TWN
THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER Vol. 97, No.1 January 2012
Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington • www.wnpa.com
Members’ help funds two UW interns Pair will cover legislative session
T
he WNPA Foundation has for the second year funded two student interns from the University of Washington journalism program to cover the legislative session for WNPAmember newspapers. More than half the funding for the two interns came from a dozen publishers who, during the 2011 Better Newspaper Contest Awards Dinner, agreed to donate
Maida Suljevic
Scott Panitz
$250 for the program. Additional funds were donated by two WNPA past presidents, Frank Garred, the former pub-
lisher of the Port Townsend Leader, and Wallie Funk, former publisher of Whidbey NewsTimes (Oak Harbor) and South Whidbey Record (Langley), as well as the WNPA Foundation. UW seniors Scott Panitz and Maida Suljevic will report during the UW’s winter quarter, Jan. 3 to March 9. Panitz will report for newspapers in Western Washington. Suljevic will cover topics of interest to newspapers on the eastern side of the state.
Requirements updated for next year
See INTERNS, page 6
See WNPA, page 6
W
NPA publishers are invited to nominate a candidate for the 2012 WNPA Internship Scholarship for 2012. Nominations are due Feb. 8. The Foundation revised the nomination requirements to make publisher-nominee packets more comparable to applications from students at colleges and universities. Publishers should provide
the following: a letter of nomination from the publisher that includes a clear explanation of the proposed duties for the intern, along with the name and title of the person who will supervise the intern; an essay (up to 300 words) from your nominee about their interest in a career in community journalism; and up to five examples of your
Lee gets loan OK by court
BIR-RRR-RRRD IS THE WORD
$40 million to aid effort to emerge from bankruptcy
N
The Associated Press
Kirsten Morse/LaConner Weekly News
Kirsten Morse won third place in the Color Pictorial category, Circulation Group I, for the LaConner Weekly News with this photo taken during the first snow of 2010.
Blethen, Riley to change posts at Times
S
eattle Times editorial-page editor Ryan Blethen is leaving that post to head up the newspaper’s new-product development efforts. Blethen will assume the position, director of new-product strategies, effective Jan. 1, the company announced last month. The new editorial-page editor will be Kate Riley, now the page’s associate editor. Blethen, 39, a fifth-generation member of the family that has owned and published the Times
Kate Riley
Ryan Blethen
since 1896, has been editorialpage editor since 2009. He worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Yakima,
Spokane and Portland, Maine, before becoming a Times columnist and associate editorial-page editor in 2005. Riley, 49, joined the Times as an editorial writer and columnist in 2002, after leaving the Tri-City Herald. She was promoted to associate editor of the page in 2008. Riley, who reports to Times Publisher Frank Blethen in her new position, will join the Times’ senior leadership group. She is a graduate of Redmond High School and the University
of Washington. Frank Blethen, Ryan’s father, said in an e-mail to employees that Ryan Blethen’s new job — developing and managing new digital and print products — is key to increasing income and continuing the newspaper’s journalistic mission. Ryan Blethen will retain his positions as Times associate publisher and member of the boards of the Times-owned Yakima Herald-Republic and Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.
Think fast: QR codes find way into print
P
age through last quarter’s issues of the Bellevue and Kirkland Reporter newspapers, and you’ll see a variety of businesses have included Quick Response codes in their ads.
LEFT: Scan this QR code to see SPARQ.ME capabilities.
Like a barcode but faster to scan and with more data capacity, QR codes were first created at a Toyota subsidiary to track automobile parts. In Sound’s advertising, the codes are emerging as a tool to connect mobile phone users instantly with directions to the business, a cou-
pon, Facebook page, phone number, or other information requested by the advertiser. Many mobile phones come with QR code readers. For those that don’t, free and paid apps are available. See CODES, page 4
ewspaper company Lee Enterprises Inc. has won approval to borrow up to $40 million as it works through its prepackaged bankruptcy case. The publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and more than 40 other daily newspapers including the Daily News in Longview, Lee filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Dec 12 as part of a previously announced refinancing plan. Lee made what was known as a prepackaged filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington. In such cases, a company reaches agreements with most lenders ahead of time, allowing it to emerge from Chapter 11 quickly. Lee said it already had support from lenders and note holders holding more than 95 percent of its debt. The filing is designed to force the remaining lenders to go along with its plan. Lee, based in Davenport, Iowa, has said it expects to emerge from the bankruptcy process within 60 days. The company said the filing shouldn’t affect employees, suppliers or customers. The proposed refinancing covers about $1 billion in debt. Most of the money would have been due in April, but the refinancing plan extends the scheduled repayments into 2015 and 2017. Most of Lee’s debt is a result of its $1.46 billion acquisition of Pulitzer Inc. in 2005.
2
JANUARY 2012
TWN
What makes your community newspaper outstanding?
S
eason’s Greetings! I hope this finds you rolling into 2012 with positive energy to be and do all you can when it comes to being the main information and news source in your area. We know we have unique publications with a special bond to our communities. But who keeps eyeballs on your newspaper’s every edition? Do you have multi-talented writers? How about high-quality photographs that bring that extra visual snap to your pages? Are your advertisers happy with the eye-catching designs and messages presented? Is your website design complete and user-friendly? Do you feel that overall your products are outstanding? Then you are a contender for winning a multitude of honors in WNPA’s 2012 Better Newspaper Contest!
New York flies in to SeaTac for judging Speaking of contests. Do you have a few hours to spare on January 26th? Do you like reading other newspapers for inspiration? Then bring your objective professional skills to help judge some newspaper contest entries being brought to us by the New York Press Association. NYPA will be hosting an on-site judging in SeaTac 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on
Officers: President: Jana Stoner, Northern Kittitas County Tribune, Cle Elum l First Vice President: Bill Forhan, NCW Media, Leavenworth l Second Vice President: Keven Graves, Nisqually Valley News, Yelm l Past President: Paul Archipley, Edmonds Beacon, Mukilteo Beacon l Secretary: Bill Will, WNPA, Seattle Trustees: Mike Dillon, Pacific Publishing Co., Seattle l Donna Etchey, North Kitsap Herald, Poulsbo l Eric LaFontaine, Othello Outlook l Imbert Matthee, Waitsburg Times l Lori Maxim, Sound Publishing l Stephen McFadden, Ritzville-Adams County Journal l Fred Obee, Port Townsend Leader Staff: Executive Director: Bill Will l Editor/Manager of Member Services: Mae Waldron
Officers: President: W. Stacey Cowles, The Spokesman-Review l Vice President: Mike Shepard, Seattle Times Company Board: Rufus Friday, Tri-City Herald l Jill Mackie, The Seattle Times l Dennis Waller, Chronicle, Centralia Executive Director: Rowland Thompson THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER is the official publication of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. It is published monthly by WNPA, 12354 30th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98125, phone (206) 634-3838. Email: mwaldron@ wnpa.com; URL: www.wnpa.com, in conjunction with Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington, P.O. Box 29, Olympia, WA 98507, (360) 943-9960. Email: anewspaper@aol.com.
