September 2014 - Tennessee Press Association
Transcription
September 2014 - Tennessee Press Association
Books from Birth 10th Anniversary Tour will visit 50 Tenn. counties; TPA media partner INSIDE Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame accepting applications Submitted to The Tennessee Press Page 2 Trott meets with Pulliam; gets copy of book autographed Page 3 C TPA Member News Y Several newspapers announce website overhauls, delivery changes and staffing shuffles Page 4 K Joe Officer: 70 years at The Sun M No. 3 September 2014 Volume 78 Page 6 Obituaries Vivian Malcolm-Williams, Georgia Ruth (Bible) (Ailshie) Rhines Baglio, Mary Josephine McKinney, William C. ‘Bill’ Simonton Jr. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation (GBBF) launched its “Books from Birth 10th Anniversary Tour” on Aug. 26 in Johnson County and will conclude at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville on Sept. 30, visiting some 50 counties across the state in a 45foot decorated touring coach. For a complete list of tour dates and locations, please visit http:// www.governorsfoundation.org/ News/August-2014/GOVERNORS-BOOKS-FROM-BIRTH-CELEBRATES-10TH-ANNIVE/ The “Books from Birth 10thAnniversary Tour” is being made possible in part through the generous support of the program’s bus tour “The Tennessee Press Association was the original media partner 10 years ago, and we have now renewed our commitment to this important initiative to combat illiteracy in Tennessee.” Janet Rail Chair of the TPA Journalism, Education & Literacy Committee partner, Delta Dental of Tennessee. The purpose of the “Books from Birth 10th Anniversary Tour” is to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Tennessee and the more than 20 million books mailed to children since the program began. “The Tennessee Press Asso- ciation was the original media partner 10 years ago, and we have now renewed our commitment to this important initiative to combat illiteracy in Tennessee,” said Janet See TOUR , Page 3 Sherrill elected president of Newspaper Assoc. Managers By ROBYN GENTILE TPA Member Services Manager Page 8 Memphis’ Teen Appeal going strong Page 10 Press association executive directors from the United States and Canada met at the Newspaper Association Managers (NAM) Annual Convention Aug. 5-8 in Nashville. Greg Sherrill, executive director of Tennessee Press Association, was elected president of NAM, succeeding Mike MacLaren, executive director of Michigan Press Association. Sherrill has served on the NAM Board of Directors since 2009. The NAM annual conference offers a chance for press association managers to share information including newspaper industry trends, opportunities and challenges affecting press associations and their members. Forty-three associations were represented at the conference. NAM was established in 1923. NAM sponsors the annual National Newspaper Week, which is held the first full week of October. Sherrill was named TPA’s executive director in 2002. He joined the staff in 1996 as member services manager. Photo by Dave Bordewyk • South Dakota Newspaper Association At left, Mike MacLaren, executive director of the Michigan Press Association, who served as Newspaper Association Managers president for 2013-14, passed the ceremonial cup to Tennessee Press Association Executive Director Greg Sherrill, the newly installed president of NAM, at a banquet in Nashville on Friday, Aug. 8. C M Y K Page 2 • The Tennessee Press • September 2014 2nd annual Border War just days away By AMELIA MORRISON HIPPS (USPS 616-460) Published monthly by the TENNESSEE PRESS SERVICE, INC. for the TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION, INC. 435 Montbrook Lane Knoxville, Tennessee 37919 Telephone (865) 584-5761/Fax (865) 558-8687/www.tnpress.com Subscriptions: $6 annually Periodicals Postage Paid At Knoxville, TN POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Tennessee Press, 435 Montbrook Lane, Knoxville, TN 37919. The Tennessee Press is printed by The Standard Banner in Jefferson City, Tenn. Greg M. Sherrill ................................................................................................................................. Editor Amelia Morrison Hipps ...................................................................................... Managing Editor Robyn Gentile .......................................................................................... Production Coordinator Angelique Dunn ....................................................................................................................... Assistant The Tennessee Press is printed on recycled paper and is recyclable. The Tennessee Press can be read on www.tnpress.com OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION Vacant..................................................................................................................................................President Joel Washburn, The McKenzie Banner ........................................................................ Vice President Jack McElroy, Knoxville News Sentinel ........................................................................ Vice President John Finney, Buffalo River Review, Linden ...........................................................................Treasurer Greg M. Sherrill, Knoxville ...................................................................................... Executive Director DIRECTORS Keith Wilson, Kingsport Times-News ................................................................................... District 1 Carl Esposito, The Daily Times, Maryville ............................................................................ District 2 Chris Vass, Chattanooga Times Free Press ........................................................................... District 3 Scott Winfree, Carthage Courier ............................................................................................. District 4 Hugh Jones, Shelbyville Times-Gazette ................................................................................. District 5 Jesse Lindsey, The Lebanon Democrat ................................................................................... District 6 Mark Palmer, The Daily Herald, Columbia .......................................................................... District 7 Brad Franklin, The Lexington Progress ................................................................................. District 8 Daniel Richardson, Magic Valley Publishing, Camden ................................................... District 9 Eric Barnes, The Daily News, Memphis ...............................................................................District 10 Lynn Richardson, Elizabethton Star .......................................................Immediate Past President TENNESSEE PRESS SERVICE Victor Parkins, The Milan Mirror-Exchange ......................................................................President Ralph C. Baldwin, Jones Media Inc., Greeneville ................................................................ Director David Critchlow Jr., Union City Daily Messenger ............................................................... Director Jeffrey D. Fishman, Tullahoma News ....................................................................................... Director Jana Thomasson, The Mountain Press, Sevierville ............................................................. Director Greg M. Sherrill ............................................................................................... Executive Vice President TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION Gregg K. Jones, The Greeneville Sun .......................................................................................President Victor Parkins, The Milan Mirror-Exchange ............................................................ Vice President Richard L. Hollow, Knoxville ...................................................................................... General Counsel Greg M. Sherrill ......................................................................................................... Secretary-Treasurer CONTACT THE MANAGING EDITOR TPAers with suggestions, questions or comments about items in The Tennessee Press are welcome to contact the managing editor. Call Amelia Morrison Hipps, (615) 442-8667; send a note to 1260 Trousdale Ferry Pike, Lebanon, TN 37087, or email editor@tnpress.com. The deadline for the October issue is Monday, Sept. 8. TTP Managing Editor On the third Thursday of September, the second annual Border War Golf Tournament between the Tennessee Press Association Foundation and the Kentucky Journalism Foundation will tee-off. And the deadlines to register, make hotel reservations and submit your entry fee or sponsorship payments are rapidly approaching. Players from Tennessee and Kentucky newspapers will gather on Sept. 18 at Crooked Creek Golf Club in London, Kentucky. The deadline to register for the tournament is Friday, Sept. 5. “While some are driving up the day of the tournament, others are planning to overnight and play a round on Wednesday, before the tournament, or on Friday, the day after the tournament,” said Bob Atkins, tournament co-chair with David Thompson, executive director of the Kentucky Press Association. Atkins asks players who wish to play either day to let him know so the golf pro at Crooked Creek can make tee-times. In addition, hotel reservations will need to be made. The recommended hotel is Comfort Suites, an all-suites hotel, located at 1918 Kentucky 192, London 40741, off Interstate 75, exit 38, the same exit as the golf course. Atkins has blocked 12 rooms (kings or doubles) for Wednesday, Sept. 17, and Thursday, Sept. 18, on first come, first served basis. To make your reservation for either date, or both, call Comfort Suites at 606-877-7848. Ask for a room out of the Bob Atkins’ block of rooms for the Border War tournament. The cutoff date on the block is Monday, Sept. 15. Laurie Alford, controller at the Tennessee Press Service, mailed email invoices in mid-August for the $75 entry fee and for any sponsorships. She asks that payments get to her by Wednesday, Sept. 10. The $75 per player entry fee Second Annual Border War Golf Tournament Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014 Crooked Creek Golf Community London, Kentucky Who: Players from Tennessee Press and Kentucky Press newspapers, associate members and other interested parties. Registration: $75 per player includes green fee, cart fee, range balls, beverage cart, lunch and awards reception. Fees are considered a donation to the newspaper foundations and are tax deductible. Deadline: Friday, Sept. 5 Link to tournament registration information: http://www.tnpress.com/bulletin_images/BORDER_WAR_2014.pdf