Members jump on board - Hoosier State Press Association

The
Indiana
Publisher
Published alternate Thursdays
Volume 76, Issue 9 • April 28, 2011
Foundation
supports
civic health appraisal
National data shows only one in
three Americans can name all three
branches of government.
A project to assess
Indiana’s civic know­
ledge and engagement
is underway with support from former U.S.
Representative Lee
Hamilton, the Indiana
Supreme Court and
Lee Hamilton
HSPA Foundation.
The Indiana Civic Health Index
focuses on the importance of an informed and engaged citizenry.
It will assess who participates in
community activities such as voting
and volunteerism, what resources
promote civic engagement, what
obstacles prevent citizens from getting involved in community decisionmaking, and knowledge of the First
Amendment.
Civic engagement and newspapers
are closely tied together, said John
Rumbach, editor of The Herald (Jasper)
and member of the HSPA Foundation
board of directors.
“A citizenry that cares less and less
about its government imperils freedoms, especially speech and press,”
Rumbach said. “And I have no doubt
that declining newspaper readership is,
in part, attributable to declining interest in civics and politics.”
See Civic, Page 4
Retiring leader
has long history
with newspaper
By Tim Harmon
South Bend Tribune
David C. Ray and the South Bend
Tribune go a long way back.
Back 11 years, when
he became editor and
publisher.
Back 21 years, when
he joined the staff
after a 22-year career
in the Navy. Back to
high school, when he
David C. Ray
worked summers as a
copy boy and in the ad department.
Back to childhood, when his mother
would take him to visit The Tribune,
where his grandfather, Charles Crockett, was business manager for about
half a century and his grandfather’s
cousin was longtime Publisher Frederick Miller. And even farther back than
that: Ray’s great-grandfather, Elmer
Crockett, was one of the two founders of
the newspaper.
Ray’s great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Miller, is said to have set the first
See Leader, Page 4
HSPA LEADERSHIP
The HSPA board of directors met for its regular spring meeting April 15
in Indianapolis. The group installed new officers, including board Pres-
ident Tim Timmons, right. Former president Don Hurd, second from
left, bid farewell to the board and has taken a job outside newspapers.
Members jump on board
The HSPA board of directors
welcomed two new members and
appointed officers for the coming
year at its April meeting.
Bill Masterson Jr., publisher of
The Times of Northwest Indiana
(Munster), joined the board to
represent daily papers. Shannon
Williams, president and general
manager of the Indianapolis Recorder, will represent nondailies.
Williams is dedicated to journalism to ensure that the voiceless have a voice, and HSPA
contributes to that mission, she
said.
Williams started in marketing
Bill Masterson Jr.
Shannon Williams
and circulation at the Recorder
and went on to be editor and vice
president of editorial and production before her current role.
Masterson has been involved in
the newspaper business most of
his life and is a former president
of the South Dakota Newspaper
Association.
“By getting involved with the
board I hope to make a positive
contribution in helping identify
revenue opportunities that all
HSPA-member newspapers can
benefit from,” he said.
New officers installed during
the meeting are President Tim
Timmons, The Paper of Montgomery County (Crawfordsville)
and The Times (Noblesville); Vice
President Greg Morris, IBJ Corp.,
Secretary Robyn McCloskey,
See Board, Page 4
Ernie Pyle organization offers tours
Schools and groups can schedule tours of the Ernie Pyle Historic Site in Dana.
The site features the house
in which the World War II correspondent lived and a museum
dedicated to preserving his legacy.
The nonprofit Friends of Ernie
Pyle is operating the site under
special arrangement with the
Indiana Department of Natural
Resources.
Cynthia Myers, president of the
Friends of Ernie Pyle, said schools
and other groups can schedule
tours by calling (765) 665-3633
or (765) 665-3084 and leaving a
message.
Tours are available seven days
a week. Admission fees are:
• School-sponsored tour, $1 per
student
• Adult groups, $3 per person
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Friends of Ernie Pyle will conduct tours of the World War II correspondent’s childhood
home in Dana. The group will open the historic site on weekends beginning May 14.
• Child groups, $1.50 per child.
The Friends organization plans
to open the site to the public on
Saturdays and Sundays beginning May 14. Saturday hours will
be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday
hours will be 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. All
times are Eastern.
Admission will be $3.50 for
adults, $3 for adults 55 and older,
$2 for children 4 to 12 and free for
children 3 and younger.
