September 2012 Colorado Editor

editor colorado

Official publication of the Colorado Press Association / coloradopressassociation.com / Vol. LXXXIII, No. 9

Inside: The Colorado Editor was spotted where?

PAGE 5

September 2012

Contest under way with anticipated changes The 2012 Colorado Better Newspaper Contest officially began Tuesday. The entry deadline is Oct. 16. The contest, conducted online for the first time last year, will again be online for both contestants and judges.

The contest, which will be judged by members of the Kansas Press Association, boasts some new categories, updated rules and instructions and entry limits in all categories to increase the level of competition among like-sized newspapers.

Among the most major changes is the addition of two circulation classes to more competitively distribute weekly newspapers.

“Weekly newspapers represent more than three quarters of the CPA newspaper membership, and the number of weekly newspapers in Colorado continues to grow,” said executive director Samantha Johnston.

“For decades, we have divided more than 100 newspapers ranging in circulation size

form 80 to 35,000 into three classes. In the spirit of fairness and fun competition, those same newspaper are now distributed across five circulation classes.”

The CPA Contest Committee, chaired

by CPA board member Mark Drudge, reviewed all aspects of the contest with recommendations for updates to the 2012 contest and further updates for 2013.

CONTEST on page 8

CPA members now have access to online sales skills program Sales staffs at CPA member newspapers can improve and reinforce their print and online sales skills using a unique web-based media sales certification program provided through CPA’s partnership with the Local Media Association (LMA). Current courses include Basic Online, Basic Print and Basic Print and Online with new courses being added in the next several months.

LMA, formerly Suburban Newspapers of America, developed the training program in partnership with Gordon Borrell, CEO, Borrell Associates, one of the media industry’s leading analysts, and Kevin McCrudden, president, MotivateAmerica, an expert in media convergence and sales and a national speaker on motivation, inspiration, management and leadership.

The sales training courses consist of nine 35 – 45 minute video webinars on topics including needs analysis, product knowledge, terminology, territory management, basic marketing, competitive media, presentation skills, answering objections and closing skills.

Upon completion of the nine modules, participants take a 50-question test that requires a 90% grade or higher to earn certification.

Results from the training since its launch to LMA members last fall have been outstanding. Some newspapers have used the certification program to introduce new salespeople to the basic skill sets they need to be successful. Others have used it as a refresher for experienced salespeople, with many companies requiring their entire

Jim Powell Photography In recognition of their many years of support to the Yuma County 4-H programs, CPA members the Yuma Pioneer and Wray Gazette were honored as the Outstanding Businesses of the Year prior to the Junior Livestock Sale in Yuma during the Yuma County Fair last month. Left to right, Yuma County Fair Queen Sara Brandner, Tony Rayl of the Yuma Pioneer, Lori and Kent Rose of the Wray Gazette and Yuma County 4-H Council President Jessica Schneider.

TRAINING on page 8

No room for slow news days with a well-planned editorial calendar

jim pumarlo

We’re in the dog days of summer, which often are accompanied by a slowdown in news. More than a few editors likely are challenged to generate substantive content. It’s time to turn to your editorial calendars.

You don’t have one? There’s no time like the present to begin drafting. In simplest terms, an editorial calendar shows the major editorial features planned for forthcoming editions. The content, typically outlined for the next

12 months, can be a useful tool for news and advertising departments. The calendars should be fluid and updated regularly.

Editorial calendars are likely a fixture in most advertising departments. They are typically generated when developing annual budgets and are used to attract advertisers. The calendars enable sales staffs to alert merchants and identify opportunities for them to pitch their products and services in conjunction

with focused editorial content. It’s standard procedure to list special sections – from a graduation insert to a tab featuring women business leaders to annual progress editions.

But I’m encouraging newspapers to look at editorial calendars in a much broader way. To be most effective, editorial calendars should be routinely reviewed by newsrooms – and communicated to readers.

The current election season

offers a perfect springboard to begin a newsroom conversation about editorial calendars, with a focus on both internal and external calendars.

Many of the external dates are obvious: candidate filing deadlines, endorsement conventions, candidate forums, campaign finance reports, and Election Day. Internal calendars should include notations for a variety of items, such as deadlines for collecting candidates’

PUMARLO on page 8

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colorado editor

September 2012

from the director

colorado editor ISSN #162-0010 USPS # 0122-940 Vol. LXXXIII, Issue 9 September 2012 Colorado Editor is the official publication of the Colorado Press Association and is published monthly at 1336 Glenarm Place.

Denver, CO 80204-2115 p: 303-571-5117 f: 303-571-1803 coloradopressassociation.com

Subscription rate: $10 per year, $1 single copy Staff Samantha Johnston Publisher/Executive Director sjohnston@colopress.net Brian Clark Design Editor Board of Directors OFFICERS President Brenda Brandt The Holyoke Enterprise bbholent@chase3000.com Vice President Bryce Jacobson Craig Daily Press bjacobson@craigdailypress.com Treasurer Terri House The Pagosa Springs SUN terri@pagosasun.com Secretary Keith Cerny Alamosa Valley Courier krcemail@aol.com DIRECTORS Mark Drudge Cortez Journal mdrudge@cortezjournal.com Bart Smith The Greeley Tribune bsmith@greeleytribune.com Jane Rawlings The Pueblo Chieftain janer@chieftain.com Laurena Mayne Davis The Daily Sentinel laurena.davis@gjsentinel.com David McClain Sterling Journal-Advocate dmcclain@journal-advocate.com Paula Murphy Trinidad Times Independent paulamurphy@ratonrange.com Curtis Hubbard The Denver Post chubbard@denverpost.com Periodical postage paid at Denver, CO 80202.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Colorado Editor 1336 Glenarm Place Denver, CO 80204-2115

September signals start of busy season September is my favorite month at September is the beginning of the Colorado Press Association. It signals annual contest, which brings back many the kick-off of some of the most fun fond memories from my days as a young work I get to do. It’s also the anniversary publisher when every open space in the month of my start at CPA in 2010.