Jana Stoner
Publisher, Norther Kittitas County Tribune, WNPA President
Thursday, Jan. 26, with photos, ads, design, special sections and general excellence entries. Can’t make that date? You’re in luck! There will also be some online judging of NYPA advertising categories and nearly all of their news categories. About Jan. 11-27, plan to judge in the comfort of your office or home, or anywhere you have access to a computer. Volunteers will receive an email with login and other instructions in January. Whether you are willing to take a day out of the office to judge entries or want to help from your computer, please register by Jan. 6 at http://wnpa. wufoo.com/forms/r7p8w3/. On this site you will indicate the types of entries you’ll judge and your hours of availability to do on-site judging at the Red Lion SeaTac (across from airport). NYPA is providing breakfast and lunch that day; free parking
is available. There is another great benefit to being a judge of this contest. WNPA members who judge will receive a credit toward their BNC 2012 contest fees: $50 for providing one professional judge and $75 for three or more judges from the same newspaper. What could be better than using a credit to enter more of your work in our own Better Newspaper Contest this next year! Remember that seeing NYPA members’ work may be an advantage in planning your 2012 contest entries, which NYPA will judge this summer. Questions? Contact Mae Waldron, mwaldron@wnpa.com or (206) 634-3838 ext. 2.
2012 WNPA Better Newspapers Contest entries
Have you been collecting your best pieces since last May to enter in the upcoming BNC? Now’s the time to issue a call to your editorial, advertising and production staffs to pull the date/page information of their favorite items they’d like to have considered as entries in this year’s contest. That May deadline is coming faster than we know it, and I’d like to think an hour now will save two when that deadline arrives. Bribe your staff with a promise to provide treats the day after they have
gathered entries together for review. Chocolate or homemade cookies always motivate my crew to help get this done ahead of time.
WNPA Newspaper Exchange
When you hold staff brainstorming sessions for redesigns or fresh ideas to incorporate into your publications, do you look to other newspapers for inspiration? Well, I’m here to tell you there are outstanding examples right here in Washington state. And yes, I admit to buying a year’s subscription to WNPA-member papers that win in the General Excellence category to see what their publication offers readers. I have also subscribed to other publications from across the United States to see what works in other community newspapers. I have participated in several newspaper exchange programs, where we gave a six-month complimentary subscription to other newspapers from across the U.S. in exchange for theirs. These exchanges were based on similar circulation, and my staff and I found reading through the editions to be helpful to finding new editorial, advertising and page design ideas. So for 2012, I would like to try a “WNPA Membership Newspaper Exchange” for six
months starting in March. If you would like to participate, by Feb. 1, please send an email to Mae Waldron (mwaldron@ wnpa.com) or myself (jana@ nkctribune.com) with the subject “WNPA Newspaper Exchange,” and include your name, newspaper publication title, circulation, and mailing address. Once we organize the list by circulation, we will send that information out to participants with mailing addresses. Our exchange will begin on March 1.
Newspaper Banner Request
One last thing I ask of you this month is in support of our planning efforts of the 125th Anniversary year. We would like to have a digital copy of your page-one banner (or flag) to incorporate into promotional materials about WNPA’s membership. Please email a high resolution PDF of your logo, along with the year your newspaper was founded, to Mae Waldron (mwaldron@ wnpa.com). We will be working on some projects soon, so remember to take action on this ASAP. Do it now, during the January lull. We would greatly appreciate it. Until next time… Happy “News” Year, everyone!
Justice leaves behind a legacy of openness
O
ur state’s Temple of Justice, the grand building on the Capitol Campus in Olympia that houses the state Supreme Court, is beautiful but imposing. Inside the court before a proceeding, spectators sit in pew-like benches, whispering as if they’re in church. Every footstep, every shuffling of papers, draws attention. All are called to stand as the robed justices file in and sit in carved wood chairs behind the elevated bench. And that’s when you’d see him — the elfin judge with a come-on-in smile who seemed to invite a conversation and remind us all it is the people’s court, after all. That was my experience in the handful of times I witnessed a Supreme Court hearing that involved The News Tribune. Gerry Alexander was the justice you could depend on to ask the common man’s question of the best legal minds in the state trying cases before him. As noted in our front-page story today, Alexander is about to retire after 17 years on the high court. A year ago, the Supreme Court heard our case against
visiting King County Superior Court Judge James Cayce, who shut a courtroom door on Karen TNT reporter Peterson Adam Lynn. Executive editor, Lynn was The News covering Tribune, Tacoma the case of Pierce County Superior Court Judge Michael Hecht, later convicted of buying sex from one young man and threatening to kill another. Cayce was overseeing the video-recorded testimony of a key witness in an open courtroom when Lynn showed up. At the request of the defense attorney, Cayce told Lynn to leave and declared the proceeding a closed deposition, not an open court hearing. Our lawyers and Cayce’s were arguing the finer points of discovery depositions and preservation depositions in the Temple when Alexander posed his questions. So if he were just a guy walking down the hall and looked in the door
of the court room, he’d see a judge in a robe sitting at the bench, right? He’d see a witness offering testimony and lawyers arguing back and forth, right? “It sounds an awful lot like justice being administered,” Alexander said, adding that, under the state constitution, “it is supposed to be open.” Unfortunately, The News Tribune lost that case in a 7-2 decision. Alexander was one of the dissenters. In his years on the high court, Alexander didn’t always rule as we liked on opengovernment cases, but his record on judicial transparency was strong. He was one of two dissenting judges in 2009 when the court decided (again) that administrative judicial records — unlike the records of every other public agency — are not open to the public. And beyond his decisions, Alexander worked in other ways to keep the courts open. He was a vocal supporter of TVW, which appropriately boasts on its website about “making history with the first-ever televised state court proceeding when it went on the air April 10, 1995, televising a death penalty case being
heard by the Washington State Supreme Court.” Alexander said televising proceedings helped to educate the citizenry and demystify the judicial process. He favored allowing cameras in the U.S. Supreme Court, as well. Alexander resisted efforts to install metal detectors at the Temple entrances after 9/11, saying the court should remain accessible. He also chaired the state Bench-Bar-Press committee, formed in 1963 to improve relations and understanding among lawyers, judges and journalists who cover the courts. The committee developed a set of non-binding guidelines for making the courts as open as possible while still ensuring fair trials. The TNT has called upon the committee’s “Fire Brigade” to mediate coverage disputes and gain access. Our state courts are more open to all of us than they were when Alexander took the bench. We applaud his legacy and wish him well in his retirement from the bench. Reprinted with permission.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS Jan. 6* Jan. 13 Jan. 26 Feb./Mar. (tba)
Deadline to register for April 13 WNPA Board Meeting, Seattle NYPA Contest Judging June 28 WNPA Board Meeting, WNPA Board Meeting, Bellingham Olympia Sept. 27 WNPA Board Meeting, Yakima *NYPA Contest Judging, Sept. 27-29 125th Annual Convention, SeaTac Yakima Legislative Day, Olympia *Details, registration at wnpa.com/events
TWN
3
JANUARY 2012
OPEN RECORDS AND LEGAL MATTERS
Snohomish County scandal drives up records requests
T
Daily Herald, Everett
here appears to be a lot of interest in an ongoing criminal investigation of Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon. In late November, county departments had logged more than 30 requests related to Reardon’s travel records and emails. The written inquiries from the Everett Herald and other news organizations all have been made under Washington’s Public Records Act. There’s also a request from the Washington State Patrol, which is investigating Reardon for alleged official misconduct. “It’s not unusual for us to get a flurry like this all at once,” said Lisa Hall, records management supervisor at the county’s Department of Information Services. While not unusual, it’s not exactly common, either. The last time the county received similar interest in public records was two years ago, Hall said. That was after Reardon’s former planning director, Craig Ladiser, was fired after he pressed his bare genitals against a woman lobbyist while golfing. Ladiser later pleaded guilty to fourthdegree assault with sexual motivation and indecent exposure. The case focusing on Reardon began when a woman who works in the county’s human services department went to
County Council Chairman Dave Somers’ office to report concerns about Reardon’s spending of taxpayer money on out-of-town trips while she was having an affair with him. Somers brought the accusation to county Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe, who in late October requested that state detectives look into possible official misconduct, a gross misdemeanor. Reardon’s office released its first batch of records sent to state patrol investigators in November. They detail expenses for parking, cab fares, airline tickets and hotel rooms, most of which Reardon’s office has previously made available. Documents for U.S. trips list a lone traveler, while some foreign jaunts also involved other elected county officials. Word of the patrol’s probe went public Nov. 3, less than a week before Reardon won re-election to his third term in office. The investigation is focusing on his travel during the past three years. The woman who brought the matter to Somers has declined to be interviewed by the Herald. For two weeks in late November, Reardon was away from the office and offered limited comment on the investigation. Aides reported that he traveled to California to go rock climbing. Reardon did send a brief email stating he is innocent.
