editor colorado
Official publication of the Colorado Press Association / coloradopressassociation.com / Vol. LXXXIV, No. 11
Inside: Journalists share their knowledge at CSU. PAGE 4
November 2013
CU ready for next move
Proposed College of Media, Communication and Information in the works at CU-Boulder By Cheryl Ghrist Contributing Editor
Josh Awtry, foreground, address the Fort Collins Coloradoan staff during a morning news meeting.
A small paper looks forward Coloradoan’s new, young editor has been trying to reinvent the publication for the digital age— and it’s working
By Kris Kodrich FORT COLLINS, CO—As reporters and editors stream into the newsroom on a Monday morning in September, they glance upward at the pageview numbers beaming from the 55inch, flatscreen monitor. The journalists savor the metrics, which indicate that Web traffic skyrocketed more than tenfold over the weekend as the newsroom scrambled to produce stories, photo galleries, and videos of the floods that ravaged northern Colorado. Josh Awtry, the youthful-looking, slightly bearded executive editor at the Fort Collins Coloradoan, kicks off the morning news meeting with plenty of praise for the outstanding
coverage, mentioning reporters who produced detailed stories and stunning videos and those who posted numerous updates on Twitter, Facebook, and the newspaper’s website. “The social component of this has been phenomenal,” Awtry Awtry says, turning to his online engagement editor, Paul Berry. “Paul, you crushed it. All the information we provided—talk about service journalism. That’s cool.” COLORADOAN on Page 5
The wait at CU-Boulder is nearly over. For more than two years, anyone interested in the future of journalistic studies in the state has anticipated the next move at the University of Colorado at Boulder. With planning for a new college fully under way, the speculation phase has ended. The information phase has begun. The process officially kicked off June 26 of this year when Provost Russell L. Moore named nine professors to a Faculty Implementation Committee and charged it with the task of preparing a proposal for the CU Board of Regents in the spring of 2014 for a new College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI). He also named Professor Christopher Braider (professor of French and Comparative Literature and current director of Journalism & Mass Communication) as director of Media, Communication and Information. According to Moore, “Professor Braider will work closely with Academic Affairs, and he will be assisted in this new role” by the new committee. CU on Page 8
colorado newspaper closures
Mountain Valley News publisher shifts focus to ambitious project By Cheryl Ghrist Contributing Editor
The closure this fall of the Mountain Valley News in Paonia reflected the spirit of what venerable journalists do best: When something doesn’t work anymore, you do what does. And so it happened that Editor/ Cox Publisher Bob Cox powered down his longtime Wednesday newspaper and shifted his focus to a more ambitious future for his High Country Shopper. After closing the doors Sept. 25 at Mountain Valley News, Cox now works as the general manager for the Wednesday shopper out of the HCN headquarters office in Paonia.
Circulation for the News was around 1,800-2,000 paid, with some single-copy rack sales, as well as online subscriptions. “It was founded in 1992 by Harry Straub, and he sold it sometime around 1998-1999 to Advantage Holdings, Inc.,” said Cox. Advantage is out of Delaware, with an office in Castle Rock. “We bought the News from Advantage. It started as an 8.5- by 11-inch newsletter format, and grew to a tabloid. We took it over in 2002 and it had no color and standard newsprint with 12-16 pages,” explained Cox. “We turned it into a pretty good product. We could do color on VALLEY NEWS on Page 7
Economy dooms Trinidad paper Trinidad Times Independent, sister pubs cease publication
advertisers” appearing online the following week. After trying to overcome a number of financial By Cheryl Ghrist obstacles, the Colorado Press Contributing Editor Association board member and former New Mexico Press The story of another newspaper Association board member and closing in Colorado is a familiar president instituted what she sign of the economic times. hoped was a “temporary closure” of Decades-long investments of time, Murphy her publications. money and caring simply weren’t a Murphy, who also served as match for the continuing downturn advertising director for the newspapers, can of events in the Trinidad area. name a number of reasons for the closures, After 28 years in the industry, Owner/ but always comes back to the central issue Publisher Paula Murphy closed the doors of a troubling economy in the communities July 19 on all of her publications – the she loves. Trinidad Times Independent, the nearby “The population in Trinidad is declining. Raton Range, and a shopper called The There are fewer than 9,000 people now, and Advertiser. The final print editions were businesses are closing as well,” said Murphy, produced July 12, with final content and a who TRINIDAD on Page 7 long letter to her “friends, subscribers and
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colorado editor
colorado editor ISSN #162-0010 USPS # 0122-940 Vol. LXXXIV, Issue 11 November 2013 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
November 2013
Student perspectives From NewsTrain 2013 – Colorado Springs
“My biggest takeaway from this event was the difference in teaching between experienced journalists and those who have taught the theory without field experience. There were two lectures that stood out as helpful and from knowledgeable instructors: a social media expert spoke about how to use social networking for promoting a paper, and another journalist talked about how to shoot video on the sp ot. These lectures were informative and thorough, and I was able to take good notes to benefit my work as a journalist.” Cynthia Jeub
Brian Clark Design Editor Board of Directors OFFICERS Chair Brenda Brandt The Holyoke Enterprise bbholent@chase3000.com President Bryce Jacobson The Tribune bjacobson@greeleytribune.com Vice President Terri House The Pagosa Springs SUN terri@pagosasun.com Treasurer Keith Cerny Alamosa Valley Courier krcemail56@gmail.com Secretary Bart Smith The Tribune bsmith@greeleytribune.com DIRECTORS Mark Drudge Cortez Journal mdrudge@cortezjournal.com Laurena Mayne Davis The Daily Sentinel laurena.davis@gjsentinel.com Paula Murphy Trinidad Times Independent paulamurphy@ratonrange.com Matt Lubich The Johnstown Breeze mlubich@johnstownbreeze.com Don Lindley The Durango Herald dlindley@durangoherald.com Larry Ryckman The Denver Post lryckman@denverpost.com Periodical postage paid at Denver, CO 80202. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Colorado Editor 1336 Glenarm Place Denver, CO 80204-2115
