The Washington Newspaper, March 2022

TWN

THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER

New regions, prices for Impact Ads

March 2022

Pages 4&5

Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association

WCOG wins; redistricting violated law

Washington’s redistricting commission has admitted its members violated the state Open Public Meetings Act and will pay fines and legal costs of more than $137,000 to settle two lawsuits.

Under a proposed consent decree, the redistricting commission’s members will each pay $500 fines and undergo training in open-meetings law.

The commission also pledged reforms aimed at preventing a repeat of the illegal conduct that took place last year during final negotiations over the state’s new congressional and legislative district maps.

The consent decree will not void or alter the political maps belatedly agreed to by the commission, which will be in place for the next 10 years.

The money from the fines will be evenly split between the plaintiffs who filed separate lawsuits against the commission: the Washington Coalition for Open Government and transparency activist Arthur West. Along with the panel’s partisan commissioners, its nonpartisan chair, Sarah Augustine, must also pay a $500 fine.

In addition, the commission agreed to pay more than $120,000 to cover legal expensSee WCOG, Page 2

The Northern Light wins honor

Pat Grubb, The Northern Light publisher and managing editor, and Louise Mugar, co-publisher and advertising director, accept the Blaine Chamber of Commerce’s Business of the Year award at the chamber’s annual general meeting February 24. Pat was WNPA President in 2020 and currently serves on the WNPA Foundation board.

Archipley steps down from publisher role in Mukilteo Paul Archipley was WNPA President in 2010 and 2011, and received the Master Editor/Publisher Award from WNPA in 2018. He recently announced his retirement from the publisher role at Beacon Publishing. This is his column announcing his retirement.

Archipley

pletely Neanderthal, I’d add, “But they were #electric# typewriters.”

These days I wouldn’t be surprised if many in Generation Z have never seen or perhaps even know what a typewriter is.

Likewise, the days of paste-up and layout, film developing and – very

By Paul Archipley soon, newsprint itself – are giving way About three decades ago when the to InDesign, Photoshop, iPads and newspaper industry was moving into the smartphones. computer age, I used to regale young I’ve seen it all, because yes, I’ve journalists with stories about how we gotten, well, old. In fact, it was 50 used to write stories on typewriters, and years ago when I landed my first paying then, trying to suggest I wasn’t comnewspaper job (not including my child-

hood paper route), doing paste-up and layout in the back shop for a couple of weekly newspapers while enrolled at my hometown college (Go Titans!).

And it was 30 years ago, after my wife Cate and I had moved to the Great Northwest, when I talked her into helping me launch a weekly newspaper in our new hometown, Mukilteo. It was a classic case of “If I knew then what I know now,” but, thanks to Cate, we pulled it off. The Beacon wouldn’t have made it without her.

At the time, Mukilteo was still a See ARCHIPLEY, Page 3

WCOG: Panel admits FROM THE PRESIDENT breaking meetings law When it’s hard to

Continued from Page 1 es and fees for WCOG’s attorney, Joan Mell, and pay $15,000 to West, who represented himself.

The settlement and admissions of flouting transparency laws were an embarrassing coda to Washington’s once-adecade redistricting talks, which ended in a display of chaos and deception.

As the bipartisan commission raced to try to meet a midnight Jan. 15 legal deadline to vote on the new maps, it convened a 7 p.m. online public meeting.

But the four voting commissioners — Democrats April Sims and Brady Walkinshaw and Republicans Joe Fain and Paul Graves — vanished from public view for much of the next five hours as they tried to hash out final agreements at a Federal Way hotel.

The commissioners reappeared just before

midnight to take rushed votes on final map deals that were not publicly displayed. The next day, the commission members admitted they had failed to reach a final deal before the legal deadline.

That threw the maps to the state Supreme Court, which in December declined to exercise its authority to draw its own maps, deferring to the agreement forged by the two Democratic and two Republican commissioners, who were appointed by legislative leaders.

The settlement terms were hailed by the opengovernment advocates who filed the lawsuits.

“We took no position on maps but pursued an outcome that ensures this Commission and future Commissions will not repeat the same mistakes,” Washington Coalition for Open Government President Mike Fancher said in a statement.

Officers: Steve Powell, President; Michelle Nedved, First Vice President; Donna Etchey, Second Vice President; Trustees: Roger Harnack, Heather Hernandez, Teresa Myers, Rudi Alcott, Sean Flaherty and Matt Winters and Bob Richardson.

THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER is the offical publication of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. It is published monthly by WNPA, PO Box 389, Port Townsend, WA 98368.

Fred Obee: Executive Director: 360-344-2938 Email: fredobee@wnpa.com Janay Collins, Member Services Director: 360-344-2938. Email: ads@wnpa.com

2 The Washington Newspaper March 2022

find employees, sometimes you have to do it yourself

By Steve Powell When longtime Bainbridge Island Review sports reporter Mark Krulish resigned a few months ago to take a job with the state to have better hours and make more money I wasn’t too concerned.

I’ve been an editor for many decades and these types of positions have always been easy to fill. Everybody wants to Powell cover sports. That’s what I wanted to do when I graduated from Washington State University in 1979.

You love the job, so you don’t worry about the hours or pay.

There’s something to be said about quality of life when you love your job.

But things are different now.

I’ve had only one applicant in three months. I wanted to hire him, but he turned it down because of the pay.

Of course many businesses across the country are having a hard time finding employees. Wages are increasing for even the most-basic jobs. But not in our field. Quite the opposite. It seems like most of us are still downsizing whenever we can.

It’s probably harder for us to find folks because our profession usually requires a four-year degree. And I imagine not many colleges are actually pushing newspaper journalism as a career because who knows how long it’s going to last.

So, I feel your pain as I know many of you have had trouble finding journalists the past few years. Some of you may even have put off retirement because you can’t find anyone, and you don’t want to leave your community without a paper.

All of that is to lead up to my crazy weekend covering six sporting events over two days and deal-

ing with traffic I’m not used to in the Tacoma area.

I wrote a sports column about it. It was nostalgic for me. The last time I wrote such a column was decades ago. It was called “Backseat Coach,” and it won awards while I was sports editor in LaGrande, Ore., and Lake Tahoe, Calif. I switched to news after that and have been an editor ever since.

But I revived it to write a sports reporter’s marathon.

It started that Friday morning at the Tacoma Dome for the state wrestling championships. While that event is amazingly organized for the hundreds of wrestlers participating, it’s not well organized for the media. I had to walk around the entire 24 mats to figure out how to cover the Mat Classic. For about an hour I couldn’t find any of my local wrestlers.

I finally figured out in one corner there was a screen that showed 4A matches, another had 3A and another with girls, 1B and 1A. But there wasn’t one for 2A, which of course is classification I wanted because North Kitsap and Kingston wrestle in that division.

I finally was able to shoot some photos over the next few hours.

Then I waited a half-hour to cover a Bainbridge wrestler’s match, but by the time the schedule said it was his turn when I got to his mat it was already over.

That day was actually more tiring for me than the next because of so much frustration.

Saturday started at 7:30 a.m. in Federal Way to report and take photos of the 2A swim championships. North Kitsap finished high in the team standings and had the fastest swimmer in the meet going backward and forward in the 100.

Then it was to Mount Tahoma for the North Kitsap vs. Renton girls’ basketball game. What a great

contest -- close the entire way -and it went into overtime before the Vikings won, even without their star player.

Then it was back to Federal Way for the 3A swim championships.

Bainbridge Island’s team finished high, had a standout who was second in two events, and had one of the biggest and loudest crowds there.

Then it was back to Mount Tahoma for the Kingston girls’ basketball game. They had two standout players who kept them in the game for three quarters before falling to Enumclaw.

Before heading home there was one last stop — at Highline High School to watch No. 2 seeded North Kitsap take on No. 1 seeded White River. When I found out leading scorer Jonas La Tour wasn’t going to play due to an injury, I didn’t think the Vikings would win. Boy, was I wrong. They pulled off the upset.

It was an exhausting weekend for an old man of almost 65. But it had elements of fun, too.

After three months of covering sports, I’d love to find a full-time sports reporter. I’m doing it parttime in addition to my regular job.

Until then, I hope coaches in the spring sports do a better job of providing our newspapers with key information about their games and matches through email. My coverage of winter sports often was incomplete because of lack of cooperation from coaches.

If you know of anyone who wants to write sports, please let me know. If not, please pray for a warm spring. I’ve covered a track meet before that had snow, hail, wind, rain and sunshine. It wasn’t as fun as it sounds.

Steve Powell is the editor of the Bainbridge Ilsand Reveiw and this year’s WNPA President.