He has hired Seattle defense attorney John Wolfe. To better manage requests for information about the case, the county is routing all inquiries through its Department of Information Services. That department is under Reardon’s authority but also is handling requests from departments run by other elected officials, such as the prosecuting attorney and the County Council. The idea is to process complicated requests quickly and efficiently, said Hall, the records supervisor. “In a situation like this, that’s highly visible, it’s important that you know we’re trying to make this as transparent as possible,” she said. A list of the requesters includes Seattle television stations and newspapers, as well as people who frequently pepper government agencies asking for records. One request is anonymous. A person who communicates with the county only under the screen name “Snoco Watcher” is interested in relevant documents only from Somers or other county personnel outside the executive’s office. The request specifically excludes departments under Reardon’s control. State open records law applies to anonymous requests as well as to those made by identifiable people.
NNA seeks to ease pain of postal cuts
Association offers update to members
A
National Newspaper Association
s news broke about serious cutbacks in service by the U.S. Postal Service, many members of National Newspaper Association contacted NNA to express alarm. Here is the situation as of Dec. 7. 1. USPS does plan to slow delivery of First Class Mail and Periodicals by one day. But, your Destination Delivery Unit (local post office) mail should not be disrupted by this plan. Overnight or even same-day delivery of locally entered mail should not be affected by this plan. 2. If you are currently entering mail at a Sectional Center Facility (SCF), or allowing mail to ride up to the SCF from your post office and then to other post offices in your market area to reach your primary market, you should plan immediately to set up Exceptional Dispatch privileges to take newspapers to every local post office that you can reasonably reach through your own transportation. SCF mail will be disrupted as processing hubs are moved farther away. 3. USPS is looking into setting up some “transfer hubs”
for 5-digit containers of mail, rather than hauling all of it into more distant processing facilities, just to be trucked back again. This may mean that we can avoid or mitigate some of the service disruption. NNA is working closely with USPS to identify areas where this option may be needed and possible. 4. Long-distance subscribers will no doubt see bad service become really rotten. Your efforts to convert these readers to electronic subscriptions may soon be helped by a rule change by USPS that will permit you to claim those electronic subscribers as paid circulation on your statement of ownership. The campaign by NNA to make that happen is now in its fourth year, but we hope to see a rule change early in 2012. If you need help identifying vendors to help you create electronic subscriptions, please contact NNA. 5. The status of 6-day mail delivery remains uncertain because of the unsteady situation in Congress. We are closely watching HR 2309, which would mandate the end of Saturday delivery. Right now, we believe this session of Congress will not pass this bill. But political pressures related to the federal deficit could change that status on short notice. If Congress recessed in December without
action, we believe Saturday mail delivery will be preserved throughout 2012. 6. On Jan. 12, a moderate increase in postage rates in the 2.1 percent range for Periodicals and Standard Mail will occur. A proposal by President Obama to create an immediate, steep “exigency” postage increase failed with the demise of the so-called Super Committee. The postmaster general has assured us that he intends to have only the cost-of-living increase in 2012, though the Postal Regulatory Commission is holding open a case that would permit him to ask for more. USPS is nearing insolvency. Various political forces could seize control and create a major increase. NNA is fighting it. There will be a lot of change ahead for the nation’s postal system. NNA supports 1789, the Senate bill that we believe has the best chance of preserving universal service. With or without it, the USPS malaise will affect our world in pretty negative ways. Our commitment is to do all we can to shape the outcomes and help you get your news to your readers. We appreciate your support and are counting on you to maintain your commitment to NNA as we go through this tough battle for fair service.
Seattle police to pay $129K in records delay
A
Seattle Times
King County judge on Nov. 18 ordered the Seattle Police Department to pay $129,000 in legal costs to a 72-yearold man who was improperly denied public records relating to an excessive-force complaint he brought against officers. The department also faces up to $8,500 in additional legal fees generated by its request for a court hearing that preceded the judge’s ruling, during which it fiercely objected to the costs. The department already had been ordered in September to pay nearly $20,000 to Seattle antiques dealer Turner Helton for failing to provide him records of an internal investigation that cleared two officers of using excessive force during a confrontation with him. In all, the department now stands to pay more than $150,000 over its refusal to turn over the records. Helton’s attorney, Patrick Preston, excoriated the Police Department and city attorneys for requesting the Nov. 18 court hearing, calling it the latest example of the department throwing up the “path of greatest resistance” in the case. “It’s costing everyone,” Preston told Superior Court Judge Richard Eadie. Helton’s case follows years of clashes in which the department has often resisted providing public records to citizens, lawyers and reporters, in part, because of agreements with the Seattle police union. The department has recently shifted ground, agreeing to release far more internalinvestigation records after a landmark state Supreme Court ruling in August that required greater public access to police records. In Helton’s case, he alleged that officers used excessive force after they were dispatched to his Sodo District business in November 2009 in response to a report from his health insurer that he might be suicidal. Helton had called his insurer to complain about its refusal to pay for a prescription and, according to Preston, made an offhand remark that if he wasn’t given the drug, he “might as well die now.” Helton maintains that officers roughed him up while subduing him, then called a private ambulance to take him to Harborview Medical Center for a psychiatric examination. Staff there found no reason to detain him, according to court records. A police report said Helton, when contacted, didn’t respond to commands to calm down and made furtive movements. No criminal charges were brought against Helton, who filed a complaint with the department over the officers’ conduct.
