Tennessee Press Association

Transcription

Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
8
‘08 Marks Another Year of Growth for
Tennessee’s Advertising Networks
Clipping Bureau
Increases Revenue
in 2008
In 2008, the TPS Clipping Bureau accomplished its goal of surpassing 2007.
Despite the down economy, the department was able to increase its revenue by
8% from the previous year. This is quite
a feat since there were fewer employees in
the department than there have been in
the past.
With the retirement of Linda Johnson,
a reader for over 20 years, schedules were
rearranged to accommodate the change.
The hard work of the current readers allowed the department to continue at a
steady, productive pace.
Nine out of 12 months were more profitable in 2008 than they were in 2007.
There were 181,554 clippings sent to
clients in 2008. Of those clippings,
98,793 of them were E-Clips. These are
clippings that are clipped, scanned and
sent by email to clients that choose this
optional service. The amount of E-Clips
sent out this year broke the previous record by 4,439 clips.
A majority of Clipping Bureau clients
are located in Tennessee, but several
others are out-of-state. They span the
country from New York to California,
from Louisiana to Ohio. The bureau
also works with other clipping services
throughout the country to obtain clips
for clients.
age reps to sell the ads, TPS held a contest for
sales reps from January through March. It
was a huge success. Seven reps sold ads into
the networks, generating $4,458 in new revenue for their newspapers.
Since January, participation in TnScan and
TnDAN has grown 6 percent. TPS was able
to increase newspaper involvement by effectively communicating the benefits of belonging to these networks. In January, letters were
sent to all TPA members letting them know
how much money was distributed through the
pool share. Newspapers that sold ads into the
networks were informed as to the amount of
revenue that was generated.
In July, e-mails were sent to all ad directors
at TPA member newspapers announcing open
enrollment in the programs. The amount of
the rebate checks had increased 23 to 26 percent over the first quarter.
TPS also was able to boost enrollment by
word of mouth. Ron Fryar played a major role
in the growth of Tennessee’s Advertising Networks this past year.
This gave us an excellent idea for the upcoming
year. Who better than publishers and ad directors to tout the benefits of these networks? So,
TPS will comp the 2009 Winter Convention
registration (a $150 value) for any TPA member newspaper that enrolls a non-participating
newspaper into TnScan and/or TnDAN. Please
refer to the list of newspapers currently enrolled
in the networks available on tnpress.com.
Advertising networks like TnScan and TnDAN continue to grow year after year. Advertisers recognize the convenience, effectiveness, and affordability of these programs.
But, these networks could not exist without the TPA newspapers. Thank you for
making 2008 a good year. TPS will be rolling out new ideas in the upcoming year, so
LOOK OUT 2009!
Press Service Creates Statewide
Online Advertising Network
TPS realized that online advertising is predicted to be the largest area of growth for many
newspapers in the near future. To ensure that
newspapers are included in as many campaign
budgets as possible, we needed to make online
advertising easy and cost-effective.
Many TPA member
newspapers already
offer online advertising options
that are similar
to an ROP buy,
but may have
extra availability
for ads on their
respective sites
that go unsold.
TPS decided to
partner with a
vendor that could
help us develop a statewide online ad program to help members fill
those spots and earn revenue. After meeting
with several potential companies, we decided
that Digital Press Consortium (DPC) was the
right fit for us. They are currently administer-
Tennessee Press
Association
Representing 128 Newspapers
435 Montbrook Lane
Knoxville, TN 37919
Phone (865) 584-5761
Toll Free (800) 565-7377
Fax (865) 558-8687
tnpress.com
ing the online programs for a handful of other
state press services as well.
The online ad network will operate in much
the same way as our Network print products
(2x2 and 2x4 ads), whereby advertisers will be
able to run online button advertising on many
newspaper sites across the entire state for very
little money. TPS will not accept ads related to
adult services, 900 numbers, “work at home”, or
debt consolidation. In this tight economy, the
low cost of these ads should be especially attractive as an add-on for our ROP and Network customers, to increase the reach of their print ads.
The ease of participating in the online advertising network should be particularly appealing to
TPA member newspapers. Newspapers will simply place a unique code provided by TPS onto
their Web site anywhere they would like these
ads to appear. TPS and DPC will do the rest
of the work. Newspapers can reject any ad that
does not adhere to their advertising guidelines.
Plus, newspapers will receive quarterly rebate
checks and will have the opportunity to sell the
ads and make a large commission. It’s a win-win.
Place the code once and you’re done. The online
advertising network will roll out in early 2009.
TPA & TPS Staff Members
Greg Sherrill, TPA Executive Director
Greg Sherrill, TPS Exec. Vice President
Laurie Alford, TPS Business Controller
Kathy Hensley, Accounting Services Rep.
Barry Jarrell, Advertising Director
Rhonda Graham, New Business Dev. Mgr.
Beth Elliott, Network Ad Manager
Pam Corley, Senior Print Media Buyer
Holly Craft, Public Notice Web Coord.
Earl Goodman, Print Media Buyer
Jackie Roberson, Tearsheet Coordinator
Robyn Gentile, TPA Member Services Mgr.
Kevin Slimp, Technology Director
Angelique Dunn, Administrative Assistant
Holly Craft, Clipping Bureau Manager
Jeanie Bell, Reader
Jessica Price, Reader
Brenda Leek, Tabber
Josh Ley, Scanning Technician
Elenora Edwards, Managing Editor, The Tennessee Press
Associate Members
AbitibiBowater, Inc.
Aflac
Associated Press
AT&T
Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence
Dynaric, Inc.
Embarq
Hollow and Hollow, LLC
King & Ballow
Life Care Centers of America
Metro Creative Graphics, Inc.
MMA Creative
Publishing Group of America
Right Way Business Services
Rowlett Advertising Service
Russell Printing Options
Signature Offset
SP Newsprint Sales Co.
Tennessee Education Association
Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation
Tennessee National Guard
Tennessee Dept. of Tourist Development
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Only Voice
W.D. Stone & Associates
W.E. Shaw & Associates
The Zinser Law Firm
Collegiate Associate Members
Austin Peay State University
Carson Newman College
Cleveland State Community College
East Tennessee State University
Middle Tennessee State University
Murray State University
Tennessee Technological University
Union University
The University of Memphis
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
The University of Tennessee, Martin
Volunteer State Community College
Western Kentucky University
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Tennessee’s Statewide Classified Advertising
Network (TnScan) and Tennessee’s Display Advertising Network (TnDAN) continue to serve
the TPA member newspapers that participate in
the programs. Just by replacing filler ads with
TnScan and TnDAN ads, newspapers receive
rebate checks each quarter. TPS has rebated a
total of $126,993.00 during the first three quarters in 2008 to the participating newspapers.
Newspapers can also tap into a powerful new
revenue stream by selling the ads and keeping
40 percent commission. To encour-
Tennessee Press
Association
Tennessee Press
Service
Tennessee Press
Association Foundation
Tennessee Press Association (TPA) was created in
1870 to represent the newspapers of Tennessee, both
large and small. Since that time, TPA has grown to
incorporate a wide array of services to our industry,
such as annual State Press Contests, newspaper staff
training, lobbying against closure of records and
meetings, legal protection and many more.
Tennessee Press Service, the business affiliate of
TPA, was formed in 1947 to provide statewide and
regional advertising placement for all TPA member
newspapers.
Mission Statement:
Mission Statement:
The Tennessee Press Association is the state’s
foremost advocate of free press, open government and
the people’s right to know.
The association nurtures a community for journalistic
enterprise by providing members ways to meet, exchange
ideas, enhance skills and honor excellence.
Members share a vital interest in sustaining the
value of products they provide audiences, advertisers
and communities; and to that end, TPA promotes
activities to maintain quality, uphold integrity and
adapt to the evolving business environment.
In addition to a full-service ROP placement
service, TPS also operates Statewide Classified,
2x2, and 2x4 networks that help newspapers turn
remnant space into revenue. Most participants of
these networks earn more in revenue than their
annual TPA dues!
TPS will soon be offering an online placement
service to help extend advertisers' reach to the Web as
well as in print. In addition to advertising placement,
TPS also operates a clipping bureau, publishes a
monthly tabloid covering the newspaper industry
of our state, and coordinates the internationallyrecognized Institute of Newspaper Technology each
year. Through the efforts of TPS programs, more
than six million dollars of revenue was generated for
TPA member newspapers in 2008.
Raise and disburse funds to enable the Tennessee
Press Association Foundation to be valued, and
recognized nationally, as a statewide provider of quality
educational opportunities for the benefit of Tennessee
Press Association member newspapers by:
Anticipating and meeting educational needs in
the fields of journalism, First Amendment issues,
advertising, business and technology;
Developing and promoting awareness of Tennessee
Press Association member newspapers to the general
reading public;
Promoting a work environment at Tennessee
Press Association member newspapers conducive
to producing high quality, nationally recognized,
community newspapers and related products for our
readers and advertising customers; and
Providing appropriate recognition of those Tennessee
newspaper professionals who are selected for inclusion
in the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame.
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
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TPA and Government Affairs
Tennessee Press Association plays a
key role as the voice of the newspaper
industry with regard to open records,
open meetings, and opposing legislation that would harm the free flow of
information or otherwise restrict the
free press.
TPA President Tom Griscom appointed a new committee this year,
the Government Affairs Committee,
which replaced the former Freedom
of Information (FOI) and Government Relations committees. The two
former committees have met jointly
and worked together on many issues
for several years now, so it made sense
to merge them into one body.
The Government Affairs Committee is chaired by Elizabeth Blackstone
of Columbia. It works hand-in-hand
with our contract lobbying service,
Johnson Poss Government Relations,
TPA staff, and Tennessee Coalition
for Open Government (TCOG)
to watch over the thousands of bills
filed each year in Tennessee’s General
Assembly. A system of watch and action lists help to identify potentially
damaging legislation that could close
records, remove notification requirements, or otherwise adversely affect
our industry or the free flow of information.
“I am excited to bring the former
FOI and Government Relations
people together under one committee structure,” said Blackstone. “We
were already working together on the
same issues for many years, but now
this makes it official.
“I am also very grateful to bring the
expertise and talents of former FOI
chair Michael Williams and his committee members into this unified
committee structure.”
Blackstone noted that the landscape of our profession is changing
daily and that the role of this new,
unified committee will become more
important than ever.
“We can’t be entrenched in what
the profession has been. We must
instead focus on what it is, on what
it should be, and on what it can be,”
Blackstone said.
Tennessee Press Association was
a key player in the creation of the
TCOG several years ago. That coalition broadens our voice to include
broadcast and other media and has
been very instrumental in protecting
our access to records and meetings.
Led by Executive Director Frank Gibson, TCOG has become a strong advocate for the public’s right to know.
