editor colorado
Official publication of the Colorado Press Association / coloradopressassociation.com / Vol. LXXXV, No. 11
Ten Questions with Jim Morgan. PAGE 3
November 2014
‘Never-ending pursuit of truth’
Award-winning reporter Benns ‘cranks out story after story’ about how citizens deserve better By Jeffrey A. Roberts CFOIC Executive Director For 14 years, reporter Teresa Benns has endured frequent verbal attacks and even threats of physical violence while documenting and commenting on the workings and failings of government in Saguache County and the small town of Center in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. She perseveres because it’s her duty, she said, accepting the CFOIC’s Jean Otto Friend of Freedom Award during an October luncheon in Monte Vista. “Community news is for the community and reporters are community watchdogs,” said Benns, who writes for the weekly Center Post-Dispatch (circulation 320).
“I have tried to fulfill what I believe is my civic and professional duty to alert people to the existence of their First Amendment rights…I believe it is important for them to know that they can depend on the press to champion these rights.” Recently, the CFOIC wrote about the battles that Benns and the Post-Dispatch have fought to open meetings and records in Center and Saguache County. For the newspaper’s ongoing efforts to make these governments more accountable to their residents, Post-Dispatch Publisher Jennifer Alonzo also was presented with the Friend of Freedom Award. CFOIC President Steve Zansberg, a media law attorney whose firm is counsel for the Colorado Press Association, said Benns
frequently contacts him and his partners with questions such as, “Do you think they’re breaking the law – again? Shouldn’t the public be entitled to see this document? Aren’t they required to hold that meeting open to the public? “And we frequently find ourselves answering, ‘Yes.’” “She cranks out story after story about how the citizens of this town and this county deserve better,” Zansberg said. “They deserve a government that not only hides nothing, but has nothing to hide. This passion, this never-ending pursuit of the truth, is what drives her.” Also speaking at the awards luncheon Left to right, Teresa Benns, Steve Zansberg, Jennifer Alonzo and were former Center Mayor Susan Banning, FREEDOM on Page 5
Keith Cerny at a recent CFOIC award banquet.
Convention to have some changes, but same goal
The news in all formats Denver Post’s dynamic newsroom of the future delivers something for everyone
Jean Williams CPA staff A new floor, new furniture, and a new buzz—but there’s still no mistaking where you are. “D P” is displayed in floor-to-ceiling neon lights in the entrance to the new eighth floor office space of the Denver Post, where the past is still present, but the focus is largely on the future of news reporting. The future for the Denver Post looks a lot like a television broadcasting studio. Actually, one is set up almost as soon as you come in the door, with two recording spaces directly across from each other and a camera crew positioned in between, ready to change directions depending on which station is used. They also brought on Molly Hughes, formerly of Channel 4, to anchor one of the Denver Post’s latest ventures, DPTV (dptv.denverpost.com), an up-to-date news streaming service that launched Oct. 27. While it may seem unusual that a newspaper is video-streaming news, Linda Shapley, director of newsroom operations, pointed out that “one of the tenets of Digital First Media has always been that we will give you the news in whatever format you want.” “So if you want it in print, you’re still able to get what you want in print,” she said. “If
Illuminated D P letters from the old building honor the Denver Post’s past, while features like an in-house videostreaming set show how the organization is poised to deliver news the future. you’re more online or mobile-based, you’re going to get your information that way as well…. This [video news streaming] is an area where we feel we can make some big strides and where we can do some great things.” Tim Rasmussen, the assistant managing editor, and Kevin Dale, the news director,
were the “architects” of the space, traveling across the country to research what would become the Denver Post’s newsroom of the future. “We wanted that feel when you walked in the newsroom to see what kind of newsroom we are, which is definitely a sense POST on Page 4
For a decade, I’ve been going to press conventions, either as a reporter, general manager, editor or publisher. And while I’ve been the chair of the convention committee in Wyoming, this is my first year putting on what I view to be the Colorado Press Association’s premier event. And as I’ve Jerry been working Raehal on it, I keep coming back CPA/SYNC 2 to this: I love CEO conventions. Scratch that. I love good conventions. In the 10 years I’ve been attending conventions, the truth is, not all have been good. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always found something useful at each one, but several times I walked away wishing more of the convention had that appeal. And some conventions have been great. I’ve watched people walking out of sessions in lively discussion about what they just heard and learned. The best conventions, in my opinion, will do at least one of the three things. One, people should be able to walk away with some tangible skills or ideas they can use at their papers. CHANGES on Page 4