After being informed by the department that no misconduct had been found, he asked in 2010 for records related to the internal inquiry. The department refused to release most of the file, saying disclosure would violate officers’ privacy and hinder effective law enforcement. Helton sued to get the records in June. City attorneys initially contested the suit but gave Helton the records in August, days after the state Supreme Court ruling. Eadie then awarded Helton the penalty of nearly $20,000, although he imposed a $45-per-day fine rather than the maximum $100 per day sought by Helton. Eadie found the department gave short shrift to the request, but that it had not acted in bad faith. The department continued to fight Helton over attorney fees, asking Eadie to cut Helton’s request for nearly $130,000 in fees and costs to $56,149.20. Assistant City Attorney Sumeer Singla spent about 1 ½ hours in court Nov. 18 attacking the request, blaming what he labeled the questionable practice of “block billing” for excessive, duplicative and vague fees. Preston, Helton’s attorney, relied on the findings of an expert retained by his law firm to analyze the fees. Lawyer Shelley Hall found the billing rates of Preston and the other main attorney, $310 and $300 per hour respectively, were reasonable under prevailing rates, as was the $505 per hour charged by Mike McKay, a former U.S. attorney in Seattle, who served a limited management role in the case. Eadie sided with Preston, shaving only $700 from the billings after Preston conceded that some incidental work, including interviews with reporters for the Seattle Times and KOMO-TV, should not have been included. Eadie told Preston he could submit his fees and costs for his work preparing for the hearing and his time in court. Preston said after the hearing that he expected to submit about $8,500 in costs. The judge rejected the bulk of the Police Department’s arguments, noting that citizens wrongly denied public records had a right to collect reasonable attorneys fees. Preston said he anticipates he will now file a claim against the city over the force used on Helton. The City Attorney’s Office, meanwhile, said it is considering whether to appeal the attorney-fee ruling, noting the costs of doing that will be reviewed.
4
JANUARY 2012
TWN
Green Editions debut for Sound
S
A small fee gives advertisers more exposure in
CODES
reen
itions available from ound ewspapers.
ound debuted full e-Editions of each week’s newspaper last quarter. After a soft launch in September, the announcement was made to readers in late November. Dubbed Green Editions, the editions are a response to research showing readers prefer the replica format and traditional organization over reading individual stories on a website, reported Josh O’Connor, Vice President of East Sound Operations. Green Editions are posted as soon as the newspaper hits the streets. “Our advertisers get greater exposure to online customers for a modest fee of $2.25 per issue,” he said. “We’ve had good feedback about the charge.” The fee augments the 5 to 10 percent overall web-based revenue typical of newspaper websites. Later this year the e-Editions of the company’s four subscription-based newspapers, Mercer Island Reporter, South Whidbey Record (Langley), Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber and Whidbey News-Times (Oak Harbor) will go behind a paywall. From September 2011 onward, the e-Editions are being archived online.
from page 1
Josh O’Connor, Vice President of East Sound Newspaper Operations, researched the project for Sound’s newspapers. “We found that there’s a lot of free QR codes, and not all are made the same and some don’t work. Most go to the static reproduction of the print product or link to a website that’s old and clunky, and not good for mobile use,” O’Connor said. In October, Sound Publishing started working with SPARQcode, a Seattle company that was named the Best Seed Stage Company of the Year last February in the Washington Technology Industry Association’s 16th annual Industry Achievement Awards. The company has a number of Fortune 500 clients.
Since October, Sound advertisers have signed on for QR codes in ads of all sizes, from a 2x2 to a full-page ad. In the two newspapers surveyed for this story, other advertisers using the codes include tile, seafood, grocery and department stores, an animal hospital, athletic club, massage studio, destination hotel, real estate agency and a health care clinic. For a $35 up-sell, the advertiser gets the customized code, a landing page SPARQCode develops for fast display on mobile phones, and a variety of widgets (buttons) on the page. (QR codes that connect to a single, static user opportunity are free in Sound’s ads.) Mobile phone users scan the code see the landing page and
widgets selected by the advertiser. The advertiser receives realtime analytics, making it easy to adjust to what’s working and what isn’t. Costs are based on traffic volume and widget type. “We track lots of things, like locations where scans took place, trends like time of day and day of week, number of unique and repeat visitors, device type and versions — which is important as it helps target specific markets and learn more about the demographics of the users,” said Jesse Chor, SPARQcode founder, in an email. When it comes to the users of QR codes, Chor has two concerns about a recent survey by ComScore Inc. It indicated primary users of QR codes are
young men in the upper income bracket. “Their statistics are a bit skewed,” he said. “They didn’t come to us, and we’re one of the largest providers.” The other issue is a disinclination to give information away. “The client sees it (the code data) as a customer advantage, and doesn’t want to share it,” he said. While Chor is highly enthusiastic about the value of QR codes to small businesses today, for future applications another demographic is at the top of his mind. “We find that the most exciting category is the senior market, “ he said. “For people like my grandmother, who has arthritis, it’s
hard to key in the phone. Now we can make a poster with codes for each person. Aim the phone at the code, and the number is called. Companies haven’t targeted this demographic before,” Chor said. Websites are another market for the codes, he suggests. “If you want to download the contact information for a business to your phone, it becomes painful. [With a QR code] you just scan it.” Likewise, scan an address into a phone from a website, and the QR code will open your GPS. For small businesses trying out the codes, Chor encourages regularly revisits to these questions: “What’s your call to action? Are you rewarding people for scanning?”
