May 2008 - Missouri Press Association

May 2008
Thespian Hall in Boonville will be the site of
Missouri Press Association’s July 12 commemoration of the first Missouri
newspaper.
Capital city daily, Fulton
and California papers
bought by Arkansas
group owner.
4
6
Ozark Press has new officers
Ozark Press Association elected officers when it met March 28 in Point Lookout.
Seated, from left, are Director Jeff Schrag, Springfield; President Tianna Brooks,
Mountain View; Vice President Jeff McNeill, Houston; and Director Keith Moore,
Ava. Standing are Director Brad Gentry, Houston; Director Dala Whittaker, Cabool;
Secretary-Treasurer Sharon Vaughn, Summersville; Director David Burton, Springfield; and Past President Roger Dillon, Eminence.
8
Regular Features
Southeast Missouri
Press Association will
meet May 30 in Cape
Girardeau.
Missouri Press News, May 2008
5
Combined meeting of Show-Me Press,
MSNE, APME June 12-13 at Lake
Ozark. Porter Fisher Golf on June 12.
www.mopress.com
7
President 2
On the Move 9
Scrapbook 11
NIE Report 16
Obituaries 17
Jean Maneke 18
Our paper’s role in the community
R
We make a difference in people’s lives
ather than talk this month about my travels and the lost sight of this important fact years ago. And I believe that has
interesting meetings I have attended, I thought it contributed greatly to the decline in circulation and readership,
would be appropriate to share some of my philosophy especially at major metro newspapers.
We at the Hannibal Courier-Post have committed to our
on the role of community journalism in our communities.
My point of view on this topic has been greatly influenced readers that we would return to our roots and publish local
by my editor, Mary Lou Montgomery. Mary Lou has a pas- news and local faces in our newspaper every day. We commitsion for her job and believes nothing can or should stand in ted to keeping our local content to at least
67 percent of total content and
the way of our providing the best local news
to publish at least 1,000 local This is
and information possible. After 30 years in the
faces in our paper every month.
business, Mary Lou admits that she is having
To maintain accountability, we nothing
more fun than ever.
track those numbers every day new to our
But back to the passion and our role in our
in a chart on the editor’s wall.
communities. Mary Lou shared a story about a
o further demonstrate our weekly
telephone conversation she recently had with a
commitment, and to be newsreader. Let me let her tell the story in her own
sure our readers don’t forget or
words:
take it for granted, my editor paper
“Trudy Strieker called from Collinsville, Ill.
and I publish a “To Our Read- members.
Her husband, Joe, has been officiating baseball
ers” open letter on the front
for 30 years. Last weekend, he officiated at two
page of the newspaper on the
triple-headers. He is pictured in the background
Jack Whitaker
first of each month. In that letter we report what
of an HLG (Hannibal-LaGrange College) play.
Hannibal Courier-Post
our percentage of local content was last month and
It is on page 8A of Saturday’s edition. Shaun
MPA President
how many local faces were published.
(Sports Editor) took the picture.
And the response? It has been overwhelmingly
“He (Mr. Strieker) was so excited that his picture was in the paper, his wife said. After all these years, she positive. I rarely go anywhere, even now 20 months later,
doesn’t have a single picture of him umpiring, so she wants a without someone commenting on how they like our new
copy of the picture to give to him. Their wedding anniversary local approach to news. It demonstrates to me that readers
are not looking for national news in our product. They really
is coming up, and she is going to surprise him.
“He’s not even in focus in this picture. The focus is on the don’t care too much about state news unless it impacts them
in some manner.
pitcher, and Joe is in the background.
Like I said earlier, this is nothing new to our weekly news“Please don’t lose track of the impact we have on people.
When the world seems to be pounding down on us, remem- paper members. But it is something all dailies should note and
heed well. For if we do not satisfy our readers, then we have
ber Joe. His picture was in our paper, and he’s thrilled.
truly lost our reason for being. And without that, we certainly
“We make a difference in people’s lives.”
he point of this is not new to our members who publish cannot withstand the economic pressures that exist in this
weekly newspapers. They have known that local news country today. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase
and features are their bread and butter. But daily newspapers “local, local, local.”
T
T
VOL. 76, NO. 5
MAY 2008
Official Publication of
Missouri Press
Association, Inc.
PRESIDENT: Jack Whitaker,
Hannibal Courier-Post
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT: Vicki Russell,
Columbia Daily Tribune
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT: Sandy Nelson,
Cass County Democrat-Missourian, Harrisonville
SECRETARY: Brad Gentry, Houston Herald
TREASURER: Kate Martin,
Perry County Republic-Monitor
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Doug Crews
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Greg Baker
EDITOR: Kent M. Ford
DIRECTORS: David Bradley, Jr.,
St. Joseph News-Press
Kevin Jones, St. Louis American
Dan Wehmer, Webster County Citizen, Seymour
Mark Maassen, The Kansas City Star
Joe May, Mexico Ledger
Jon Rust, Cape Girardeau
Southeast Missourian
Dennis Warden, Gasconade County Republican
NNA REPRESENTATIVE: Jeff Schrag,
Springfield Daily Events
MISSOURI PRESS NEWS (ISSN 00266671) is published every month for $7.50 per year by the Missouri Press Association, Inc., 802 Locust St., Columbia, MO
65201-4888; phone (573) 449-4167; fax (573) 874-5894; e-mail [email protected]; website www.mopress.com. Periodicals postage paid at Columbia, MO 652014888. (USPS No. 355620). POSTMASTER: Please send changes of address to Missouri Press Association, 802 Locust St., Columbia, MO 65201-4888.
Missouri Press News, May 2008
www.mopress.com
Flash flooding hits Monett Times
April 10 issue of daily published on-line only
T
he Monett Times staff was part
of the rescue performed by
Monett firefighters during
the peak of the April 10 flash flood in
downtown Monett.
Because of the flooding, The Times
was published on April 10 exclusively
on-line.
A band of storms across the Midwest
dumped more than 3 inches of rain in
a brief period on Southwest Missouri,
causing flash flooding that resulted in
the closing of many roads and schools.
Responding to warnings from the
Monett Police Department, Times staff
began putting up flood gates and sandbags before 7 a.m. on April 10. Kelly
Creek, which runs behind The Times
offices, showed sharp rises during the
following hour. Times publisher Lisa
Craft, who lives east of Monett, reported
high water in fields that drain westward
into Monett made flooding more likely
than usual.
At 8:30 a.m., water began to back up
in storm sewers and flood Broadway.
Times staff began moving vehicles to
higher ground at that time. In the next
10 minutes, access out of The Times offices was cut off.
Around 9 a.m., firefighters wading
through the water secured a series of
A Monett firefighter helps Monett Times production manager Charlotte Brady cross the
street in a rescue during high water of Monett’s flood on April 10. At left are news editor
Charles Brady, production assistant Amy Obermann and publisher Lisa Craft waiting to
be helped to higher ground. The construction materials are for a renovation project at
The Times. (Monett Times photo)
ropes across Broadway. With firefighters
at their sides, Times staffers were walked
one at a time across waste deep water to
the north side of the street.
Piedmont paper flooded in March
I
n Southeast Missouri, the offices and pressroom of the Wayne County
Journal-Banner in Piedmont were flooded March 18 when lengthy
downpours forced creeks out of their banks and flooded the downtown
area.
Publisher Harold Ellinghouse said vehicles driving along flooded Main
Street washed much of the water through doors and into the newspaper
office. Staffers plugged cracks around doors with newspapers and used a
wet vac to suck up water.
With some shuffling of press runs, the Journal Banner did print its
regular weekly issue, but it could not print the Van Buren Current Local.
That weekly was printed by the Sikeston Standard-Democrat.
Ellinghouse said some of the flooring in his building will need to be
replaced.
Missouri Press News, May 2008
www.mopress.com
The same procedure was done on
Sept. 25, 1993. One of the firefighters
recalled water on that occasion was at
chest level, a bit higher than this time.
The Times office remained blocked by
water until after 11 a.m.
Water inside the building reached
five-and-a-half inches in the newsroom,
as shown by a mud line on filing cabinets. Over the next three hours, the staff
pushed out the standing water and mud
so operations could resume.
With water on the floor in the pressroom and around high voltage electrical
equipment, it became apparent that for
the first time in history, it would not be
possible to print the paper. Publisher
Lisa Craft decided to put the April 10
issue on The Times’ web page. A full account of the flooding was drafted and
posted at 9:30 p.m.
—from The Monett Times
3
Help celebrate 1st newspaper
Joseph Charless began publishing Missouri Gazette on July 12, 1808
M
issouri’s newspaper history
began 200 years ago on July
12, 1808, when Joseph Charless published the first edition of The
Missouri Gazette in St. Louis.
