August 2007 (main section)

Transcription

The Tennessee Press
AUGUST 2007
TPS expands choices of network ads—now there’s 2 x 4
BY BETH ELLIOTT
Ad network coordinator
participate in the TN 2x2 Network
may sell the ads and keep 40 percent
commission. We urge you to contact
TPS today if your newspaper does not
participate. You could be missing out
on some great commissions.
Contact TPS for more information
at (865) 584-5761, ext. 117, or e-mail
[email protected].
TPA Ad/Circ Managers’ Retreat set Sept. 21-22
BY ROBYN GENTILE
Member services manager
C
M
Judging for Indiana
PHOTOS BY ROBYN GENTILE | TPA
Twelve people gathered June 22 in Knoxville
to judge the advertising contest for Hoosier
State (Indiana) Press Association. (Left photo)
Sandra Shelton, The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville,
Richard Esposito, The Oak Ridger, Oak Ridge,
David McCoy of Oak Ridge and Karen Braeckel,
HSPA, discuss an entry. (Top) Keith Welch,
News Sentinel, Knoxville, Earl Goodman,
Tennessee Press Service, and Jana Thomasson,
The Mountain Press, Sevierville, check out some
ads. (Top right) Thomasson inspects a special
section. (Lower right) Lori Wolfe, HSPA, records
the contest results.
No. 2
AUGUST 2007
Vol. 71
Y
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TPA’s Advertising and Circulation
Committees, plus
interested members, will meet
Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21-22, in
Knoxville to plan
the 2008 AdvertisShelton
ing/Circulation
Conference. Sandra
Shelton, advertising director of The
Leaf-Chronicle,
Clarksville, chairs
the Advertising
Committee, and
Lou Lambert, consumer sales and
Lambert
marketing manager
of The Commercial
Appeal, Memphis, is chairman of the
Circulation Committee.
In addition to conference planning,
the retreat will include networking,
an idea exchange and the opportunity
to attend the UT vs. Arkansas State
football game.
Retreat meetings will take place at
the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Attendees may
make reservations at the special TPA
rate of $116 plus tax per night.
Because this is a football game weekend, those staying at the hotel will be
required to stay for two nights.
The retreat schedule is as follows:
Friday, Sept. 21
1:00 p.m. Registration
2:00 p.m. Conference planning meeting
5:00 p.m. Meeting adjourns
6:30 p.m. Optional group dinner
Saturday, Sept. 22
8:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Idea exchange
10:30 a.m. Adjourn
TBA—Optional UT vs. Arkansas State
football game
Details
What: Ad/Circ Managers’ Retreat
Who: Advertising and circulation managers and others interested
in these subjects
When: Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21-22
Where: Crowne Plaza, Knoxville
Deadline: End of day Tuesday, Aug. 21
at two per newspaper on a first-come,
first-served basis.
The conference, the primary annual
TPA event for advertising and circulation personnel, will be held in April
2008 in Gatlinburg.
Retreat registration information
is available at www.tnpress.com or
by calling TPA at (865) 584-5761. All
members interested in advertising
and circulation are invited to attend
this retreat.
Make reservations by calling the
Crowne Plaza at (865) 522-2600. The
deadline is Tuesday, Aug. 21.
Some of what’s to
see in September
in Knoxville:
a U T Vo l s Arkansas State
Indians football
game at Neyland
Stadium and
the World’s Fair
Park Sunsphere,
now open to the
public.
Football tickets, which are limited,
will be available to retreat registrants
CMYK
Tennessee Press Service (TPS) has
introduced a new product for the Tennessee 2x2 Network.
Now, advertisers have a choice. If they
require a small amount of space to get
their message to more than one million
Tennesseans, a 2-column by 2-inch ad
is just what they need. However, some
advertisers need more space.
In the past, TN 2x2 advertisers were
limited to only one ad size. Now, your
local advertiser has an option. He or
she can opt for a 2-column by 4-inch ad
at a very reasonable price.
The rates for 2x4 ads are as follows:
•$1,890 for a statewide ad to appear in
80 Tennessee newspapers
•$770 for the middle region that includes 33 newspapers
•$770 for an eastern region 2x4 ad that
will appear in 26 newspapers
•$650 for an ad to run in 21 western
region newspapers.
What a bargain! Your advertiser will
save more than $4,650 over individual
ad placement using national ROP rates.
Besides saving a large sum of money,
your advertiser saves time by contacting you. You will be their contact for
80 Tennessee newspapers. Plus, TPS
does all of the work. We distribute the
ads and verify publication. How easy
is that?
We have saved the best part for last.
Newspapers that sell a 2x2 or 2x4 ad keep
40 percent commission. Your newspaper
would earn $378 for a statewide 2x2 ad
and $756 for a statewide 2x4 ad.
Only TPA member newspapers that
REMEMBER
to feature
Literacy, Constitution
Days
in September
KNOXVILLE TOURISM
& SPORTS CORP.
Pauline Sherrer—she’s done
it all and is still doing it
BY MICHAEL R. MOSER
Editor, Crossville Chronicle
HEATHER MULLINIX | CROSSVILLE CHRONICLE
Sherrer
INSIDE
HALL OF FAME
TPA COMMITTEES
2
3
BE KIND CONTEST
NEWTPA MEMBERS
3
3
The first time I saw Pauline Sherrer
she was hunkered down over a Dooley’s
Foodtown ad, blue pencil poked into a
wave of coiffured hair, X-acto knife in
one hand and handwritten notes for
every item in the store on a rolled paper
that more resembled an Old Testament
scroll than ad copy.
Cent signs were in six-point type.
Prices in 14-point. Items in 18 point.
And, oh those items. Hundreds of
them, so it seemed. It was the grocery
ad from hell.
The next time I saw Pauline was in
her office, a hallowed place we affectionately call the throne room because
sometimes it is a place you don’t really
want to go. She was talking to me about a
job, and the adding machine (this was in
1984) was singing like a Western Union
telegraph machine. She whipped out the
figures of my salary-to-be so fast all I
could do was nod my head and agree.
A few days later she was downstairs
in the pressroom helping repair a cog
STOKES RETIRES
HINES
4
6
on the press. I say cog, because I don’t
have a clue as to what the piece was.
But she did.
There was no task that the publisher
wouldn’t tackle. Including the time she
nearly fried us all. She didn’t kill us, but
she did make memories of childhood
days flash before our eyes in the wake
of the electrical “poof ” that occurred
when she stuck a screwdriver into the
guts of an old Micro-Tek computer as
she attempted to fix the machine.
Amazingly, she wasn’t burned, and we
all lived to write another story or two.
She also served as bouncer once. Not
long after I arrived there was a gruesome murder in the county. I asked
the sheriff who the victim was, and he
said, “Hoghead Underwood.” “No,” I
responded, “he had to have a name.”
“Hoghead. I don’t even know what
his first name is. He’s the guy who
sells vegetables on the highway, and
everyone knows him as Hoghead.”
I asked the chief investigator who was
murdered. “Hoghead.”
I asked the deputy who discovered the
body that was murdered. “Hoghead.”
SLIMP
AD NETWORK
7
8
So I identified him as “Hoghead Underwood,” because no one seemed to
know what his name really was.
The victim’s sons objected and came
to the office to exact retribution in the
form of physical punishment. Pauline
came out of her office and told the two
hooligans where the door was and to not
let it hit them on the way out. They left.
And I was counseled on the virtues of
not following local Southern custom by
using nicknames in news stories.
A native of Crossett, Ark., Pauline
and her late husband, Perry Sherrer,
bought the Crossville Chronicle in 1981.
Perry was the publisher and Pauline
the bookkeeper and mom of two girls
and a son.
It was not long until Perry was diagnosed with kidney disease, and in 1984
he passed away, leaving a bookkeeping
mom with three kids in tow to run a
million dollar business.
Actually, that is not right. Pauline had
already begun learning much of the ins
and outs of community newspapering,
SEE SHERRER, PAGE 3
IN CONTACT
Phone: (865) 584-5761
Fax: (865) 558-8687
Online: www.tnpress.com
CMYK
8
AUGUST 2007
An exciting year is ahead of us
(USPS 616-460)
Published monthly by the
TENNESSEE PRESS SERVICE, INC.
for the
TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION, INC.
435 Montbrook Lane
Knoxville, Tennessee 37919
Telephone (865) 584-5761/Fax (865) 558-8687/www.tnpress.com
Subscriptions: $6 annually
Periodicals Postage Paid At Knoxville,TN
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Tennessee Press,
435 Montbrook Lane, Knoxville,TN 37919.
The Tennessee Press is printed by The Standard Banner, Jefferson City.
Greg M. Sherrill.....................................................Editor
Elenora E. Edwards.............................Managing Editor
Robyn Gentile..........................Production Coordinator
Angelique Dunn...............................................Assistant
20
Member
07
Tennessee Press Association
The Tennessee Press
is printed on recycled paper
and is recyclable.
www.tnpress.com
The Tennessee Press can be read on
CMYK
OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION
TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION
Pauline D. Sherrer, Crossville Chronicle.......................................... President
Tom Griscom, Chattanooga Times Free Press............................Vice President
Victor Parkins, The Milan Mirror-Exchange.................................Vice President
Bill Williams, The Paris Post-Intelligencer...........................................Treasurer
Greg M. Sherrill, Knoxville....................................................Executive Director
DIRECTORS
Art Powers, Johnson City Press...........................................................District 1
Kevin Burcham, News-Herald, Lenoir City...........................................District 2
Tom Overton III, Advocate and Democrat, Sweetwater......................District 3
Linn Hudson, LaFollette Press..............................................................District 4
Hugh Jones, Shelbyville Times-Gazette...............................................District 5
Ellen Leifeld, The Tennessean, Nashville..............................................District 6
John Finney, Buffalo River Review, Linden.........................................District 7
Brad Franklin, The Lexington Progress.................................................District 8
Joel Washburn, The McKenzie Banner..................................................District 9
Eric Barnes, The Daily News, Memphis..............................................District 10
Steve Lake, Pulaski Citizen......................................................................At large
TENNESSEE PRESS SERVICE
Dale C. Gentry, The Standard Banner, Jefferson City.........................President
Pauline D. Sherrer, Crossville Chronicle......................................Vice President
W. R. (Ron) Fryar, American Hometown Publishing, Nashville...........Director
Bob Parkins, The Milan Mirror-Exchange...............................................Director
Mike Pirtle, Murfreesboro.......................................................................Director
Michael Williams, The Paris Post-Intelligencer......................................Director
Greg M. Sherrill............................................................Executive Vice President
TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION
W.R. (Ron) Fryar, American Hometown Publishing, Franklin............President
Gregg K. Jones, The Greeneville Sun..........................................Vice President
Richard L. Hollow, Knoxville....................................................General Counsel
Greg M. Sherrill....................................................................Secretary-Treasurer
CONTACT THE MANAGING EDITOR
TPAers with suggestions, questions or comments about items inTheTennessee
Press are welcome to contact the managing editor. Call Elenora E. Edwards,
(865) 457-5459; send a note to P.O. Box 502, Clinton, TN 37717-0502; or e-mail
[email protected]. The September issue deadline is Aug. 13.
