TWN0713 - The Washington Newspaper July 2013 by Washington Newspaper Publishers Association

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THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER Vol. 98, No. 7 July 2013

Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington • www.wnpa.com

Tale of Two Dailies Oregonian reduces its print delivery frequency and lays off staff . . . The Associated Press

he Oregonian newspaper announced June 20 it is shifting its emphasis to digital delivery of news, that home delivery will be reduced and some staff will lose their jobs. Oregon’s largest newspaper will still be printed daily and distributed to metro areas. But home delivery will be reduced from seven days to Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and a bonus edition on

Saturday. Home delivery subscribers will be able to read a digital edition of the paper online seven days a week. Publisher N. Christian Anderson III said in a statement published online that the company will be relaunched Oct. 1 as the Oregonian Media Group. “We will continue to develop our digital products to better serve consumers,” Anderson said. “We seek to be at the forefront of how Oregonians get and use information. Even with the largest See OREGONIAN, page 3

Ex-auditor recognized for service to openness

. . . Meanwhile, across the river, Columbian stays the course The Columbian, Vancouver

outhwest Washington’s largest daily newspaper, the Columbian, intends to continue daily publication, publisher Scott Campbell said June 20 in reaction to the Oregonian’s announcement that it will reduce home deliveries to four days a week. “We have no plans at this time to reduce frequency or adopt a plan similar to the Oregonian,” Campbell

said, referring to the larger newspaper headquartered across the Columbia River from Vancouver. He added that his family-owned newspaper is constantly evaluating readership trends for its online and print news products in the quickly evolving industry. The Columbian has an average daily circulation of 45,816 copies six days a week and 49,778 copies on Sunday, according to its most recent data. Columbian publisher Campbell acknowledged that many daily news-

See COLUMBIAN, page 3

I SPY A WINNER

WCOG nominee picked for award by NFOIC, SPJ

Washington Coalition for Open Government

rian Sonntag, former Washington State Auditor, has been inducted into Heroes of the 50 States: The State Open Government Hall of Fame. The award honors individuals “whose lifetime commitment to citizen access, open government and freedom of information has left a significant legacy at the state and local level.” It is a joint venture of the National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Sonntag retired this year, ending 40 years of public service, including 20 years as Washington State’s auditor. He was nominated for the national award by the Washington Coalition for Open Government. A founding member of the Coalition, Sonntag served on the WCOG board of directors for many years and is now on the Coalition’s advisory council. The WCOG nomination said Sonntag’s “record as a champion for open government is unmatched in the state. For Sonntag, advocating for open government wasn’t a political or election strategy, it was an inherent value, personally and professionally. He embodied the beliefs that accountability demands government to be open, See SONNTAG, page 2

Don Gronning/Newport Miner

During a Little League game at the Newport ballfield, Anna Whittekiend, then 2, took a moment to joke with Don Gronning, Newport Miner’s photographer. The playacting photo won first place in the Color Pictorial Photo category, Circulation Groups III and IV Combined, in the 2012 Washington Better Newspaper Contest.

After two decades, Dillon departs Pacific

Publisher resigns from trustee role, editorial panel

ike Dillon stepped down June 28 as publisher of the weekly Queen Anne/ Magnolia News and the monthly Madison Park Times and City Living publications, all Pacific Publishing Company newspapers serving Seattle neighborhoods.

He plans to to commemopursue freerate his career, lance writing, which centered though he on newspapers may do some in the Seattle writing and and Kitsap targeted sales Peninsula areas. efforts for Dillon joined PPC as well. PPC in 1992, Mike Robert At an when it was Dillon Munford employee apowned by the preciation luncheon last month, late Tom Haley, and stayed Dillon received an eight-page until October 2000, when he newspaper created by the staff was named publisher of three

Sound Publishing weeklies, the Bremerton Patriot, Central Kitsap Reporter in Silverdale, and Northwest Navigator. He returned to PPC in about 2002, and continued in his role as publisher of the company’s community newspapers. Before joining Pacific, Dillon had served as advertising manager of the Port Orchard Independent, Kitsap County Herald (Poulsbo) and See DILLON, page 4

JULY 2013

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Reporters have the worst job in America? Really?

xcept for two weeks serving collection notices to people who hadn’t paid for funerals, and two Christmas season stints at Toys ‘R’Us in Tukwila — both gigs between college quarters — I’ve only worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. So I’m slightly taken aback by the last week’s announcement that CareerCast.com ranked newspaper reporter as this year’s “worst” job, below lumberjack, janitor, garbage collector and bus driver. Really? Researching, interviewing and writing newspaper stories is worse than peddling beds at the Mattress Ranch, or cleaning trashed motel rooms? Drearier than serving drunks at the Pizza Barn? More soul destroying than toiling on the telephone all day for a collection agency, making people curse and cry? Come on, the excitement of my profession has been glorified on the silver screen by the likes of Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in “His Girl Friday,” Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in “All the President’s

Officers: President: Bill Forhan, NCW Media, Leavenworth l First Vice President: Keven Graves, Whidbey News Group, Coupeville l Second Vice President: Lori Maxim, Sound Publishing l Past President: Jana Stoner, Northern Kittitas County Tribune, Cle Elum l Secretary: Bill Will, WNPA, Seattle Trustees: Mike Dillon, Pacific Publishing Co., Seattle l Josh Johnson, Liberty Lake Splash, Liberty Lake l Eric LaFontaine, Othello Outlook l Imbert Matthee, Waitsburg Times l Don Nelson, Methow Valley News, Twisp l Stephen McFadden, RitzvilleAdams County Journal l Fred Obee, Port Townsend Leader Staff: Executive Director: Bill Will l Editor/Manager of Member Services: Mae Waldron

Officers:

President: Rob Blethen, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Treasurer: Christine Fossett, Chronicle, Centralia

Board:

Nathan Alford, Moscow-Pullman Daily News l Tyler Miller, Daily Record, Ellensburg l Heather Hernandez, Skagit Valley Herald, Mount Vernon l Dave Zeeck, News Tribune, Tacoma

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) 6343838. 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.