Play with a purpose
Mark your calendar to support HSPA Foundation during the annual golf outing June 9.
Look for registration information soon.
April 28, 2011
Page 2
2011 Calendar
May 13
Deadline to register for Spot-on Video Editing workshop at Ball State University
May 16
Better Newspaper Contest (Editorial) digital website opens
May 19
Spot-on Video Editing workshop, Ball State University (Now accepting registration)
June 9 HSPA Foundation Golf Outing, Southern
Dunes Golf Course, Indianapolis
June 10
Deadline for entering advertising contest
June 16
Road Show for Reporters, Bloomington
June 23
Road Show for Reporters, Rochester
July 29
HSPA Foundation board of directors meeting,
Eugene S. Pulliam Interns Luncheon and
Better Newspaper Contest deadline
Sept. 30
Advertising Conference (with INAEA), Ball
State University
Fall
Circulation Conference (with ICEA) (Sept. 30 proposed)
Oct. 6-7
HSPA & HSPA Foundation joint board
meeting, Nashville, Ind.
Dec. 3
Newsroom Seminar, Franklin College
(tentative)
Dec. 9
HSPA board of directors meeting
HSPA Board of Directors
HSPA Officers
President: Tim Timmons, The Paper of Montgomery County
(Crawfordsville), The Times (Noblesville)
Vice President: Greg Morris, IBJ Corp.
Secretary: Robyn McCloskey, Pharos-Tribune (Logansport),
Kokomo Tribune
Treasurer: Jon O’Bannon, The Corydon Democrat
HSPA Board Members
Dailies
Jim Kroemer, Goshen News
Randy List, Rust Communications
Bill Masterson Jr., The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster)
Tina West, The Courier-Times (New Castle)
Nondailies
John Haley, Pulaski County Journal (Winamac)
Kathy Tretter, Dubois-Spencer County Publishing Co. Inc.
Shannon Williams, Indianapolis Recorder
HSPA Foundation Board of Directors
HSPA Foundation Officers
President: Mayer Maloney, Hoosier Times Inc.
Vice President: Henry Bird, The Herald Bulletin (Anderson)
Secretary: John Rumbach, The Herald (Jasper)
Treasurer: Jeff Rogers, Home News Enterprises
HSPA Foundation Board of Directors
Linda Chandler, Ripley Publishing
Curt Jacobs, The Madison Courier
Barbara King, North Vernon Plain Dealer & Sun
Pat Lanman, Vevay Newspapers Inc.
Kevin Lashbrook, Landmark Community Newspapers
HSPA staff
Steve Key, executive director and general counsel
skey@hspa.com • (317) 624-4427
Karen T. Braeckel, HSPA Foundation director
kbraeckel@hspa.com • (317) 624-4426
Colleagues recall editor fondly
By the News and Tribune
(Jeffersonville)
Marc Meyer, former editor
of The Evening News (Jeffersonville), died at age 83 on
Saturday, April 9, 2011.
Meyer, also a World War
II Navy veteran, joined The
Evening News in 1960 and
retired from the paper in
2002 after 42 years.
“Marc was a real institution,” said Tom Lindley,
former editor and publisher
of The Evening News, now
called the News and Tribune. “He was really respected in this community.”
Meyer had a reputation for
fairness in his reporting and
knew the community well,
Lindley said.
John Gilkey, communications director for the ClarkFloyd Counties Convention
and Tourism Bureau and
former editor at The Evening
Yvonne Yeadon, office manager
yyeadon@hspa.com • (317) 624-4433
Shawn Goldsby, ICAN and ICAN Plus coordinator
sgoldsby@hspa.com • (317) 803-4772
The Indiana Publisher is published bi-weekly by
Hoosier State Press Association,
41 E. Washington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN, 46204,
(317) 803-4772. ISSN 0019-6711 USPS 058-730.
Periodicals-class postage paid at Indianapolis, Ind.,
and at additional mailing office.
Postmaster: Send address changes to
41 E. Washington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN, 46204,
(317) 803-4772, Fax (317) 624-4428.
Website: www.hspa.com
Subscriptions $25 per year. Ad rates furnished upon request.
Clark Memorial Hospital,
the Family Health Center,
the Center for Lay Ministries and the Jeffersonville
Housing Authority were
among the organizations he
volunteered with, logging as
many as 33 hours per week,
according to a report in
The Evening News profiling
Meyer when he was awarded
the American Red Cross’
Bales Humanitarian Award
in 2007.