Talk about things moving fast. For those not fasacrifice this regular feature because of a space
miliar with how this column works, let me tell you.
issue, and our readers let us know how they felt
Past presidents will know, but a couple hundred
about that.
who read this space each month have no clue as
You know you have hit a home run when someone
to how soon this column must be written...and it
walks up to another person in the grocery store
seems the months suddenly come faster.
and asks, Did YOU read in the Chronicle the story
I have just returned from being passed the
about the sentence handed down to the movie
gavel to start my tenure as TPA president. That
patron who urinated in his seat because he did
happened last Friday. This Friday I am writing
not want to leave and miss the last seven minutes
the August column.
of “Saving Private Ryan?” (The judge ordered
YOUR
Those attending the summer convention know
this offender to clean the theater’s restrooms for
what a fantastic three nights and two days we PRESIDING three months).
experienced. The speakers were some of the best
happened in Putnam County. Of course,
REPORTER weThis
we have heard, bringing forth valuable insight on
gave the Herald-Citizen credit for our great
how to deal with some of our recent and pressing
human interest article.
newspaper issues.
Pauline D. Sherrer If we all participate in this venture, it will be
Tonda Rush, president of American PressWorks,
a smashing success for TPA members and will
spoke on the importance of keeping public notices in print enhance your readership sustainability.
editions versus online products. TPA’s Public Notice Com|
mittee will be providing you with talking points on why
We have an exciting year ahead of us. Your directors and
these notices should be in good ole black ink, where anyone committee chairmen are already working to bring some new
at any time can read about their property being foreclosed and fresh ideas and projects during 2007-08.
before the foreclosure.
Kent Flanagan, Distinguished Journalist in Residence at
Tennessee still has people who do not readily have access Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, member
to a computer, and if they do, they might not know how to of the TPA Journalism Education Committee, has already
search out such information. Computer savvy might not apply begun working on projects that will bridge the gap between
to those people owning their little home for 40-60 years who college students interested in journalism/mass media and
may have misplaced their tax bill.
the Tennessee Press Association. Our association must take
Their name printed in the newspaper would cause a stir an active role in this outreach project. We must become
in their community and the matter would be taken care involved with colleges across the state, introducing students
of—grandma and pop would remain happy in their sacred to TPA and member newspapers, and through these contacts,
home.
we will build an extremely strong foundation for TPA in the
Tonda said that public service notices were so important years ahead.
that we should have a category for public notices in our state
Amelia Hipps, editor of The Lebanon Democrat, will serve
contest. Our Contests Committee will take a serious look at as chairman of the TPA Journalism Education Committee.
the pros and cons of this.
She and other committee members will be working very
|
closely with Kent on educational projects involving college
One of the missions of our association is to help our students.
member newspapers. For newspapers to be successful, they
I would like to share with other members your success stomust not only build readership, but maintain readers while ries on methods of acquiring new readers and retention.
constantly seeking new subscribers. Our community citizens
|
must talk about their local newspaper in a positive light. We
Please do not hesitate to contact me. I am here to serve
must provide them with talking points!
the membership. I can be reached at pauline@crossvilleTPA will be rolling out something new on our Web site. chronicle.com.
NewsSwap will be introduced very soon, and for this venture
|
to be successful and beneficial for TPA, members will need
Sitting behind a computer in Crossville, seeing the mouse
to participate. There will be a place on the TPA Web site open new windows and hearing Kevin Slimp explain all
where editors and reporters can upload those odd, bizarre, about PDF files and why on the screen you might see $2 but
unusual news stories and tidbits that we all love to read a different figure appears in the printed ad was nothing but
and talk about.
phenomenal. This type of session, a Webinar, is the newest
These will not be major stories, just those that would form of training being sponsored by TPA and TPS. I have
generate interest in any community they are published. coined this a “KMLE Webinar”—Kevin Makes Life Easier
Contributors can easily download these shared stories.
Webinar.
Our plans are to have this wonderful member service
As my composition staff of two participated in this trainonline and available to TPA members in early September. ing, I watched eyes light up and heard things like, “Oh, that’s
Each member should receive information regarding down- what that is for,” or, “That will fix our problems,” or, “We need
load procedure, as well as a user name and password, later Acrobat 8.” In my opinion, this KMLE Webinar session has
this month.
exceeded my expectations. During this session, you could
We at the Chronicle have enjoyed a swap relationship with converse with other member newspapers and hear some of
newspapers in counties surrounding Cumberland County their problems. We are eagerly awaiting the next session in
for about 22 years. Some of our neighbors have copied this August. Sign up NOW!
feature, and I can tell you first hand, the readership is not
only there, but it is one of the most talked-about features we PAULINE D. SHERRER is publisher of the Crossville
have. We know this because once we made the decision to Chronicle.
Four to be 2007 Newspaper Hall of Fame inductees
The 2007 Tennessee Newspaper Hall
of Fame inductees have been selected.
2006-07 TPA President Henry A. Stokes
announced them at the Installation
Banquet June 29 in Memphis.
They are Frank R. Ahlgren (1903-95),
The Commercial Appeal, Memphis
(1936-68); Col. Thomas Boyers (1825-95),
TPA founding president, Gallatin Ex-
aminer; Ralph A. Millett Jr. (1919-2000),
Knoxville News-Sentinel (1966-84); and
Willis C. Tucker (1907-2001), University
of Tennessee School of Journalism,
Knoxville (1947-1974).
The induction ceremony will take
place Friday, Nov. 16, during the TPA
fall board gathering in Knoxville. Dr.
Paul Ashdown, School of Journalism
and Electronic Media, UT, Knoxville,
is chairman of the TPA Hall of Fame
Committee. UT and TPA together will
coordinate the induction event. Detailed
information will be provided in a future
issue of The Tennessee Press.
The TPA board meeting will be Saturday morning, Nov. 17.
The Tennessee Press
AUGUST 2007
7
Metro Creative Graphics offers ‘ADS on Demand’
BY KEVIN SLIMP
TPS technology director
I run across quite
a few software vendors as I travel from
one convention to
a n o t h e r. E ve r y
now and then, I’ll
see a new product
that looks like it
has potential for
our newspapers in
Slimp
Tennessee. Over
the past few months, I’ve visited with
Bethany R. Weidenhammer, Metro Creative Graphics, at several conferences.
Each time, she has made a point to tell
me that Metro would be offering a new
service of great interest to newspapers.
So it came as no surprise last week
when I received a press release from
Bethany regarding Metro’s “ADS On
Demand” service.
Most newspapers I visit in Tennessee
subscribe to Metro’s online graphics
or MultiAd’s AdBuilder service. Both
offer clipart, photos and templates at
affordable prices. With this in mind,
it’s important to check on other features
available from these services.
Basically, ADS on Demand works
like this. Let’s say I need an important
ad prepared for tomorrow’s edition. I
look at the clock and realize I’m going
to be hard pressed to have an ad ready
by deadline. ADS on Demand allows
Metro customers to go online to have
ads created for the next day’s edition.
If I place an order by 4 p.m. local time,
I will have an ad waiting in my e-mail
by 9:00 the following morning.
I tried the ADS on Demand to see
how well it works. First I went to www.
metroadsondemand.com and entered
the necessary information. Users can
upload photos, logos or other graphics
for use in the ad. There’s also an area to
let the designers know just what you’re
looking for. I uploaded a photo and ordered two print ads and one ad for a Web
site. I wanted an ad with a hometown
feel, so I instructed
the designer to use
appropriate artwork
to create that feel.
Sure enough, when I
checked my e-mail the
following morning,
there were the ads.
Once you receive the
first version of the
ad, you can submit
as many revisions as
needed. Simply print
the PDF of the ad you
receive and indicate
any changes or edits, then fax back the
printed page(s) to the
Metro Design Team.
Or, if have Adobe
Reader 7.0 or higher,
you can use the “Note
Tool” to make comments directly on the
PDF and e-mail it back
to Metro. You will
receive your revised
(print) ad by e-mail This is an example of an ad created by Metro’s ADS
within two hours. I on Demand service.
requested a couple of
changes, which were promptly handled developed to create custom artwork, ads
and returned to me in less than two and other graphics for newspapers. If
you’re a MultiAd (AdBuilder) customer,
hours.
And here’s the clincher: the ads were it might be worth checking out.
The cost for Metro’s ADS on Demand
very well done. Sometimes, when creating an ad for an important client, I’ve seemed very reasonable. Print ads
searched for hours for the right artwork. start at $15 (priced by size) and Web
ADS on Demand allows the customer to ads start at $15 for static ads and $45
focus on other jobs, knowing the ad will for animated ads. Animated Flash ads
cost $45 and up.
be ready as promised.
For ADS on Demand program and
After seeing ADS on Demand, I contacted a representative of MultiAd and pricing information, one should call
learned that they offer a service called 1-800-223-1600 or visit www.metroad“We’ll Create It.” We’ll Create It was sondemand.com.
Annual Literacy Day tab
now available – at no cost
The Newspaper Association of America Foundation (NAAF) has published a
Literacy Day Tabloid that newspapers
can request—at no cost—and use in conjunction with International Literacy
Day on Sept. 8. The material, which
also can be used year round, is based
on the theme “Newspapers Give People
Knowledge and Guidance.”
The National Center for Family
Literacy contributed content for the
16-page special section, as well as nine
in-paper features that supplement it.
The tabloid is designed to be used by
parents at home with their children
although many NIE programs also
promote it for classroom use.
The publication is available free to
newspapers courtesy of a grant from
Idearc Media, publisher of the Verizon
Yellow Pages and home of Superpages.
com. Newspapers also are free to get additional sponsors as long as they do not
include another phone company.
To order the 2007 Literacy Day Tabloid
CD, which features black and white and
color materials (both Quark and PDF
files), go to www.naaf.org.
Imagination Library Week 2007: Plan now
The second annual Imagination
Library Week in Tennessee is again
set for the third week of September.
Many county Imagination Library
sponsoring organizations already
have plans in motion for fun-filled
events during the week of Sept. 16
through 22. Newspapers with a role
in the Governor’s Books From Birth
Foundation (GBBF) program may want
to feature the observance.
For details on successful events held
during Imagination Library Week 2006,
check out the two-page centerfold in
the Fall 2006/Winter 2007 Signpost,
available at www.GovernorsFoundation.org.
The GBBF will again publicize this
statewide celebration through targeted
media outreach. Make the most of this
opportunity to encourage the program
and win newspaper readers for the
HOW TO CONTACT US
Mail: 435 Montbrook Lane,
Knoxville, TN 37919
Phone: (865) 584-5761
Fax: (865) 558-8687
Web: www.tnpress.com
E-mail: (name)@tnpress.com
Those with boxes, listed
alphabetically:
Laurie Alford (lalford)
Moody Castleman
(mcastleman)
Pam Corley (pcorley)
Angelique Dunn (adunn)
Beth Elliott (belliott)
Robyn Gentile (rgentile)
Earl Goodman (egoodman)
Kathy Hensley (khensley)
Barry Jarrell (bjarrell)
Brenda Mays (bmays)
Amanda Pearce (apearce)
Brandi Richard (brichard)
Greg Sherrill (gsherrill)
Kevin Slimp (kslimp)
Advertising e-mail:
Knoxville office:
[email protected]
Tennessee Press Service
Knoxville, TN 37919
Phone: Knoxville,
(865) 584-5761
Fax: Knoxville,
(865) 558-8687
Phone: Nashville area,
(615) 459-0655
Fax: Nashville area,
(615) 459-0652
Tennessee Press
Association Foundation
Knoxville, TN 37919
Phone: (865) 584-5761
Fax: (865) 558-8687
CMYK
The Tennessee Press
2
AUGUST 2007
CMYK
Primaries could bring positive news for newspapers
There could be positive news on the horizon for
the newspaper industry. Despite dire predictions
initially for minimal advertising growth during
2007, earlier-than-usual presidential primaries
could change that forecast for the better. Initially
considered a slow year because of the absence of
elections and an Olympics, 2007 will see an increase
in ad spending after all. Moving more presidential
primaries to January and February of 2008 will
create a jump-start on the campaign season.
Although television again will garner the biggest bucks in a free-for-all campaign expected to
top $1 billion in spending, Tennessee newspapers
still stand to profit from the many candidates who
need to gain early recognition in 2007.
