The Washington Newspaper by Washington Newspaper Publishers Association

Nedved Etchey Flaherty

The 2022 annual meeting in Bellingham kicks off Friday Oct. 7 with an opening night reception from 4 to 6 p.m. On Satur day, we have a breakfast busi ness meeting, and andceremonydinner,bydayworkshops.afternoonTheiscappedthegalaawardsauctionthat raises money for interns who cover the state Legislature and work at WNPA member newspapers during the summer months. A getaway day breakfast and round table discussion is sched uled for Sunday. The following is the proposed slate of officers: For President, Michelle Nedved, publisher of the Newport Miner; for 1st Vice President, Donna Etchey, publisher of the Port Townsend Leader; for 2nd Vice President, Sean Flaherty, publisher of the Wenatchee World. Joining the board for the first time is Cascadia Daily News Executive Editor Ron Judd. Continuing to serve on the board are Roger Harnack, Publisher of Free Press Publishing; Rudi Alcott Publisher of the Everett Herald; Heather Hernandez Publisher of Skagit Publishing; Matt Winters, Editor & Publisher of the Chinook Observer; Teresa Myers, publisher of the Omak Oakanogan County Chronicle; and Bob Richardson, Publisher of the Columbia Basin Herald. Steve Powell, editor of the Bainbridge Island Review, moves to the past president position.

Pros and cons on the is sue will be discussed at the convention in Bellingham Oct. 7-9.Several members stepped up to say WNPA should not allow online-only members. They were concerned that granting membership would confer a new status to online news websites and that might ultimately give more credence to lobbying efforts to move legal notices online. Others said print newspapers share common costs and require ments for publication that don’t apply to online sites and so they shouldn’t be in the sameSimilarorganization.questions were posed in other states, and in some circumstances, news paper associations who allow online members have limited the ability of those members to vote or to serve on the board of directors.Asaresult of issues raised, the board decided it would be best to allow members to debate the issue at the annual convention in Bellingham be fore considering whether to put

For the first time in two years, WNPA is set to host its annual convention Oct. 7-9. Conventions in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year we are back with a full program and lots of updates. Registration is open now at wnpa.com. The deadline for regis tration is Sept. 16.

Luke Whittaker of the Chinook Observer snapped this portrait of a clam digger. It is one of the many entries in this year’s Better Newspaper Contest. The winners of the contest will be announced Oct. 8 in Bellingham at the annual convention of WNPA, the first in-person meeting in two years and our first Saturday convention.

A proposal to move forward with a vote of the membership on allowing online-only mem bers to join WNPA was delayed last month by the Board of Di rectors after an online meeting to discuss the proposal.

Daily unionvotesnewsroomHeraldtojoin Page 3 See DELAY, Page 2 WNPA Board delays bylaws change that allows digital members Voting for officers, trustees takes place at breakfast business meeting Oct. 8

TWN NEWSPAPERWASHINGTONTHE September 2022 Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Convention registration deadline Sept. 16

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

Try to smooth out the question in some way. Like I hate to have to ask you this or we really need to address this issue. Even if they get upset try to remain calm. Who knows you might get them to talk more than they want to and get a really good story.

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, Matt Winters and Bob Richardson.

• Must be principally devoted to the dis semination of original local news and editorial content (not less than 50 percent of overall content).•Must adhere to the generally accepted prin ciples of journalism and copyright law. Telephone number and mailing ad dress and be incorporated within the state. • Must not serve primarily as a platform to promote the interests or opinions of a special interest group, individual or cause.•WNPA online-only members shall have all the benefits of regular members.•WNPA online-only members shall pay the same dues as regular members.

Continued from Page 1

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.