or use the QRC below. Times: Registration begins at 10 a.m. (Eastern) Lunch, provided by Hawg-Heaven Barbeque Catering, will be available at 11 a.m. with range and putting practice available. There will be a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. Format: Scramble format with four-person teams. For more information about the course, visit www.crookedcreekgolfky.com Players and Sponsors: Please contact Bob Atkins, (615) 347-8653, or email him at bobntn@bellsouth.net, or co-chairman Joe Albrecht at (931) 260-6126 or email him at joealbrecht41@gmail.com. Sponsorships are considered donations to the Kentucky and Tennessee journalism foundations, which are 501(c)3 nonprofits and tax-deductible. Hotel: Block of 12 rooms for Wednesday, Sept. 17, and Thursday, Sept. 18, at Comfort Suites, an all-suites hotel, located at 1918 Kentucky 192, London 40741, off Interstate 75, exit 38, the same exit as the golf course. Phone: 606877-7848. Ask for a room out of the Bob Atkins block of rooms for the Border War tournament. Deadline: Monday, Sept. 15 Deadline for registration fees and sponsorships: Wednesday, Sept. 10, to Laurie Alford, controller at TPA, 435 Montbrook Lane, Knoxville, TN 37919; Phone: (865) 584-5761, Ext. 102. includes green fee, cart fee, range balls, beverage cart, lunch and awards reception. Registration will begin at 10 a.m. Lunch, provided by Hawg-Heaven Barbeque Catering, will be available at 11 a.m., with range and putting practice available. The shot-gun start will begin at 12:30 p.m. (Please note, all times are Eastern Time.) “This year, Kentucky wants to do a regular four-person scramble,” Atkins said. Thompson said the team with the lowest score will be declared the winner – both individually and for their state. “If there’s a tie, the golf pro will go backwards on the scorecard until he finds the hole where the tie was broken,” Thompson said. Fees and sponsorships are considered donations to the newspaper foundations and are tax deductible. Tenn. Newspaper Hall of Fame accepting nominations By ROBYN GENTILE TPA Member Services Manager The Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame honors those who have made an outstanding contribution to Tennessee newspaper journalism or who have made an extraordinary contribution to their communities and region, or the state, through newspaper journalism. Nominations are being accepted through Oct. 31, 2014, to be considered for induction in 2015. Fifty-five honorees have been inducted since the Hall of Fame was established in 1966 as a joint project of TPA and the University of Tennessee. All inductions are made posthumously. Information about the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame, biographical sketches of the honorees and nomination information can be found at www.tnpress.com/ halloffame.html. All nominees must be deceased five or more years prior to the nomination. A selection committee of five TPA past presidents will review nominations and announce whether an induction ceremony will be held in 2015. Plans are underway to extensively renovate the Tennessee Newspaper Hall of Fame gallery in the Communications Building of the University of Tennessee. The newly renovated interactive Hall of Fame will be capable of including photos, videos and other historical material on each of the inductees. We encourage those submitting nominations to consider including as much material about the nominee as possible. Materials may be submitted electronically by contacting TPA headquarters. September 2014 • The Tennessee Press • Page 3 News Sentinel to be part of new venture Submitted to The Tennessee Press CINCINNATI — The E.W. Scripps Co. will say goodbye to newspapers, including the Knoxville News Sentinel, and hello to radio in a merger and spinoff transaction with the parent company of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper. The deal calls for Milwaukee-based Journal Communications Inc. to merge its 13 television stations and 35 radio stations into Cincinnati-based Scripps. Both companies will spin off their newspaper assets into a new publicly traded company, Journal Media Group. The deal is subject to the approval of shareholders and regulators. It is expected to close in 2015. The newly formed newspaper company will be based in Milwaukee, employ about 3,600 and generate annual revenue of more than $500 million. The deal will make Scripps the nation’s fifth-largest independent broadcasting company. It will remain in Cincinnati and be controlled by the Scripps family. The boards of both companies have approved the transaction. The Scripps family has agreed to relinquish its 130-year control of Scripps newspapers as part of the deal. “We are excited about what this merger offers. These are two great companies with strong journalistic and business traditions,” News Sentinel Publisher Patrick Birmingham said. “The new arrangement will allow the newspaper company to focus what newspapers do best, serving the information needs of their communities while reinventing themselves for the digital future.” The leader of Scripps’ newspaper division, Tim Stautberg, will be CEO of the newly formed newspaper company, while Journal Communications CEO Steve Smith will be its non-executive chairman. Stautberg said the company will be a “focused local media business with a print tradition” that will have the ability to expand beyond its 14-market footprint following the merger. “I think it’s Scripps’ way of giving its newspapers the best opportunity to enter a new chapter of their life, free of debt, free of substantially all of the pension obligations,” Stautberg. Scripps CEO Richard Boehne said the split should enable both companies to grow their respective media platforms through acquisitions and capital investments. Journal Media Group will emerge from the deal with no debt. Scripps will have less debt than its peers in the broadcasting industry. Scripps is also retaining the pension liabilities of newspaper employees as part of the transaction. “It’s a big opportunity for Scripps and Scripps shareholders,” Boehne said. “It makes us a much larger television company, a much larger digital company and we also get back into the radio business. We’ll be financially a much bigger and stronger company.” On the broadcast side, Scripps will be a “coast-to-coast news organization” with 34 television stations in 24 cities that reach 18 percent of U.S. households, said Brian Lawlor, Scripps senior vice president of television. It will own 35 radio stations in eight cities, including five markets with TV and radio combos. See NEWS SENTINEL , Page 9 TOUR, from Page 1 Rail, chair of the TPA Journalism, Education & Literacy Committee and publisher of the Independent Appeal in Selmer, Tennessee. Bus stop activities will include: enrolling children, recognizing the work of volunteers and donors and engaging communities in support of the program. The GBBF will provide reading-themed giveaways for children at each stop. “This is truly an amazing state-wide outreach effort that will celebrate and build awareness for Books from Birth,” said First Lady Crissy Haslam. “It is critical that our children are exposed to books and reading at the earliest possible age. “Tennessee’s Imagination Library program, supported by the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation, is a proven and essential component of our state’s early childhood development initiatives.” “This program has made a significant impact in Tennessee over the past decade, especially due to the loyal support of hundreds of dedicated volunteers in each county,” Gov. Bill Haslam said. “The First Lady and I encourage communities across the state to Photos by Greg Sherrill FOR YOUR CALENDAR Walter Pulliam autographs “A History of Tennessee Newspapers” for Louisa Trott, project director of the Tennessee Newspaper Digitization Project. SEPTEMBER Trott meets with Pulliam; gets copy of book autographed By ROBYN GENTILE TPA Member Services Manager Walter Pulliam, a retired former newspaper owner and publisher, wrote the section on East Tennessee newspapers for “A History of Tennessee Newspapers,” which was edited by Jack Mooney, Ph.D. The book was published in 1996 by Tennessee Press Association in celebration of Tennessee’s Bicentennial. Louisa Trott, project director of the Tennessee Newspaper Digitization Project (TNDP), asked TPA Executive Director Greg Sherrill to arrange a meeting with Pulliam, which took place at his residence on July 22. Pulliam also served as president of TPA in 1965-66. Trott was impressed with Pulliam’s work and found it to be very useful in her work for the TNDP. Her copy of the book is well-used. TNDP is part of the National Digital Newspaper Program, a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based resource providing access to digitized historical newspapers. It is maintained at the Library of Congress and accessible at chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. The first phase of the TNDP covers Tennessee newspapers published during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. The date range will be extended as the project progresses. celebrate their hard work.” The Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation (GBBF) was created in 2004 to give every child in Tennessee from birth to age 5 access to receiving Imagination Library books at no cost to families, regardless of income. With funding support from the Tennessee General Assembly, foundations, individual donors and corporations, the GBBF matches all funds raised by each county’s Imagination Library affiliate – a public-private partnership unique to Tennessee. “We are thrilled to visit over 50 counties in late August and September to thank everyone who has contributed to this program’s success,” said Theresa Carl, president, GBBF. “Statewide impact studies show that children who have received these books are better prepared for kindergarten, have increased reading skills, and develop a love of reading.” About the GBBF The GBBF currently delivers more than 224,000 books per month to enrolled children statewide. Since 2004, more than 400,000 children have graduated from the program, having turned five. To enroll a child, visit www. GovernorsFoundation.org. 4-6: National SPJ Excellence in Journalism Conference, Nashville 4-6: The National Federation of Press Women annual convention 9-11: Inland Press Association Group Executives Conference, St. Louis Regional Chamber Conference Center in the Metropolitan Square Building, St. Louis, Missouri 13-16: Asian American Journalism Association 25th Annual Convention at the Renaissance Washington, D.C., Downtown Hotel. 