As more and more critics complain about all
those empty sound bites, it’s possible that issues
could be explored in more detail through the
printed page. Issue ads should be encouraged by
newspaper advertising departments. It’s still one
of the best places to reach intelligent, high-income
voters with crucial information.
Slated for January are primaries for one or both
parties in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South
Carolina. States tentatively adopting February for
at least one of their presidential launches are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado,
Delaware,
Florida,
Hawaii,
Idaho,
Illinois,
Kansas,
Great Smoky
LouiMountains Association s i a n a ,
Press inquiries, photos, books,
history, maps and more.
www.smokiesinformation.org
Add our podcast, “This Month
in the Smokies,” to your Web
site. Contact us for details.
Toll-free 888-898-9102
or 865-436-7318
Ask for Carolyn Jourdan
at extension 255.
had a half dozen per day during the two
Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana,
weeks leading up to Election Day in 2006.
New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, North
I actually received one on that Tuesday,
Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee,
only one hour before the polls closed.
Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and WisconIf these unpopular pitches are banned,
sin, as well as D.C. More than half of the
newspapers again may pick up a few more
U.S. population will have the opportunity
of those remaining ad dollars. Naturally,
to vote in those first two months of 2008.
you’ll want to retain your pay-in-advance
Pennsylvania debated a move to the new
policy for political candidate ads.
Feb. 5 Super Tuesday but may wait. A few
others are still considering a move.
PRESSING Discussion among television executives
centers on what happens when all the
Why the push for more ad spending?
candidates want to place their TV plugs on
For one thing, of course, there’s no in- ISSUES
the evening news in key markets of states
cumbent. So all the parties are seeking
candidates. This is the first election in 80 Randy Hines having primaries. All of their news fits
into a 30- or 60-minute time slot. Unlike
years in which neither major party has
newspapers, which can add an extra four
an incumbent president or vice president
running for the nation’s top spot. “Ralph Nader pages to any section quickly, TV news is a locked-in
for President 2008” items have been on sale for format. However, with the convergence of media
the perennial third party or independent candi- today, many television stations will quickly be
date for months already. Other blips on the radar adding special Web productions that can carry
screen are expected from the Constitution Party, candidates’ messages. Perhaps Tennessee newsthe Green Party and the Libertarian Party. Many papers will plan a similar strategy to incorporate
pundits are already predicting one of the most such print ads into their own Web editions.
But if everybody jumps into the advertising
wide-open contests in the last dozen or so elections. That may not hold true by next spring after circus early, will there be any funds left for the real
all those primaries narrow the field. But for now campaign? Not a problem, according to political
the advertising opportunities are also wide open experts. Some are even suggesting that a new face
or two may appear after the first round of early
for newspapers.
Another plus for newspapers is the push in many
states to ban those annoying
recorded phone calls that are
made to residences by parties
and candidates during the
11th hour of most campaigns.
If you’ll recall, you probably
shootouts. Former VP Al Gore, fresh off his Oscar
performance, is one veteran being encouraged to
enter the crowded Democratic fray.
Another side of the coin is to ask if American
citizens will be overexposed to political campaigns
with the process so extended. Voters say they hate
negative campaigning. Candidates always say they
will avoid it. Yet, time after time, mudslinging starts
early and lasts longer than anyone wants it to.
Several firsts make this an interesting campaign.
For the first time, we have major party, serious
candidates who are black, Hispanic, female and
Mormon. One candidate even formally announced
on the “Late Show with David Letterman.” How
soon will the White House ad push begin? Campaigning has already begun among several Democratic candidates. Snide remarks were exchanged
back in February between Hillary Clinton and
Barack Obama. Many experts are thinking paid
messages will start appearing soon, certainly by
this summer, especially in the above-listed states
with those early contests. Will your paper be ready?
DR. RANDY HINES, former Tennessee educator, teaches in the Department of Communications
at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa.
17870. He can be reached at (570) 372-4079 or
[email protected].
TPA members are needed to judge
the Hoosier State (Indiana) Press
Association’s Better Newspaper
Contest on Friday, Aug. 24, in
Nashville. If you can do so, contact
Robyn Gentile, member services
manager, at (865) 584-5761, ext. 105,
or [email protected].
Advertisers can double their space &
Newspapers can double their commission
Tennessee’s 2x2 Network
advertisers have a choice2x2 or 2x4?
2x4?
Contact TPS for the details
(865) 584-5761, ext. 117 or e-mail
[email protected]
There are 80 participating newspapers. If your newspaper does
not participate, you could be missing out on great commissions.
How about 40%?
• Tennessee’s Classi¿ed Advertising Network • Tennessee’s 2x2 Display Ad Network •
Announcing...
New 2x4 Option
TPA president names
committees for 2007-08
New Tennessee Press Association
President Pauline D. Sherrer, Crossville
Chronicle, has appointed 16 committee
chairmen for 2007-08, and they are
printed below.
Also listed is the chairman of the
Press Institute and Winter Convention
Committee, appointed in February by
then-President Henry A. Stokes. That
one chairman is appointed early so
the committee will have a full year for
planning. In February 2008, Sherrer
will appoint the 2008-09 chairman.
One committee is new this year, the
Drive-In Training Committee, which
will arrange for Drive-In Training
during the summer instead of during
the Winter Convention.
Advertising Committee: Sandra Shelton, The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville
Circulation Committee: Lou Lambert,
Constitution and Bylaws Committee:
Steve Lake, Pulaski Citizen
Contests Committee: Victor Parkins,
The Milan Mirror-Exchange
Drive-In Training: Andrew Oppmann,
The Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro
Freedom of Information Committee:
Michael Williams, The Paris Post-Intelligencer
Government Relations Committee:
Elizabeth Kennedy Blackstone, Ken-
nedy Newspapers, Columbia
Hall of Fame Committee: UT School
of Journalism director (or designee):
Dr. Paul Ashdown
Journalism Education Committee:
Amelia Hipps, The Lebanon Democrat,
chairman, and Kent Flanagan, Middle
Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, co-chairman.
NIE/Literacy Committee: Tom Overton, Monroe County Advocate & Democrat, Sweetwater
Nominating Committee: Steve Lake,
Pulaski Citizen
Personnel Committee: Kevin Burcham, News-Herald, Lenoir City
Postal Committee: Mike Fishman,
Citizen Tribune, Morristown
Press Institute and Winter Convention Committee: Tom Overton, Monroe
County Advocate & Democrat, Sweetwater (through February 2008)
Public Notice Committee: Scott
Whaley, Chester County Independent,
Henderson
Summer Convention Committee: Art
Powers, Johnson City Press
Technology Committee: Alan Broyles,
Johnson City Press
One should contact these chairmen if
he or she is interested in serving on a
committee or committees. Committee
members will be listed in the September
TPA has three new members
Judges needed
Aug. 24 in Nashville
• Tennessee’s Classi¿ed Ad Network • Tennessee’s 2x2 Display Ad Network
The Tennessee Press
AUGUST 2007
CAMILLE FLISS | HERALD CITIZEN, COOKEVILLE
Herald-Citizen, Cookeville, Publisher Mike DeLapp, second from left, presents the Herald of Excellence Award
to Joy McCaleb, Upperman High School teacher and advisor to the school newspaper, the Times. On hand were,
from left, Principal Herb Leftwich and Upperman Times editors Katrina Lee and Bailey Darrow.
ERIC MILLER | ROBERTSON COUNTY TIMES, SPRINGFIELD
The Robertson County Times, Springfield, represented by Publisher Hugh Braddock, presents Springfield High
School Yellow Jacket newspaper advisor Judy Stanley and staff the Tennessee Press Association Herald of
Excellence Award. The newspaper also was cited by the Tennessee High School Press Association as the Best
Overall Newspaper out of 85 schools and 1,000 entries from across the state. Braddock said the Times has been
“nurturing” the Yellow Jacket for 16 years.
Three newspapers were approved
for membership by the TPA Board of
Directors at its June 28 meeting. They
are as follows: The Gallatin Newspaper,
the Nashville Business Journal and The
Portland Progressive.
With these additions, TPA now has
129 members.
Formerly a member, the Nashville
Business Journal rejoined TPA. The
Gallatin Newspaper and The Portland
Progressive are the third and fourth
papers owned by Rural Newspapers Inc.
to qualify for TPA membership. Other
Rural Newspaper holdings include the
Macon County Chronicle of Lafayette
and The Westmoreland Observer. The
company is owned by John Cook.
Contact information for these new
members is as follows:
The Gallatin Newspaper
110 North Water Ave.
Gallatin, TN 37066
(615) 452-4919
Publisher and editor: Julie Brackenbury
Day(s) of publication: Thursday
Paid circulation: 5,370
Nashville Business Journal
344 Fourth Ave. North
Nashville, TN 37219
(615) 248-2222
Publisher: Kate Herman
Editor: Dave Raiford
Advertising manager: Amy Harris
Day(s) of publication: Friday
The Portland Progressive
105 Main St.
Portland, TN 37148
(615) 325-7005
Publisher: Lisa Gregory
Editor: Daniel Suddeath
Advertising manager: Lori Ragland
Day(s) of publication: Wednesday
3
BE KIND TO EDITORS CONTEST
ENTRY FORM
(Deadline Oct. 8)
Newspaper__________________________________
Editor(s) shown kindness_____________________
_____________________________________________
How, when, where___________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Entry contact, phone, e-mail__________________
_____________________________________________
Send entries to Managing Editor Elenora E. Edwards, The Tennessee
Press, 435 Montbrook Lane, Knoxville, Tenn. 37919, or fax to
(865) 558-8687.
5th Be Kind to Editors Contest
coming up; September’s the month
Get ready, get set to show your
appreciation to the editor or editors at
your newspaper. Join The Tennessee
Press in observing Be Kind to Editors
Month in September, and enter the
Fifth Annual Press Be Kind to Editors
Contest.
Take this opportunity to let people
at other Tennessee newspapers know
what top-notch leadership you have in
your newsroom.
Here’s how it works. At some point
in September, do something special
for your editor or editors. Then, let us
know about it no later than Oct. 8. A
judge will select the kindest of the kind,
and that winner will be announced in
the November issue of The Tennessee
Press.
Later, by arrangement with the winner, TPA staff will visit the newspaper
and treat the newsroom staff.
Previous winners were The Daily
Times, Maryville; The Jackson Sun; the
Chattanooga Times Free Press; and the
Monroe County Advocate & Democrat,
Sweetwater.
If one has questions, he or she should
contact Elenora E. Edwards, managing
editor, The Tennessee Press, at (865) 4575459 or [email protected].
See the entry blank on this page.
Sherrer: She’s done it all and is still doing it
FROM PAGE ONE
and as the days led to her taking over the
running of the newspaper, she prepared
by working in every department in the
building.
The Chronicle steadily grew and
became an attractive property, and
in 1988 Pauline and her partners at
Smith Newspapers sold to American
Publishing, which made the Crossville
property its regional office and Pauline
a regional manager.
In 1999 Community Newspaper
Holdings Inc. bought the Chronicle
when American Publishing phased
out its weekly division outside the
Chicago area, and today the newspaper
continues to enjoy success with awardwinning advertising, composition and
editorial departments.
While a big business, Pauline has
never been one to shuck off the little
things. Like the time a little old gentleman’s yard sale ad was accidentally
left out of the newspaper. The man was
distraught.
So, Pauline went out and bought
tomato stakes, made several signs and
in the fashion of the old Burma Shave
highway ads, posted the man’s address
and yard sale notice along the main road
leading into his community. Another
happy customer.
When the Chronicle moved off of
Main St. where its offices had been
located for 100 years, it was Pauline on
her hands and knees, planting flowers
and shrubs to make the new building
attractive for our open house.