Meyer also received the
Ameritech’s Friend of the
RSVP Award, Life Span
Volunteer of the Year award,
Indiana State Fair Senior
Citizen of the Year award
and the Martin H. Miller
Volunteer of the Year award.
Meyer is survived by his
wife, Patricia Meyer, his
children, Catherine West
and Jeffrey Meyer, and one
grandchild, Patrick West.
Sales employee served as umpire
Michael L. Boots, a former employee of Crawfordsville publications The Paper
of Montgomery County and
the Journal Review, died
April 5, 2011, at his residence in South Sioux City,
Neb.
Boots, 55, formerly of
Waveland, had worked in
advertising and sales for
The Paper of Montgomery
County, the Journal Review
and The Dakota County
Star (South Sioux City,
Neb.).
He was an umpire for softball and baseball and served
as a referee for football and
basketball.
He attended Sunnybrook
Community Church and belonged to Waveland Masonic
Lodge No. 300 and Omadi
Masonic Lodge No. 5 in
South Sioux City, Neb.
He served in the U.S.
Navy Reserve.
Boots was a 1974 graduate of Southmont High
School. He attended Indiana State University and
received an associate degree
from Indiana Vocational
College.
He was born May 4, 1955,
in Crawfordsville, a son of
Lawrence and Stella (Bell)
Boots. He married Gina
Seybold on July 28, 1979,
at Browns Valley Christian
Church. She survives.
Survivors include two
daughters, Stacia Boots
of Fayetteville, N.C., and
Aubrie Boots of South Sioux
City, Neb; his mother,
Stella (Ron) Steele, of Indianapolis; and a brother,
Robert Boots, of Hartsburg,
Ill.
He was preceded in death
by his father, Lawrence
Boots, in 1981.
JEA honors Foundation award recipient
Victoria Ison, a senior
from Bloomington High
School
North, received
the national
Student
Journalist
of the Year
honor from
the Journal- Victoria Ison
ism Education Association.
Last month the Indiana
High School Press Association named Ison Indiana’s
top student journalist. All
state winners are considered
nationally.
Pamela Lego, MAP advertising director
plego@hspa.com • (812) 350-7711
Milissa Tuley, communications specialist
mtuley@hspa.com • (317) 624-4430
News, echoed that sentiment.
“He was one of those kind
of people that knew a great
deal of what was going on in
the community ... and really
cared about the community,”
Gilkey said. “He knew a
great deal about the community at a grassroots level.”
Meyer knew of the issues
and concerns of the area’s
residents and what they
really cared about, so he was
able to connect with them,
Gilkey said.
Resoundingly described as
personable, Meyer also was
the consummate humanitarian.
“He was very devoted to
the organizations that he
did volunteer work for,” said
Phyllis Wilkins, executive
director of the Clark County
Chapter of the American
Red Cross.
Ison also received a $1,500
HSPA Foundation scholarship to study journalism in
college.
Foundation director Karen
T. Braeckel served on the
selection committee for the
Indiana Student Journalist
of the Year award.
“The first portfolio I
read during the selection
process was Victoria’s,”
Braeckel said. “The rest
of the committee started
harassing me for taking so
long because I couldn’t put
it down.”
The first-place vote for In-
diana Journalist of the Year
was unanimous, she said.
“It’s no surprise she won
the national award too,”
Braeckel said. “We are
thrilled to give financial support to such an outstanding
student.”
Ison is a four-year veteran
of Bloomington High School
North’s newsmagazine,
Fused.
The JEA award comes
with a $5,000 scholarship.
She received a $500
award from the Indiana
High School Press Association.
Member notices
Employees sought
Advertising sales account representative –The Elkhart Truth
is looking for a highly motivated
and committed individual for the
position of advertising sales account representative. Must have
previous sales or media experience. Emphasis is on digital
sales first. Full benefits package
includes cell phone, digital tablet
and mileage reimbursement.
Send résumé with cover letter
and salary expectations to: The
Elkhart Truth, 421 S. Second
St., Elkhart, IN 46516, Attention:
Anna Silvers, Human Resources,
or asilvers@federatedmedia.com.
EOE (2)
Managing editor – Managing
editor sought who can do it all for
small but excellent daily in east
central Indiana. Must be able to
report, write, take photos and
paginate as well as edit and manage staff. Send résumé and clips
to ntcindypayne@comcast.net
or Cindy Payne, publisher, News
Gazette, 224 W. Franklin St.,
Winchester, IN 47394. (1)
Sports writers – The Hendricks
County Flyer in Avon is looking
to fill a sports editor position and
a part-time sports writer position.