Craig Daily Press building was covered September means campus visits. with newspapers as we searched for Annually, CPA and member newspathose award-winning entries. And now, per journalists visit the colleges and on the other side of the contest operauniversities in Colorado with four-year tion, I get to see all of the amazing work journalism programs. This year, we have samantha that our 200-plus newspaper members partnered with the Colorado chapter of johnston create. The CPA staff gets the privilege of the Society of Professional Journalists to looking at the best of the best, assembeef up our travel teams. We exchange bling the awards packets, picking up the cpa executive ideas, debate issues of the day learn granite Sweepstakes and General Exceldirector from college students pursuing a career lence awards and again being reminded in the industry. It’s an opportunity to that the industry we are part of is special. be reinvigorated by the energy, enthusiasm and September is the month when convention passion of young people who still get a sparkle in speakers start to gel and the planning for yet their eyes when they talk about being a reporter, another annual convening of the masses is in full or broadcaster or magazine writer or video swing. The challenge of pulling off a convention producer. It’s a reminder that there are thousands that meets the needs of members large and small, of young adults who depend upon all of us in entertains diverse audiences, offers value to veterthe industry to take good care of the newspaper ans and rookies alike and creates an atmosphere business; to grow and change with the times; of camaraderie and networking is something I and to create viable business strategies that will look forward to each year. And each year when ensure that eager journalists will have jobs upon the convention ends, I make a promise to myself graduation. that next year will be even better. I might be

biased, but I’ve seen the speaker line-up and convention details for 2013 and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be the best year yet.

September is budget season. I don’t know that anybody looks forward to the pain and agony of setting budgets, but it means to me that we have made it through another year and we have new opportunity for growth and improvement and innovation in the next year. Whether the year was fantastic or terrible, budget season signals a turning over of the proverbial leaf. And that’s exciting to me.

September also seems to be the time when major legislative discussions take place about issues in the upcoming season. At CPA, legislative season is all year. Our legislative committee is hard at work through the summer months, but now is the time when legislators and government organizations start to get serious about the issues that we will all come to the table to discuss in January.

I hope this column will remind you to pull contest entries, encourage you to budget to attend the 2013 convention, prompt you to reach out to legislators and candidates about our key issues if you haven’t already, and inspire you to attend a campus visit if you are interested.

guest column

Street papers operate under flag of unity For the two weeks of to the rest of the world. But 2012 Summer Olympics, do we really connect with conversations among the rest of the world, or just friends and colleagues look in on what’s the latest largely focused on the news item of the day? sporting events itself.

The Olympics brings Winning, medal counts, the world together every drugging, ages. Some other year—wouldn’t it be stories were inspirational, amazing to have a resource some heart-breaking, some that does that everyday? kristin just pure expressions of our And so, I introduce pazulski love for competition and street papers. Street sports. papers are newspapers denver voice Among my circles, I managing editor and magazines around didn’t hear much talk about the world that share the one of the most distinct stories and voices of a characteristics of the Olympics: the marginalized population—the on-going unity. homeless. They don’t grab the latest Unity, even if unacknowledged, news topic or headlines. They tell always underlies conversation the stories of the little people, the around the Olympics, but do we marginalized. You wouldn’t hear ever stop and think about the these stories anywhere else. weight of that—literally the whole Most street papers are also world is tuned in to the same coupled with a program that puts programming, events and sport at homeless people to work—selling nearly the same time. the paper for an income that helps On an average day, the world them get off the street, or at least is at our fingers tips—the internet live a better life on the street. brings us to it faster than it ever has, But what makes this group so at least in the developed countries. powerful, beyond our direct service Never have we ever been so in-tune to the homeless, is our network and

The Holyoke

Enterprise Community Newspaper covering Phillips County in NE Colorado

Full-Service Commercial Printing 970-854-2811•holyokeenterprise.com

But what makes (street papers) so powerful, beyond our direct service to the homeless, is our network and connection formed among states, countries and continents.”

Kristin Pazulski, Denver Voice managing editor connection formed among states, countries and continents.

The International Network of Street Papers and the North American Street Newspaper Association bring together nearly every street paper in existence.

The organization help these papers share stories, advice, programming and more through multi-day conferences, phone workshops and other communication.

Denver has a street paper—two actually. The Denver VOICE, a monthly paper, and the Denver Dialogue, mainly circulated among the homeless population. Every month I log onto the street-paper wire (similar to AP but exclusively for street papers) and have access to hundreds of stories from around the world. I download these stories and share them with our readers here.

These aren’t the stories you’ll find in other papers. It’s a view of the world totally unique, and not just a view of it, but into it. The stories are real. The people in the stories and the writers—they aren’t

correspondents reporting , they live there, often times have always lived there, and are writing for their readers. We are lucky enough to get to share these true insights through the network.

As the closing ceremonies ended and we turned on our computers to check up on the headlines from around the world, scanning for news about the latest war or economic crisis, don’t forget to seek stories that offer an opportunity to enter another country’s experience—a story that humanizes our world and has the potential to bring the entire world together everyday, not just five times every decade.

Find out more about the Denver VOICE www.denvervoice.org International Network of Street Papers www.street-papers.org North American Street Newspaper Association www.nasna.org

colorado editor

September 2012

from the president

obituaries

Legislative advocacy effort a benefit to newspapers, readers

Henry “Hank” Santistevan

One of the most Samantha Johnston works important services Colorado closely with Greg to Press Association provides strengthen our legislative our membership is connection and to keep legislative advocacy. Every member newspapers year, we work on dozens informed about key issues. of bills concerning access But, grass roots to government meetings involvement must be an and records, legal notice important part of our advertising and other issues organization’s legislative brenda that impact the ability of advocacy program. Few brandt citizens to understand how things are as powerful as government operates and the a community newspaper cpa ability of journalists to tell with a passionate voice. president important stories.

CPA works hard to ensure Legislative advocacy is that the majority of the a year round effort. While our focus time-consuming advocacy work is is passing, killing or amending bills done independent of our newspaper during the legislative session, the members. We call our membership summer months are spent finding to action when the power of that creative approaches to anticipated community voice is necessary. challenges, proactively garnering Recently, we emailed a letter support for our key issues and to Department of Safety executive partnering with various government director, James Davis. We asked that and lobbying entities to solve newspaper publishers and editors problems at the lowest level. agree to have their names listed in The CPA strategic plan involves support of the letter and to ask others a number of legislative goals and in their communities to do the same. objectives and the CPA Legislative There is strength in numbers, so I Committee is tasked with aligning its hope I can count on all of you to sign work with the strategic plan as well this letter. as managing unforeseen challenges.