851 words to share about writing, coaching and words
O
ddly, some people I meet in my journalism travels want to know about me. They say they’re interested in a guy who has made a living for 22 years as a writing coach. The problem is twofold: First, I’m not very interesting. Second, if they think I’m a writing coach, they’re wrong. I’m actually a writer. Granted, I was a professional newspaper reporter for only about 14 years, from 1976 through most of 1989. So if you’re scoring strictly, I haven’t been a writer for a long time. But the magic of this career I’ve carved out as a writing coach is that I’ve never stopped writing. In fact, in terms of volume, I write a whole lot more now than when I was a reporter. I write critiques of stories every day. I write emails every day. I’ve written this column for about 20 years, and even though I write only one a month, I suffer over every one of each column’s 851 words. Yes, exactly 851. There is a reason I write so much. Recently, I was writing a cri-
tique of a story about a 40-year-old home-building company that is going out of business. The reporter had all Jim the essential Stasiowksi information, but in interviewing a construction-industry source, he came up with this quotation: “They have been around a long time and were always perceived as a good builder and a solid company.” Even though the quotation seems unexciting, there is underlying meaning to it. Here’s what I wrote in the critique: “There is something in all of us that wants to hear that a failing company is either BernieMadoff crooked or worthy of the adjectives ‘good’ and ‘solid.’” Immediately after I wrote that sentence, I leaned back, I looked at it, I reread it, I smiled, and I was once again proud and pleased to be a writer. I was pleased on two levels. First, I appreciated that the
reporter intuitively knew that readers would want to know the company’s reputation. Second, I loved finding the words to explain readers’ curiosity about the company. A person with a notebook, a pen and a computer can get enough information to fill enough newspaper space to make a series of paragraphs look like a story. But a writer is a person who invests his or her time, effort and most of all, powers of reason to understand people, both the ones we write about and the ones we write for. Writers, in contrast to notetakers-who-type-their-notes, get a thrill from stringing together words to capture truths and-or insights about the human experience. Of course, the question that must be asked of the writer is: How do you know that what you have is the truth, is real insight? I will let a writer far above me answer that question: “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men— that is genius.” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote
that sentence in his brilliant essay “Self-Reliance,” published in 1841. But his words belong to all of us who write and who wish our writing to have meaning. Writers succeed by determining their own responses to anything – a news event, a private experience, a moment of amusement or strife – and wondering if others have the same response. The best writing goes deeper than such an immediate and obvious reaction as laughing at a joke, becoming angry about an insult, wishing for a raise in pay. Rather, inspired writing probes through layers until it reaches a core, that “private heart” Emerson knew better than anyone. As a writer, my goal is to get inside what the source is really thinking or feeling. I do the same with reporters when I’m either editing or coaching. If I know what the reporter is thinking, if I know what emotions are bubbling inside him or her, what forces are pulling and pushing him or her, I can help. Emerson can help even more, as too often, we journalists perceive each day, and each story, as just another humdrum. He wrote:
“So much of our time is preparation, so much is routine, and so much retrospect, that the path of each man’s genius contracts itself to a very few hours.” That is what trips up too many writers. They are so busy chasing facts and quotations, they don’t stop to think, to perceive, to reason, to delay the writing of sentences until they understand. In other words, I may not be very interesting, but if I insist on exercising my individual genius, my writing can be. THE FINAL WORD: “The mayor vowed to assure that snow removal will improve,” the reporter wrote, but he misused the verb “to assure.” To “assure,” you need people. The mayor assured the public that snow removal will be improved. In the original sentence, you may replace “assure” with “ensure,” a verb that doesn’t need people. Jim Stasiowski, writing coach for The Dolan Company, welcomes your questions or comments. Call him at 775 354-2872 or write to 2499 Ivory Ann Drive, Sparks, Nev. 89436.
TWN
5
JANUARY 2012
PASSINGS
Former Herald managing editor dies Klink left many great memories among co-workers
J
Tri-City Herald
ournalists who worked with Bill Klink at the Tri-City Herald describe him like a character from the 1940s screwball comedy His Girl Friday. “He was a rapid-fire talker,” said Ken Robertson, the Herald’s recently retired executive editor, who worked as city editor under Klink in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. He told an anecdote about Klink being on the phone with a reporter in one of the bureaus the Herald operated at the time, and being so busy talking that Klink didn’t notice when the reporter either got disconnected
or hung up. “The reporter tried to call Klink back and couldn’t get through because Klink was still talking,” Robertson said with a laugh. “The person who took the call tried to tell Klink, ‘I’ve got so-and-so on the phone,’ and Klink said, ‘No you don’t. I’m talking to him.’ “ Klink died Nov. 6 at his home on Camano Island. He was 81. He was from Sedalia, Mo., and graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Missouri before serving two years in the Army during the Korean War. He worked as assistant city editor at a newspaper in Freeport, Ill., and as a publications writer-editor for the Command and General Staff Army College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., before
coming to the Herald in 1961. He was a longtime editor who filled several roles before leaving the paper in 1984. After the Herald, he worked in public relations for Rockwell Hanford Company and Westinghouse Hanford Company until he retired in 1991 and moved to Camano Island. Jack Briggs, retired Herald publisher who was a reporter when Klink came to the Herald as a copy editor in 1961, said Klink was an excellent editor with a great grasp of numbers and grammar. ”He was a great guy to work with,” Briggs said. “He was very much of a wordsmith and did an excellent job as editor of marshaling the forces of the newsroom and covering a turbulent time in the TriCities.”
Robertson remembers Klink as a no-nonsense editor who earned his own catch phrase in the newsroom. In the days when Glenn Lee was publisher, Lee sometimes would give a reporter or photographer an assignment they disliked, Robertson said. One day Klink got fed up and told a complaining reporter, “You just need to do this, otherwise I’ve got a drawer full of résumés.” And Klink opened his drawer to show the reporter, Robertson said. “The line was infamous for quite a few years when somebody would whine about getting assigned to something they weren’t thrilled about,” he said.
Author, former Times, P-I journalist dies
W
Seattle Times
hen Archie Satterfield decided he wanted to write a book about canoeing on the Yukon River, he packed up his wife and four small children and headed north. He was “totally fearless about taking us places,” said Satterfield’s son, Scott. Scott took the same canoe trip on the Yukon with his father in 2003. “At the time, I was the same age as he was when we did it with him. He had four kids. I had one elderly father.” Satterfield, a former journalist and author, died Nov. 21 from a stroke after surgery in Bellingham. He was 78. Satterfield worked for both the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer before he retired to write full time. He wrote 40 books, many set in Alaska. They include books on the Chilkoot Pass, Klondike Park, the Yukon
Trader ends run after 40 years
River and back roads in Washington state. In recent years, Satterfield divided his time between Washington and Arizona. He was living in Oak Harbor at the time of his death. Satterfield loved to travel and lived five years in France, his son said. To celebrate his 75th birthday, he rented a villa in the south of France and invited his close friends. About a dozen showed up. Among them was City Councilwoman Jean Godden, a former journalist and close friend from Satterfield’s days at the P-I. She considered Satterfield her mentor at the newspaper. “He was a marvelous friend,” she said. “He had this wanderlust, always off to some strange, outlandish place. He was a great, big guy, but gentle.” Nancy Erickson also met him at the P-I. “He was one of the most
generous kind of friends we ever had, a real special guy,” Erickson said. “How many friends rent a villa in the south of France and say, y’all come?” Satterfield hosted a party at his house the day before he went in for surgery, she said, but he didn’t tell anybody about it, believing it was minor. Born in Howards Ridge, Mo., Satterfield joined the Navy in 1952. After the Navy he attended St. Louis University and the University of Missouri before getting a summer job on a wheat farm in Washtucna in Eastern Washington. He graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in English and worked for a string of newspapers: the Seaside Signal in Oregon, the Longview Daily News, the Seattle Times and the P-I. He left the Post-Intelligencer in 1980 to start a new regional magazine, Northwest Living, and in 1987 he became a
full-time freelance writer, specializing in history and travel. Satterfield also wrote corporate histories for Alaska Airlines, Crescent Foods, Darigold and Tillamook Cheese. In addition to Scott Satterfield, Satterfield is survived by three daughters, Cassie Sheehan, of Ollala, Kitsap County, Erin Hansen, of Baker City, Ore., and Sarah Archer, of San Diego; and one brother Wayne Satterfield, of Denver. Scott Satterfield said his father didn’t want a funeral service, so a party in his honor is being planned. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to either the Authors Guild’s “Authors League Fund” (authorsleaguefund.org) or the Whatcom Hospice Foundation, 2901 Squalicum Parkway, Bellingham, WA 98225.
