MESSENGER Texas Press
Texas Press Association • texaspress.com • MARCH 2013 • VOL 88 NO 3
Big story puts Wise on the map By Kristen Tribe Wise County Messenger
Sometimes we go find the news. Other times, it finds us. Last week Evan Ebel sped into Wise County, guns blazing, and brought a tragic story to our front door. Although covering tragedy is nothing new at the Wise County Messenger, this time we did it with the national media looking over our shoulder. The morning of March 21 started quietly, but by noon, we had covered a frenzied chase, a police shootout with a seemingly crazed gunman, and were exploring connections to murders in Colorado. By the next morning our work, primarily the photos by Joe Duty and Jimmy Alford, had appeared in publications, on websites and television broadcasts of at least 27 media outlets around the world. It was not a typical news day in Wise County. Seven of us huddled in the newsroom when we heard the word “gunshots” on the police scanner about 11 a.m. Prior to this, I spent most of the morning answering emails and doing phone interviews. I had chatted with an assistant D.A. and the First Baptist preacher and had plans to write all afternoon. But my plans changed quickly. All we knew at that point was that local law enforcement was chasing a suspect who had “assaulted” a deputy in Montague County, and this guy was shooting at officers along U.S. 287. We shifted into “breaking news mode,” which for us means a reporter and photographer head to the scene while someone at the office posts to our website and monitors Facebook comments until the
FIERY FINISH — A Wise County sheriff’s deputy extinguishes the fire on a car driven by Evan S. Ebel, 28, of Colorado. The engine of the Cadillac burst into flames after Ebel crashed into a rock hauler on U.S. 380 in Decatur at the end of a high-speed pursuit that began in Montague County. Ebel opened fire on officers after the wreck. Photo by Jimmy Alford/Wise County Messenger. dust settles. On this day, two photographers headed to the scene, along with a reporter. After they left, we continued listening to the scanner, and I made several frantic calls to Joe and reporter Brandon Evans to give them some idea of where this guy was headed. The gravity of the situation was brought to light when the dispatcher said, “He’s stopped ... and he’s reloading.” Those words hung heavy in the newsroom.
That’s when I knew he wasn’t trying to slow down officers, or just cause a distraction. He was shooting to kill. The chase seemed to last forever, but in reality it was just 24 minutes. We heard the dispatcher say there was a wreck, and the suspect was still shooting. The next words: “Suspect down.” Was he dead? Were any officers hurt? What about the accident? Were other drivers injured? All we could do was wait. Joe and Jimmy returned quickly to
post photos and share what they witnessed, while Brandon stayed at the site to gather as much information as possible. Joe sent one photo from the scene that we had already posted, and we began combing through others while waiting for Brandon to return. I knew it was a matter of time before the Dallas/Fort Worth TV stations started calling. They monitor our breaking news and will often
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
TPA supports proposed ‘retraction statute’ PAGE 5
2
messenGer VoL 88 no 3 marcH 2013
MESSEN ESSENGER NGER Rat Battle, Rounds 1 and 2 Just another day at the office Texas Press
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
Texas Press Association 718 West 5th Street Austin, TX 78759 (512) 477-6755 phone (512) 477-6759 fax texaspress.com
2012-2013 TPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS
President Russel Skiles, Lamesa Press-Reporter; First Vice President Greg Shrader, Lufkin Daily News; Second Vice President Randy Mankin, Eldorado Success; Treasurer Glenn Rea, Cuero Record; Chairman Chad Ferguson, Banner Press Newspaper
BOARD MEMBERS
Elected: Bill Crist, Snyder Daily News; Sue Brown, Pleasanton Express; Brandi Guy, Thorndale Champion; Brett McCormick, Vernon Daily Record; Chad Engbrock, Wylie News Appointed: Jeff Berger, Hondo Anvil Herald; Mark Henry, Mexia News; Melissa Perner, Ozona Stockman; Ken Esten Cooke, Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post; Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise; Randy Keck, Community News; Hank Hargrave, Normangee Star Regional Presidents: Susan Reeves, Mount Vernon Optic-Herald, NETPA; Amanda Rogers, The Canyon News, PPA; Jason Jarrett, Westlake Picayune, STPA; Murray Judson, Port Aransas South Jetty, TGCPA; Mark Engebretson, Lake Country Sun, WTPA Regional Vice Presidents: Mark Engebretson, Lake Country Sun, NETPA; Wanda Brooks, Moore County News, PPA; Cyndy Slovak-Barton, Hays Free Press, STPA; Danny Reneau, Silsbee Bee, TGCPA; Lisa Davis, Wise County Messenger, WTPA
MESSENGER STAFF Publisher Micheal Hodges Editor Laura King Advertising Consultant Diane Byram Volume 88 — Issue No. 3 MARCH 2013 Subscription rate $6 per year Single issue 50 cents © Texas Press Messenger, 2013 (ISSN 1521-7523). Published monthly by Texas Press Service, a business affiliate of Texas Press Association. Periodicals postage paid at Austin, Texas, and additional mailing office, USPS 541-440. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Texas Press Messenger, 718 West 5th Street, Austin, Texas 78701-2783. Printed by Hood County News in Granbury, Texas.