I used the same scenario all the time. I told the candidates that a businessman was coming to town and opening up an auto repair shop. I said to ask as many questions as you like, and we’ll take the story wherever it takesManyus. didn’t do much with it. They just did a short 6-inch new business story. But others did more than what I was looking for. They showed their curiosity. They not only got the basics, but they came up with great follow-up questions.Oneof my favorites was how the public was reacting to the business. I told him that there actually was some picketing going on sometimes. I had one final aspect in mind when I came up with the process. And only two of the dozens of reporters I inter viewed got there. It had to do with the environment. The location of the shop was near the water and government permits were being held up because they were worried about groundwater contamination.Bothofthose reporters were hired and have gone on to have wonderful careers.And don’t just think it happened at the small PDN. It happened at the Herald and Olympian, too. Since those reporters were more experi enced they were more upset about having to go back to sources. But you know what. Their reporting got better. They started to think more because they were being chal lenged. They didn’t just go through theAsmotions.forinterviewing itself, when starting, either by phone or in per son, you want to be as friendly as possible. Neither of you have time to waste, but a little chitchat breaks theThenice. you want to get their name. That’s important for a number of reasons. First, people spell their names differently nowadays. I had a Julie spelled Julee, for example. You can’t assume anything. Most questions, even the simplest ones, are good ques tions.The other thing that does is make them tell you their name. I can’t tell you the number of times report ers have come back to me and said their source didn’t want them to use their name. Those folks have read too many Washington Post stories. It’s very seldom we don’t use a name. People need to be accountable for what they say. They’re embarrassed or they don’t want the attention. Why would you have a reporter interview you then? Only if someone really could be in danger will we not use a name.Regarding off the record com ments - ask them why or could I use this part. I’ve actually talked many sources to go on the record when they wanted it off the record. Even after almost 40 years in the business I like to go in with a list of questions, just to make sure I don’t forget something important. Start by throwing them some softball ques tions. Get them relaxed. Let them feel like it’s just a casual conversa tion. As they answer you want to follow up right away if they say something good or you want more explanation. Stay with their train of thought. If it’s interesting get as much detail as you can. Otherwise move on. If you’re writing about some thing controversial I try to do the same thing. I’ll throw them some softball questions and pretend to be interested and scribble something down, knowing you probably won’t use it but realizing it’s the only way to get them to relax a little. But then it’s time for the hardball questions. Save them until the end so you don’t get tossed out before you get any kind of story.

The Washington Newspaper September 2022 the issue to a vote of the membership.Underthe proposed bylaws change, onlineonly news websites must meet the same criteria for membership as print publications.Wearenot obligated to extend membership to any organization that doesn’t meet our stan dards.To become a member, news organizations must first apply for member ship. Then, the WNPA membership committee reviews the application to determine if they meet all our tionTherequirements.recommendaofthecommittee is then passed on to the full board, which has the final say.The following is the text of the proposed by laws change: Regular membership is granted to onlineonly publications, not to individuals. To be granted Regular membership, a

In 1990, when I was editor of the Peninsula Daily News in Port Ange les, I became concerned about reporter candidates. I was having to ask way too many questions about stories when they were turned in. It wasn’t’ uncommon to have a interviewtotheirgotoembarrassedTheyreporters.manyupsettinganswered.neededquestionsdozenthattobeItwastoofthewerehavetobacktosourcesbasicallythem

Steve Powell is the editor of the Bainbridge Island Review and this year’s WNPA president.

When I thought about it, colleges, at least in my day, never really taught about interviewing. It was all about writing - The 5 W’s and the H. Who, Want, When, Where, Why and How?

By Steve Powell

publication:•Musthave existed for at least a year. (Board can waive this require ment.)•Must be updated at least weekly.

Fred Obee: Executive Director: 360-344-2938 Email: fredobee@wnpa.com

FROM THE PRESIDENT Teaching reporters to probe deeply in interviews leads to better stories

But interviewing can be a very hard part of the job for some reporters - especially those who are introverts, which a surprisingly high number are.

again. When many of those same folks applied for jobs at the PDN, their copy was wonderful. I figured at least some of them must have had some pretty goodAnyway,editors.as a result of this, I added something to my interview process that I hadn’t heard of before and not really since. I kept using this process when I went to the Everett Herald and Daily Olympian, along with the weeklies I’ve worked at the last eight years.Istarted having my reporter ap plicants interview me. Many places ask applicants to write stories based on fact sheets, but I expanded that to include the interview process, too.

DELAY: Proposed change now on hold Powell

“We want to thank everyone who supported us in this fight,” the newsroom tweeted. “All aboard for good jobs and good journalism.”

governmentIsabellainabilityfulfillingnalistscurrenttheaofwoulddeclined,Soundunion.Publishingbutsaidithonortherightstheemployeestohavevote.“We’retryingtolaygroundworkforourandfuturejourtohavenotjustacareer,butthetostayandinvestthecommunity,”saidBreda,alocalreporter.

From public records to protecting journalists, from defamation claims to business needs, large and small Washington publishers turn to us.

Daily Herald newsroom votes to join union Report for America’s application deadline is Oct. 3, Report2022for America is a national service program that places talented journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities. Through the program, host newsrooms receive: • pickedvideographersphotographersmindedService-reporters,and•Diverse,hand-candidates from a pool of emerging and experienced journalists

Workers will form a bargaining unit of jour nalists in non-managerial positions, including re porters, photographers, page designers and web producers. Before the vote, nearly all current employees had signed authorization cards, according to a press NewsGuildrelease.TheEverettwill be represented by The NewsGuild, a sector of the America.workersjournaliststheWorkersCommunicationsofAmerica.TheNewsGuildislargestunionofandmediainNorth

Eligible reporters, editors, photographers, page designers and web producers asked Sound Publishing Inc., owner of The Herald, to voluntarily recognize the Everett NewsGuild as their

The Herald began publishing in 1901. Sound Publishing acquired the newspaper in 2013. Sound, which was founded in 1987, produces print and digital products in Washington, Alaska and Canada.Itspublications include community weeklies, daily newspapers and biweeklies in Snohomish, Island, San Juan, King, Kitsap, Grays Harbor and Okanogan counties.

