The Indiana Publisher

Publisher The Indiana Volume 88, Issue 11 • January 2023 Published monthly 46th annual Rendezvous to highlight state's oldest newspaper Journalists do their work as a public service to keep a community informed, to examine and shed light on important issues. Each year, HSPA provides an opportu- nity to recognize and celebrate that important work. Entries are being accepted for HSPA's 55th annual contest honoring the best work produced at newspapers across Indiana. In 2022, HSPA received more than 1,300 entries and presented nearly 300 awards. There are 23 categories covering writing, photography, design and multimedia. The last category, the Blue Ribbon Award, honors overall newspaper excellence. One daily and one nondaily are selected each year for HSPA's highest accolade. "Each year I start out thinking we don't have much to enter, but when looking back over a year's worth of work, I'm always amazed at all of the things we accomplished and the really good work my team has done," said Kathy Linton, editor of the Lebanon Reporter. "Our reporters and photogra- phers get excited when I pull out something they did, point out how good it is and suggest they enter it in the HSPA contest." The Reporter received top honors as the Nondaily Blue Ribbon Newspaper in 2022. "Winning the Blue Ribbon Newspaper Award was a big confidence booster for our staff," Linton said. Lawmakers have returned to the Capitol, lobbyists to the hallway, and journalists to committee hearings— it's that time of year again, legislative session. And with 2023, an odd year, comes the biennial budget session where lawmakers will spend the next four months determining how they want to fund the state. It's a rare session that doesn't see a myriad of bills that touch on the concerns and priorities of the Hoosier State Press Association — this year is no exception. On top of mind is HB1438, Publication of local government notices, authored by the chairman of House Government and Regulatory Reform, Rep. Doug Miller (R-Elkhart). Although similar in intent as Sen. Jim Buck's (R-Kokomo) bill from last session, HB1438 is significantly different in the infrastructure it creates for public notice within government websites. HSPA has been working with stakeholders to navigate the language and preserve public notice in newspapers as it remains imperative to good public policy that legal notices are published by a third party. The bill has yet to be scheduled for a hearing. HSPA was asked by bill author Rep. Ben Smaltz (R-Auburn) to testify in support of HB1167, Live streaming and archiving public Public notices top priority as 2023 session begins Capitol Dispatch Amelia McClure Jill Erwin Sun-Commercial (Vincennes) Organizers of the Spirit of Vincennes Rendezvous have announced the theme for the 46th annual event this May, which will shine a light on Indiana's oldest newspaper. A press release issued this week named "Elihu Stout and the First Newspaper of the Indiana Territory" as the 2023 theme for the popular Revolutionary War reenactment event. "When William Henry Harrison was first here in the Indiana Territory, he wanted a newspaper, so he brought Stout out of Kentucky and the first printing press of Indiana was here, which we thought was noteworthy," said Mark Hill, longtime marketing director of the event. "We have celebrated Harrison for it in the 55th annual HSPA contest open for entries, deadline April 27 See Session, page 2 See Vincennes, page 6 See Contest, page 2 • There are 23 categories in the annual contest covering writing, photography, design, multimedia and overall excellence. • Contest period covers April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. • Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday, April 27, 2023. Blue Ribbon Newspaper editors share insights on awards Legislative Update • Info https://www.hspa.com/

• Cover