14-16: SNPA’s Carmage Walls Leadership Forum, Galveston, Texas 15-17: American Society of Newspaper Editors Annual Conference at Chicago 18: 2nd Annual Kentucky/ Tennessee Border War Golf Tournament “The Battle at Crooked Creek,” Crooked Creek Country Club in London, Kentucky 21-23: Inaugural NAA Retail Revenue Exchange Conference, Chicago OCTOBER 6-8: SNPA 2014 News Industry Summit, Charlottesville, Va. 10: TPA Board of Directors Meeting, Nashville 16-18: 18th Institute of Newspaper Technology, UT campus, Knoxville 17-18: Inland Press Association Family Owners & Next Generation Leadership Conference, Chicago 19-21: Inland Press Association 129th Annual Meeting, Chicago 29-Nov. 1: College Media Advisors National Fall College Media Convention at the Philadelphia Marriott, Philadelphia, Penn. FEBRUARY 2015 4-6: TPA Winter Convention, Nashville MARCH 2015 18-20: National Newspaper Association’s Leadership Summit, Crystal City Marriott, Washington, D.C. Page 4 • The Tennessee Press • September 2014 TPA MEMBER NEWS The Greeneville Sun launches redesigned website The Greeneville Sun re-launched its website on July 10 to feature more local content from the pages of the newspaper. The expanded GreenevilleSun. com will provide Sun content that had never been widely available online, said Steven K. Harbison, the Sun’s general manager. While the website has provided major community news and sports coverage since 1998, GreenevilleSun.com will now also deliver extra content, including “It Happened Here” police reports, court reports and features from the newspaper’s ACCENT, Living, Health and other sections, he added. GreenevilleSun.com will continue popular online-only features such as photo galleries, videos and the Greeneville Marketplace directory of more than 2,000 local businesses, he said. The general manager said that unique, new content on GreenevilleSun.com will include stock market reports, area gasoline prices, crossword puzzles and Sudoku. The website has been under redevelopment since last year, and the newspaper has plans to add and improve features in the weeks ahead, Harbison added. While all content on GreenevilleSun.com will be free to six-dayper-week subscribers of The Greeneville Sun, others may view up to 30 stories per month on the website at no charge. “Individuals may view six complete stories a month for free, before being asked to register on the website,” said Brian Cutshall, the Sun’s director of online operations. Registration will consist of inputting basic information, such as name and email address. “Then, after registration, those web visitors may view an additional 24 full stories per month at no charge,” Cutshall said. Much of the website’s content will not be “metered” (or included in the 30-story count). “GreenevilleSun.com has always allowed visitors to view obituaries on the website at any time with no restrictions,” Cutshall said. “We plan to continue that.” Website visitors may also view photo galleries, legal notices, classified advertising and other content without limitations. Along with changes to GreenevilleSun.com, the newspaper is simultaneously beefing up its Greenevillemarketplace.com, a local directory of more than 2,000 local businesses, Cutshall said. “All Greeneville and Greene County businesses are eligible for free directory listings on Marketplace with basic information, including their address, phone number and maps,” according to Cutshall. Even after the enhanced Greenevillesun.com launches, the newspaper will continue to provide its online e-Edition as a free service to paying six-day-per-week newspaper subscribers. With the e-Edition, individuals may view pages of the newspaper online, exactly as they appear in the printed edition. The e-Edition will not be accessible to those who do not subscribe to the newspaper six days a week, although a sample edition is available to everyone at GreenevilleSun. com/sample. The newspaper has offered an e-Edition since 2010. The Greeneville Sun July 10, 2014 Commercial Appeal rolls out new website design On July 15, The Commercial Appeal rolled out a new responsive design of its website that will fit on any device – smartphone, table, laptop or desktop. Readers also have an improved search function, locating information by category, time and keyword. Subscribers are able to comment on stories for the first time using their mobile devices. Additionally, commercialappeal. com has a cleaner, simpler design that is easier to navigate and more visual. Photo galleries and videos are easier to browse. While the focus will continue to be on all things Memphis, the new website also has new offerings on national and international news, along with a feature unique to its site, Decode DC, an aptly named column that helps explain events in Washington, D.C. The Commercial Appeal (Memphis) July 13, 2014 TheLeafChronicle.com gets new look On July 17, The Leaf-Chronicle heralded a new beginning for its digital customers with the launch of the completely redesigned TheLeafChronicle.com on desktops, smartphones and tablets. The re-imagined digital experience is a faster, more elegantly simple and more visually dynamic digital presentation of the paper’s stories, photos and videos. When users log in, they will notice that the photos are larger, the navigation is more logical and distinct, and everything about the presentation is fluid and responsive. The content readers told the NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW TPA Board to meet in October in Nashville The TPA Board of Directors have set their fall meeting for Friday, Oct. 10, at the Hilton Garden Inn Nashville Airport location in Nashville. The meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. Ads for 2015 TPA Directory sought In less than a month, it will be time to submit data for the 2015 Tennessee Newspaper Directory, the annual resource for information about TPA member papers. It is an important tool for advertisers seeking information about Tennessee newspapers. Listings provide basic information such as paid circulation, frequency of publication, page sizes, contact information, addresses and phone numbers. However, newspapers may also buy ads to provide additional information to advertisers. Vendors to the newspaper industry also should consider directory advertising as a tool to reach Tennessee newspapers. Tennessee Press Service, publisher of the directory, provides directories to clients, potential advertisers, elected officials and TPA members. Friday, Oct. 10, is the deadline for directory updates, while just a week later, Friday, Oct. 17, is the deadline for ad orders. A correction form will be sent to TPA members the week of Sept. 1. Updates can also be made online. Links to the online version are available at www.tnpress.com. Questions about advertising should go to David Wells, TPS advertising director, at (865) 584-5761, x108, or dwells@tnpress.com. Ownership statement deadline is Oct. 1 All periodicals, including newspapers, must file their Statements of Ownership with the U.S. Postal Service by Oct. 1. The statements must also be published in the newspaper. Dailies must publish it by Oct. 10 and non-dailies by Oct. 31. The two-page form is called P.S. Form 3526-R Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation. The PDF can be downloaded at http://about.usps.com/forms/ ps3526.pdf. paper they value most from Clarksville and Montgomery County is featured: breaking local news, entertainment, government actions, Fort Campbell, business, fitness and sports. The site also links directly to USA Today’s national and international news articles, photos and videos, providing a one-stop experience. Additionally, it is now easier to find job listings and purchasing opportunities for cars, home and more. The smartphone app was updated as well. One of the most exciting improvements is the new tablet app. Unlike the old one, this is a true app, meaning it was made to work on a tablet. It’s available for both Android and iOS devices. The new tablet experience is more visual, with full-screen views for video and photo galleries. There are also two views to choose from on the tablet. The list view feels more like a newspaper on an iPad, while the grid view is more visual, with photos and graphics anchoring most stories. The design also lets readers find things more easily. The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville) July 17, 2014 Commercial Appeal, Chalkbeat Tennessee partner The Commercial Appeal in Memphis has formed an education partnership with Chalkbeat Tennessee, a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. The partnership means that Chalkbeat reporters’ work will be immediately available for the CA to use on mobile devices, their website and in print. CA education reporters will also be available for use on tn.chalkbeat.org, but stories that are metered or paid content will only include several paragraphs and then link to our site. As part of the partnership, the CA will coordinate with Chalkbeat on coverage of education. “We’re in the midst of an unprecedented expansion of educational choice in Memphis, particularly with six suburban school districts opening their doors Aug. 4. By partnering with Chalkbeat we can provide comprehensive coverage. Readers will see an immediate impact online and in print,” said CA Editor Louis Graham. The Commercial Appeal (Memphis) July 18, 2014 New Knoxnews.com geared to mobile era The Knoxville News Sentinel rolled out a new website designed with the mobile Internet in mind on July 22. The site has a whole new look that will display perfectly on smartphones, tablet and desktop computers alike, thanks to a technology called “responsive design.” For the first time, too, readers will be able to comment on stories using mobile devices. Overall, the site has a cleaner, simpler look. Navigation is easier, with quick access to weather info linking to a 12-day forecast and alerts. The search function has been much improved. Archived stories were moved to the new website and indexed for searching. However, because a new commenting system will be implemented, the comments from the old stories won’t transfer. See MEMBER NEWS, Page 11 September 2014 • The Tennessee Press • Page 5 TRACKS Holtsclaw leaves Elizabethton Star for Chicago Wes Holtsclaw, who worked as a sports writer for the Elizabethton Star, for more than 13 years, left the newspaper in July for a new job in Evanston, Illinois. Holtsclaw, who started working part-time at the newspaper while a junior at Cloudland High School, accepted the position as associate director of communications for the Sigma Chi Foundation. Elizabethton Star July 4, 2014 Daily Times names Sisco as assistant editor Veteran journalist Mike Sisco has been named assistant news editor at The Daily Times in Maryville. Sisco is a 1991 graduate of Eastern Kentucky University and a U.S. Navy veteran. Prior to originally joining The Daily Times in 1999, Sisco worked at the Sisco Mountain Citizen and Martin County Sun (both in Inez, Kentucky); Logan Banner and the Lincoln