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IN THIS ISSUE:
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Official Publication of the Oklahoma Press Association
Vol. 81, No. 10 • 12 Pages • October 2010
Download The Oklahoma Publisher in PDF format at
www.OkPress.com/the-oklahoma-publisher
2 NNA recognizes Mayo’s leadership
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Jeff Mayo was presented with the 2010 Daniel
M. Phillips Leadership
Award on Oct. 2 during the
National Newspaper Association’s 2010 Annual Convention in Omaha, Neb.
Mayo is associate publisher/general manager/
publisher of five Oklahoma
newspapers – the Sequoyah
County Times, Vian Tenkiller News, Eastern Times
Register, Eufaula Indian
Journal and McIntosh
County Democrat.
He is the third recipient of the award, which
was established in 2007 to
honor Daniel Morris ‘Dan’
Phillips, an award-winning
writer, photographer and
assistant publisher of the
Oxford (Miss.) Eagle, who
died in 2005 at the age of
47.
During his acceptance
speech, Mayo explained
how his passion for the
newspaper industry developed.
“It was December in the
1980s and my dad asked if
I wanted to go with him
on an errand,” Mayo said.
“I was probably 12 at the
time.”
Mayo and his father
drove out of town on dirt
roads, finally pulling into
a driveway that led to a
foundation of a house and,
behind that, a school bus. A
woman came out of the bus
Jeff Mayo accepts the Daniel M. Phillips Leadership Award at the NNA Convention in
Omaha, Neb. on Oct. 2. The award is presented to an NNA member between 23-40
years old, who is well respected in the community, is of good reputation and integrity,
provides active leadership in the newspaper industry and is active in the state press
association and community.
and started talking to Mayo
and his father.
Mayo learned that the
husband and wife living in
the school bus were having
financial problems. They
had planned to start building a house but fell on hard
times and moved into the
school bus.
That week, a story about
the family being in need
at Christmas time had run
in the Sequoyah County
Times. Mayo watched as
his father handed an envelope to the couple.
“Later on I realized
going to the school bus
was more than just being
there to make a donation,”
Mayo said. “It was recognizing this couple as a part
of our community… it was
our job to help them and let
others in our community
know they were in need.”
It was on that errand
in the 1980s when Mayo
realized the importance
of helping a community
recognize what it needed
to do to raise everyone’s
standards.
“Whether it is academics in our schools or
community involvement,
we have to be the ones to
sometimes push them to do
well and then call them out
when they’re not,” he said.
Mayo is a third generation newspaper publisher.
His grandparents, the late
Wheeler and Florence
Mayo, started the Sequoyah
County Times in 1932.
His father, Jim Mayo, still
holds the title of publisher
at the Sequoyah County
Times and his mother,
Becky, is business manager. Jeff Mayo’s title at the
family newspaper is associate publisher and general
manager.
Mayo received a degree
in community journalism from the University
of Kansas in Lawrence in
1994 and his Juris Doctor from the University of
Minnesota Law School in
Minneapolis in 1997. He
then went to work for a law
firm in Tulsa. In 1999, he
moved to Bellevue, Wash.,
to work for T-Mobile USA,
but returned to Oklahoma
to work at the family newspaper in 2005.
In Oklahoma, he and his
brother, Jack, a program
manager for Microsoft,
formed Big Basin Enterprises LLC, and purchased
four weekly newspapers –
the Vian Tenkiller News,
Eastern Times Register,
Continued on Page 3
2
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
START THE PRESS
OPA President’s Column
By ROD SERFOSS
Clinton Daily News Publisher
For many of us in the newspaper business it is the small things that add up to erode
our bottom lines. Somehow it seems easier to take on the task of managing big items, like
printing expenses and payroll, than the so-called “nickel and dime” things, like buying
ads in yearbooks or sponsoring a little league baseball team.
We learned many years ago the importance of continually analyzing the cost of virtually every item that comes up. While there are all kinds of formulas and theories on keeping expenses in line, our evaluation of every expenditure starts by asking three simple
questions: 1. What is the annual cost? 2. How many inches of advertising or how many
newspapers am I going to have to sell to pay for it? 3. How hard am I willing to work to
pay for it?
Little items, like agreeing to donate $10 a week to a local fundraiser, can quickly
add up. A donation of $10 a week sounds easy enough, but that is $520 per year. So the
question becomes, am I willing and can I sell three one-quarter page ads or 1,040 more
newspapers this year just to cover the $10 per week? And keep in mind, even with this
formula the ads and the newspapers would have to be all profit!
Each year at our newspaper, we must sell a full-page ad to cover the cost of being a
member of a local civic club, more than 2,000 column inches of advertising to pay the
electric bill and it takes 10 classified ads a month just to pay for the basic cell phone
service so I can be on the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We need to sell 200 single copies to pay for an ad in the high school year book, 114
to fill the company truck with gas and we would have to peddle nearly 400 single copies
per month, per employee if we chose to pay for the $1,000 deductible on health insurance
instead of the $2,000 we offer.
Yes, we do try to be good corporate citizens. This year we sponsored a little league
baseball team, but before we agreed, we knew we had to sell 422 single copies of the
newspaper to cover the cost.
When the weather is nice we open the doors and turn the heat and air conditioner off
and let Mother Nature do the job for us. If we can do that 30 times a year, we can save
approximately $700! That’s 1,400 single copies I don’t have to sell just to send to the
electric company and the fresh air we get is a bonus.
We understand that there are other circumstances that weigh into the decision process.
Have you ever noticed that it is always the son or daughter of a big advertiser that comes
in selling popcorn for the Boy Scouts or candy for the band? That factor may make it
worth the investment, but even so, we won’t do it until the three basic questions are
answered.
Newspapers need to be good corporate citizens, but we also need to understand that
there are residual costs of doing good things.
Donating space in lieu of money is an option, but remember that space in our newspaper has value and when you do something for free, you have set the value. Don’t ever
forget that free is a four-letter word.
It is important to always look for ways to cut expenses. But at the same time, we must
be careful not to cut the heart out of our newspaper. Learning to say “no” on the things
that have minimal benefits is a good place to start.
Don’t be afraid to say no, after all, businesses all over town do it every day. And when
you feel the need to say no, an explanation is not required.
Remember, we can be good citizens by doing what we do best – promoting good
things in our community and keeping our readers informed.
Boynton trustees face charges
of Open Meeting Act violations
Three members of what should be
a five-member Boynton Town Council
were charged Oct. 5 with violating the
Oklahoma Open Meeting Act – a misdemeanor that could impose a $500 fine
and a year in jail.
Trustee Claiborne Lang was arrested
Oct. 6 in Boynton; Mayor Marie Wilson
and Trustee Sheila Younger surrendered
at Muskogee County Jail on Oct. 7. Each
is out on $2,500 bond.
The three are scheduled to appear in
court on Nov. 10 to face charges.
The charges are related to a Sept. 27
special meeting during which the three
voted to appoint Bruce Neimi of Tulsa as
town manager. The posted agenda only
mentioned his consideration as municipal
judge.
Open meeting laws require any item
of business conducted during public
meeting to be on the posted agenda.