“For the last two decades we fought one
defensive battle after
another to try and
protect records. We
stopped some really
horrible major exemptions, but in concentrating on these major
hurdles some smaller
exemptions were continually added to the
records law. This year,
we have taken a proactive stance and were
successful in getting
the first improvements to the open
records laws in more
than 25 years,” said
Gibson.
Below are summarized some of the most
important successes of the 2008 legislative session (the 105th General
Assembly), taken from a report provided by Frank Gibson.
• We were able last year to stop a
company from coming into Tennessee to set up a private Web site for all
public notices. The company could
have brought it back this year but did
not. It is being proposed almost annually in some form.
• We compromised and agreed
to close all addresses and personal
phone numbers of state employees
and the street addresses and personal
telephone of local government workers in order to keep such information
as date of birth open. Date of birth is
the only regular identifier. Eight separate bills were filed after thousands
of state employees were notified via
e-mail that a newspaper and TV station had requested their name, address and phone number. This information is closed in most other states.
• In 2008, with help from House
Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, we were able
to keep conceal and carry gun permit
information open for another year. A
TV story that found serious problems
with the permit program, including
permits being issued to convicted
felons, helped. Making the proposed
legislation more outrageous was the
fact it would have made publishing
anything in a permit file a Class E
felony (1-2 years in prison).
• An effort failed that would have
brought back to life a bill that would
fine cable companies (and in the future, we feared, all media) $50,000
for advertising Girls Gone Wild and
other material/products deemed unfit. The measure passed the Senate in
2007 but died in a House subcommittee that year.
• In 2008, public hospital boards
got an exemption to close meetings
to discuss strategic planning, but
members must vote in an open meeting to close the doors and can’t vote
on anything produced in the private
meeting until seven days after materials have been made public.
• A bill passed allowing Knox
County to launch as a three-year
pilot project an Internet relay chat
room with public access provided to
set up and archive all communication. Appropriated no money and
required no reports on the project.
Changes to Open Records Law
(summarized by Frank Gibson):
Here are the most significant
changes to Tennessee’s Open Records Law, effective July 1, 2008,
under legislation sponsored by Sen.
Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, Sen.
Joe Haynes, D-Goodlettsville, and
Rep. Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers
Crossroads. The text of the final
version of the bill can be found on
the General Assembly’s Web site as
Amendment #3 to House Bill 3637.
1. Moves the definition of public
records into the body of T.C.A. 107-503, which is universally recognized as the open records law and
where citizens and reporters would
ordinarily look for it. It retains the
language “regardless of physical form
or characteristics” to make it clear
it applies to information stored in
electronic form and defines record
as anything “made or
received pursuant to
law or ordinance or in
connection with the
transaction of official
business by any governmental agency.”
2. Says records must
be made available
“promptly,” but if
that is not practical,
it gives records custodian seven (7) business days to (A) grant
the request, (B) cite a
basis for denying it, or
(C) explain in writing
why it will take more
than 7 days. There
was no such deadline
before.
3. Failure to reply to
request “shall constitute a denial,” and you can go to either Chancery or Circuit Court immediately to contest a decision. Suits
were permitted only in Chancery
Court before.
4. Allows agencies to charge “actual costs” for providing records, including copying fees and employee
time, but only if the request takes
more than five (5) hours. That is an
interim measure until the Office of
Open Records Counsel develops
a “schedule of reasonable charges”
which would supplant the statute as
early as this fall. The statute will still
say agencies can “adopt and enforce
reasonable rules” for making copies.
5. An agency cannot be required to
sort through files to compile information subject to an open records
request, but must make all relevant,
non-exempt records available so
citizens can do the work themselves.
6. An agency cannot contract away
a right to inspect public records by
turning records over to a private com-
pany or non-governmental entity.
7. An agency cannot require a
request to inspect records to be in
writing and cannot charge to inspect
public records unless the law specifically allows it.
8. An agency can require a request
for copies to be in writing to help
the custodian know what to copy,
but the new Office of Open Records
Counsel is asked to develop a form to
be used for that purpose.
9. Since the citizenship/residency
requirement was retained, an agency
can require a photo or other “acceptable” ID to inspect records.
10. Requests for inspection and
copying shall be “sufficiently detailed” to enable a custodian to locate
or to copy the records.
11. A records custodian must provide an estimate of “reasonable costs.”
12. In a lawsuit, when a judge is trying to determine whether an adverse
decision was willful (as opposed to
arbitrary), thus justifying an award of
legal fees, the court “may consider”
whether the custodian sought guidance from the Open Records Counsel. This could help more plaintiffs
collect legal fees.
13. Creates the Office of Open
Records Counsel to answer questions from public officials, the public and the press. The ORC will collect data on open meetings inquiries
and provide (or coordinate) training on the open records and open
meetings laws.
14. Says ORC shall issue informal
advisory opinions “as expeditiously
as possible” and instructs the office
to post opinions on its Web site.
Instructs state officials to continue
seeking legal advice from the Tennessee Attorney General.
15. Authorizes the ORC to “informally mediate and assist with resolution” of open records issues.
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TPS Offers
Plethora of
Training
Opportunities
Tennessee Press Service, along
with TPA and TPAF, enjoy a reputation among newspaper organizations as the unqualified leaders in
the area of technology training.
From an online video training
program to regularly scheduled webinars to the Institute of Newspaper
Technology, Tennessee newspapers
have a wealth of resources available
when it’s time to train staff in the
latest hardware and software.
Members throughout the state
take advantage of these offerings in
ever-growing numbers. Whether
they are traveling to the campus of
The University of Tennessee for
three days of in-depth training or
sitting at desks or conference tables
in their offices taking part in a live
webinar, Tennessee newspaper staffs
have the most advanced training
available at their fingertips.
For more information concerning
training opportunities, check out
the offerings on this page or visit the
Training area of tnpress.com.
2008 TPA Expenditures
Government Relations
$49,000
Office Space
$39,694
Meeman Fund
$2,460
Committees
$1,264
General & Adminstrative
$55,000
Contests
$19,365
NAM &
NNA
$1,624
Legal
Hotline
$15,000
Meetings &
Conventions
$52,213
William Mitchell, Shelbyville
Times-Gazette, participates in
a class during the 2008 session
of the Institute of Newspaper
Technology on campus at The
University of Tennessee.
On Site Training &
Consulting Appear to
Be Hot Items in ‘09
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Photo by Rob Heller
Dan Proctor, News Sentinel,
Knoxville, participates in a Flash
class during the 2008 session of
the Institute of Newspaper Technology.
TPS Online
Training Grows
in Popularity
and Topics
As part of its commitment to members, TPS offers training in the latest technology. Above, Kevin
Slimp trains newspaper staffs in Lenoir City and Kingston.
If you happened to stroll through the offices of the Shelbyville Times-Gazette on January 5 or 6, you’d
probably run into a class on InDesign, Photoshop or Acrobat as the staff prepares for a major software and
workflow update a week later. Drop by Vol State Community College in Gallatin a week later and you’ll
find TPS Technology Director, Kevin Slimp, leading classes for area newspaper designers and staffs.
As part of its commitment to members, TPS provides the opportunity for newspapers to receive training
in the latest newspaper technologies. The most common requests come from newspapers who want expert
advice as they move toward a major equipment or workflow upgrade and from members who want to provide on-site training for their staffs.
In 2008, there were several requests from newspaper groups in Tennessee who were upgrading to a new
pagination workflow. In many cases, Kevin helped create a game plan, led groups through purchase options
and provided training for staffs as they moved to new applications or upgraded to unfamiliar versions.
Other newspapers brought Kevin on site to train staff on updated software applications or to hone skills
in photo editing and page layout.
For more information about on site training or consulting, e-mail Kevin at [email protected].
Wouldn’t it be great if staff
members could hone their skills
during down times? Thanks
to the forethought of the TPA
Technology Committee, staff
at member newspapers have
that opportunity at any time.
Online video training is only
a click away. Ten to 15 minute
classes in InDesign, Flash, Photoshop, Quark, Acrobat, CS4
and more are accessible through
the Training area of tnpress.
com. Getting this training is
as simple as requesting a user
name and password, then logging on to tnpress.com.
Online training works like
this. Videos are created and
saved as Quicktime MPG files,
meaning they can be viewed
on PCs and Macs. After entering the Online Training area,
visitors simply click on the title
of a training session and either
watch the video in their Web
browser or download the file
for later viewing.
Some newspapers encourage
designers and technical staff to
log on each week to learn new
techniques and update their
skills. Others use this valuable
resource during times of major
software and hardware upgrades.
Whatever the case, online
video training is available free
to members. To get a user name
and password, simply e-mail
Kevin Slimp at [email protected]. Soon you’ll be joining other members throughout
the state who get their training
online.
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Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
78% of Tennessee Newspapers Participate
in Public Notice Site During First Year
The TPS Public Notice Web site,
tnpublicnotice.com, currently consists of 94 participating member
newspapers. The assistance from
those papers is the reason the site
has been successful. Since January 1, 2008 there have been over
26,000 notices uploaded.
Since its inception in 2007, the
site has provided a useful source
for public information, including
bids, foreclosures, meeting announcements and trustee sales.
Each notice on the site is accompanied by the name and date of
the publication from which it was
printed. There have been over
28,000 searches via the site and of
those searches, over 25,000 public
notices have been viewed.
“The number of people using our
public notice Web site to search
out information has astounded
me,” said Technology Director
Kevin Slimp. “I had no idea so
many people had even found our
site, much less were using it on a
regular basis.”
All four of our metro newspapers
have been more than cooperative,
and their participation has been extremely helpful. Our medium size
and smaller papers have been great
as well, and their eagerness to participate in the public notice site has been
very encouraging over the last year.
“I can't overstate the importance
of getting all of our members to upload their information to the public
notice Web site,” said Slimp. “It takes
less than 10 or 15 minutes each week,
and the benefits to the public and to
our industry more than justify the
minimal effort.”
For more information, call Holly
Craft at (865) 584-5761, ext. 119, or
e-mail [email protected].