To commemorate that historic event,
the Missouri Press Association, in collaboration with The State Historical
Society of Missouri, will present a readers’ theater performance of “The Editor
is Absent: Tribulation & Triumph in
Missouri’s Pioneer Press,” on Saturday,
July 12, 2008, in Boonville’s historic
Thespian Hall.
The Society’s MoHiP Theater (Missouri History in Performance Theater)
will perform the play, written by Boon-
Boonville’s historic Thespian Hall.
You can help sponsor Boonville production
Missouri Press Foundation is seeking sponsors to assist with production
expenses.
Any MPA newspaper purchasing in advance 10 or more adult tickets to
the event (tickets are $5 for adults, $2.50 for children under age 10), will
be listed as a sponsor. If you cannot attend the performance, any donation
of $50 or more will be acknowledged in the program as a sponsorship.
If you wish to buy tickets in advance for your newspaper staff or other
guests or if you wish to become a sponsor, please send your check to: Missouri Press Foundation, 802 Locust St., Columbia, MO 65201. Or pay by
credit card by calling Kristie Williams at Missouri Press, (573) 449-4167.
ville playwright Mary Barile,
managing editor of the Cowhich is drawn from actual
lumbia Daily Tribune, with
Missouri newspapers
KBIA radio producer Darpublished between
ren Hellwege and Daily
1808 and 1858. JoTribune columnist Mary
seph Charless, known
Paulsell.
as the Father of MisFolk musicians Cathy
souri Journalism, will
Barton and Dave Para of
be in the spotlight as
Boonville will begin the actiMissouri’s first newsvities at 7 p.m. and perform
paper publisher.
vocals and instrumentals
Readers in the play
of the period throughout
will be journalists Bob
the production.
Priddy of the MissouriImmediately following the
net, Jefferson City; Jim Joseph Charless performance, the audience
Steele, publisher of the
will be invited to enjoy cake
Fayette Advertiser and Demo- and punch with cast members at a recepcrat-Leader; and Jim Robertson, tion across the street in Turner Hall.
Old photos needed for video
F
or several years MPA has been interviewing publishers and editors
around the state to record their oral histories and to gather material to
be used in a one-hour documentary commemorating 200 years of Missouri
newspapers.
MPA now needs photos of newspaper operations, past and present:
buildings, equipment, staff, people at work, old advertisements, political
cartoons, etc.—whatever you find that is visual and appropriate for our
video documentary.
If possible, scan images to at least 200-300 resolution and email them to
Beth Pike at [email protected]. The deadline is May 15.
For further information, please contact Beth at (573) 445-5095.
4
www.mopress.com
Buyer sought for
St. Joseph Telegraph
T
he weekly St. Joseph Telegraph suspended publication on April 11
while the owners seek a buyer.
Carl Fowler and Greg Fields bought
the paper in February 2007 from Guy
and Leslie Speckman, publishers of the
Savannah Reporter.
In a letter to subscribers, Fowler and
Fields said family situations require them
to cease publication.
The Telegraph began publishing in
1989. The 2008 MPA Newspaper Directory lists its circulation at 1,500.
Missouri Press News, May 2008
SEMO Press will meet May 30 in Cape
A
Advertising expert, sales trainer will be headliner
dvertising expert Joe Bonura will
be the featured presenter at the
May 30 meeting of the Southeast Missouri Press
Association
in Cape
Girardeau.
The Association’s
116 t h annual meeting will be
held in the
Joe Bonura
University
Center at Southeast Missouri State University.
Bonura spoke at the Missouri Press
Association Convention last fall in
St. Louis. He owned and operated an
advertising agency for 18 years before
selling it to start a speaking and consulting company, Bonura Training Systems.
He is the author of the audio learning
systems Three Dimensional Selling™
and Turning Customer Satisfaction
into Customer Excitement!™
Bonura
Bonura will deliver
the keynote address at
spoke at
lunch and a two-hour
the MPA
breakout session for
publishers, managers
Convenand sales staff.
tion last
He will speak on
“ Thriving on the
fall.
Challenge of Change,”
offering personal and
professional development strategies for
using change to your advantage.
His session will be “Create & Sell
Advertising Ideas That Work.” Participants will learn how to be creative
advertising and marketing resources for
their customers.
Registration for the meeting will begin at 10 a.m., with the Southeast Press
board meeting beginning at 10:15. A
session “Publishing Through Disaster”
will precede lunch.
Bonura’s presentation will begin after
lunch. The other concurrent session will
Missouri Press News, May 2008
be Lynda Kraxberger speaking on
“Journalism of the Future” followed by a postal roundtable.
A reception at River Campus will begin at 4 p.m.
Cost of the meeting is $75
per newspaper or business, plus
$15 per person for lunch.
Register by May 21 with
Michelle Friedrich, Daily
American Republic, PO Box 7,
Poplar Bluff, MO 63902.
Is your website making
you money yet?
The 3 biggest complaints that
newspapers have about their websites:
1. “It doesn’t make us any money”
2. “Nobody visits our website”
3. “We don’t have any video on our site”
Does your website need a boost? The weekly 2-minute
video stories of … RED, WHITE & TRUE MYSTERIES
generate money for you and drive traffic to your site:
Marion (famous actor)
Charles (famous aviator)
Anna (famous painter)
Syndicated columnist Paul Niemann delivers FREE video
content that makes money for your web site EACH WEEK
These weekly 2-minute videos, formerly known as INVENTION MYSTERIES,
reveal the little-known true stories of the men & women who shaped America.
They are available in PRINT and VIDEO for your website, where they will
make money for you while driving new viewers to your website.
Visit www.PaulNiemann.com to watch the above 3 videos, and more!
Contact Paul, or meet him at the May 8 – 9 Missouri Ad Managers’ Conference:
Paul Niemann • 2614 South 24th Street • Quincy, IL 62305
www.PaulNiemann.com • [email protected]
www.mopress.com
5
Arkansas group buys News Tribune
W
alter E. Hussman Jr. of Arkansas is buying the Jefferson
City News Tribune, the daily
Fulton Sun and the weekly California
Democrat from the Weldon family.
Ownership was expected to transfer
about May 1.
Hussman’s family-owned company,
WEHCO Media, Inc., owns seven other
newspapers, including Little Rock’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and 13
cable television systems.
Hussman, 61, joined the family business in 1970. It acquired the Arkansas
Democrat in 1974.
Hussman told the News Tribune that
a number of things made the Jefferson
City newspaper attractive.
“Being in the state capital was a big
plus, and this very stable employment
base here was a big plus,” Hussman told
the News Tribune. “The facilities, particularly the new printing press—which
is really state-of-the-art and really terrific—were a major plus.
Bob Smith again is
interim tourism chief
F
ormer publisher R.B. “Bob” Smith
III, who was president of Missouri
Press Association in 1991, has been
named interim director of the Missouri
Division of Tourism. It is his second stint
in that capacity.
The Missouri Tourism Commission
named Smith March 4 to replace Blaine
Luetkemeyer, who resigned to run for
Congress. The Commission plans a national search for a permanent director.
Smith served as interim director in
2001-2002 and has been deputy director
since 2002.
Smith served as publisher of the Lebanon Daily Record from 1988 to 1994 and
was publisher of Tri-Lakes Newspapers
in Branson from 1980 to 1988.
6
“(And) the fact that it was a familyowned newspaper and we’re a familyowned newspaper and would share a
lot of the same kind of values with the
people who worked here.”
No immediate changes are planned
for staff or newspaper.
When his family acquired the
Arkansas Democrat in 1974, it was
an afternoon paper competing with
the larger, morning Arkansas
Gazette. The Democrat was
switched to mornings.
Hussman said there is no
commitment to changing the 18,100circulation News Tribune from afternoon
to morning publication.
“We’ll evaluate that, along with everything else,” he said, “and also try to do
some reader research on that.”
Most of WEHCO Media’s cable
television franchises are in Arkansas. Its
other newspaper holdings include the
Chattanooga, Tenn., Times Free Press;
and papers in Hot Springs and El Dorado, Ark., and Texarkana, Texas.
Hussman and his wife, Robena, have
three children. Their son, 24, graduated
from the University of Arkansas-Little
Rock, after spending about 1 1/2 years
at Westminster College, Fulton. Their
twin daughters, 21, are juniors at the
University of North Carolina.
Dirks, Van Essen & Murray represented the Weldon family in the transaction.
The Weldon family has owned the
News Tribune since 1927. Betty Weldon
was publisher for nearly 50 years before
her death in 2007. The family acquired
the Fulton daily in 1995 and the California weekly in 1998.