Men,” Orson Welles in what is considered by many to be the greatest film of all time, “Citizen Kane.” Even Superman was Gordon a newspaper Weeks reporter in his Mason County off-hours. Journal, Alright, Shelton let’s see what CareerCast finds so unappealing about my job. Relatively low pay? Yeah, so sometimes I won’t have cheese on that. CareerCast cites the stress of constant deadlines, but occasionally being forced to write a story in 17 minutes can be an adrenaline rush. As for the pressure of public scrutiny of my work, I’ll quote Oscar Wilde: “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” CareerCast cites fewer openings and cutbacks at newspapers. My editor, Adam Rudnick, and I can testify: We were shown the door during mass

layoffs by the same company, Skagit Publishing. But it’s tough to top the variety of being a newspaper reporter. I like juggling eight projects instead of one; if I am briefly stymied on one story, I can bop over to something else. I like getting out of the office and hearing strangers tell me their life stories. I like the instant gratification of seeing the newspaper just a few hours after finishing my last story. At a journalism conference, a speaker instructed us to write and sign a contract promising to attend 1,000 boring meetings. I’m sure I topped that number years ago, but now I understand the functions of city councils, county commissions, borough commissions, planning commissions, port districts, school boards and hospital districts. Other workdays are colorful snapshots. Flying with Santa Claus on a Coast Guard helicopter to native villages on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Floating in a hot air balloon watching bungee jumpers plunge toward a field outside Port Orchard. Sailing

around Puget Sound on the Lady Washington. Riding around in a stretch limousine with a woman on her 100-year-old birthday, checking out the TV while she dozed. I wrote arts and entertainment stories exclusively for eight years, so I’ve interviewed many touring celebrities a decade or four past their moment in the sun. Singer Glen Campbell spoke about the joys of sobriety, just a couple months before his DUI arrest produced one of the scariest celebrity mug shots. Actress/singer Bernadette Peters talked about driving to the set of “The Jerk” with thenboyfriend Steve Martin and Carl Reiner, tossing around ideas. In a telephone call to Liverpool, England, drummer Pete Best said he still isn’t sure why he was fired from The Beatles and replaced with Ringo just days before worldwide fame. When I hear Eddie Money on classic rock radio or on TV commercials, I remember him sharing his frustration that the presence of his daughter as a backup singer was stifling

his fun on the road. Minutes after interviewing actor Woody Harrelson in a Salt Lake City bar, he got into a fist fight and broke his thumb; I sold the story to the National Enquirer. Otis Day talked about how lip-synching two songs in “Animal House” created a career for him. Charo called me a beautiful man, and I’m pretty sure she was sincere. When I was hired by the Journal last August, I found myself working alongside two reporters in their 20s, Emily Hanson and Natalie Johnson. It’s a joy to see two young women aggressively and passionately embrace a profession that some are writing off as dead. I’m sure Henry Gay would be proud. And since I work near the front desk, I know from the constant flow of visitors that people read the Journal. You care about what we write about, and what we don’t, the tenor of the words, the size of the font. Our work matters. Reprinted with permission. Contact Weeks at gordon@ masoncounty.com.

Second try at a shield law echoes first

n irony of timing twice has put U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning in the headlines at critical moments in gaining congressional approval of a federal shield law that would protect journalists and their confidential sources. On Capitol Hill, there’s newfound White House support and congressional action behind proposals to for the first time provide legal means in federal courts for journalists to keep secret their confidential sources and unpublished information. President Obama called for passage of federal shield law in the wake of two controversies in May involving Department of Justice moves to seize journalists’ phone record, e-mail and other data. A long-standing goal of many journalism organizations for years, an earlier version of a shield law gained U.S. House approval in 2009. But it died the next year in the Senate, in large degree because of the then-breaking controversy surrounding Manning and his leaking of hundreds of thousands of secret military reports and diplomatic cables to the online organization Wikileaks. Just as this latest attempt at the shield law gathers steam,