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Tennessee Press Service 08-09 Officers & Directors
PRESIDENT
Dale C. Gentry
The Standard Banner
Jefferson City
VICE PRESIDENT
Pauline D. Sherrer
DIRECTOR
Jeff Fishman
DIRECTOR
W.R. (Ron) Fryar
Crossville Chronicle The Tullahoma News American Hometown
Publishing
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
Victor Parkins Michael Williams
The Milan
Mirror-Exchange
The Paris
Post-Intelligencer
2008 TPS Advertising Placement
Auction
$248,149
Financial
$204,219
Other*
$532,670
Public Notice
$1,385,942
Lottery
$250,929
ROP
*Other includes Advocacy, Restaurants, Consumer Goods,
Recruitment, Tourism, Political, Auto Dealerships, Education, Expos,
State Associations and Class Action Lawsuits
Telecommunications
$1,325,838
Healthcare
$443,354
Public Utilities
$752,597
TnScan
$401,070
TnDAN
$256,128
Retail Chains
$1,188,713
Network
During 2008, TPS continued the work to bring our member
papers additional revenue. Barry Jarrell, Advertising Director
(covering East Tennessee) and Rhonda Graham, New Business
Development Manager (covering Middle and West Tennessee),
have traveled across Tennessee and other states spreading the word
Ideas Contest
Awards Presented
in Gatlinburg
Out of State Classified
$140,231
Out of State DAN
$23,490
TPA & UT Recognize Excellence
in Tennessee Newspapers
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The Institute of Newspaper Technology is co-sponsored each year
by Tennessee Press Service and The University of Tennessee.
“Tennessee Press Service (TPS) has been extremely
active in 2008. In addition to providing more than $7
million of display, classified display and network revenue to TPA member newspapers, TPS also operates
a full-service clipping bureau and an aggregate public
notice Web site that extends the reach of these notices
to online readers across the state. The searchable
PRESIDENT
site, www.tnpublicnotice.com, now has 94 member
Dale C. Gentry
newspapers posting more than 9,000 notices each The Standard Banner
Jefferson City
month. Since January 1, there have been almost
30,000 searches of Tennessee public notices! By operating this site, we
allow important government, foreclosure and other notices to be available to the greatest segment of the general public as possible, all at no
additional charge to the advertiser.
With 2008 proving to be a very challenging year from an economic
standpoint, member newspapers relied on TPS advertising placement
more than ever. To help make sure that newspapers are the advertising
medium of choice in the future, TPS is busy working with a vendor to
roll out a new online placement network which should be up and running in early 2009. This will allow current print advertisers to easily reach
a whole new demographic with a cost-effective, statewide buy. Watch for
more information to come about this exciting new network.
Thanks to the efforts of Kevin Slimp and others, TPS has helped Tennessee newspapers stay at the front of the technology curve. Please remember to take advantage of the outstanding training opportunities
we provide, from webinars to online training videos to the Institute of
Newspaper Technology.
Please take a moment to peruse these pages, which provide more detail
on how TPS is working hard to help TPA member publications be profitable for many years to come!”
on Tennessee newspapers to advertising agencies and companies
alike. In addition, Tennessee Press maintains a media presence
online to further attract media buyers to Tennessee newspapers.
With a professional staff of media buyers made up of Pam
Corley and Earl Goodman, along with tearsheeter Jack-
ie Roberson, we are able to assist agencies in placing ads in
multiple markets across Tennessee at no extra cost to them.
TPS makes it easy for ad agencies and companies to place in Tennessee newspapers! For additional information on TPS advertising, e-mail Barry Jarrell at [email protected]
Newspapers across Tennessee
that won awards in the University
of Tennessee-Tennessee Press Association 2008 State Press Contests were recognized July 18 in
Nashville.
The Erwin Record, Memphis
Business Journal, Southern Standard, McMinnville, The LeafChronicle, Clarksville, and The
Tennessean, Nashville, won the
General Excellence top awards at
the association's luncheon at the
Millennium Maxwell House Hotel.
Hank Dye, vice president of
public and governmental relations
for the UT system, presented
awards. UT has co-sponsored the
annual contest since 1940.
General Excellence honors are
based on total points accumulated
for all award categories.
For the sixth consecutive year,
The Erwin Record won the General Excellence Award for its division.
It was the first win for Memphis
Business Journal, the third for
The Leaf-Chronicle and seventh
win for both the Southern Standard and The Tennessean.
The Nebraska Press Association
judged a total of 1,394 contest
entries from 77 association newspapers.
A change in the contests for
2008 added a fifth division for
competition and divisions were
based upon total weekly paid circulation instead of daily or nondaily status.
2008 General Excellence Award winners
Awards in the annual Tennessee Press Association Ideas
Contest were presented Friday,
April 11, in Gatlinburg in conjunction with the Advertising/
Circulation Conference.
The Chattanooga Times Free
Press won the top prize, the Jack
Freeland Memorial Award Best
of Show, for the entry of a series
of Subscription Promotion Ads.
Runners-up were The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, for
its "Elvis" Single Copy Promotion and the Overton County
News, Livingston, for its "Santa's Home Office" ad entered in
the Best Use of Multi-Color Ad
category.
The Shelbyville Times-Gazette
received the most awards at 27.
Members of the Nebraska
Press Association judged the
1,270 contest entries. Fortythree newspapers participated
in the 2008 contest.
The Ideas Contest was established in 1978. The contest proceeds help to offset
the speaker costs for the annual Advertising/Circulation
Conference.
Group 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Erwin Record
Group 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memphis Business Journal
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‘08 TPA Highlights
Winter Convention
& Press Institute
The annual convention provides
networking, training and forums
for members to share ideas.
UT-TPA State Press Contests
Seventy-seven newspapers participated in the 2008 Contests. A total
of 499 awards were presented. The
awards event on July 18 had superior
member participation. It exceeded
the previous year’s attendance by 56
people for a total of 207, setting a
record for the luncheon attendance.
Summer Convention
The Johnson City Press hosted a
fabulous convention that delighted
convention goers. The convention
featured Press Camp for children
of attendees and attendance was the
highest for the convention since the
2004 Tri-State Convention
Advertising/Circulation
Conference
Attendees received valuable
training and networking opportunities. The conference was the bestattended conference since 2004.
Ideas Contest
The contest supports the Advertising/Circulation
Conference's
educational programming. A total
of 297 awards were presented at the
2008 Conference.
Elections
Each June, new officers are elected
during the Summer Convention.
Pauline Sherrer, publisher of the
Crossville Chronicle, passed the
presidential gavel to Tom Griscom,
publisher of the Chattanooga Times
Free Press, on June 19.
Mission Statement
TPA adopted a mission statement
in June.
Contests judgings
The participation of our members
who serve as judges allows TPA to
have the annual State Press Contests
and Ideas Contest judged by members of another state press association. The Nebraska Press Association was our 2008 judging partner.
Legislative Arena
TPA worked with its lobbyist and
the Tennessee Coalition for Open
Government to successfully gain the
first improvements to the Tennessee
Open Records Law in 25 years.
Group 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Southern Standard, McMinnville
Group 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksvile
Group 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Tennessean, Nashville
“There is positive news as we look at the achievements of
the Tennessee Press Association in 2008.
Challenges to the state’s Open Records and Open Meetings laws moved into a second year. Improvements have
been made in the fee structure for the production of documents by government agencies. No revisions were made
to the requirement of keeping public deliberations open PRESIDENT
Tom Griscom
to the public.
Chattanooga Times
As TPA adopted a mission statement (see page one), the
Free Press
time also is appropriate to recount the role of a free press
in our society. In doing so, we hold up the words of the First Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution that guarantee the rights of assembly, speech,
religion, petition and the press.
Your association recognized the work of more than 100 newspapers at the
annual Advertising/Circulation Ideas Contest and the State Press Contests.
The summer convention in Johnson City introduced a new program for
young people, who spent a day being cub reporters and publishing a newsletter.
Your association continues to provide quality training, legal assistance
on publishing issues through the Hotline and a strong platform for our
changing industry.”
Legal Hotline Proves Popular Member Benefit
For many years, TPA has been
partnering with TPA Counsel Rick
Hollow to provide the Legal Hotline for all member newspapers.
The Hotline allows members access
to quick legal advice from Hollow’s
firm, Hollow and Hollow, regarding
a wide range of publishing issues including access to records and government meetings, appropriate housing
ad language, libel protection and
more. The Hotline was originally
started as a subscription-based service that newspapers paid on top
of membership dues. Several years
ago, the Tennessee Press Association
Board of Directors realized the value
and importance of the Hotline and
noted how its usage had increased
dramatically over the years.
In 2004, the TPA Board voted to
provide funding to cover 100 percent of the Hotline expense for all
member publications, thus ending
the subscription service. Starting
in 2005, the TPA Foundation has
helped to offset the cost of this service, sharing the expense with TPA.
Since then, Hollow has seen call
volume increase steadily from just a
few calls a month to more than five
per week. That’s more than 250 calls
per year! Hollow shared which topics he and his staff encounter most
frequently on the Hotline. He said
that at least two-thirds of the calls
in 2008 have related to access issues,
and of those, questions about open
records occur about twice as often
as calls about open meetings.
Other calls cover a wide variety
of topics, including taxation, appropriate language for publication
(usually within letters to the editor
and advertisements), public notice
advertising issues and defamation.
Hollow noted that there has only
been one call regarding defamation
in 2008, which is unusually rare.
The Hotline gives us a good barometer of what types of issues the
membership is facing. For example,
after our office and the Hotline
fielded numerous questions about
public notice advertising, we asked
Hollow to produce a summary of
notice requirements in The Tennessee Code, which was distributed to
publishers earlier this fall.
One call to the Hotline could potentially save thousands if it helps to
avoid a costly litigation or to open
up a story. And, with the Hotline in
place, members may even be eligible
for a discount on their libel insurance
premiums. For these reasons, TPA
members have repeatedly confirmed
that the Legal Hotline is one of the
most valuable services we provide.
CMYK
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
6
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
2008 Year of Growth and Enhanced
Educational Opportunities Thanks to TPAF
Tennessee Press Association Officers, Directors and Members by District
Director, District 1
CMYK
Lynn Richardson
Herald and Tribune
Jonesborough
Bean Station, Grainger Today
Bristol, Bristol Herald Courier
Elizabethton, Elizabethton Star
Erwin, The Erwin Record
Greeneville, The Greeneville Sun
Jefferson City, The Standard Banner
Johnson City, Johnson City Press
Jonesborough, Herald and Tribune
Kingsport, Kingsport Times-News
Morristown, Citizen Tribune
Mountain City, The Tomahawk
Newport, The Newport Plain Talk
Rogersville, Rogersville Review
TPA
officers are
elected to serve
one-year terms.
Terms are July 1 throug h
June 30.
Directors serve for two years
on a staggered basis. Directors
of even numbered districts
are elected in even years and
directors of odd numbered
districts are elected in odd years.
TPA bylaws require a specific
rotation in the presidency. Every
even year, the president elected
will be from a daily newspaper
and every odd year the president
elected will be from a nondaily member newspaper.
Additionally, the presidency
rotates among TPA’s three
grand divisions. Tom Griscom,
the president elected in 2008,
is from TPA’s middle grand
division. It is customary for the
president to have served two
one-year terms as vice president
before being elected president.
Elections are held during
the TPA Business Session at
the summer convention.