—from the
Jefferson City News Tribune
T
hese individuals have made recent contributions to Missouri Press
Foundation. Their generosity will help the Foundation continue
its educational programs and its support of projects that promote
Missouri newspapers and newspaper people.
A donation to the Foundation in honor or in memory of an associate or
friend is an eloquent way to recognize the person’s contributions.
A pledge to the Foundation Builders program, which is a four-year
commitment, helps ensure that Foundation efforts will continue in the
future.
Donations to Newspapers In Education programs are directed back to
the donor’s local newspaper to support its NIE efforts.
All donations to the Foundation are deeply appreciated.
Photojournalism Hall of Fame
Mr. and Mrs. William L. Miller,
Washington (two donations)
Donald and Donna Park, Washington
www.mopress.com
Missouri Press News, May 2008
Groups, golfers to meet at Lake Ozark
R
Show-Me Press, MSNE, APME, Porter Fisher Golf June 12-13
egistration forms are now available for the joint meeting of the
Show-Me Press Association,
Missouri Society of Newspaper Editors
and AP Managing Editors and for
the MPA Porter Fisher Golf Classic.
The forms for the meeting
and for golf are separate.
The meeting will be Thursday-Friday,
June 12-13, at the Resort at Port Arrowhead, Lake Ozark. Golfers will play at
8 a.m. Thursday, June 12, at Sycamore
Creek Golf Course (the fish hatchery
layout).
Registration forms for the meeting
and for golf were in the April 17 Bulletin, and they are online at mopress.
com/current_forms.php.
Following is the agenda for the meet-
Police review policy
after series in paper
A
series by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
has prompted the city’s police department to re-evaluate the practice of
not seeking warrants for thousands of
fugitives suspected of felonies.
Police Chief Joe Mokwa says the
series points to issues that need to be
examined.
The newspaper investigation found
that authorities in St. Louis city and St.
Louis County routinely refuse to issue
warrants despite police saying they have
enough evidence to arrest the suspects.
Without warrants, the suspects’ names
can’t be entered into state and FBI fugitive databases.
As of the end of October, there were
more than 4,000 such cases combined
out of St. Louis city and county. Those
cases included 16 murders, 75 sexual
assaults and 279 robberies.
—AP, from St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Missouri Press News, May 2008
ing.
Thursday, June 12
8:00 a.m. — Porter Fisher Golf Classic, Sycamore Creek Golf Course
2:00 p.m. — Registration at the hotel
3:00 p.m. — Laurie Marble, Community Relations,
MODOT
3 : 3 0 p. m .
— Pete Rahn,
Director, MODOT
4:30 p.m. — Jean Maneke, MPA
Legal Hotline Counselor, on current
law topics
5:10 p.m. — “Ten Tips for a Profitable website,” Gary Sosniecki
5:30 p.m. — MSNE Board Meeting
6:30 p.m. — Dinner Cruise on the
Tropic Island departs from Resort at
Brokers
Port Arrowhead
Friday June 13
7:45 a.m. — MSNE & Show-Me
Press Business
Meetings
9:00 a.m.
— Gubernatorial
Candidates Open
Forum (tentative)
11:15 a.m.
— “Recalibrating Local News
and How AP can
Help”
12:15 p.m. —
AP Awards Luncheon
1:45 p.m. — Missouri School of
Journalism’s 100th Centennial Celebration and What’s Next, with Esther Thorson, acting dean, and Suzette Heiman,
celebration coordinator.
Appraisers
Consultants
A tradition of service to community newspapers
If you have been considering a transaction, and would like to achieve
a strong market value, we look forward to an initial conversation with
you. We represent a tradition of serving our clients’ best interests and
the best interests of each community our clients serve.
THOMAS C. BOLITHO
P.O. BOX 849
ADA, OK 74821
(580) 421-9600
[email protected]
EDWARD M. ANDERSON
P.O. Box 2001
BRANSON, MO 65616
(417) 336-3457
[email protected]
nationalmediasales.com
EXPERIENCE
www.mopress.com
KNOWLEDGE
INTEGRITY
7
Brooks elected Ozark Press president
Students read winning essays during meeting at College of the Ozarks
O
zark Press
Association members elected Tianna
Brooks, publisher
of the Mountain
View Standard
News, president for
the coming year.
Ozark Press chose
new leaders during
its annual meeting
held on March 28
at the Keeter Center, College of the
Ozarks, Point Lookout. Brooks, who
previously served
as vice president,
succeeded Roger
Dillon, publisher of
the Shannon County
Current Wave, Emi- Winning the Southwest Missouri Professional Chapter SPJ Essay Contest were Jordan Taylor, left, of Greenfield High School,
nence.
Other officers second place; and Rachel Holcomb, Strafford, home schooled,
first place. They read their essays at the Ozark Press meeting.
and directors elect- David Burton, center, coordinator of the contest, presented
ed are Jeff McNeill, framed certificates and cash prizes. Holcomb’s essay has been
Houston Herald, forwarded to national competition, where it is eligible to win a
Vi c e Pre s i d e n t ; $1,000 scholarship.
Sharon Vaughn,
Summersville Beacon, Secretary-Trea- Hamilton, Neighbor Newspapers.
surer; and Directors Keith Moore of the
Also serving on the Ozark Press board
Douglas County Herald, Ava; and Jim are Jeff Schrag, Springfield Daily Events;
Dala Whittaker,
Cabool Enterprise;
Brad Gentry, Houston Herald; David
Burton, University
Extension, Springfield; Kimball Long,
El Dorado Springs
Sun, and Dillon as
Past President.
The meeting
opened with breakMitch Jayne, center looks at a column he wrote for the Shannon fast and a business
County Current Wave that was reprinted in the March issue of Mis- meeting.
Morning sessions
souri Press News magazine. Looking on are Ron Cunningham,
left, Missouri Press Association’s postal consultant; and Dean were Dr. Jim Wirth,
Webb of Branson West, a longtime friend and former bandmate University of Misof Jayne’s. Jayne and Webb played together with The Dillards,
and they both got to know Andy Griffith as they appeared on his souri, on managing
stress at work, and
popular television show a number of times.
8
www.mopress.com
a postal update by Missouri Press postal
consultant Ron Cunningham.
After a break, the first- and secondplace winners of the Society of Professional Journalists Essay Contest read
their winning entries. That was followed
by a presentation on Sunshine Law
audits by David Burton, University of
Missouri Extension.
Ozark historian and author Mitch
Jayne spoke at lunch. He talked about
working with his music group, The Dillards, on The Andy Griffith Show, and
about writing a down home column for
years for the Shannon County Current
Wave.
After lunch, John Schneller of the
Columbia Missourian and Missouri
School of Journalism, talked about the
need for newspapers to create an online
presence. MPA Legal Hotline counselor
Jean Maneke then gave an update on
legal and legislative issues.
MPA’s ad director, Greg Baker, closed
the meeting with a session on “How to
Avoid No’s.”
Report on airbag failures
earns accolades for Star
A
n investigation by The Kansas City
Star on airbags has been recognized
by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in its Best in Business
Journalism Contest.
Reporters Mike Casey and Rick
Montgomery, whose series exposed the
dangers of airbags that do not inflate,
were among the winners in the projects
category.
“Fatal Failures,” published in October, triggered a congressional investigation. The reporters found that at least
1,400 drivers and front-seat passengers
died from 2001 through 2006 in frontimpact crashes involving vehicles whose
airbags did not deploy.
The 13th annual contest recognized
the best business news reporting during
2007. Awards were presented April 27
in Baltimore at the society’s 45th annual
conference.
Missouri Press News, May 2008
Past presidents annual gathering
Past Presidents of Missouri Press Association and guests held
their annual gathering April 17 at The Upper Crust Elm Street
Ballroom in Columbia. Attending were, seated from the left: William
L. Miller Sr., Washington (2000); Dane Vernon, Versailles (2002);
Wallace Vernon, Eldon (1973); Kenneth Cope, Neosho (1989);
Jack Whitaker, Hannibal (2008); Chuck Haney, Chillicothe (1995);
John Spaar, Odessa (2005); Steve Oldfield, Adrian (2006); Dean
Mills, Dean of the Missouri School of Journalism (on sabatical);
standing from left, Harold Ellinghouse, Piedmont (1996); Wendell
Lenhart, Trenton (2001); Dave Berry, Bolivar (2003); Don Warden,
Owensville (1993); Ed Steele, MPA Ad Director, retired; Bill
Williams, Thayer (1974); Robert Blosser, Jefferson City (1976);
Rogers Hewitt, Shelbyville (1980); Kirk Powell, Pleasant Hill (1994);
Robert W. Wilson, Milan (1999); Esther Thorson, Acting Dean,
Missouri School of Journalism; Dave Bradley, St. Joseph (2007);
Betty Spaar, Odessa (1988); Bill James, Warrensburg (1998); Jim
Sterling, Columbia (1985); and Gary Kremer, Director, The State
Historical Society of Missouri.