Neimi has since declined the manager
position and was ineligible for judge,
according to Muskogee County District
Attorney Larry Moore.
Moore has asked the Oklahoma State
Bureau of Investigation to look into a
number of allegations against the Boynton council including Open Meeting/
Open Records violations, nepotism,
embezzlement and failure to hold a public election to fill the two vacant council
spots.
Tulsa City Council drops accusations
Ending a six month feud, the Tulsa City
Council has dropped its investigation of
Mayor Dewey Bartlett and his assistant
Terry Simonson.
After the council received word that
the state’s Attorney General Office would
not consider whether it should file charges
or act as special prosecutor, the council
decided to end the matter.
In March, the council accused Bartlett
and Simonson of lying about a federal
grant used to rehire 35 laid-off Tulsa police
officers.
With the attorney general out and
the city attorney’s office having already
recused itself, the council was left with
little chance of moving forward.
Council Chairman Rick Westcott said
councilors discussed the situation individually and decided to abandon the investigation. But in doing so, the council may
have violated Oklahoma’s Open Meeting
Act.
Informal meetings or telephone conversations among a majority of members of
a public body that result in a decision are
forbidden by open meeting laws.
Westcott disagrees.
“We don’t have to vote to do nothing,”
he said.
During the investigation, charges of
open meeting violations spawned a lawsuit
by Tulsa residents naming the council and
its individual members as defendants. That
suit, regarding an executive session, is still
pending.
Failure to publish notice will require new election
A newly revised charter passed by Elk
City voters on July 27 will not be ratified
due to improper public notice prior to the
election being held.
Governor Brad Henry’s office notified
Elk City officials at the end of last month
that the election results are null and void
because the city failed to publish the notice
of the special election in a local newspaper
as required by law.
A resolution passed calling for another
charter election at the city’s regular commission meeting on Oct. 4.
“We’ve just made an administrative
mistake, and we’ve got to move on,” said
Commissioner Tom Mike Johnson, who
chaired the meeting in Mayor Teresa Mullican’s absence.
One other commissioner was absent
from the meeting, leaving the minimum
three to vote on the matter. Those three
passed the resolution as an emergency.
The charter revision question will be
added to the April 5, 2011, municipal election to avoid paying an additional $2,700,
which is what the election cost earlier this
year.
3
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
Draft school audit
will not be released
An audit of Broken Arrow Public
Schools is exempt from the state’s Open
Records Act and will not be released.
A spokesman for the State Auditor and
Inspector’s Office said they received a letter from the attorney general’s office on
Sept. 17 stating that work papers are not
subject to the Open Records Act until an
audit is released.
State Auditor and Inspector Steve Burrage said the audit is not considered to have
been released because he never signed it.
A second audit of Broken Arrow Public
Schools has been requested by the attorney
general. Auditors began working on it on
Sept. 15.
The first audit was requested by the
school board in April 2009 amid allegations that the district was violating the
competitive bidding law.
Mayo receives award
Continued from Page 1
Indian Journal and McIntosh County Democrat.
Jeff Mayo was elected to the Oklahoma
Press Association Board of Directors in
2007. He has served on various committees for the association, and as discussion
leader and presenter at numerous press
association meetings and conventions.
Attending the convention with Mayo
were his wife, Beth; father, Jim; mother,
Becky; brother, Jack; and children Madolyn and Maddox.
“I would like to thank my wife, Beth,”
Mayo said. “Today we are celebrating
our 11th anniversary. I have a feeling that
when we started dating in 1988, she did
not expect to end up here today.”
He added his thanks to other family
members, as well as Oklahoma publishers,
NNA members and the employees at his
newspapers.
He urged others to encourage young
people interested in community journalism.
“We need to let them know the secret
to the fun, financial reward and sense of
accomplishment we all get through our
work,” he said in conclusion. “We need
to continue bringing new people into the
profession, especially at a time when too
many people who don’t know anything
about our business say community journalism is going to die.”
Judge issues birth date ruling
One day after submission of written
briefs and a day before oral arguments
were scheduled to be heard, an Oklahoma
County judge ruled that individual state
agencies must decide whether to make
employee birth dates public.
It is a partial victory for the Oklahoma
Public Employees Association, the union
that represents more than 10,000 state
workers.
OPEA sued the state earlier this year
to close state employee birth dates from
the public after The Oklahoman and Tulsa
World made an open records request for
that information. The information is used
to confirm or rule out the identity of people
involved in newsworthy events.
The Tulsa World and Oklahoman were
allowed to intervene as parties to the lawsuit.
Judge Bryan Dixon ruled on Sept. 21
that agencies must follow an attorney
general’s opinion in determining if public
employees’ birth dates should be made
public. That opinion stated that a public
body “must weigh the employee’s interest
of nondisclosure against the public’s interest in disclosing the record.”
The ruling also closed legislative staff
records, including personnel records, and
state employee identification numbers.
Schaad Titus, a Tulsa attorney representing the Tulsa World, said it was disappointing that the court did not find that
date of birth information is an open record
for all purposes.
OPEA Executive Director Sterling Zearley confirmed on the association’s website
that the union will ask for clarification of
the ruling before the Supreme Court.
“Otherwise the state will be treating
employees differently agency to agency,”
said Zearley. “This clearly is not an ideal
situation.
“OPEA believes the employee has a
right to be notified, object and have full
due process before an agency releases this
type of information.
“OPEA will ask the Supreme Court to
review the decision as we believe the ruling may violate equal protection clause,”
he said.
The Tulsa World and Oklahoman also
could appeal the decision.
LEGAL ADVICE
is just one of the benefits of being a member of the Oklahoma Press
Association’s Legal Services Plan. Remove the worry of needing
professional advice by enrolling today. For more information contact:
OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATION’S
LEGAL SERVICES PLAN
1-888-815-2672 or 405-499-0020
ISSN 1526-811X
Official Publication of the
OKLAHOMA PRESS
ASSOCIATION
3601 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5499
(405) 499-0020 • Fax (405) 499-0048
Toll-Free in Oklahoma: (888) 815-2672
Web: www.OkPress.com
E-mail: [email protected]
PUBLISHER
Mark Thomas
[email protected]
EDITOR
Jennifer Gilliland
[email protected]
OPA OFFICERS
Rod Serfoss, President
Clinton Daily News
Rusty Ferguson, Vice President
The Cleveland American
Barb Walter, Treasurer
The Hennessey Clipper
Mark Thomas, Executive Vice President
Oklahoma City
OPA DIRECTORS
Gloria Trotter, Past President
The Countywide & Sun
Jeff Shultz, The Garvin County
News Star
Jeff Mayo, Sequoyah County Times
Jeff Funk, Enid News & Eagle
Robby Trammell, The Oklahoman
Dayva Spitzer, Sayre Record &
Beckham County Democrat
Brian Blansett, Shawnee News-Star
SUBSCRIBE TO
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE
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4
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
OPA CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Complete Listing of Events at
www.OkPress.com
FRI., OCT. 29
TULSA, OK
WHEN SOLDIERS COME HOME
A half-day workshop for Oklahoma journalists,
sponsored by the Dart Center for Journalism
and Trauma. For more information, see
www.okpress.com/when-soldiers-come-home.