You also should have received The committee, chaired by David a Legislative Toolkit via email. The McClain, Sterling Journal-Advocate, toolkit is a compilation of not only the meets monthly and just completed most critical issues for the Colorado an all-day work session to continue newspaper industry, but includes preparation for the upcoming session. contact information for legislators At the top of the list this summer and candidates and talking points has been organizing a campaign to help newspaper publishers and to keep the Commission on editors have important conversations Criminal and Juvenile Justice from with current and future lawmakers. proceeding to the legislature with In 2013, Colorado will see one a recommendation to repeal the of the largest legislative turnovers in newspaper theft statute; updating recent years, making connections to the Colorado Open Records Act to our senators and representatives and address digital fulfillment of records candidates more important than ever. requests; and developing the best I hope that we can all recommit to strategy for dealing with challenges to communicating effectively with our printed public notices. legislators to make a difference in our CPA lobbyist Greg Romberg industry. is critical to our legislative success To understand more about any of because of his relationship with our top legislative priorities, to voice lawmakers, strong institutional your opinions or to be involved in knowledge of the Colorado Open the Legislative Committee, contact Meetings Act, Colorado Open Samantha Johnston at 303-571-5117 Records Act and public notice or by email: sjohnston@colopress.net statutes, and his strong connections or Greg Romberg at gregromberg@ with government agencies and their comcast.net. lobbyists. CPA executive director

editor online

coloradopressassociation.com

Henry “Hank” Santistevan Sr. went to be with the Lord on Aug. 11, 2012. Preceded in death by his parents, Eufemia and Macedonio Santistevan; and three sisters. Survived by wife, Ameila “Emily;” children, Bob (Yvonne), Cora (Tim) Aragon and Henry Jr. (Esther); as well as brother, sisters, numerous nieces, nephews, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.

Born in Weston, Colo., Henry served his country during WWII. He later relocated to Pueblo, where he raised his family, retired from CF & I and enjoyed working for The Pueblo Chieftain until his passing.

Services were Friday, August 17, 2012.

3

John Nelson Logan

1938-2012 73, of Pueblo, formerly of Denver. John worked at the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and USA Today. Survived by his wife of 54 years, Marianne, and his son, Todd Logan; 4 grandchildren, Cody Logan, Raya Newton, Resa Cox, and Cara Logan; 1 great grandson Rhylann Cox; a dear friend Anne Brinkman. Preceded in death by his daughter, Vicki Ann. A tribute to John’s life was held Saturday, August 25, 2012.

in brief Dressman to lead writing class

CPA Past President Denny Dressman has been chosen to present a four-night class on writing at the University of Denver this fall as part of DU’s University College Enrichment Program. Colorado Press Association members may want to take advantage of this opportunity to have some of their staffers learn how to grow as writers.

Titled “A Writeshop: Strategies for Writing Good Well,” the program will be a hands-on workshop for all who want to improve their writing, whether they write for a newspaper; are working on a books or family history; are authoring a blog; or composing business correspondence and emails.

In addition to his 43-year career as a journalist and newspaper executive, Dressman is the author of five books and editor of three others.

The “Writeshop” will meet on four Wednesday evenings, November 7, 14, 28 and December 5, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Enrollment is available by phone at 303-871-2291; online at universitycollege.du.edu/ enrichment; or in person at University College, 2211 Josephine Street, Denver. Cost is $155.

CU launches internship program

Employers - please join CU Journalism’s NEW online internship system!

Employers looking to post internships and jobs – and students and alums looking for journalism work experience – can now do it all online.

Internship and Career Coordinator Christine Mahoney have launched JMC Career Services, a new online system found here https://www.myinterfase. com/cuboulder_journalism/employer/ The system lets employers to better connect with JMC students and grads, and helps us more closely track placement, employer evaluations and students’ internship experiences.

If you’d like to host a JMC student as an intern, or hire a student or recent grad, create an employer profile at the URL above.

Give Christine your feedback on the new system at Christine.Mahoney@Colorado.edu and follow us on Twitter @jmcinternships for daily updates.

If you need help creating your profile, please call the Career Services Help Desk at 303-492-4100.

4

colorado editor

cpa profile Lisa Woodworth Colorado Press Association Executive Assistant my brother so he helps Q: How did you start me out a lot. I am very your career at CPA? thankful. I also have two A: I started as a temporary dogs named Rascal P. Coal employee in the Train and Tille. They keep accounting department. my daughter, brother and When Nancy Burkhart me very entertained. Of left her position to work course, I am an Auntie to for the Lt. Governor, I was one special dog named given the opportunity to Woodworth “Murphy”. I am sure you fill her position. Being all know who this is. the assistant to Samantha and being the liaison between our Q: What should your business customers and the business is an card say you do at CPA? exciting adventure. I love working A: My position here includes here. interacting with members, new and renewal of memberships, contest, Q: What is your favorite part of help with the convention, answering your job? phone calls and occasionally the A: Interacting with all the members plumber, Xerox copy woman and and co-workers. I have also had the anything else that crosses my path. opportunity to learn a lot about the This last year has been a huge newspaper business. learning experience and I look forward to many years to come.

Q: What do you do when you aren’t at work?

Q: What excites you about the A: I am a total sun lover. I love future of CPA. to hang by the pool in my favorite floatie! I love to read, go to movies, A: I am very excited about the changes to come in the media enjoy time with family and friends business to keep our audience and travel when I get the chance. engaged. There are a lot of changes and challenges but looking forward Q: Tell us a little bit about you. to each and every one of them!

A: I grew up in Champaign-Urbana with two sisters and one brother. I Q: What one thing do you look have been in Colorado for 20 years most forward to in your future and would not go back to Illinois at CPA? if you paid me. You just can’t beat A: I interact with almost every CPA Colorado for the scenery. Just member at some point during the beautiful! I also have a 13-year-old year, but I look very forward to daughter who is the joy of my life. meeting everyone in person. I can’t Single motherhood has brought wait to see lots of familiar and new many challenges and a lot of joy! I faces at the convention. am very fortunate that I live with

National Newspaper Week is October 7 - 13, 2012. Newspaper Association Managers has sponsored NNW since 1940 and this week marks the only annual industry observance of newspapers. Colorado Press Association contributes funds annually to NAM to help fund the resource kit made available to all CPA member newspapers at no cost. See page 8 for more information about how to take advantage of this material in our publications during newspaper week.