On the Move
• Bloomfield — Interim reporter Corey Noles has been named editor of the
North Stoddard Countian. He succeeds
ElFreda Cox, who died in March. Noles
has been working since January while
Cox was out because of her illness.
Noles is a native of Bloomfield. He
has been reporting for the Dexter Daily
Statesman for two years and will continue to write for that paper.
• St. Louis — Post-Dispatch business
editor André Jackson has left for an
editorial writer position at the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution and ajc.com. He
was with the Post-Dispatch since 1987
and was business editor since 2001.
• West Plains — Assistant sports editor is the new title for West Plains Daily
Quill staff writer/photographer Allison
Wilson. She is working closely with
sports editor Dennis Crider, learning
Missouri Press News, May 2008
about all the sporting events covered by
The Quill and about page layout.
Wilson returned to The Quill in January after about eight months working in
public relations for Air Evac Lifeteam in
West Plains. Before that she worked at
The Quill for five years.
• Le Claire, Iowa
— Helen Sosniecki,
Le Claire, Iowa, former co-owner and
co-publisher of The
Vandalia Leader, has
joined Interlink Inc.
as its senior sales and
marketing manager.
Interlink, based in
Helen Sosniecki
Berrien Springs,
Mich., provides circulation management
and ad-billing systems for more than
1,200 community newspapers.
Sosniecki and her husband, Gary,
www.mopress.com
are former owners and publishers of
newspapers in Vandalia, Seymour and
Humansville and were editors and publishers of The Lebanon Daily Record for
several years.
Last fall they sold the Vandalia paper
to Lakeway Publishers of Missouri.
• Kansas City — Michael Nelson, a
longtime editor at The Kansas City Star,
has left to become editor of the Lincoln
Journal Star in Nebraska. Nelson, 59,
worked at The Star for almost 35 years,
most recently as assistant managing editor for zoning and suburban news.
• Kansas City — Kristi L. Dalberg has
joined the staff of The Northeast News as
a reporter. She will graduate in May from
Park University in Parkville.
Dalberg’s work has appeared in The
Sun News, Parkville Luminary and The
Kansas City Star.
• Kansas City — Steve Rose, a former
publisher of Sun Newspapers and son
of the group’s founder, has returned as
9
publisher and chief executive officer.
News-Press & Gazette Co. of St.
Joseph, which bought Sun Newspapers
more than three years ago, announced
the change along with the layoffs of
about a dozen Sun employees from its
staff of 75 to 80.
Rose replaced Kraig Cawley, who
joined Sun last summer.
David Small, Rose’s nephew, has been
hired as co-publisher and chief operating
officer. He was Sun’s advertising director
from 1997 to 1999. The Rose family
sold Sun Publications in 1998. Neither
has a current ownership interest.
• Columbia — Columbia native
Rachael Heffner has replaced Beth Ott
as the graphics designer for Missouri
Press Association.
Ott has moved to
Kansas City, where
she has begun work
for an advertising
agency.
Heffner is a December 2007 graduate of Stephens
Rachael Heffner
College in Columbia with a degree in graphic design. Her
parents live in Millersburg and work in
Columbia. She has an older sister who
lives in California and a brother who
will begin attending Columbia College
this fall.
Before joining MPA, Heffner was
10
director of creative services for MarineParents.com, Inc. for about a year and a
half. She also served as head designer for
Creative Ink, a student-run marketing
firm at Stephens College.
Heffner plans to continue volunteering with the Marine Parents organization. One of the group’s projects is
sending care packages to Marines serving
overseas.
• Washington
— Charles G. Coy,
Washington, who
has owned four
weekly papers and a
small daily in Missouri during a 56year career, writes
a weekly column,
“Reflections,” for
Charles Coy
the Washington Missourian. He retired from the paper in
2007.
Coy and his wife, Else, owned The
Garden City Views from 1963-68, The
Lexington Daily Advertiser-News from
1971-80, The Waverly Times from 197580, the Sullivan Tri-County News and St.
Clair Chronicle from 1981-85.
Since 1985 Coy has worked for several
papers, including the Topeka CapitalJournal and Clinton Daily Democrat.
• Joplin — Clair Goodwin called it
quits as editorial page editor for The
Joplin Globe on March 21. He held that
www.mopress.com
position since 1991 and was with The
Globe for 50 years.
Goodwin retired two years ago, but
continued with the paper part-time. His
final column appeared March 23. He
will continue to write golf columns.
• St. Louis — Lee Enterprises Inc. has
named Nancy Green vice president of
circulation for Lee
St. Louis and president of STL Distribution Services.
She is in charge of
circulation for the
Post-Dispatch and
Suburban Journals.
Green has been
publisher of the WaNancy Green
terloo-Cedar Falls
Courier in Iowa since 2004 and vice
president of circulation for Lee.
Green was the publisher of the Springfield News-Leader for a number of years
in the 1990s.
• Columbia — Scott Charton, 46,
director of communications for the
University of Missouri System since
2005, left the University April 30 to
form Charton Communications &
Consulting based in Columbia and Jefferson City.
Before joining the University, Charton worked for the Associated Press for
about 20 years.
Missouri Press News, May 2008
Scrapbook
• St. Louis — The achievements of 18
female lawyers were recognized April 10
at the St. Louis Daily Record’s 10th annual
Women’s Justice Awards banquet.
U.S. District Judge Jean C. Hamilton
received top billing as Woman of the
Year. She and the others were honored at
the Four Seasons Hotel in St. Louis.
• St. Joseph — News-Press sports editor Scott Pummell was named among
the Associated Press
Top 10 small-paper
sports columnists
for 2007. Pummell
has been sports editor since July 2006.
He’s been with the
News-Press for 13
years.
He was chosen in
Scott Pummell
the under-40,000
circulation division by the Associated
Press Sports Editors organization.
• San Marcos, Texas — Joe Snyder,
former publisher of the Gallatin North
Missourian, and his wife, Kathy, observed their 65th wedding anniversary
early in April. After selling their newspaper, they moved to Texas about seven
years ago to be near their daughter and
granddaughter. The Snyders also have
two grandsons who live in Florida and
three great-grandchildren living in Missouri.
Their mailing address is Joseph R.
Snyder, The Wellington, 600 Leah Ave.,
Apt. 1601, San Marcos, TX 78666.
• St. James — The Leader-Journal has
launched a website, StJamesLeaderJournal.com. It provides material from the
printed paper plus news updates. Michele Martin is the editor of the paper.
• Bolivar — Neighbor Newspapers
had a deal for car race fans in April.
They gave free admission to Lucas Oil
Speedway in Wheatland on April 5 to
anyone who arrived with a current issue
of a Neighbor Newspaper in hand.
Participating newspapers are in Bolivar, Stockton, Buffalo, Marshfield,
Missouri Press News, May 2008
Rogersville, Ozark, Nixa and Republic.
They sold subscriptions to their papers
outside the track for people who wanted
to take advantage of the free ticket promotion.
•Joplin — SBJ Publishing Inc.’s Joplin Tri-State Business honored its inaugural Dynamic
Dozen on March 4. SBJ
Publishing President Dianne
Elizabeth Osis presented
awards to the businesses.
is observing the 80th anniversary of its
founding this year. In March the weekly
ran lengthy stories about the newspaper’s
history, its current operations and staff.
Nathaniel A. Sweets founded The
American in 1928 “to give a voice to the
African-American community.”
Donald M. Suggs was among a group
that purchased the newspaper in 1981.
He has been the newspaper’s publisher
for a number of years.
• Neosho — Among those
honored in March by the
Neosho Chapter Daughters
of the American Revolution
was John Ford of the Neosho
Daily News. He received the
Media Award for his reporting on the activities of the
Neosho Chapter DAR.
• Kansas City — The
Sun groups’ business section has been replaced by a
lifestyles section dependent
on web content. Along with
the section’s elimination
from the Sun Tribune, Sun
Gazette and Liberty Tribune,
Gene Hanson, who did
most of the business section’s
reporting and editing, has
left the paper along with a
copy editor, a part-time copy
editor and circulation and
collections staffers.
The Sun Tribune targets
Clay County, the Sun Gazette targets Platte County
and the Liberty Tribune covers the city of Liberty. They
are owned by the News-Press
& Gazette Co., St. Joseph.