THURS., NOV. 18, 1-2 PM
WEBINAR
GENERATING NEW REVENUE
Mike Blinder will reveal several highly
successful multimedia sales programs
(from various-sized markets) that generated
significant new revenue for client newspapers.
Registration $35. Late registration (after
Nov. 15) $45. For more information or to
register, go to www.onlinemediacampus.com/
courses/111810/index.html
WED., DEC. 8, 1-2 PM
WEBINAR
GET FOUND! SEARCH ENGINE
MARKETING
Discover and understand how customers
find your website…. And how to take simple
steps to generate more traffic and revenue.
Registration $35. Late registration $45. For
more information or to register, go to
www.onlinemediacampus.com/
courses/120810/index.html
FEB. 3-5, 2011
MIDWEST CITY
OPA MID-WINTER CONVENTION
The annual convention will once again be held
at the Sheraton & Reed Center in Midwest City.
FEB. 23, 25 & 26, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY
OKC GRIDIRON SHOW
Tickets can be purchased online at
www.okcgridiron.org, by phone at 866-9661777 or at any OKC metro Party Galaxy Store.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the
website as noted in the calendar, go to the OPA website at
www.OkPress.com or contact Member Services Director
Lisa Potts at (405) 499-0026, 1-888-815-2672 or
e-mail [email protected].
CNHI announces new publisher at The Norman Transcript
Terry Connor, currently of Dalton, Ga.,
has been named as publisher of The Norman Transcript.
Keith Blevins, chief operating officer
and executive vice president of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., announced
the appointment. Connor also will be the
division manager of CNHI’s Great Plains
Division, which includes all of the company’s Oklahoma locations.
Connor is a longtime editor and publisher of newspapers in Alabama, Florida
and Georgia.
“I know The Norman Transcript is an
important and vital part of the Norman
community,” Connor said.
“I’m looking forward to continuing its
role as an outstanding community newspaper.”
Most recently, Connor, who is one of
CNHI’s senior vice presidents, was the
division manager of several of the company’s holdings in Texas and Mississippi.
After graduating from Auburn University in 1981, Connor began his newspaper
career as sports editor of the Enterprise
Ledger in Alabama. By 1987, he was editor of the Dothan Eagle in Alabama.
In 1997, he was named publisher at
the Jackson County Floridan in Marianna,
Fla.
He later led the Americus Times Recorder and Cordele Dispatch, both in Georgia.
When CNHI acquired the Americus paper,
Connor joined the company.
Connor became publisher in Dalton in
2003 and was named a division manager
in 2007.
CNHI operates 86 daily newspapers,
46 non-dailies, four television stations
and numerous specialty publications in the
Midwest, South and East.
TERRY CONNOR
Phoenix says goodbye to one publisher, hello to another
Randy Mooney has been named publisher of the Muskogee Phoenix.
He replaces Larry Corvi, who accepted
a position in New Castle, Pa. The Phoenix and the paper in New Castle are both
owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. (CNHI).
“It just really worked out very well,”
Mooney said. “Larry (Corvi) was able to
move closer to home and I’m able to stop
traveling and be in a community that I
really love.”
Mooney has been based at the Phoenix
since January 2009 when he became vice
president of sales and marketing for the
Great Plains Division of CNHI.
He has been in the newspaper busi-
ness since 1979, after graduating from
West Virginia University with a journalism
degree.
“I view this as an easy move, because
I already know and appreciate the paper,
employees and executives here,” Mooney
said. “I’m comfortable with this team. I
know they are seasoned performers.”
He plans to continue the legacy Corvi
leaves behind – being involved in the community as much as possible.
“I’m really glad to be here. I’m proud to
follow Larry Corvi,” Mooney said. “We’ll
be focused on involvement and partnership
with the community to bring about positive change and growth.”
Corvi, who was publisher of the Phoe-
nix for 18 years, was named publisher for
the New Castle News.
Corvi said New Castle is just over an
hour from his hometown in eastern Ohio.
“I look forward to this as an opportunity
of advancement and challenges,” Corvi
said. “It’s a great opportunity and a neat
place. On the other hand, we’ve grown to
love Muskogee and Oklahoma.”
Corvi said he’s proud to have been the
publisher at the Phoenix. Under his leadership, the Phoenix won eight Sequoyah
Awards in the annual OPA Better Newspaper Contest.
Corvi begins his new position at the
New Castle News on Oct. 25.
New publisher at Chickasha Express-Star
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The new publisher at The Chickasha
Express-Star is Mike Kellogg, a 25-year
newspaper veteran and longtime Oklahoma resident.
Most of Kellogg’s newspaper career
has been in Oklahoma. He was publisher
of the Stillwater NewsPress for 11 years
before accepting a corporate position
within CNHI two years ago. Kellogg also
worked at the Muskogee Phoenix and at
the Niagara Falls Gazette in upstate New
York.
He is a graduate of New Mexico State
University.
Kellogg and his wife, Gloria, will be
moving to Chickasha with their youngest
daughter, 13-year-old Jillian.
He plans to spend his first weeks at
The Express-Star listening to everyone
and asking lots of questions.
“I think any newspaper serves the
public,” Kellogg said. “The Express-Star
is part of Chickasha and we want to serve
them well.”
5
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
Board approves new member at September meeting
The Oklahoma Press Association and
Oklahoma Press Service Boards of Directors met Sept. 16, 2010, in Oklahoma
City.
Attendees are listed in box at right.
President Serfoss called the meeting to
order and asked OPA board members to
review minutes of the July 29, 2010, meeting. Reading of the minutes was suspended
and approved as presented.
Auditor Carol Oliver said the financial
statements of the Oklahoma Press Association, Legal Services Plan and Oklahoma
Press Service Inc. fairly represented the
financial position on June 30, 2010. Oliver
said the staff incorporated good separation
of duties and no process improvements
were required. The board acknowledged
receipt of the OPA, LSP and OPS audit for
the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010.
Thomas reviewed the OPA profit and
loss statement for the period ending Aug.
31, 2010. Dues revenue reflects the reduction of the OCAN discount from 50 percent
to 25 percent, Thomas said. In reviewing
the LSP financial statements, Thomas said
professional services are slightly higher
this year because LSP is actively defending three Plan B legal actions against
member papers.
Board members reviewed the OPA and
LSP investment reports for the period ending Aug. 31, 2010. Treasurer Walter and
staff are reviewing options for reinvesting
in some long term instruments to increase
interest income, and also in short term CDs
with an Oklahoma bank that places newspaper advertising.
The board considered the business
membership application of The Crescent
Courier, which changed its name to The
Logan County Courier after the application was submitted. Thomas said notice
of the application was published in the
Oklahoma Publisher and that no protests
were received. The application of The
Logan County Courier was unanimously
approved by the board.
Membership of The Weekly Leader
in Tahlequah, which was previously suspended due to non-payment of membership dues for the 2009-10 year, was terminated.