“Rats!” would be about the mildest term possible for my initial reaction to what happened yesterday afternoon. This time, however, it had a far different meaning than it did a couple of weeks earlier. The difference between cursing and laughing. Let me explain. Like many community newspapers, we’re fortunate to have a few customers who are almost waiting at the door when our mid-week edition comes off the press each Wednesday afternoon. Most of the time they come in, buy a newspaper and chat a few seconds, then go on their way. Then all is calm again in the office. Such was not the case on these two occasions. We had already sold one paper yesterday when another regular customer showed up. An older fellow with one bad eye, he’s such a regular that he comes in the back door. Actually, he comes in the back way because he’s been in the alley poking through the trash containers to see if we may already have tossed out any readable rejects from that day’s press run. He was the first to notice that the paper we gave him looked a lot like last Wednesday’s paper. Actually, the front page was exactly the same. Just the front page, as it turned out. Rats! Somehow — somehow! — when we sent the pages to the press that afternoon the “Page 1” PDF that was dragged from one side of the computer to the other came out of the wrong file. Last Wednesday’s file! And no one noticed! Not until all 3,000 copies were printed. Not until four inserts were put into every one of them. Not until almost 800 had been given to the carrier, bundles were tied and ready to go to the stores, and some
already had been sacked for the post office. Not until a half-blind, 90-something customer picked up a copy!
Rambling Russel Skiles TPa PresiDenT 2012-2013
Thus began a mad scramble to reprint the entire run — a process delayed because the press crew already had changed the ink setup to get ready for the next day. Then it was all-hands-on-papers as everyone in the building — pregnant lady included — got their fingers black pulling inserts out of the bad papers and stuffing them in the new ones coming off the press. But before we could hardly get started I get a phone call from the publisher in a town 60 miles away. “Hey!” he says, “I hear you liked last week’s paper so well you printed it again.” What a friend! Bad news really does travel fast. I almost wanted to cry. Rats! Two weeks earlier our Wednesday afternoon calm was wrecked in a vastly different way by another early-bird customer. I was in the bookkeeper’s office when two ladies that work up front came running my way and babbling something about, of all things, a rat. Not rats, just one rat. Having worked with one of them long enough to always be on my guard, I was wary until I saw the other employee’s face. By her expression and the way she was waving her hand in front of her face, you would have thought she had just stepped on a skunk.
Sure enough, a regular customer who had come in for a hot-off-thepress newspaper noticed a rat come running right in the front door with her. A real, live, four-legged rodent rat! Right in downtown Lamesa, less than a block from the courthouse. Luckily, the rat hadn’t gotten past the front counter before finding itself cornered. Theatrical — or is that comedic? — tradition dictates you chase rats with a broom, so I headed to where we keep the cleaning equipment. No broom in sight, I grabbed what I could find. A mop in one hand and a snow shovel in the other. I was ready to do battle. Dead or alive! I didn’t care as long as the big rodent didn’t manage to disappear into our maze of rooms and assorted newspaper office stuff. The customer graciously held open the front door as I first tried to chase the rodent back out the same way it came in. No such luck! Facing a big bald guy armed with a mop and a snow shovel, the rat fled into a one-inch opening between the wall and the front counter. Obviously it wasn’t the cat-sized critter described by my female employees, who were now seeking refuge on the far side of the room. One was standing in a chair and another completely on top of a desk. Needing a new weapon for Rat Battle, Round 2, I decided that big old wooden yardstick hanging on a hook might finally be good for something. It was. Despite the rat’s tragic ending, we spent the rest of the afternoon laughing about our inner-office comedy routine. In the newspaper business you never really know what is going to happen from day to day or from minute to minute. But after those two events, I’m ready for a calm, quiet Wednesday afternoon. No more rats! Of any kind!
messenGer VoL 88 no 3 marcH 2013
City can’t prohibit recording of meetings
Q: I tape meetings to make sure my quotes are precise. The mayor and city council members of one of the towns I cover are put out with me because my coverage of city council meetings is verbatim. Now and then they wish they hadn’t said what they said. My last story must have been the last straw. Now city council is talking about passing an ordinance that bans the use of recording devices in open meetings. Is there a law that allows that?