“Being a student, the only thing I can think of that is better than learning about journalism is actually doing the job. In school, you learn about the ethics and the writing style, but when it comes to the research and the little tips and tricks journalists use everyday, it is hard to find those in a classroom. “It’s also easy to get caught up in the writing and the rules, but it’s only half the battle in journalism. Becoming a good journalist is something that takes years and the industry is always changing, so staying on top of technology, news and trends becomes a major balancing act. “Through NewsTrain, I was able to gain an immense amount of perspective about the world I am beginning to embark on for my career. Tighter writing, incorporating social media and video and efficiently mining data were all topics covered at the training. While I know the basics of all these subjects (promote the story, important information comes first, people would rather click play than read), NewsTrain took them to another level. “I was able to take back what I learned through NewsTrain to my college newsroom and improve what our staff is doing and these are tips and training that will help students in the long run, because they’ll go on to use and improve these ideas as technology and times change.” Kara Mason “NewsTrain inspired me to pursue a career in newswriting. I had been looking at it as an interest area for the past year and a half, but wasn’t sure that it was something I would enjoy enough to do every day. After NewsTrain, after speaking with all the different journalists and listening to the panels, I found myself hungry for more information about writing and what
I could do to make mine better. By far, my favorite panel to sit in on was Reporting with Data. It was interesting to see all of the different resources and methods for finding information about different organizations. The seminar proved itself very useful this week in a couple of my classes where I was asked to find facts about mock stories and I was able to use resources that were different and show them to my peers. “Also, the Video Storytelling Skills workshop was incredible useful as well. In one my classes, ComputerMediated Visual Communications, we are expected to produce edited packages for the class’s projects and listening to Val talk about the different methods of producing interesting video that draws the viewer in was helpful in ways that four weeks of my classes have not been. “Overall, NewsTrain was an invaluable experience and I hope to return in the future and continue to see some of the incredible reporters I met during the conference. “As someone who has been more comfortable writing than recording, I considered video an intimidating concept. However, I was most impressed with Val Hoeppner’s NewsTrain video workshops. I took away a number of valuable tips, including what subjects are even worthy of recording and how to shoot them, that will benefit both my professional and personal work. Because I work at a student newspaper, my organization does not have much money to invest in professional documentaries like the workshop suggested. Still, I left excited to see what I can do with mobile video. While I’m an endangered species (an Android user), all I really need to record video is my phone, a basic editing program and 10 minutes to edit and upload footage. This is a realistic, cost-efficient plan to help better engage readers. I left NewsTrain excited to do new things and hope similar workshops are held throughout Colorado in the immediate future.” Sara Horton Managing editor of The Scribe, UCCS student newspaper
colorado editor
November 2013
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Trail-Gazette announces staff changes Paper aims to better serve readers with focus on timely news
“I’m very excited about my new role at the Trail-Gazette. I am looking forward to working with the talented news team of John Cordsen and photographer Walt Hester and all our freelancers and contributors. I’m also excited about upgrading all our news platforms - print and digital.” David Persons, left
Reprinted with permission from the Estes Park Trail-Gazette. Trail-Gazette Staff Estes Park Trail-Gazette Publisher Mike Romero, responding to a growing need for more immediate news, announced today several newsroom staffing changes. David Persons, who has been a freelance reporter for the past year, has been named the news editor. He will oversee the day-to-day news content and assist in online development and planning. John Cordsen, who has been the managing editor at the paper for the past 12 years, has been named the online editor. His role will be to make sure that the Trail-Gazette’s website is updated with the most timely stories, bulletins, photos and videos which will include readersubmitted stories and web-only content when applicable. He will also post timely information on Facebook and Twitter. “I feel we need to serve our community in a much faster, more efficient way. News happens daily 24/7 and, with a twice-weekly
product, I feel we are not serving our readers as well as they deserve to be,” Romero said. “I think the best to do that is to put a real focus on our digital products while still emphasizing our print product. “I believe these changes accomplish that.” Persons was the editor/publisher of the Windsor Beacon newspaper from 2003-2012. Prior to that, he held a variety of reporting and editing positions at the Fort Collins Coloradoan and the Palm Springs Desert Sun. He also has worked for newspapers in Florida and Oklahoma. Over his career, he has won dozens of Colorado Press Association awards for
La Voz wins big at NAHP awards La Voz Bilingüe, Colorado’s #1 Hispanic-owned bilingual publication since 1974, has won 14 major awards at the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP) in Anaheim, Calif. The 31st annual convention was held at the Disneyland Paradise Pier Hotel at the Disneyland Resort, October 2 – 5 where bilingual and Spanish-only publications met and entered their best work in editorial, design, social media, marketing and photography. La Voz Publisher adds, “We are so proud of our staff ’s accomplishments and we look forward to yet improving the quality of our 39-year-old bilingual publication.” SIX GOLD in the following categories: • Outstanding editorial online audio/video: (An exclusive interview with President Obama-Ernest Gurule)
• Outstanding Inside Design Page– Veterans Day Tribute – Freedom is not Free • Outstanding Marketing Effort Targeting Advertisers (Special Editions) FOUR SILVER in the following categories: • Outstanding cultural photo– El Santuario de Chimayo – Photographer – Pauline Rivera • Outstanding Inside Page Design – Holiday – Feliz Navidad • Outstanding Inside Design Spread - America Voted • Outstanding ad promoting winning awards FOUR BRONZE in the following categories: • Outstanding Bilingual Weekly Publication - La Voz
• Outstanding Publication website – www.lavozcolorado.com
• Outstanding Sports Section –Brandon Rivera
• Outstanding news event photo – (The Aurora Shooting, Photographer: Deleno Austin)
• Outstanding Overall Color Photo – (OBAMANOS – Photographer: Deleno Austin)
• Outstanding Multiple Article Series – Hispanic Heritage Series
• Outstanding cultural article – La Llorona Still Among Us – Esteban L. Hernandez