Activity reports of OPA committees
included:
AWARDS COMMITTEE: The board congratulated Jeff Mayo on his selection as recipient
of the National Newspaper Association’s
OPA/S BOARD ATTENDANCE
OFFICERS: President Rod Serfoss, Clinton Daily
News; Vice President Rusty Ferguson, The Cleveland
American; Treasurer Barb Walter, The Hennessey
Clipper
DIRECTORS: Past President Gloria Trotter, The
Countywide & Sun; Jeff Shultz, Garvin County News
Star; Jeff Mayo, Sequoyah County Times; Jeff Funk,
Enid News & Eagle; Robby Trammell, The Oklahoman; Dayva Spitzer, Sayre Record & Beckham County Democrat; Brian Blansett, Shawnee News-Star
GUESTS: CPA Carol Oliver
OPA STAFF: Executive Vice President Mark Thomas;
Member Services Director Lisa Potts; Accounting
Manager Robert Wallar; Advertising Director Sarah
Barrow; Computer Consultant Wilma Melot; Creative
Services Director Jennifer Gilliland
Daniel M. Phillips Leadership Award.
Mayo said he appreciated the nomination
and that his family will attend the NNA
convention in Omaha in early October
when he receives the award.
EDUCATION COMMITTEE: The committee
discussed whether to continue the annual
Summer Conference or replace it with
a single-day event. After reviewing
information about the conference, the
board voted 6-3 to eliminate it. Ferguson,
Shultz, Mayo, Spitzer and Blansett voted
yes; Walter, Trotter and Trammell voted
no. The board also voted to hold a social
event of some type in summer or fall of
2011. The motion passed by a vote of
8-1, with Mayo voting no. The board also
reviewed the committee’s selections for
sessions and entertainment at the 2011
Mid-Winter Convention.
MARKETING COMMITTEE: The committee
reviewed the “Race for Space” political
campaign and “Newspapers Still Deliver”
house ad campaign. A partnership with
Sooner Poll is also being considered. OPS
would distribute Sooner Poll results on
statewide issues in exchange for allowing
OPA to ask poll questions about newspapers
and readership.
The board discussed OPA computer
consultant Wilma Melot’s efforts to get
more newspapers to upload their issues
to Arcasearch, as well as her travels and
newspaper visits. Melot said the majority
of her visits are either a technology crisis
or a planned conversion to new hardware
or software. Thomas said a new reporting system to better track Melot’s weekly
visits has been implemented. He suggested
the number of times Melot can visit a
newspaper not be limited.
Board members reviewed a list of 33
newspapers that began uploading since its
last meeting. A total of 124 papers are now
uploading, Thomas said.
MEMBERSHIP DUES STRUCTURE
The membership dues committee met
by conference call on Sept. 3 to discuss
concepts about restructuring OPA association dues, reported Ferguson, who is chairman of the committee. Ferguson said the
committee agreed that any increase should
be phased in over time.
Thomas said all dues structures are
based on the print product, with no reflection on the growing presence of websites
and online ventures that also require OPA
assistance.
A change to the dues structure would
require changing the association by-laws
and require a vote of the membership. The
board noted that most states do not include
the dues structure in their bylaws. After
further discussion, the board unanimously
passed a motion to propose to the membership a by-laws change to allow the board to
set association membership dues.
Thomas will write new by-laws language for the board to consider at a future
meeting and the membership will vote
during the annual business meeting in
February 2011.
OTHER BUSINESS
Thomas recommended renovating
available space in the OPA building as
soon as possible so it can be rented before
Jan. 1, 2011. Many potential renters that
do business at the state capitol will be
looking for space at that time. The board
authorized Thomas to proceed with pursuit
of rental possibilities.
Board members also reviewed a plan
to improve communication efforts with
members that includes two new products
– a monthly e-mail from Thomas on a
variety of topics, and a semi-weekly onetopic training sheet prepared by Potts. The
new materials will be available on the OPA
website and re-published in The Oklahoma
Publisher.
At the end of the OPA Board Meeting,
Serfoss presented Trotter with a bound
book of Oklahoma Publisher issues printed
during her term as OPA president.
OPS BOARD MEETING
Reading of the minutes of the July 29,
2010, meeting was suspended and the minutes were approved as presented.
Barrow reviewed a report of the advertising buys for November’s election made
through the discounted Race for Space program. Jari Askins for Governor purchased
125 inches in all participating newspapers;
Kim Holland for Insurance Commissioner
purchased 60 inches in 24 papers; and
Janet Barresi for Superintendent purchased
60 inches in 73 papers. Thomas said a
summary of statewide candidates’ advertising buys through OPS would be sent to
the membership.
Board members also reviewed the DidNot-Run Advertising Report for July and
August 2010 and discussed how advertisers are avoiding newspaper advertising
because of these problems. In July, 25
papers missed OPS ads totaling $5,624.18
in lost sales. In August, seven papers
missed OPS ads totaling $4,984.64 in lost
sales.
During the management review, the
board discussed an employment agreement
for Thomas with Minnis. Serfoss said the
board was working with Minnis on adjustments and wanted to finalize the agreement at the October meeting. Serfoss also
said the board appreciated the progress
being made on the dues restructuring.
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6
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
THE OGE PHOTO CONTEST
Landon Sechrist rounds the second barrel in the barrel racing event at Kid Night.
Photo by DONALD COOPER,The Carnegie Herald, Published Aug. 4, 2010
AUGUST 2010 DAILY WINNER:
JEFF BARRON, Weatherford Daily News
AUGUST 2010 WEEKLY WINNER:
An officer attempts to keep a young child at bay as a joint task force of the Weatherford
Police Department, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and the Custer County Sheriff’s
Department, among others, attempted to serve 50 warrants in five communities.
Photo by JEFF BARRON,Weatherford Daily News, Published Aug. 21, 2010
DONALD COOPER, The Carnegie Herald
To review complete contest rules and see all winning photos,
visit www.OkPress.com/OGE-photo-contest
7
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
Edmond Sun’s new hybrid daily takes off THANK
YOU
The Audit Bureau of Circulations pelled me to look at this, after doing the
“I’ve had friends say to me, ‘Boy, these
(ABC) recently called The Edmond Sun research,” Paterson said, “is that Edmond are some high level risks you’re taking,’”
the nation’s “first hybrid daily newspa- is one of the top 50 most wired broadband said Paterson.
per.”
communities in the United States. And it’s
“But in our business today, we need to
On Feb.1, The Sun
a university town.
go where the market is – and where our
made some changes to
“We felt that readers are – and deliver information the
what had been a daily
because of the educa- way they want it.”
print publication.
tion level in Edmond,
The Sun still serves readers who enjoy
Five days a week,
and the way Cox and the feel of a traditional newspaper, he said,
Tuesday through SaturATT have this mar- but there are a great number of people who
day, news is delivered
ket wired, that this prefer to get their news from laptops and
via a virtual “flip-style”
would be a way peo- phones.
online edition subscribple would want to get
“If we [newspapers] don’t start paying
ers can access through
their newspaper.”
attention and providing products for that
computer or smart phone.