A: Home rule cities may take actions authorized by the city charter and if not prohibited or trumped by state or federal law or the Texas Constitution. Here is your trump card: the Texas Open Meetings Act, Government Code Sec. 551.023, Recording of Meeting by Person in Attendance. The law says: (a) A person in attendance may record all or any part of an open meeting of a governmental body by means of a tape recorder, video camera, or other means of aural or visual reproduction. (b) A governmental body may adopt reasonable rules to maintain order at a meeting, including rules relating to: (1) the location of recording equipment; and (2) the manner in which the recording is conducted. (c) A rule adopted under Subsection (b) may not prevent or unreasonably impair a person from exercising a right granted under Subsection (a).
Q: Local law enforcement has intercepted some counterfeit bills and we got to take pictures of a few samples of the phony cash. What’s the prohibition on publishing an image of money?
TPA Hotline Ed Sterling TPa memBer serVices DirecTor
A: Good thing you want to find out before publishing, rather than after publishing. Please click this link and find paragraph (ii): http:// www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ text/18/504. Q: We’re talking about final approval of a contract here. Does that have to be done in open session? A: Yes. Final actions must be done in open session. We The People get to witness the vote. If your word alone won’t convince the deciders, these sources make it clear that final actions must be in open session of a meeting, and meeting notice 72 hours in advance
Leader in selling Texas newspapers
is required, etc. Please open: https://www.oag.state.tx.us/AG_ Publications/pdfs/openmeeting_ hb.pdf. Then scroll to page 36 and see item D. Also, open: https://www.oag. state.tx.us/AG_Publications/pdfs/ openmeetings_easy.pdf. On Page 2, see item No. 4. Q: If a candidate buys a button ad on our newspaper’s website “Vote Smith for City Council”, do we have to put a disclosure statement on that ad or is it good enough that we link it to a PDF or JPEG that has the disclosure? It’s hard to get very precise on a 300-pixel by 250-pixel ad. And what about social media? We have a city council candidate who uploaded a photo to his personal page with the words like “Vote Smith For City Council” and then he asked all his friends to share that image. Is that an ad? And if so, what disclosure should it have if any? A: Click http://www.ethics. state.tx.us/opinions/491.html to read Ethics Advisory Opinion No. 491, dated April 21, 2010. If you are pressed for time, scroll down to the summary. You will find this: “(In other words, the link must take the Internet user directly to the page that contains the full disclosure statement.) If the advertisement includes a direct link in order to comply with the disclosure requirement, the Internet landing page to which the direct link refers must be operational and freely accessible during the time the advertisement is visible on the social networking website.”
Call for a Confidential Discussion and References
RICKENBACHER MEDIA Transactions and Consulting Ted Rickenbacher
6731 Desco Drive, Dallas, TX 75225, (214) 265-9300 rmedia@msn.com, www.rickenbachermedia.com
Have a question for Ed? Go online to texaspress.com to find more in this series or contact ed at edsterling@texaspress.com.
3
Gorman Progress purchased by Eastland County Newspapers The Gorman Progress, owned and operated for many years by Joe Bennett and lastly by his son, Lonnie, was purchased by Eastland County Newspapers Inc. on Feb. 1. The paper will continue to be published as a stand-alone weekly, as are ECN’s other holdings including the Cisco Press, Eastland Telegram, Ranger Times, Rising Star and Baird Farm & Ranch. It will be printed in the Eastland plant. The Bennetts will continue to do commercial printing at their location. H. V. and Gaynell O’Brien, publishers of ECN, have added the Progress to the group’s online site, making the Progress available worldwide.
Texas Community
Newspaper Association changes its name
The Texas Community Newspaper Association has adopted a new name, Texas Community Media Association. “We will never change our focus on community journalism yet our new name shows that we understand that community information is now delivered in many forms, not just on newsprint,” said newly installed president, Kathleen Holton, editor of the Alvin Sun and veteran of community journalism. In addition, the organization changed the scope of its revenue sourcing by changing from the Texas Classified Advertising Program to the Texas Advertising Program, which will allow more revenue sources than in previous years. The organization is in its 50th year of operation representing hundreds of newspapers across the state. Members are required to publish no more than two times per week and may be either free or paid circulation. All changes were approved unanimously by both the board and membership.