Mexico literacy awards
Four awards were presented April 8 during the 14th
annual North Central Missouri Salute to Literacy held
in the Country Church at the Audrain County Historical
Museum Complex. Mexico native Jane Simmons,
author of “Arthur Simmons, American Icon of the Horse
World–A Daughter’s Memories,” was guest speaker
for the event. Simmons also received the In The Book
Award. The top literacy award, The Mexico Ledger
Community Literacy Award, was presented to the
League of Women Voters, honoring members for their
years of service in voter education. President Linda
Ahmann accepted the award on behalf of the LWV. The
Civil Literacy Award was presented to the Veterans of
Foreign Wars in recognition of sponsorship of the Voice
of Democracy Youth Essay Scholarship Program.
Robert Seigfreid, 2008 essay winner, read his essay
during the ceremonies. Donald Shire, who retired
in 2007 as The Ledger’s Newspapers In Education
director, was honored with the Enabling the Gift of
Literacy Award. Award recipients pictured are (from left)
front, Shire, Simmons and Ahmann; back, Steve Totten
and Dorothy Carter representing the VFW. (Mexico
Ledger photo by Brenda Fike)
• Park Hills — Fun and games were
the order of the day during the Daily
Journal’s Relay for Life Adult Easter
Egg Hunt. Prizes were abundant and
everyone came out a winner.
• St. Louis — The St. Louis American
www.mopress.com
• Lee’s Summit — The Lee’s Summit
Tribune at the end of March launched
a complete redesign of the newspaper.
Sarah Tucker led the graphics work, with
help from reporters Seann McAnally
and Chase Jordan, photographer Bob
Thebeau, publisher Jerry Vaughan and
editor Matt Bird-Meyer.
11
The Tribune’s sister papers, Raytown
Post, Jackson County Advocate and BEST
Classifieds, and the company’s commercial printing business, Hi-Tec Web Printing, all recently launched websites.
• Sedalia — For the second year in a
row, Latisha Koetting, newsroom assistant for The Sedalia
Democrat, received
national recognition from a veterans’ honor group
for her work on The
Democrat’s veterans
page.
Koetting recently
was named firstLatisha Koetting
place national winner for military biographies of veterans
from the Voiture Nationale at the 88th
Promenade Nationale of the 40 & 8.
Koetting has coordinated The Democrat’s veterans page for eight years, during
which time the paper has published more
than 200 stories of war veterans.
• Bowling Green — The Bowling
Green Times encouraged area amateur
photographers to enter its second annual photo contest. Winning photos
were published in the April 19 edition
of the weekly.
Photos were sought in two categories:
people and animals and places and events.
Awards were presented for first, second
and third place in each category.
• St. James — The St. James LeaderJournal and the Cuba Free Press joined
with the Chambers of Commerce in
their towns to sponsor a region-wide
garage sale on April 5.
The papers sold ads for $10, and all
ads were printed in both papers along
with maps showing the locations of the
sales. The papers also placed ads in a
number of other newspapers in the area
to promote the sales.
In past years, ATMs in St. James have
run out of money on garage sale day.
The papers also encouraged businesses
to have special promotions that day to
take advantage of the high traffic.
• St. Louis — Two photojournalists
for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch have won
2008 National Headliner Awards.
David Carson
won first place in
online videography
for a collection of
his video in the series “Reporting for
Duty.”
Robert Cohen
won two awards:
second place for a
portfolio of photoDavid Carson
graphs and second
place in feature photography.
In “Reporting
for Duty,” Carson
and reporter Phillip
O’Connor followed
a class of recruits
through nine weeks
of basic training
at Fort Leonard
Robert Cohen
Wood.
Cohen’s feature entry was “Superman at the Airport,” a photo of a boy
in a Superman costume waiting for his
luggage.
The Headliners are sponsored by the
Press Club of Atlantic City, N.J. Win-
������������������������������������������������������
����������������
�������������
������������������
���������������
��������������������
������������������������������
������������������
��������������������������������
The Missouri Bar
Jefferson City
573-635-4128
12
You can’t trust just
anybody when it comes to
good health and
nutrition ... contact the
For information about agriculture or issues
affecting rural Missouri, contact:
(573) 893-1467
M ISSOURI
D IETETIC
A SSOCIATION
and get connected with a Licensed Registered
Dietitian in your area. We are the nutrition experts for you, your family and your organization.
P.O. Box 1225 • Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 636-2822 • www.eatrightmissouri.org
Advertise on the websites that people go to
— their local newspapers. Across Missouri,
across the country. Call Missouri Press Service.
573-449-4167
www.mopress.com
Missouri
Farm
Bureau
Call us for one-order,
one-bill newspaper
advertising placement.
573.449.4167
Missouri Press News, May 2008
ners will be honored at a banquet in
Atlantic City on May 17.
• Centralia — Jeff Grimes, general
manager of the Fireside Guard, served
as a questioner during a forum for local
candidates on March 27. The Guard
was joined by the Centralia Women’s
Network as co-host for the event.
• Independence
— The Examiner
was named runnerup in the national
Newspaper of the
Ye a r c o n t e s t by
GateHouse Media.
It placed second to
The Daily Messenger
of Canandiangua,
Hugh Welsh
N.Y.
Examiner writer Hugh Welsh was
named Features Writer of the Year, and
The Examiner took top honors in the
Public Service Project of the Year for its
nine-part series last summer about the
proposal to transfer seven schools from
the Kansas City to Independence School
District.
The Examiner had three other finalists in the individual categories: Julie
Scheidegger for Photographer of the
Year, Bill Althaus for Sports Writer of
the Year, and Andre Riley for Columnist
of the Year.
• Cuba — Several staff members of
Three Rivers Publishing hosted a Newspapers In Education activity day for second graders at Cuba Elementary School
on March 6 during NIE Week.
Students made paper hats, worked
a crossword puzzle and a word search,
heard a story, went on a scavenger hunt
and wrote a story for the newspaper.
Three Rivers Publishing provides
newspapers each week for NIE programs
in Cuba, Bourbon and Steelville.
• St. Louis — In observance of Black
History Month, the St. Louis Gateway
Classic Sports Foundation recognized
11 Outstanding African American
Citizens.
Donald Suggs, president and publisher of the St. Louis American, gave
the keynote address at the awards luncheon.
• Charleston — On April 3 Mildred Wallhausen, former publisher
of the Charleston
Enterprise-Courier, celebrated her
94th birthday
a n n i ve r s a r y. Sh e
still writes and
proofreads for the
newspaper and may
be the oldest active
newspaper person
Millie Wallhausen in the state.
She’s also the official historian for the Southeast Missouri
Press Association.
Millie’s mailing address is P.O. Box
69, Charleston, MO 63834.
• Springfield — Members of the
Society of Collegiate Journalists at Evangel University sponsored a Freedom of
Information Act training workshop on
April 2. Area journalists and the public
were invited to join Evangel communication students for the training.
The instructor was Charles Davis, associate professor at the Missouri School
of Journalism and director of the Na-
������������������������������������������������������
Missouri Insurance
Information Service
���������������������������
������������������������
(573) 893-4241 - phone
(573) 893-4996 - fax
[email protected] - email
A public information organization of insurance companies.
����������������������������
������������������
��������������
It’s What’s For Dinner.
This wa
Th
way to
way
to common sens
ense.
e.
MPA
Postal Help
Ron Cunningham
(417) 849-9331
[email protected]
Missouri Press News, May 2008
Missouri Beef Industry Council
TM
TM
EMBARQ.com
www.mopress.com
13
book fair week at Chillicothe
schools earlier in March.
• Nevada — Nevada’s
community newspaper, The
Daily Mail, was transformed
into another kind of tiny
community when children
from a local day care center
created newspaper people.
The children formed
bodies with newspapers
and then stuffed them with
more newspapers. They
used scraps for hair and
other decorations.
Newspaper veteran
John and Donna Fisher, publishers of the Montgomery
Standard, help their veteran correspondent, Girland
Branstetter, celebrate her 89th birthday. Mrs. Branstetter
began her newspapering career in the 1930s as a
high school student working for the Middletown Chips.
She started covering the Middletown area for the
Montgomery Standard as a correspondent in 1947.
For many years she would drive the 25 miles from
Middletown to Montgomery City on Mondays to hand
deliver her news. Girland now lives in the Gamma
Road Nursing Center where she provides frequent
correspondent’s news. Mrs. Branstetter was honored
on her birthday at the Middletown Christian Church.
tional FOI Coalition, which is based at
the J School in Columbia.
• Montgomery City — The Montgomery County Human Resource Council held a reception to honor local media
on March 12.