Photography and page design
skills, ability to produce copy
under deadline pressure, strong
knowledge of AP style and ability
to enterprise is required. Send
cover letter, résumé and clips to
Hendricks County Flyer, Editor
Kathy Linton, 8109 Kingston St.,
Suite 500, Avon, IN 46123 or
kathy.linton@flyergroup.com.
(1)
Sales manager – The Logansport Pharos-Tribune, a
seven-day-a-week, 10,000-circulation newspaper, is seeking a
high-energy, experienced advertising professional who can lead
an advertising team with energy
and vision. Qualified candidate
will be responsible for all advertising revenue for The PharosTribune. The candidate must
have past sales experience; management experience in a sales
environment is preferred. Send
résumé to Beverly Joyce, c/o The
Kokomo Tribune, 300 N. Union
St., P.O. Box 9014, Kokomo, IN
46901 or beverly.joyce@
indianamediagroup.com. (1)
Send member notices to mtuley@
hspa.com. Postings will be listed
as space permits in print and in
full at www.hspa.com.
April 28, 2011
Page 3
Recorded history declines
The most prized possessions of any historical
society or museum are documents and photographs.
A researcher
can use newspaGuest
per articles, letVoice
ters, post cards,
photographs,
By Dan
journals, busiBlack
ness ledgers
and court records to create a
picture of what life was like
at a specific point in time.
I have been working with
historical societies for more
than 20 years. In that time
I have noticed that historical documentation is declining.
This started in the 1970s
and has continued each year
since then.
The Switzerland County
Historical Society, for example, has significantly more
documentation of the 1880s
and 1890s than the 1980s
and 1990s. Recorded history of 2000-2010 is almost
nonexistent.
To what do we owe this
loss of recorded history? The
answer is the thing that
was expected to save history
forever: the digital age.
Let’s take a look at what
is happening to recorded
history.
Newspapers are suffering
today because news is delivered via the Internet and
cell phones. This is great
for instant news, but it does
nothing to preserve news for
historical purposes.
A newspaper has births,
deaths, local news and event
coverage at a level you will
never find on the Internet.
If you are a regular reader
of the “Reflections of The
Past” section of the Vevay
newspapers, you know there
is more detailed information
about 150 years ago than 10
years ago. If you wanted to
know a list of Switzerland
County businesses from
1970, where would you find
this on the Internet?
Before the introduction of
email, cell phones, texting,
Facebook, MySpace and
Twitter, people wrote letters
to each other.
Email and texting are the
written letter of today.
Digital media provide
instant communication,
but they often are nearly
instantly gone. (The exception to that rule is when you
post or send something you
regret. Then it likely will
take on a life of its own.)
In the past many people
kept journals documenting
their days. These journals
provide tremendous insight
into what was going on during those periods in time.
Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are the journals of today.
Unfortunately they are
mostly available for viewing
only temporarily.
The digitizing of legal
documents has resulted in a
tremendous loss of recorded
history. The old ledgers,
bills and receipts contained
a wealth of handwritten information above and beyond
the basic data needed.
The digital age has given
us amazing opportunities to
document and capture our
world. The problem is it is
instantly captured but just
as instantly gone.
Our parents and grandparents passed their legacy
to us through letters, photographs, diaries and family
records. What will we pass
on to our children?
Dan Black is a member
of the Switzerland County
(Ind.) Historical Society.
The Republic names new editor
Mark Baldwin, a journalist who has held managerial positions
at newspapers in
Wisconsin,
New York,
and Kansas,
has been
appointed
editor of The Mark Baldwin
Republic (Columbus).
Baldwin, who most recently served as executive editor
of newspapers in Stevens
Point and Wausau, Wis., replaces Bob Gustin, who will
retire May 5.
Over the past 12 years,
Baldwin has been an executive in Gannett newspapers.
He served in a dual capacity
from 2008 to 2009, managing both newsrooms at
Stevens Point and Wausau
in addition to assuming the
role of general manager at
the Stevens Point publication.
Before his appointment as
executive editor and regional
executive editor at Wausau
in 2000, Baldwin had been a
managing editor at the Star
Gazette in Elmira, N.Y.; a
staff editor at the Chicago
Sun Times; a night metro
editor at the Wichita (Kansas) Eagle; a copy editor at
the Milwaukee Sentinel; and
a news editor at the Clearwater (Florida) Sun.
