The Indiana Publisher

I had an interesting conver- sation with an artist over the weekend. He constructed mul- timedia portraits of antiquated jobs—there was a newspaper boy on his wall. "Yeah, they'd put anything in there to sell papers back then," he said. "Some people don't think it's much different now," another patron chimed in. The artist certainly didn't know that I was the newly installed executive director of the association representing Indiana's newspapers, but he got me thinking. We spend a lot of time talking about the lofty duty assigned to the fourth estate by the Founding Father's at the inception of our government. But there's a long tradition that fills the years between the 18th century and today. Yes, some of that is muck- raking, yellow journalism that in light of our current media crisis seems like a blemish on our profession. But every part of our history serves a purpose to inform our path forward. The age of headlines shout- ing about corn-men on Mars does more than just make us chuckle—it shows us two important things about journal- ism that are particularly rel- evant today. First, there have always been many kinds of media and there always will be. True newspapers have always found a way to be her- alds of truth and democracy over and above the fray of tabloids and rags. And with reporting from our local jour- nalists like the Indianapolis Star reporters who were final- ists for a Pulitzer for their work on Indiana's red flag laws, we will continue to distinguish ourselves even as the media landscape morphs into choose- your-own-adventure reading. Second, the more sordid elements in the history of journalism remain significant because they show us that this profession has the ability to pivot when we need to. We will always find new ways to make it work, because above all else newspapers must exist to protect our democracy, educate our citizenry and bear witness to history. At the beginning of my tenure as the executive direc- tor of the Hoosier State Press Association, I am asking myself how do we pivot? The Capitol Dispatch Amelia McClure We will always find new ways to make it work, because above all else newspapers must exist to protect our democracy, educate our citizenry, and bear witness to history. New executive director set to shepherd HSPA into future Publisher The Indiana Volume 87, Issue 5 • May 2022 Published monthly IndyStar named Pulitzer Prize finalist for series investigating red flag laws See McClure, page 8 Jake Allen Indianapolis Star IndyStar's investigation into Indiana's red flag law, which identified instances of failure by police and pros- ecutors to enforce and understand the law, is a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting. IndyStar reporters Tony Cook and Johnny Magdaleno and multimedia journalist Michelle Pemberton worked together on the package of stories. The Pulitzer finalist-winning work created after the deadly FedEx shoot- ing also included reporting and writing from IndyStar editor Tim Evans, report- ers Alexandria Burris and Amelia Pak- Harvey and former reporter Elizabeth DePompei. "It was a huge team effort," Cook said of the investigation. "Even though we had three people's names on the entry, others across the newsroom con- tributed to the stories we submitted. There were probably 10-15 journalists Thomas and Brenda Limbach hold a photo of their late daughter, Jill Phipps.. The photograph of Phipps was taken on her wedding day. According to police, Phipps was shot and killed by her husband. Photo by Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar See Pulitzer, page 7

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