SONNTAG

along comes Manning and Wikileaks again. Just a few miles from the Capitol, in a military courtroom at Fort Meade, Gene Md., Manning Policinski faces courtvice president/ martial proexecutive ceedings about director, the Wikileaks First Amendment Center disclosure. Prosecutors say classified information from that unprecedented disclosure then went from Wikileaks to Osama Bin Laden and others, endangered American lives and harmed relations with U.S. allies. The Manning trial raises anew not only the previous specter of the massive Wikileaks disclosures, but the fear that any source protection in federal courts will make it just that much more difficult to find and prosecute those leaking documents that threaten American lives and the nation’s safety. Such fear – which last time led to the White House withdrawing its support of the shield

law – will just add to an already complex issue of defining who is covered by the revived “Free Flow of Information Act” —in effect, answering the root question of “Who is a journalist? Wikileaks describes itself as “a not-for-profit media organization” that provides “an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists.” That self-definition could not be further from one favored by some members of Congress, who would see it labeled a terrorist organization. Currently, two potential definitions are on the table: In the Senate bill, gathering information to distribute it to the public is all that’s required – which might or might not include Wikileaks. In the House version, there is an added condition: Newsgathering must be done “for financial gain or livelihood.” Wikileaks is funded by contributions for its work, but is that the kind of income the bill’s sponsors have in mind? And then there are bloggers and student journalists, many of whom neither work for commercial enterprises or are paid for their work. Would they be included or excluded by the proposed shield laws.

Both House and Senate versions exclude for “agents of a foreign power.” As Washington Post national security write Walter Pincus noted in a recent column, such a definition would exclude journalists working for organizations tied to terrorist groups, but might it also exclude “… the BBC, Agence France-Presse and some Russian government-owned services?” Some First Amendment advocates see any description of a journalist as a form of government licensing – one of the very conditions that prompted the nation’s founders to provide such strong First Amendment shelter for a free press. And, as Pincus mused in that same column, such a law could be used by any given administration in the future to exclude reporters or media outlets disliked by government officials. In the end, Congress should keep in mind that while recognizing an ultimate need for national security, the goal should be to keep our fellow citizens as well-informed as possible. Gene Policinski is senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center. Email him at gpolicinski@fac. org

ability during his five terms leaves a record without peer and an impact that will be felt for generations,” Bhatia added. Besides Bhatia, the judges who reviewed nominees for the Hall of Fame award this year were: Sarah Nordgren, director of content development for the Associated Press and a member of the NFOIC board; and Linda Petersen, managing editor of the Valley Journals in Salt Lake Valley. Petersen also is chair of SPJ’s Freedom of Information Committee and president of Utah Foundation for Open

Government. In 2000, Sonntag received the Freedom’s Light Award from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. It honors “individuals who have protected or advanced the First Amendment in Washington State, a critical aspect of which is access to public information.” Sonntag’s final audit report before he retired earlier this year said, “Public officials must remember whose government it is. It is never wrong to open the doors and let the people in.”

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accessible, responsible and responsive and that, when government talks to the people, it tells the truth.” Sonntag’s induction came at a May 18 lunch during the 2013 Freedom of Information Summit in New Orleans, La. Sonntag is the 13th individual inducted since the Hall’s inception in 2003. He is the second inductee in a row from Washington State and only the third elected official to be included. Toby Nixon, WCOG president, was named to the Hall last year.

A press release announcing Sonntag’s selection said a committee that includes a representative of SPJ, a representative of NFOIC, and at least one additional at-large member evaluates all nominations. In that release, Peter Bhatia, editor of the Oregonian and a member of the selection committee that chose Sonntag, praised him as “a public official who gave two decades to making government more open to the citizens of his state.” “His list of achievements and his commitment to account-

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OPEN ACCESS & LEGAL ISSUES

May Day: SPD admits guilt County abandons its bid

Department says it broke law by withholding memo

he Seattle Police Department has admitted it violated the state Public Records Act by withholding from the Seattle Times an internal memorandum about the department’s response to the violent demonstrations of May Day 2012, and has agreed to pay $20,000 to the newspaper and its attorneys to avoid a lawsuit over the issue. In a settlement agreement dated May 23, 2013 and signed by Interim Police Chief Jim Pugel, the SPD “acknowledges that it had a duty to either produce the [report]” or cite a valid Public Records Act (PRA) exemption to its release. “The Department agrees that ... it is never permissible to withhold the existence of a responsive document from a requestor or to improperly delay the release of documents,” a department statement says. “The department will reaffirm this message to the PRA staff and top department administrators.” The Times filed a public-disclosure request for the memo in July after learning it contained a blistering internal review of the May Day response, particularly the interference in operational decisions by Assistant Chief Mike Sanford. The memo resulted in the SPD hiring an outside expert to review what happened. Department commanders “believed that the report was subject to the deliberative process exemption, and that premature disclosure would prejudice the independent review,” according to the SPD statement. But rather than informing the Times of that decision, as required by the Public Records Act, and giving the newspaper

OREGONIAN

a chance to challenge the exemption in court, the department never officially acknowledged the memorandum existed, even though retiring Chief John Diaz talked about it in a story published in the Seattle Times on July 23. Diaz acknowledged in April that he had ordered the memo withheld pending the release of the department’s own after-action report and an independent review conducted by retired Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Mike Hillmann. Those reports, both critical of the SPD’s preparations and response to vandalism during the May Day march, were released in April, nearly 11 months later. The settlement was reached after the newspaper sent a letter to the SPD on May 9, alleging “egregious violations” of the Public Records Act, and demanded that the department acknowledge the violations and instruct staff and administrators that they cannot manipulate the release of public records “to serve other department goals.” Otherwise, the letter said, the Times would sue and seek penalties and attorneys fees potentially amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The SPD agreed to pay the $20,000 to cover the newspaper’s legal fees and expenses. “It is clear to us that this was a blatant violation of the state’s Public Records Act, and we felt it was not in the public’s interest to simply allow that violation to go by unchallenged,” said David Boardman, executive editor of the Times. “We are gratified that the SPD acknowledges that such actions are ‘never permissible,’ and that they will take necessary measures to guard against this sort of violation in the future,” Boardman said. The memo sought by the Times was written by Capt. Joe Kessler and sent to top chiefs Clark Kimerer and Nick Metz