news writing, column writing, investigative reporting, series writing, editorial writing, and web content. The Windsor Beacon won the Colorado Press Association’s General Excellence Sweepstakes award three times (2008, 2009, 2012) while he was the editor/ publisher. “I’m very excited about my new role at the Trail-Gazette,”
Persons said. “I am looking forward to working with the talented news team of John Cordsen and photographer Walt Hester and all our freelancers and contributors. I’m also excited about upgrading all our news platforms - print and digital.” Prior to coming to Estes Park, in 2001 Cordsen was the publisher/ editor/group manager for the Fort Stockton Pioneer and Alpine
Avalanche in West Texas. “I am looking forward to the changes in the staff and my new focus,” Cordsen said. “Over the past four years I’ve been moving more into the online duties while trying to maintain the same quality in our print product. Over the past 18 months, the online effort has been ramped up quite a bit and these staff changes will allow me to take our online effort to an entirely new level. David’s talents and expertise have already paid big dividends and will continue to do so. He has a passion for reporting and it shows in everything he does.” Cordsen added that the recent flood only emphasized the importance of having a strong online voice. “During the height of the flooding, having the ability to give people real-time information through all of our platforms. the web, Twitter and Facebook was extremely important to our readers,” he said.
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Read the Editor online coloradopress association.com
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colorado editor
November 2013
Colorado State University Department of Technical Journalism and Communication graduate and Coloradoan Reporter Madeline Novey speaks to students during the annual CSU campus visit in October.
ON CAMPUS
Colorado Press Association staff and member newspaper editors visited the Department of Technical Journalism and Communication at Colorado State University during the annual Fall campus visit Oct. 3, 2013. Colorado newspaper editors Doug Bell (Evergreen Newspapers), Randy Bangert (The Tribune), Joanna Bean (The Gazette), CPA Executive Director Samantha Johnston and reporters Grace Hood (KUNC) and Madeline Novey (The Fort Collins Coloradoan) attended.
Evergreen Newspapers Editor and Metro State Journalism Professor Doug Bell explains the importance of AP Style to CSU students.
Greeley Tribune Editor Randy Bangert speaks to CSU journalism students about the importance of internships before beginning the job search.
KUNC Reporter Grace Hood (front) and Colorado Press Association Executive Director Samantha Johnston talk about the state of the journalism industry.
colorado editor
November 2013
How to talk about your competitors I was talking to Kyle, an advertiser who has been dealing with media representatives for many years. “I can tell a lot about a sales person by what they say about their competitors,” he said. “It is extremely unprofessional to try to make sales points by trashing the other guys. In fact, negative comments reveal more about the critic than they do about the object of their criticism.” On the other hand, Kyle explained, it pays to be positive and diplomatic. “When a sales person shows sincere respect for the competition, that goes a long way toward winning my trust.” Dale Carnegie said, “Any john fool can criticize, condemn foust and complain – and most fools do.” Kyle – and a lot of other advertisers – would agree. Here are three points to keep in mind: 1. Do your homework. Average sales people learn everything they can about their products and services. Exceptional sales people go a step further and learn everything they can about their competitors’ products and services. That puts them in position to speak with authority when they’re making presentations. “Product knowledge is crucial,” Kyle said. “But it’s hard to take a sales person seriously if all they know is their own product. I advertise in more than one place. So when I meet with an ad representative, I want to hear their perceptions on market trends and how their media outlet can help me accomplish my objectives.” 2. Compare, don’t criticize. No one sells in a vacuum. Whether you live in a large metropolitan area or a small rural market, there are competitors for your prospects’ advertising dollars. As a result, the person
across the desk is hearing from – or at least thinking about – other advertising alternatives. If you’ve done your research – on your prospect and on the media choices in your market – you’ll be able to make fair comparisons. “I like presentations that make point-by-point comparisons,” Kyle said. “For example, if your paper reaches a wider range of people in my target audience, show me. If you have different production capabilities, show me. If your web site has unique ways to measure response, show me.” 3. Focus on facts, not opinion. This takes the emotion – much of which could be interpreted as negative – out of your comments. For example, a blatantly opinionated sales person might say something like this about ad rates: “You get what you pay for. Our competitor’s rates are lower than ours. To me, that’s an obvious sign that advertising in our paper is worth more than running ads in theirs.” That kind of remark would be guaranteed to raise a red flag with an advertiser like Kyle. In fat, he might even be tempted to defend the competitor. It’s much better to say something like: “Let’s compare their rates with ours. Although our rates are a little more, let me show you the extra value we offer for your investment.” This factbased approach will lead you and your prospect to a lower risk, benefits-oriented discussion. © Copyright 2013 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
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Focusing on metrics is paying off COLORADOAN from Page 1 While the numbers certainly aren’t all that matters, it’s clear that this small, 140-year-old newspaper now places a lot of emphasis on the metrics. And so far, it seems to be paying off. Not only has it been holding onto its print subscribers (19,912 daily and 25,919 Sunday, in a 151,000-person city), but a remarkable 70 percent of those subscribers have activated their digital access. “If not our highest number in the company, it’s pretty darn close,” says Mackenzie Warren, a Gannett news executive who is helping the company’s 81 local newspapers, including the Coloradoan, implement a paid digital content model. Since the Coloradoan put up a paywall in April 2012 that limits non-subscribers to 15 free articles a month, it has attracted 1,115 digital-only subscribers. A third of the funding for theColoradoan now comes from digital sources. “We have much larger newspapers that don’t have that many digital-only subscribers,” Warren says in a telephone interview. The Coloradoan, like most Gannett newspapers, sees digital subscriptions as a vital part of its future. Awtry looks at success from the perspective of the newsroom. The digital subscriptions result in an extra $100,000 a year in new circulation revenue. “That’s two bodies right there,” he says, explaining that he was able to add resources to the newsroom, which is now stabilized at about 30 full-time employees, including reporters, photographers, and editors. For years, the newspaper had been seeing revenue declines, which forced cutbacks and layoffs. “We turned the operation around in a year,” Awtry says. New ways of doing business