Brad Franklin
The Lexington Progress
PRESIDENT
Tom Griscom
Chattanooga Times
Free Press
VICE PRESIDENT
NON-DAILIES
VICE PRESIDENT
DAILIES
Victor Parkins
The Milan Mirror-Exchange
Art Powers
Johnson City Press
Jack McElroy
News Sentinel
Knoxville
Clinton, The Courier-News
Harriman, The Harriman Record
Kingston, The Roane County News
Knoxville, The Knoxville Journal
Knoxville, News Sentinel
Lenoir City, News-Herald
Maryville, The Daily Times
Maynardville, The Union News Leader
Oak Ridge, The Oak Ridger
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee Star Journal
Rockwood, The Rockwood Times
Sevierville, The Mountain Press
Tazewell, The Claiborne Progress
Mike DeLapp
Herald-Citizen
Cookeville
Byrdstown, Pickett County Press
Carthage, Carthage Courier
Celina, Citizen-Statesman
Cookeville, Herald-Citizen
Crossville, Crossville Chronicle
Gainesboro, Jackson County Sentinel
Hartsville, The Hartsville Vidette
Jamestown, Fentress Courier
Lafayette, Macon County Chronicle
Lafayette, Macon County Times
LaFollette, LaFollette Press
Livingston, Livingston Enterprise
Livingston, Overton County News
Oneida, Independent Herald
Oneida, Scott County News
Sparta, Sparta Expositor
Spencer, The Mountain View
Wartburg, Morgan County News
TREASURER
Bill Williams
The Paris
Post-Intelligencer
DIRECTOR
At large
Pauline D. Sherrer
Crossville Chronicle
Ellen Leifeld
The Tennessean
Nashville
Ashland City, Ashland City Times
Clarksville, The Leaf-Chronicle
Dickson, The Dickson Herald
Dover, The Stewart-Houston Times
Gallatin, The News-Examiner
Gallatin, The Newspaper
Lebanon, The Lebanon Democrat
Lebanon, The Wilson Post
Mt. Juliet, Mt. Juliet News
Nashville, Nashville Business Journal
Nashville, The Tennessean
Portland, The Portland Leader
Portland, Portland Progressive
Springfield, Robertson County Times
Waverly, The News-Democrat
Westmoreland, The Westmoreland
Observer
Bolivar, Bulletin Times
Camden, The Camden Chronicle
Henderson, Chester County
Independent
Huntingdon, Carroll County News-Leader
Jackson, The Jackson Sun
Lexington, The Lexington Progress
McKenzie, The McKenzie Banner
Parsons, The News Leader
Savannah, The Courier
Selmer, Independent Appeal
Joel Washburn
Dresden Enterprise
Dresden, Dresden Enterprise
Dyer, The Tri-City Reporter
Dyersburg, State Gazette
Humboldt, The Humboldt Chronicle
Martin, Weakley County Press
Milan, The Milan Mirror-Exchange
Paris, The Paris Post-Intelligencer
Tiptonville, Lake County Banner
Trenton, The Gazette
Union City, Union City Daily Messenger
Chris Vass
Chattanooga Times
Free Press
Athens, The Daily Post-Athenian
Benton, Polk County News
Chattanooga, Chattanooga Times
Free Press
Chattanooga, Hamilton County Herald
Cleveland, Cleveland Daily Banner
Dayton, The Herald-News
Dunlap, The Dunlap Tribune
Jasper, Jasper Journal
Pikeville, The Bledsonian-Banner
South Pittsburg, South Pittsburg Hustler
Sweetwater, Monroe County Advocate
& Democrat
Hugh Jones
Shelbyville Times-Gazette
Fayetteville, Elk Valley Times
Lynchburg, The Moore County News
Manchester, Manchester Times
McMinnville, Southern Standard
Murfreesboro, The Daily News
Journal
Shelbyville, Shelbyville Times-Gazette
Smithville, The Middle Tennessee Times
Smithville, Smithville Review
Tracy City, Grundy County Herald
Tullahoma, The Tullahoma News
Winchester, The Herald-Chronicle
Woodbury, Cannon Courier
John Finney
Buffalo River Review
Linden
Ardmore, Your Community Shopper
Centerville, Hickman County Times
Columbia, The Daily Herald
Fairview, The Fairview Observer
Hohenwald, Lewis County Herald
Lawrenceburg, The Democrat-Union
Lewisburg, Marshall County Tribune
Linden, Buffalo River Review
Pulaski, The Giles Free Press
Pulaski, Pulaski Citizen
Waynesboro, The Wayne County News
Tennessee Press Association Foundation was formed in 1976 to provide financial support for training,
education and other newspaper-related causes. In the more than thirty
years since, TPAF has granted half a
million dollars to a wide variety of
causes that give back to our industry!
During the last few years, TPAF
has repositioned itself to become
stronger than ever. After identifying
its core mission and vision, TPAF
set out to create an endowment
fund and set responsible spending
levels to ensure its financial health
for decades to come. In 2005 it constructed a new headquarters facility
in Knoxville and it now rents space
to both TPA and TPS. This rent
agreement provides positive cash
flow to both grow the endowment
and provide significant funding for
Eric Barnes
The Daily News
Memphis
Alamo, The Crockett Times
Bartlett, Bartlett Express
Brownsville, The States-Graphic
Collierville, Collierville Herald
Covington, The Leader
Germantown, Germantown News
Halls, The Halls Graphic
Memphis, The Commercial Appeal
Memphis, The Daily News
Memphis, Memphis Business Journal
Millington, The Millington Star
Ripley, The Lauderdale County
Enterprise
Ripley, The Lauderdale Voice
Somerville, The Fayette Falcon
New Features
Make TnPress.com
Invaluable Resource
Features were added to www.tnpress.com, the official Web site of
the Tennessee Press Association,
to improve services to members.
They include online registration
for TPA meetings and conventions
and “about us” pages for TPA, TPS
and TPAF. Members and the public
can use the site to learn more about
the functions of each entity. The
site includes a calendar of events,
video training segments, back issues
of The Tennessee Press, NewsSwap
and more. “If it is after hours and a member
needs information about a TPA,
TPS or TPAF program, we hope
the Web site will be a tool to provide
that information,” said Robyn Gentile, TPA member services manager. Suggestions for improvements
are encouraged.
grant assistance.
More than $24,000 was granted for
projects during 2008! Grant funding
included $10,000 to Tennessee Press
Association to help offset costs for
providing the Legal Hotline for all
TPA member newspapers; $5,000
for scholarships for members to attend the Institute of Newspaper
Technology, an internationally-recognized intensive training program
held in conjunction with the University of Tennessee; $3,000 as part of a
five-year, $15,000 grant to Southern
Newspaper Publishers Association
to help offset costs associated with
providing the free “Traveling Campus” multi-day training workshops
at various locations across Tennessee;
$3,000 to purchase and maintain
laptop computers used for on-site
technology training classes at TPA
meetings and conventions; $2,500 to
Tennessee Press Association to defray
costs of bringing in instructors for
the annual Drive-In Training concurrent workshops during Winter Convention; and $1,000 to Volunteer
State College Foundation to provide
computer assisted reporting training
to students.
As TPAF moves forward to 2009,
the Foundation is positioned to retire the remaining debt on the headquarters facility in Knoxville. This
will free up even more funding for
newspaper related causes in future
years. Information on grant funding
can be found on the Foundation’s
Web page at www.tnpress.com.
“The Tennessee Press Association Foundation is stronger than ever. Trustee efforts over the past few years to
create an endowment and set appropriate spending rates
have ensured TPAF will be able to provide assistance
in the form of grants to newspaper-related causes for
decades to come. To date, TPAF has granted $24,500
PRESIDENT
so far this year and more than $500,000 since its in- W.R.
(Ron) Fryar
ception in 1976! Newly developed policies for grant American Hometown
Publishing
funding requests and clearer criteria for evaluating the
success of grant programs help ensure TPAF is supporting projects in
line with the Foundation’s mission statement (which appears on the
front cover of this report).
TPAF has continued an aggressive effort to retire the mortgage on
the headquarters facility constructed in 2005 which houses TPA, TPS
and TPAF. The Foundation expects to retire the debt on the beautiful
facility during 2009, while still managing to make more than $34,000
available for newspaper-related and educational grants.
Upon paying off the mortgage, TPAF will be in the best financial position than at any time in history and will be able to re-invest even more
in the newspaper industry of our state.”
5
Tennessee Press Association Foundation
Officers and Trustees 2008-09
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
GENERAL COUNSEL
W.R. (Ron) Fryar
American Hometown Publishing
Gregg K. Jones
The Greeneville Sun
Richard L. Hollow
Knoxville
Joe Albrecht. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albrecht Newspapers, Cookeville
Bob Atkins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hendersonville
Jim Charlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brentwood
David Critchlow Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Union City Daily Messenger
Jeffrey Fishman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Tullahoma News
R. Jack Fishman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Citizen Tribune, Morristown
R. Michael Fishman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Citizen Tribune, Morristown
Dale Gentry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .The Standard Banner, Jefferson City
Sam Hatcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Wilson Post, Lebanon
Tom Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oak Ridge
Doug Horne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Knoxville
John M. Jones Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Greeneville Sun
John M. Jones Sr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Greeneville Sun
Hugh Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shelbyville Times-Gazette
Sam D. Kennedy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kennedy Newspapers, Columbia
Hershel Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pulaski Publishing
Steve Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pulaski Citizen
Kelly Leiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Knoxville
Victor Parkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Milan Mirror-Exchange
Mike Pirtle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Murfreesboro
Walter Pulliam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Knoxville
Janet Rail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Independent Appeal, Selmer
Darrell Richardson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Oak Ridger, Oak Ridge
Dennis Richardson . . . . . . . . . Carroll County News-Leader, Huntingdon
Pauline D. Sherrer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crossville Chronicle
Bill Shuster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Herald-Citizen, Cookeville
Larry Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LaFollette
Henry A. Stokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memphis
Jim Thompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Courier, Savannah
Joel Washburn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The McKenzie Banner
F. Gene Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clarksville
Scott Whaley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chester County Independent, Henderson
Bill Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paris
TPAF 2008 Grants Funded
$24,500
Volunteer State
Foundation
$1,000
TPA Legal Hotline
$10,000
Institute of
Newspaper Technology
$5,000
C
$936,895
TPAF Endowment Value
Responsible Growth to Support the
Future of Tennessee Newspapers
Mobile
Technology
Lab
$3,000
$826,882
$265,996
$181,362
$117,862
SNPA Foundation
3,000
Press Institute
Drive-In Training
$2,500
$63,715
1976
$206,834
$135,986
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
2006
2008
M
Y
K
CMYK
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
4
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
2008 Year of Growth and Enhanced
Educational Opportunities Thanks to TPAF
Tennessee Press Association Officers, Directors and Members by District
CMYK
Lynn Richardson
Herald and Tribune
Jonesborough
Bean Station, Grainger Today
Bristol, Bristol Herald Courier
Elizabethton, Elizabethton Star
Erwin, The Erwin Record
Greeneville, The Greeneville Sun
Jefferson City, The Standard Banner
Johnson City, Johnson City Press
Jonesborough, Herald and Tribune
Kingsport, Kingsport Times-News
Morristown, Citizen Tribune
Mountain City, The Tomahawk
Newport, The Newport Plain Talk
Rogersville, Rogersville Review
TPA
officers are
elected to serve
one-year terms.