just weeks after the incident. It described contradictory orders, haphazard planning and operational interference by Sanford. Sanford was removed as chief of the SPD’s patrol division shortly afterward. Kessler complained that Sanford interfered with his command and, at one point during the violence, rushed into the crowd in plain clothes to make an arrest and had to be rescued by officers using pepper spray and batons. The department was sharply criticized by downtown businesses for losing control of the streets to a small group of anarchists and vandals and having to respond with harsh tactics and force. After being called ill-prepared during last year’s May Day melee, police this year followed some of the recommendations that grew out of those failures. The newspaper learned of the Kessler memo and on July 23 published a story in which Diaz said it raised “very serious” concerns. Indeed, Diaz would say later that Kessler’s observations led him to hire Hillmann. The same day the story was published, Seattle Times reporter Mike Carter filed a public-disclosure request with the SPD asking for the memo’s release. Between September and April, the department provided Carter with hundreds of May Day-related documents, but never the Kessler memo. It formally closed the publicdisclosure request April 3 upon the joint release of its official after-action report and the Hillmann report. The afternoon of April 3, Carter confronted Diaz outside the City Council chambers. Diaz said he had deliberately withheld the Kessler memo because he was concerned it would distract from the department’s official report and Hillmann’s review.

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news organization and the largest news audience in the state, we must bring innovative ways of serving consumers to continue our growth.” The Oregonian received the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and four others, most recently in 2007 for breaking news. Anderson said employees would begin to hear about their status with the company on June 20. “While we believe these changes will create growth opportunities for our employees,” Anderson said, “the reality is that some employees will lose their jobs.” Subscribers will be told about new rates in August. The Oregonian’s shift comes as a growing number of people get their news online, turning away from traditional newspapers. The shift has cost newspaper companies printed advertising dollars, the lifeblood of the industry, and digital revenue has so far failed to keep pace with the loss of print ads. The Oregonian is owned by Advance Publications, Inc. Similar steps have been taken at other Advance newspapers.

Advance’s strategy of shifting to digital content began in 2009, when the Ann Arbor News switched from a daily print schedule to printing only on Thursday and Sunday. In New Orleans, the Times-Picayune cut its print edition to three days a week and later supplemented that with a tabloid edition available in stores and newsstands on the days that the full newspaper isn’t printed. The paper announced that Peter Bhatia, vice president and editor of the Oregonian, will be vice president of content for the new company. Barbara Swanson, vice president of sales of the Oregonian, and Hallie Janssen, vice president of marketing at the paper, will have the same roles for the Oregonian Media Group. Editor’s Note: Willamette Week reported June 21 that newsroom layoffs topped 35 reporters, editors and photographers. Some announced their layoff on social media, including Tumblr and Twitter.

COLUMBIAN

to close murder hearing Motion would have set secret hearing and sealed records

Yakima Herald-Republic

akima County prosecutors on June 13 dropped their request to conduct a secret hearing to vet new evidence against a suspect in a triple-homicide case. Under intense questioning from Superior Court Judge Ruth Reukauf, prosecutors decided to back off on their request to hold a closed court hearing and seal records in the case against Kevin Harper. The motion was opposed by Harper’s attorney, the Yakima Herald-Republic and Yakima’s three television news stations. Prosecutors seek to nullify an agreement that saw Harper plead guilty to theft and firearms charges. Under the arrangement, prosecutors said they would drop three aggravated firstdegree murder charges against Harper in the deaths of Bill Goggin, his wife, Pauline, and his 98-year-old mother, Bettye. The three were killed in February 2011 in what investigators believe was a burglary gone bad at their home in a gated West Valley community. Prosecutors said they have new evidence that is inflammatory and argued it would harm Harper’s chances for a fair trial if it were disclosed publicly. Harper’s defense attorney argued against closing the hearing and sealing documents, saying that prosecutors were withholding evidence, including the names of witnesses. Last year, the prosecution’s slowness in providing Harper’s defense with material prompted the judge to sanction one of the prosecutors and fine him $1,000. In often heated debate Thursday, deputy prosecutor Steve Jackson clashed with

defense attorney Pete Mazzone as Judge Reukauf expressed frustration with the course of arguments. Prosecutors arguing to nullify Harper’s plea agreement saud he had failed to adhere to a cooperation agreement that was part of the plea. But how Harper violated the agreement was not something prosecutors had wanted to argue in public. The agreement itself came under sharp questioning from Reukauf who called it an “inconsistent” contract that had not even been filed with the plea agreement. “I don’t even know how this is an enforceable agreement,” she said at one point of the hearing. And in a case that has seen no shortage of surprises, yet another one surfaced Thursday when Jackson revealed the existence of yet another cooperation agreement, this one involving former Harper’s wife. Mazzone, who was unaware of that agreement, angrily asked what other evidence prosecutors were withholding. After a recess, Jackson told the judge and Mazzone that he was mistaken and that there was no separate cooperation agreement with Harper’s ex-wife. The prosecution’s decision to back off on its demands for secrecy rendered moot the motion brought by an attorney representing the Yakima HeraldRepublic newspaper and the Yakima Valley’s three television news operation, who sought to insure all of the legal proceedings surrounding the case remained opened to the public. Seattle lawyer Eric Stahl, who represents the four media companies, said the state Supreme Court has consistently held that closing hearings and sealing records aren’t permissible in criminal proceedings except in See YAKIMA, page 7