Awtry, 38, says he hadn’t envisioned himself as an editor. He graduated with two bachelor’s degrees from Hastings College in Nebraska—one in communications with a print journalism emphasis and another in saxophone performance. While both competed for his time and passion, he moved toward journalism. He explains, “The notion of helping people, and playing with the still-fresh concept of news as it related to computers, felt like a fascinating and worthwhile existence.” “Besides,” he adds, “if you think the job market is tough for journalists, try looking at the job market for classical saxophonists.” He got his start at community newspapers in Nebraska, worked at the Sun News in Myrtle Beach, SC, and then became assistant managing editor at the Salt Lake Tribune. Before moving to Fort Collins, he was the editor of the Times-News in Twin Falls, ID, where he pushed the concept of civic engagement and listening to ensure a newspaper reflected its community. “Anyplace that would put a soup ladle or ice cream scoop in my hand—I’d be there,” he says. He also pushed a data-driven approach to news, and using “actionable intelligence” from anecdotes, reader panels, and digital metrics to mirror a community’s passions. And he started a “cover story” concept—“one great, deep piece of enterprise journalism trumps multiple daily incremental stories.” He says he developed those ideas at theTribune but implemented them first in Idaho. “Much of what we’ve put into practice at the Coloradoan are caffeinated, extra-strength versions of those concepts,” he says.
cpa marketplace COLORADO MANAGING EDITOR The Montrose Daily Press is accepting applications and resumes for the position of Managing Editor. The Daily Press is an award-winning, six-day morning daily newspaper on the Western Slope of Colorado. We have a daily circulation of about 5,500; and daily average views on its Web site in excess of 9,000. It is owned by Wick Communications, now in its third generation of family ownership. Montrose is near first-class outdoor recreation with the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Telluride and Crested Butte ski areas; national forests, rivers and lakes are close. For a community of its population, 19,000, it is culturally rich and engaging. Our managing editor position is a hands-on leadership job. Expectations include: • The ability to edit stories tightly and quickly in order to help readers digest the news and information; the editor will write most of the headlines and oversee/ paginate pages under daily deadline pressures at night. • Assign stories and coverage and when necessary, grab a camera, a pad and cover the story.
• The managing editor will also have an appreciation of news presentation, the visual design and appeal of the newspaper. • Perform in an administrative position. He or she will manage weekly mileage reports, overtime issues, coaching the staff and their progress. It is a six-person staff, plus the use of free-lance writers and photographers. • Contribute as a leader in the newsroom and community. • Exhibit a “get it online first” attitude; a “get it in the newspaper, today,” philosophy. He or she must know that local news is always, always the top priority. • Foster the Press’ lively editorial page that has locally written commentary, local columns and more than 600 letters to the editor annually. • Show an awareness and appreciation of local politics and the community’s rich local history. This is a difficult job requiring similar experience. The successful candidate likely has managed other community newspaper newsrooms and at a minimum has management experience. Recognizes that putting out a daily paper is hard work, takes tremendous focus, organization
and communication. A college journalism degree or in a related field, with post-college training at state or national programs, is expected. The Montrose Daily Press is an appealing place to work, beyond its outstanding geographical and community aspects: • We offer competitive pay, 401K retirement plan/match, paid vacation, a top-notch major medical plan and relocation assistance. • Our new office and press buildings illustrate our appreciation of a good working environment and commitment to being a leader among our media peers. • You will find competent, friendly managers and staff throughout the organization. Please apply ONLY electronically. Send a cover letter, a resume and references, salary history and expectations to: Francis Wick, Publisher, Montrose Daily Press. francisw@montrosepress.com. You will get a confirmation of your application. SPORTS REPORTER/ EDITOR OPENING Gunnison Country Publications,
in Gunnison, Colo., is seeking an outgoing, organized and committed individual to serve as a sports reporter/editor. Responsibilities entail reporting on local middle school, high school, university, recreation league and mountainbased sports in our community, in addition to planning sports coverage on a weekly — and longterm — basis. Candidates should possess strong communication skills, the ability to tell compelling stories in print and online, recognize and identify unique article angles and be proficient in using social media as a tool to tell stories and generate interest. Experience with photography is a plus, and the ideal candidate will also be willing and able to pursue news and feature articles. E-mail resume to Gunnison Country Times Editor Will Shoemaker at editor@gunnisontimes.com. CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Colorado Community Media is a group of weekly community newspapers and websites serving the suburbs of the Denver and Colorado Springs Metropolitan areas. Of our 23 publications, 9 are paid and the rest are free. Paid
newspapers are all mailed and the balance are carrier delivered. Total circulation is 200,000. We seek a Circulation Director. The best candidate will have the following skills: • Build paid circulation for awards winning weekly newspapers • Come prepared with toolbox of programs that build paid circulation • Understanding of USPS regulations and requirements • Ability to analyze rack and counter sales in order to maximize those sales • Hire and motivate carriers for free, home delivered papers • Be a positive addition to our bright and motivated management team This position will report directly to the Owner/Publisher. We have 6 offices in the state. The main office for this position is in Highlands Ranch. Please send resume and cover letter to: Jerry Healey Owner/Publisher Colorado Community Media jhealey@ourcoloradonews.com No phone calls please.
