editor colorado
Official publication of the Colorado Press Association / coloradopressassociation.com / Vol. LXXXV, No. 1
What in the world is going on at the CPA office? PAGE 7
January 2014
Attorney Zansberg to helm CFOIC First new president in 17 years; CPA’s Johnston joins board By Jeff Roberts Executive Director, Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition The Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition has a new president for the first time in 17 years, and the board of directors
and membership of the opengovernment alliance just got a lot bigger. Steven D. Zansberg was elected CFOIC president on Zansberg Wednesday. He succeeds Thomas B. Kelley, who has presided over the coalition’s board and membership since 1997. Both Zansberg and Kelley, partners in the law firm of
Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, have distinguished careers defending the First Amendment and access-toinformation rights of journalists and Colorado residents. “Steve brings to this post an extraordinary background of both expertise and leadership,” Kelley said. “He has been involved in more freedom-of-information litigation than any other Colorado lawyer and is regarded as the state’s premier expert in matters of citizen access to public places, meetings, tribunals and documents.”
Zansberg has represented the national news media in connection with coverage of the Aurora movie theater shootings case, the Oklahoma City bombing trials and the Kobe Bryant rape prosecution. On behalf of news media clients, he secured access to public records related to the murder of JonBenét Ramsey and the Columbine High School shootings. He has taught mass media at the University of Colorado and Internet law at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. Prior to becoming a lawyer,
he was a freelance documentary producer in San Francisco. The CFOIC, founded as the Colorado Freedom of Information Council in 1987, is a non-partisan alliance of groups, businesses and individuals dedicated to ensuring the transparency of state and local governments in Colorado by promoting freedom of the press, open courts and open access to government records and meetings. Past presidents include the late CFOIC on page 7
CPA Board sees the future, and it’s all good By Cheryl Ghrist Contributing Editor
There’s news in them thar hills
Brian Clark
The South Park Sentinel is among the more than 30 buildings that make up South Park City, a reconstructed town/museum near Fairplay that highlights what life was like in Colorado during the late 19th Century Gold Rush era. Many of the structures that line the street in South Park were brought in from nearby towns and mining camps in Park County. The Sentinel building, the first structure relocated to South Park when construction began in 1957, was hauled in from Lake George, 45 miles away over Wilkerson Pass. All of the buildings in the town are filled with artifacts from the era, including the metal type, Lineotype machine and G.P. Gordon Press that give visitors a peek into what printing looked like in the late 1800s.
Interns not capitalizing on CPA scholarship dollars For at least five consecutive years, the Colorado Press Association Philanthropic Advisory Committee has allocated scholarship dollars for college students that largely go unused. Each year, the committee allocates up to six $2,500 scholarships for college students pursuing a career in journalism or media. Although the scholarship process is intended to be competitive, student interest seems to be less and less each year. “It’s hard for me to imagine that among thousands of journalism and media studies students in Colorado each year, there are only one or two who could use $2,500 in scholarship dollars,” said CPA Executive Director, Samantha INTERNS on page 2
CPA Scholarships • Who: Any full-time junior or senior at a four-year Colorado college or university who has declared a major in journalism or a related media field (multimedia, communications, filmmaking, public relations, etc.) who plans to begin a journalism or media career after graduation. • When: Deadline to apply is March 3, 2014. • Apply: http://www.denverfoundation.org/postfiles/ grantsscholarships/2014_CPA_College_Student_ Application.pdf. • Questions: Samantha Johnston, Colorado Press Associaiton, sjohnston@colopress.net or 303-571-5117
A few months ago, the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism released “The State of the News Media 2013 – An Annual Report on American Journalism.” Their overall theme was “Newspapers: Stabilizing, but Still Threatened.” An article about that report – by Rick Edmonds of the Poynter Institute, and Emily Guskin, Amy Mitchell and Mark Jurkowitz of the Pew Research Center – stated that “For the first time since the deep recession that began in 2007, newspaper organizations have grounds for a modicum of optimism,” adding to that a series of optimistic bullet points that mentioned the following: – New revenue streams “such as offering social marketing services to local businesses.” – Digital pay plans adopted at 450 of the country’s 1,380 dailies, plus small and mid-sized newspapers, “twinned with print subscription and single-copy price increases.” – A rise the previous year in share prices of publicly-traded newspaper companies. – Although sale prices are low, “newspapers coming onto the market are finding buyers.” – The shift to “new media,” along with increased auto, real estate and employment advertising. There are also “considerable dangers” – as the article also mentioned declining print advertising, the continued careful yet slow development of new digital/Web/mobile advertising, lingering debt and pension obligations, even downsizing the buildings newspapers call home. They concluded with this: “So the industry entered 2013
n By-law changes, board members to be highlights of annual meeting Page 8 with some positive signs but still dealing with difficult economic realities. The two biggest newspaper developments of the last year – digital paywalls and reduced print frequency – capture that odd mix of expansion and contraction now typical within the industry.” So where does that leave us now, at the end of 2013 and the beginning of a New Year? For a perspective closer to home, where else would you turn for a progress report – and a look at what’s ahead for the newspaper business in Colorado – than the CPA Board of Directors? In an effort to get a leg up on 2014, we posed a few pertinent questions to board members Brenda (Johnson) Brandt, Bryce Jacobson, Keith R. Cerney, Laurena Mayne Davis and Matt Lubich. Here’s what our own board of Colorado newspaper professionals see for their – and your – future: LET THE QUESTIONS BEGIN! What will 2014 bring Colorado newspapers? • BRANDT: Ongoing change, but enhanced stability and confidence. • JACOBSON: The New Year will bring increased revenues and profit from the innovation that our staffs are implementing each and every day. • CERNY: I project steady revenue growth. • DAVIS: We’re all looking to strengthen relationships with our readers and advertisers while FUTURE on page 8