4
MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 3 MARCH 2013
Local tragedy becomes national news in Wise County
CRITICAL CONDITION — Wise County medics and Decatur firefighters carry suspect Evan S. Ebel, 28, of Colorado, to a waiting ambulance. Ebel was flown from Wise Regional Health System in Decatur to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth where he was declared brain dead and later deceased following his shoot-out with Wise County law enforcement. Photo by Joe Duty/Wise County Messenger.
FROM PAGE 1 call asking for permission to run Joe’s photos, hoping we’ll feed them other key details. The funny thing is, our staff initally agreed: No TV. We weren’t sharing with anyone. “They can come get their own story.” That was the prevailing sentiment. You see, when the DFW TV crews call, they’re often demanding and want us to just give
away everything we’ve worked hard to gather. They regularly insinuate their newscast should be our top priority, even though we’re in the midst of covering it for our readers and have no obligation to their viewers. Plus, we’ve been burned a few times. Photos have been run on TV without our permission or what’s worse, without giving Joe or the Wise County Messenger credit. Fellow newspapers, we decided, would be handled differently. Obviously, we’d
Dependability...your readers count on it! Depend on us...
Walterry Insurance provides complete insurance coverage for newspapers. Libel Insurance
Business Insurance
Broad Form Policy Punitive Damages Your choice of Counsel No Aggregate Limit Defense in Addition
Property & Liability Employment Practices Liability Workers Compensation Automobile Umbrella
1-800-638-8791 • www.walterry.com • insurance@walterry.com
share as much as we could with them. The first to call was the Times RecordNews in Wichita Falls who wanted to post one of our photos to their website. In the meantime, we heard the Montague County deputy had been shot, but we didn’t have that verified. We contacted the Bowie News trying to get those details and began a little sleuth work of our own on the Colorado connection. Coincidentally, a Messenger staff member has family that lives just a few streets away from Tom Clements, the head of the Colorado prison system who was murdered earlier in the week. They immediately recognized that the black, boxy car with Colorado plates matched the description from the vehicle in that incident. Brandon began calling authorities in Colorado trying to substantiate that, but it was all speculation at this point. By mid-afternoon, it seemed inevitable there was a Colorado connection, and this story was now national news. Brandon spoke with a Denver TV station, and The Denver Post came calling. “Oh, my gosh! Those photos are epic! Did this happen like right next to your office?” asked Dana Coffield, the Post’s city editor. I was caught off-guard. This is just what we do. But I enjoyed hashing it out with her.
We listen to the police scanner 24/7, so as soon as we heard there was a chase, we headed that way. We also had a photographer shooting on both sides of the scene, which provided extensive coverage. And I gently reminded her that it’s a small town. It doesn’t take long to get anywhere. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram called shortly thereafter requesting photos, and as a bonus, they offered to post them on the AP wire for us. At that point, the photos were available to any paper that’s a member of the Associated Press, which enabled us to spend more time on coverage and less time emailing photos. The afternoon was a haze of press conferences, phone calls and re-telling the story time and again. As the magnitude of the story became more clear, we backed off our stand against TV news and were happy to share with ABC World News Tonight, CNN and the CBS Evening News, just to name a few. The Dallas/Fort Worth media outlets were in Decatur conducting interviews and shooting their own footage. The next morning, one of Joe’s photos was plastered across the Star-Telegram front page, and Jimmy had one on the front of the Denver Post. Videos and photos also appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Daily Mail (UK), Kansas City Star, KnoxNews (Knoxville, Tenn.), Yahoo!News, New York Daily News, Boston Globe, The Inquirer (Philadelphia), Dallas Morning News and the Pueblo Chieftain (Colorado). Readers also saw the Messenger’s work in USA Today, Associated Press (The Big Story Section), Fresno Bee, Los Angeles Times, Salt Lake Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle PI, Tri City Herald (Washington), Boston Herald and the World Journal. I’ll admit; we were all a bit starstruck, but we had also all worked hard to report the story quickly and accurately while being sensitive to the families, officers and emergency responders involved. We take pride in local news and making sure that’s the focus of our coverage. We only cover “national news” if we can find a local angle. On this day, the line between local and national disappeared, and we were all just reporters.
Kristen Tribe is the news editor of the Wise County Messenger and has been a member of the news staff since 2000. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University.
MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 3 MARCH 2013
5
A proposed Texas law would allow publishers to correct news to avoid damages, online and off By Jillian Stonecipher Digital Media Law Project (http://www.dmlp.org) Texas state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, has proposed a “retraction statute” that, if passed, will protect journalists both online and offline and promote truth and efficiency both in and out of court. The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and the Texas Press Association assisted Hunter in drafting Texas House Bill 1759 (HB 1759), which would require a prospective plaintiff to give a publisher an opportunity to correct, clarify, or withdraw false content before filing a defamation lawsuit. Under the proposed law, a request for such a correction must be made within a year of the publication and within 90 days of the plaintiff becoming aware of the publication. If the request is granted, and a correction, clarification, or retraction is published “with a prominence and in a manner and medium reasonably likely to reach substantially the same audience as the publication complained of,” the plaintiff cannot be awarded punitive damages in a defamation suit. A publisher who has been asked to make a correction may also ask the person making the request to provide “reasonably available information regarding the falsity of the allegedly defamatory statement.” The requestor “must” provide the information within 30 days or be barred from seeking punitive damages in court. If passed, HB 1759 will promote truth in publication. It will encourage subjects to contact publishers who may have gotten something wrong, encourage publishers to listen to and engage with subjects complaining of inaccuracies, and lead to corrections or clarifications in cases where a publisher determines one is necessary, which will provide the public more accurate information. Out of court resolution would also promote the interests of the judicial system by lessening the burden on courts, which are overburdened with ever-increasing caseloads.
Photo of the Texas Capitol by TPA IT Director Fred Anders. This out-of-court dispute resolution provides a stark contrast to defamation lawsuits, which, once filed, encourage publishers and subjects to stick to their guns and fight it out in a winner-take-all battle that is unlikely to benefit any party. At that point, publishers typically adamantly support their legal right to publish what they have published in order to avoid liability, rather than considering extra-legal considerations like fairness and accuracy. Defendants can also accrue serious expenses putting on a legal defense for even a frivolous suit. By requiring plaintiffs to seek a correction and reducing available damages if a correction is made, Texas will deter plaintiffs from filing defamation suits and therefore reduce the potential chilling effects of such suits (Texas has already expressed its commitment to preventing such chilling by passing a strong anti-SLAPP statute). Additionally, given the strong First Amendment protection for speech, which requires that actionable defamatory statements be made at least negligently (Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc.), and in many cases with actual malice (New York Times Co. v. Sullivan), plaintiffs often expend significant resources and are ultimately unsuccessful in obtaining
damages or compelling publishers to remove even factually false content. Encouraging publishers and subjects to resolve disputes outside of court therefore has significant benefits for defendants, plaintiffs, and the public. Given the broad benefits of Texas’ proposed retraction law, it is especially positive that the bill explicitly protects online speech by both media and non-media defendants. It “applies to all publications, including writing, broadcasts, oral communications, electronic communications, or other forms of transmitting information.” In a case regarding online content a correction, clarification, or retraction is published with appropriate prominence and in an appropriate manner and medium if it is appended to the original publication. Many of the approximately 30 states that already have retraction statutes on the books do not currently protect online speech. For example, Wisconsin’s retraction law only applies to “newspapers, magazines, and periodicals.” And in It’s in the Cards Inc. v. Fuschetto, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that this language did not apply to the Internet, leaving the “legislature to address the increasingly common phenomenon of libel and defamation
on the information superhighway.” The Mississippi statute refers to “a newspaper…radio or television station,” and has not been interpreted to apply to online publications. Similarly, the California retraction statute covers “publication of a libel in a newspaper, or of a slander by radio broadcast.” California courts have not addressed whether the statute could apply to online speech but have interpreted the statute narrowly; In Condit v. Nat’l Enquirer Inc., a federal court in California held that the statute’s protections “are limited to publications which engage in the immediate dissemination of news.” In other states, courts have applied statutes that do not expressly cover the Internet to online speech. For example, in Alvi Armani Med. Inc. v. Hennessey, a court applied Florida’s retraction law, which applies to “publication or broadcast, in a newspaper, periodical, or other medium,” to online speech, though it implied that the statute might not cover an individual online speaker rather than a company “which provides information to the consumer public.” In Mathis v. Cannon, the Supreme Court of Georgia held that the Georgia retraction statute, which covers “a regular issue of the newspaper or other publication,” applies to online speech. The court noted that that construction was preferable to one limiting the statute to traditional print media because: [i]t eliminates the difficult task of determining what is a “written publication” and who is the “print media” at a time when any individual with a computer can become a publisher. It supports free speech by extending the same protection to the private individual who speaks on matters of public concern as newspapers and other members of the press now enjoy. In short, it strikes a balance in favor of uninhibited, robust, and wide-open debate in an age of communications when anyone, anywhere in the world, with access to the Internet can address a worldwide audience of readers in cyberspace. [internal citations and
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
6
messenGer VoL 88 no 3 marcH 2013
FROM PAGE 5 quotation marks omitted] HB 1759 serves the same crucial functions. It will promote accuracy in reporting while saving plaintiffs and defendants significant expense and unburdening the courts. And it is particularly forward thinking in that it provides the same rights to all speakers as it provides to the traditional media, therefore “strik[ing] a balance in favor of uninhibited, robust, and wide-open debate” both on and off line. This is especially important now, as traditional media budgets for investigative reporting shrink, and media’s watchdog function increasingly shifts to independent newsgatherers publishing online. Jillian Stonecipher is a student at Harvard Law School and an intern at the Digital Media Law Project. She served as editor-in-chief of The Daily Texan at the University of Texas from 2009-2010.