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papers across the country are reducing home deliveries, a model adopted by Advance Publications in 2009 when it switched publication of its daily Ann Arbor News to print only on Thursday and Sunday. In New Orleans, the TimesPicayune, another Advance publication, cut its print edition to three days a week and later supplemented that with a tabloid edition available in stores and newsstands on the days that the full newspaper isn’t printed. Advance’s PostStandard in Syracuse, N.Y., this year switched from daily delivery to three days per week. “It’s a strategy that’s being debated within the newspaper industry,” Campbell said. “Some people think newspapers can’t be less than seven days a week, but weeklies have proven they can (succeed),” Campbell added. “The newspaper business is inherently scalable. It can be as little as one day a week in print or as much as seven days

a week in print.” The Oregonian’s shift comes as a growing number of people get their news online, turning away from traditional newspapers. The shift has cost newspaper companies print advertising dollars, the lifeblood of the industry, and digital revenue has so far failed to keep pace with the loss of print ads. “Ninety-five percent of the revenue for newspapers is still coming from print (advertising),” said Marc Dailey, The Columbian’s circulation and production director. He said the challenge for many newspapers is that revenue from digital production hasn’t yet reached a level of supporting the business. “When you reduce print, the hope is you don’t lose that revenue,” Dailey said. He added that reduced home delivery of the Oregonian will likely affect the Columbian and the 200 carriers on independent contract to deliver both the

Columbian and the Oregonian seven days a week in Clark County. The Oregonian’s changes will not only affect the contract between it and the Columbian, it will translate to less money for carriers who are paid per newspaper delivery. On the other hand, Dailey said the Columbian could benefit from the Oregonian’s reduced deliveries. “If there are subscribers over here that subscribe to the Oregonian only and they’re interested in a seven-day publication, they may want the Columbian,” he said. “The caveat is that someone subscribing to the Oregonian may want more Oregon and Portland news.” Campbell said Columbian coverage would continue to focus on Vancouver and Clark County, along with some Skamania County news. “The Columbian is dedicated to our local community,” he said. “That will continue to be our focus.”

JULY 2013

TWN

BetterBNC.com solves the entry storage problem Scrapbook feature more than contest convenience

f you have ever heard staff members say they would have submitted more (or better) entries in the Better Newspaper Contest, but they didn’t have time to look for their best stories, ads or photos, here’s an easy solution to that problem. Tell your staff about the scrapbooks on BetterBNC.com. Scrapbooks are cloud-based storage folders that allow anyone who creates a free open-call account on the site to save their contest-worthy material throughout the year. Work can be saved as a url or an attachment (pdf, doc, txt, jpg, gif, png) and be uploaded directly from the scrapbook to future contests. Each account holder can create and manage up to 10 scrapbooks (500 MB free storage) with five attachments and five urls in each one. There is no expiration date or fee. Publishers and editors who provide a monthly or quarterly deadline for staff to add to their scrapbook and perhaps showcase especially successful work at staff meetings would double the value of the scrapbook. Scrapbooks could also serve as a meaningful focus for performance evaluations. Try one out at betterbnc.com. Next month, learn to display the work in your scrapbook on a web page that you create on BetterBNC.com.

DILLON

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Bainbridge Review. The three newspapers were acquired by the Kitsap Newspaper Group in 1988. Dillon’s early work with WNPA was on the Journalism Education Committee, which he joined in 2006. The following year, he was elected to the WNPA board and transferred to the Membership & Bylaws Committee. Dillon continued to serve in both roles for more than six years, leading the exploration of new projects from a regional journalism contest and new membership concepts to, most recently, providing house ads for WNPA members to adapt for their newspapers. The ads are available to members at wnpa.com/ classified-ads. He also was a consistent donor to the WNPA Foundation’s silent auction, often contributing artwork by his wife, Sydney Dillon. “Mike has been an exemplary board member and advocate of WNPA,” said Bill Will, WNPA executive director. “He will be greatly missed.” “His calmness, good sense, thoughtfulness and wise advice were relied upon by the entire Board of Trustees. He did particularly fine work reviving and strengthening the Editorial Committee and its training programs,” Will said. For WNPA editorial teleconferences, Dillon arranged guest presentations by Eli Sanders, winner of a 2012 Pulitzer Prize; Steve Miletich of the Seattle Times; Mark Dowie, former editor and publisher of Mother Jones Magazine;

BetterBNC.com

LEFT: Creating an Open Call account on BetterBNC.com is free and takes less than a minute. RIGHT: Uploading a piece of work is similar to uploading a contest entry. You provide a title and a file or url, and you can also write yourself or potential viewers a note about the work.