Journal, both in West Virginia. He left the area in 2001 for a 10year stint at the St. Croix Avis in the Virgin Islands before returning to The Daily Times in 2011. The Daily Times, Maryville July 25, 2014 Standard Banner receives 5 awards from NNA The Standard Banner was recognized among the nation’s top non-daily newspapers after receiving five awards in the National Newspaper Association’s 2014 Better Newspaper Contest. The Jefferson City newspaper received two first place and two second place awards, along with an honorable mention with other non-daily newspapers with circulation of 6,000 or more. Winners will be recognized at the award reception Saturday, Oct. 4, during NNA’s 128th Annual Convention and Trade Show at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio, Oct. 2-5. First place awards were received for Best Education/Literacy Story and Best Feature Photo, while second place awards were for Best Breaking News Story and Best Local News Coverage. The honorable mention award came in Best Photo Essay. Steve Marion wrote the first place Best Education/Literacy Story, entitled “Reach for Reading” with Ronnie Housley providing photographs. The winning Best Feature Photo was taken by Dale Gentry and was titled “Could it be sibling rivalry?” showing two sisters competing in a dairy cattle show at the County Fair with one sticking her tongue out at the other’s calf. Marion also wrote the second place story in Best Breaking News about a Talbott man who was saved from his burning home. The paper’s entire staff contributed to the second place award for Best Local News Coverage. And Marion and Housley combined for the photos in the Best Photo Essay Honorable Mention award, which focused on Old Time Saturday. The Standard Banner, Jefferson City July 22, 2014 Fry leaves Bulletin-Times Richard Fry, publisher of The Bolivar Bulletin-Times and Hardeman County Shopper, left the newspapers in early August to accept “an unexpected opportunity” that his family “couldn’t say no to” in New Orleans, according to his last column. Fry returned to the publisher position in February 2012, 15 years after leaving in 1997. He first came to Bolivar in 1987 and served as the publisher and vice president of the Bulletin-Times for 10 years. Bulletin-Times, Bolivar July 30, 2014 Eddie Thurman joins DNJ ad team The Daily News Journal has added a new face to its advertising team, announced Taylor Loyal, editor and general manager. Eddie Thurman comes to The DNJ from the digital marketing world and hopes to use his experience to help local busiThurman nesses build their brands. The new advertising representative graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2000 with a degree in business administration and minor in entrepreneurship. He then went on to serve in the U.S. Marine Reserves and spent 2004 in Iraq. “We’re so happy to have Eddie as a part of The DNJ,” Loyal said. “With our newly redesigned print edition and the new look of dnj. com, he comes to The DNJ during an exciting time for us. His presence here will help us further our mission as Rutherford County’s top source for local news and advertising.” Thurman said his discipline from the military, experience with a digital marketing firm and educational background helps him relate to the trials of owning a small business. “I think my background can help local businesses grow by getting the word out to Rutherford County both digitally and in print,” he said. Thurman hails from Nashville and grew up reading The Tennessean. He knows his way around Murfreesboro well after living here for seven years and is impressed by the direction of The DNJ, he said. “I like the fact that there are local opportunities for advertisers in The Daily News Journal,” Thurman said. Thurman’s two brothers and parents live in Nashville. His girlfriend, Angela Petty, is from Murfreesboro. Thurman can be contacted at 615893-5860 or ethurman@tnmedia. com. The Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro Aug. 3, 2014 Southard joins The Daily Times sports staff Dargan Southard has joined The Daily Times sports department as a part-time sports reporter. The Maryville High alum is currently a senior at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and serves as assistant sports editor at The Daily Beacon. Southard Southard began freelancing for The Daily Times at the start of the year and quickly became a popular baseball beat writer covering preps, the Vols and the Tennessee Smokies. The Daily Times, Maryville Aug. 8, 2014 Kile named Regional Manager for Tennessee operations Dan Sykes, executive vice president of Landmark Media Enterprises LLC, announces that Kevin Kile is now the regional manager of all Tennessee Operations. Kile has been leading Roane County News and Morgan County News since being named publisher/ general manager in January 2012. As regional manager, Kile assumes responsibility for LaFollette Press, which had been reporting to Sykes. A Tennessee native and a University of Tennessee graduate with a degree in marketing education, Kile worked as an ad director for Jones Media Inc. before joining the Roane County News as advertising director in 2007. Under Kile’s leadership, the Roane leadership team has identified and implemented operational improvements. He lives in Sweetwater, Tenn., with his wife, Sarah, and children, Elise, 10, and Evan, 6. Submitted to TTP Aug. 3, 2014 Rouse named Courier News (Ark.) publisher Kennett native Shelia Rouse has assumed the publisher position of the Blytheville Courier News, as well as the Osceola Times, the Steele Enterprise and the Democrat-Argus in Caruthersville, all in Arkansas. It will be an expanded role within Rust CommuniRouse cations for Rouse, who has been publisher of the State Gazette in Dyersburg, Tennessee, since 2001. She also serves as publisher for the Daily Dunklin Democrat in Kennett, the Daily Statesman in Dexter, the Delta News-Citizen in Malden, the Missourian-News in Portageville, and the North Stoddard Countian in Advance-Bloomfield, all in Missouri. She will continue as publisher in Dyersburg. “I am really excited about accepting this position in northeast Arkansas,” Rouse said. “The Courier News has always been an integral part of the community, with an excellent news product, and I look forward to being involved in that tradition in the future. “The staff and I are committed to providing an outstanding newspaper for our readers and advertisers. We also will be working hard to continue to develop our digital media presence as we provide a wide range of news and advertising services.” Among the projects in the immediate future are a pre-season football magazine, due out by the end of the month, a text alert system and expanded website services. Rouse replaces David Tennyson as publisher of the Courier News. Tennyson recently retired from the post. “Although I’m retired, I’m still hanging around the house cleaning garages and such, and (Editor) Andy (Weld) asked me for a comment on Shelia assuming my former position,” Tennyson noted. “Although she doesn’t know how to spell ‘Sheila,’ Mrs. Rouse is still a strong newspaper woman. The girl knows her stuff, and even though she’s got a lot on her plate, I feel confident that with the current staffs in place at Blytheville, Osceola, Caruthersville and Steele, all will be well in my former little empire,” Tennyson added. Rouse is a 1983 graduate of Kennett High School and studied journalism at both Williams Baptist College in Walnut Ridge and Mississippi County Community College (now Arkansas Northeastern College) in Blytheville. She is married to Jimmie Smith Jr., formerly of Kennett. Rouse has been involved in numerous civic activities in Dyersburg, including service as president of the Coats for Kids Program and the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation. She is a member of the Rotary Club. She is a graduate of the Dyer County Leadership Class, the Dyersburg Citizens Police Academy, the FBI Citizens Academy and the Center For Sales Strategy. Active in numerous newspaper organizations, she has served on the board of the SEMO Press Association and the advertising/circulation committees of the Missouri Press Association and the Tennessee Press Association. She also is a member of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, Inland Press, Local Media Association and PAGE. Prior to accepting her first publisher position, Rouse worked as advertising director at the Dyersburg News. She also served as general manager at the Democrat Argus in Caruthersville, advertising director at Malden and was an advertising executive at Kennett. Also joining the staff at the Courier News is Lisa Bryant, who is serving as regional advertising manager. Bryant has worked the last 13 years as the general manager at the Democrat-Argus in Caruthersville. Blytheville Courier News Aug. 21, 2014 Page 6 • The Tennessee Press • September 2014 70 years at The Sun and going strong Colleagues honor Joe Officer – at work! – on his 85th birthday By The Greeneville Sun Staff July 17, 2014 When Joe Officer started work at The Greeneville Sun, Franklin D. Roosevelt was President of the United States. The month was June 1944. And young Officer had not yet celebrated his 15th birthday. In some years, the age of 14 might have been too young to be considered for a job in a Greeneville business, especially one using equipment that was complicated and could even be somewhat dangerous if not used carefully. But it was a difficult time to find employees. In both Europe and Asia, World War II was at a critical stage, and many, many Greene Countians – especially men, but numerous women as well – were serving in the armed forces or working in war-related industries. The massive Normandy invasion of Nazi-held Europe on June 6, 1944 – known to history as D-Day – had taken place just a short time earlier. A year of bitter fighting in western Europe would follow before the victory over Hitler’s Germany was secured in May 1945. In the Pacific, the struggle with the Empire of Japan was equally intense. One of those involved was a future Sun Publisher named John M. Jones, who in the spring of 1944 was serving behind Japanese lines in Burma with a U.S. Army outfit that came to be known as Merrill’s Marauders. Meanwhile, here in Greeneville, the staff of the Sun numbered only about 15 people, and then-Publisher Edith O’Keefe Susong badly needed another staff member in production to help get the paper out six days a week. She ran an advertisement for the position. Young Joe Officer’s mother Don’t miss the second round! Thursday, September 18, 2014 Crooked Creek Golf Community London, Kentucky A benefit to raise funds for Kentucky Journalism Foundation Tennessee Press Association Foundation Registration Deadline: Sept. 5 Photo by Tammy McGinnis The Greeneville Sun held a special birthday celebration