He holds bachelor’s and
master’s degrees in jour-
nalism from Northwestern
University.
Departing editor Gustin
joined The Republic as managing editor in 1999. He was
named editor three years ago.
He graduated from University of Colorado’s School
of Journalism and has
worked as a reporter and
photographer and in management at the Colorado
Springs Sun, the Star-Herald in Scottsbluff, Neb., the
Evansville Courier and the
Evansville Press.
Gustin began working at
his hometown newspaper,
the Colorado Springs Free
Press, in 1969, the summer
he graduated from high
school.
Mobile ads: Get on board
ADAPT
Tips and info for
today’s advertising
Good idea!
► One particular area of interest for local
advertisers is mobile couponing, and for good
reason. Borrell Associates found that mobile
coupons offer a greater return on investment
for advertisers with redemption rates up to 10
times that of coupons distributed in print.
Mobile has grown faster than any other new
medium over the past century. Currently, 31 percent of the U.S. population has smartphones,
and that number is increasing. Here are some
predictions that speak to the enormous growth
of this medium:
► Morgan Stanley analysts predict that the
number of mobile Internet users around the
world will surpass desktop Internet users by
2013. By the end of 2020, they believe that 10
billion mobile Internet devices will be in use, up
from 2 billion today.
► The Pew Research Center reports that
nearly half of all American adults (47 percent)
say they receive at least some of their local
news on their phone or digital tablet.
► Gordon Borrell says that local mobile
advertising in the United States will grow from
$285 million in 2009 to more than $4.7 billion by
2014.
ADAPT is designed to keep members updated on what’s happening in the advertising industry and HSPA’s advertising services.
Please pass on information that would benefit advertising staffs by emailing advertising director Pamela Lego at plego@hspa.com.
News in brief
Attend video editing seminar
Hoosier journalists
can learn the basics of
putting
video on
the web
during a
seminar
at Ball
State
UniverJohn Strauss
sity.
Digital news specialist
John Strauss will lead
Spot-on Video Editing
on May 19. The seminar
will cover how to produce
multimedia packages
that complement newspapers’ print product –
with little money, training or time invested.
In the hands-on course,
journalists will learn to
log in video files, handle
edits and audio transi-
tions and upload files
to the Web. It also will
touch on the basics of
gathering photos and
sound.
The seminar costs
$45 and includes lunch.
Registration information
has been sent to member
newsrooms. To download
a registration form, go
to hspafoundation.org/
events and click the
appropriate link under
“Spot-on Video Editing.”
Strauss plans to cover
video-editing software
programs that come
standard on most computers – Final Cut Express for Mac users and
Windows Moviemaker
for PC users – but will be
flexible depending on the
needs of the class.
Media company launches site
Fort Wayne Newspapers’ new web venture is
Moms.FortWayne.com, a
place for women to connect, communicate, learn
and support one another.
Users can participate
in group discussions,
read local parenting
blogs, take part in polls,
shop and advertise inhome businesses.
“We know that building strong online communities and conversations
and turning regular
people into sources of
information is a very big
part of our future,” said
Michael Christman, chief
executive officer of Fort
Wayne Newspapers. “All
of these elements and
much more are included
on the new Moms.Fort
Wayne.com site.”
Interactive Media
Director Mary Lou Brink
will oversee the site’s
editorial content.
The site is designed
to be populated by area
mothers. Women can
generate discussions,
upload photos and share
ideas, Christman said.
“We are putting the
content in local moms’
hands, where it should
be,” he said.
Show off your best ads
Advertising departments may start submitting ads now for
the annual advertising
contest.
The HSPA Foundation
and Indiana Newspaper
Advertising Executives
Association mailed the
rules and direction brochures about two weeks
ago.
With the exception of
four mail-in categories,
the contest requires digital entries.
This eliminates printing out labels for most
categories, cuts post-
age costs and saves
staff time in submitting
entries.
All entries must be
uploaded on the contest
website by 5 p.m. Friday,
June 10. Mail-in entries
must be received in the
HSPA office at the same
time.
Go to betterbnc.com
and select the HSPA
Foundation/INAEA
Advertising Contest to
submit entries.
To download a rules
brochure or tally sheet,
go to hspafoundation.org
and click on “Contests.”