Among those receiving certificates
of appreciation were John and Donna
Fisher of the Montgomery Standard and
Gay Donaldson of the Wellsville Optic
News.
They were recognized for their support of the Council, its member agencies
and the community.
• Chillicothe — The ConstitutionTribune held its Spring Expo on March
29 in the Chillicothe High School gym
and commons area. More than 50 local
vendors showcased their products.
This was the sixth Spring Expo sponsored by the newspaper. Admission was
free.
Publisher Rod Dixon was a guest
reader for a second grade class during
14
• Nevada — Friends and
family of former Daily Mail
sports editor Kelly Bradham
organized a card shower for
him in March. His health
has been poor, and he recently underwent major
surgery, which included
amputation of part of an
arm.
Bradham worked for the
Daily Mail for 25 years before retiring in 2002.
• Kansas City — Kansas
City Star executive Lewis W. Diuguid is
the 2008 recipient of the Catalyst Award
for Print. The award from the National
Association of Minority Media Executives recognizes action and leadership
that advance the cause of diversity in
the media.
Diuguid is The Star’s vice president of
community resources. In 1993 he was
a co-leader of The Star’s first diversity
initiative, and he remains involved with
the newsroom diversity committee. He
serves on the faculty of the Kansas City
Association of Black Journalists Urban
Student Journalism Academy and has
funded thousands of dollars in scholarships for aspiring journalists of color.
BDN Weekend focuses on entertainment, how-to features, home improvement, travel and health.
BDN now is being published Monday
through Thursday. Subscribers receive
BDN Extra on Fridays. It includes local
news and sports, weddings, engagements
and anniversaries.
The online version of the BDN was
redesigned in April.
• Lee’s Summit — The Lee’s Summit
Tribune and The Raytown Post have made
an advertising and circulation deal with
The Examiner in Independence/Blue
Springs.
The Tribune and Post carries the
Examiner’s “Welcome Home” real estate
section, the Tribune in all of its papers
and the Post in its subscriber copies.
The weeklies sell non-real estate ads
into the daily paper’s real estate section.
• Crane — The Crane Chronicle/Stone
County Republican has sent all of its old
printing equipment to the Barry County
Museum in Cassville. It will be on display in the future.
The museum also will have a room of
memorabilia of Emory Melton, former
Cassville publisher and state senator.
• Boonville — At the end of March,
the BDN changed its free weekly paper,
The Record, to BDN Weekend. The paper
is distributed mid-week to 10,300 households in Cooper and Howard counties.
It is delivered to BDN subscribers with
their Thursday papers and is placed in
news racks on Friday mornings.
www.mopress.com
Missouri Press News, May 2008
Mountain View publisher featured in Pub Aux
T
ianna Brooks and the Moutain View
Standard News were the focus of a
feature story in the April issue of Publishers’ Auxiliary, a publication of the
National Newspaper Association.
Brooks’ family bought the Howell
County weekly in 2001 and put Tianna,
28, in charge in 2003.
Brooks’ background is as a teacher.
She taught fifth and sixth grade language
arts before taking on the newspaper and
worked with her father in real estate.
Brooks’ two brothers each operates a business, one a heating and air
conditioning firm, the other a carpet
company. Those two companies and the
newspaper are housed in a family-owned
building.
“I have developed a great respect
for journalism and the newspaper’s
watchdog role,” Brooks told Publishers’
Auxiliary.
She has learned by doing and by attending training programs sponsored by
Missouri Press News, May 2008
the National Newspaper Association and
Missouri Press Association. She went on
the NNA On the Road tour of Missouri
newspapers in 2005.
Missouri Press inspired her to begin
a Newspapers In Education program,
and she appreciates MPA’s legal hotline.
Whenever she gets bogged down she just
heads off to an MPA meeting to get a
new dose of education and inspiration,
she said.
Brooks was elected president of Ozark
Press Association at that group’s March
28 annual meeting in Point Lookout.
Arrow Rock gets national designation
W
ASHINGTON, D.C.—Arrow Rock was recently honored
when First Lady Laura Bush, honorary
chair of the Preserve America initiative,
designated the village as one of the
nation’s newest Preserve America Communities.
Arrow Rock joins nine other Missouri
Preserve communities: Cape Girardeau,
Fredericktown, Independence, Jefferson
City, Liberty, St. Charles, Soulard (St.
Louis), Ste. Genevieve and Weston.
600 communities have been named
www.mopress.com
nationwide.
Missouri Press Association’s Print
Shop Museum is in Arrow Rock.
Arrow Rock’s Board of Trustees will
receive a certificate of designation signed
by Mrs. Bush.
Benefits include the right to use the
Preserve America logo; eligibility for
Preserve America Grants; notification
to state tourism offices; and listing in
a web-based directory that showcases
Arrow Rock’s preservation efforts and
heritage tourism destinations.
15
Newspaper In Education Report
Find local teacher for
Living Textbook class
S
Session will be July 16-18 at MU
even years ago, Missouri Press resources with other teachers within my
Foundation partnered with district.”
the University of Missouri’s
—“This course was fantastic! I learned
MU Direct program to offer a summer so much and can’t wait to go back to my
course, The Living Textbook, to train classroom and utilize the newspaper.
Missouri educators on effective ways to Thank you for the wonderful opportunity.
use the newspaper in the classroom.
Also, I have been inspired to go back to
The impetus for the
my school and present the
program was to help MisNIE program to my colsouri’s newspapers develop
leagues. What a valuable
relationships with young
asset in the classroom
readers in their communi– an asset most teachers
ties. To do this, we initiatdo not utilize. Wow!”
ed the Teacher Ambassador
—“… I also do not
Scholarship program. With
currently subscribe to my
this, community newspanewspaper, but when I
pers partner with teachers
arrive home I am signing
from their communities,
up for a Monday through
offering them this training
Sunday subscription! I
opportunity and in return
want to get to know my
reaping the rewards of
paper, be more informed
having a highly motivated,
and share what I know
well-trained newspaper Dawn Kitchell is MPA’s NIE with my students.”
ambassador in the local director. Contact her at (636)
his summer, The
932-4301; [email protected].
school.
Living Textbook
And it has worked. Each
seminar will be offered
year the evaluations of the workshop July 16-18 in Columbia. The cost to
indicate the Living Textbook training your newspaper to provide a scholarship
is one of the best professional develop- for a local teacher to attend the training
ment opportunities available. Teachers is $325. Here is what is included in that
leave the three-day experience ready to scholarship:
not only share a passion for newspapers
• The course will begin in Columbia
with their students, but also with their on the University of Missouri campus
peers.
at noon on Wednesday, July 16. Parere are a few comments from past ticipants will be given University garage
participants:
parking permits.
—“I am so excited to get back into
• We will spend the first four hours
my classroom and try these lessons and in the classroom, jumping into the hisactivities. I have never been to a seminar tory of newspapers and the industry’s
as wonderful, educational, or inspiring as efforts — and effectiveness — in the
The Living Textbook.”
classroom.
—“I can’t wait to use the paper as my
• The teachers will receive a training
text for all areas! One of the best workshops manual with more than 600 pages of
I’ve been to!”
resources that will be introduced over
—“This has been one of the best work- the duration of the seminar.
shops that I have attended. I cannot wait
• Wednesday and Thursday evenings
to share the wealth of information and participants will stay at Stoney Creek
T
H
16
www.mopress.com
Inn.
• On Wednesday evening, the group
will have dinner at a popular local restaurant, giving participants the opportunity
to get to know one another and begin
the important exchange process.
• On Thursday, in addition to working in the classroom, participants will
tour the Columbia Daily Tribune plant
and enjoy lunch provided by the newspaper during an open forum with Tribune
management.
• Guest speakers will share their expertise on the effective use of the newspaper in the classroom. Participants will
be introduced to the resources available
to newspapers through the Missouri
Press Association’s Newspapers In Education program. The seminar will end
Friday at noon.
• In addition to course materials,
parking, housing, most meals and the
training, participants will receive a continuing education (CEU) certificate.
The course also may be taken for one
hour of graduate credit.
This year, offer one or more scholarships for teachers from your community.
Also send your NIE staff person.
To get started, visit the Newspaper In Education pages at mopress.
com/nienews.php to access a sign-up
form for the Teacher Ambassador
Scholarships. Seating is limited to our
classroom capacity, so use this form to
reserve a spot(s) for your newspaper.
Begin visiting with teachers and administrators in your community to find
educators who might be interested in
your scholarship opportunity. Investigate the possibility of your school district
sharing the cost of the scholarship with
professional development funds.
lso available at mopress.com/
nienews.php is a promotional ad
for the scholarship opportunity and the
course. Personalize the ad and start publishing it in your newspaper. You might
be surprised who shows an interest in
the opportunity.