for Joe Officer, second from left, on Monday. Officer turned 85 and is celebrating 70 years as an employee of the Sun. Shown with Officer, from left, are Sun Co-Publisher and Jones Media Inc. President/CEO Gregg K. Jones, former longtime Sun employee Frank Riley, and Sun General Manager Steven K. Harbison. saw the ad and suggested that he apply for the job. He did so, and was hired – part-time for the brief period until he turned 15, then full-time. He smiled today as he said the memory of his hiring by Mrs. Susong is as clear in his mind as if it were yesterday. He came to work at the Sun for the first time in June 1944 – a little more than 70 years ago – and has been a continuous member of the staff of the newspaper ever since, with one exception. The exception came in the early 1950s, when he served in the Army during the Korean War. Ten months of that time he spent in Korea itself. His job was waiting for him when he returned. ‘Hooked’ on newspaper work Fellow employees have quickly learned through the years – and decades – that he is both highly capable and so regular and steady in his work style that others can practically set their watches by him. In the early years of his employment, he recalled, he had to walk one mile to the bus stop to come to and from work. In those days he lived not far from the current location of the WalMart Regional Distribution Center at Midway. He grinned as he remembered that, if he hung around after work playing pool and missed the bus, that one-mile walk turned into a 12-mile hike. He said recently that he started at the Sun as a teenager but stayed because he married, and he and his wife, Martha, became the parents of five children. (A daughter, Cherie, is the wife of state Sen. Steve Southerland, of Morristown.) Besides, Officer said, he became “hooked” on newspaper work over the years and wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he didn’t get up and come in every day. A lot of changes Needless to say, he has seen a great many changes while working for the Sun over the last seven decades of dramatic – even revolutionary – technological development in the newspaper industry. His first 20-plus years were in the newspaper’s “hot metal” days. At first, he said, he worked in a variety of assignments related to the production and circulation aspects of the paper, from helping on the press to taking copies of the paper to the post office to be mailed out to subscribers. Later, he became a compositor – a person who had a key role in creating pages of the newspaper. His role: to take stories that had been typed on paper and then converted into lines of lead type, and position those columns of typeset stories within flat, rectangular steel forms (called “chases”) that were the size of newspaper pages. His job changed dramatically in 1967 when the Sun converted from “hot metal” to “cold type,” more properly known as offset printing. When that happened, the process of actually printing the newspaper stopped involving lead type and became essentially photographic. Officer took over the graphic camera room: a crucial part of the new, very different production process. He quickly mastered the new technology, and in later years, as newspaper technology kept evolving, he has taken the changes in stride, learning the new skills and mastering the new equipment. In addition, besides handling his primary responsibilities at the newspaper, he long ago became known at the Sun for his exceptional ability to fix pretty much anything electronic or mechanical – or invent something to make a task easier. He continues to work five mornings a week in the pre-press production department, where he is a valued staff member. Seven decades have turned part of his black hair gray, but otherwise he looks basically as he has “always” looked – much to the good-natured chagrin of fellow employees who find they are showing the years a good deal more than he is. Turned 85 on Monday Officer turned 85 on Monday, July 14, and fellow employees of The Greeneville Sun as well as local staff members of Jones Media Inc., the newspaper’s parent company, surprised him in the pre-press room at mid-morning with a big, specially decorated cake, a chorus of “Happy Birthday,” and even some balloons – all coordinated by his supervisor, Sun Circulation and Printing Director Dale Long. Publisher John M. Jones, who succeeded Mrs. Susong, his mother-in-law, in that position at her death in 1974, sent his best wishes although, at 99, he is no longer able to be active at the Sun. So did his wife, Arne Jones, also 99. Former Sun Associated Press Wire Editor Frank Riley, now retired at 80 and living in Russellville, enthusiastically made the trip to Greeneville to join the birthday celebration for his longtime friend and co-worker. Sun Co-Publisher and Jones Media President/CEO Gregg Jones voiced the appreciation and admiration of the company and the group for Officer and his long, excellent service, and Long added his own words of praise. Although all who crowded into the pre-press room knew well that Joe is extremely modest and hates to be the center of attention, they ignored those facts and celebrated See OFFICER , Page 9 September 2014 • The Tennessee Press • Page 7 Gail Kerr’s legacy lives on in award and homeless fund Homeless fund raises $50K Award named for columnist By Andy Humbles By Adam Tamburin The Tennessean, July 9, 2014 The Tennessean, July 20, 2014 Longtime Tennessean columnist Gail Kerr’s vision for helping the homeless became a reality July 7. More than 300 donors contributed nearly $50,000 to Gail Kerr’s House the Homeless Fund, which was established shortly after her death in March. The Tennessean and Kerr’s husband, Les Kerr, hosted a thank-you luncheon for the contributors at the Music City Center. A $49,635 check was presented to the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission, which will use the money to help the homeless move into long-term housing. Les Kerr said he would add the difference to round up the total to $50,000, which far exceeded Gail Kerr’s initial goal of $10,000. The House the Homeless fund was based on a project Gail Kerr proposed last fall but was unable to launch before she died after her third bout with cancer. The Metro Human Relations Commission on July 21 honored four community members with a new award named after beloved Tennessean columnist Gail Kerr. The Gail Kerr HRCules award is meant to trumpet local “heroes” who “embody Gail’s passion and spirit for Nashville and all of its residents,” the commission wrote in a prepared statement. “The goal is to highlight what people are doing right in the community in the hope that others will follow their lead,” the statement read. “The award was named in Gail Kerr’s honor because she was a champion for those whose voices needed to be heard.” The commission plans to honor one member of the community each month. On July 21, it celebrated honorees from the months of March through July. Kerr KNS’ Tom Humphrey retires after 30 years Compiled by Staff Tom Humphrey, the Nashville bureau chief for the Knoxville News Sentinel, retired on July 31. News Sentinel Editor Jack McElroy made the following statement about Humphrey’s retirement to KnoxViews: “We are going to miss Tom immensely. He’s been the dean of the statehouse press corps and one of the News Sentinel’s most productive and authoritative journalists. He’s also a really nice guy. “Happily, he will continue to write columns and stories for us on a freelance basis and will maintain Photo from Knoxville News Sentinel Retiring News Sentinel Nashville Bureau Chief Tom Humphrey posted this on his Facebook page about his retirement gift from cartoonist Charlie Daniel: “Getting cartooned by Charlie, a Great American, is the nicest thing that’s happened to an old coot in a while. It’s now hanging on the wall in the Bell Buckle ‘work-in-progress’ house.” his popular ‘Humphrey on the Hill’ blog. For the time being, we will be relying on Rick Locker, who covers state government for our sister paper in Memphis, The Commercial Appeal, for capitol correspondence. That may change in the future.” Below are Humphrey’s own words about the next chapter in his life as posted on his blog, “Humphrey on the Hill.” The News Sentinel had a farewell luncheon for me yesterday, the highlight being presentation of a Charlie Daniel cartoon drawing of yours truly with a caption saying, “Remember, it’s Humphrey on the Hill, not Humphrey over the hill.” I will continue the blog and writing a Sunday column for the News Sentinel, plus some other stuff from time to time. I’ll also be helping out a bit at The Tennessee Journal. So I’ll still be around, just not quite as busy as in the past 30 years of working for the News Sentinel as a full-time employee. Some fellow bloggers have had kind things to say about my exit from the full-time scene, including fellow KNS blogger Frank Munger and Knoxviews. The Nashville Scene raises the question of who will follow me in the News Sentinel Nashville position. The answer, at the moment, is no one. The position is frozen, and the Commercial Appeal’s Rick Locker will be sending stuff to the KNS as well as the CA on a more regular basis. That has developed in the last week or so, since Tom Chester talked with Steve Cavendish, who penned the piece and who once was a very good student in a journalism class I taught. And I’ve had many folks wishing me well. Thanks to everyone who has done so. Please share this copy of The Tennessee Press with your colleagues! Page 8 • The Tennessee Press • September 2014 OBITUARIES Vivian Malcolm-Williams Vivian “Viv” Malcolm-Williams, 60, resident of Adairville, Kentucky, former resident of the Somerville Community, died on July 9, 2014 at the TriStar Horizon Medical Center in Dickson, Tennessee. Born to William Howard Malcolm and Rosalie Mary Favazza Malcolm in Cumberland, Maryland, she moved to Tennessee at an early age with her family. Her vocational interests were numerous varied, including a time as media sales representative for the former Fayette County Review newspaper. Mrs. Malcolm-Williams was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, John William Malcolm. Survivors include: two daughters, Marty (Joe) White of Somerville and Amanda (Brian) Moody Thompson of Adairville, Kentucky; her sister, Pamela Malcolm of Somerville; two brothers, Gerald (Dixie) Malcolm of Ponca City, Oklahoma and James (Christa) Patrick Malcolm of Edmond, Oklahoma; six grandchildren, one great-granddaughter and several nieces, nephews and cousins. Funeral services were held July 22 at the St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church in the Warren Community. A private interment was held in Maryland. The Fayette Falcon (Somerville) July 23, 2014 Georgia Ruth (Bible) (Ailshie) Rhines Baglio Georgia Ruth (Bible) (Ailshie) Rhines