Facebook and Twit- audience, we’ll have continued erosion,”
Two times a week, Tuester are also big assets, Paterson said.
day and Saturday, the trahe said. To date, The
He said the response from the commuditional print version of
Sun has 994 Facebook nity in Edmond has been much better than
the newspaper hits streets
friends and 1,097 fol- the paper expected.
and mailboxes.
lowers on Twitter.
“I think we’re onto something,” PatWhat makes The Sun
Regular posts keep erson said. “I think it’s something other
unique, said Publisher
readers informed and newspapers should look at.”
Steve Paterson
Steve Paterson, is that the
prompt them to interprint version includes not
act with The Sun.
only the news of the day but a compendium from recent e-editions.
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.,
The Sun’s parent company, contacted ABC
We in the industry take it upon ourselves to recognize notable achievements through various
to ask whether The Sun was a daily newssorts of awards. One such award is OPA’s annual Grand Blooper Award. In order to ensure that
paper or some kind of augmented weekly,
the Grand Blooper Award goes to someone truly deserving, we beg your cooperation by sending
Paterson said. The answer was a hybrid
us the year’s best bloopers. They can be your own, or those of
daily.
someone you admire. Thank you for helping us to assign credit
The idea for the changes originated
where it’s doo.
with Paterson in August 2009.
“We were looking at this paper as a labSend a tearsheet or photocopy to:
oratory for publishing digitally like no one
GRAND BLOOPER AWARD
else in this Oklahoma market,” he said.
c/o Oklahoma Press Association
Once CNHI gave the go-ahead, Pater3601 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105-5499
son toured community, civic and political
or fax to (405) 499-0048
groups in the community to explain the
upcoming changes. In addition, a budget
was created, with an eye toward circulation loss or ad revenue decline.
So far, neither has happened. The Sun
had a net gain of 75 subscribers and posted
its best quarter since 2006. Daily circulation is up 32 percent from this time last
year.
Free content on the website has been
Newspaper Brokers
slowly reduced and e-mail list members
instead receive the “Edmond Sun News
Flash,” which contains headline links to
Appraisers
the e-edition where new users are prompted to sign up for a paid subscription.
Consultants
Another popular e-feature The Sun
offers is “What’s for Lunch,” an e-mail
THOMAS C. BOLITHO
EDWARD M. ANDERSON
We have many years experience in
blast with special deals and coupons for
P.O. BOX 849
P.O. Box 2001
ADA, OK 74821
the community newspaper market BRANSON, MO 65616
local restaurants.
(580) 421-9600
(417) 336-3457
“One of the things that really [email protected]
[email protected]
www.nationalmediasales.com
for supporting the
OKLAHOMA
NEWSPAPER
FOUNDATION
LEND US YOUR ERRS.
A donation to the Oklahoma
Newspaper Foundation will
support its efforts to improve the
state’s newspaper industry
and quality of journalism.
ONF’s programs include training
and education for professional
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ONF relies on donations and
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these programs.
If you would like to make a
donation, please send a check to:
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8
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
Profitable podcasting 101: equipment and software
That InterWeb Thing
by KEITH BURGIN, OPA STAFF
Part 1 of a two-part column on podcasting:
ESSENTIAL TOOLS
I started podcasting when I bought my
first Mac; the technology was already well
established but the popularity was limited.
That was a number of years ago.
Now, due in large part to ubiquitous
digital media players like Apple’s iPod
(for which podcasting was named) and
easy access to tools, “podcast” is a solid
part of the online world’s communication
lexicon.
Podcasting, if you’ve not heard the
term, is the art of creating a pre-recorded
audio “show” for Internet consumption.
Everyone from U.S. politicians to backyard pundits use podcasting to, quite literally, make their voice heard. Done proper-
The
ly, it could bring revenue and an audience
to your newspaper.
At its simplest level, the process
requires a decent quality USB condenser
microphone, recording software, an Internet connection and an online host.
Condenser microphones are not terribly
expensive; some are better than others. I
use a Blue Snowball, which runs about a
hundred dollars. You can find options for
half that or three times as much.
I like Blue because, as a mid-priced
mic, it sounds good and has useful features
– like a pickup pattern switch between 1
direction, 2 direction or “whole stinkin’
room.”
For recording software, if you’re using
a Mac, GarageBand has a podcast wizard
that will walk you through building and
naming what will become an MP3 file. It’s
pretty limited, though. A better solution for
both Mac and PC is Audacity.
Marlow Review
Commercial Printing
PROVIDING
LETTERHEAD
ENVELOPES
LABELS
MULTI-PART FORMS
NCR FORMS
BUSINESS CARDS
BOOKLETS
BROCHURES
4-COLOR PRINTING
NUMBERING
PERFORATING
HOLE PUNCHING
Audacity is a free download – open
source software. It’s powerful, robust and
includes lots of bells and whistles like
voice processing.
Audacity also has a Wiki, a peoplegenerated information site with tips, hints
and suggestions for use. Search for Audacity on Google.
For the first few episodes, testing the
waters if you will, you might host podcasts
on your website server (if you have one
and/or the host will allow it).
United States Postal Service
STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, and CIRCULATION
1. Publication Title: THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER
4. Issue Frequency: Monthly
2. Publication Number: 406-920
5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 12
3. Filing Date: September 27, 2010
6. Annual Subscription Price: $12.00
7.
Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication:
(Not printer) (Street, city, county, state, and ZIP+4)
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER
3601 N. LINCOLN BLVD., OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105-5499
8.
Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher (Not printer)
OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATION
3601 N. LINCOLN BLVD., OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105-5499
9.
Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor
PUBLISHER: OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATION
EDITOR:
MARK THOMAS
MG. EDITOR: JENNIFER GILLILAND
OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATION
3601 N. LINCOLN BLVD., OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105-5499
10. Owner
OKLAHOMA PRESS ASSOCIATION
3601 N. LINCOLN BLVD., OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105-5499
11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More
of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: NONE
12. N/A
13. PUBLICATION TITLE: THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER
14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: September 2010
15. Extent and Nature of Circulation
Average No. Copies
Each Issue During
Preceding 12 Months
a. Total Number of Copies (Net Press Run)
b. Paid and/or
Requested
Circulation
(By Mail
and
Outside the
Mail)
316 W Main St
PO Box 153
Marlow, OK 73055
580-658-6657
[email protected]
www.marlowreview.com/commprinting
d. Free or
Nominal
Rate
Distribution
(By Mail and
Outside the
Mail)
1400
750
742
108
107
(2)
Mailed In-County Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include paid
distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof and exchange copies.
(3)
Paid Distribution Outside the Mails including Sales Through Dealers and
Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter
Sales, and Other Paid Distribution outside USPS
0
0
(4)
Paid distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS
4
4
862
853
(1)
Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies included on PS Form 3541
(2)
Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies included on PS Form 3541.
(3)
Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes
Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail)
(4)
Paid distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS
Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)
f.
Total Distribution (Sum of 15c, and 15e).
g.
Copies Not Distributed
h.
Total (Sum of 15f and g).
i.
Percent Paid
(15c divided by 15f times 100)
14.
1400
Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541. (Include
paid distribution above nominal rate, advertiser’s proof and exchange copies.
e.
16.