PROFILE IN EXCELLENCE
A
fter publishing for 40 years, PrintersNWTrader ceased publication with its October 2011 issue. The companion website, printerstrader.com, is also effectively closed. The Trader was no longer a sustainable publication and it was a business decision to close it, said Tom Lanctot, president of Eagle Newspapers, Inc. Throughout the 32-page final edition were ads thanking publisher Sandy Hubbard, who had served as editor or publisher for more than 20 years. FIND YOUR 25-HOUR DAY My 50 years on 15 small publications can help you: • sell more ads & subs • simplify operations • avoid bricks through your window • start/improve your website
Jay Becker
Community Consulting
jaybecker@aol.com - (206) 790-9457
Brian Myrick/Daily Record, Ellensburg
Brian Myrick’s colorful profile of Dennis Butterfly of the Yakama Nation performing at the Kittitas County Fair won first place for the Daily Record, Ellensburg, in the Color Feature category, Circulation Group III, in the 2011 Washington Better Newspaper Contest.
Accident claims son of former Record publisher
J
SnoValley Star
ames Michael McKiernan, son of Jim and Karen McKiernan, former owners of the Snoqualmie Valley Record, passed away early Sunday morning, Dec. 4, from injuries suffered in a vehiclepedestrian accident in Pasco. James was a graduate of Mount Si High School (2006), along with his father (1980), mother (1984) and sister (2008). He is also a graduate James of Central Michael Washington McKiernan University, walking in commencement in June 2011. He had recently been hired by Connell Grain Growers in Connell as a seed broker and was living in Pasco. Services were held Saturday, Dec. 10. Those wishing to post their thoughts and photos may do so on Jim McKiernan’s Facebook page. James is survived by his mother Karen, father Jim, sister Lynnae, grandmother Avon Barquist, grandparents Bob and Sandie Scott, and grandmother Patricia McKiernan. He is also survived by numerous cousins, uncles, aunts and hundreds of friends. Donations are suggested to the James McKiernan memorial scholarship fund at Mount Si High School.
Herald prints second history series volume
T
he Tri-City Herald published the second of a three-volume series of books on local history in time for holiday gifts. “Tri-Cities Memories: The 1950s, ‘50s and ‘60s,” is a 144page, hardbound volume that offers the stories in pictures of the people who built Hanford, the farmers who fed a nation, and the visionaries who laid the groundwork for what the TriCities is today. Ken Robertson, former Herald executive editor, wrote introductions to each chapter, chronicling the history, growth and change that each decade brought to the region. Each chapter is richly illustrated with photos from the newspaper as well as many from local historical societies and museums, the Department of Energy, and local families. Books are available for $39.95 plus tax at the Herald or online at pedimentbooks.com, where shipping is additional. Fewer than 50 copies of the first volume, “Tri-Cities Memories, The Early Years: 1890s-1939,” are available.
6
55 students study opinion with Vidette
T
hree classrooms of middle school students in Montesano are learning about differences of opinion by reading opinion pages of both the Daily World of Aberdeen and the Vidette of Montesano. In the Vidette’s Newspapers in Education program launched in late fall in three Montesano classrooms, totaling 55 students, receive both newspapers each week. Leif Nesheim, Vidette editor and general manager, submitted a successful grant application to the Centennial Rotary Club of East Grays Harbor County, where he is a member, and secured $500 in NIE funding. The grant was part of the club’s annual literacy campaign. It will sustain the program for two or more years, depending on classroom participation. Janet Scott handles both NIE programs in the World’s circulation department, emailing weekly lesson plans to teachers and ensuring delivery of the papers.
INTERNS from page 1
Panitz’s experience includes freelance work for College Football News, the Mercer Island Reporter, the Issaquah Press, the North Seattle Herald-Outlook, and others. He is primarily interested in sportswriting, and for the past two years has covered the UW football and basketball teams for Dawgman.com. He was a National Merit Commended Scholar at Curtis High School in University Place. Suljevic is majoring in journalism with a concentration in civic and public engagement. She was news editor for The Jibsheet at Bellevue College in 2009 and 2010 and is interested in pursuing a career in journalism after graduation. Garred is again is acting as WNPA Olympia News Bureau Intern coordinator and editor. Members should contact him with story requests by e-mail at fpg@olympus.net or call (360) 385-3313 or cell, (360) 808-0648. Provide him with your newspaper name and city, staff contact, phone number and e-mail address.
WNPA
from page 1 nominee’s work, if available. Your nominee may be a high school student, college student, or simply someone in your community who you would like to have as an intern at your newspaper this summer. All nominations are due Feb. 8 and should be e-mailed to Mae Waldron, mwaldron@wnpa.com. Winners will be announced by March 9, 2012. The internship is a 240-hour commitment and must be served at a WNPA regular-member newspaper. The internship scholarship, up to $1,000, would be in addition to any salary or other benefits you may provide for your intern. If you have any questions, please call Scott Wilson at (360) 385-2900 or Mae Waldron at (206) 634-3838, ext. 2.
JANUARY 2012
TWN
Volume 97: New format, same name
M
ore than 1,100 monthly or bimonthly issues of The Washington Newspaper have been published. That’s 12 issues every year for all but one of the first 73 years, nine issues in 1915, nine to 12 issues for the seven years between 1988 and 1994, and 12 issues a year from 1995 to the present. The continuous cycle of publication was broken only once, during three months in late 1919. “M. Lyle Spencer, the new head of the U.W. School of Journalism and editor of The Washington Newspaper, explained the suspension in the December 1919 edition. “’The enforced rest was not purposed. Nor, was it due to negligence or any overt act of the editors, but, due to a strike of the job printers in Seattle. The publication was only an innocent bystander.’” The newspaper was established in October 1915 with the aid of the University of Washington, some 28 years after the association was founded. As announced in the inaugural issue, TWN was “a publication de-
voted to the interests of journalism in the State of Washington.” Though called a newspaper, the format was more like a magazine. Volume 1 No. 1 had 20 slick-paper pages, 7.5x11.5 inches, bound to a gray printed cover. From its founding until relatively recently the publication continued in that or a similar format, with a slightly different page size or a change in paper. In January 1988, when Miles Turnbull succeeded Jerry Zubrod as WNPA executive director, TWN became an eightpage, 11x17 tabloid on newsprint. In the seven years between 1988 and 1994, up to three issues a year were published as bimonthly. TWN was first published
online in its current eEdition format in September 2011. The University of Washington continued to publish TWN from its founding through September 1925. In the months before that issue, funding had been uncertain. During a meeting with three publishers shortly before the September issue was printed, Gov. Roland Hartley confirmed he would cut TWN from the UW budget in his austerity program. Spencer put the news in a box on the front page of the issue with this statement, “In this instance as in all others the University is glad to cooperate with Governor Hartley in his program for state-wide economy.” He also called for ideas on how to continue the publication. When the October 1925 issue appeared, it was eight pages instead of the customary 32, and funded by a back-page ad from Mergenthaler Linotype Co. The Washington Press Association became the publisher and a business manager was appointed. In 1926, Frederick Washington (“Pa”) Kennedy as-
Register by Jan. 6 for NYPA judging
T
he opportunities to ON THE WEB will cover a room at the Red judge the New York Lion. Contact Mae Waldron for Register at: Press Association details. wnpa.wufoo.com/forms/ contest have doubled, with r7p8w3 both online and in-person ONLINE JUDGING: judging available to WNPA Approx. Jan. 16-30, 2012 members. If SeaTac is out of reach, The registration deadline has changed to you’re invited to judge Advertising and Jan. 6, to accommodate the new time frame News categories online. Volunteers will for online judging. receive an email with log-in and other instructions in January. IN-PERSON JUDGING: 8 a.m.- 5:30 Whether you judge in person or online, p.m. Jan. 26, 2012 you’ll see examples of some of the best Meet at the Red Lion SeaTac Airport, community journalism in the nation. 18220 International Blvd., SeaTac, to Remember that seeing NYPA members’ judge entries in Advertising, Special work may be an an advantage in planning Sections, Design, Photography, and General your 2012 contest entries, which NYPA will Excellence. NYPA will provide a nice judge this summer. breakfast and lunch. Questions? Contact Mae Waldron, For a handful of people who will arrive mwaldron@wnpa.com or (206) 634-3838 the night before and judge all day, NYPA ext. 2.