Once you’ve secured your participants, registered them with MPF and
paid your scholarship fee, we’ll do all
the rest. We’ll even provide you with
photos and cutlines to promote your
newspaper’s newly trained ambassador
following the seminar!
A
Missouri Press News, May 2008
Obituaries
Overland Park, Kan.
H
Howard Turtle
oward Turtle, 95, Overland Park,
a longtime Kansas City Star editor
who was the first editor of “Star Magazine,” died March 16, 2008.
Mr. Turtle worked for The Star for
about 40 years, interrupted by service
in the Army during World War II. He
served as a medic in five European campaigns, including Normandy and the
Battle of the Bulge.
His work appeared in national magazines such as Reader’s Digest, The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire.
After retiring Mr. Turtle devoted more
time to music. He played trumpet and
cornet. He was part of the Junkyard Jazz
Band in Lawrence, Kan.
Survivors include a daughter, a son
and five grandchildren.
Bloomfield
E
ElFreda Cox
lFreda Cox, 52, Dexter, reporter for
the North Stoddard Countian in
Bloomfield, died of cancer and complications on March 24, 2008.
Miss Cox lived in Dexter but was
deeply involved with Bloomfield. She
was the founding president of the
Bloomfield Lions Club. The Bloomfield
Chamber of Commerce named her
Woman of the Year in 2005, and she
received many other awards of appreciation and service from the community.
Miss Cox worked for 12 years as a reporter for the Puxico Press before joining
the Bloomfield weekly.
The Lions Club and other local organizations held a fund-raiser in early
March to help with Miss Cox’s medical
bills and household expenses.
Business Opportunities Unlimited for
10 years before illness forced him to
retire.
Mr. Cullen is survived by Mary, his
wife of 53 years; two daughters, a son,
seven grandchildren, two great-grandsons, five sisters and a brother.
St. Joseph
P
Phyllis Wright
hyllis Wright, 80, who joined the
St. Joseph News-Press at age 17, died
of Alzheimer’s disease on March 13,
2008.
Mrs. Wright took time off from 1947
to 1962 to raise her three children, then
rejoined the newspaper as editor of the
society page. She remained there until
1993. For years she wrote the Brevities
column filled with chicken dinner news,
family visits, vacations and hospital
patients.
Columbia
J
ohn Philip Norman, 91, a retired professor emeritus of the Missouri School
of Journalism, died Feb. 28, 2008.
Mr. Norman grew up in Iowa, attended the University of Iowa and started his
journalism career in advertising for what
is now Sunbeam Co. He bought and
ran two weekly newspapers in central
Wisconsin before joining the J School
faculty in 1955.
Before retiring in 1980, Mr. Norman
spent a year as a consultant to the Korean
Herald, an English language newspaper
in Seoul, South Korea. He also worked as
Missouri/Kansas manager for National
Election Studies providing national election results for three major networks and
two wire services.
Mr. Norman leaves his wife, Jeanette;
two sons, two daughters and four grandchildren.
Kansas City
St. Louis
J
C
Joseph Cullen
oseph Thomas Cullen, 81, an employee of The Kansas City Star for 25
years, died March 24, 2008, of complications of Alzheimer’s.
After leaving The Star’s national advertising department, Mr. Cullen operated
Missouri Press News, May 2008
Phil Norman
Clarissa Start
larissa Start, 91, who wrote about
gardening and everyday life during
64 years with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
died April 9, 2008, in a nursing home
in Woodbridge, Va.
Mrs. Start was best known locally for
www.mopress.com
her columns “The Little Woman” and
later “The Happy Gardener.” She wrote
10 books, including “Never Underestimate the Little Woman.” Her book that
sold best was “When You’re a Widow,”
which she wrote from personal experience. It was serialized in Ladies Home
Journal.
Ms. Start graduated at age 19 from
the Missouri School of Journalism and
started at the Post-Dispatch in 1938.
She retired from the paper in 1972 but
wrote her gardening column for 30
more years.
She is survived by a son.
Kansas City
R
Robert L. Hale
obert Lee Hale, 93, former superintendent of composing operations
for The Kansas City Star, died on April 6,
2008, in a care center in Lenexa, Kan.
Mr. Hale worked for The Star for 35
years. He began his newspaper career
before World War II at the old Kansas
City Journal Post.
Mr. Hale’s wife of over 55 years,
Eva, is deceased. There are no close
relatives.
Columbia
D
David Lendt
avid L. Lendt, 71, Columbia,
director of university relations for
the University of Missouri System from
1989 until his retirement in 2000, died
April 15, 2008, of acute myelogenous
leukemia.
Mr. Lendt was a good friend of Missouri Press Association and attended
many of its functions. For the University
he served as chair of the Public Relations
Council, comprised of the chief public
information officers from each of the
campuses and University Extension.
Mr. Lendt is survived by his wife of
more than 50 years, Alice; two daughters, a son, four grandchildren and a
sister.
Details of the Missouri School
of Journalism Centennial Celebration to be held in September
can be found at http://journalism.missouri.edu/e-blast/.
17
Sunshine law is not
unduly burdensome
Elected officials need to know obligations
S
ome smaller cities in Missouri are has absolutely no obligation to produce
becoming painfully aware of the them. And all a city is required to do is
sunshine law, but not due to ac- to respond to a request within 72 hours
tions of Missouri Press members.
of its receipt.
In the last year, a greater St. Louis
If additional time is required to comarea lawyer has filed approximately 120 pile records, a city is permitted under
suits, according to a story
the law to request that
in the Bolivar Herald-Free
additional time, so long
Press, quoting officials of
as the delay requested is
the Missouri Municipal
“reasonable.” And that
League. This lawyer sends
word is not further derequests for copies of minfined—a judge is the only
utes of city council meetone who determines if the
ings, and when the city fails
delay is reasonable. So one
to respond properly under
can hardly say the city
the law, he files suit.
is being imposed on for
In at least one case, a city
such a request.
apparently chose to settle
Reporters regularly
with the plaintiff rather
make similar requests.
than litigate, paying him
Cities regularly respond
$5,000, according to the Jean Maneke, MPA’s Legal
to such requests seeking
news report cited above.
additional time to comHotline attorney, can be
As a result, cities are reached at (816) 753-9000,
pile the requested records.
upset. The Missouri Mu- [email protected].
It is only those cities that
nicipal League is upset.
fail to timely and properly
Reporters in this state who have a good respond that are caught in the plaintiff ’s
working relationship with their cities are sunshine law net.
upset. They don’t like seeing their muecond, a city that might choose to
nicipal officials entangled in litigation
settle and pay the plaintiff is doing
against a non-resident whom they feel so for its own reasons. Maybe the city
has no actual interest in seeing that the looked at its response for the first time
community has good government.
with the input of counsel’s advice and
I understand all these concerns. But realized it had broken the sunshine law
I want to raise a cautionary flag against and decided it had better settle.
you, the readers, deciding this plaintiff
Maybe the city, with counsel’s advice,
is doing wrong. In fact, the enemy here felt it had not broken the law, but beis not this plaintiff, despite his clearly lieved the cost to fight this battle in court
having motives more closely aligned was going to be so expensive compared
with personal financial gain than actual to the smaller sum the plaintiff offered
justice.
to settle for that it was cheaper to end
irst, it is clear he is beginning each this battle by settlement. This financial
campaign with a sunshine law decision happens regularly when a party
request. In some cases, cities receiving is faced with litigation.
those requests have failed to make a
Maybe the underlying issues—relatproper reply.
ing to the way a city had imposed taxes,
I’ve seen some arguments that he is were such that the city had erred and
asking for records that do not exist. If resulted in a decision to settle that had
that is the case, under the law, the city absolutely nothing to do with the at-
S
F
18
www.mopress.com
tached sunshine law issue.
Regardless, I believe those of you
whose cities might be entangled in this
lawyer’s campaign for wealth and notoriety need to be careful with what you say
regarding this matter. It is important that
every city and every elected official make
an effort to understand the obligations
imposed by the sunshine law.
It is never an abuse of the law for
a citizen or a media entity to file suit
when the public entity fails to properly
respond. The sunshine law is NOT unduly burdensome.
Please don’t ever taken an editorial
position that the obligations imposed
under this law are unfair. We depend on
the sunshine
law to do our
jobs well.
Citizens depend on the
sunshine law
to maintain
a watch on
their local government.
t is not
abuse of
the law to
use it to hold
a public
body liable
if it fails to
meet its statutory obligations. This
law does
not require
superhuman efforts
to produce
every document, even
documents
that no longer exist, within 72 hours
after a request is made.
