The Indiana Publisher

Robert Shegog, Boyd said. The first one in the early days of the pandemic in mid-March featured area officials. "People asked so many ques- tions. We could have went four hours and still not have gotten to everything," Boyd said. The Recorder partnered with New America, a public policy think tank, for a Tuesday town hall and has been hosting its own on Thursday and/or Saturday. Shegog and Boyd come up with the topics largely based on feedback from readers. "We're a 125-year-old institution that has trust in the community," Boyd said of the Recorder, one of the top African-American publications in the country. "We know things that are important to our community. They actually come to us and let us know," Boyd said. The town halls have focused on mental health, public resources, spiritual life and day-to-day living. A recent town hall, "Help, my hair is in quarantine" addressed the concerns of African American women who were unable to keep up with their hair care routines with businesses closed. "People were like, 'Oh my gosh, that's me,' '' Boyd said. "The response was immediate, immediate." Initiatives like town halls, in addition to the newspaper's coverage, show readers that an organization is willing to embrace technology to expand the outreach and conversa- tion, Boyd said. "This has been a way to hold people for an hour, an hour and a half. And people really watch from beginning to end and they engage. It's so amazing to see that happen," Boyd said. The Indianapolis Business Journal aggregated all of its coronavirus-relat- ed coverage to one place on its site. "We took the unprecedented step of putting that outside of our pay wall," said IBJ President and Publisher Greg Morris. "We felt we owed it to the community to have this available and free." This spring, IBJ launched a weekly podcast to help business professionals successfully navigate this unprec- edented stretch and get to the other side of the pandemic, Morris said. "I just couldn't be more proud of the teams that got together and put this together on very short notice," he said. "Something like this 'Beyond COVID' podcast came out of a brainstorming session. And I think within five to seven days, we had it up and running and sponsored." IBJ's brainstorming sessions include owners and managers, editorial staff and the advertising staff. "We want to try to monetize some of this stuff with advertising falling off temporarily during this time period," Morris said. Efforts like the podcast were designed to be temporary, useful and relevant as the state moves through the phases of reopening, Morris said. The limitations and challenges posed by the pandemic have required changes and experimentation by newspapers across the state. But the goal of service to the community remains the same. "We have to always be acces- sible. And that's one of the things I love about where we're at right now and how the creativity has made us be accessible to people always," Boyd said. Michael Johnson, regional editor at the Kankakee Valley News, sports a custom face mask featuring his paper, the Herald Journal (Monticello). His company made newspaper-centric masks for employees who requested them as a precaution during the coronavirus pandemic. Copy Editor An outstanding journalism tradition. An award-winning, experienced team. The opportunity to grow into a leadership role. The Commercial Review offers all of those qualities. We have a strong reputation as one of Indiana's best daily newspapers, having finished first or second for general excel- lence in the Hoosier State Press Association contest for seven con- secutive years. Now we're look- ing for someone to not only help continue that trend, but to become one of our leaders as managing editor down the road. If you join our team, you will get a well-rounded journalism experience, including covering local government and police as well as feature writing, photography, column writing, break- ing news and layout/design. We are looking for someone who has shown a passion for jour- nalism through their efforts with pro- fessional work, internships or their college newspaper. Recent college graduates are encouraged to apply. Send resume and three exam- ples of your work to editor Ray Cooney at r.cooney@thecr.com. Have a job listing you want to promote? Contact Shawn Goldsby, sgoldsby@hspa.com. View listings at https://www.hspa.com/jobs. Employee Sought May 2020 Page 13 IndyPro SPJ 'Best of Indiana' awards announced online The Indiana Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists announced its "Best of Indiana" awards online. The annual awards recognize journalistic achieve- ment in print, online, radio and TV journalism. Typically, the awards would be handed out at a spring ceremony but that was canceled this year due to concerns about the coronavi- rus. WNDU-TV reporter Tricia Sloma was named Journalist of the Year. And the staff of the Indiana Daily Student newspaper at Indiana Univer- sity was named Student Journalists of the Year. Marisa Kwiatkowski received honors for Story of the Year for her "Ashley Peterson Series" in the Indianapolis Star. Terra Brantley of WANE 15 Evening News received the Slaymaker Service to Journal- ism Award. Proceeds from the contest entries fund scholarships. Recipients this year were Alex Hardgrave, Indiana University; Noelle Friel, Indiana Univer- sity; Shannon McCloskey, Ball State University and; Taylor Woods, University of India- napolis. For a complete list of winners, visit https://bit. ly/3cWnal9. Forward Continued from Page 1

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