ARCHIPLEY: Stepping back from the publisher job

Continued from Page 1 sleepy burg of just 8,000 residents.

It had recently doubled in size when residents of the newly-built Harbour Pointe development decided to annex into Mukilteo rather than start a separate town.

Still, when I approached various electeds and other locals about our plan to publish a weekly newspaper, they were puzzled. A common refrain: “Do you really think there’s enough news around here for a weekly newspaper?”

There was, and is. We patterned our “look” by borrowing ideas from other weeklies around the state, including the nearby Edmonds Paper, which we bought a few years later. We launched the Mill Creek Beacon eight years ago, and have experimented with various other publications as well.

It has been a great run. And, despite the challenges of the ever-changing

industry, it’s not over. After all, I still believe a local newspaper is the glue that binds a community. When done right, it provides fair, honest and accurate coverage of the people and events that impact people where it most counts – where they live. That’s why our motto is “We cover #YOUR# world.”

But to provide that coverage, we have to change with the times. And in my case, that means stepping aside and giving younger, more capable people the opportunity to guide Beacon Publishing into the future.

I am retiring as The Beacon’s publisher. Jenn Barker, the company’s general manager, is taking over that job. In addition, Edmonds Beacon editor Brian Soergel is moving into the newly-created managing editor position.

I’m lucky that Jenn and Brian, along with the rest of the company’s

team, are not only highly capable, but have the skills and enthusiasm to move Beacon Publishing into the newspaper industry’s next phase.

No, I’m not disappearing. I remain president of Beacon Publishing, and will help Jenn oversee the business side as well as assist in other ways, depending… … On what? I’m not sure. Like other retirees, I’m uncertain and, of course, nervous, about the future.

When you’ve been working in the same business for 50 years, it’s difficult to imagine #not# working in it.

My bucket list is pretty short.

Travel, of course, is high on the list. In fact, Cate and I are headed to Hawaii in a few days for some R&R. I’d like to spend more time with my family, play with my grandsons, take up piano lessons again, volunteer more, get in better shape, climb El Capitan, etc.

Kidding about El Capitan, but it could be a busy retirement, nevertheless.

I don’t plan to walk away completely, because I love newspapers, I love my Beacon family, and I’m proud that we’ve played a role in helping make the communities we cover better places to live. I hope our readers agree.

One of the side benefits of publishing community newspapers is that I have met and made friends with a lot of wonderful people who stepped up to make the communities we live in better places for all of us. We’ve been honored and privileged to tell their stories.

Thank you, dear readers, for your support. Please continue. Subscribe, write letters, call us with your story ideas. Without you, there would be no Beacon.

See you on the other side.

WITH OVER 60 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, WE KNOW JOURNALISM. From public records to protecting journalists, from defamation claims to business needs, large and small Washington publishers turn to us.

DWT.COM Anchorage | Bellevue | Los Angeles | New York | Portland San Francisco | Seattle | Shanghai | Washington, D.C.

The Washington Newspaper March 2022 3

Statewide ad network has been updated!

New ad prices, & state regions

Take note! Your WNPA co-op ad network has just two regions, Western and Eastern Washington, and ad pricing has been adjusted accordingly. Now it is simpler than ever to use the network to bring in new revenue!

Now that the pandemic is receding and public health directives are relaxing, people will be itching to get out and mingle and community events will once again take to the streets.

But after two years of relative inactivity, how will people know your town is open for business and welcoming tourists?

Online advertising is an option, but with ad blocking software and distrust growing over social media, it isn’t the solution it used to be. In this changing environment, trusted community newspapers across the state serving a highly educated, affluent and involved readership are a perfect place to get a message out.

Every ad salesperson knows it is wise to identify the entities in your community with fat ad budgets. At this moment in time, don’t overlook the folks with hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend – your local governments!

Every city and county in the state has a pool of money generated by local lodging taxes, and that money is supposed to reach beyond local markets and bring people to town.

If you have not already, you should ask your city and county governments (each has separate Continued on Page 5 4 The Washington Newspaper March 2022

Ad network: Continued from Page 4 funds) for a report on where the lodging tax money is going (usually chambers of commerce and local non-profits) and then propose a marketing plan that reaches out across the region.

WNPA ads are a perfect match for boosting community events because you can choose to advertise regionally or statewide.