No. Copies of Single Issue
Published Nearest to
Filing Date
(1)
c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation
(Sum of 15b. (1), (2), (3), and (4)
Contact us for your commercial
printing needs.
The Marlow Review
Beyond that, you should use a specialty
host like Libsyn (libsyn.com) or PodBean (podbean.com) at about five bucks
a month.
Sound files take up room and downloads hog bandwidth. Your Web host won’t
appreciate the extra drain – that usually
means fees.
We’ll finish up next month with a short
tutorial, some show guidelines and a few
sponsorship ideas.
96
96
211
212
11
12
31
349
1,211
189
1,400
28
348
1,201
199
1,400
71%
71%
Publication of Statement of Ownership.
Will be printed in the October 2010 issue of this publication.
Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher or Business Manager, or Owner
Date: Sept. 27, 2010
I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this
form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil
sanctions including civil penalties).
9
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac to be released this month
computer notes
from the road
by WILMA MELOT
The much-awaited Office 2011 for Mac
will be out by the end of the month and
pre-orders are already being made.
After working with OpenOffice for the
last few years, we yearned for a Mac program that was compatible with the rest of
the world. The wait is nearly over.
Office 2011 gives you the ability to personalize your work space – and an office
suite that opens nearly any file out there.
With Office 2011, you can use Outlook,
Word, Excel and Powerpoint just like your
PC counterparts.
Outlook 2011 lets you see your calendar from within your e-mail, read related
e-mails in a single thread and preview
attachments from within your e-mail inbox.
It has Messenger for Mac 8 and will also
include Remote Desktop for Mac 2 so you
can drive your Windows-based PC from
your Mac.
There’s a limited photo editing feature
in PowerPoint and a new publishing layout
view for an improved look to your documents.
Retail for one license for the 2011
Office Home Business is $200. A two pack
sells for $279.99 – a small price break but
better than nothing.
If Adobe’s Creative Suite is out of reach
for all employees in your group, the new
Office software could be a great benefit.
For example, sales people could use mail
merge to send out a mass e-mail to all their
customers from their own database kept
in Excel.
Mail merge is no longer difficult to use
and allows you to personalize letters and
cards, which is great for Christmas cards
and other promotions.
The first step to creating a mail merge
is using Excel to keep your client information. Remember, simple is better. Encourage your staff to keep names, phone numbers, addresses and e-mails for all their
customers.
When you’re ready to send a mass mailing, save the list as a CSV (comma delimited) file. Next, go to Word. The newer
versions of Word contain a mail merge
wizard that walks you through the process
step by step. Simply choose the type of
document you’re creating, then choose the
CSV document you want to merge.
On the Mac, Mail Merge is under Tools
> Data Merge Manager. Click “Get Data”
under “Data Source.” Next click “Open
Data” then open the CSV file you created.
You could also use an address book
from an e-mail program that works with
Office – Outlook or Entourage, for instance
– to do a mail merge, but the address book
must be completely filled out.
Setting up the right size labels and having them print consecutively can be a bit of
a trial, but it’s possible. If there’s a preset
for the type of label and size you’re using,
simply add the fields and arrange the
labels like you want them to appear.
Now save the merge document without
all the names in it as a template. This way
you don’t have to set it up again and future
mailings will be much easier.
It takes some effort and extra labels
to create the first one, but once you get it
down it’s fun to create all types of documents that are merged with data.
Time for a new scanner? Epson gives best bang for your buck
Old scanners are finally failing, which
means I’ve been installing lots of flatbed
scanners recently.
Of those I’ve installed, my favorite is
the Epson Perfection V300. It’s highly
rated and comes with film scanning capability. If you’re running Mac OSX 10.6
Snow Leopard, don’t use the disk to
install the scanner. It’s better to go to the
website and download the latest driver;
the one shipped in the box is for older
systems.
This scanner creates great photos and
does a good job of turning typed text into
editable text using the optical character
recognition program Abbyy FineReader
6.0. This program only scans one page at a
time, but does it faster than I can type.
The film reader only does a few slides
at a time, but it also works well. It uses
an LED for scanning, which gives the
scanner a consistent speed with no warm
up time. This technology has been around
since 2007, but it’s much better these
days.
Did I mention it’s only $100? That’s a
good price for a film and photo scanner
that performs well.
If you want a version without the film
scanner, look at the Epson Perfection V30
for $79.99.
Canon still puts out some good scanners, but Epson seems to be beating them
in most areas at the moment.
The Canon CanoScan 5600F is the
most compatible to the Epson Perfection
V300 for the slightly higher price of $127.
If you like the heavy feel of a well-made
case and like the Canon quality, it’s a good
scanner.
It supports OSX, but doesn’t have as
much software as the Windows side. It
does, however, come with its own builtin optical character recognition program
software.
If your office has lots of documents to
scan, the Epson WorkForce GT-150 might
be a good choice. This auto-fed singleside document scanner is less expensive
than most.
Its software is not as good on a Mac as
on Windows, but it does have OCR and a
Twain driver.
It’s not a photo scanner, but if you’re
scanning lots of documents on a tight budget, this might help speed up your work
load. It retails for $230.
plugged IN
Finder tips and tricks
Have you ever spent a few minutes exploring your computer’s Finder?
Finder is the name given the desktop
area on a Mac, but it really describes
the way the Mac’s entire filing system
works.
If a hard drive icon or network icon is
missing from the windows on your computer, Finder menu > Finder preferences
is where you fix that problem. Click
on sidebar and check the missing items
you want to show – hard disks, external
disks, CDs/DVDs, network or shared
computers, desktop and home folder.
Once they’re checked, those items will
show up on your desktop.
Do you use smart folders (Mac OSX
10.4 and up)? A smart folder’s content
is determined by rules that you create.
You can make one that saves all the files
you have created in the past two weeks
no matter where they’re stored on your
computer. The folder appears in the sidebar and is easy to get to any time – even
from within programs.
To set up a smart folder, go to the
finder and select “Smart Folder” under
the File menu.
Next, do a search for the last two
weeks sorted by date created on the
server. Click the add button to get more
options. More than one add button can
be used for a better search. Click the
“save” button in the window of the
search box. You can save the Smart
Folder anywhere on the drive, but the
sidebar box is checked by default. Any
search you often repeat should be saved
in this manner.
The “Go” menu under Finder is
another overlooked tool that’s great for
networking or getting to other common
places.
Create Archive is a great tool for zipping files or folders you want to e-mail.
OPA COMPUTER CONSULTANT WILMA MELOT’S COLUMN BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE OKLAHOMA ADVERTISING NETWORK (OAN).
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE OAN PROGRAM, CONTACT OKLAHOMA PRESS SERVICE AT (405) 499-0020.
10
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
Fitness program for writing cuts the fat, adds muscle
Clark’s Critique
BY TERRY CLARK, Journalism Professor,
University of Central Oklahoma
[email protected]
“I work on muscular writing,” the twotime Pulitzer Prize winner said.
Anthony Shadid, an Oklahoma City
native who covers Iraq and Lebanon for
the New York Times, recently spoke to my
students at a writing workshop.