MUSE ing Tale An aMUSEing tale from Adobe 6
colorado editor
November 2013
aMUSEing Tale
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Kevin Slimp The News Guru
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No. 1, the writers
the line? Why specifically didn’t we
during political campaigns and
welcome reader participation, but
a relationship? This was not the first time a family member had written on an issue close to home. I recall when the parent of a city council candidate wrote a letter of endorsement. We
that the school district had about 450 employees, and approximately 50 percent of those were teachers. A lively discussion of issues is a keystone to a vibrant community, and it’s a common perception
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
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radioactive spent fuel at the local nuclear power plant. In both instances, the identification gives readers a broader understanding and appreciation of the writers’ perspectives. In most
colorado editor
November 2013
Struggling economies doomed three papers TRINIDAD from Page 1 cites a lack of support from and for local government as major factors in those turns of events. It was hard, she added, “watching our town fall apart. People are moving. All the motivated individuals who were contributing to the economy, they’re moving away. Raton more than Trinidad, but they’re both suffering. And these are the gateway cities to their states. We had PepsiCo and Coca-Cola plants, a railway hub, a Budweiser distributorship, and they all moved away. A lot of businesses moved to Pueblo,” if they didn’t just close doors outright. And with the loss of businesses, big and small, came the resultant loss of advertising dollars for her newspapers. “Advertising wasn’t their top priority. It was paying their workers and their insurance, and they had a hard time paying us. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to pay (for advertising), it was just that business is not good,” she explained. Along with the declining advertising revenue, Murphy faced other challenges as essential costs of producing a publication continued to rise. The Times Independent (published Tuesdays and Fridays across Las Animas County) had a circulation of approximately 2,000 paid subscribers with paid online presence of about 300-400. The Raton Range (serving Raton, N.M. and Colfax County) also came out twice weekly. The Advertiser was a weekly shopper serving both counties. Murphy and her staff printed their own products until 2012, when changes in technology forced her to outsource. The printing film they needed was no longer available in the United States, and updated equipment was too expensive. Outsourcing to a printer in Colorado Springs “turned out to be more money than I could afford,” said Murphy. “Insurance, supplies, postage all went up. Add in printing, taxes, your bank payment, your payroll, and it all was just an expensive proposition that I didn’t have the money to do anymore. People just don’t get all the expenses that are tied to this type of business.” Murphy tried another tactic to keep her newspapers going, but making a deal with one group of investors even through her last week “didn’t work. Then I had another group of investors out of Texas and they negotiated directly with the bank, but it just didn’t work out,” in the weeks that followed. Murphy bought her newspapers from Boone Newspapers Inc. of Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 2002, after working for them as advertising director since 1985 and publisher since 1997 for Raton Newspapers, Inc. “At the
time, along with the Range we also had Trinidad Plus, a weekly shopper with features. In 2004 we decided to make it subscriptionbased and go twice-weekly.” The new Times Independent “had a lot of advertising,” and they added hard news to the mix. Her sister Lee Ann Galasso was her bookkeeper, and her brother Nick Galasso was pressman. Murphy thanked them and others on her loyal staff in her farewell letter online. Today, after 28 years in the newspaper industry, Murphy is making positive changes. “Now I’m trying to be happy in my life again. The newspaper business was very stressful. It’s something I absolutely love and believe in. I believe in the First Amendment. And I will always long to be in it, but at this time, the financial stress, the overall stress, was overwhelming. And watching our town fall apart. I don’t know what the answer is,” she said, adding it would take “really thinking outside the box to make this a thriving community again.” Once her newspapers closed, she considered a proposed sales and marketing job at Mt. Carmel Health, Wellness & Community Center in Trinidad. But when that position wasn’t funded, Mt. Carmel founder and community leader Jay Cimino, also president & CEO of Phil Long Dealerships in Colorado, had another idea. He asked Murphy to join his sales staff at Phil Long Toyota of Trinidad, and she accepted, saying, “All right. I’ll try it.” So far, so good. “The people I work with are all high-energy and fun, and you get to meet a lot of people. And when they leave, they’re happy,” she said. “I’m happy, but I miss the newspapers. I was happy bringing the news to everyone and maybe I’ll go back to it in the future. One thing that’s odd is that I’m out of the loop, but people still call me and ask what’s going on, so it’s been a little adjustment. It was my life, and yes, you get ink in your veins and it never really goes away.” Meanwhile, Murphy will continue to keep an eye on the community along with her husband, Tom, who works as executive producer of their Trinidad Times TV, a cablecast channel for which they film city and county government meetings and school board meetings for unedited airings – to help citizens keep track of what exactly is going on in the area, and hopefully be able to help change things for the better. In addition, Times Independent fans “continue to post to our Facebook wall, and we still have about 1,500 likes,” and the Twitter account is still open as well. Said Murphy: “Like I said, you can’t get it out of your blood.”