A city that chooses to settle such a case
is ripe for a story about that decision.
There’s a reason driving that decision
that your readers need to know. Maybe
the plaintiff had no case. Maybe the
plaintiff caught the city in an embarrassing position. Maybe the answer lies
somewhere between.
But filing a sunshine law case is not
abuse of the law.
I
Please don’t
ever take
an
editorial
position
that the
obligations
imposed
under this
law are
unfair.
Missouri Press News, May 2008
CALENDAR
Missouri Newspaper Organizations
NORTHWEST MISSOURI PRESS ASSOCIATION: President, Dennis Ellsworth, St. Joseph;
First Vice President, Jim Fall, Maryville; Secretary, Kathy Conger, Bethany; Treasurer, W.C.
Farmer, Rock Port. Directors: Leslie Speckman, Savannah; Chuck Haney, Chillicothe; Steve
Tinnen, Plattsburg; Jamey Honeycutt, Cameron; Kay Wilson, Maryville; Steve Booher, St.
Joseph; Matt Daugherty, Smithville.
SHOW-ME PRESS ASSOCIATION: President, Trevor Vernon, Eldon; First Vice President, John
Spaar, Odessa; Secretary-Treasurer, Sandy Nelson, Harrisonville. Directors: Stacey Rice, Drexel;
Judy Spaar, Odessa; Past President/Director Gary Beissenherz, Concordia.
OZARK PRESS ASSOCIATION: President, Tianna Brooks, Mountain View; Vice President,
Jeff McNeill, Houston; Secretary-Treasurer, Sharon Vaughn, Summersville. Directors: Dala
Whittaker, Cabool; Brad Gentry, Houston; Jeff Schrag, Springfield; David Burton, Springfield;
Keith Moore, Ava; Jim Hamilton, Buffalo; Kimball Long, El Dorado Springs; Past President,
Roger Dillon, Eminence.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI PRESS ASSOCIATION: President, Kate Martin, Perryville; First Vice
President, Elaine Pursell, Dexter; Second Vice President, Gera LeGrand, Cape Girardeau;
Secretary-Treasurer, Michelle Friedrich, Poplar Bluff; Historian, Mrs. Mildred Wallhausen,
Charleston; Executive Secretary, Ann Hayes, Southeast Missouri State University. Directors:
Kim Million-Gipson, Piedmont; Peggy Scott, Festus; Judy Schaaf-Wheeler, Ironton; H. Scott
Seal, Portageville; Diane McClain, Kennett.
DEMOCRATIC EDITORS OF MISSOURI: President, Richard Fredrick, Paris; First Vice
President, Bob Cunningham, Moberly; Secretary, Beth McPherson, Weston; Treasurer, Linda
Geist, Monroe City.
MISSOURI CIRCULATION MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION: President, Brenda Carney,
Harrisonville; First Vice President, Jack Kaminsky, Joplin; Second Vice President, Steve Edwards,
St. Joseph; Secretary, David Pine, Kansas City; Treasurer, Doug Crews, Columbia. Directors:
Jim Kennedy, Bolivar; Ken Carpenter, Kansas City; Rob Siebeneck, Jefferson City.
MISSOURI ADVERTISING MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION: President, Steve Hutchings,
Gainesville; First Vice President, Trevor Vernon, Eldon; Second Vice President, Bobbie Snodgrass,
Joplin; Secretary, Jim Salzman, Jackson; Treasurer, Doug Crews, Columbia. Directors: Debra
Kiser, Jefferson City; Stacy Rice, Drexel; Dennis Warden, Owensville; Suzie Wilson, Milan. Past
President, Jane Haberberger, Washington.
MISSOURI ASSOCIATED DAILIES: President, Joe May, Mexico; Vice President, Ben Weir, Jr.,
Independence; Secretary, Shelly Arth, Marshall; Treasurer, Doug Crews, Columbia; Past President,
Larry Freels, Kirksville. Directors: Jack Whitaker, Hannibal; Arnie Robbins, St. Louis; Charlie
Fischer, Sedalia; Don Wyatt, Springfield; Dan Potter, Columbia; Randy Cope, Neosho.
MISSOURI PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATORSV: Co-Presidents, Fran Manino, Kirkwood,
and Janice Denham, Kirkwood; Secretary, Peggy Koch, Barnhart; Publicity, Colene McEntee,
St. Peters; Membership, Suzanne Corbett; Treasurer/Archivist, Dee Rabey, Granite City, Ill.;
Contest, Janice Denham, Kirkwood; Quest Awards, Susan Fadem, Olivette; Conference Director,
Michelle Oyola; Newsletter, Karen Glines, Des Peres and Peggy Koch; At Large, Verna Smith,
St. Louis; Mary Kimbrough, St. Louis; Susan Fadem.
MISSOURI PRESS SERVICE: President, Steve Oldfield, Adrian; Vice President, John Spaar,
Odessa; Secretary-Treasurer, Gary Sosniecki, Vandalia. Directors: Dave Berry, Bolivar; Dane
Vernon, Versailles.
MISSOURI PRESS FOUNDATION, INC.: President, Tom Miller, Washington; First Vice President,
David Lipman, St. Louis; Second Vice President, Mrs. Betty Spaar, Odessa; Secretary-Treasurer,
Doug Crews, Columbia. Directors: R.B. Smith III, Lebanon; Wallace Vernon, Eldon; Rogers
Hewitt, Shelbyville; James Sterling, Columbia; Mrs. Wanda Brown, Harrisonville; Mrs. Avis
Tucker, Warrensburg; Edward Steele, Columbia; Robert Wilson, Milan; Kirk Powell, Pleasant
Hill; Wendell Lenhart, Trenton.
MISSOURI-KANSAS AP PUBLISHERS AND EDITORS: Chairman, John Montgomery,
Hutchinson, Kan. Missouri AP Managing Editors: Chairman, Carol Stark, Joplin; Past Chairman,
Oliver Wiest, Sedalia.
MISSOURI SOCIETY OF NEWSPAPER EDITORS: President, Buzz Ball, Carthage; First Vice
President, Cathy Ripley, Chillicothe; Second Vice President, Dale Brendel, Independence;
Secretary-Treasurer, Doug Crews, Columbia. Directors: Chris Wrinkle, Hannibal; Dennis Ellsworth,
St. Joseph; Rob Viehman, Cuba; Jeff Schrag, Springfield; Sam Blackwell, Cape Girardeau; and
Oliver Wiest, Sedalia; Past President, Buck Collier, St. Louis.
MISSOURI COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION: President, Sarah Hale, St. Louis University;
Vice President, Ryan Scherr, University of Missouri-St. Louis; Secretary, James Patrick Schmidt,
University of Missouri-Columbia; MPA Liaison, Pat Sparks, Longview Community College;
Adviser, Jason Young, St. Louis University.
Missouri Press News, May 2008
www.mopress.com
May
8-9 — Missouri Advertising Managers’
Association, Hilton Promenade
Hotel, Branson
30 — Southeast Missouri Press
Association meeting, Southeast
Missouri State University,
Cape Girardeau
June
11 — Missouri Press Board of
Directors meeting, Lake Ozark
12 — MPA Porter Fisher Golf
Classic, Sycamore Creek Golf
Course, Osage Beach
12-13 — Show-Me Press, MSNE/
APME joint meeting, Resort
at Port Arrowhead, Lake Ozark
July
11 — MPA judges Illinois Press
Association Newspaper Contest,
Upper Crust, Columbia
12 — Performance in Celebration
of 200th Anniversary of First
Missouri Newspaper, Thespian
Hall, Boonville
16-18 — Living Textbook Newspapers
In Education seminar, Columbia
September
10 — MPA/Missouri School
of Journalism Centennial
Golf Classic, A.L. Gustin Golf
Course, Columbia
10-12 — Missouri School
of Journalism Centennial
Celebration, Columbia
11-13 — 142nd MPA Convention,
Stoney Creek Inn, Columbia
25-28 — NNA Convention and
Trade Show, St. Paul, Minn.
Sign up for J School golf
T
he Missouri School of Journalism
will open its Centennial celebration with a golf outing on Wednesday,
Sept. 10, at A.L. Gustin Golf Course in
Columbia.
Missouri Press Association is the host
for the four-person scramble. Cost is
$50.
Register at golfdigestplanner.
com/3421-MPAGolfOuting/.
Gardeners are part of our electric co-op.
Missouri’s Electric Cooperatives
Touchstone Energy®
Missouri Press News, May 2008
www.mopress.com