He referred to using nouns and verbs,
and fewer adjectives and adverbs. He got
me to thinking about a workout to build
muscle in writing. Just as I need an intentional exercise program or diet for physical
health and strength, so do we need to work
on healthy writing.
The digital journalism revolution makes
all of this more important. You can’t tell an
entire story on Twitter, but Twitter, and
“handheld journalism,” emphasizes tight
writing, especially with more and more
people reading news on small screens.
So here’s an exercise program to build
muscle, and cut the flab, in your writing.
Take the last news story you wrote and see
how muscular it is.
1. USE SPECIFIC NOUNS. Check the leads
mentioned later in this column for examples.
2. USE ACTIVE VOICE VERBS – voted,
passed, hit, created, talked. Active verbs
move ideas. Passive verbs – is, was, were
– weaken sentences because they can’t lift
much.
3. USE “SAID” FOR ATTRIBUTION. It’s
active voice. It’s short. Other words add
connotation and aren’t necessary.
4. AVOID ALMOST ALL ADVERBS (although
“almost” is an adverb). If a word ends
in “ly,” surely you don’t need it. (Take
out “surely” here and it doesn’t change
anything.) Pet peeve of a useless adverb
– “very.”
5. USE SPECIFIC ADJECTIVES AND
DETAIL ONLY. If it’s a vague, general
adjective – delicious, beautiful, attractive,
tragic – it’s flabby, and long.
6. USE SHORT QUOTES. If they’re long,
you can paraphrase them and save words
and space. Just use the best part of a long
quote.
7. DON’T BURY QUOTES in the story or
paragraph. If it’s a good quote, get it in
the first few paragraphs. And start a new
paragraph with it. I call quotes the “eye
contact” of writing.
8. “PUT THE ATTRIBUTION LAST, in most
cases,” Clark said.
9. WRITE SHORT SENTENCES. Period.
People quit reading after about 15 words,
or quit comprehending. If you can’t say the
sentence out loud in one breath, it’s too
long.
10. WRITE SHORT LEAD SENTENCES in
a short paragraph. If you can’t tell the
essence of the story in 15-20 words, your
writing may be flabby.
11. KEEP THE PREPOSITIONS TO A MINIMUM. If you have more than three of them
in a sentence, it’s too long.
12. NEVER USE COLONS OR EXCLAMATION POINTS! Rarely use semi-colons.
Use lots of periods. They’re free, and
slim.
13. WRITE SHORT PARAGRAPHS. More
than two sentences squeezed into a narrow newspaper column makes for lots of
gray space, and therefore fat.
14. TRY WRITING YOUR ARTICLE without
looking at your notes. You’ll remember
only the important stuff. Then go back to
your notes to fill in necessary facts and for
accuracy.
15. RUN SPELL CHECK AND CHECK READABILITY STATS at end. I contend passive
verbs should be under 20 percent. (For this
article so far, up to the parenthesis: 529
words, 57 sentences, 20 paragraphs. 0%
passive. Grade level, 5.5. Reading ease,
71.5 % – understandable to 13-15 year
olds. Lots of muscle, no flab. Lean meat.)
Note: To get the stats, open Word, go to
Preferences, click on Spelling and Grammar, check the Readability Stats box.
Look at your last story. Got muscle, or
flab?
LOOKIN‘EM OVER: Stories you have
to read, and ought to be doing – Ben
Felder in the Piedmont Surrey-Gazette,
“The Facebook Generation.” “Growing
up in a world of social networking has
changed the way this generation does…
everything.” His lead:
“Piedmont High School senior Caleb
Harrison wasn’t quite sure where he stood
with a girl he had been seeing until he sat
in front of the computer and had Facebook
confirm that the relationship was over.
“A simple switch on her profile from
Interesting stories on the front pages of The Norman Transcript, The Piedmont-Surrey
Gazette and The Tuttle Times entice readers to keep turning pages.
‘in a relationship’ to ‘single’ was a clear
signal…”
A story you just want to read – Eakly
Country Connection columnist Catherine
Doughtery, “Harriet the Spy, the buzzard
who came to stay.”
Ideas you can steal: Kirk McCracken in
the Mannford Eagle tells the story of the
“backpack program,” sending weekend
meals home with needy school children.
The Prague Times-Herald reports on the
bully prevention program at the local
middle school. Jennifer Lindsey of The
Daily Ardmoreite reported on teen sleeping habits, interviewing many teens.
A salute to the Anadarko Daily News
for carrying Patrick Redbird’s story
explaining the Kiowa Black Legging Warrior Society and its Armed Forces Day
ceremony.
Stories only local papers can tell. Wilson Post-Democrat headlines “A Wilson
football tale,” about the town’s first foreign exchange student. The Vici Vision
serializes Fred Schamburg writing about
early memories of Vici.
Leads you might like: Jean Grimes,
Tuttle Times: “Butch Lindsey was in third
grade when an uncle gave him his first
power saw.
“That gift opened a door on a world of
all things wood, leading him into…”
John Dohrer, Madill Record: Her name
may be Little, but her passion for art education is huge, according to colleagues.
“Cathy Little, an art teacher…”
Marlow Review: “If you are looking
for something to do Saturday, let the Stephens County Humane Society throw you
a bone.
“The fifth annual Bark in the Park…”
How to write interesting-to-the-reader
city council stories? Wayne Trotter of
The Countywide & Sun: “Shawnee city
commissioners quickly approved borrowing almost $1.5 million more for utility
improvements then handled the rest of a
light agenda with similar dispatch Monday
night.
“The result was an unusually short City
Commission meeting that was over only
40 minutes after the gavel first sounded.
“And while the loan for $1,485,000
from the Oklahoma Water Resources
Board may not have been the most surprising development in the short session,
it probably was the most important simply
because it is part of the city’s continuing
effort to upgrade water and sewer services
and pay off the resulting debt by charging
customers…”
HEAD‘EM UP AWARDS: First place, The
Black Chronicle on a package about an
Oklahoma County District Judge who has
become a millionaire. Writers were John
W. Simms, Bradford L. Jones and W.
Orlando Pierce. The head:
‘RAGS TO RICHES’
Continued on Page 11
11
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
Who can publish
legal notices?
By MICHAEL MINNIS, OPA ATTORNEY
New Jersey recently
rejected a Pennsylvania
newspaper’s claim to have
the right to publish legal
notices in New Jersey.
The Pennsylvania
newspaper was publishing legal
notices in New Jersey at lower rates
than those specified by a New Jersey
statute.
The Pennsylvania newspaper
argued that it was qualified to publish
legal notices in New Jersey because
the Pennsylvania newspaper was available on the Internet where New Jersey
citizens could access the notices.
The appellate court also ruled that
a New Jersey newspaper had standing
to bring suit against the Pennsylvania
newspaper; that a county cannot print
legal notices in a newspaper for less
than the statutory rates; and that the
commerce clause of the United States
Constitution does not preclude a state
from only allowing in-state newspapers to publish legal notices.
Although the Pennsylvania newspaper was unsuccessful, the New Jersey
case demonstrates how statutes can be
made ambiguous by subsequent technology.
As the Court noted, “the place of
publication is an elusive concept.”