There is no question that Pauline by
direction and by action is responsible
for the success the Chronicle has enjoyed over the past 27 years.
We are constantly reminded that not
only is it our mission to inform, and
educate, but to also entertain. If we do
one or two of those things we take the
chance of losing our readers, and when
the readers go, so do the advertisers.
We are reminded to be good citizens
and have a vested interest in our community. Pauline working with others
established the after-school study and
tutor program for local elementary
schools. She has served on various
boards and committees, from the
Chamber and Rotary to the local energy
company’s board of advisors who hand
out community grants. Whether she
works with Habitat for Humanity or her
husband’s Exchange Club’s programs,
Pauline is always ready to offer a helping hand.
She makes sure we have the best in
computer and photography equipment
with which to do our work. That way,
no excuses.
Pauline no longer has to stick screwdrivers in computers to see if the sparks
will fly. She leaves the press operation
to Jimmy Burks, who has been with the
company for nearly three decades.
But I guarantee one thing. If she had
an inkling of an idea that her expertise
in equipment repair was needed, she
would be in the press room up to her
elbows in black ink getting to the root
of the problem.
FORESIGHT
2007
AUGUST
21: Deadline for registering
for the Ad/Circ Managers’
Retreat
23: SNPA Publisher Forum, 10
a.m.-4 p.m., Morristown
24: TPA judges Hoosier State
(Indiana) Press Association
Better Newspaper Contest,
Willis Conference Center,
Nashville
SEPTEMBER
16-22: Imagination Library
Week
17: Constitution Day
21-22: TPA Advertising/Circulation Managers’ Retreat,
Knoxville
26-29: NNA 121st Annual Convention & Trade Show, Waterside Marriott, Norfolk, Va.
26-29: National Conference of
Editorial Writers Convention,
Hotel Intercontinental, Kansas City, Mo.
27-30: Religion Newswriters
Association, The Historic
Menger Hotel, San Antonio,
Texas
OCTOBER
4-7: 2007 SPJ Convention and
National Journalism Conference, Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
11-13: 10th Institute of Newspaper Technology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
NOVEMBER
16-17: TPA Fall Board Meeting and Hall of Fame Induction, Marriott, Knoxville
2008
FEBRUARY
TBA: TPA Winter Convention, Sheraton Downtown
Hotel, Nashville
APRIL
TBA: Ad/Circ Conference,
Gatlinburg
Barnes named
to TPA board
Eric Barnes, publisher of The Daily
News, Memphis, will serve on the
Tennessee Press Association Board of
Directors for at least the next year. He
will represent District 10.
This board seat was vacated when
Jay Albrecht, The Leader, Covington,
left his position in early July. He and
his family have moved to Cookeville,
their former home.
Steve Lake, Pulaski Citizen, will serve
a second year as at-large director since
Henry A. Stokes, having retired, is not
eligible per the TPA Constitution and
Bylaws.
CMYK
The Tennessee Press
6
The Tennessee Press
4
AUGUST 2007
AUGUST 2007
The Tennessee Press
5
TRACKS
Henry A. Stokes, to many people in
TPA the face of The Commercial Appeal,
Memphis, has retired. His last day at the
newspaper serving the state’s largest
city was one day after he completed his
term as TPA president.
For about the last year, Stokes led
the establishment of a satellite office,
through which the Germantown &
Collierville Appeal was produced. He
devoted 42 years of his life to newspapers, the last 19 to the Appeal. He retired
as editor of the Germantown and Collierville Appeal but served first, until
growth necessitated another principal
staff member, as associate publisher
and editor.
Earlier he was The Commercial
Appeal’s director of administration and
planning (2002-2006). He was managing
editor of the newspaper for a decade
(1992-2002) and before that was assistant
managing editor (1988-1991).
Stokes’ newspaper experience also
includes The Detroit (Mich.) News,
1972-1988; The Florida Times-Union,
Jacksonville, 1969-1972; the Palatka
(Fla.) Daily News, 1966-1969; and The
Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal.
Stokes has served on the Associated Press Managing Editors Board
of Directors. He is a member of the
University of Memphis Department
of Economics Advisory Board, Foundation for the Library and Rotary Club of
Germantown.
Stokes chaired the 2004 TPA Convention Committee, which planned and
executed the Tri-State Convention for
the Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee press associations. He served two
years as vice president for dailies and
earlier represented District 10 on the
board of directors.
His hobbies include fishing and birdwatching.
Commenting on his career, Stokes
said, “I’ve done a lot of different things
and enjoyed most of them.”
While at The Detroit News, Stokes
became the first page one editor. The
job was patterned after a similar position used by The Wall Street Journal,
with the editor supervising a group
of specialty writers and generalists
good at explanatory word projects.
Their stories as well as other sources
helped assure each day’s front page
contained an off-news feature as well
as a unique topic.
Also at The Detroit News, Stokes
expanded the traditional state capital
bureau from three to 16 staff members
in a competitive move to “own” state
news coverage in Michigan and to
deliver to readers a comprehensive
report on issues that have an effect
on their lives (going beyond the usual
budget and political coverage).
One of Stokes’ accomplishments at
The Commercial Appeal was to reduce
published errors by about 60 percent
through a process of careful analysis
of each error and the development of
ways to avoid repeating errors.
He also reorganized the news staff of
the Appeal to meet downsizing goals,
improving efficiency and internal communication and maintaining a quality,
reader-oriented product.
Stokes also led two strategic task
forces at The Commercial Appeal. One
developed community-contributed,
zoned sections for small-area reader-
ship and targeted
advertising. The
other resulted in a
plan to expand the
newspaper’s DeSoto County, Miss.
Edition into a complete community
newspaper.
Stokes
He led the opening
of the Germantown
& Collierville Appeal as a separate edition of The Commercial Appeal and
guided it during its initial year.
As does any newspaper person, Stokes
has his favorite stories. “I still remember the lead on a story I wrote for The
Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville,”
he said. “I had explored a tip on how
truck drivers who lose their licenses
were getting replacements by declaring them lost and providing very little
identification. So I wrote: ‘I got a Florida
driver’s license with a quarter and a
library card. I used my own name, but
I could have used yours.’”
Stokes said the best investigative
story he managed and edited was an
expose of the leading candidate for
Congress one year in Detroit. “We
followed tips from some of his former
employees and unearthed the way he
financed his company’s operations during a rough patch. He had laid off all
his employees one Friday, told them to
apply for unemployment compensation
on Monday and then return to work
(without pay).
“This went on for several weeks before
he ‘rehired’ the work crew. The story
crushed the candidate’s chances in
that election, but the electorate tends
to forgive or forget. He was elected to
Congress two years later.”
Stokes related another notable story.
“When it became clear that something
wasn’t what it seemed with the com-
pany that had the contract to manage
and develop the new Pyramid arena
in Memphis, one of the reporters on
my staff began digging into a track
record of deceit and false promises
behind the company’s principal. We
were able to reveal that this promoter
was milking taxpayers and businesses
with a scheme that sold sponsorships
and spent the revenue without producing the events and development local
government had expected. ‘Pyramid
Dreams, Pyramid Schemes’ laid out the
whole ugly mess.”
Then again, not everything always
worked so well. Telling about “some
stories I’d rather forget,” he recalled,
“I’ve long wanted to take back an
expose I reported about pollution of a
swamp and stream next to a pulp and
paper company in Palatka, Fla. (Palatka
Daily News). It was bad science. I looked
at the wrong pollutants (a point that
amazingly was lost on the paper mill
spokespersons as well).”
And another. “A late night decision to
put a screaming headline, ‘Hurricane
turns toward Jacksonville,’ on a front
page story (Florida Times-Union) based
on the latest tracking coordinates from
the weather wire. The storm was not far
due east of the city and the hurricane
eye took a sudden jog to the west. By
morning skies were clear and the wind
a gentle thing. Again, my scientific judgment was flawed. In the early morning
hours, the storm had changed course
again, sparing the city and serving me
a breakfast of egg-on-face.”
“The worst of all,” Stokes said, “ was
the morning of a space shuttle launch.
To beat the competition, I had a reporter
at the Kennedy Space Center to give
The Detroit News moment-by-moment
updates. We were pushing deadline and
the launch time was slipping back from
small delays. So I asked the reporter to
provide alternate leads and we plated
the “streamed into a cloudless sky”
lead, expecting to let the press fly with
it the moment our reporter declared the
shuttle up. Unfortunately, the launch
was scrubbed in the last minutes of
countdown.
“Worse, the pressroom had misunderstood and started printing the nowfictional story. Trucks were dispatched
to retrieve some 30,000 copies, but local
TV stations and The Detroit Free Press
had snagged enough of them to make
sure we were embarrassed. As they say,
bad news travels faster than good news
– farther, too. We were a national chuckle
by that evening. And it was the only
time I’m aware of that I’ve ever been
mentioned in the Bangkok Times.”
Stokes and his wife, Carolyn (Kitty),
will have been married 41 years this
month. They met in high school and
sold advertising together for the high
school newspaper. Their home has been
in Germantown since 1988, when they
moved from Detroit, Mich.
The family includes three daughters.
Elizabeth Jorden, 39, lives in Fairfield,
Mont. with her husband, Nathanial,
and their sons, Henry and Oliver. She
is principal teacher in a rural primary
school with two classrooms and a kindergarten. Virginia St.Ana, 33, makes
her home in Little Rock, Ark. with her
husband, Joe, and their son, Joseph. She
works as an orthotist for a contractor
serving the regional Veterans Administration Hospital in Little Rock. She and
Joe own Arkansas’ only wine bar, a place
called Crush in downtown Little Rock.
Katherine, 22, is a senior civil engineering student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She wants to specialize
in environmental engineering.
Stokes plans to continue participation
in TPA and, as a past president, he is
an honorary member.
Retirement ‘an idea long cherished’
BY HENRY A. STOKES
Editor
Germantown & Collierville Appeal
Someone asked me the other day
how long I’d been doing this—“this”
meaning newspaper work.
Including short interruptions early
on to finish my journalism degree, it’s
been nearly 42 years.
Doesn’t seem that long, looking
back.
But I predate Watergate in this profession. I’ve had great opportunity to help
report on events and trends: to see our
society improve (mostly) and to watch
technology take us to the moon and
then into cyberspace.
It all has been interesting and much
of it fun, especially the last 19 years.
Coming to Memphis meant joining a
newspaper with deep roots in history
and an ever-challenging mission to
serve the present and earn a place in
the future.
One of the great things about newspapering is that you can work one place and
still move from job to job. You needn’t
ever burn out on an assignment.
My posting as managing editor lasted
about a quarter of my career—the longest tenure I’ve had among jobs that
ranged over most of the things you
can do in a newsroom and a few on the
business side.
Working on expansion strategies for
our suburban editions, including the
last year and a half getting Germantown
& Collierville Appeal rolling, has been
one of my most satisfying challenges.
There’s no question that however big
the news gets, nothing eclipses what
happens where you live.
Now, seemingly all of a sudden, it’s
time to retire, an idea long cherished
but until lately a distant concept.
As others did before me, I’ll pass the
keyboard to fine and talented colleagues.
I am proud to have been associated with
them. They will continue the daily work
to produce your primary source of news
and information.
Amie Stein, associate publisher for
Germantown & Collierville Appeal, is
well oriented to the newspaper’s mission and to the needs of readers and
advertisers. She’ll continue to build
and improve our products with you
in mind.
At the end of this week, I’ll leave the
newspaper but not our community.
That Germantown home Kitty and I
bought back in 1988 needs my attention.
So do our three grandsons.
They are at the top of a long to-do
list.