Terms are July 1 throug h
June 30.
Directors serve for two years
on a staggered basis. Directors
of even numbered districts
are elected in even years and
directors of odd numbered
districts are elected in odd years.
TPA bylaws require a specific
rotation in the presidency. Every
even year, the president elected
will be from a daily newspaper
and every odd year the president
elected will be from a nondaily member newspaper.
Additionally, the presidency
rotates among TPA’s three
grand divisions. Tom Griscom,
the president elected in 2008,
is from TPA’s middle grand
division. It is customary for the
president to have served two
one-year terms as vice president
before being elected president.
Elections are held during
the TPA Business Session at
the summer convention.
Brad Franklin
The Lexington Progress
PRESIDENT
Tom Griscom
Chattanooga Times
Free Press
VICE PRESIDENT
NON-DAILIES
VICE PRESIDENT
DAILIES
Victor Parkins
The Milan Mirror-Exchange
Art Powers
Johnson City Press
Jack McElroy
News Sentinel
Knoxville
Clinton, The Courier-News
Harriman, The Harriman Record
Kingston, The Roane County News
Knoxville, The Knoxville Journal
Knoxville, News Sentinel
Lenoir City, News-Herald
Maryville, The Daily Times
Maynardville, The Union News Leader
Oak Ridge, The Oak Ridger
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee Star Journal
Rockwood, The Rockwood Times
Sevierville, The Mountain Press
Tazewell, The Claiborne Progress
Mike DeLapp
Herald-Citizen
Cookeville
Byrdstown, Pickett County Press
Carthage, Carthage Courier
Celina, Citizen-Statesman
Cookeville, Herald-Citizen
Crossville, Crossville Chronicle
Gainesboro, Jackson County Sentinel
Hartsville, The Hartsville Vidette
Jamestown, Fentress Courier
Lafayette, Macon County Chronicle
Lafayette, Macon County Times
LaFollette, LaFollette Press
Livingston, Livingston Enterprise
Livingston, Overton County News
Oneida, Independent Herald
Oneida, Scott County News
Sparta, Sparta Expositor
Spencer, The Mountain View
Wartburg, Morgan County News
TREASURER
Bill Williams
The Paris
Post-Intelligencer
DIRECTOR
At large
Pauline D. Sherrer
Crossville Chronicle
Ellen Leifeld
The Tennessean
Nashville
Ashland City, Ashland City Times
Clarksville, The Leaf-Chronicle
Dickson, The Dickson Herald
Dover, The Stewart-Houston Times
Gallatin, The News-Examiner
Gallatin, The Newspaper
Lebanon, The Lebanon Democrat
Lebanon, The Wilson Post
Mt. Juliet, Mt. Juliet News
Nashville, Nashville Business Journal
Nashville, The Tennessean
Portland, The Portland Leader
Portland, Portland Progressive
Springfield, Robertson County Times
Waverly, The News-Democrat
Westmoreland, The Westmoreland
Observer
Bolivar, Bulletin Times
Camden, The Camden Chronicle
Henderson, Chester County
Independent
Huntingdon, Carroll County News-Leader
Jackson, The Jackson Sun
Lexington, The Lexington Progress
McKenzie, The McKenzie Banner
Parsons, The News Leader
Savannah, The Courier
Selmer, Independent Appeal
Joel Washburn
Dresden Enterprise
Dresden, Dresden Enterprise
Dyer, The Tri-City Reporter
Dyersburg, State Gazette
Humboldt, The Humboldt Chronicle
Martin, Weakley County Press
Milan, The Milan Mirror-Exchange
Paris, The Paris Post-Intelligencer
Tiptonville, Lake County Banner
Trenton, The Gazette
Union City, Union City Daily Messenger
Chris Vass
Chattanooga Times
Free Press
Athens, The Daily Post-Athenian
Benton, Polk County News
Chattanooga, Chattanooga Times
Free Press
Chattanooga, Hamilton County Herald
Cleveland, Cleveland Daily Banner
Dayton, The Herald-News
Dunlap, The Dunlap Tribune
Jasper, Jasper Journal
Pikeville, The Bledsonian-Banner
South Pittsburg, South Pittsburg Hustler
Sweetwater, Monroe County Advocate
& Democrat
Hugh Jones
Shelbyville Times-Gazette
Fayetteville, Elk Valley Times
Lynchburg, The Moore County News
Manchester, Manchester Times
McMinnville, Southern Standard
Murfreesboro, The Daily News
Journal
Shelbyville, Shelbyville Times-Gazette
Smithville, The Middle Tennessee Times
Smithville, Smithville Review
Tracy City, Grundy County Herald
Tullahoma, The Tullahoma News
Winchester, The Herald-Chronicle
Woodbury, Cannon Courier
John Finney
Buffalo River Review
Linden
Ardmore, Your Community Shopper
Centerville, Hickman County Times
Columbia, The Daily Herald
Fairview, The Fairview Observer
Hohenwald, Lewis County Herald
Lawrenceburg, The Democrat-Union
Lewisburg, Marshall County Tribune
Linden, Buffalo River Review
Pulaski, The Giles Free Press
Pulaski, Pulaski Citizen
Waynesboro, The Wayne County News
Tennessee Press Association Foundation was formed in 1976 to provide financial support for training,
education and other newspaper-related causes. In the more than thirty
years since, TPAF has granted half a
million dollars to a wide variety of
causes that give back to our industry!
During the last few years, TPAF
has repositioned itself to become
stronger than ever. After identifying
its core mission and vision, TPAF
set out to create an endowment
fund and set responsible spending
levels to ensure its financial health
for decades to come. In 2005 it constructed a new headquarters facility
in Knoxville and it now rents space
to both TPA and TPS. This rent
agreement provides positive cash
flow to both grow the endowment
and provide significant funding for
Eric Barnes
The Daily News
Memphis
Alamo, The Crockett Times
Bartlett, Bartlett Express
Brownsville, The States-Graphic
Collierville, Collierville Herald
Covington, The Leader
Germantown, Germantown News
Halls, The Halls Graphic
Memphis, The Commercial Appeal
Memphis, The Daily News
Memphis, Memphis Business Journal
Millington, The Millington Star
Ripley, The Lauderdale County
Enterprise
Ripley, The Lauderdale Voice
Somerville, The Fayette Falcon
New Features
Make TnPress.com
Invaluable Resource
Features were added to www.tnpress.com, the official Web site of
the Tennessee Press Association,
to improve services to members.
They include online registration
for TPA meetings and conventions
and “about us” pages for TPA, TPS
and TPAF. Members and the public
can use the site to learn more about
the functions of each entity. The
site includes a calendar of events,
video training segments, back issues
of The Tennessee Press, NewsSwap
and more. “If it is after hours and a member
needs information about a TPA,
TPS or TPAF program, we hope
the Web site will be a tool to provide
that information,” said Robyn Gentile, TPA member services manager. Suggestions for improvements
are encouraged.
grant assistance.
More than $24,000 was granted for
projects during 2008! Grant funding
included $10,000 to Tennessee Press
Association to help offset costs for
providing the Legal Hotline for all
TPA member newspapers; $5,000
for scholarships for members to attend the Institute of Newspaper
Technology, an internationally-recognized intensive training program
held in conjunction with the University of Tennessee; $3,000 as part of a
five-year, $15,000 grant to Southern
Newspaper Publishers Association
to help offset costs associated with
providing the free “Traveling Campus” multi-day training workshops
at various locations across Tennessee;
$3,000 to purchase and maintain
laptop computers used for on-site
technology training classes at TPA
meetings and conventions; $2,500 to
Tennessee Press Association to defray
costs of bringing in instructors for
the annual Drive-In Training concurrent workshops during Winter Convention; and $1,000 to Volunteer
State College Foundation to provide
computer assisted reporting training
to students.
As TPAF moves forward to 2009,
the Foundation is positioned to retire the remaining debt on the headquarters facility in Knoxville. This
will free up even more funding for
newspaper related causes in future
years. Information on grant funding
can be found on the Foundation’s
Web page at www.tnpress.com.
“The Tennessee Press Association Foundation is stronger than ever. Trustee efforts over the past few years to
create an endowment and set appropriate spending rates
have ensured TPAF will be able to provide assistance
in the form of grants to newspaper-related causes for
decades to come. To date, TPAF has granted $24,500
PRESIDENT
so far this year and more than $500,000 since its in- W.R.
(Ron) Fryar
ception in 1976! Newly developed policies for grant American Hometown
Publishing
funding requests and clearer criteria for evaluating the
success of grant programs help ensure TPAF is supporting projects in
line with the Foundation’s mission statement (which appears on the
front cover of this report).
TPAF has continued an aggressive effort to retire the mortgage on
the headquarters facility constructed in 2005 which houses TPA, TPS
and TPAF. The Foundation expects to retire the debt on the beautiful
facility during 2009, while still managing to make more than $34,000
available for newspaper-related and educational grants.
Upon paying off the mortgage, TPAF will be in the best financial position than at any time in history and will be able to re-invest even more
in the newspaper industry of our state.”