September 2012

Scholarship fund changes approved Several changes to the Colorado Press Association scholarship program, which is supported by the CPA Restricted Fund that’s administered through The Denver Foundation, were approved at the quarterly meeting of the CPA’s Philanthropic Advisory Committee (PAC) on August 10.

These changes, formulated by CPA Executive Director Samantha Johnston for consideration by the PAC, are intended to more closely reflect the practical benefit of the scholarships and attract greater participation and utilization in the evolving academic and publishing environment.

PAC members also began making plans for a multidimensional fund-raising effort aimed at growing the new DonorAdvised Fund, which was created earlier this year to enable CPA to operate a variety of programs beyond the limited scope of the Restricted Fund’s scholarship awards. Look for details on these efforts and other PAC initiatives in the next issue of The Editor.

The changes in the scholarship program, meanwhile, include the following:

1. Eliminating the internship requirement for a college student to qualify for a CPA scholarship, and instituting criteria more common to scholarship awards, such as financial need, academic performance, campus publication experience etc.

2. Changing the award cycle to more closely align with the academic terms at most colleges and universities, and limiting eligibility to juniors- and seniorsto-be, who have declared journalism or communication as their major. The call for applications now will be made in January, with a March deadline to apply and the announcement of recipients in May for the forthcoming academic year.

3. Revising the requirements for high school scholarships, to replace internships with academic performance levels, community involvement and participation in school publications.

4. Discontinuing faculty and advisor scholarships for lack of participation.

“We had zero applications for the high school scholarships, and very little interest in the college scholarships,” Johnston told PAC

members. “And most teachers aren’t willing to commit their time during the summer working for $500.

“I have fielded dozens of phone calls from students who simply aren’t able to make a connection for internships,” she reported. “I have contacted many editors, trying to figure out how to help kids get internships, and the bottom line is that, with rare exception, newspapers simply don’t have the resources they once did to properly mentor the interns. So they don’t have a program that is valuable to either the newspaper or the student.

“The other issue, as we know, is that the internships are not paid in almost all cases,” Johnston noted.

“Because of that, students have a hard time committing to the requirements of our internship – 10 weeks, 20 hours per week – because they have to work in addition to the internship.”

Expect more specific details about the CPA scholarships in the near future.

The next PAC meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 9, at 11:30 a.m. at the CPA office.

InDesign CS6: the best gets better Those who know a special advertising or me—and those of you editorial package in your who have attended any centerspread. It’s a cinch: of my presentations in all you do is create another the past dozen years master page and place it or so—know I’m an where you want it in your absolutely unabashed fan document. of InDesign.

I’ve often stated: SPLIT SCREEN: “InDesign is a choice...

Working on a detail on ed Quark is a chore.” I’ve henninger your front page and want also characterized to see how that’s going those who use Quark to affect the rest of the as “dinosaurs...and the page? Not a problem. meteor is on its way!”

Just use the split screen Those comments may seem function and you can work on a brash but time and again Adobe’s very tight magnification on that InDesign team comes up with pull quote on the right-hand more and better ideas to make the page, while watching (at a lesser software work easier and faster for magnification) how it’s going to newspaper designers. change the design of the package InDesign CS6, recently on the left page. released, is no exception. Here are some of the reasons why: ALIGN TO KEY OBJECT: Select one element as your “key RECENT FONT LIST: object,” and you can have all others Finally! Someone at Adobe took align to it. This is a great help, for pity on those poor page designers example, when trying to align a who have to keep a bazillion fonts batch of mug shots of graduating in their computers, just so they seniors on a page. Another time can import ads to pages without saver. a hassle. The recent fonts list may be considered a minor upgrade LINKED CONTENT: to most InDesign users, but this Those editors and designers who is a big deal for my many small work on multiple editions are newspaper clients. For them, it will going to love this one. With linked mean no more wasted time finding content active, changes that are those five or six fonts (you can list made to a story can be updated to up to 12 either alphabetically or other versions of the same story— chronologically by use) they work even across separate documents. with on deadline. Over the course of a week, this can save them hours ALTERNATE LAYOUTS: of searching and frustration.

This will come in very handy for those who want to take a design MULTIPLE PAGE SIZES: and redo it for the web. With this This will be very useful to those feature, you can create two or more of you who are in a tabloid layouts in the single InDesign file. configuration and want to create The advantage is that you can use

other features like Liquid Layout (following) to keep the content current in all versions.

LIQUID LAYOUT: The new feature will cut the time it takes to rework your pages for different sizes. If you’re thinking of taking an ad from a broadsheet to a tab, for example, Liquid Layout can help you turn the trick.

There are other new features to the new InDesign—lots of others. More than can be detailed here. But those I’ve outlined are more than enough for you to look seriously at upgrading to the new InDesign CS6. The best is, well . . . even better.

WANT A FREE evaluation of your newspaper’s design?

Just contact Ed: edh@ henningerconsulting.com | 803-3273322 IF THIS COLUMN has been helpful, you may be interested in Ed’s books: Henninger on Design and 101 Henninger Helpful Hints.

With the help of Ed’s books, you’ll immediately have a better idea how to design for your readers. Find out more about Henninger on Design and 101 Henninger Helpful Hints by visiting Ed’s web site: www. henningerconsulting.com ED HENNINGER is an independent newspaper consultant and the Director of Henninger Consulting. Offering comprehensive newspaper design services including redesigns, workshops, staff training and evaluations. E-mail: edh@ henningerconsulting.com. On the web: henningerconsulting.com.

colorado editor

September 2012

Editor out and about Samantha Johnston, CPA executive director, stands on top of 14,286-ft. Mt. Lincoln Aug. 26 with her August edition of Colorado Editor. CPA wants your photos of Colorado Editor traveling around your community, state, nation and world. Submit your Traveling Editor photos to sjohnston@ colopress.net.

Selected photos will be run in upcoming editions of Colorado Editor.

