realizing we control our own fate to a large degree, and it looks like we’re ready to begin steering our own course once again. Admittedly, I’ve not been im-
Kevin speaks at a publishers conference in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in September. (Photo by Jina Creighton) mune to the feelings of gloom. As newspapers worried, conference attendance declined. Three of my booked events at conferences were cancelled this year, a first for me. Less newspapers were calling for on-site consulting and training. But just as the mood seemed to change among our papers, the phone (well, e-mail) began to ring
again. Over the past few days, several state, regional, national and even a couple of international associations have called to book sessions at conferences in 2010. Sure, we’re not out of the woods. But I see the clearing. And after the past couple of years, I’m going to allow myself to enjoy that for a while.
Adobe Soundbooth Professional quality audio
At heart, I’m a print guy. Sure, I get invited to speak and write on online topics quite a bit, but it’s the written word that I love ... written on paper. However, I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck and I know the importance of having a Web site that doesn’t feel as if it was designed by a seventh grader. Newspapers usually sense the importance of videos, animated ads and headlines on their sites. But they often overlook an important aspect: audio. There are lots of ways to create audio for Web sites. If you want to get past the sound created using freeware applications or the audio programs that are built into most computers, consider Adobe Soundbooth. I could create a list of Soundbooth features, but since most of my readers aren’t professional sound engineers let me keep it simple: Audio created in Sound-
booth sounds great. Whether you’re improving the sound in a video, creating a podcast or whatever, you’ll feel like you’re working in a professional sound studio when you hear what comes from Soundbooth. For those audio pros out there, allow me to mention a few features: Recording and mixing audio clips: Record high-quality mono or stereo audio files, and work on more than one file at a time. Match the volume levels within a single clip or across multiple audio files. Fast audio cleanup: Use powerful, sample-accurate tools to cut, copy, paste, fade, and stretch audio assets. Intuitive on-clip tools make common edits remarkably easy, and visual feedback keeps you informed at every step. Multitrack support: Multitrack support allows you to create sounds composed of multiple clips and to mix multiple tracks
and scores. Speech search: Turn spoken dialogue into text-based metadata that makes your video searchable. Visual tools for healing sound: Use tools like those in Adobe Photoshop software to visually identify, select and remove unwanted sounds. Combined with my Plantronics 355 multimedia headset and iMac, Soundbooth provides everything I need to create high-quality recordings. And, if you’re lucky, you might already have a copy of Soundbooth lying around. It comes with three variations of CS4. Available separately for $199 (US), Soundbooth is available on both the Mac and PC platforms. For more information about Soundbooth, visit adobe.com. To learn more about Plantronics headsets, visit plantronics.com and click on “Computer & Gaming.”
October 2009 â– ANAgrams
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ANA JobBank COPY EDITOR/DESIGNER. The award-winning Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review has an immediate opening for a news and features copy editor/page designer. Strong news judgment, impeccable language skills, a flair for creative design and excellent time management abilities are musts. InDesign and multimedia experience preferred. E-mail resume, work samples and cover letter to Managing Editor Steve Byerly at steven.byerly@svherald.com. ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE. Jewish News of Greater Phoenix is looking for an experienced, hardworking print advertising account executive to join our professional sales team. You will make daily outside sales calls to a wide variety of variety of local businesses that are wonderful to work with. Your colleagues will be welcoming and supportive. The successful candidate will have a history of superior sales performance and be comfortable the Internet and e-mail. Jewish News has been serving the Valley for 60 years and publishes a weekly community newspaper, quarterly lifestyle magazine, annual community directory, and two Web sites -- jewishaz.com and chosenaz.com. This full time position includes base, commission and benefits. E-mail your resume and cover letter to publisher@jewishaz.com WEB EDITOR. When you tell a story, do you have pictures instead of words running through your head? Would you rather track down a story using a video camera rather than a notebook? Can you define a widget? The Arizona Capitol Times, an award-winning newspaper that covers politics and state government in Phoenix, seeks a talented multimedia expert to join its growing operation and take its Web site to the next level. We’re searching for a web editor who can write breaking news stories, create video, slideshows and podcasts, blog, and lead our social media efforts. We are looking for a self-starter with excellent news judgment and at least 1-2 years of web experience. Ideal candidates will have a degree in journalism or a related field and experience using Word Press, basic HTML, FinalCutExpress and Photoshop. The successful candidate also must have experience shooting video and creating interactive databases. Email letter, resume, references and three samples of your work to matt.bunk@azcapitoltimes.com.
Search job listings and resources on our Web site:
www.ananews.com/jobbank
Have a job opening? Place your ad with us for free! Email p.collins@ananews.com.
Executive Director Paula Casey............... Ext. 102 p.casey@ananews.com
President Teri Hayt, Arizona Daily Star One-Year Dir./Daily
Directors Tom Arviso, Navajo Times Two-Year Director/Non-Daily
Events Calendar
Communications Mgr. Perri Collins............... Ext. 110 p.collins@ananews.com
First Vice President Ginger Lamb, Arizona Capitol Times One-Year Dir./Non-Daily
Nicole Carroll, The Arizona Republic Two-Year Director/Daily
November 12, 2009 Mississippi Advertising Contest Judging - Volunteers needed, Phoenix
Contact ANA Staff
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
2009-2010 ANA/Ad Services Board of Directors
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT Don Rowley, Arizona Daily Sun Two-Year Dir./Daily Third Vice President John Naughton, Payson Roundup One-Year Dir./Non-Daily Secretary/Treasurer Rick Schneider, Eastern Arizona Courier One-Year Dir./Non-Daily
Pam Miller, The Verde Independent Two-Year Dir./Non-Daily Joni Weerheim, The Sun (Yuma) One-Year Dir./Daily Greg Tock, White Mountain Independent (Show Low) One-Year Dir./At-large Dick Larson, Western News&Info, Inc. Past President
ANAgrams is an official publication Arizona Newspapers Association 1001 N. Central Ave., Suite 670 Phoenix, AZ 85004
November 14-15, 2009 PodCampAZ, Tempe November 18, 2009 Cronkite Luncheon, Phoenix December 10, 2009 ANA Board of Directors meeting, Conference call February 10, 2010 ANA Board of Directors meeting, Conference call May 21, 2010 ANA Excellence in Advertising awards reception