TWN
THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER
New WNPA website makes debut Page 5
August 2016
Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
Legislature opens talks on public records Changing the state Public Records Act will be a high priority for city and county governments in Washington when the Legislature convenes in January. In testimony before the House State Government Committee last month, local government representatives said they face big challenges responding to requests, especially for massive amounts of digital data. Chair Sam Hunt (DOlympia) acknowledged the Legislature has grappled with the issue for several sessions now.
“We keep looking for a way to crack this nut,” he said. On hand to provide testimony in favor of keeping government open and transparent were Toby Nixon, President of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, and Rowland Thompson, representing Allied Daily Newspapers and WNPA. Nixon said he understands well the dilemma governments face. Nixon is a former state legislator and currently serves on the Kirkland City Council. Nixon said the biggest im-
provement governments can make is to adjust attitudes. He said government employees often tend to view public record requests as a burden they should be relieved of. Instead, he said, they should view management of public records requests as “a mandatory and essential service of every agency.” Governments can help themselves by using tools already at their disposal. Instead of letting records pile up, they should follow guidelines for record retention and
See Records, Page 2
NEW MEMBER
El Mundo welcomed to WNPA WNPA’s newest member is El Mundo, a Spanish language weekly with offices in Wenatchee and Seattle. The publisher, Martha Montoya, is the owner of Los Kitos Entertainment and El Mundo Communications. She also is the President of the National Association of Hispanic Publications and works at the forefront of dialogues on diversity. She leads several national initiatives to advance the position of minority owned businesses and through this work, she has forged relationships with corporate, state and federal leaders in the United States and overseas. El Mundo was launched 24 years ago, is distributed free and
has a circulation of 20,000. Today, El Mundo has content in three touch points for Washington’s Hispanic community: ■ Print, with a modern design and plenty of visual aids to better engage readers. El Mundo offers distribution that covers key highdensity Hispanic zip codes. ■ Internet, with an award wining, user-friendly news portal at www.elmundous.com ■ Marketing events such as the first Latino Festival to celebrate children in Washington State. El Mundo is committed to being the lead resource for the Hispanic community, providing news and information that is relevant and useful in their lives.
Audience members settle in to listen as the House State Government Committee convenes in Olympia. The committee heard from government representatives and public access advocates.
Othello Outlook closes doors after 108 years By Rodney Harwood The Columbian Basin Herald The 108-year history of the Othello Outlook came to an end on July 28 when the Outlook published its final edition. Publisher/editor LuAnn Morgan announced the weekly newspaper with an estimated circulation of 1,600 will close its doors after one final edition due to financial reasons. The newspaper dates back to 1908 and maintained its longstanding reputation of community journalism in the Columbia Basin. The Outlook also publishes the bimonthly Columbia Basin Farmer, which is an agriculture, tab format magazine which reaches 14,000 rural readers across the Columbia Basin. “It’s really sad that Othello
is losing its weekly newspaper,” former Outlook publisher Eric LaFontaine said, who is now publisher of the Columbia Basin Herald and Hagadone Digital Washington. “Othello is amazing. The people are amazing. They have such a good heart and so much volunteerism in that community. It hurts my heart to know this great, amazing community doesn’t have a newspaper to tell their story.” Hagadone Corporation does, however, have plans to move into the Othello market with its Sun Tribune, which is currently based in Royal City. The weekly newspaper will continue operate under the Sun Tribune masthead with See Othello, Page 2