Henry A. Stokes is editor (for a few
more days) of Germantown & Collierville Appeal.
(Germantown & Collierville
Appeal, June 24, 2007)
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AUGUST 2007
AUGUST 2007
The Tennessee Press
5
TRACKS
Henry A. Stokes, to many people in
TPA the face of The Commercial Appeal,
Memphis, has retired. His last day at the
newspaper serving the state’s largest
city was one day after he completed his
term as TPA president.
For about the last year, Stokes led
the establishment of a satellite office,
through which the Germantown &
Collierville Appeal was produced. He
devoted 42 years of his life to newspapers, the last 19 to the Appeal. He retired
as editor of the Germantown and Collierville Appeal but served first, until
growth necessitated another principal
staff member, as associate publisher
and editor.
Earlier he was The Commercial
Appeal’s director of administration and
planning (2002-2006). He was managing
editor of the newspaper for a decade
(1992-2002) and before that was assistant
managing editor (1988-1991).
Stokes’ newspaper experience also
includes The Detroit (Mich.) News,
1972-1988; The Florida Times-Union,
Jacksonville, 1969-1972; the Palatka
(Fla.) Daily News, 1966-1969; and The
Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal.
Stokes has served on the Associated Press Managing Editors Board
of Directors. He is a member of the
University of Memphis Department
of Economics Advisory Board, Foundation for the Library and Rotary Club of
Germantown.
Stokes chaired the 2004 TPA Convention Committee, which planned and
executed the Tri-State Convention for
the Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee press associations. He served two
years as vice president for dailies and
earlier represented District 10 on the
board of directors.
His hobbies include fishing and birdwatching.
Commenting on his career, Stokes
said, “I’ve done a lot of different things
and enjoyed most of them.”
While at The Detroit News, Stokes
became the first page one editor. The
job was patterned after a similar position used by The Wall Street Journal,
with the editor supervising a group
of specialty writers and generalists
good at explanatory word projects.
Their stories as well as other sources
helped assure each day’s front page
contained an off-news feature as well
as a unique topic.
Also at The Detroit News, Stokes
expanded the traditional state capital
bureau from three to 16 staff members
in a competitive move to “own” state
news coverage in Michigan and to
deliver to readers a comprehensive
report on issues that have an effect
on their lives (going beyond the usual
budget and political coverage).
One of Stokes’ accomplishments at
The Commercial Appeal was to reduce
published errors by about 60 percent
through a process of careful analysis
of each error and the development of
ways to avoid repeating errors.
He also reorganized the news staff of
the Appeal to meet downsizing goals,
improving efficiency and internal communication and maintaining a quality,
reader-oriented product.
Stokes also led two strategic task
forces at The Commercial Appeal. One
developed community-contributed,
zoned sections for small-area reader-
ship and targeted
advertising. The
other resulted in a
plan to expand the
newspaper’s DeSoto County, Miss.
Edition into a complete community
newspaper.
Stokes
He led the opening
of the Germantown
& Collierville Appeal as a separate edition of The Commercial Appeal and
guided it during its initial year.
As does any newspaper person, Stokes
has his favorite stories. “I still remember the lead on a story I wrote for The
Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville,”
he said. “I had explored a tip on how
truck drivers who lose their licenses
were getting replacements by declaring them lost and providing very little
identification. So I wrote: ‘I got a Florida
driver’s license with a quarter and a
library card. I used my own name, but
I could have used yours.’”
Stokes said the best investigative
story he managed and edited was an
expose of the leading candidate for
Congress one year in Detroit. “We
followed tips from some of his former
employees and unearthed the way he
financed his company’s operations during a rough patch. He had laid off all
his employees one Friday, told them to
apply for unemployment compensation
on Monday and then return to work
(without pay).
“This went on for several weeks before
he ‘rehired’ the work crew. The story
crushed the candidate’s chances in
that election, but the electorate tends
to forgive or forget. He was elected to
Congress two years later.”
Stokes related another notable story.
“When it became clear that something
wasn’t what it seemed with the com-
pany that had the contract to manage
and develop the new Pyramid arena
in Memphis, one of the reporters on
my staff began digging into a track
record of deceit and false promises
behind the company’s principal. We
were able to reveal that this promoter
was milking taxpayers and businesses
with a scheme that sold sponsorships
and spent the revenue without producing the events and development local
government had expected. ‘Pyramid
Dreams, Pyramid Schemes’ laid out the
whole ugly mess.”
Then again, not everything always
worked so well. Telling about “some
stories I’d rather forget,” he recalled,
“I’ve long wanted to take back an
expose I reported about pollution of a
swamp and stream next to a pulp and
paper company in Palatka, Fla. (Palatka
Daily News). It was bad science. I looked
at the wrong pollutants (a point that
amazingly was lost on the paper mill
spokespersons as well).”
And another. “A late night decision to
put a screaming headline, ‘Hurricane
turns toward Jacksonville,’ on a front
page story (Florida Times-Union) based
on the latest tracking coordinates from
the weather wire. The storm was not far
due east of the city and the hurricane
eye took a sudden jog to the west. By
morning skies were clear and the wind
a gentle thing. Again, my scientific judgment was flawed. In the early morning
hours, the storm had changed course
again, sparing the city and serving me
a breakfast of egg-on-face.”
“The worst of all,” Stokes said, “ was
the morning of a space shuttle launch.
To beat the competition, I had a reporter
at the Kennedy Space Center to give
The Detroit News moment-by-moment
updates. We were pushing deadline and
the launch time was slipping back from
small delays. So I asked the reporter to
provide alternate leads and we plated
the “streamed into a cloudless sky”
lead, expecting to let the press fly with
it the moment our reporter declared the
shuttle up. Unfortunately, the launch
was scrubbed in the last minutes of
countdown.
“Worse, the pressroom had misunderstood and started printing the nowfictional story. Trucks were dispatched
to retrieve some 30,000 copies, but local
TV stations and The Detroit Free Press
had snagged enough of them to make
sure we were embarrassed. As they say,
bad news travels faster than good news
– farther, too. We were a national chuckle
by that evening. And it was the only
time I’m aware of that I’ve ever been
mentioned in the Bangkok Times.”
Stokes and his wife, Carolyn (Kitty),
will have been married 41 years this
month. They met in high school and
sold advertising together for the high
school newspaper. Their home has been
in Germantown since 1988, when they
moved from Detroit, Mich.
The family includes three daughters.
Elizabeth Jorden, 39, lives in Fairfield,
Mont. with her husband, Nathanial,
and their sons, Henry and Oliver. She
is principal teacher in a rural primary
school with two classrooms and a kindergarten. Virginia St.Ana, 33, makes
her home in Little Rock, Ark. with her
husband, Joe, and their son, Joseph. She
works as an orthotist for a contractor
serving the regional Veterans Administration Hospital in Little Rock. She and
Joe own Arkansas’ only wine bar, a place
called Crush in downtown Little Rock.
Katherine, 22, is a senior civil engineering student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She wants to specialize
in environmental engineering.
Stokes plans to continue participation
in TPA and, as a past president, he is
an honorary member.
Retirement ‘an idea long cherished’
BY HENRY A. STOKES
Editor
Germantown & Collierville Appeal
Someone asked me the other day
how long I’d been doing this—“this”
meaning newspaper work.
Including short interruptions early
on to finish my journalism degree, it’s
been nearly 42 years.
Doesn’t seem that long, looking
back.
But I predate Watergate in this profession. I’ve had great opportunity to help
report on events and trends: to see our
society improve (mostly) and to watch
technology take us to the moon and
then into cyberspace.
It all has been interesting and much
of it fun, especially the last 19 years.
Coming to Memphis meant joining a
newspaper with deep roots in history
and an ever-challenging mission to
serve the present and earn a place in
the future.
One of the great things about newspapering is that you can work one place and
still move from job to job. You needn’t
ever burn out on an assignment.
My posting as managing editor lasted
about a quarter of my career—the longest tenure I’ve had among jobs that
ranged over most of the things you
can do in a newsroom and a few on the
business side.
Working on expansion strategies for
our suburban editions, including the
last year and a half getting Germantown
& Collierville Appeal rolling, has been
one of my most satisfying challenges.
There’s no question that however big
the news gets, nothing eclipses what
happens where you live.
Now, seemingly all of a sudden, it’s
time to retire, an idea long cherished
but until lately a distant concept.
As others did before me, I’ll pass the
keyboard to fine and talented colleagues.
I am proud to have been associated with
them. They will continue the daily work
to produce your primary source of news
and information.
Amie Stein, associate publisher for
Germantown & Collierville Appeal, is
well oriented to the newspaper’s mission and to the needs of readers and
advertisers. She’ll continue to build
and improve our products with you
in mind.
At the end of this week, I’ll leave the
newspaper but not our community.
That Germantown home Kitty and I
bought back in 1988 needs my attention.
So do our three grandsons.
They are at the top of a long to-do
list.
Henry A. Stokes is editor (for a few
more days) of Germantown & Collierville Appeal.
(Germantown & Collierville
Appeal, June 24, 2007)
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CMYK
Primaries could bring positive news for newspapers
There could be positive news on the horizon for
the newspaper industry. Despite dire predictions
initially for minimal advertising growth during
2007, earlier-than-usual presidential primaries
could change that forecast for the better. Initially
considered a slow year because of the absence of
elections and an Olympics, 2007 will see an increase
in ad spending after all. Moving more presidential
primaries to January and February of 2008 will
create a jump-start on the campaign season.
Although television again will garner the biggest bucks in a free-for-all campaign expected to
top $1 billion in spending, Tennessee newspapers
still stand to profit from the many candidates who
need to gain early recognition in 2007.
As more and more critics complain about all
those empty sound bites, it’s possible that issues
could be explored in more detail through the
printed page. Issue ads should be encouraged by
newspaper advertising departments. It’s still one
of the best places to reach intelligent, high-income
voters with crucial information.
Slated for January are primaries for one or both
parties in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South
Carolina. States tentatively adopting February for
at least one of their presidential launches are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado,
Delaware,
Florida,
Hawaii,
Idaho,
Illinois,
Kansas,
Great Smoky
LouiMountains Association s i a n a ,
Press inquiries, photos, books,
history, maps and more.
www.smokiesinformation.org
Add our podcast, “This Month
in the Smokies,” to your Web
site. Contact us for details.
Toll-free 888-898-9102
or 865-436-7318
Ask for Carolyn Jourdan
at extension 255.
had a half dozen per day during the two
Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana,
weeks leading up to Election Day in 2006.
New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, North
I actually received one on that Tuesday,
Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee,
only one hour before the polls closed.
Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and WisconIf these unpopular pitches are banned,
sin, as well as D.C. More than half of the
newspapers again may pick up a few more
U.S. population will have the opportunity
of those remaining ad dollars. Naturally,
to vote in those first two months of 2008.
you’ll want to retain your pay-in-advance
Pennsylvania debated a move to the new
policy for political candidate ads.
Feb. 5 Super Tuesday but may wait. A few
others are still considering a move.
PRESSING Discussion among television executives
centers on what happens when all the
Why the push for more ad spending?
candidates want to place their TV plugs on
For one thing, of course, there’s no in- ISSUES
the evening news in key markets of states
cumbent. So all the parties are seeking
candidates. This is the first election in 80 Randy Hines having primaries. All of their news fits
into a 30- or 60-minute time slot. Unlike
years in which neither major party has
newspapers, which can add an extra four
an incumbent president or vice president
running for the nation’s top spot. “Ralph Nader pages to any section quickly, TV news is a locked-in
for President 2008” items have been on sale for format. However, with the convergence of media
the perennial third party or independent candi- today, many television stations will quickly be
date for months already. Other blips on the radar adding special Web productions that can carry
screen are expected from the Constitution Party, candidates’ messages. Perhaps Tennessee newsthe Green Party and the Libertarian Party. Many papers will plan a similar strategy to incorporate
pundits are already predicting one of the most such print ads into their own Web editions.
