TWN
THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER
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June 2019
Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
NNA argues for phase-in of exempt salary rules Increase would hurt many newspapers in smalll towns
National Newspaper Association is objecting to a proposed 50 percent increase in exempt employee salaries under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and instead is recommending a phased-in schedule for small businesses. In March, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed increasing the threshold salary for employees exempt from overtime pay under the FLSA to $35,300 annually, up from the existing threshold of $23,660. The proposal was welcomed by many in the business world, as it revised an Obama administration rule that would have increased the threshold by more than 100 percent. But NNA finds that even the more modest increase would do harm to many community newspapers in small towns, which have faced a host of new business challenges in the past few years. Rather, NNA advises, the increase should be phased in over five or six years so employers can absorb the impact. “For small community
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Auburn Mountainview’s Kacey Provo clears the bar during the pole vault finals at the 4A state track and field championships at Tacoma’s Mount Tahoma High School. This photo, by Rachel Ciampi of the Auburn Reporter, is one of dozens entered in this year’s Better Newspaper Contest. Winners will be announced at the WNPA annual convention Oct. 10-12 in Olympia.
WNPA, WCOG win debate over photos of court records
Reporters in Washington are now free to take photographs of court documents with their cell phones, thanks to the efforts of WNPA, the Washington Coalition for Open Government and the Fire Brigade, a subcommittee of Washington’s Bench-Bar-Press committee. Questions about photographing court documents came up when Eastern Washington Publisher Loyal Baker was making his rounds in court this spring, and he pulled out his cell phone to take pictures of some documents. That’s easier and more accurate than taking notes, and there’s no cost for doing it. To Baker, it seemed like the logical thing to do. But Columbia County Court Clerk Sue Marinella disagreed. In an email to Baker, who with his wife Charlotte owns the Dayton Chronicle and East Washingtonian in Pomeroy, Marinella said: “Whereas most of our court files are open to the public for viewing and to you as reporters, we do not allow anyone to take pictures of the documents. If you need copies, we will be happy to provide them to you at $.50 per page or, if you wish to receive See PHOTOS, Page 4
WWU student journalists sue university for records A team of Western Washington University student journalists is suing the university after two years of unsuccessfully seeking certain public records regarding student felons. The trio, two current students and an alumna, requested the records during their ongoing reporting of student disciplinary procedures, notably in regard to students convicted in the courts of sexual assault and readmitted to the university. “For the last two years we’ve been report-
ing on how Western handles sexual misconduct. One of the issues we found, was students being suspended and quickly readmitted -- sometimes forcing survivors to see on their way to class,” said Erasmus Baxter, who as editor of the AS Review reported or edited much of the coverage. The student journalists filed multiple requests under Washington’s Public Records Act, seeking the names of students found responsible for sexual misconduct after West-
ern’s internal investigations. Western initially cited federal privacy law (FERPA) to withhold the names, and later said the names are exempt from disclosure under Washington’s Public Records Act. After learning that student journalists at the University of North Carolina successfully obtained a court ruling that said FERPA doesn’t mandate withholding of the names, the students decided to sue for access.
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