Business cards Letterhead Envelopes Postcards Sales fliers Circulation forms Rate cards Promotional brochures Presentation folders Special publications Invoices Carbonless forms

we’ll BRING it TO you

CPA, in partnership with LMA, offers the following webinars and events to CPA members

FYI

conTacT uS 466 Yampa Avenue Craig, CO 81625 (970) 824-7031 Fax (970) 824-6810 www.craigdailypress.com

adverTiSing deadLineS

Cancellation deadline is the same as the order deadline. If an ad is cancelled after the deadline, there will be a charge equal to 50% of the cost of the space reservation.

Monday Ads Thursday, 4 p.m.

Wednesday Ads Monday, 4 p.m.

Friday Ads Wednesday, 4 p.m.

Saturday Ads Wednesday, 4 p.m.

Classified Ads One Day Prior, 3 p.m.

Inserts 8 days prior to insertion date

Special Services • Advertising design and copywriting available at no additional charge. Photographs taken at no extra charge. (Must be scheduled one week prior to publication.)

• Proofs and tearsheets provided on request.

Terms of Payment • Net due 30 days from statement date, 1.5% per month (18% annum) will be charged on all past due accounts.

• New advertisers who wish to establish an account must submit a credit application with acceptable credit references.

• Advertising from accounts more than 30 days past due cannot be accepted unless cash payment is made.

• Ads that require payment in advance include those from advertisers who have not established credit privileges and advertisers who have been placed on a cash-only basis; political ads; and going-outof-business, bankruptcy and transient ads (such as circus, carnival, etc.). These ads must be paid for by deadline.

• Advertisers billed at contract rate who fail to fulfill the contract terms will be billed at the appropriate earned rate retroactively. All contract discounts are cancelled on advertising more than 60 days past due.

• Applicant agrees to pay Steamboat Pilot & Today/ Steamboat Today/Craig Daily Press for all expenses they may incur to enforce collection of any amount due for advertising placed at open or contract rates including reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs in connection therewith.

Legal Policies • The terms Steamboat Pilot & Today, Steamboat Today, and Craig Daily Press hereafter referred to as the “company,” as used herein are meant to include the newspapers and their related publications, their employees, owners, officers, agents, and contractors.

• The company reserves the right to reject or cancel any advertisement at any time.

• The company is not bound by any terms or conditions printed or otherwise appearing on order blanks, advertising forms or copy instructions

when in conflict with the terms and conditions on the company rate schedule.

• The Advertiser and/or advertising agency agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the company against any and all liability, loss, or expense arising from claims including but not limited to libel, unfair competition, unfair trade practices, infringements of trademarks, copyrights, trade names, patents, plagiarism, or proprietary rights or violation of rights of privacy resulting from the publication of the advertiser’s advertisement.

• The company shall not be liable for any failure to print, publish, or circulate all or part of any issue in which advertising accepted by the company is contained if the failure is due to circumstances beyond the control of the company.

• The company shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. In the event of errors that materially affect the value of the advertisement, if at fault, the company will be responsible only for the space in which the error occurred. Liability for other errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue or the refund of any moneys paid for the advertisement. Any request for adjustment on billing that may be open to question must be made within the month following the month in which the purported error occurred.

• Unfulfilled advertising contracts will be short-rated to appropriate earned level at end of contract term.

• We reserve the right to revise advertising rates at any time. In the event advertising rates increase during contract term, Company will provide 30 days written notice to Advertiser. Advertisers who do not accept new rates may elect to cancel advertising agreement without penalty, by providing notice in writing to Company at least 10 days prior to the effective date of the new rates.

• Advertising contracts will automatically renew for consecutive terms unless Advertiser notifies the Company in writing 10 days prior to contract expiration date.

{ 2011 ADVERTISING RATES (Rates effective Jan. 1, 2011)

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open rate in a Steamboat or Craig newspaper — Craig Daily Press, Saturday Morning Press, Steamboat Today or Steamboat Pilot & Today — may be picked up for one or more additional days in any of those newspapers within seven days for $6.85 per inch.

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5

6

colorado editor

September 2012

Why JCPenny and Newhouse have a lot in common I realize that I’m dating myself, but here goes.

When I was a little boy, drug stores used to have these bins that held bags filled with multiple “secret” items. They were often called “grab bags” and you never knew what would be in them. As an adult, you realize this was older stock that the store had trouble selling, but as a kid it was exciting to get a bag filled with “valukevin able” items for a slimp quarter.

That’s what I felt like when I looked at my calendar for the next few weeks. There’s a publishers’ summit, an advertising conference, a keynote at a state newspaper association event, along with a couple of training sessions.

When I look at these from a distance, I see a bunch of scattered events in different areas of the country with unrelated topics. And as I try to decide what to say to these very different groups, the task can seem overwhelming.

I see the topics they’ve requested and they vary from “How to Increase Revenue on Newspaper Websites” to “Finding Ways to Adapt to a New Marketplace” to “The Present and Future Relationship Between Print and Mobile Journalism,” with a few other topics thrown in, just to keep me on my toes.

As a speaker, teacher and consultant, the idea of trying to say something that will be helpful and valuable to different types of audiences, even though they’re all related to the newspaper industry, can be very daunting.

In the constantly evolving world of communication, of which we are a major player, we are bom-

barded daily with the idea that we’re missing something. There must be some golden key out there that will unlock the door to future success.

Without that key, we fear, we are doomed to failure.

JCPenney thought they’d found

that key a year ago when they hired former Apple exec Ron Johnson as their CEO. I was speaking at an advertising convention, of all things, the week after the announcement was made about the company’s new marketing strategy, and a major top-

ic of a panel discussion was “How will this change affect JCPenney?”

While panelists felt like it could go either way, most agreed the change would prove to be a huge success or failure within a year.

I’m more apt to express an opin-

ion during these conversations so I shared that I believed sales would fall between 20 and 30 percent within a year and that the CEO would be gone before Christmas 2012.

As you’ve probably read, sales are down around 20 percent and, while Johnson is still on board as I write this, former Target Corp.

Chief Marketing Officer Michael Francis left his position as JCPenney president in June.