and Roger Simpson of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, among others. Since Dillon’s departure, Robert Munford, vice president of operations and general manager, assumed responsibility for both the newspaper and press divisions of PPC. Munford joined the company more than 20 years ago as director of sales at the RedmondSammamish Valley News and Kirkland Courier, when they were managed by Denis Law, then WNPA president. Since then, Munford has been involved in nearly all facets of the company. He and Dillon have had offices across from each other for 15 years. “We have always had a collaborative management team in all of our processes, which is valuable at a time like this,” Munford said. Munford will be familiar to WNPA members who visited the PPC display table during recent WNPA conventions. Vera Chan-Pool, longtime PPC editor and associate editor of the Queen Anne/Magnolia News, was promoted to succeed Dillon as editor of the News. She has been editor of the Madison Park Times for more than 12 years and, since 2009, of City Living. Chan-Pool started with the company in 1995, after graduating from Boston’s Emerson College in print journalism. In addition to publishing its three community newspapers in Seattle, PPC prints numerous area weekly papers, ethnic publications and more than 100 education publications every month.

A GATHERING OF EAGLES

Bill Will/WNPA

Jerry Robinson, WNPA President in 1988, right, hosted a group of WNPA luminaries, all WNPA Life Members and past presidents, at his home in Burien last month. Joining him were Wallie Funk (1972 President, on Robinson’s right), Frank Garred (1973 President), John Flaherty (1987 President) and WNPA Executive Director Bill Will.

YAKIMA

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narrow cases when a compelling need can be shown. That hasn’t happened in this case, he said in his motion to the court. “ ... the case implicates public’s interest in the competence and operations of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Harper has raised serious allegations of mismanagement and misconduct on the part of the Prosecutor,” Stahl wrote in his motion. KAPP-TV News Director Kevin Uretsky said the unity of all four news outlets underscored the public’s keen interest in justice for the Goggin family and the broader implications the case has on public safety in Yakima County. “Very rarely can you get four journalists in a room to agree on a topic, let alone putting their money where their mouth is,” he said. Herald-Republic Editor Bob Crider described the move as unprecedented in his 16 years in Yakima. “I don’t know if it’s ever happened” in Yakima, he said, adding, “It’s a fight well worth fighting, because of the principle (of open courtrooms), and we’re glad to have partners.”

Performing the Proper Prep to Increase Sales

A webinar for ad sales reps with

Mike Blinder, The Blinder Group 10-11 a.m. July 31 Register by July 24 at www.wnpa.com/events “Regardless of what your suite of products includes, failing to do the homework before each call will result in not being able to fully monetize the call.” Mike Blinder $25 per member newspaper WNPA will invoice

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JULY 2013

Two popular publishers under the spotlight Archipley honored by Business Journal as Entrepreneur of Year

Chamber award surprises Berto during banquet Issaquah Press

ebbie Berto, longtime publisher of the Issaquah Press and a past president of WNPA, was named to the Issaquah Hall of Fame May 30 at a banquet sponsored by the Greater Issaquah Chamber of Commerce. With her hands on her cheeks in shock, the whole room stood in applause as she accepted the honor. “It’s amazing what you get done in 40 years,” she said upon taking the podium regarding her long service with the newspaper. “I’ve had the privilege to be with the Issaquah Press and to work with amazing colleagues Greg Farrar/Issaquah Press throughout the years.” Debbie Berto, publisher of the She spoke about her contin- Issaquah Press, mentions Pickering ued relationship over the years Barn and the fish hatchery as two with the city and how, despite institutions her newspapers have the occasional disagreement, helped the community preserve. she felt honored to receive the designation. Club of Issaquah. “I have just been privileged in a “Our criteria for this award is inspiwonderful role to help make a differration, service, leadership, activity and ence,” she said. “It’s huge to think that length of service,” Frisinger said. “It is I will have my picture in City Hall.” always right to give people thanks for Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger the service they give.” announced the annual award that is Berto spoke with appreciation to chosen by her office and the council the mayor, the chamber and to the president. In her introduction, she community at large for the unexpected praised Berto for her service to the recognition. community, both professionally as “So many have had this award before me, and I’m so humbled by them well as in her volunteering capacity through organizations like the Kiwanis and by this honor,” she said.

Mukilteo Beacon

aul Archipley never envisioned himself becoming a businessman, but that’s exactly where his career in journalism took him. In fact, back in 1991 when he talked his wife Cate into starting a newspaper in Mukilteo, he was happy to let her handle the business side of the venture while he pursued his passion – reporting the news. And that’s how Beacon Publishing began, with Cate overseeing the ad sales, accounting, billing and other aspects of the business operation, while Paul focused on reporting, writing, editing and layout of the Mukilteo Beacon. They published their first edition on July 22, 1992. Twenty-one years later, Beacon Publishing has grown to three community newspapers – the Mukilteo, Edmonds and South Everett Beacon papers – a quarterly Activities Guide, two annual visitor guides and other various publications. The company’s ongoing success, especially during the Great Recession and the continuing “readjustment” of the newspaper industry in the Internet Age, garnered attention this month when the Herald Business Journal named Archipley the HBJ Entrepreneur of the Year for 2013. “Needless to say, it was quite a surprise,” Archipley said. “I’ve always thought of myself as a journalist first, not a businessman or entrepreneur. “Nevertheless, I am humbled and honored to be recognized this year.” As any small business owner can attest, owning your own company can be a bumpy ride. A combination of chutzpah and ignorance helps. “You’ve heard the saying – ‘If I knew