Ball State honors Jasper paper
The Herald (Jasper) received a special citation
for outstanding public
service from the Ball
State University Department of Journalism.
The citation was presented “for your long and
respected history as a
leader in public-service
journalism in Indiana” at
the department’s annual
awards program.
Ball State’s journalism
department has awarded
a special citation annually since 1968 to an
individual or organization. Past recipients have
included The Washington Post, Gov. Frank
O’Bannon and former
White House spokesman
Tony Snow.
Send promotions, announcements, staff changes
and other corporate news to mtuley@hspa.com.
April 28, 2011
Page 4
Readers turn to print product
While newspapers dutifully examine Internet and
mobile strategies to maintain their position as the
source of local news, I hope
we don’t neglect the original
product.
I wince when I hear a
legislator say his or her
local newspaper is “just a
shadow” of its old self or
other comments on how a
paper isn’t as good as it
used to be.
It hurts because I know
how hard Indiana editors
are working to produce
newspapers full of local
content every week of the
year.
Obviously, if they don’t
have the same number of
reporters they had five or
10 years ago, the job is more
difficult.
Advertising dollars shrank
during the recent economic
Key
Points
By Steve Key
downturn, which forced
many publishers to downsize staff.
As the economy turns
with the speed of a battleship in heavy seas, I hope
more journalist positions
will be added to state newsrooms.
Why? Because content,
quality and quantity, drive a
newspaper’s success.
To borrow a line from
“Field of Dreams,” “If you
build it, he will come.”
Hoosiers still value their
local newspapers and
remain willing to pay the
subscription cost to ensure
its delivery.
Based on data available
to HSPA on 159 Indiana
newspapers, circulation for
those papers stands at 1.3
million at the end of the
recession.
With the average newspaper read by two people,
that puts the printed newspaper’s reach at 2.6 million,
or 54 percent of all adult
Hoosiers.
We need to remind local
businesses that advertising
in newspapers is a winning
strategy – that their advertising is welcomed by readers and used to make buying
decisions.
That’s a powerful message that publishers need to
remember and advertising
directors need to share.
Stephen Key is executive
director and general counsel
for HSPA.
HSPA Hotline
These questions came from
The News-Banner (Bluffton),
The Courier-Times (New
Castle), the Palladium-Item
(Richmond), the Daily Reporter (Greenfield) and The
Mail-Journal (Milford).
Q
The school board
approved two construction projects.
When would the
records of the bids
on those projects become
available for inspection and
copying?
It depends on
which part of the
state’s purchasing
statutes was used
to solicit the bids. Some processes require the bids to be
opened at a public meeting,
which means the documents
should be available to the
public immediately.
Some processes allow bids
to be opened in a closed-door
meeting so the governing
body can negotiate a better
deal with the bidders before
making a selection.
In that case, the bid documents may be kept confidential until a decision is made
about who will be awarded
the contract.
A
Q
A
Some private
party citizens want
to run an ad about
a mayoral candidate. What should
the “paid for by” tagline say?
The tagline
saying who paid
for the ad must
include one of the
Leader
Continued from Page 1
line of type in the first edition of The Tribune in 1872.
Fast-forward more than
100 years.
At the end of this week,
a few days after his 65th
birthday, David Ray plans to
retire.
His ties to The Tribune
and its parent company,
Schurz Communications
following, which ever applies:
• Authorized by (candidate’s name).
• Authorized by the campaign committee of (candidate’s name).
• Not authorized by any
candidate or candidate’s
campaign committee.
Q
A reporter is having trouble getting
a copy of a plea
agreement filed by
a prosecutor with a
court. Shouldn’t the newspaper be able to get a copy of
the proposed plea deal?
Once the prosecutor files the
agreement with the
court, it should be
available for inspection and
copying, unless the court
ordered it sealed.
Even if that is the case,
the newspaper could request
the court release the document in a process outlined
under Administrative Rule
9 of the Indiana Supreme
Court.
lists what must be included
in the petition:
• The residence of
each party and length of
residence in the state and
county
• The date of the marriage
• The date when the parties separated
• The name, age and address of children younger
than 21 years old and any
incapacitated child of the
marriage and whether the
wife is pregnant
• The grounds for dissolution of the marriage
• The relief sought.
With the ceremonial passing of the gavel, Tim Timmons, right, assumes the position
of president of the HSPA board of directors. Don Hurd, left, is the past president.