• Subsidized salary support, up to half for the first Newsroomsyear who are accepted will be publicly announced in December. More information about how the program works can be found at https:// holesruralexpandingownedownedonisReportarenewsorg.www.reportforamerica.Whilealllocalorganizationseligibletoapply,forAmericaincreasingitsfocussupportingBlack-andLatino-newsroomsanditsreachintoareaswherenewscanbehuge.

Report For America deadline coming soon

Newsroom employees at The Daily Herald in Everett announed Sept. 8 that their drive to form a union was successful. We won! We won! We won!,” a newsroom employee tweeted after watching the count. In the end, it was unanimous, with 19 in favor, according to the guild’s Twitter feed. “We will now have a true say in our working conditions.”Earlier,the employees said they wanted to form a union to bargain col lectively on wages, bene fits and working condi tions at the 121-year-old newspaper.

4 The Washington Newspaper September 2022 newspapersenvironment,itsocialwareoption,andyourinactivity,againandbetivesrecedingbringthanaccordingly.andWesternadupdated!hasadStatewidenetworkbeenTakenote!YourWNPAco-opnetworkhasjusttworegions,andEasternWashington,adpricinghasbeenadjustedNowitissimplerevertousethenetworktoinnewrevenue!Nowthatthepandemicisandpublichealthdirecarerelaxing,peoplewillitchingtogetoutandminglecommunityeventswilloncetaketothestreets.Butaftertwoyearsofrelativehowwillpeopleknowtownisopenforbusinesswelcomingtourists?Onlineadvertisingisanbutwithadblockingsoftanddistrustgrowingovermedia,itisn’tthesolutionusedtobe.Inthischangingtrustedcommunityacrossthestateserv ing 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 govern ments!Every city and county in the state has a pool of money gener ated 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 New ad prices, & state regions Continued on Page 6

Here’s how the WNPA pro gram works:

Ad Continuednetwork:fromPage5

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

5 The Washington Newspaper September 2022 funds) for a report on where the lodging tax money is going (usu ally chambers of commerce and local non-profits) and then propose a marketing plan that reaches out across the WNPAregion.adsare

• You sell the ad to a local organization.•Youcharge 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 rev enue on the ad sale. The advertis ing 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 an nual convention.

• We keep the price to the client affordable by asking all member newspapers to publish the ads sold by other newspa pers 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 pro duced 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 state wideBecausecampaign.member newspa pers 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? Con tact Janay at WNPA by emailing ads@wnpa.com or by calling 360-344-2938.

match. Qualified ap plicants should email a cover letter with sal ary requirements and a resume to: careers@ Pleasesoundpublishing.com.besuretoinclude ATTN: WNGPUB in the subject line.

SPORTS REPORTER Cascadia Daily News, a privately owned startup online daily/print weekly newspaper, seeks an enterprising, selfstarting reporter/editor to produce and coordinate regional prep sports & recreation content from our Bellingham, Wash ingtonThisnewsroom.jobisfocused on established awardwinning game-story and enterprise cover age of prep sports at 10 high schools in What com County, as well as coverage of Division II college sports at Western Washington University. But this job has a broad

The Washington Newspaper September 2022 6 WHIDBEY PUBLISHERISLAND

clude: two years’ profes sional sports reporting/ editing experience in daily or weekly media, Bachelor’s degree in Journalism or related field, proficiency with basic media.videographyphotography,andmulti-Availabilitytowork nights/weekends when sports events occur. Flexible scheduling is allowed, but several weekly production/meet ing days in the office are required.Wealso would like to see some toresentativeconciseaslookingcadiadaily.com.underopenandInDesign,managementingexperience,copy-editingincludworkwithcontentsystems,Slack,OfficeSharepoint,etc.Thejobwillremainaslongasposted“Jobs”oncasWe’retohireassoonpossible.SubmitaresumeandrepworksamplesRonJudd,executive

We want a proven leader with the entrepre neurial skills to build on the solid growth of our Whidbey 401Kance,includingandaagement.ofindustry,leastqualificationsenceinginbemunicationhaveonsalesleadingmustqualitystrongmanagement,marketing,withnewspaperstandingwillpublications.NewsgroupIdeally,thePublisherhaveagoodunderofallfacetsofoperationsemphasisonsales,financialandaappreciationforjournalism.Qualifiedapplicantsbewellversedinanddevelopingteamsandcultureallmediaplatforms,excellentcomskillsandinnovativeandagilerespondingtochangbusinessandaudineeds.Minimumincludeat5yearsinarelatedwithatleast3thoseyearsinmanThispositionreceivesbasesalaryplusbonus;abenefitspackagehealthinsurpaidtimeoff,andwithemployer