then what I know now’…” Archipley said. After about three years, Cate Archipley went back to her first love, teaching, which Paul fully supported. “We needed the paycheck,” he said, Paul laughing. Archipley Still, Paul feels the person at the top of a successful business couldn’t have gotten there without help. “It’s employees who make the difference,” he said. “I have been fortunate over the years to work with some top-notch people.” In particular, he’s thankful for his general manager, Linda Chittim, who joined the company about two years after its launch. “She has been indispensable,” Archipley said. “There’s that proverb, ‘behind every successful man is a woman,’ and I have been fortunate to have two of them – my wife, Cate, and my general manager, Linda. How could I lose?” Archipley was honored last week at the annual luncheon meeting of Economic Alliance Snohomish County attended by more than 300 guests. Also honored was Rick Cooper, CEO of the Everett Clinic, named Executive of the Year by the Herald Business Journal. Cooper also was named the EASC’s Henry M. Jackson Citizen of the Year, and Bill Tsoukalas, executive director the Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, was presented the 2013 John M. Fluke Sr. Community Service Award. Archipley expressed his appreciation to Herald Publisher Josh O’Connor and HBJ Editor Kurt Batdorf, whose story can be read at: www.theheraldbusinessjournal. com.

WNPA, Foundation post NNA joins fight against postal hike new mailing addresses

National Newspaper Association

s of July 1, the mailing address for Washington Newspaper Publishers Association is P.O. Box 29, Olympia WA 98507-0029. WNPA Executive Director Bill Will moved to Olympia in June. Member Services Manager Mae Waldron continues to work in Seattle. All phone and fax numbers and email addresses are unchanged for both WNPA and the WNPA Foundation. However, the WNPA Foundation’s new mailing address is 10115 Greenwood Ave. N. #172, Seattle WA 98133. Members are asked to update

their subscription list, accounting records, and any other lists they maintain for either organization. It’s important that print copies of member newspapers reach WNPA so tearsheet requests are fulfilled for advertisers. Members already using electronic tearsheets for other ad clients, either PDF or a dedicated service like Shoom, should let Bill Will know and add WNPA to their client list. It’s fine to keep sending paper copies; just be sure to change WNPA’s mailing address as soon as possible.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

• Effective JULY 1, 2013 •

P.O. Box 29 Olympia WA 98507-0029

10115 Greenwood Ave. N. #172 Seattle WA 98133 Phone, fax, email and web addresses are unchanged See story above

he Affordable Mail Alliance, a coalition of Postal Service customers that includes the National Newspaper Association, has been re-established to defeat an expected Postal Service proposal to raise postage rates by as much as five times the rate permissible by law. The Postal Service Board of Governors, who must approve the Postal Service’s request, is set to decide on the matter imminently. The law permits the Postal Service to raise postage rates annually, consistent with the rate of inflation, a standard that should satisfy any well run organization in today’s economy. But a combination of declining revenue and increasing costs has the Postal Service poised to inflict on its customers an “exigent” rate increase designed to subsidize an outdated infrastructure in need of change. Most private sector companies have already made major structural and operational changes in recent years in order to survive. The USPS needs to do the same. A massive postage rate increase will hit consumers, charities, and large and small businesses at a time when the still fragile economy cannot afford it. The result will be more jobs lost in the private sector in order to maintain an overbuilt postal system, and even less revenue to the Postal

Service as mailers flee. There should be a unified call to reform the USPS, not saddle postal customers with higher prices – something that will only accelerate the decline of mail volume, and hasten the Postal Service’s demise. The Postal Service claims that it will soon run out of cash without major financial relief,

a claim it has been making for a number of years. In 2010 the Postal Service proposed a massive postage rate increase to avert a pending financial catastrophe that never materialized. Fortunately for mailers and for the Postal Service, that proposed price increase was rejected through the efforts of the Affordable Mail Alliance.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS July 18 July 24 July 31 Oct. 3 Oct. 3-5

WNPA Board Meeting, Leavenworth Register for Blinder Webinar Mike Blinder Sales Webinar WNPA Board Meeting, Olympia 126th Annual Convention, Olympia Details: www.wnpa.com/events

JULY 2013

World publisher steps aside, but not away

nder his new title as Chairman Emeritus of the Wenatchee World, Wilfred Woods, 93, continues to write a front-page column, “Talking It Over.” He also continues his tradition of walking from the newspaper’s office downtown to its production facility several days a week, to get a fresh copy of the day’s newspaper. But he passed responsibility

for running the World onto his son, Rufus Woods, 56. The younger Woods, publisher since 1997, is now also chairman Wilfred of the board. Woods The seven-member board, all family members, will take a fresh look

at things in light of the ongoing technological changes affecting the newspaper industry, the newspaper reported in the April 28 announcement. In that announcement, Wilfred recalled that he started his newspaper career at age 10, when he was the chief fly swatter for the production staff, who set hot type and ran presses. “Big open windows, air moving in and out — this place

was a haven for flies,” he said, laughing. “And my job was to get rid of them.” His father, Rufus Woods (1878-1950), had founded the newspaper. In 1947 Wilfred joined the staff full-time. He was named publisher in 1950 and chairman of the board in 1997.