I see a direct correlation between what’s happened at JCPenney and the demise of The TimesPicayune as a daily newspaper in New Orleans. During an interview with Poynter’s Andrew Beaujon, Advance.net Chairman Steve Newhouse recently said that transforming The Times-Picayune and other properties to a digital-centric operation is necessary for the company’s survival.

It sounds to me that Steve has been drinking the same juice that Ron has been drinking at JCPenney.

“We must convert everything to digital!” might be their rallying cry, but they’re listening to bad advice.

OK, back to my upcoming schedule. While the topics and audiences are different, I realized as I looked at my calendar this morning that attendees at all three of these events want to know the same thing: Will I have a job next year?

If Michael had realized that what works for Target doesn’t necessarily work for JCPenney, he’d probably have a job today. If Ron realized that JCPenney isn’t an Apple Store, he’d probably still have a job in January.

Now it’s time for Steve to learn that The Times-Picayune isn’t The Huffington Post or Amazon.com.

I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts with these groups over the next few weeks. Don’t expect to hear that the sky is falling. Because unless you drag it down from the heavens and try to recreate it, the sky will probably stay right where it is.

Innovation can be a real challenge; CPA/LMA program makes it easy The creativity, analysis, time and effort required to truly innovate in our industry makes for an often daunting challenge. Meetings drag on, good ideas bog down as they become more complicated and everyone involved feels rushed to gather news, sell advertising and meet the day’s myriad deadlines.

CPA member newspapers can now take advantage of a new program that is designed to put your innovation efforts on the fast track. Offered in partnership with Local Media Association, the Local

Media Innovation Alliance is a subscription-based program that provides monthly “how-to” research papers and related webinars focused on the following: • New and sustainable business models in the digital age • Monetizing the digital side of the business • New content strategies • Promising new trends in all areas of multimedia publishing • Mobile, tablets and more The reports focus on promising

trends/opportunities from local media companies of all kinds, including newspapers, pure plays, radio, TV, directories and more.

Participating companies receive monthly research papers in the form of white papers, case studies or best practices as well as unlimited seats to participate in monthly webinars related to each topic. These monthly reports provide a deep dive into emerging and promising trends and opportunities.

The authors include respected industry consultants that have

the knowledge and expertise to properly conduct the research and write the reports. In most cases, the author spends time at the media companies that are being studied in order to provide the deepest dive possible into these topics. They also conduct the webinar which includes guest speakers from the affiliated companies.

Topics thus far in 2012 have included: •Daily Deals • Using Free Open Source Software • Mobile Strategies

• Social Strategies • Event Marketing • 360 Advertising Sales Strategies – Best Practices from Europe • Outsourcing • Emerging Content Strategies Annual subscriptions and a la carte purchases are offered.

Corporate memberships are also available.

For more information, contact Mark Laskowski, Association Partnership Manager, Local Media Association, at (843) 667-6647 or mark.laskowski@localmedia.org.

Price includes office building and residence. August price reduced to $220,000 from $270,000. Call 970723-4404.

near federal reservoir, hunting, fishing, farm area. Supervise parttime staff and stringers. Prefer journalism degree, one to two years’ professional experience, knowledge of AP style, page design, writing and camera, news judgement.

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requires skill and leadership, focused on creating the best local news possible. Reply with resume and clips to s.haynes@nwkansas.com and dpaxton@nwkansas.com. EOE/ mfh Dana Paxton, general manager, The Norton Telegram, 215 S. Kansas, Norton, Kan. 67654.

cpa marketplace SMALL WEEKLY FOR SALE Small weekly in Colorado mountain community. Grosses about $120,000.

Fixed costs about $50,000. Good opportunity for young couple starting out, or older “downsized” journalists. Easy news beats.

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colorado editor

September 2012

Five strategic tips for Mom and Pop Most of the businesses Take a look at the budget in your town are and analyze peak seasons locally owned and for specific products and operated “Mom and services. Don’t limit the Pop” establishments. thinking to one area; That means that most consider combinations of of the advertisers – and ROP, special pubs, inserts prospective advertisers – and online. in your market are small john businesses.

3. Schedule wisely.

When it comes In today’s overfoust to marketing, these communicated world, advertisers don’t have an ad-by-ad approach access to ad agencies won’t create much brand on Madison Avenue recognition. (“Quick, or number-crunching what can we run to marketing officers in the home promote this week’s sale?”) A office. They depend on local strategic ad campaign is always sources for help. And your paper better than a string of unrelated plays an important role. individual ads.

Here are five things that Mom Marketing is a marathon, not and Pop advertisers should keep in a sprint. This week’s sale is more mind as they develop their overall than an event; it’s a piece of the strategies: brand identity picture. How will it fit the overall perception that 1. Differentiate. Generally the business wants to create in the speaking, local businesses have consumer’s mind? three categories of competition: national chains (including 4. Develop a web presence. online), other local businesses, The first step is a clean, easy-toand in some instances, do-itnavigate web site. And the second yourselfers. For example, if you step is a link on your paper’s web need an oil change, you can go site. That allows advertisers to to a nationally-run chain, visit reach consumers on a 24/7 basis, your neighborhood mechanic, even when ads don’t appear in the or change your oil in your current print edition. driveway. (For do-it-yourselfers, Print vehicles must embrace the oil comes from – surprise! – a the online world and its enormous national chain or a locally-owned opportunities for advertising business.) revenue.

In order to succeed, a business has to stand out in the crowd.

5. Take advantage of co-op ad While it’s nearly impossible for dollars. Mom and Pop may have Mom and Pops to compete on a rich uncle. Many manufacturers pricing (think Walmart), the have generous co-op programs to big boxes are vulnerable in the help promote their brands on a area of customer service. When local level. Sometimes it’s simply you’re searching for points of a matter of featuring a corporate differentiation, look at customer logo in the advertising. service, convenience, caring Co-op can make a small support staff, etc. Capitalize on campaign bigger. And better. local-ness.

2. Budget wisely. When I was a kid, I worked for my allowance – raking leaves, mowing the lawn, and helping with household chores. More than once, I heard, “Don’t spend it all in one place.”

Advertisers would be wise to follow that advice and distribute advertising dollars throughout the year. Full pages or quarter pages?

Four color or black and white?

© Copyright 2012 by John Foust.

All rights reserved.

John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals.