Upcoming contest/award deadlines Golden 50 Award
DEADLINE: APRIL 26 TPA’s Golden 50 Award honors men and women who have displayed exemplary service and selfless contributions to journalism for 50 or more years. Complete the nomination form, available on www.texaspress.com, and send to TPA Executive Director Mike Hodges at mikehodges@texaspress.com. Each honoree will receive an engraved Golden 50 plaque and will be honored during the June 22 TPA annual awards contest luncheon in Houston.
Fred Hartman Excellence in Sportswriting Award DEADLINE: MAY 3 Hartman Newspapers L.P. is giving one talented sportswriter a chance to claim $1,000 and the title of best sportswriter in Texas. The family-owned newspaper group is once again sponsoring the Fred Hartman Excellence in Sportswriting Award, named in honor of the late Texas sportswriter and newspaper owner. This year, the contest is open to any journalist currently employed with a Texas newspaper over 10,000 in circulation. Entry instructions are available online at www.texaspress.com.
Frank W. Mayborn Award for Community Leadership DEADLINE: MAY 3 The Frank W. Mayborn Award for Community Leadership is awarded annually to a publisher or newspaper executive who contributed most significantly to society during the past year. Sue Mayborn, publisher of the Temple Daily Telegram and Killeen Daily Herald, established the award in 1992 with the now-defunct Texas Daily Newspaper Association to honor the commendable leadership and service demonstrated by her late husband, Frank W. Mayborn. Visit www.texaspress.com for more information.
Looking for an acquisition? W. B. Grimes & Company has sold over 1,400 newspapers over the years and appraised thousands of others. Rollie Hyde handles Texas, the Southwest and Plains States Rollie D. Hyde | 405.735.7394 | rhyde@att.net Sign up for our twice a month industry newsletter, ask for a no obligation free appraisal or review our current listings all over the United States at:
W. B. Grimes & Company • www.mediamergers.com W. B. Grimes & Company | Corporate Office: 24212 Muscari Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20882 | 301.253.5016 | Larry Grimes, President
H W
can you capture more advertisers and audience? Find out now! Call 800-223-1600, go online to metrocreativeconnection.com/e-connect, email service@metro-email.com or scan the QR code to see how you can immediately implement and benefit from Metro e-Connect.
Metro e-Connect
The new multimedia ad program that is changing the way we connect.
-30Harry W. Small Sr.
one daughter-in-law, April Small; one brother, Amos Prince; and a host of other family and friends.