Baglio, 86, died Aug. 8, 2014. Mrs. Baglio played the piano, worked with the Morristown Crewettes at the Sun and the Daily Gazette Mail in Morristown and at the Knoxville News Sentinel where she was an interpreter for the deaf. She also Baglio worked at J.C. Penney. She was preceded in death by her true parents, Charlie and Emma Ailshie, and her birth parents, Nevy and Winnie Bible; her two husbands, Tennessee “Edward Tennessee” Rhines and Rocco Baglio, and her grandson, Charles Edward “Charlie” Rhines; her sisters Kate Dunsmore and Myrtle Wright; and brother, James Bible. Survivors include: her sons, Ray (Doey) (Lisa) of Nashville, Charles Morton (Toddy) (Robin D.), and Edward Tennessee Jr. (Jody) (Robin A.) of Morristown; and stepson, Rocco (Sue) Baglio of New Hampshire; four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Funeral services were Aug. 12 at Westside Chapel Funeral Home with the Rev. Kenny Cole officiating. Interment was Aug. 13 at Jarnigan Cemetery. Citizen Tribune (Morristown) Aug. 12, 2014 Mary Josephine McKinney Mrs. Mary Josephine McKinney, 92, of Rockwood died Aug. 12, 2014. Born Oct. 31, 1921, to Henley Preston and Carrie Suddath Ramsey, the family lived in the Swan Pond community of Harriman, but later moved to Rockwood in 1941. Mrs. McKinney was a charter member of the Chevront Methodist Church and was involved in many community activities, including the Roane County Farm Bureau. She wrote the “Round Rockwood” column for The Rockwood Times and later the Roane County News for many years. She was selected as a “Roane County Treasure” in 2012. In addition to her parents, Mrs. McKinney was preceded in death by her twin sister, Margaret Ramsey Peters and her beloved husband, Eugene McKinney. Survivors include: sons, David (Wanda) McKinney, Lenoir City; Steve (Bonnie) McKinney and Joe (Kathleen) McKinney, all of Rockwood; daughter, Nina (Randy) Swafford, Crossville; eight grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. Funeral services were Friday, Aug. 15, at the chapel of Evans Mortuary with the Rev. Brenda Poole officiating. Interment was Saturday, Aug. 16, at Oak Grove Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Swan Pond Methodist Church Cemetery Fund. Roane County News Aug. 14, 2014 William C. ‘Bill’ Simonton Jr. William C. (Bill) Simonton, Jr., 85, former editor of The Covington Leader, died at Baptist Memorial Hospital East on Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. Born to William Christopher and Emma Long Simonton in Covington, he attended Simonton local schools and graduated from Byars-Hall High School. He continued his education at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, and graduated in 1950. He began work at the Leader in 1936 as a part-time bindery assistant and at various times operated most of the production equipment. In 1950, he became news editor, and in 1957, editor, a position he held until he resigned in 1975. During his editorial time, the Leader was a consistent award winner in state and national excellence competition. He also administered the conversion of the Leader from letterpress to offset printing in 1961. It was the first weekly newspaper printed on a web offset press in West Tennessee. Upon leaving the Leader, Simonton joined Clopay Corporation as Quality Assurance Manager. He subsequently served the City of Covington as Manager of Purchasing and Personnel until his retirement in 1991. In civic affairs, he was a charter officer of the Covington Chamber of Commerce and of the Covington Country Club. He later served as Chamber president, and subsequently became chairman of the Industrial Development Committee for the Chamber. He was a member of the Covington Board of Education from 1957 to 1972 and served as chairman during the desegregation of the city school system during the 1960s. Simonton played seven years of varsity football at Byars-Hall High School and Centre College. After graduation, he became an official of the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association (TSSAA) and worked high school, college and junior high football games for the next 35 years. He also officiated basketball and soccer for briefer periods. He later served as clock operator for local high school games for another 10 years and was an unpaid assistant football coach at both Crestview and Covington Grammar Schools for seven years. He was a life-long member of First Presbyterian Church of Covington, where he was a choir member, soloist and Sunday school teacher for 60 years. After he retired, he attended Dyersburg State Community College for a number of years, auditing a wide assortment of courses. He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife of 55 years, Jane Butler Simonton. Survivors include a daughter, Gail M. Simonton of Alexandria, Virginia; a son, Kevin W. (Fonda) Simonton, and a grand-daughter, Savannah Simonton, all of Cordova, Tennessee; and his two beloved canine companions, Little Girl and Star. He also leaves Sylvia Burnett and Vickie Drain, who cared for him in his home with kindness and compassion. Funeral services were Aug. 19 at First Presbyterian Church officiated by the Rev. Scott Sealy. Memorials may be sent to Centre College, Danville, Kentucky; Dyersburg State Community College in Covington, or to an organization of the donor’s choice. At his request, his body has been donated to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center for research. Burial will be in Munford Cemetery, Covington, at a later date. The Covington Leader Aug. 18, 2014 Longtime Roane County News columnist, ‘Miss Josephine’ McKinney dies at 99 By CINDY SIMPSON Roane County News, Aug. 14, 2014 A longtime Rockwood columnist for the Roane County News died Tuesday. Josephine McKinney, 92, affectionately known as “Miss Josephine” to many, wrote “Round Rockwood” for the Rockwood Times and later the Roane County News. She was a community columnist sharing the goings-on of friends and family, whether it be who came to dinner, who was sick, or who had a new bundle of joy on the way. “They’d call her with any news they wanted printed,” said Steve McKinney, her son. “She pretty well kept a hand on the pulse of the com- munity and knew things through the grapevine,” His brother David said their mother often got her information through selling fresh eggs around town. “If she had eggs to peddle, she could go half the day, taking eggs to people’s houses and getting the scoop. That is how she gathered up some of her newspaper stories,” said David McKinney. Her family remembers a loving woman who took time to listen. “She was a very outgoing person. She was a hard worker but if she got a phone call she’d sit down and talk to somebody 15 minutes if they needed to talk that long – get behind on her work to do it – do whatever it took to let somebody blow off steam or let them know she cared about them,” David said. “She was just a loving and giving person. She hardly ever got mad at anybody I am aware of.” The farmer’s wife of the late Eugene McKinney was active with Roane County Farm Bureau and other community activities. She greatly missed her late husband after his death in 2011. “She was quite a woman and very supportive of Dad and anything he wanted to do,” David said. The couple had been married 70 years, joining their lives as teenagers in 1940. See MCKINNEY, Page 9 September 2014 • The Tennessee Press • Page 9 TnQPN catches on like wildfire with papers In the blink of an eye summer is gone. The biggest project Network Advertising has undertaken this summer is the start of Tennessee’s NEW Quarter Page Network, TnQPN. By the time this is printed, TnQPN will be launched! Tennessee Press Association members stepped up and joined the Network so quickly it was amazing! TnQPN started with just a handful of newspapers then grew so quickly, there wasn’t enough space to list all of the newspapers that have joined. Thank you all for your support! In addition to starting TnQPN, David Wells, TPS Director of Ad- NETWORKS ADVERTISING MANAGER BETH ELLIOTT vertising, and I had the opportunity to visit with the sales staff at the Elizabethton Star. We talked about the services that TPS provides and in particular how their sales staff can sell the Network ads to their local clients. It was a great visit, beautiful drive through the country, and an enthusiastic group. Thank you for the invite and the hospitality! So what do these two things mean to you and your newspaper? In one word, revenue! Your sales staff can up-sell the TnQPN ads to your local clients that need to reach a wide audience. In other words, your local clients can get their ad in newspapers across the state or region through your sales staff. Here’s a quick tutorial on selling the Network ads. • Tell your clients about the ads. They can’t buy a Network ad if they do not know about it. • Send the ad to TPS for placement. • Collect the money from your client. • Not really a fourth step except that your newspaper keeps a great commission and TPS does all the legwork. For more information on selling the Network ads or to become a participating newspaper, please contact TPS at 865-584-5761 ext. 117. This could be the new source of revenue you’ve been looking for to close out this year. FYI - CONTACT INFO Tennessee Press Association Mail: 435 Montbrook Lane, Knoxville, TN 37919 Phone: (865) 584-5761 Fax: (865) 558-8687 Web: www.tnpress.com Email: (name)@tnpress.com Those with boxes, listed alphabetically: Laurie Alford (lalford) Pam Corley (pcorley) MCKINNEY, from Page 8 She was also a charter member of Chevront United Methodist Church, serving many years as a Sunday school teacher and pianist. When no longer able to attend by herself, she often attended Swan Pond United Methodist Church with her family. In addition to her column, Miss Josephine also wrote in to contests, winning a few prizes here and there, particularly in the 1950s. Those prizes ranged from small cash awards to products such as soap. “One time she won a living room suite. When it came, it was made out of (glued) cardboard,” said David McKinney. She even won a pair of toy pistols, a holster and hat for young David at one time as well. She got her knack for social writing from her mother, Carrie Ramsey, who wrote a column called the “Abel’s Valley News” for The Rockwood Times, which was the name of the column until Josephine moved to Rockwood in 1989. After many decades, Miss Josephine decided to call it quits on “Round Rockwood” in 2013. “He is part of my own earliest memories of the Sun as a child in the late 1940s. My brothers and sisters and I grew up knowing him and his wife, Martha, as friends. “Decades later, when I came to work here myself on a regular basis, I came to see him also as a highly-valued colleague, very much liked, respected and relied on by everyone at the paper. “In his knowledge and