Many ad departments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from in-house training.

E-mail for information: jfoust@ mindspring.com

In order to succeed, a business has to stand out in the crowd. While it’s nearly impossible for Mom and Pops to compete on pricing (think Walmart), the big boxes are vulnerable in the area of customer service. When you’re searching for points of differentiation, look at customer service, convenience, caring support staff, etc. Capitalize on local-ness.”

7

Postal deal would deliver bad news for local papers Editors Note: Following is an update from the Newspaper Association of America with regard to the newly approved negotiated services agreement beteen the U.S. Postal Servie and Valassis Direct Mail.

CPA urges member newspapers to email and phone your senators and representatives at the Capitol.

Contact information is included in the below update.

Congress must stop special postal deal that will cause financial harm to local newspapers The Postal Regulatory Commission approved a negotiated services agreement between the U.S. Postal Service and Valassis Direct Mail on August 23, despite opposition from hundreds of newspapers, state and national press associations, its own Public Representative, and many members of Congress.

Under the special arrangement, which is effective immediately, Valassis will receive rebates from 22 percent to 36 percent for “new mail” packages containing advertising inserts from national retailers of durable and semidurable goods.

In its decision, the commission said the NSA is “highly contested precisely because it constitutes a price reduction in an attempt to better compete in a marketplace already populated by competitors.”

This statement reinforces the commission’s inappropriate position that the Postal Service is a competitor in the advertising distribution market, rather than a government monopoly established to serve all participants in the advertising distribution marketplace in a nondiscriminatory, commoncarrier manner.

NAA has filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and has filed an emergency motion for a stay of the decision until an appeal can be heard. A decision on this stay request could come by the middle of September.

As we wait for the court’s decision, Valassis is currently using this pricing advantage to sell against newspapers in local markets. This has the real potential of moving advertising inserts from newspapers’ Sunday editions to the mail, and driving away a critical source of revenue that supports the distribution of news and information in local communities.

We have heard from some in Congress − from both sides of the aisle and in both chambers – who are outraged over this specialrate deal and are concerned that it would cause harm to newspapers’ ability to serve their communities.

These policymakers in the Senate and House need your help to build support in Congress for overturning the PRC’s illogical decision.

A recently approved direct mail agreement would have potentially negative effects on newspapers’ ad revenues.

Request for assistance Please contact your senators and representatives and ask them to support legislative efforts to stop this special-rate deal before it causes significant financial harm to local newspapers. Also, please ask that senators and representatives express their support for legislative action with the congressional leadership. The newspaper industry is not requesting special treatment, but asking Congress to prevent the Postal Service – a government enterprise – from providing special treatment to one national direct mailer for the purpose of taking business away from newspapers.

Below are discussion points that you can weave into an e-mail or phone conversation with your senators and representatives. The Capitol switchboard is (202) 2243121.

If you have any questions or feedback on your communications, please contact Paul Boyle at paul. boyle@naa.org or (571) 366-1150.

Discussion points • The Postal Regulatory

Commission – an independent regulatory body – recently approved a U.S. Postal Service proposal that would give one mailer – Valassis Direct Mail – discounts of 22 percent to 36 percent to go specifically after preprinted advertising inserts that are currently in newspapers’ Sunday editions.

• While these special-rate deals, called negotiated service agreements, are allowed under postal law, Congress made it clear that these types of deals should not cause unreasonable harm in the marketplace.

• This special-rate deal has the potential of diverting up to $1 billion in advertising revenues from local newspapers. Preprint advertising is critical for newspapers to continue providing news and information in local communities.

• In approving the special deal, the

Postal Regulatory Commission said that it would help the Postal Service compete more effectively against others for pre-printed inserts. Unlike UPS and FedEx, newspapers don’t compete with the Postal Service. We compete with Valassis and other direct mailers.

• The Postal Service as a governmental enterprise should serve all mailers in a nondiscriminatory fashion – and not use its monopoly to pick winners and losers in the local competition for advertising.

• This special deal will do little to improve the financial condition of the Postal Service. Even the Postal Service’s most optimistic estimates are that it would see at most $15 million in profit over three years from this deal, when it is losing billions of dollars annually.

• This $15 million estimate ignores the fact that the Postal Service will experience massive revenue losses as newspapers – which mail ad inserts to nonsubscribers – pull out of the mail to cut costs to offset declines in ad revenue as a result of this NSA. According to an NAA survey, newspapers throughout the country will reduce their postage bills by $600 million over three years to lower costs in response to this special deal given to their biggest competitor. In short, this NSA will result in the Postal Service hemorrhaging more money, which will deepen the financial crisis for our nation’s postal system.

• Congress needs to stop this special-rate deal before it causes significant financial harm to local newspapers. We ask that you encourage your colleagues, including those in the House and Senate leadership, to take legislative action to stop this unfair and inappropriate rate deal before it causes harm in local communities.

8

colorado editor

September 2012

Editorial calendars have benefits for papers, readers PUMARLO from Page 1 biographical information and photos, decision dates for determining which races will receive full profiles and which will be presented in shorter Q&A formats and a schedule of candidate coverage.

Many of the items will trigger a story. Other dates serve as reminders to review and determine whether circumstances warrant a story. For example, some candidate forums may simply be a rehash of issues already thoroughly examined.

Now take a similar approach to year-round coverage of your everyday content in all areas.

When do local government bodies begin setting budgets?

What are the key dates? When should you first preview the budget, and which steps in the process – public meetings, for example – warrant coverage?

What’s your plan for previewing high school sports teams? Do certain teams/ individuals get extra attention for their accomplishments?

Scheduling stories and photos ensures you have ample time and space to preview teams before the seasons start.

Does your community celebrate Volunteer Week by recognizing a volunteer of the year? If not, consider sponsoring an event yourself. It’s an opportunity for ready-made editorial content and advertising revenue.

Take the pulse of the religious community and identify any special events. Are any churches celebrating anniversaries?

The work of civic clubs enriches community life and presents opportunities for a variety of feature stories.

Check in with local leaders and identify initiatives that deserve communitywide attention. Then place them on your calendar.

Calendars are also useful in reminding newsrooms they need to come up with fresh angles on the obligatory stories tied to

annual events, everything from commemorative days such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, Easter and the Fourth of July, to seasonal occurrences such as the first day of school, summer street festivals and the Christmas shopping season.