5
Tennessee Press Association Foundation
Officers and Trustees 2008-09
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
GENERAL COUNSEL
W.R. (Ron) Fryar
American Hometown Publishing
Gregg K. Jones
The Greeneville Sun
Richard L. Hollow
Knoxville
Joe Albrecht. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Albrecht Newspapers, Cookeville
Bob Atkins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hendersonville
Jim Charlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brentwood
David Critchlow Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Union City Daily Messenger
Jeffrey Fishman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Tullahoma News
R. Jack Fishman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Citizen Tribune, Morristown
R. Michael Fishman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Citizen Tribune, Morristown
Dale Gentry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .The Standard Banner, Jefferson City
Sam Hatcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Wilson Post, Lebanon
Tom Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oak Ridge
Doug Horne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Knoxville
John M. Jones Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Greeneville Sun
John M. Jones Sr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Greeneville Sun
Hugh Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shelbyville Times-Gazette
Sam D. Kennedy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kennedy Newspapers, Columbia
Hershel Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pulaski Publishing
Steve Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pulaski Citizen
Kelly Leiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Knoxville
Victor Parkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Milan Mirror-Exchange
Mike Pirtle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Murfreesboro
Walter Pulliam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Knoxville
Janet Rail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Independent Appeal, Selmer
Darrell Richardson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Oak Ridger, Oak Ridge
Dennis Richardson . . . . . . . . . Carroll County News-Leader, Huntingdon
Pauline D. Sherrer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crossville Chronicle
Bill Shuster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Herald-Citizen, Cookeville
Larry Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LaFollette
Henry A. Stokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memphis
Jim Thompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Courier, Savannah
Joel Washburn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The McKenzie Banner
F. Gene Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Clarksville
Scott Whaley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chester County Independent, Henderson
Bill Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paris
TPAF 2008 Grants Funded
$24,500
Volunteer State
Foundation
$1,000
TPA Legal Hotline
$10,000
Institute of
Newspaper Technology
$5,000
C
$936,895
TPAF Endowment Value
Responsible Growth to Support the
Future of Tennessee Newspapers
Mobile
Technology
Lab
$3,000
$826,882
$265,996
$181,362
$117,862
SNPA Foundation
3,000
Press Institute
Drive-In Training
$2,500
$63,715
1976
$206,834
$135,986
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
2006
2008
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CMYK
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
4
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
78% of Tennessee Newspapers Participate
in Public Notice Site During First Year
The TPS Public Notice Web site,
tnpublicnotice.com, currently consists of 94 participating member
newspapers. The assistance from
those papers is the reason the site
has been successful. Since January 1, 2008 there have been over
26,000 notices uploaded.
Since its inception in 2007, the
site has provided a useful source
for public information, including
bids, foreclosures, meeting announcements and trustee sales.
Each notice on the site is accompanied by the name and date of
the publication from which it was
printed. There have been over
28,000 searches via the site and of
those searches, over 25,000 public
notices have been viewed.
“The number of people using our
public notice Web site to search
out information has astounded
me,” said Technology Director
Kevin Slimp. “I had no idea so
many people had even found our
site, much less were using it on a
regular basis.”
All four of our metro newspapers
have been more than cooperative,
and their participation has been extremely helpful. Our medium size
and smaller papers have been great
as well, and their eagerness to participate in the public notice site has been
very encouraging over the last year.
“I can't overstate the importance
of getting all of our members to upload their information to the public
notice Web site,” said Slimp. “It takes
less than 10 or 15 minutes each week,
and the benefits to the public and to
our industry more than justify the
minimal effort.”
For more information, call Holly
Craft at (865) 584-5761, ext. 119, or
e-mail [email protected].
CMYK
Tennessee Press Service 08-09 Officers & Directors
PRESIDENT
Dale C. Gentry
The Standard Banner
Jefferson City
VICE PRESIDENT
Pauline D. Sherrer
DIRECTOR
Jeff Fishman
DIRECTOR
W.R. (Ron) Fryar
Crossville Chronicle The Tullahoma News American Hometown
Publishing
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
Victor Parkins Michael Williams
The Milan
Mirror-Exchange
The Paris
Post-Intelligencer
2008 TPS Advertising Placement
Auction
$248,149
Financial
$204,219
Other*
$532,670
Public Notice
$1,385,942
Lottery
$250,929
ROP
*Other includes Advocacy, Restaurants, Consumer Goods,
Recruitment, Tourism, Political, Auto Dealerships, Education, Expos,
State Associations and Class Action Lawsuits
Telecommunications
$1,325,838
Healthcare
$443,354
Public Utilities
$752,597
TnScan
$401,070
TnDAN
$256,128
Retail Chains
$1,188,713
Network
During 2008, TPS continued the work to bring our member
papers additional revenue. Barry Jarrell, Advertising Director
(covering East Tennessee) and Rhonda Graham, New Business
Development Manager (covering Middle and West Tennessee),
have traveled across Tennessee and other states spreading the word
Ideas Contest
Awards Presented
in Gatlinburg
Out of State Classified
$140,231
Out of State DAN
$23,490
TPA & UT Recognize Excellence
in Tennessee Newspapers
C
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The Institute of Newspaper Technology is co-sponsored each year
by Tennessee Press Service and The University of Tennessee.
“Tennessee Press Service (TPS) has been extremely
active in 2008. In addition to providing more than $7
million of display, classified display and network revenue to TPA member newspapers, TPS also operates
a full-service clipping bureau and an aggregate public
notice Web site that extends the reach of these notices
to online readers across the state. The searchable
PRESIDENT
site, www.tnpublicnotice.com, now has 94 member
Dale C. Gentry
newspapers posting more than 9,000 notices each The Standard Banner
Jefferson City
month. Since January 1, there have been almost
30,000 searches of Tennessee public notices! By operating this site, we
allow important government, foreclosure and other notices to be available to the greatest segment of the general public as possible, all at no
additional charge to the advertiser.
With 2008 proving to be a very challenging year from an economic
standpoint, member newspapers relied on TPS advertising placement
more than ever. To help make sure that newspapers are the advertising
medium of choice in the future, TPS is busy working with a vendor to
roll out a new online placement network which should be up and running in early 2009. This will allow current print advertisers to easily reach
a whole new demographic with a cost-effective, statewide buy. Watch for
more information to come about this exciting new network.
Thanks to the efforts of Kevin Slimp and others, TPS has helped Tennessee newspapers stay at the front of the technology curve. Please remember to take advantage of the outstanding training opportunities
we provide, from webinars to online training videos to the Institute of
Newspaper Technology.
Please take a moment to peruse these pages, which provide more detail
on how TPS is working hard to help TPA member publications be profitable for many years to come!”
on Tennessee newspapers to advertising agencies and companies
alike. In addition, Tennessee Press maintains a media presence
online to further attract media buyers to Tennessee newspapers.
With a professional staff of media buyers made up of Pam
Corley and Earl Goodman, along with tearsheeter Jack-
ie Roberson, we are able to assist agencies in placing ads in
multiple markets across Tennessee at no extra cost to them.
TPS makes it easy for ad agencies and companies to place in Tennessee newspapers! For additional information on TPS advertising, e-mail Barry Jarrell at [email protected]
Newspapers across Tennessee
that won awards in the University
of Tennessee-Tennessee Press Association 2008 State Press Contests were recognized July 18 in
Nashville.
The Erwin Record, Memphis
Business Journal, Southern Standard, McMinnville, The LeafChronicle, Clarksville, and The
Tennessean, Nashville, won the
General Excellence top awards at
the association's luncheon at the
Millennium Maxwell House Hotel.
Hank Dye, vice president of
public and governmental relations
for the UT system, presented
awards. UT has co-sponsored the
annual contest since 1940.
General Excellence honors are
based on total points accumulated
for all award categories.
For the sixth consecutive year,
The Erwin Record won the General Excellence Award for its division.
It was the first win for Memphis
Business Journal, the third for
The Leaf-Chronicle and seventh
win for both the Southern Standard and The Tennessean.
The Nebraska Press Association
judged a total of 1,394 contest
entries from 77 association newspapers.
A change in the contests for
2008 added a fifth division for
competition and divisions were
based upon total weekly paid circulation instead of daily or nondaily status.
2008 General Excellence Award winners
Awards in the annual Tennessee Press Association Ideas
Contest were presented Friday,
April 11, in Gatlinburg in conjunction with the Advertising/
Circulation Conference.
The Chattanooga Times Free
Press won the top prize, the Jack
Freeland Memorial Award Best
of Show, for the entry of a series
of Subscription Promotion Ads.
Runners-up were The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, for
its "Elvis" Single Copy Promotion and the Overton County
News, Livingston, for its "Santa's Home Office" ad entered in
the Best Use of Multi-Color Ad
category.
The Shelbyville Times-Gazette
received the most awards at 27.
Members of the Nebraska
Press Association judged the
1,270 contest entries. Fortythree newspapers participated
in the 2008 contest.
The Ideas Contest was established in 1978. The contest proceeds help to offset
the speaker costs for the annual Advertising/Circulation
Conference.
Group 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Erwin Record
Group 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memphis Business Journal
3
‘08 TPA Highlights
Winter Convention
& Press Institute
The annual convention provides
networking, training and forums
for members to share ideas.
UT-TPA State Press Contests
Seventy-seven newspapers participated in the 2008 Contests. A total
of 499 awards were presented. The
awards event on July 18 had superior
member participation. It exceeded
the previous year’s attendance by 56
people for a total of 207, setting a
record for the luncheon attendance.
Summer Convention
The Johnson City Press hosted a
fabulous convention that delighted
convention goers. The convention
featured Press Camp for children
of attendees and attendance was the
highest for the convention since the
2004 Tri-State Convention
Advertising/Circulation
Conference
Attendees received valuable
training and networking opportunities. The conference was the bestattended conference since 2004.
Ideas Contest
The contest supports the Advertising/Circulation
Conference's
educational programming. A total
of 297 awards were presented at the
2008 Conference.
Elections
Each June, new officers are elected
during the Summer Convention.
Pauline Sherrer, publisher of the
Crossville Chronicle, passed the
presidential gavel to Tom Griscom,
publisher of the Chattanooga Times
Free Press, on June 19.
Mission Statement
TPA adopted a mission statement
in June.
Contests judgings
The participation of our members
who serve as judges allows TPA to
have the annual State Press Contests
and Ideas Contest judged by members of another state press association. The Nebraska Press Association was our 2008 judging partner.
Legislative Arena
TPA worked with its lobbyist and
the Tennessee Coalition for Open
Government to successfully gain the
first improvements to the Tennessee
Open Records Law in 25 years.
Group 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Southern Standard, McMinnville
Group 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Leaf-Chronicle, Clarksvile
Group 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Tennessean, Nashville
“There is positive news as we look at the achievements of
the Tennessee Press Association in 2008.
Challenges to the state’s Open Records and Open Meetings laws moved into a second year. Improvements have
been made in the fee structure for the production of documents by government agencies. No revisions were made
to the requirement of keeping public deliberations open PRESIDENT
Tom Griscom
to the public.
Chattanooga Times
As TPA adopted a mission statement (see page one), the
Free Press
time also is appropriate to recount the role of a free press
in our society. In doing so, we hold up the words of the First Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution that guarantee the rights of assembly, speech,
religion, petition and the press.
Your association recognized the work of more than 100 newspapers at the
annual Advertising/Circulation Ideas Contest and the State Press Contests.
The summer convention in Johnson City introduced a new program for
young people, who spent a day being cub reporters and publishing a newsletter.
Your association continues to provide quality training, legal assistance
on publishing issues through the Hotline and a strong platform for our
changing industry.”
Legal Hotline Proves Popular Member Benefit
For many years, TPA has been
partnering with TPA Counsel Rick
Hollow to provide the Legal Hotline for all member newspapers.