intuition about electronics and machinery, his impressive ability to master new technology and new skills, and his calm, cheerful, can-do attitude, he has been – and is – a wonder and an encouragement to all who work with him. “But I think his impact as a person has been even greater than his invaluable service as an employee. All of us who know him here at the paper value and admire him as a man of integrity, genuineness, and unselfishness. “We are privileged to have him as a colleague and friend.” Added Gregg Jones: “In the 70 years since Joe started at The Greeneville Sun, the technology required to publish the newspaper has changed repeatedly and significantly. “During that evolution, a very gifted Joe Officer proved himself to be a master of adapting to every new bend in the road and excelling at whatever was needed. And, as Joe learned, he also cheerfully taught many others, like yours truly, how to become competent in the new skills of the day. “I join the staff of the Sun, past and present, in expressing deep respect and admiration for Joe, and gratitude for his friendship and the ability to work with him.” Angelique Dunn (adunn) Beth Elliott (belliott) Robyn Gentile (rgentile) Frank Gibson (fgibson) Earl Goodman (egoodman) Kathy Hensley (khensley) OFFICER, from Page 6 for him and with him anyway. He seemed not to mind too much. After all, it was his 70th year at the paper, and he was 85, even if he hardly looks 70. Memories & admiration “There is no way to adequately sum up what Joe Officer has meant to The Greeneville Sun and its people over the years,” Editor John M. Jones Jr. said this week. Whitney Page (wpage) Greg Sherrill (gsherrill) Kevin Slimp (kslimp) Kayretta Stokes (kstokes) Alisa Subhakul (asubhakul) David Wells (dwells) Tessa Wildsmith (twildsmith) Heather Wright (hwright) Advertising email: NEWS SENTINEL, from Page 3 “It will allow us to really tell the stories of what’s impacting America on a national scale,” said Lawlor. “Many of our digital investments … we’ll be able to scale those across almost 20 percent of the country. That creates a great business opportunity.” Boehne, a former business reporter for the Cincinnati Post, said the decision to exit newspapers was “enormously difficult” because of its deep history in the industry but he thinks it is a business that “deserves scale and needs size” in order to grow. Edward Scripps founded the company as Cleveland’s Penny Press in 1878. “We thought it was time to take the newspapers and put them into a dedicated company so they could grow and pursue their own strategy and take advantage of opportunities that they couldn’t do inside this company,” he said. The companies expect to gain about $35 million in “combined transaction synergies,” but Boehne said it will take months to determine how the deal will affect employees. For Scripps shareholders the deal will bring a one-time dividend of $60 million, or roughly $1 per share. It will be a tax-free transaction that makes shareholders of both companies owners of the surviving entity. Scripps shareholders will own 59 percent of the newspaper company following the transaction and 69 percent of the post-merger broadcast company. knoxads@tnpress.com Tennessee Press Service Mail: 435 Montbrook Lane, Knoxville, TN 37919 Phone: (865) 584-5761 Fax: (865) 558-8687 Web: www.tnadvertising.biz Tennessee Press Association Foundation Mail: 435 Montbrook Lane, Knoxville, TN 37919 National Newspaper Week (NNW) is set for Oct. 5-11 this year. NNW is an annual observance held in the first full week of October and is sponsored by the Newspaper Association Managers. This year’s theme is “Newspapers – The Foundation of Vibrant Communities.” Editorials, cartoons and more will be available on www.nationalnewspaperweek.com beginning Monday, Sept. 22. TPA will send notifications to members when the materials are available. This year marks the 74th annual NNW observance. Phone: (865) 584-5761 Fax: (865) 558-8687 Web: www.tpafoundation.org Page 10 • The Tennessee Press • September 2014 Many high school newspapers folding, but Memphis’ Teen Appeal going strong By TOM HRACH University of Memphis With high school newspapers around the country being eliminated due to school budget cutbacks, an innovative program in Memphis is thriving and continuing to show teenagers that newspaper journalism has a bright future. The 17th edition of The Teen Appeal launched this summer, offering 50 high school students in the Memphis area a chance to become journalists. “I would say this is a success because it not only introduces students to journalism, but it also introduces them to the paper and lets them get to know about the policies and procedures in the newspaper business,” said Jerome Wright, editorial page editor of The Commercial Appeal. “It also has improved their writing, and that helps them – even if they don’t go into journalism.” The Teen Appeal is published eight times during the school year and distributed to about 30 high schools in the Shelby County School District. It has a circulation of about 15,000, and students also show their work on the website teenappeal. com, said Elle Perry, Teen Appeal coordinator. Some of the content is hard-hitting, such as an award winning story about a student protest at Carver High School and another about bullets found in a school bus. Other stories are softer, such as features about applying for college or how to accessorize a school uniform. The program begins in the summer with a week-long camp, which this year was July 21-25, at the University of Memphis journalism department. The week concludes with a tour of The Commercial Appeal where the students get to see reporters, editors and photographers in action. “I was always interested in writing, and at first I wanted to major in English in college. But now I think I am going into mass communication or journalism,” said Kayla Lee, 17, a senior at Memphis’ Hillcrest High School and current Teen Appeal staff member. “I’ve always wanted to work at a magazine.” Lee said she plans to apply to Middle Tennessee State University, the University of Memphis and Fisk University for college next year. She credited The Teen Appeal summer camp with helping to convince her to go into journalism. “I have become a much better writer after only a few days,” Lee said. “Journalism is a lot different than writing an English paper.” Photo by Tom Hrach • University of Memphis Students of the Teen Appeal gather for a group photograph in the front lawn of The Commercial Appeal. Photo by Tom Hrach • University of Memphis Photo by Tom Hrach • University of Memphis Erin Aulfinger of Central High School in Memphis works on an article for the next edition of the Teen Appeal newspaper while at the University of Memphis. Jerome Wright, editorial page editor at The Commercial Appeal, gives a tour of the Commercial Appeal newsroom to students of the Teen Appeal. Her classmate Latara Watkins, an 18-year-old senior at Hillcrest High, agreed after only three days at the summer camp that her writing has improved significantly. “I certainly learned how to make my writing more interesting,” Watkins said. “I know now not to use so many adjectives – but keep it short and sweet so everyone can understand it.” The Teen Appeal is thriving while other high school journalism programs are folding. For example, Detroit’s FreepHigh, which produced a high school newspaper for the past 29 years, was eliminated this summer due to the lack of money from the local newspaper. Yet in Memphis, The Commercial Appeal, the Scripps-Howard Foundation and the University of The Commercial Appeal and the U of M journalism department,” Sanford said. The Scripps foundation provides a $72,000 annual grant while The Commercial Appeal prints and distributes the paper. The Memphis journalism department provides space, equipment and covers other costs. Scripps announced in July it would spinoff its newspapers into a new company, but that change would have no immediate effect on The Teen Appeal at least for this year, said David Arant, chair of the Memphis journalism department. “One of the benefits has been that we’ve been able to introduce young people of color into journalism,” Sanford said. “Look at the groups we’ve had. There is always lots of Memphis have committed to keeping The Teen Appeal a vibrant and strong program. In the 17 years of the program, it is estimated that more than 1,000 young people have been introduced to journalism, said Otis Sanford, former editor at The Commercial Appeal, who is now a journalism faculty member at the University of Memphis. Teen Appeal staff members are now working at daily newspapers and magazines around the country as writers and photographers. One former staff member is a successful playwright. Others have gone into public relations and other communication fields. “Our success speaks for itself. We’ve got a winning formula with the support from Scripps-Howard, diversity in the schools so that is reflected in our program.” Shelby County Schools, which now includes all of Memphis, is expected to have about 117,000 students this school year with the majority being minority students, mostly African American, and 80 percent eligible for a free or reduced lunch program. Last year, three Teen Appeal staff members were recognized with Tennessee High School Student Press Association awards. The program also offers two college scholarships every year to Teen Appeal staff members. Tom Hrach is an associate professor of journalism at The University of Memphis. September 2014 • The Tennessee Press • Page 11 Lawsuit probes secrecy in economic development project The city-owned utility of Chattanooga charged a University of Tennessee-Chattanooga student $1,767 to view its public records on advertising spending – an amount that the state’s Open Records Counsel said is not in line with the law. Despite counsel Elisha Hodge telling Electric Power Board of Chattanooga (EPB) that it could not charge labor fees to compile records for a citizen to inspect, the utility stood by its decision in a story in the Chattanooga Times Free Press and tried to justify its action by saying the student was working with a national think tank. If it can happen to a citizen, it can happen to your newspaper, too. Student Ethan Greene on March 24 requested to inspect EPB’s advertising records from January 2012 to March 2014 including contracts, advertising expenditure checks and copies of emails including terms such as “television ad.” Greene told Tennessee Coalition for Open Government that he got involved because he was concerned about the cost of his EPB service and the huge amount of advertising that it seemed the utility was bombarding its customers with. He said he was a marketing-political science major, wanted to act upon his studies and connected with the libertarian group Taxpayers Protection