All these stories, of course, are on your newsroom’s radar.

Yet, it’s a good bet that many newsrooms fall short in planning the coverage. Set aside time for occasional brainstorming, and you’ll have far more stories than you have resources to pursue.

You’ll also generate fresh ideas to present traditional stories.

The point is to develop a calendar – a collection of items regularly included on your “internal” to-do list as well as an “external” to-do list with ideas forwarded from the broader community. Calendars must not only be updated frequently – they should be shared. That can be done most easily by highlighting major editorial features on your websites. In addition, reference the calendar when appropriate: for example, in a column by the editor or publisher. It’s an excellent way to involve your readers and give them ownership of your content.

Editorial calendars help newsrooms sift through and survive the natural feast and famine cycles of news. Calendars, when executed correctly, will make editors’ jobs easier and will ensure a steady flow of substantive content for readers.

Jim Pumarlo writes, speaks and provides training on community newsroom success strategies. His newest book is “Journalism Primer: A Guide to Community News Coverage.” He also is author of “Votes and Quotes: A Guide to Outstanding Election Coverage” and “Bad News and Good Judgment: A Guide to Reporting on Sensitive Issues in Small-Town Newspapers.”

He can be reached at www. pumarlo.com and welcomes comments and questions at jim@pumarlo.com.

Course offers training to boost print and online sales skills TRAINING from Page 1 sales team to participate and pass the test.

The program is a comprehensive, low cost supplement to in-house sales training. “The LMA Sales Certification Training Course was one of the first things I did as a new employee,” said Mark Faenza, a salesperson at the Record-Journal in Meriden, CT. “As a recent college graduate, I had no sales experience and this course gave me the skills I needed to launch my career. I would recommend this course to anyone looking to sharpen their sales skills.”

Lorraine May, Director of Sales Training at Sound Publishing, Seattle, WA, added “I find the course

to be very helpful for new sales representatives in understanding the skills it will take to be successful in their profession. I found it also motivational for seasoned sales executives to re-examine their own current habits and see if they are utilizing all of the tools that it takes to be at the top of their game.”

The cost of the training is $395 per person for non-LMA members and multiple-user discounts are available.

For more information, contact Mark Laskowski, Association Partnership Manager, Local Media Association, at (843) 667-6647 or mark.laskowski@localmedia.org.

Contest features new categories

CONTEST from Page 1 “This year, the focus was on cleaning up the categories we have; writing entry and judging instructions that are clear, concise and convey adequate instructions for the types of entries we are soliciting; and evaluating the contest categories to ensure the most valuable competition for everyone,” Drudge said. “Next year, we will tackle the addition of digital categories to encompass social media, websites, and content categories.”

In addition to updated instructions and overall clean-up of the rules, some new categories were added based on member feedback and the desire to add some freshness to the contest.

The committee, which sought to enhance and update the contest, also had spirited competition in mind.

“The more entries we have, the better the competition and the more fun our member newspapers have,” Drudge said. “Keeping the contest viable serves two big purposes. It recognizes journalists among their peers for the great work they are doing in Colorado, and it subsidizes our annual convention held in February.”

To encourage entries and participation in the annual awards banquet in February, the banquet format will be changed to reflect the “party-like” atmosphere of years ago when large groups from Colorado newspaper enjoyed cocktails and the awards ceremony followed by a hosted reception as opposed to the

Contest Instructions

The full contest packet is available online at www. coloradopressassociation.com. To request a copy via email, contact Lisa Woodworth at coloradopress@colopress.net or call 303-5715117 to receive a hard copy by mail.

New Contest Categories

• Best Website Promotion • Best Advertising Slogan • Best Newspaper/House Ad Promotion

Editoral •Best Health Enterprise Story •Best Health Feature Story •Best Environmental Story • Best Business Feature Story • Best Investigative Story Package • Layout and Design • Best Photography Portfolio • Best Cover Design • Advertising • Best Restaurant or Dining Ad •Best Health Care Ad

2012 Circulation Divisions •Class 1: Weeklies up to 1,000 •Class 2: Weeklies 1,001 – 2,000 •Class 3: Weeklies 2,000 – 4,000 • Class 4: Weeklies 4,001 – 7,000 • Class 5: Weeklies > 7,001 • Class 6: Dailies up to 6,000 • Class 7: Dailies 6,001 – 15,000 • Class 8: Dailies 15,001 – 50,000 • Class 9: Dailies > 50,000 • Class 10: Monthly

more formal luncheon.

“Our decision to move away from the more formal luncheon was based on feedback from our members and our understanding that a tough economy makes $45 lunches unrealistic for many of our members,” Johnston said. “We want the awards ceremony to be a celebration and we’ll create an atmosphere that will do just that.”

Additions to this year’s contest include new editorial, advertising and page layout and design categories

as well as a monthly newspaper category to allow competition among Colorado’s neighborhood publications.

“The annual contest was long overdue for an overhaul,” Johnston said. “We tackled all of the housekeeping issues this year, which will significantly improve the contest experience. Next year, we’re excited about a comprehensive category overhaul that will eliminate obsolete categories, embrace digital categories and strengthen print categories.”

Newspaper Week kits now available Each year, Newspaper Association Managers in partnership with state press associations, produces a newspaper kit full of resources to promote the newspaper industry during National Newspaper Week.

This year, NNW is October 7 – 13.

Colorado Press Association supports the NAM project by contributing a fee per CPA member newspaper to ensure that all CPA members can take full advantage of the resource kit at no cost to the newspaper.

“CPA has been a longtime supporter of the National Newspaper Week project so that our member newspapers can take advantage of quality content to promote our great industry,” said CPA Executive Director Samantha Johnston. “ The resource kit, which includes high resolution Newspaper Week logos and a Facebook Timeline Cover photo, offers a variety of pieces for publication including a crossword puzzle and word search, editorial cartoon and four columns.

The complete resource kit is available at www. nationalnewspaperweek. com and will also be available

on the CPA website at www. coloradopressassciation.com “I encourage every CPA member to take advantage of the

resource kit. It’s free, it recognizes the importance of newspapers, and it shows unity within our industry,” Johnston said.