Here’s how the WNPA program works: • You sell the ad to a local organization.

• You charge your client for the full cost of the ad and send an insertion order to WNPA. WNPA then invoices you for half the cost of the ad, splitting the revenue on the ad sale. The advertising salesperson gets their regular commission on the sale and $50 direct from WNPA. • WNPA uses our share of the money to provide your legal hotline, professional services, Legislative Day, the Better Newspaper Contest and the annual convention.

• We keep the price to the client affordable by asking all member newspapers to publish the ads sold by other newspapers for free. The ads are small – just two columns wide by either two or four inches tall. One column by four or eight inches is also OK. They need to be produced in two different widths, to accommodate different column widths.

Potential customers include festivals, fairs, resorts, real estate offices, state agencies, statewide or regional political candidates – anyone who desires a cost effective regional or statewide campaign.

Because member newspapers publish these ads for free, we can only promise that they will run as black and white ads.

If you include a color version, many papers will use it instead, but there is no guarantee of this.

Need more information? Contact Janay at WNPA by emailing ads@wnpa.com or by calling 360-344-2938.

5 The Washington Newspaper March 2022

JOB BOARD

OFFICE MANAGER Are you ready for an exciting career with your community newspaper?

Sound Publishing Inc. is looking for someone to oversee the Kitsap News Group’s Bainbridge Island office.

The office manager will answer incoming phone calls and walk-in inquiries, order office supplies, process classified advertising, assist and support the leadership team, advertising sales consultants and editorial staff, handle petty cash for the office, make deposits and assist with local circulation issues. This position is 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday.

Requirements: prior office or administration experience, proficient in database and spreadsheet software programs and excellent customer service and communication skills.

We offer a competitive hourly wage and benefits package including paid time off (vacation, sick, and holidays), and 401k with employer match.

If you’re interested in joining our team, please email your cover letter and resume, including salary requirements to: careers@ soundpublishing.com and be sure to include ATTN: BIRADMIN in the subject line.

MULTI-MEDIA SALES Sound Publishing, Inc. is looking for selfmotivated, results-driven people interested in a multi-media sales career who can share the many benefits of newspaper, online, and niche product advertising with new accounts and current clients.

The position is responsible for print and

digital advertising sales to an eclectic and exciting group of clients in the Kitsap County area.

Successful candidates will be engaging and goal-oriented, with good organizational skills, and will have the ability to grow and maintain strong business relationships through consultative sales and excellent customer service. Professional sales experience necessary; media experience is a definite asset but not mandatory.

A valid driver’s license, clean driving record, and adequate liability insurance on the vehicle you use for company business is also required.

We offer a benefits package including health insurance, paid sick and vacation, and 401k with employer match.

If you meet the above-noted qualifications and are seeking an opportunity to be part of an award-winning media company, we’d love to meet you! Please email your cover letter including salary requirements and resume to careers@ soundpublishing.com and be sure to include: ATTN:KITSAPMMSC in the subject line.

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package including health insurance, paid time off (vacation, sick, and holidays), and 401k (with an employer match).

Interested? Contact Donna Etchey at (360)385-2900, email admin@ptleader.com, or by mail to 226 Adams St., Port Townsend, WA 98368

If you are interested in joining the team at the Port Orchard Independent and Central Kitsap Reporter, email us your cover letter, resume, and up to 5 samples of your work to: careers@soundpublishing.com. Please be sure to note: ATTN: EDPOI in the subject line.

stories, shoot photos and paginate? Do you have the skills to lead a traditional print newsroom as well as enhancing the news product with multi-media innovation - - digital tools, web content, social media?

Effective communication and strong leadership skills are necessary, as EDITOR well as enthusiasm, creThe award-winning ativity and organizational EDITOR Omak-Okanogan County skills.