Report: Community readership strong
R
National Newspaper Association
eaders in areas served by community newspapers continue to prefer the community newspaper as their sources of local news and advertising. The 2011 results of an annual survey conducted by the National Newspaper Association and the research arm of the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism released last month show that 74 percent of people in communities served by a newspaper with circulations under 15,000 read a local newspaper each week. The survey, in its sixth year, shows consistent trends. Readers prefer the printed copy to the online version, with 48 percent saying they never read the local news online. They prefer to receive advertising through the newspaper (51 percent) instead of on the Internet (11 percent). And only about a quarter of respondents said they had found local news through a mobile device in the past 30 days. Slightly more (38 percent) said they had received local shopping information by mobile device. They also have a strong preference for government accountability through newspaper public notice, with 80 percent saying the government should be required to publish notices in the newspaper. NNA President Reed Anfinson, publisher
of the Swift County (Minn) Monitor-News in Benson, Minn., said the study demonstrates that citizens believe in newspapers. “The survey shows a majority of respondents believe that the newspaper does a better job of providing background and depth on stories essential to citizens,” Anfinson said. Further, the newspaper is more useful to them personally than any other news source. It not only highlights the strong bond between local communities and their newspapers, but demonstrates that people do value good journalism.” Since 2005, NNA has done research on how people read and what they think about their local newspaper. Results have been consistent over the years, even as sample and community sizes have been adjusted slightly The early data indicates that the positive findings in the earlier surveys are consistent for community newspapers: • 74 percent of those surveyed read a local newspaper each week • Those readers, on average, share their papers with 2.33 persons • They spend about 38.95 minutes reading their local newspapers • 73 percent read most or all of their community newspapers • 43.8 percent keep their community newsSee NNA, page 7
sumed that role and the office moved to Commerce Hall on campus. Kennedy is credited with transforming TWN “from a rather stodgy, scholarly educational journal to a lively magazine filled with lots of names and accounts of happenings in the weekly press of the state and issues of which the membership should be aware. Over the years of Pa’s tenure the roster of assistant editors of the publication was formidable, but readers always knew who was setting the course.” For more than 40 years, 1907-52, Kennedy was a printer, journalism educator, association leader and mentor in the state’s newspaper industry. Future articles will have additional history on Kennedy’s career. Editor’s Note: Above quotes are excerpted from articles in June 1987 TWN by Donald N. Crew. WNPA’s 100th anniversary Special Assignment Writer, Crew was the retired executive editor of the Fournier Newspapers, Kent.
Gazette shops for newsprint in local market
T
Sequim Gazette
he Sequim Gazette is now being printed on paper produced in Port Angeles by Nippon Paper Industries USA. Mark Warner, who oversees the Peninsula Daily News and Sequim Gazette for Sound Publishing, said following the company’s recent purchase of the two newspapers he immediately began looking at the possibility of using the newsprint produced in Port Angeles for the Gazette. The Peninsula Daily News has been printed on NPI paper since June. Warner said he was concerned about the ability of Sound’s Everett press, where the two newspapers are now printed, to handle the NPI paper. The NPI paper is lighter than the old industry standard, which makes it more environmentally beneficial, but it had never been run in the company’s press. Fortunately, he said, the new paper “ran really well.” Supply isn’t an issue, either, with NPI saying “they could happily provide the paper for the Gazette,” Warner said. He estimated the Gazette will purchase 275 tons of newsprint each year from NPI. Readers will find an improved product, Warner said, with sharper images and text. Perhaps most importantly, Warner said, buying local paper “is terrific for the community.” Gazette Publisher Sue Ellen Riesau agreed, saying that prior to the Sound purchase the Gazette was produced by contract printers who chose the source of paper. Sound is making the effort to buy locally, she said. NPI plant manager Harold Norlund also was pleased, pointing out that keeping the business at home doesn’t just help the mill, but the entire local economy. “This is great for everyone,” he said. Warner said he now is looking at the possibility of printing additional Sound publications using NPI paper.
TWN
7
JANUARY 2012
Some questions are real knockouts Technology tips from the mailbag
T
he mailbox has been full the past few weeks with questions from readers. Must be something in the air. Perhaps it’s the smell of eggnog.
From Liz in Louisiana:
Hi Kevin, I’m contacting you regarding a problem we are having when we print a PDF file. On certain issues, we put a Kevin Slimp huge magenta Director, “SAMPLE” Institute of across our Newspaper flag. I’ve been Technology working here four years and have never had a problem or a second thought about this. We recently changed printers, and now they’re telling us that on our PDF, “SAMPLE” is a knockout and that we should print it as an overprint. No problem, except that no one can tell us how to do this. No one except you! Any help that you can give regarding this situation would be greatly appreciated. You might be surprised at how often I’m asked a variation of this question, Liz. Just today, I received a call from Karen, from Paris, Tenn., with a similar problem. The red “X” she had created to put over sold cars in an auto ad printed as black when the page went to press. This issue can arise from any application, but both you and Karen were using InDesign. While I had Karen on the phone, I asked her to highlight a problematic X and look at the Attributes panel. This is found under Window>Output>Attributes. My educated guess was that the X was overprinting instead of knocking out. Since the X was placed over another black X to create a drop shadow effect, overprinting red over black resulted in a black X. I don’t have your file in front of me, Liz, but I’ll bet the characters in “SAMPLE” did not have outlines around them. In InDesign, when text has an outline, it sometimes changes the setting in the Attributes panel to “overprint.” This is what caused Karen’s text to overprint the red on top of the black.
Look in the Windows>Output>Separations Preview to determine if your items are overprinting or knocking out. This can be an issue when creating large items with drop shadows similar to the X in the auto ad. The designer meant for this X to print red, but the overprint resulted in black.
Look in the Attributes panel in InDesign to determine if an item is overprinting. You have the same issue, only reversed. You need to set the word, “SAMPLE,” to overprint to give your printer the desired results. By looking at the Separations Preview panel in InDesign (Window>Output>Separations Preview), you should see what your page will look like when printed and see if the setting worked. On a side note, I’m assuming your flag contains black ink. If this is the case, I’m not sure how your printer is planning to handle the black that will come through, unless his RIP has a setting to automatically create the knockout.