But if everybody jumps into the advertising
wide-open contests in the last dozen or so elections. That may not hold true by next spring after circus early, will there be any funds left for the real
all those primaries narrow the field. But for now campaign? Not a problem, according to political
the advertising opportunities are also wide open experts. Some are even suggesting that a new face
or two may appear after the first round of early
for newspapers.
Another plus for newspapers is the push in many
states to ban those annoying
recorded phone calls that are
made to residences by parties
and candidates during the
11th hour of most campaigns.
If you’ll recall, you probably
shootouts. Former VP Al Gore, fresh off his Oscar
performance, is one veteran being encouraged to
enter the crowded Democratic fray.
Another side of the coin is to ask if American
citizens will be overexposed to political campaigns
with the process so extended. Voters say they hate
negative campaigning. Candidates always say they
will avoid it. Yet, time after time, mudslinging starts
early and lasts longer than anyone wants it to.
Several firsts make this an interesting campaign.
For the first time, we have major party, serious
candidates who are black, Hispanic, female and
Mormon. One candidate even formally announced
on the “Late Show with David Letterman.” How
soon will the White House ad push begin? Campaigning has already begun among several Democratic candidates. Snide remarks were exchanged
back in February between Hillary Clinton and
Barack Obama. Many experts are thinking paid
messages will start appearing soon, certainly by
this summer, especially in the above-listed states
with those early contests. Will your paper be ready?
DR. RANDY HINES, former Tennessee educator, teaches in the Department of Communications
at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa.
17870. He can be reached at (570) 372-4079 or
[email protected].
TPA members are needed to judge
the Hoosier State (Indiana) Press
Association’s Better Newspaper
Contest on Friday, Aug. 24, in
Nashville. If you can do so, contact
Robyn Gentile, member services
manager, at (865) 584-5761, ext. 105,
or [email protected].
Advertisers can double their space &
Newspapers can double their commission
Tennessee’s 2x2 Network
advertisers have a choice2x2 or 2x4?
2x4?
Contact TPS for the details
(865) 584-5761, ext. 117 or e-mail
[email protected]
There are 80 participating newspapers. If your newspaper does
not participate, you could be missing out on great commissions.
How about 40%?
• Tennessee’s Classi¿ed Advertising Network • Tennessee’s 2x2 Display Ad Network •
Announcing...
New 2x4 Option
TPA president names
committees for 2007-08
New Tennessee Press Association
President Pauline D. Sherrer, Crossville
Chronicle, has appointed 16 committee
chairmen for 2007-08, and they are
printed below.
Also listed is the chairman of the
Press Institute and Winter Convention
Committee, appointed in February by
then-President Henry A. Stokes. That
one chairman is appointed early so
the committee will have a full year for
planning. In February 2008, Sherrer
will appoint the 2008-09 chairman.
One committee is new this year, the
Drive-In Training Committee, which
will arrange for Drive-In Training
during the summer instead of during
the Winter Convention.
Advertising Committee: Sandra Shelton, The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville
Circulation Committee: Lou Lambert,
Constitution and Bylaws Committee:
Steve Lake, Pulaski Citizen
Contests Committee: Victor Parkins,
The Milan Mirror-Exchange
Drive-In Training: Andrew Oppmann,
The Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro
Freedom of Information Committee:
Michael Williams, The Paris Post-Intelligencer
Government Relations Committee:
Elizabeth Kennedy Blackstone, Ken-
nedy Newspapers, Columbia
Hall of Fame Committee: UT School
of Journalism director (or designee):
Dr. Paul Ashdown
Journalism Education Committee:
Amelia Hipps, The Lebanon Democrat,
chairman, and Kent Flanagan, Middle
Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, co-chairman.
NIE/Literacy Committee: Tom Overton, Monroe County Advocate & Democrat, Sweetwater
Nominating Committee: Steve Lake,
Pulaski Citizen
Personnel Committee: Kevin Burcham, News-Herald, Lenoir City
Postal Committee: Mike Fishman,
Citizen Tribune, Morristown
Press Institute and Winter Convention Committee: Tom Overton, Monroe
County Advocate & Democrat, Sweetwater (through February 2008)
Public Notice Committee: Scott
Whaley, Chester County Independent,
Henderson
Summer Convention Committee: Art
Powers, Johnson City Press
Technology Committee: Alan Broyles,
Johnson City Press
One should contact these chairmen if
he or she is interested in serving on a
committee or committees. Committee
members will be listed in the September
TPA has three new members
Judges needed
Aug. 24 in Nashville
• Tennessee’s Classi¿ed Ad Network • Tennessee’s 2x2 Display Ad Network
The Tennessee Press
AUGUST 2007
CAMILLE FLISS | HERALD CITIZEN, COOKEVILLE
Herald-Citizen, Cookeville, Publisher Mike DeLapp, second from left, presents the Herald of Excellence Award
to Joy McCaleb, Upperman High School teacher and advisor to the school newspaper, the Times. On hand were,
from left, Principal Herb Leftwich and Upperman Times editors Katrina Lee and Bailey Darrow.
ERIC MILLER | ROBERTSON COUNTY TIMES, SPRINGFIELD
The Robertson County Times, Springfield, represented by Publisher Hugh Braddock, presents Springfield High
School Yellow Jacket newspaper advisor Judy Stanley and staff the Tennessee Press Association Herald of
Excellence Award. The newspaper also was cited by the Tennessee High School Press Association as the Best
Overall Newspaper out of 85 schools and 1,000 entries from across the state. Braddock said the Times has been
“nurturing” the Yellow Jacket for 16 years.
Three newspapers were approved
for membership by the TPA Board of
Directors at its June 28 meeting. They
are as follows: The Gallatin Newspaper,
the Nashville Business Journal and The
Portland Progressive.
With these additions, TPA now has
129 members.
Formerly a member, the Nashville
Business Journal rejoined TPA. The
Gallatin Newspaper and The Portland
Progressive are the third and fourth
papers owned by Rural Newspapers Inc.
to qualify for TPA membership. Other
Rural Newspaper holdings include the
Macon County Chronicle of Lafayette
and The Westmoreland Observer. The
company is owned by John Cook.
Contact information for these new
members is as follows:
The Gallatin Newspaper
110 North Water Ave.
Gallatin, TN 37066
(615) 452-4919
Publisher and editor: Julie Brackenbury
Day(s) of publication: Thursday
Nashville Business Journal
344 Fourth Ave. North
Nashville, TN 37219
(615) 248-2222
Publisher: Kate Herman
Editor: Dave Raiford
Advertising manager: Amy Harris
Day(s) of publication: Friday
The Portland Progressive
105 Main St.
Portland, TN 37148
(615) 325-7005
Publisher: Lisa Gregory
Editor: Daniel Suddeath
Advertising manager: Lori Ragland
Day(s) of publication: Wednesday
3
BE KIND TO EDITORS CONTEST
ENTRY FORM
(Deadline Oct. 8)
Newspaper__________________________________
Editor(s) shown kindness_____________________
_____________________________________________
How, when, where___________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Entry contact, phone, e-mail__________________
_____________________________________________
Send entries to Managing Editor Elenora E. Edwards, The Tennessee
Press, 435 Montbrook Lane, Knoxville, Tenn. 37919, or fax to
(865) 558-8687.
5th Be Kind to Editors Contest
coming up; September’s the month
Get ready, get set to show your
appreciation to the editor or editors at
your newspaper. Join The Tennessee
Press in observing Be Kind to Editors
Month in September, and enter the
Fifth Annual Press Be Kind to Editors
Contest.
Take this opportunity to let people
at other Tennessee newspapers know
what top-notch leadership you have in
your newsroom.
Here’s how it works. At some point
in September, do something special
for your editor or editors. Then, let us
know about it no later than Oct. 8. A
judge will select the kindest of the kind,
and that winner will be announced in
the November issue of The Tennessee
Press.
Later, by arrangement with the winner, TPA staff will visit the newspaper
and treat the newsroom staff.
Previous winners were The Daily
Times, Maryville; The Jackson Sun; the
Chattanooga Times Free Press; and the
Monroe County Advocate & Democrat,
Sweetwater.
If one has questions, he or she should
contact Elenora E. Edwards, managing
editor, The Tennessee Press, at (865) 4575459 or [email protected].
See the entry blank on this page.
Sherrer: She’s done it all and is still doing it
FROM PAGE ONE
and as the days led to her taking over the
running of the newspaper, she prepared
by working in every department in the
building.
The Chronicle steadily grew and
became an attractive property, and
in 1988 Pauline and her partners at
Smith Newspapers sold to American
Publishing, which made the Crossville
property its regional office and Pauline
a regional manager.
In 1999 Community Newspaper
Holdings Inc. bought the Chronicle
when American Publishing phased
out its weekly division outside the
Chicago area, and today the newspaper
continues to enjoy success with awardwinning advertising, composition and
editorial departments.
While a big business, Pauline has
never been one to shuck off the little
things. Like the time a little old gentleman’s yard sale ad was accidentally
left out of the newspaper. The man was
distraught.
So, Pauline went out and bought
tomato stakes, made several signs and
in the fashion of the old Burma Shave
highway ads, posted the man’s address
and yard sale notice along the main road
leading into his community. Another
happy customer.
When the Chronicle moved off of
Main St. where its offices had been
located for 100 years, it was Pauline on
her hands and knees, planting flowers
and shrubs to make the new building
attractive for our open house.
There is no question that Pauline by
direction and by action is responsible
for the success the Chronicle has enjoyed over the past 27 years.
We are constantly reminded that not
only is it our mission to inform, and
educate, but to also entertain. If we do
one or two of those things we take the
chance of losing our readers, and when
the readers go, so do the advertisers.
We are reminded to be good citizens
and have a vested interest in our community. Pauline working with others
established the after-school study and
tutor program for local elementary
schools. She has served on various
boards and committees, from the
Chamber and Rotary to the local energy
company’s board of advisors who hand
out community grants. Whether she
works with Habitat for Humanity or her
husband’s Exchange Club’s programs,
Pauline is always ready to offer a helping hand.
She makes sure we have the best in
computer and photography equipment
with which to do our work. That way,
no excuses.
Pauline no longer has to stick screwdrivers in computers to see if the sparks
will fly. She leaves the press operation
to Jimmy Burks, who has been with the
company for nearly three decades.
But I guarantee one thing. If she had
an inkling of an idea that her expertise
in equipment repair was needed, she
would be in the press room up to her
elbows in black ink getting to the root
of the problem.
FORESIGHT
2007
AUGUST
21: Deadline for registering
for the Ad/Circ Managers’
Retreat
23: SNPA Publisher Forum, 10
a.m.-4 p.m., Morristown
24: TPA judges Hoosier State
(Indiana) Press Association
Better Newspaper Contest,
Willis Conference Center,
Nashville
SEPTEMBER
16-22: Imagination Library
Week
17: Constitution Day
21-22: TPA Advertising/Circulation Managers’ Retreat,
Knoxville
26-29: NNA 121st Annual Convention & Trade Show, Waterside Marriott, Norfolk, Va.
26-29: National Conference of
Editorial Writers Convention,
Hotel Intercontinental, Kansas City, Mo.