Focus shifts to successful VALLEY NEWS from Page 1
every page, we printed on quality paper, we had good quality photos, a lot of high school sports. It ended up being a good-looking product.” But even with all the effort, economics eventually made the difference. “We just never got over that hump to make it a worthwhile paper. The company said that was enough, it was just not performing, so they decided to pull back and put our efforts in other directions.” Cox already had been producing the High Country Shopper for some time. “We took it over in March 2006, and it was probably the most successful shopper format in the state. It’s been really well-received.” Today, “We don’t do driveway drops, our overall circulation is around 17,500 and it basically goes to every physical address in Delta County, excluding P.O. boxes,” said Cox. There is some circulation in Montrose County as well. When the holding company called Cox on the first Monday in September and told him they’d decided to shut down the newspaper, and “just focus efforts on the shopper,” he was disappointed but could accept the reality, and took on the challenge of putting more of himself into making HCN bigger and better. Closing the News was just an economic reality, said Cox: “Delta County is now at 6.9 percent unemployment, just slightly under the national average. One of the coal mines recently laid off more than 100 workers. Those things really come back and get you.” Printing costs weren’t really a factor, he said, rather they had a “problem getting over the circulation hump, it went up or down with no reason. And we were in the position of splitting our advertising among ourselves, the News and the Shopper, and it got to a point where it didn’t make sense economically to take out of one pocket and put it in another.” A retired law enforcement officer, Cox said, “I wasn’t a newspaper person, but we really had a good following for Mountain Valley News. I wrote thought-provoking editorials, that was really my baby, and something I’d wanted to do all my life.” An avid outdoorsman, Cox also wrote other articles, many on outdoor events plus an outdoor life column, primarily on hunting and fishing, for 10 years. The News earned many writing awards in the Colorado Press Association’s annual contest, and Cox and his staff were proud of their accomplishments. “We got several awards and when you get some awards, it makes you feel good. And when you feel good, you work better,” said Cox. It might have made the work better, but not always easier. “It’s a hard thing to do, especially in a small community, to keep your politics out of your news stories, but we kept that going,” said Cox. “We kept the ‘news’ the news, and ‘opinion’ opinion. I was really strict with my people about that. I didn’t allow (not doing) that.” He will miss it all: “To have total control at the paper, it was an amazing run for me and I hated to see it go, but I understand. Business
7
shopper
Delta County Independent GM will miss competitor’s voice Randy Sunderland, general manager of the Delta County Independent, has his own take on the loss this year of his competitor, the Mountain Valley News. “We have a diverse community here and there’s room for different perspectives,” said Sunderland. “People have the impression (the closing) helps us, but it really doesn’t. We’ve seen a mild bump in subscriptions, but not droves of people.” Moreover, he said, “When a newspaper closes, that’s a valuable thing that we’re losing.” But, he added, “Same as other businesses, we have to convince our customers,” that they have a product customers want. “They have to appreciate what a newspaper is, that’s it’s for their community.” In the case of Mountain Valley News, “It just points to the difficulty of running a business in a small community. I question whether their ownership truly understood the local economy,” said Sunderland. “They had it before the economy went bad, and it was ironic that their biggest competitor was their own shopper, and the News couldn’t get the support that they needed to keep the doors open.” And Sunderland is sorry for that. “One aspect of losing a paper is business.” Now, Cox and his staff concentrate more on advertising copy than news copy. The Shopper runs about 40 pages, but has been bigger than that, going to two sections at times. “It has some copy, obits, births, announcements, club news and meetings,” said Cox, but no large articles due to the format. “Because of the real diversification, it would be awkward to put a lot of text in it.” Color is available on every page, and they run mostly full color in the modular format. His major advertisers run large, full color ads, and “some people put their entire advertising budget into the Shopper.” The front and back pages are in high demand, and sell early in the year. “I’ve never seen the dedication people have to this,” said Cox. “It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. People say they read the Shopper every week. I say, yes, you look at it, and they say, no, they actually read it.” Most classifieds are free and intermingled throughout the paper. “They say they get news from those, for instance if someone is selling something,” they can speculate about what’s going on in that person’s life. The life of Bob Cox is a good story, too. Prior to becoming a newspaperman, “I was in law enforcement for 16 years,” including working as an investigator for the Montrose County Sheriff ’s Office, a loaned agent to a DEA Task Force, and undersheriff for Kit Carson County for six years. Then he decided to act on a longtime desire: “I was doing private investigation work, and
in Delta County was that they provided another perspective on the same news, so readers have a better package, a better view of what’s going on.” Sunderland also notes that competition from a new age of writers complicates things. “Now we have different points of view coming from social media that don’t have the journalistic work, the fact-checking that traditional newspapers have.” On his newspaper’s website, “The school board, zoning and planning articles don’t get read because the public doesn’t always want to be informed. It’s true that if it bleeds, it leads, like stories on fires, accidents.” Beyond the hard-news articles, “stories about animals trend three to four times the readers that the school board story next to it does.” People don’t always understand what’s important, he observed. “We’ve become a culture that focuses on pop icons, sports news,” to the exclusion of news about politics and government, for example. One effect: “People are angry with Congress and they don’t understand why. We’re in the prime time of what’s wrong with our culture. We’re in charge, but the only way to stay in charge is reading those boring stories.” I walked into a newspaper office one day and said I wanted to do some writing on the outdoors, and the guy wanted me to do some other stuff and some investigative work. One thing led to another and eventually the CEO offered me the publisher job. And I said I’d like to try it.” After going through several editors on staff, Cox decided to take over that job as well. And it worked out well for a number of years before economics claimed another Colorado newspaper. But despite its closing, the Mountain Valley News, as is the case with other newspapers, lives on online. “I still have a couple of Twitter accounts, and I still mess with those a little bit, and more as I get going here (at the Shopper). I do very little on Facebook, but we have a lot of friends, and they post on it.” And, he added, “I have a WordPress blog. As I progress, I really hope to put a book or two together, hunting and fishing with a little bit of philosophical background.” But his main focus right now is the High Country Shopper: “I look at everything as another opportunity. This is a challenge right now to see if I can’t reach into a few more advertising pockets and bring them into our family.” High Country Shopper employs about 25 full- and part-time people, including several office staffers and circulation workers. If Bob Cox – “64, and as healthy as can be expected” – has his way, he and his staff will all be employed in the newspaper business for some time to come.