Board
Continued from Page 1
Pharos-Tribune (Logansport)
and Kokomo Tribune; and
Treasurer Jon O’Bannon,
The Corydon Democrat.
Former board President
Don Hurd presided over his
final HSPA meeting. Hurd
accepted a position with a
media marketing operation.
He had been president and
group publisher of Kankakee
Valley Publishing since 2005
and a member of the HSPA
board since 2007.
The board’s biggest objective this year will be to ask
questions and listen, Timmons said.
Civic
Continued from Page 1
An individual
wants to publish
a divorce petition,
including a lot of
personal information. Should that be included
in the public notice?
Sometimes
divorce petitions
must be published
as an attempt to
serve notice on one of the
parties that the legal action
has been filed. IC 31-15-2-5
Contact Steve Key, HSPA
executive director and general counsel, with media law
questions at skey@hspa.com
or (317) 624-4427.
Many Americans don’t
understand their government, said Hamilton, who
is director of the Center on
Congress at Indiana University.
The index will help the
state focus on what must
be done to improve people’s
civic knowledge and skills,
he said.
“Our nation’s success
depends on citizens’ ability
and willingness to participate constructively in the
dialogue of democracy,”
Hamilton said.
The National Conference
on Citizenship will perform
the analysis, which will be
released in the fall.
The conference, founded in
1946 and chartered by Congress in 1953, tracks and
promotes civic and political
participation, encourages
community and national
service, and supports history and civics education.
The HSPA Foundation
encourages increased educa-
Inc., will remain strong.
(SCI is in the process of hiring a replacement for Ray.)
He will continue to serve
as a member of the SCI
board of directors, a position
he’s held since 1992.
Born in South Bend, Ray
went to Redford High School
in Detroit and graduated
from Harvard College.
He joined the Navy, where
he spent 15 years in its
nuclear program.
He joined The Tribune
when he retired from the
Navy in 1990.
His first role was a daunting one: project manager for
construction of a new mailroom building, a new press
building and the installation
of a new printing press.
In 1995, Ray was named a
vice president and, later that
year, general manager. His
next major task was huge
by a different measure: He
coordinated the newspaper’s
change to an all-morning
newspaper after 124 years
of predominantly afternoon
publication.
Ray became publisher in
2000. Under his leadership,
the newspaper underwent
several changes in zoning
and configuration. It added
niche products and saw
enormous growth in its Internet audience. The paper
was named Blue Ribbon
Daily by the Hoosier State
Press Association in 2006.
Ray has seen his newspa-
A
Q
A
Q
A town council
plans to hold an
executive session
during the middle
of its next regular
meeting. Is that allowed under the Open Door Law?
No. Going into a
closed-door session
during the middle
of a public meeting
is prohibited, unless a situation is specifically permitted
by law. See IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(e).
This prevents a governing body from going behind
closed doors until the public
gives up and goes home and
then coming back into a
public meeting to vote on a
controversial proposal.
The restriction protects
the public’s right to know.
A
“We’d like to hear from
newspapers about how
HSPA can help papers even
more,” he said. “How can we
add value to conferences and
other services and events?
Are there revenue ideas out
there we can pursue?”
The new board configuration comes as HSPA is experiencing a gradual rebound
in its advertising programs,
which struggled during the
economic downturn, said
Steve Key, HSPA executive
director and general counsel.
“I look forward to working
with the board to strengthen
HSPA’s value as a partner to
Indiana newspapers’ efforts
to successfully serve their
communities,” Key said.
tion on government and
the First Amendment in
Indiana schools, Foundation
director Karen T. Braeckel
said.
“Having data to back up
the plea for more civic education will help our cause of
fostering public understanding of individual rights,” she
said. “The Foundation’s support also ensures the survey
will include questions on the
First Amendment.”
Newspapers invest a large
portion of editorial budgets
in covering government
and politics, yet fewer and
fewer people are interested
in those stories, Rumbach
said.
“This index, and the
ensuing discussion of what
it means and what should
be done, is of keen interest
to newspapers throughout
the state and well worth our
support,” he said.
The Indiana Bar Foundation, the National Conference on Citizenship and
Indiana University Northwest are also partners in the
creation of the state index.
per ride ever-faster waves of
changing technology.
“I think that technology
changes have allowed us
to reduce our costs and to
do our work faster, and to
provide information in the
form of pictures and graphics that we never were able
to do before.
“But while technology is
completely changed, it doesn’t
change the fundamental job of
journalists – or of an advertising
department, for that matter.”