Fortunately for Oklahoma newspapers, the Attorney General has issued
an opinion that provides some clarity
about “the place of publication” for
legal newspapers.
The Oklahoma statutory definition of a legal newspaper includes a
requirement that it be “published in the
county.”
The Attorney General opined
that a newspaper can only be a legal
newspaper in one county in the state
unless an adjoining county has no legal
newspaper; that legal notices must be
published in every edition of a newspaper published on the day of notice;
and that where the newspaper has its
original entry for periodic mailing
privileges is the county of publication
for the purposes of the statute.
Clark’s Critique
Continued from Page 10
Second place, tie. Stigler Country Star,
on a Doug Russell story about flu shot
charges:
Another shot in the wallet
and Okmulgee Daily Times, on a Valerie Rice story about a rural trail ride:
Take a ride on the wild side
Third place, tie. Enid News & Eagle,
on a Cass Rains story and Billy Hefton
photos about a Dachshund dash to raise
funds for the K-9 unit:
These dogs not weenies
and The Norman Transcript, on an
Andrew Knittle story about the foam insulation business:
Padding homes, wallets
Honorable mentions: Tuttle Times,
Jean Grimes’ story about a wood worker,
“Working wonders with wood”; Broken
Arrow Ledger, school board story by Nour
Habib, “Board: don’t comply with law”;
Cherokee Messenger & Republican, on
a cookbook story, “Tempting turnips”;
Tahlequah Daily Press, on a Josh Newton
photo of a Cherokee knot teacher, “It’s
Knot Traditional”; Mustang Times, on a
Carolyn Cole story about a retiring band
director, “Putting down the baton”; The
Oklahoman, on a David Zizzo story and
Steve Good photo of a WWII veteran who
returned from the honor flight, “A flight
of honor”; Madill Record on a Jon Dohrer
story about art teacher Cathy Little being
named teacher of the year, “A Little Recognition”; Newcastle Pacer, on a Darla
Welchel story about a barrel racer, “Barreling to Success”; Purcell Register on the
new chamber executive director named
Char Page, “Chamber turns a Page”; Minco-Union City Times, on a Jon Watje story
about a friend helping save a beekeeper’s
business, “Helping with Honey.”
Dog headlines on fundraisers for
humane societies: Marlow Review, “Park
goes to the dogs”; Duncan Banner, “Bark
for a cause.” Big package in The Norman
Transcript by Aaron Write Gray and photog Kyle Phillips on the same theme.
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12
THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, October 2010
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AUGUST 2010 CONTEST WINNERS
Column:
Editorial:
VICK
ALLSHOUSE
JEFF
KALEY
Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise
Waurika News-Democrat
AUGUST 2010 EDITORIAL WINNER JEFF
KALEY, WAURIKA NEWS-DEMOCRAT
A time for our kids to learn life lessons
It’s that time once again. In the past few days, that
uniquely American endeavor known as interscholastic sports
began in earnest for a new school year.
Throughout Jefferson County and all around the Sooner
state, thousands of young folk who participate in fall sports
are strapping on shoulder pads or slipping a hand into a ball
glove; cross country athletes are running over hill and dale.
During the next 10 months, about 60 percent of the
nation’s junior high and high school young’uns will be
involved in games, matches and meets. Interscholastic
sports is the biggest extracurricular choice among our teenagers. It’s been that way for generations, and although each
new generation finds distractions outside the sports arenas,
being a jock still means something.
Until the middle of May, our young athletes will spend
countless hours preparing to represent their families, their
programs, their schools and their communities.
There will be the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory.
There will be smiles, there will be tears. There will be some
individuals and teams who over-achieve and some who
under-achieve. There will be cheers, there will — unfortunately — be jeers.
There will be some who are stars, and there will be some
who only get to play in the final minutes of a blowout. But
in team sports, those at the end of the bench are as important
as the stars, because they take responsibility, they accept
instruction, they enjoy the camaraderie and they try.
There will be a kid who scores the winning touchdown at
the buzzer, and there will be a shortstop who lets a grounder
go through their legs, allowing the opposing team to score
the decisive run. If we do this right, we’ll high-five the one
who scores the game-winner, and we’ll hug the one who
made the error and remind them the sun will rise tomorrow
— because it will.
During the next 10 months, we’ll grieve for the female
guard whose basketball career ends with a blown-out knee.
Our hearts will sink when a senior wrestler’s final season
is wiped out by a broken arm, but we’ll grin a bit when he
shows up a week later as the team manager just because he
likes being involved.
There will be coaches who seem charmed, whose teams
and individuals always reach a high standard; skippers who
are masters of the most difficult trick in coaching young athletes — getting them to perform at a level higher than they
think they can reach. There will also be coaches who are just
as dedicated and just as knowledgeable, but who won’t get
the same production from their young charges.
There will be coaches who, quite frankly, got in the
wrong profession.
Although it troubles fans to admit it, there will also be
reaffirmation of an ancient sports truism: The race is usually
won by the horse that’s the biggest, fastest and strongest.
Sometimes your kid, your team is just not up to the challenge.
But there will also be reaffirmation of the great sports
legend: Sometimes the 100 to 1 long shot wins the race.
There will be confirmation of a reality: Sports does not
give kids character, it enhances character traits that already
exist. But there will also be confirmation of a rarity: Once in
a while, sports gives a disadvantaged kid the tools to make
a productive life.
During the next 10 months, there will be some adults
who will over-react. There will be some grownups whose
behavior will make us blush, who won’t be able to see past
their own child or who push their child relentlessly. There
will be parents who will blame any mistake their kid makes
on somebody else’s kid or the coach or the referee.
It remains a sad fact that from the high school varsity
level down to T-ball, most of the ills of youth sports can be
traced to adults.
At the same time, there will be some adults who will
beam when their child achieves, but they will also cheer
for the others as well. There will be parents who won’t
show their disappointment, as they explain to their kid that
sometimes your best isn’t enough, and what’s important is
making the effort.
Do we take interscholastic sports too seriously? Probably. Can it be abused? Absolutely.
But life’s not always fair, not always fun, not always
equal, not always pure; in the big game of life, there’s as
much losing as there is winning. And for the next 10 months,
that’s what our young’uns will be learning.
Enter and Win a
$100 Check from ONG!
1.
Each month, send a tear sheet or photocopy of
your best column and/or editorial to ONG Contest,
c/o OPA, 3601 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK
73105-5499.
2.
Include the author’s name, name of publication,
date of publication and category entered (column
or editorial).
3.
Only ONE editorial and/or ONE column per writer
per month will be accepted.
4.
All entries for the previous month must be at the
OPA office by the 15th of the current month.
5.
Winning entries will be reproduced on the OPA
website at www.OkPress.com.
Entries must have been previously published.
Contest open to all OPA member newspapers.
Although Oklahoma Natural Gas Company selects
representative contest winners’ work for use in this monthly
ad, the views expressed in winning columns and editorials
are those of the writers and don’t necessarily reflect the
Company’s opinions.
Thank you for continued support of “Share The Warmth”
Read the Winning Columns and Editorials on the OPA website: www.OkPress.com (Under Contests)