27-30: Religion Newswriters
Association, The Historic
Menger Hotel, San Antonio,
Texas
OCTOBER
4-7: 2007 SPJ Convention and
National Journalism Conference, Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
11-13: 10th Institute of Newspaper Technology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
NOVEMBER
16-17: TPA Fall Board Meeting and Hall of Fame Induction, Marriott, Knoxville
2008
FEBRUARY
TBA: TPA Winter Convention, Sheraton Downtown
Hotel, Nashville
APRIL
TBA: Ad/Circ Conference,
Gatlinburg
Barnes named
to TPA board
Eric Barnes, publisher of The Daily
News, Memphis, will serve on the
Tennessee Press Association Board of
Directors for at least the next year. He
will represent District 10.
This board seat was vacated when
Jay Albrecht, The Leader, Covington,
left his position in early July. He and
his family have moved to Cookeville,
their former home.
Steve Lake, Pulaski Citizen, will serve
a second year as at-large director since
Henry A. Stokes, having retired, is not
eligible per the TPA Constitution and
Bylaws.
CMYK
The Tennessee Press
6
AUGUST 2007
An exciting year is ahead of us
(USPS 616-460)
Published monthly by the
TENNESSEE PRESS SERVICE, INC.
for the
TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION, INC.
435 Montbrook Lane
Knoxville, Tennessee 37919
Telephone (865) 584-5761/Fax (865) 558-8687/www.tnpress.com
Subscriptions: $6 annually
Periodicals Postage Paid At Knoxville,TN
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Tennessee Press,
435 Montbrook Lane, Knoxville,TN 37919.
The Tennessee Press is printed by The Standard Banner, Jefferson City.
Greg M. Sherrill.....................................................Editor
Elenora E. Edwards.............................Managing Editor
Robyn Gentile..........................Production Coordinator
Angelique Dunn...............................................Assistant
20
Member
07
The Tennessee Press
is printed on recycled paper
and is recyclable.
www.tnpress.com
The Tennessee Press can be read on
CMYK
OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION
TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION
Pauline D. Sherrer, Crossville Chronicle.......................................... President
Tom Griscom, Chattanooga Times Free Press............................Vice President
Victor Parkins, The Milan Mirror-Exchange.................................Vice President
Bill Williams, The Paris Post-Intelligencer...........................................Treasurer
Greg M. Sherrill, Knoxville....................................................Executive Director
DIRECTORS
Art Powers, Johnson City Press...........................................................District 1
Kevin Burcham, News-Herald, Lenoir City...........................................District 2
Tom Overton III, Advocate and Democrat, Sweetwater......................District 3
Linn Hudson, LaFollette Press..............................................................District 4
Hugh Jones, Shelbyville Times-Gazette...............................................District 5
Ellen Leifeld, The Tennessean, Nashville..............................................District 6
John Finney, Buffalo River Review, Linden.........................................District 7
Brad Franklin, The Lexington Progress.................................................District 8
Joel Washburn, The McKenzie Banner..................................................District 9
Eric Barnes, The Daily News, Memphis..............................................District 10
Steve Lake, Pulaski Citizen......................................................................At large
TENNESSEE PRESS SERVICE
Dale C. Gentry, The Standard Banner, Jefferson City.........................President
Pauline D. Sherrer, Crossville Chronicle......................................Vice President
W. R. (Ron) Fryar, American Hometown Publishing, Nashville...........Director
Bob Parkins, The Milan Mirror-Exchange...............................................Director
Mike Pirtle, Murfreesboro.......................................................................Director
Michael Williams, The Paris Post-Intelligencer......................................Director
Greg M. Sherrill............................................................Executive Vice President
TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION
W.R. (Ron) Fryar, American Hometown Publishing, Franklin............President
Gregg K. Jones, The Greeneville Sun..........................................Vice President
Richard L. Hollow, Knoxville....................................................General Counsel
Greg M. Sherrill....................................................................Secretary-Treasurer
CONTACT THE MANAGING EDITOR
TPAers with suggestions, questions or comments about items inTheTennessee
Press are welcome to contact the managing editor. Call Elenora E. Edwards,
(865) 457-5459; send a note to P.O. Box 502, Clinton, TN 37717-0502; or e-mail
[email protected]. The September issue deadline is Aug. 13.
Talk about things moving fast. For those not fasacrifice this regular feature because of a space
miliar with how this column works, let me tell you.
issue, and our readers let us know how they felt
Past presidents will know, but a couple hundred
about that.
who read this space each month have no clue as
You know you have hit a home run when someone
to how soon this column must be written...and it
walks up to another person in the grocery store
seems the months suddenly come faster.
and asks, Did YOU read in the Chronicle the story
I have just returned from being passed the
about the sentence handed down to the movie
gavel to start my tenure as TPA president. That
patron who urinated in his seat because he did
happened last Friday. This Friday I am writing
not want to leave and miss the last seven minutes
the August column.
of “Saving Private Ryan?” (The judge ordered
YOUR
Those attending the summer convention know
this offender to clean the theater’s restrooms for
what a fantastic three nights and two days we PRESIDING three months).
experienced. The speakers were some of the best
happened in Putnam County. Of course,
REPORTER weThis
we have heard, bringing forth valuable insight on
gave the Herald-Citizen credit for our great
how to deal with some of our recent and pressing
human interest article.
newspaper issues.
Pauline D. Sherrer If we all participate in this venture, it will be
Tonda Rush, president of American PressWorks,
a smashing success for TPA members and will
spoke on the importance of keeping public notices in print enhance your readership sustainability.
editions versus online products. TPA’s Public Notice Com|
mittee will be providing you with talking points on why
We have an exciting year ahead of us. Your directors and
these notices should be in good ole black ink, where anyone committee chairmen are already working to bring some new
at any time can read about their property being foreclosed and fresh ideas and projects during 2007-08.
before the foreclosure.
Kent Flanagan, Distinguished Journalist in Residence at
Tennessee still has people who do not readily have access Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, member
to a computer, and if they do, they might not know how to of the TPA Journalism Education Committee, has already
search out such information. Computer savvy might not apply begun working on projects that will bridge the gap between
to those people owning their little home for 40-60 years who college students interested in journalism/mass media and
may have misplaced their tax bill.
the Tennessee Press Association. Our association must take
Their name printed in the newspaper would cause a stir an active role in this outreach project. We must become
in their community and the matter would be taken care involved with colleges across the state, introducing students
of—grandma and pop would remain happy in their sacred to TPA and member newspapers, and through these contacts,
home.
we will build an extremely strong foundation for TPA in the
Tonda said that public service notices were so important years ahead.
that we should have a category for public notices in our state
Amelia Hipps, editor of The Lebanon Democrat, will serve
contest. Our Contests Committee will take a serious look at as chairman of the TPA Journalism Education Committee.
the pros and cons of this.
She and other committee members will be working very
|
closely with Kent on educational projects involving college
One of the missions of our association is to help our students.
member newspapers. For newspapers to be successful, they
I would like to share with other members your success stomust not only build readership, but maintain readers while ries on methods of acquiring new readers and retention.
constantly seeking new subscribers. Our community citizens
|
must talk about their local newspaper in a positive light. We
Please do not hesitate to contact me. I am here to serve
must provide them with talking points!
the membership. I can be reached at pauline@crossvilleTPA will be rolling out something new on our Web site. chronicle.com.
NewsSwap will be introduced very soon, and for this venture
|
to be successful and beneficial for TPA, members will need
Sitting behind a computer in Crossville, seeing the mouse
to participate. There will be a place on the TPA Web site open new windows and hearing Kevin Slimp explain all
where editors and reporters can upload those odd, bizarre, about PDF files and why on the screen you might see $2 but
unusual news stories and tidbits that we all love to read a different figure appears in the printed ad was nothing but
and talk about.
phenomenal. This type of session, a Webinar, is the newest
These will not be major stories, just those that would form of training being sponsored by TPA and TPS. I have
generate interest in any community they are published. coined this a “KMLE Webinar”—Kevin Makes Life Easier
Contributors can easily download these shared stories.
Webinar.
Our plans are to have this wonderful member service
As my composition staff of two participated in this trainonline and available to TPA members in early September. ing, I watched eyes light up and heard things like, “Oh, that’s
Each member should receive information regarding down- what that is for,” or, “That will fix our problems,” or, “We need
load procedure, as well as a user name and password, later Acrobat 8.” In my opinion, this KMLE Webinar session has
this month.
exceeded my expectations. During this session, you could
We at the Chronicle have enjoyed a swap relationship with converse with other member newspapers and hear some of
newspapers in counties surrounding Cumberland County their problems. We are eagerly awaiting the next session in
for about 22 years. Some of our neighbors have copied this August. Sign up NOW!
feature, and I can tell you first hand, the readership is not
only there, but it is one of the most talked-about features we PAULINE D. SHERRER is publisher of the Crossville
have. We know this because once we made the decision to Chronicle.
Four to be 2007 Newspaper Hall of Fame inductees
The 2007 Tennessee Newspaper Hall
of Fame inductees have been selected.
2006-07 TPA President Henry A. Stokes
announced them at the Installation
Banquet June 29 in Memphis.
They are Frank R. Ahlgren (1903-95),
(1936-68); Col. Thomas Boyers (1825-95),
TPA founding president, Gallatin Ex-
aminer; Ralph A. Millett Jr. (1919-2000),
Knoxville News-Sentinel (1966-84); and
Willis C. Tucker (1907-2001), University
of Tennessee School of Journalism,
Knoxville (1947-1974).
The induction ceremony will take
place Friday, Nov. 16, during the TPA
fall board gathering in Knoxville. Dr.
Paul Ashdown, School of Journalism
and Electronic Media, UT, Knoxville,
is chairman of the TPA Hall of Fame
Committee. UT and TPA together will
coordinate the induction event. Detailed
information will be provided in a future
The TPA board meeting will be Saturday morning, Nov. 17.
The Tennessee Press
AUGUST 2007
7
Metro Creative Graphics offers ‘ADS on Demand’
BY KEVIN SLIMP
TPS technology director
I run across quite
a few software vendors as I travel from
one convention to
a n o t h e r. E ve r y
now and then, I’ll
see a new product
that looks like it
has potential for
our newspapers in
Slimp
Tennessee. Over
the past few months, I’ve visited with
Bethany R. Weidenhammer, Metro Creative Graphics, at several conferences.
Each time, she has made a point to tell
me that Metro would be offering a new
service of great interest to newspapers.
So it came as no surprise last week
when I received a press release from
Bethany regarding Metro’s “ADS On
Demand” service.
Most newspapers I visit in Tennessee
subscribe to Metro’s online graphics
or MultiAd’s AdBuilder service. Both
offer clipart, photos and templates at
affordable prices. With this in mind,
it’s important to check on other features
available from these services.
Basically, ADS on Demand works
like this. Let’s say I need an important
ad prepared for tomorrow’s edition. I
look at the clock and realize I’m going
to be hard pressed to have an ad ready
by deadline. ADS on Demand allows
Metro customers to go online to have
ads created for the next day’s edition.
If I place an order by 4 p.m. local time,
I will have an ad waiting in my e-mail
by 9:00 the following morning.
I tried the ADS on Demand to see
how well it works. First I went to www.
metroadsondemand.com and entered
the necessary information. Users can
upload photos, logos or other graphics
for use in the ad. There’s also an area to
let the designers know just what you’re
looking for. I uploaded a photo and ordered two print ads and one ad for a Web
site. I wanted an ad with a hometown
feel, so I instructed
the designer to use
appropriate artwork
to create that feel.
Sure enough, when I
checked my e-mail the
following morning,
there were the ads.
Once you receive the
first version of the
ad, you can submit
as many revisions as
needed. Simply print
the PDF of the ad you
receive and indicate
any changes or edits, then fax back the
printed page(s) to the
Metro Design Team.