8
colorado editor
November 2013
CU Ready to make next move CU from Page 1 According to CU Board of Regents Chairman Michael Carrigan, once the Implementation Committee completes its work, “and they feel prepared to bring it to us for approval, a presentation will be made at one of our formal meetings. Usually we would receive the presentation at one meeting, and a proposal to act at the next. That process will likely be early 2014; we have meetings scheduled in February and April. That would be the normal course.” He added that normal protocol would be for (University of Colorado-Boulder) Chancellor Philip DiStefano to introduce the proposal, and he and others would lead the actual presentation. “I suspect Provost Moore would be involved as well,” said Carrigan, noting that “the board is excited to see what’s brought forward, and committed to seeing that the study of journalism and mass communication will continue on the Boulder campus in the best way possible.”
Making History If and when the board votes its approval, it would result in an historic event. On May 1, 2013, Moore sent a letter to faculty, staff and students announcing his plan to create two new colleges – one for the “study of the sustainable environment” and the other the proposed CMCI. They would be the first colleges created on the Boulder campus in 50 years. His letter also stated: “With the regents’ approval, I look forward to opening the doors of these two new schools/colleges in 2015.” A “Tentative TimeLine” posted online indicates CMCI would open upon regent approval (spring 2014), with student recruitment the focus of the 2014-2015 Academic Year (AY), and AY 2015-2016 listed as the “first full year of operation.” It may be that no one will be more pleased about completion of these plans than Braider. He has headed the current journalism school since June 2011 and is overseeing the process of forming a new college for all things journalism. His personal timeline began that year, when the Board of Regents closed the School of Journalism & Mass Communication on the Boulder campus with a 5-4 vote of “discontinuance” on June 30. At the time, the school’s dean, Paul Voakes, said the “regents’ resolution commits the university to continuing its degree programs in journalism/ mass communications … and in ways that will keep us competitive for accreditation.” The school then became a department. Effective July 1, 2011, the provost named Braider director of the Journalism & Mass Communication faculty, saying it “marks the next key step in developing a more contemporary program in journalism and media studies.” Said Braider, a former faculty member at Harvard University who has been at CU since 1992: “My feeling is that it seems like the discontinuance was a big issue, but it really had to do with trying to normalize a department that was in trouble. The vote isn’t as important as the formation of the new school.” Carrigan agreed: “The vote was difficult for all involved. It is a rare time when the
board is asked to approve a discontinuance of an entire college. The vote was divided, but the board was united in a desire to have a robust curriculum involving journalism and communication at CU-Boulder. There’s always been a desire for journalism here, it’s massive.” As of June 26 of this year, when Braider also became director of Media, Communication and Information, the planning phase for the new college really began. However, “We haven’t been sitting on our hands,” said Braider. “Up until this year (the focus) has been helping to normalize Journalism & Mass Communication, plus the transition to a new college, and to move forward in terms of curriculum. And also work with our relationships with our alumni and with industries we serve.”
Journalism Plus One step already in effect is the new Journalism Plus program – a landmark change that allows students to enroll in a journalism major and an additional secondary field. “Students have the choice to do just about anything. The only restriction we have to work out for each of the disciplines students are interested in is (to establish) a defined program,” said Braider. Students most often choose a major in arts and sciences, but there are many more choices available. As defined in an article on the CU-Boulder website: “Journalism and Mass Communication will continue to grant the Bachelor of Science degree in one of five sequences: advertising, broadcast news, broadcast production, media studies, and news-editorial. Under the new requirements, students also will enroll in a 30to 33-credit-hour additional field of study, the equivalent work in a major in a discipline of their choice – anything from English, physics and history to political science, environmental studies or film studies.” And, so far it’s a hit. Feedback from all involved is good. “It’s very popular,” with the students, said Braider. “We’ve had virtually no student pushback. And, the regents enthusiastically endorsed the idea, the faculty in journalism and advertising like it a lot, as do prospective employers.” Previously, in order to complete a dual degree at CU in two separate colleges, “it meant more hours than you could do in four years. It would take five years to do the 145 hours required.” The new dual degree curriculum requires only 130 hours. Journalism Plus will continue with the new college. Students will be able to earn a double major in and out of the new college, or a double major within CMCI. Students in CMCI will also have the option of pursuing a single major. Braider will work with the new college well into the process. “Assuming the regents’ approval, next year will be devoted to ramping it up and recruiting a founding dean, with a national search I’m sure,” he said. As Braider, as he put it, “fades into the background” and returns to his teaching and writing work fulltime, he will look back on a satisfying time: “It’s been a huge job but fun, challenging, and a learning experience. I learned an enormous amount about things I otherwise would not have known. I was dealing with administrative issues, and meeting and working with a lot of
interesting people.” And where did all this work leave the students? Not forgotten, to be sure. Students already at CU in the summer of 2011, “already in the former journalism school continued work on their degrees, they were unaffected,” said Braider. Students still in the “pipeline” when a new journalism college officially opens its doors will transition into that college.