SPORTS EDITOR/ NEWS REPORTER Lewis immediateFerndaleLyndencommunityofCompany,Publishingpublishertheaward-winningnewspapersTribuneandRecord,hasanopeningfora

Additional nialsportsculture.brewerysionmountainsetting,forhometownouscitiesonementpetitiveworkingcrewjournalistsofteam-orientedattlesportsoccasionalopportunitiesreportingincludeprofessionalcoverageinSeandVancouver.Weareaninnovative,newsstaffabout10full-timeandasmallofcontributors,inararecomnewsenvironinBellingham,ofthenorthernmostinthecontiguUnitedStates.Ourisknownitsstunningnaturaluniversityvibe,bikingobsesandurbanmicroindustryandOurlocalcountyteamsareperenstatechampions,and

editor, at ronjudd@cas cadiadaily.com.

full-time Sports editor/ News reporter. The suc cessful applicant will be responsible for covering prep sports in the sportscrazy area of north Whatcom County. You will be respon sible for game cover age, human interest, recreation, investigative/ explorative pieces, and commentary.Althoughthis posi tion is primarily sports, this reporter will also be expected to handle 2-3 general news assign ments each week. The ideal candidate will show proficiency in pho tography, InDesign and socialYoumedia.willhave plenty to do in your 40-hour week. You also will have the opportunity to become a well-versed, skilled journalist capable of advancing your career in most any direction. Send resume and 4-5 clips, including photos to mdlewis@lyndentribune. com.

er scope: The perfect candidate also will help produce and coordinate recreation content for the CDN Sports & Rec sec tion in one of the most outdoors/recreationalsports-crazed communi ties in the Pacific North west. We’re looking for a self-starter who would relish the opportunity to take ownership of their own section of our paper.

we have high standards for our sports coverage, which includes profes sional action photogra phy, live game coverage and enterprise news and features.Weare an fiercelyareanddentalincludingtiveNewsperience.nually$48,000required.Countyresidencecrewjournalistsofteam-orientedinnovative,newsstaffabout10full-timeandasmallofcontributors.FlexiblehoursandinWhatcomWashingtonareThisjobpaysto$54,000andependingonexCascadiaDailyoffersacompetibenefitspackagemedicalandinsurance,401Kotherbenefits.Weprivatelyownedandindependent.Requiredskillsin

EDITOR Free Press Publish ing is looking for an experienced managing editor to oversee one of our weekly newspapers, niche publications, webbased news and social media. This is an inperson, hands-on posi tion requiring reporting, paginating, photography and managing reporters.

3.5” x 2.5” | Maximum Font Size: 30 pt MKT-5894K-A investmentComplimentaryedwardjones.comreview. Tyler W Whitworth, AAMS® Financial Advisor 640 Lincoln Ave Tenino, WA 360-264-500498589 Member SIPC JOB BOARD Continued on Page 7 BRING YOUR COSTS DOWN! SAVINGS OF 50-75% ON LAYOUT/DESIGN/ PAGE & AD POSTAGEPRINTINGPRODUCTIONCOSTS,&DELIVERY GOING UP! We Make Print Publishing More Proﬁtable! Full Editorial and Ad Design Services at Big Savings! Howard Barbanel, Exec. VP., 516-860-7440 howard@design2pro.com • www.design2pro.com

7 The Washington Newspaper September 2022

Continued from Page

Strong time manage ment is a must. The managing editor will coordinate and lead news and sports cover age for our community weekly newspaper. Free Press is headquartered in Cheney, Wash. If you have what it takes to be a news leader in a five-county region, we want to hear from you. Email cover letter, resume and clips to Publisher Roger Har nack at Roger@cheney freepress.com.

REPORTER The Nisqually Valley News in Yelm, Wash., is looking for a reporter to lead its local news coverage.Wecover the com munities of Yelm, Rainier, Roy, McKenna, the Nisqually Tribe and Tenino, in addition to Mount Rainier National Park and surrounding areas.The Nisqually Valley News is a at justyna@yelmonline. com.

EditorCTthreecoverpleaseencouragedcollegeageandassignmentsicyearsnewspaperfamily-ownedwith100ofhistory.Experiencewithbaphotography,generalreportingcitycouncilcoverisvalued.Recentgraduatesaretoapply.Tobeconsidered,sendaresume,letterandatleastwritingsamplestoPublishing,RegionalJustynaTomtas