Sound Publishing has Chronicle is seeking a topThis opportunity afan immediate opening for notch managing editor to fords a full-time position Editor of the Port Orchard lead the newsroom in the with generous benefits Independent and Central largest community newsafter a 60-day new hire Kitsap Reporter. paper in beautiful Northperiod. Benefits include This is not an entryCentral Washington. Our health care, paid holilevel position. It requires newspaper covers a vast days, sick, vacation and a hands-on leader with a area featuring several personal days, as well minimum of three years small towns, picturesque as 401(k) and Flexible newspaper experience mountain ranges, beautiful Spending (FSA). including writing, editing, lakes and fertile valleys Send resume, cover pagination, photography, not far from the Canadian letter, and writing InDesign skills, editing border. samples and professional and monitoring social The successful candireferences to: tmyers@ media including Twitter, date will lead a team of omakchronicle.com with FaceBook, etc. journalists dedicated to “Managing Editor” in the The successful candiproviding the best coversubject line. If you prefer date will have a demonage of people, places and to mail the information, strated interest in local po- events in Okanogan and do so to The Chronicle litical and cultural affairs, Ferry counties, from the - Attn: Teresa Myers, possess excellent writing Cascade Mountains to PO Box 553, Omak, WA and verbal skills, and can the Columbia River. Can 98841. No phone calls provide representative you write compelling please. clips from one or more professional publications.

3.5” x 2.5” | Maximum Font Size: 30 pt The editor will edit reporters’ copy and submitted materials for content MARKETING SPECIALIST and style, manage an opinAre you creative, detail ion page, manage social oriented, outgoing, proac- media, will lead, motivate, tive, & can work indepen- and mentor a small news dently, but also part of a staff and be visible in the team? community.

Tyler W Whitworth, Let’s meet!

The editor must posFinancial Advisor The Port Townsend sess a reliable, insured, Leader is looking for a motor vehicle and a valid 640 Lincoln Ave Marketing Specialist to Washington State driver’s Tenino, WA 98589 develop new advertising, license.

360-264-5004 as well as retain and grow We offer a competitive existing key accounts. We compensation and benefits provide the culture, tools package including health and environment for you insurance, paid time off to succeed by offering cre- (vacation, sick, and holiative advertising solutions days), and 401K with an ed wardjon es .com for local businesses. employer match.

SPORTS REPORTER The Columbia Basin Herald seeks a full-time Sports Reporter. We publish five days a week, plus a monthly tab and annual magazines.

Our offices are in Moses Lake, in the center of Washington. Here in the Columbia Basin, the weather is mild and dry and outdoor recreation is in every direction. More importantly, the Herald will advocate for your success and provide a wide variety of opportunities to follow your passion for sports journalism excellence.

The successful applicant will be a talented writer and photographer dedicated to excelling at daily local coverage of sports in the Columbia Basin. The sports reporter will be able to cover a wide variety of sports at the high school and college level. Football, basketball, baseball, wrestling and more are popular among our readers.

Must be committed to Continued on Page 7

Complimentary investment review.

MKT-5894K-A

AAMS®

Member SIPC

The Washington Newspaper March 2022 6

What happens to your archives when newspapers consolidate?

Sometimes the selling publisher will retain ownership, sometimes the archives are passed on to the new owners. In either case, it is important that all parties agree and understand what is going to happen with the bound, loose or microfilm archives.

Historical stakeholders will continue your stewardship!

There’s no downside to scanning your newspaper's archive but there is a singular hurdle so daunting that most publishers simply cannot foresee any way to overcome it – cost. Luckily, there are organizations determined to help. ArchiveInABox works with historical societies and museums who can provide funding to digitize and index small-town newspapers, while publisher retains all ownership and rights.

ArchiveInABox can help you: Carry on Stewardship Mission Maintain Ownership of Copyrights Digitize Archives for Community Access

ArchiveInABox.com 7 The Washington Newspaper March 2022

Continued from Page 6 accuracy and fairness, must be organized and able to follow instructions. This person reports to the managing editor.

Qualifications include: a bachelor’s degree in journalism or equivalent experience, proficiency with grammar and AP style, strong photography skills, able to work nights and weekends and must have reliable transportation and a valid driver’s license To apply, send your cover letter, resume and work samples to brichardson@columbiabasinherald.com.

SPORTS REPORTER Sound Publishing has an immediate opening for a sports reporter at the Bainbridge Island Review.

The successful candidate will have a demonstrated interest in high school sports, possess excellent writing and verbal skills.

Must be willing to work nights and weekends and adjust schedules in the different sports seasons.

This position requires a reliable, insured, motor vehicle and a valid Washington State driver’s license.

Sound Publishing is an equal opportunity employer and offers a competitive compensation and benefits package including health insurance, paid time off (vacation, sick, and holidays), and 401K with an employer match.

To apply, send a resume and work samples to careers@soundpublishing.com and be sure to include ATTN: BIRSPORTS in the subject line.