Or, if have Adobe
Reader 7.0 or higher,
you can use the “Note
Tool” to make comments directly on the
PDF and e-mail it back
to Metro. You will
receive your revised
(print) ad by e-mail This is an example of an ad created by Metro’s ADS
within two hours. I on Demand service.
requested a couple of
changes, which were promptly handled developed to create custom artwork, ads
and returned to me in less than two and other graphics for newspapers. If
you’re a MultiAd (AdBuilder) customer,
hours.
And here’s the clincher: the ads were it might be worth checking out.
The cost for Metro’s ADS on Demand
very well done. Sometimes, when creating an ad for an important client, I’ve seemed very reasonable. Print ads
searched for hours for the right artwork. start at $15 (priced by size) and Web
ADS on Demand allows the customer to ads start at $15 for static ads and $45
focus on other jobs, knowing the ad will for animated ads. Animated Flash ads
cost $45 and up.
be ready as promised.
For ADS on Demand program and
After seeing ADS on Demand, I contacted a representative of MultiAd and pricing information, one should call
learned that they offer a service called 1-800-223-1600 or visit www.metroad“We’ll Create It.” We’ll Create It was sondemand.com.
Annual Literacy Day tab
now available – at no cost
The Newspaper Association of America Foundation (NAAF) has published a
Literacy Day Tabloid that newspapers
can request—at no cost—and use in conjunction with International Literacy
Day on Sept. 8. The material, which
also can be used year round, is based
on the theme “Newspapers Give People
Knowledge and Guidance.”
The National Center for Family
Literacy contributed content for the
16-page special section, as well as nine
in-paper features that supplement it.
The tabloid is designed to be used by
parents at home with their children
although many NIE programs also
promote it for classroom use.
The publication is available free to
newspapers courtesy of a grant from
Idearc Media, publisher of the Verizon
Yellow Pages and home of Superpages.
com. Newspapers also are free to get additional sponsors as long as they do not
include another phone company.
To order the 2007 Literacy Day Tabloid
CD, which features black and white and
color materials (both Quark and PDF
files), go to www.naaf.org.
Imagination Library Week 2007: Plan now
The second annual Imagination
Library Week in Tennessee is again
set for the third week of September.
Many county Imagination Library
sponsoring organizations already
have plans in motion for fun-filled
events during the week of Sept. 16
through 22. Newspapers with a role
in the Governor’s Books From Birth
Foundation (GBBF) program may want
to feature the observance.
For details on successful events held
during Imagination Library Week 2006,
check out the two-page centerfold in
the Fall 2006/Winter 2007 Signpost,
available at www.GovernorsFoundation.org.
The GBBF will again publicize this
statewide celebration through targeted
media outreach. Make the most of this
opportunity to encourage the program
and win newspaper readers for the
HOW TO CONTACT US
Knoxville, TN 37919
Phone: (865) 584-5761
Fax: (865) 558-8687
E-mail: (name)@tnpress.com
Those with boxes, listed
alphabetically:
Laurie Alford (lalford)
Moody Castleman
(mcastleman)
Pam Corley (pcorley)
Angelique Dunn (adunn)
Beth Elliott (belliott)
Robyn Gentile (rgentile)
Earl Goodman (egoodman)
Kathy Hensley (khensley)
Barry Jarrell (bjarrell)
Brenda Mays (bmays)
Amanda Pearce (apearce)
Brandi Richard (brichard)
Greg Sherrill (gsherrill)
Kevin Slimp (kslimp)
Advertising e-mail:
Knoxville office:
[email protected]
Tennessee Press Service
Knoxville, TN 37919
Phone: Knoxville,
(865) 584-5761
Fax: Knoxville,
(865) 558-8687
Phone: Nashville area,
(615) 459-0655
Fax: Nashville area,
(615) 459-0652
Tennessee Press
Association Foundation
Knoxville, TN 37919
Phone: (865) 584-5761
Fax: (865) 558-8687
CMYK
The Tennessee Press
2
The Tennessee Press
AUGUST 2007
TPS expands choices of network ads—now there’s 2 x 4
BY BETH ELLIOTT
Ad network coordinator
participate in the TN 2x2 Network
may sell the ads and keep 40 percent
commission. We urge you to contact
TPS today if your newspaper does not
participate. You could be missing out
on some great commissions.
Contact TPS for more information
at (865) 584-5761, ext. 117, or e-mail
[email protected].
TPA Ad/Circ Managers’ Retreat set Sept. 21-22
BY ROBYN GENTILE
Member services manager
C
M
Judging for Indiana
PHOTOS BY ROBYN GENTILE | TPA
Twelve people gathered June 22 in Knoxville
to judge the advertising contest for Hoosier
State (Indiana) Press Association. (Left photo)
Sandra Shelton, The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksville,
Richard Esposito, The Oak Ridger, Oak Ridge,
David McCoy of Oak Ridge and Karen Braeckel,
HSPA, discuss an entry. (Top) Keith Welch,
News Sentinel, Knoxville, Earl Goodman,
Tennessee Press Service, and Jana Thomasson,
The Mountain Press, Sevierville, check out some
ads. (Top right) Thomasson inspects a special
section. (Lower right) Lori Wolfe, HSPA, records
the contest results.
No. 2
AUGUST 2007
Vol. 71
Y
K
TPA’s Advertising and Circulation
Committees, plus
interested members, will meet
Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21-22, in
Knoxville to plan
the 2008 AdvertisShelton
ing/Circulation
Conference. Sandra
Shelton, advertising director of The
Leaf-Chronicle,
Clarksville, chairs
the Advertising
Committee, and
Lou Lambert, consumer sales and
Lambert
marketing manager
of The Commercial
Appeal, Memphis, is chairman of the
Circulation Committee.
In addition to conference planning,
the retreat will include networking,
an idea exchange and the opportunity
to attend the UT vs. Arkansas State
football game.
Retreat meetings will take place at
the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Attendees may
make reservations at the special TPA
rate of $116 plus tax per night.
Because this is a football game weekend, those staying at the hotel will be
required to stay for two nights.
The retreat schedule is as follows:
Friday, Sept. 21
1:00 p.m. Registration
2:00 p.m. Conference planning meeting
5:00 p.m. Meeting adjourns
6:30 p.m. Optional group dinner
Saturday, Sept. 22
8:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Idea exchange
10:30 a.m. Adjourn
TBA—Optional UT vs. Arkansas State
football game
Details
What: Ad/Circ Managers’ Retreat
Who: Advertising and circulation managers and others interested
in these subjects
When: Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21-22
Where: Crowne Plaza, Knoxville
Deadline: End of day Tuesday, Aug. 21
at two per newspaper on a first-come,
first-served basis.
The conference, the primary annual
TPA event for advertising and circulation personnel, will be held in April
2008 in Gatlinburg.
Retreat registration information
is available at www.tnpress.com or
by calling TPA at (865) 584-5761. All
members interested in advertising
and circulation are invited to attend
this retreat.
Make reservations by calling the
Crowne Plaza at (865) 522-2600. The
deadline is Tuesday, Aug. 21.
Some of what’s to
see in September
in Knoxville:
a U T Vo l s Arkansas State
Indians football
game at Neyland
Stadium and
the World’s Fair
Park Sunsphere,
now open to the
public.
Football tickets, which are limited,
will be available to retreat registrants
CMYK
Tennessee Press Service (TPS) has
introduced a new product for the Tennessee 2x2 Network.
Now, advertisers have a choice. If they
require a small amount of space to get
their message to more than one million
Tennesseans, a 2-column by 2-inch ad
is just what they need. However, some
advertisers need more space.
In the past, TN 2x2 advertisers were
limited to only one ad size. Now, your
local advertiser has an option. He or
she can opt for a 2-column by 4-inch ad
at a very reasonable price.
The rates for 2x4 ads are as follows:
•$1,890 for a statewide ad to appear in
80 Tennessee newspapers
•$770 for the middle region that includes 33 newspapers
•$770 for an eastern region 2x4 ad that
will appear in 26 newspapers
•$650 for an ad to run in 21 western
region newspapers.
What a bargain! Your advertiser will
save more than $4,650 over individual
ad placement using national ROP rates.
Besides saving a large sum of money,
your advertiser saves time by contacting you. You will be their contact for
80 Tennessee newspapers. Plus, TPS
does all of the work. We distribute the
ads and verify publication. How easy
is that?
We have saved the best part for last.
Newspapers that sell a 2x2 or 2x4 ad keep
40 percent commission. Your newspaper
would earn $378 for a statewide 2x2 ad
and $756 for a statewide 2x4 ad.
Only TPA member newspapers that
REMEMBER
to feature
Literacy, Constitution
Days
in September
KNOXVILLE TOURISM
& SPORTS CORP.
Pauline Sherrer—she’s done
it all and is still doing it
BY MICHAEL R. MOSER
Editor, Crossville Chronicle
HEATHER MULLINIX | CROSSVILLE CHRONICLE
Sherrer
INSIDE
HALL OF FAME
TPA COMMITTEES
2
3
BE KIND CONTEST
NEWTPA MEMBERS
3
3
The first time I saw Pauline Sherrer
she was hunkered down over a Dooley’s
Foodtown ad, blue pencil poked into a
wave of coiffured hair, X-acto knife in
one hand and handwritten notes for
every item in the store on a rolled paper
that more resembled an Old Testament
scroll than ad copy.
Cent signs were in six-point type.
Prices in 14-point. Items in 18 point.
And, oh those items. Hundreds of
them, so it seemed. It was the grocery
ad from hell.
The next time I saw Pauline was in
her office, a hallowed place we affectionately call the throne room because
sometimes it is a place you don’t really
want to go. She was talking to me about a
job, and the adding machine (this was in
1984) was singing like a Western Union
telegraph machine. She whipped out the
figures of my salary-to-be so fast all I
could do was nod my head and agree.
A few days later she was downstairs
in the pressroom helping repair a cog
STOKES RETIRES
HINES
4
6
on the press. I say cog, because I don’t
have a clue as to what the piece was.
But she did.
There was no task that the publisher
wouldn’t tackle. Including the time she
nearly fried us all. She didn’t kill us, but
she did make memories of childhood
days flash before our eyes in the wake
of the electrical “poof ” that occurred
when she stuck a screwdriver into the
guts of an old Micro-Tek computer as
she attempted to fix the machine.
Amazingly, she wasn’t burned, and we
all lived to write another story or two.
She also served as bouncer once. Not
long after I arrived there was a gruesome murder in the county. I asked
the sheriff who the victim was, and he
said, “Hoghead Underwood.” “No,” I
responded, “he had to have a name.”
“Hoghead. I don’t even know what
his first name is. He’s the guy who
sells vegetables on the highway, and
everyone knows him as Hoghead.”
I asked the chief investigator who was
murdered. “Hoghead.”
I asked the deputy who discovered the
body that was murdered. “Hoghead.”
SLIMP
AD NETWORK
7
8
So I identified him as “Hoghead Underwood,” because no one seemed to
know what his name really was.
The victim’s sons objected and came
to the office to exact retribution in the
form of physical punishment. Pauline
came out of her office and told the two
hooligans where the door was and to not
let it hit them on the way out. They left.
And I was counseled on the virtues of
not following local Southern custom by
using nicknames in news stories.
A native of Crossett, Ark., Pauline
and her late husband, Perry Sherrer,
bought the Crossville Chronicle in 1981.
Perry was the publisher and Pauline
the bookkeeper and mom of two girls
and a son.
It was not long until Perry was diagnosed with kidney disease, and in 1984
he passed away, leaving a bookkeeping
mom with three kids in tow to run a
million dollar business.
Actually, that is not right. Pauline had
already begun learning much of the ins
and outs of community newspapering,
SEE SHERRER, PAGE 3
IN CONTACT
Phone: (865) 584-5761
Fax: (865) 558-8687
Online: www.tnpress.com
CMYK
8

August 2007 (main section)

Transcription

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