Grad Perspective One former student wishes the new curriculum had been in place when she attended CU-Boulder. Grad Nicole Miller is assistant editor at Steamboat Pilot & Today. After working for the newspaper through the Colorado Press Association intern program May- August 2006, she started full-time at Steamboat in December of that year. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism/News Editorial with an emphasis in Environmental Studies from the School of Journalism & Mass Communication. At CU, she was also managing editor of the weekly student newspaper The Campus Press (now the CU Independent) and in her final year was online editor and started a daily website for the newspaper. She looks forward to seeing a new and improved journalism school at CU, and firmly believes that if the Journalism Plus program had been available to her, she would have been better prepared for the workforce. For example: “I tried to take a video editing course and was not allowed. Broadcast Journalism was a different major, I was News Editorial. Those are the kinds of walls they’re trying to take down now, so students are better prepared for a career in journalism. From what I’ve heard, (the new process of) working with programs outside of the journalism program involves a lot more collaboration.” She added that a course working on the school newspaper should be included. “It was a course when I attended, now it’s just voluntary.” Miller also observed that, “I think their overarching goal is to make sure students will get the education to prepare them for digital journalism. They need an increased focus on digital skills.” Times are changing, she noted. “Students we are getting today (at Steamboat) are sometimes teaching some of the longtime journalists how to do things.” If CU-Boulder has been behind the curve on preparing its graduates to enter today’s technical world of journalism, the implementation committee for the new college is making it a priority to change that perception and that reality. According to Moore’s charge to the committee, “CMCI will educate students to enter careers in which communication and expression, and the methods and technologies that enable those activities, are the animating core. The college will offer a home for a range of disciplines and practices that both have deep historical roots and have been transformed by recent social, cultural and technological shifts.” Moore then asked the committee to create proposals for units in the following areas: • Communication – current educational and scholarly work of the Department of Communication • Design, Strategic Thinking, and Advertising – visual, sound, and narrative design across artistic, journalistic, social
and commercial media, including new and emergent (e.g., digital) media • Media Studies – the intersection of media, communication and cultural practices in historical and contemporary perspective • The Moving Image and Media Production – bringing together a range of artistic practices involving moving images, including experimental film and documentary film-making • Information Studies – including social computing applications and analytics; digital data archiving, preservation and curation; and information policy • Intermedia Arts – an inter-collegiate faculty will offer graduate degrees in new and emerging arts • Journalism – pursue current educational and scholarly work of the journalism faculty
Turning Point The information to research is vast, making the task of creating a new college of journalism seemingly an overwhelming one. But it’s one for which there exists a definite need, and that can’t afford to get any farther behind. Technology continues to define, shape and mold the journalism industry, and shows no sign of slowing that momentum. CU-Boulder is making a big effort to keep up with the ever-increasing flow of public information. “We have reached a turning point,” said Moore earlier this year. “After more than three years of faculty discussions, after consultations with the deans, and with the support of the chancellor, we have moved beyond the question of whether we are creating a new college to the phase in which we do the work necessary to present our ideas to the Board of Regents.” The new college, he added, “will be committed to experimentation and innovative approaches to gathering, organizing, presenting and engaging with information and ideas across the widest possible range of the means of human communication. We will bring together scholars, artists and researchers who understand everything from the technology that lies behind the means of communication to the artistic use of those means.” In a related story, there has also been talk recently about a new school at the University of Colorado-Denver called “The Dean Singleton Global Center for Strategic Communications,” with MediaNews Group, Inc., chairman Singleton pledging $1 million toward the center to be located in a new building on the campus. Although at least one meeting of interested parties has reportedly taken place, there is no official news. According to UCD Media Specialist Chris Casey: “The university remains in preliminary discussions about the center,” with no more information released until “there is something concrete to discuss.” At any school, the process of establishing a new college of journalism certainly sounds daunting, but when you’re talking about the world of journalists, remember one overlying principle: It’s what they do. In fact, it’s what they’ve always done. And with the new College of Media, Communication and Information journalists will have one more great place in which to learn it. For more information, visit: www.colorado.edu/cmci/
CMCI Timeline SUMMER 2013 Provost names Director and Implementation Committee (IC); Director and IC begin work on mission statement and structure of the College.
SEPTEMBER 2013 Director and IC convene committees to complete work by Dec. 31, 2013, in six areas; Director calls for research and educational proposals from faculty working groups, with proposals (to help guide resource investments) due Sept. 1, 2013, and final reports due July 1, 2014.
FALL 2013 Director and IC begin work on presentations for regent approval; provost decides when to begin search for a permanent dean and new faculty members, awaiting approval by the Board of Regents; Director and IC identify needs for space, facilities, library and data resources, etc.; Director works with CU Foundation on fundraising.
SPRING 2014 Campus forwards proposals for CMCI to Board of Regents; if the college is approved, faculty in (current) Journalism & Mass Communication will be moved to new college, as will all degrees, space, assets, etc. attached to those programs. College of Media, Communication and Information is opened.
AY 2014-2015 College works with Admissions on marketing strategy to recruit students into the new degree programs; external advisory board established; college begins student recruitment for new departments and degrees after approval by Board of Regents.
AY 2015-2016 College begins its first full year of operation.