Alliance, which researches government waste while on campus. No matter the purpose of a citizen’s request, the Tennessee Public Records Act clearly states that a “records custodian may not … assess a charge to view a public record unless otherwise required by law.” MEMBER NEWS, from Page 4 With a livelier, more visual presentation, photos, videos and slideshows are highlighted, and the various elements of stories – text, pictures, videos, maps and graphics – are integrated for easy reading. The paper’s special franchise content will be readily available, too. Previously, Vols and “things to do” coverage were on separate GoVolsExtra.com and Knoxville. com websites. Now that content is built right into Knoxnews.com. As in the past, some of the content on the new site will be available to all visitors, while subscribers will have access to the entire site and be able to comment on stories as well. Knoxville News Sentinel July 20, 2014 Tomahawk blue boxes popping up everywhere Many local Tomahawk subscribers will soon be receiving TN COALITION FOR OPEN GOVERNMENT DEBORAH FISHER But EPB didn’t see it that way, and in a May 2 letter, told Greene that they would not pull the records and make them available for him to inspect until he wrote a check for $1,767 to cover their labor hours for compiling the records. Greene went down to the utility office and wrote a check, which was cashed by EPB on May 16. The utility said it would take 10 days to compile the records after receiving Greene’s money. But after more than 10 days had come and gone, and he couldn’t get EPB to give a new estimate on when he might get the records, Greene contacted the state’s Office of Open Records Counsel. He wasn’t calling about the fee, but when Hodge heard his story, she told him he could not be charged to look at the records – the law only provides for reimbursement of labor charges for compilation if a citizen wants copies of records. She also reached out to the attorneys at EPB and explained the law to them. “The attorneys for EPB disagree with my analysis and feel that they have the legal right to assess you for the request to inspect,” she told Greene in an email. Hodge also talked with EPB about responding to the request to inspect, their Tomahawk newspapers on Wednesdays. According to Publisher Bill Thomas, The Tomahawk launched its new hand delivery service this month. Johnson County subscribers have always received their papers in the mail on Thursday each week, but soon blue newspaper boxes will be popping up in the more densely populated areas of the county. Carriers will be delivering the weekly publication to homes on Wednesdays immediately following printing. “We have had this in the planning stages for some time now, and we are very excited that it’s about to become a reality for our subscribers,” said Thomas of the improved service. “Our goal is to get local news in the hands of our readers, and especially readers who subscribe to The Tomahawk, as quickly as possible.” The earlier delivery service was scheduled to be in effect by mid-August. Greene prompting an EPB lawyer to contact Greene on June 3 telling him it was taking much longer than they thought to compile and they needed until June 19 to have everything ready. EPB finally on June 19, nearly three months after his request, told Greene the records were ready for him to inspect. By then, Greene had contacted lawyer John Anderson of Grant Konvalinka & Harrison, who had written a letter to EPB on his behalf protesting the charges. The utility’s legal department responded by mid-July that they agreed with the position that Greene was entitled to view the records and EPB was not entitled to charge him for compiling the records. However, EPB continued to assert it could charge the cost of redaction, and a new accounting would be forthcoming. Greene said in early August that he still has not received a new accounting, he can’t afford to continue The Tomahawk (Mountain City) July 30, 2014 Tennessean newspaper to make cuts, reshuffle staff The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville announced it will make cuts and reshuffle its newsroom. The move comes as parent company Gannett divides its print and broadcast divisions into separate companies. Executive Editor Stefanie Murray told WPLN-FM that The Tennessean hit a “turning point” after years of incremental cuts. Almost everyone will have to reapply for new jobs. There will be fewer managers, more reporters and columnists and a larger investigative team. But ultimately, the newsroom will shrink by 15 percent. The Tennessean (Nashville) Aug. 6, 2014 to pay a lawyer, and he doesn’t expect EPB to refund the $1,767, so he wants to go ahead and pay any additional amount to get a copy of the documents, which had been scanned by the utility as PDFs The taxpayer group reimbursed him for the $1,767 and he begins his junior year this fall at UT-Chattanooga. For those who care about citizen access to government records, the fee issue is a huge one. The runaround Greene received, despite help from the Office of Open Records Counsel and a private law firm, shows the depth of resources and determination possessed by a government-owned entity like EPB to keep the public from looking under its hood. Someone asked me once what’s the hardest record to get from government. My answer: The record they don’t want you to have. And simply put, there is no quicker way to block a citizen’s access to government records than to charge fees. Deborah Fisher is executive director of TCOG. You can read her blog and become a supporting member on TCOG’s website, www.tcog.info. 2014-2015 TPA committee chairs Advertising Committee Leslie Kahana, Chattanooga Times Free Press Audit Committee John Finney, Buffalo River Review, Linden Circulation Committee Frank Maier, Chattanooga Times Free Press Contests Committee Terri Likens, Roane County News, Kingston Government Affairs Committee Co-Chairs: Jack McElroy,Knoxville News-Sentinel and Eric Barnes, The Daily News, Memphis Journalism, Education and Literacy Committee Janet Rail, Independent Appeal Membership Committee Daniel Richardson, Magic Valley Publishing Nominating Committee Lynn Richardson, Elizabethton Star Press Institute 2015 (Winter Convention) Committee Joel Washburn, The McKenzie Banner Page 12 • The Tennessee Press • September 2014 Keeping my promise to pen a question/answer column So much to write about, so little space. That’s my dilemma this morning. I’ve had people writing and calling, wanting my thoughts concerning some quotes from well-known industry “experts” about changes at Gannett and Scripps. Readers have been asking what I think about The Times-Picayune adding two print delivery days – that’s back up to five days a week delivery – plus returning to a full broadsheet page. Our industry must be in a freefall. Or is it? Not so fast. Our papers in Tennessee seem to be doing just fine. And, from what I see in the reports, sales at TPS are way up. My dilemma doesn’t revolve around those things, however. I promised to pen a question/answer column this month, and I keep my promises. I might have to write a second column later, but for now here are a few questions I’ve received over the past few weeks from readers. Q: From Heidi, in Iowa: Our publisher suggested I email you with an InDesign question that we have. Occasionally, we will receive pre-built ads in pdf format that were built in InDesign. When we pull the PDF onto our pages in InDesign and the PDF the page to send to press, sometimes a white box will appear on the ad or part of the art will be whited out. Do you know what could be causing this? A: I still get asked about these white lines all the time, Heidi. Karen wrote a couple of days after you, putting it like this: “What causes the white lines in a PDF? This inquiring mind wants to know. I got one from a client this morning and it was loaded with them.” These white lines come during the creation side of the PDF process. THE NEWS GURU KEVIN SLIMP So, there’s not a lot you can do to keep it from happening, other than hoping your advertiser stops sending you PDF files with white lines. I have a couple of pieces of good news for you, though. First, these lines are due to issues with transparency. Those issues have decreased over time and are much less common than they were a few years ago. As your advertisers upgrade their software, this will happen less often. Second, these lines don’t print most of the time. They are “visual elements” that don’t exist when printed. Should it still concern you that you have lines on your page, there are a few fixes on your end. One of the easiest is to turn off the “Smooth Line Art” option in Acrobat. A second fix is to open the PDF file in Photoshop at a high resolution (600 or higher) and save the file from there. Q: From Jim, in Chicago: I’ve been very happy with our NewEdit/Quark newsroom pagination set up. However, in the process of purchasing new hardware and software I learned that Baseview had priced themselves out of our market. So we are now about to use In Copy/In Design. (We’ve purchased and installed the new Macs, and shortly will begin to switch over). Any suggestions, comments and advice you can offer in this process would be greatly appreciated. C M Y K Those pesky white lines continue to pop up in PDF files from time to time. Fortunately, there are ways to work around them. A: First, let me congratulate you on making the move to new hardware and software. You should see a tremendous increase in productivity, after a few days of growing pains while you learn the new software. The best advice I can give to you is to have an expert trainer come in to work with your staff for two days. Learning InDesign and InCopy is simple, with good training. Without it, I’ve seen staffs work at a snail’s pace for months and years, never really getting a grasp on how to use the software efficiently. Good trainers pay for themselves in no time. Q: From Carrie in North Carolina: My publisher asked me to ask you if there is any open source software, in place of Adobe and Quark products, available that would work to produce our publications. So I’m asking. Is there? A: No, Carrie. There isn’t. Sure, you could use Gimp to replace Photoshop, but anything beyond that would require a significant investment in time. There are many good open source apps out there, including OpenOffice, Inkscape and Gimp. But there is a reason Adobe and Quark products aren’t cheap. If you want to create a quality publication, investing in quality hardware and software is a necessity. Kevin Slimp is Technology Director for the Tennessee Press Service. Firefox and GIMP are two examples of worthwhile open source applications. While you might find some open source apps to enhance your workflow, you’d be ill advised to count on them for your most important design work. C M Y K