Harry W. Small Sr., former pressman for the Weatherford Democrat, died March 4. He was 71. Small was born Feb. 19, 1942, in Mineral Wells to Harvey SMALL and Mary Upshaw Small. He graduated from Dunbar High School in Mineral Wells. He married Mildred Poole at Mt. Hermon Baptist Church on June 28, 1961. Small retired as a newspaper pressman for the Weatherford Democrat after 25 years. He was a member of the Mt. Hermon Baptist Church. Survivors include his wife, Mildred Small of Mineral Wells; three sons, Harry Small Jr. and his wife, Liz, of Mineral Wells, Darryl Small and wife, Kelly, of Watauga, and Ron Small and wife, Lynn, of Houston; two daughters, Regenia Cross and husband, Victor, of Mineral Wells, and Rhonda Mack and husband, Andrew, of Mineral Wells;
Dorothy Craig Drain
(1942 — 2013)
(1921 — 2013)
Dorothy Craig Drain, former owner of the Stamford American, died March 8. She was 92. Born on Jan. 28, 1921, in San Antonio, Drain was the only child of the late DRAIN H.P. and Henrietta (Michon) Ehrhardt. After graduating from high school in San Antonio, she met and married Roy M. Craig on June 28, 1941. In 1945, the couple moved to Stamford and purchased the Stamford American newspaper. She and her husband were very active in West Texas Press Association and Texas Press Association. After Roy’s death in 1979, Drain continued operating the newspaper until selling to John Mooney in
Digital
Preservation Speaks
VOLUMES Protect and Share
Digitally preserve your newspapers and bound volumes
www.ArchiveInABox.com The newspaper archive scanning service from SmallTownPapersTM
1985. On April 18, 1981, she married James C. Drain in Stamford. He preceded her in death on June 12, 2007. Although Drain retired, she remained active in the community in clubs such as the Pierian Club, serving as president, past president of Mesquite District, charter member of the Past Presidents Assembly of Pierian Club, and Stamford Lady Golfers. When her children were young, she was president of the band boosters and PTA. She was the first woman to be named chairman of the Texas Cowboy Reunion, serving as souvenir program chairman. In later years, it was common to find her travelling with her friends, playing bridge, and making her daily stop at the post office. She was a longtime member of Central Christian Church before it went into retirement and was currently a member of Central Presbyterian Church in Stamford.
Bert West (1926 — 2013)
Bert C. West, longtime Texas newspaperman and news editor of the Palacios Beacon, died Jan. 24 at his desk. He was 86. During his six decades in the newspaper WEST industry, West worked for nearly 30 papers in four states, almost all in Texas beginning in the mid-1950s. Among them were papers in Port Lavaca, El Campo, Bay City, Edna and Yoakum. They also ranged from Daingerfield in Northeast Texas to Dumas in the Panhandle and to San Benito in the Rio Grande Valley. Among his career highlights was covering the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 for the Houston Chronicle. West was born Oct. 28, 1926, in Rush County, Ind., to Laurence Russell and Muriel C. Wilson West. His mother died shortly after he was born and he was adopted by his uncle, Bertrand Clarence West Sr., and Alice (Gruell) West. A career newspaper man, West had previously lived in Palacios in 1982-83 when he worked with his son, Nick, who was publisher of the Palacios Beacon. He served as Chamber of Commerce president in 1983 and
MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 3 MARCH 2013
7
led the the chamber’s annual fishing tournament. He returned to Palacios in 1999 and again went to work at the Beacon. He lead the effort to establish Palacios as a Home Rule Charter city. He was elected to three terms on the Palacios City Council from 2005 to 2011 and served as a director of the chamber. He spearheaded the Palacios Centennial Celebration in 2009. West also was serving as a director of the Palacios Economic Development Corporation at the time of his death. He is survived by daughters Leidon (John) Eames of Daingerfield; Dodi (George) Edinger of Lake St. Louis, Mo.; Debbie (Tim) Reyna of Daingerfield; Karen (Mickey) Robey of Cushing; and sons Nick (Mary) West of Palacios; Pat West of Mt. Pleasant; and Larry West (Missy) of Yoakum; 22 grandchildren; and 22 great-grandchildren.
Wes Burnett (1941 — 2013)
Wesley Walker Burnett, publisher and owner of the Rockwall County News, died March 28 from a stroke. He was 72. Burnett was born Jan. 19, BURNETT 1941, in Bonham to Roy Edwin and Helen Juanita (Samuel) Burnett. He was publisher of The Post Dispatch in Post from 1982 to 2008. Burnett and his family moved to Post in 1982 after purchasing the Dispatch from Jim Cornish. After leaving Post in 2008, Burnett became owner and publisher of the Rockwall County News. He also worked for a number of dailies, including the Bryan-College Station Eagle, the Hamilton (Ohio) Journal-News and the Daily Iberian in New Iberia, La., before venturing into the realm of weekly newspapers, including those in Sonora, Stephenville, Dublin and Ballinger. Burnett attended Texas A&M University and was a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He also was a U.S. Air Force veteran. Burnett is survived by his wife of 51 years; three grown children; four grandchildren; and one great-granchild.