From Chip in Kentucky:
Hi Kevin, I know there has to be a way to do this. I don’t know how. We have gotten into selling banners, but the prepress work has hit a snag. At our office, we are using Quark 7. The largest width Quark allows is 4 feet, but we need to go up to 20 feet. We have run into a similar problem at our office with InDesign. Can you give any advice on how to up those sizes? When we try to input a larger size, it gives a message that a larger size is not allowed. I love math questions, Chip. They always were my fa-
NNA
vorites. I checked and you are correct. You can’t create a document 20 feet wide in Quark or InDesign. InDesign lets you come close, but stops you a few inches short. Here is my solution. Create the document 10 feet wide in InDesign and print the file out at 200 percent when creating the Postscript file, which you convert to PDF. Unless math has changed again, that will give you a 240-inch banner, which is just what you need.
From Randy in New York:
Hey Kevin, I’m thinking of upgrading from InCopy 4 but have a question for you. If I upgrade my InCopy do I need to upgrade my InDesign at the same time? That’s a tricky question, Randy. Theoretically, no, you don’t have to upgrade both. But if it were me, I would. Too much can go wrong when your InCopy version doesn’t match your InDesign version. And let’s face it. In our business, who has time for surprises at the
last minute? If you feel like it’s time for an upgrade, go ahead and upgrade your InDesign and InCopy machines at the same time.
A word from Kevin ...
Yesterday, I received an email from a representative of a company who wanted to send me a gift for recommending an expensive software system to a client. The representative wasn’t doing anything evil. It was a nice gesture. I gave him the same answer I’ve given dozens of other groups in the past. I’m happy to recommend a product, if I believe it will benefit my client. Gifts aren’t necessary or accepted. When I write about an application, or piece of hardware or workflow system, you can trust that I think it’s worthy of consideration. The only vested interest I have is in the newspapers that depend on my recommendations. I never accept any payment or gift from a vendor. Write to Kevin at kevin@kevinslimp.com.
from page 6
papers six or more days (shelf life) • 61 percent of readers read local news very often in their community newspapers, while 48 percent say they never read local news online (only 11 percent say they read local news very often online) • Of those going online for local news (167 respondents), 52 percent found it on the local newspaper’s website, compared to 20 percent for sites such as Yahoo, MSN or Google, and 25 percent for the website of a local
television station • 27 percent read local sports news very often in their newspapers, while 70 percent never read local sports online • 40 percent read editorials or letters to the editor very often in their newspapers, while 64 percent never read editorials or letters to the editor online The local community newspaper is the primary source of information about the local community for 51.8 percent of respondents compared to seeking informa-
tion from friends and relatives (16 percent) and TV (13.2 percent.) Readers are 7 times more likely to get their news from their community newspapers than from the Internet (7.4 percent). Fewer than 6 percent say their primary local news source is radio. The survey was released Dec. 1, 2011. Additional information, charts and presentations from the survey will appear in future issues of Publishers’ Auxiliary, and on NNA’s website, www. nnaweb.org.
8
JANUARY 2012
TWN
CAREER MOVES n Lucas Beechinor is the new editor of the Douglas County Empire Press in East Wenatchee, succeeding Doug Flanagan. Most recently a promotions coordinator at Dark Horse Comics in Portland, Beechinor also worked for several publishing companies in Portland. He is a Spokane native, and attended Whitworth University and
Portland State University. Also, Gretchen Woods has turned over her role as publisher to Wyatt Gardiner, circulation director at Wenatchee World, which owns the Press. Gardiner worked in management capacities at newspapers in Logan, Utah, Montrose, Colo., South Lake Tahoe, Calif., Ogden, Utah, and Longview before joining
- - - - Advertising- - - -
the Wenatchee World in early 2010. Woods continues as human resources director at the World. n Sarah Lawrence has joined the Wahkiakum County Eagle, Cathlamet, in the new position of advertising account manager. Lawrence has been manager of the Wahkiakum County Fair, served as executive director of the Wahkiakum Community Foundation and has additional marketing experience. n After 27 years as an editor and sportswriter, Kirby Arnold has left the Daily Herald of Everett. He worked four years as assistant sports editor, 10 as executive sports editor, and 13 covering the Mariners. He arrived in Everett from Missouri in 1984. n Brett Davis, the newest reporter at the Peninsula Gateway in Gig Harbor, is covering the City of Gig Harbor and Peninsula School District, as well as county and state level issues as they affect Gig Harbor. His journalism experience includes stints as editor of the Tacoma Daily Index and the Tenino Independent, and reporting
FOURNIER Media Services, Inc.
Brokerage — Consulting Appraisals JOHN L. FOURNIER, JR. P.O. Box 750 Prosser, WA 99350 Voice 206/409-9216 Fax 509/786-1779
positions at the Lakewood Journal and University Place Journal. Most recently he was the managing editor of the Freedom Foundation in Olympia, where he oversaw the group’s newsletter, managed its blog and helped plan and write policy publications. Previously he served as an economic policy analyst for the Foundation. Davis graduated in journalism from Western Washington University. n After nearly a decade at the Sequim Gazette, advertising director and general manager Steve Perry started in a new position as the advertising director of the Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles. With Sound Publishing’s November purchase of the Gazette and PDN, it’s an internal move for Perry. Prior to joining the Gazette, he had been ad director of the Peninsula Gateway in Gig Harbor. Perry worked for 12 years at the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton before joining the Gateway. Sue Ellen Riesau, publisher of the Sequim Gazette, Forks Forum and Homes/Land Real Estate magazines, has assumed Perry’s responsibilities of advertising director. n New on the staff at the Ritzville-Adams County Journal are Katelin Davidson and Janis Rountree. Davidson, a journalism graduate of the University of Oregon in Eugene, was hired as news editor. She grew up
on a farm in St. Paul, Ore., and has been a longtime volunteer member of the St. Paul Rodeo. Davidson succeeds Jennifer Larsen, who continues as webmaster and assists on special projects. Rountree, a graduate of Lind High School, is working in the front office and learning tasks formerly handled by Lavonne Saunders. She also has a background in photography and is providing support to the newsroom. Saunders, the 2010 winner of the WNPA Dixie Lee Bradley award, retires from full-time work on Jan. 27. She will continue to do the newspaper’s bookkeeping. n David Horsey, who received two Pulitzer Prizes for his work at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, has joined the political team at the Los Angeles Times. Horsey provided cartoons and columns for seattlepi.com and several Hearst newspapers after the P-I stopped printing in 2009. n The Chronicle in Centralia has announced a new assistant editor, Eric Schwartz. Schwartz had been a reporter for the Chronicle for more than two years when, in July 2010, he left for a reporting job at the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Mont. Schwartz succeeds Brian Mittge, who was promoted to editor when Michael Wagar resigned late last year.
Named for the second year in a row to the
List of “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News and World Report for Media and First Amendment Law
������ ���������
www.alliedlawgroup.com • Seattle • Olympia