The Hotline allows members access
to quick legal advice from Hollow’s
firm, Hollow and Hollow, regarding
a wide range of publishing issues including access to records and government meetings, appropriate housing
ad language, libel protection and
more. The Hotline was originally
started as a subscription-based service that newspapers paid on top
of membership dues. Several years
ago, the Tennessee Press Association
Board of Directors realized the value
and importance of the Hotline and
noted how its usage had increased
dramatically over the years.
In 2004, the TPA Board voted to
provide funding to cover 100 percent of the Hotline expense for all
member publications, thus ending
the subscription service. Starting
in 2005, the TPA Foundation has
helped to offset the cost of this service, sharing the expense with TPA.
Since then, Hollow has seen call
volume increase steadily from just a
few calls a month to more than five
per week. That’s more than 250 calls
per year! Hollow shared which topics he and his staff encounter most
frequently on the Hotline. He said
that at least two-thirds of the calls
in 2008 have related to access issues,
and of those, questions about open
records occur about twice as often
as calls about open meetings.
Other calls cover a wide variety
of topics, including taxation, appropriate language for publication
(usually within letters to the editor
and advertisements), public notice
advertising issues and defamation.
Hollow noted that there has only
been one call regarding defamation
in 2008, which is unusually rare.
The Hotline gives us a good barometer of what types of issues the
membership is facing. For example,
after our office and the Hotline
fielded numerous questions about
public notice advertising, we asked
Hollow to produce a summary of
notice requirements in The Tennessee Code, which was distributed to
publishers earlier this fall.
One call to the Hotline could potentially save thousands if it helps to
avoid a costly litigation or to open
up a story. And, with the Hotline in
place, members may even be eligible
for a discount on their libel insurance
premiums. For these reasons, TPA
members have repeatedly confirmed
that the Legal Hotline is one of the
most valuable services we provide.
CMYK
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
6
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
CMYK
TPA and Government Affairs
Tennessee Press Association plays a
key role as the voice of the newspaper
industry with regard to open records,
open meetings, and opposing legislation that would harm the free flow of
information or otherwise restrict the
free press.
TPA President Tom Griscom appointed a new committee this year,
the Government Affairs Committee,
which replaced the former Freedom
of Information (FOI) and Government Relations committees. The two
former committees have met jointly
and worked together on many issues
for several years now, so it made sense
to merge them into one body.
The Government Affairs Committee is chaired by Elizabeth Blackstone
of Columbia. It works hand-in-hand
with our contract lobbying service,
Johnson Poss Government Relations,
TPA staff, and Tennessee Coalition
for Open Government (TCOG)
to watch over the thousands of bills
filed each year in Tennessee’s General
Assembly. A system of watch and action lists help to identify potentially
damaging legislation that could close
records, remove notification requirements, or otherwise adversely affect
our industry or the free flow of information.
“I am excited to bring the former
FOI and Government Relations
people together under one committee structure,” said Blackstone. “We
were already working together on the
same issues for many years, but now
this makes it official.
“I am also very grateful to bring the
expertise and talents of former FOI
chair Michael Williams and his committee members into this unified
committee structure.”
Blackstone noted that the landscape of our profession is changing
daily and that the role of this new,
unified committee will become more
important than ever.
“We can’t be entrenched in what
the profession has been. We must
instead focus on what it is, on what
it should be, and on what it can be,”
Blackstone said.
Tennessee Press Association was
a key player in the creation of the
TCOG several years ago. That coalition broadens our voice to include
broadcast and other media and has
been very instrumental in protecting
our access to records and meetings.
Led by Executive Director Frank Gibson, TCOG has become a strong advocate for the public’s right to know.
“For the last two decades we fought one
defensive battle after
another to try and
protect records. We
stopped some really
horrible major exemptions, but in concentrating on these major
hurdles some smaller
exemptions were continually added to the
records law. This year,
we have taken a proactive stance and were
successful in getting
the first improvements to the open
records laws in more
than 25 years,” said
Gibson.
Below are summarized some of the most
important successes of the 2008 legislative session (the 105th General
Assembly), taken from a report provided by Frank Gibson.
• We were able last year to stop a
company from coming into Tennessee to set up a private Web site for all
public notices. The company could
have brought it back this year but did
not. It is being proposed almost annually in some form.
• We compromised and agreed
to close all addresses and personal
phone numbers of state employees
and the street addresses and personal
telephone of local government workers in order to keep such information
as date of birth open. Date of birth is
the only regular identifier. Eight separate bills were filed after thousands
of state employees were notified via
e-mail that a newspaper and TV station had requested their name, address and phone number. This information is closed in most other states.
• In 2008, with help from House
Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, we were able
to keep conceal and carry gun permit
information open for another year. A
TV story that found serious problems
with the permit program, including
permits being issued to convicted
felons, helped. Making the proposed
legislation more outrageous was the
fact it would have made publishing
anything in a permit file a Class E
felony (1-2 years in prison).
• An effort failed that would have
brought back to life a bill that would
fine cable companies (and in the future, we feared, all media) $50,000
for advertising Girls Gone Wild and
other material/products deemed unfit. The measure passed the Senate in
2007 but died in a House subcommittee that year.
• In 2008, public hospital boards
got an exemption to close meetings
to discuss strategic planning, but
members must vote in an open meeting to close the doors and can’t vote
on anything produced in the private
meeting until seven days after materials have been made public.
• A bill passed allowing Knox
County to launch as a three-year
pilot project an Internet relay chat
room with public access provided to
set up and archive all communication. Appropriated no money and
required no reports on the project.
Changes to Open Records Law
(summarized by Frank Gibson):
Here are the most significant
changes to Tennessee’s Open Records Law, effective July 1, 2008,
under legislation sponsored by Sen.
Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, Sen.
Joe Haynes, D-Goodlettsville, and
Rep. Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers
Crossroads. The text of the final
version of the bill can be found on
the General Assembly’s Web site as
Amendment #3 to House Bill 3637.
1. Moves the definition of public
records into the body of T.C.A. 107-503, which is universally recognized as the open records law and
where citizens and reporters would
ordinarily look for it. It retains the
language “regardless of physical form
or characteristics” to make it clear
it applies to information stored in
electronic form and defines record
as anything “made or
received pursuant to
law or ordinance or in
connection with the
transaction of official
business by any governmental agency.”
2. Says records must
be made available
“promptly,” but if
that is not practical,
it gives records custodian seven (7) business days to (A) grant
the request, (B) cite a
basis for denying it, or
(C) explain in writing
why it will take more
than 7 days. There
was no such deadline
before.
3. Failure to reply to
request “shall constitute a denial,” and you can go to either Chancery or Circuit Court immediately to contest a decision. Suits
were permitted only in Chancery
Court before.
4. Allows agencies to charge “actual costs” for providing records, including copying fees and employee
time, but only if the request takes
more than five (5) hours. That is an
interim measure until the Office of
Open Records Counsel develops
a “schedule of reasonable charges”
which would supplant the statute as
early as this fall. The statute will still
say agencies can “adopt and enforce
reasonable rules” for making copies.
5. An agency cannot be required to
sort through files to compile information subject to an open records
request, but must make all relevant,
non-exempt records available so
citizens can do the work themselves.
6. An agency cannot contract away
a right to inspect public records by
turning records over to a private com-
pany or non-governmental entity.
7. An agency cannot require a
request to inspect records to be in
writing and cannot charge to inspect
public records unless the law specifically allows it.
8. An agency can require a request
for copies to be in writing to help
the custodian know what to copy,
but the new Office of Open Records
Counsel is asked to develop a form to
be used for that purpose.
9. Since the citizenship/residency
requirement was retained, an agency
can require a photo or other “acceptable” ID to inspect records.
10. Requests for inspection and
copying shall be “sufficiently detailed” to enable a custodian to locate
or to copy the records.
11. A records custodian must provide an estimate of “reasonable costs.”
12. In a lawsuit, when a judge is trying to determine whether an adverse
decision was willful (as opposed to
arbitrary), thus justifying an award of
legal fees, the court “may consider”
whether the custodian sought guidance from the Open Records Counsel. This could help more plaintiffs
collect legal fees.
13. Creates the Office of Open
Records Counsel to answer questions from public officials, the public and the press. The ORC will collect data on open meetings inquiries
and provide (or coordinate) training on the open records and open
meetings laws.
14. Says ORC shall issue informal
advisory opinions “as expeditiously
as possible” and instructs the office
to post opinions on its Web site.
Instructs state officials to continue
seeking legal advice from the Tennessee Attorney General.
15. Authorizes the ORC to “informally mediate and assist with resolution” of open records issues.
C
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TPS Offers
Plethora of
Training
Opportunities
Tennessee Press Service, along
with TPA and TPAF, enjoy a reputation among newspaper organizations as the unqualified leaders in
the area of technology training.
From an online video training
program to regularly scheduled webinars to the Institute of Newspaper
Technology, Tennessee newspapers
have a wealth of resources available
when it’s time to train staff in the
latest hardware and software.
Members throughout the state
take advantage of these offerings in
ever-growing numbers. Whether
they are traveling to the campus of
The University of Tennessee for
three days of in-depth training or
sitting at desks or conference tables
in their offices taking part in a live
webinar, Tennessee newspaper staffs
have the most advanced training
available at their fingertips.
For more information concerning
training opportunities, check out
the offerings on this page or visit the
Training area of tnpress.com.
2008 TPA Expenditures
Government Relations
$49,000
Office Space
$39,694
Meeman Fund
$2,460
Committees
$1,264
General & Adminstrative
$55,000
Contests
$19,365
NAM &
NNA
$1,624
Legal
Hotline
$15,000
Meetings &
Conventions
$52,213
William Mitchell, Shelbyville
Times-Gazette, participates in
a class during the 2008 session
of the Institute of Newspaper
Technology on campus at The
University of Tennessee.
On Site Training &
Consulting Appear to
Be Hot Items in ‘09
7
Photo by Rob Heller
Dan Proctor, News Sentinel,
Knoxville, participates in a Flash
class during the 2008 session of
the Institute of Newspaper Technology.
TPS Online
Training Grows
in Popularity
and Topics
As part of its commitment to members, TPS offers training in the latest technology. Above, Kevin
Slimp trains newspaper staffs in Lenoir City and Kingston.
If you happened to stroll through the offices of the Shelbyville Times-Gazette on January 5 or 6, you’d
probably run into a class on InDesign, Photoshop or Acrobat as the staff prepares for a major software and
workflow update a week later. Drop by Vol State Community College in Gallatin a week later and you’ll
find TPS Technology Director, Kevin Slimp, leading classes for area newspaper designers and staffs.