8
MESSENGER VOL 88 NO 3 MARCH 2013
TPA honors lawmakers with First Amendment awards Texas Press Association proclaimed two outstanding lawmakers, Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, “Friends of the First Amendment” at the TPA Legislative Conference on Feb. 25 in honor of their years of hard work and determination to protect and preserve free speech and government transparency. In presenting the award, the association released the following statements: “Sen. Ellis was elected to the Texas Senate in 1990. During his tenure, he has earned praise as a leader on economic development, education, civil rights, responsible environmental policy, tax cuts for the middle class, and criminal justice issues, having passed more than 500 bills. “Sen. Ellis has been a champion of the First Amendment for years, assisting with passage of multiple public information bills and currently serving as the Chair of the Senate Open Government Committee. He also serves on the Senate committees for Natural Resources, State Affairs and Transportation. “Without his tireless efforts as a three-time sponsor of the reporter’s privilege bill, whistleblowers would not have a safe haven to come forward and report government abuse and corporate malfeasance. After that arduous task, he took on a broader First Amendment issue and signed up to sponsor the antiSLAPP legislation in the Senate. He adeptly moved it through the waters of the Senate at a time when school finance and budget issues blocked the progress of almost any bill. This session, he has completed a trifecta of First Amendment victories by sponsoring the retraction statute in the Senate.
Rep. Todd Hunter, left, and Sen. Rodney Ellis speak to members of the press at the TPA Legislative Conference on Feb. 25 at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol. “Sen. Ellis also is carrying a bill that codifies attorney general opinions applying the Public Information Act to electronic communications and to thirdparty contractors. And he is carrying a bill to close off the pending investigation loophole in the Public Information Act and to remove the unconstitutional prohibition against someone saying they’ve been served with a grand jury subpoena. “Rep. Hunter is serving his seventh term in the Texas House of Representatives. He is senior partner at the law firm of Hunter and Handel in Corpus Christi, and he also carries senior-level clout in the Texas House, where he serves as chairman of the powerful Calendars Committee, which determines when and how legislation
Full Service Printing!
See what your publication can look like on the newest community press in Texas.
Full Color Web Printing, Inserting, Labeling, Mailing, CTP, Tech Support
will be considered. Rep. Hunter also serves as a member of the House committees for Redistricting, for General Investigating and Ethics, for County Affairs, and for the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence. “Rep. Hunter is a strong advocate for published public notice and for government transparency in all forms. He was instrumental in the passage of the landmark bill protecting reporter’s privilege in the 81st legislative session. At the time, Rep. Hunter was chair of the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee. Without his requiring the district attorneys to sit down with Texas newspapers to have a discussion about the issues, and without his extraordinary mediation capabilities, neither the
Press Time Available, Priced Right We have a 10-unit web offset press, capable of printing a 40-page single section. Over the years, we have printed publications ranging from 600 circulation up to 400,000.
South Texas Press, Inc. Hondo, TX
We’ll treat you like family!
TAYLOR, TEXAS
512-352-3687
Phones: (830) 426-5509 or (830) 426-3346 Fax: (830) 426-3348 Email: southtexaspress@sbcglobal.net
meeting nor the bill would have come to pass. He oversaw four different sessions with the district attorneys — one of which lasted for more than 10 hours. This was the third time the bill had been brought before the Legislature in recent history, and without Rep. Hunter, it would not have made it out of the House. “In the next session, he took on an even bigger issue — one that impacts all citizens in the state of Texas who are sued out of retaliation for speaking out. Rep. Hunter championed the anti-SLAPP statute (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), which was passed unanimously in both chambers and went into immediate effect. As a result, retaliatory lawsuits are coming to an early end and cases that are dismissed through the anti-SLAPP statute include an award of attorney’s fees. The hope is that the anti-SLAPP law will serve as a deterrent to retaliatory lawsuits even being filed in the future. “This session, Rep. Hunter has agreed to sponsor a bill that will give newspapers an opportunity to correct mistakes that may have been made and not be liable for exemplary damages once we make those corrections. The bill should greatly reduce the frequency and the cost of First Amendment litigation, giving newspapers a chance to address concerns on the front end and avoid costly lawsuits later. “Rep. Hunter is also carrying the bill on government officials’ texting about public business during public meetings and the bill to expand the Public Information Act to cover electronic communications and third-party contracts. “Texas newspapers are fortunate to have First Amendment and open government champions with the standing, experience and effectiveness of Sen. Ellis and Rep. Hunter serving in the Texas Legislature. The association is grateful for their steadfast support of open government and service to Texas.”