Four Foundation internship scholars start work

our of five winners of WNPA Foundation Internship Scholarships started their internships at WNPAmember newspapers last month. Valery Jorgensen, winner of the Jim & Kay Flaherty Internship Scholarship, is interning at the Peninsula Gateway in Gig Harbor. She will be a junior at Pacific Lutheran University next year and is a conSarah Valery Kristine tributing reporter to PLU’s Mast and a memRadmer Jorgenson Kim ber of its multi-media agency MediaLab. Jorgensen was also selected to participate in She is interning at the Issaquah Press. Along with her journalism studies, Kim the WNPA convention this fall in Olympia, completed a minor in law, societies and where she will be a panelist in a discussion on how the Internet is changing newspapers. justice. She wrote about the goings-on of Patrick Sullivan, New Media Director at the that department and had stories published in the Mukilteo Beacon and Kirkland Reporter, Port Townsend Leader, will moderate the the Seattle Globalist and the Seattle Times’ session, set for Oct. 5 at the Red Lion Hotel Election Eye blog. in Olympia. Sarah Radmer, also a graduating senior Kristine Kim, a graduating senior at at UW, received the Verizon Northwest University of Washington, landed the Bruce Internship Scholarship. Radmer is intern& Betty Helberg Internship Scholarship.

ing at Pacific Publishing’s Queen Anne/ Magnolia News, which published one of her stories during this past academic year. Radmer was features editor at the UW Daily last year and previously served editor-inchief of the Communicator at Spokane Falls Community College. Brenna Holland and Krystle Arnold received WNPA Foundation internship scholarships. Holland is a journalism student at Gonzaga University and is interning at the Liberty Lake Splash. She is completing a double major in English writing and journalism has been a reporter on the Gonzaga Bulletin. Arnold, a sophomore at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, will intern at the Port Townsend Leader later in the year. She has served as news editor for the school’s Buccaneer newspaper.

History of Foundation goes back to 1986

he WNPA Foundation was established in 1986 by publishers active in Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. A separate organization from WNPA, it is nonprofit 501(c) (3) and builds its scholarship base through a silent auction held during the annual convention of Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. Scott Wilson, publisher of the Port Townsend Leader and a WNPA Past President, is the current Foundation president. The Bruce and Betty Helberg Internship Scholarship was established in 1988. The Helbergs met when Betty was taking a journalism class at Mount Vernon High School and Bruce was night editor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and a journalism professor at the University of Washington. When World

War II broke out, the couple was married with two children. Bruce continued to work at the P-I until 1947, when the couple went into partnership in the Kent News Journal and the Renton Chronicle. Bruce served as editor in Renton until 1954, and then went into partnership with Clarence Lafromboise on the Bellevue American, then a weekly. The American was publishing five days a week when the partners sold it in 1982. Betty created the scholarship in memory of her late husband to help journalism students. In 1989, when the Foundation directors first created internship scholarships in the organization’s name, Jay Becker of the Vashon Beachcomber was president. John Flaherty of

the South District Journal and Beacon Hill News, Seattle, was vice president. Miles Turnbull, then WNPA’s Executive Director and a former publisher of the Leavenworth Echo, was secretary-treasurer. The Verizon Internship Scholarship was created in 1990, when Howard Voland was Foundation president. Publisher of the Monroe Monitor, Volland served as Foundation president from 1989 through 1999. The Jim and Kay Flaherty Internship Scholarship was established in 1993. Jim’s mother, Rhoda Flaherty, founded the Beacon Hill News in 1924. Jim graduated from the UW journalism school in the early 1930s, and he and Kay published the Beacon Hill News and South District Journal in Seattle. Prior to creating this Foundation scholarship, for

H W

many years they had offered journalism scholarships to students at Franklin, Cleveland and Garfield high schools, also in Seattle. Jim Flaherty died in 1981 and Kay in 1997. Their son, John, was active in the newspapers from 1963 until 1990 and continues to serve in an emeritus role on the Foundation board. He and his business partner, Denis Law, published several weekly and monthly newspapers in the Seattle area. In 1990 they sold them to Pacific Media Company.

TWN

CAREER MOVES n Lou Brackett has joined DeVaul Publishing as an Ad Representative for the East County Journal in Morton, where he has lived for the past four years. Though Brackett is new to the industry, he has been in sales for half of his life. He has owned and operated cafes and a cell phone store, and for two tax seasons worked at H&R Block. His first job was selling cars. Brackett and his wife, Chrissy, have two sons. n At the Quincy Valley Post-Register, Jeanne Archambeault is the new editor. She started her journalism career as a reporter at the daily Arkansas City (Kan.) Traveler. At the neighboring town’s newspaper, the Winfield (Kan.) Daily Courier, she deepened her skills and knowledge of the newspaper industry. Archambeault left the Courier to move to Colorado, where she served as the editor of the weekly Mancos Times before joining the PostRegister in May. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in business administration in marketing. n Chris Sparks, a 2012 summer intern for the Nisqually Valley News in Yelm, has joined the staff as an advertising consultant. Sparks completed a bachelor of arts in public relations at Central Washington University last year. He moved to Yelm from Alaska at age 12, and is pleased to be working at his community newspaper. Growing up in a military family, he has lived in several states including Georgia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. 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

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Community Consulting

jaybecker@aol.com — (206) 790-9457

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