As part of its commitment to members, TPS provides the opportunity for newspapers to receive training
in the latest newspaper technologies. The most common requests come from newspapers who want expert
advice as they move toward a major equipment or workflow upgrade and from members who want to provide on-site training for their staffs.
In 2008, there were several requests from newspaper groups in Tennessee who were upgrading to a new
pagination workflow. In many cases, Kevin helped create a game plan, led groups through purchase options
and provided training for staffs as they moved to new applications or upgraded to unfamiliar versions.
Other newspapers brought Kevin on site to train staff on updated software applications or to hone skills
in photo editing and page layout.
For more information about on site training or consulting, e-mail Kevin at [email protected].
Wouldn’t it be great if staff
members could hone their skills
during down times? Thanks
to the forethought of the TPA
Technology Committee, staff
at member newspapers have
that opportunity at any time.
Online video training is only
a click away. Ten to 15 minute
classes in InDesign, Flash, Photoshop, Quark, Acrobat, CS4
and more are accessible through
the Training area of tnpress.
com. Getting this training is
as simple as requesting a user
name and password, then logging on to tnpress.com.
Online training works like
this. Videos are created and
saved as Quicktime MPG files,
meaning they can be viewed
on PCs and Macs. After entering the Online Training area,
visitors simply click on the title
of a training session and either
watch the video in their Web
browser or download the file
for later viewing.
Some newspapers encourage
designers and technical staff to
log on each week to learn new
techniques and update their
skills. Others use this valuable
resource during times of major
software and hardware upgrades.
Whatever the case, online
video training is available free
to members. To get a user name
and password, simply e-mail
Kevin Slimp at [email protected]. Soon you’ll be joining other members throughout
the state who get their training
online.
CMYK
2
Tennessee
Press
2008 Annual Report
8
‘08 Marks Another Year of Growth for
Tennessee’s Advertising Networks
Clipping Bureau
Increases Revenue
in 2008
In 2008, the TPS Clipping Bureau accomplished its goal of surpassing 2007.
Despite the down economy, the department was able to increase its revenue by
8% from the previous year. This is quite
a feat since there were fewer employees in
the department than there have been in
the past.
With the retirement of Linda Johnson,
a reader for over 20 years, schedules were
rearranged to accommodate the change.
The hard work of the current readers allowed the department to continue at a
steady, productive pace.
Nine out of 12 months were more profitable in 2008 than they were in 2007.
There were 181,554 clippings sent to
clients in 2008. Of those clippings,
98,793 of them were E-Clips. These are
clippings that are clipped, scanned and
sent by email to clients that choose this
optional service. The amount of E-Clips
sent out this year broke the previous record by 4,439 clips.
A majority of Clipping Bureau clients
are located in Tennessee, but several
others are out-of-state. They span the
country from New York to California,
from Louisiana to Ohio. The bureau
also works with other clipping services
throughout the country to obtain clips
for clients.
age reps to sell the ads, TPS held a contest for
sales reps from January through March. It
was a huge success. Seven reps sold ads into
the networks, generating $4,458 in new revenue for their newspapers.
Since January, participation in TnScan and
TnDAN has grown 6 percent. TPS was able
to increase newspaper involvement by effectively communicating the benefits of belonging to these networks. In January, letters were
sent to all TPA members letting them know
how much money was distributed through the
pool share. Newspapers that sold ads into the
networks were informed as to the amount of
revenue that was generated.
In July, e-mails were sent to all ad directors
at TPA member newspapers announcing open
enrollment in the programs. The amount of
the rebate checks had increased 23 to 26 percent over the first quarter.
TPS also was able to boost enrollment by
word of mouth. Ron Fryar played a major role
in the growth of Tennessee’s Advertising Networks this past year.
This gave us an excellent idea for the upcoming
year. Who better than publishers and ad directors to tout the benefits of these networks? So,
TPS will comp the 2009 Winter Convention
registration (a $150 value) for any TPA member newspaper that enrolls a non-participating
newspaper into TnScan and/or TnDAN. Please
refer to the list of newspapers currently enrolled
in the networks available on tnpress.com.
Advertising networks like TnScan and TnDAN continue to grow year after year. Advertisers recognize the convenience, effectiveness, and affordability of these programs.
But, these networks could not exist without the TPA newspapers. Thank you for
making 2008 a good year. TPS will be rolling out new ideas in the upcoming year, so
LOOK OUT 2009!
Press Service Creates Statewide
Online Advertising Network
TPS realized that online advertising is predicted to be the largest area of growth for many
newspapers in the near future. To ensure that
newspapers are included in as many campaign
budgets as possible, we needed to make online
advertising easy and cost-effective.
Many TPA member
newspapers already
offer online advertising options
that are similar
to an ROP buy,
but may have
extra availability
for ads on their
respective sites
that go unsold.
TPS decided to
partner with a
vendor that could
help us develop a statewide online ad program to help members fill
those spots and earn revenue. After meeting
with several potential companies, we decided
that Digital Press Consortium (DPC) was the
right fit for us. They are currently administer-
Tennessee Press
Association
Representing 128 Newspapers
435 Montbrook Lane
Knoxville, TN 37919
Phone (865) 584-5761
Toll Free (800) 565-7377
Fax (865) 558-8687
tnpress.com
ing the online programs for a handful of other
state press services as well.
The online ad network will operate in much
the same way as our Network print products
(2x2 and 2x4 ads), whereby advertisers will be
able to run online button advertising on many
newspaper sites across the entire state for very
little money. TPS will not accept ads related to
adult services, 900 numbers, “work at home”, or
debt consolidation. In this tight economy, the
low cost of these ads should be especially attractive as an add-on for our ROP and Network customers, to increase the reach of their print ads.
The ease of participating in the online advertising network should be particularly appealing to
TPA member newspapers. Newspapers will simply place a unique code provided by TPS onto
their Web site anywhere they would like these
ads to appear. TPS and DPC will do the rest
of the work. Newspapers can reject any ad that
does not adhere to their advertising guidelines.
Plus, newspapers will receive quarterly rebate
checks and will have the opportunity to sell the
ads and make a large commission. It’s a win-win.
Place the code once and you’re done. The online
advertising network will roll out in early 2009.
TPA & TPS Staff Members
Greg Sherrill, TPA Executive Director
Greg Sherrill, TPS Exec. Vice President
Laurie Alford, TPS Business Controller
Kathy Hensley, Accounting Services Rep.
Barry Jarrell, Advertising Director
Rhonda Graham, New Business Dev. Mgr.
Beth Elliott, Network Ad Manager
Pam Corley, Senior Print Media Buyer
Holly Craft, Public Notice Web Coord.
Earl Goodman, Print Media Buyer
Jackie Roberson, Tearsheet Coordinator
Robyn Gentile, TPA Member Services Mgr.
Kevin Slimp, Technology Director
Angelique Dunn, Administrative Assistant
Holly Craft, Clipping Bureau Manager
Jeanie Bell, Reader
Jessica Price, Reader
Brenda Leek, Tabber
Josh Ley, Scanning Technician
Elenora Edwards, Managing Editor, The Tennessee Press
Associate Members
AbitibiBowater, Inc.
Aflac
Associated Press
AT&T
Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence
Dynaric, Inc.
Embarq
Hollow and Hollow, LLC
King & Ballow
Life Care Centers of America
Metro Creative Graphics, Inc.
MMA Creative
Publishing Group of America
Right Way Business Services
Rowlett Advertising Service
Russell Printing Options
Signature Offset
SP Newsprint Sales Co.
Tennessee Education Association
Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation
Tennessee National Guard
Tennessee Dept. of Tourist Development
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Only Voice
W.D. Stone & Associates
W.E. Shaw & Associates
The Zinser Law Firm
Collegiate Associate Members
Austin Peay State University
Carson Newman College
Cleveland State Community College
East Tennessee State University
Middle Tennessee State University
Murray State University
Tennessee Technological University
Union University
The University of Memphis
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
The University of Tennessee, Martin
Volunteer State Community College
Western Kentucky University
C
M
Y
K
CMYK
CMYK
Tennessee’s Statewide Classified Advertising
Network (TnScan) and Tennessee’s Display Advertising Network (TnDAN) continue to serve
the TPA member newspapers that participate in
the programs. Just by replacing filler ads with
TnScan and TnDAN ads, newspapers receive
rebate checks each quarter. TPS has rebated a
total of $126,993.00 during the first three quarters in 2008 to the participating newspapers.
Newspapers can also tap into a powerful new
revenue stream by selling the ads and keeping
40 percent commission. To encour-
Tennessee Press
Association
Tennessee Press
Service
Tennessee Press
Association Foundation
Tennessee Press Association (TPA) was created in
1870 to represent the newspapers of Tennessee, both
large and small. Since that time, TPA has grown to
incorporate a wide array of services to our industry,
such as annual State Press Contests, newspaper staff
training, lobbying against closure of records and
meetings, legal protection and many more.
Tennessee Press Service, the business affiliate of
TPA, was formed in 1947 to provide statewide and
regional advertising placement for all TPA member
newspapers.
Mission Statement:
Mission Statement:
The Tennessee Press Association is the state’s
foremost advocate of free press, open government and
the people’s right to know.
The association nurtures a community for journalistic
enterprise by providing members ways to meet, exchange
ideas, enhance skills and honor excellence.
Members share a vital interest in sustaining the
value of products they provide audiences, advertisers
and communities; and to that end, TPA promotes
activities to maintain quality, uphold integrity and
adapt to the evolving business environment.
In addition to a full-service ROP placement
service, TPS also operates Statewide Classified,
2x2, and 2x4 networks that help newspapers turn
remnant space into revenue. Most participants of
these networks earn more in revenue than their
annual TPA dues!
TPS will soon be offering an online placement
service to help extend advertisers' reach to the Web as
well as in print. In addition to advertising placement,
TPS also operates a clipping bureau, publishes a
monthly tabloid covering the newspaper industry
of our state, and coordinates the internationallyrecognized Institute of Newspaper Technology each
year. Through the efforts of TPS programs, more
than six million dollars of revenue was generated for
TPA member newspapers in 2008.
Raise and disburse funds to enable the Tennessee
Press Association Foundation to be valued, and
recognized nationally, as a statewide provider of quality
educational opportunities for the benefit of Tennessee
Press Association member newspapers by:
Anticipating and meeting educational needs in
the fields of journalism, First Amendment issues,
advertising, business and technology;
Developing and promoting awareness of Tennessee
Press Association member newspapers to the general
reading public;
Promoting a work environment at Tennessee
Press Association member newspapers conducive
to producing high quality, nationally recognized,
community newspapers and related products for our
readers and advertising customers; and
Providing appropriate recognition of those Tennessee
newspaper professionals who are selected for inclusion
in the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame.

Tennessee Press Association

Transcription

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