The Indiana Publisher

newspaper. Of those, more than seven in 10 said they read notices. Of those who read public notices, seven in 10 read them sometimes, often or always. When asked what impact moving public notices from newspapers to the Internet would have, 62 percent reported they would read public notices less often or much less often. The survey, scheduled for completion by the fall, should counter state legislators' misconceptions about public notice advertising. HSPA believes the results will again show Hoosiers want public notices in news- papers, Key said. Page 8 June 12, 2014 Survey Continued from Page 1 F rustrated Indianapolis newspaper reporters and broadcasters met with city officials representing Mayor Greg Ballard's office, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the office of Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry. The subject: reduced infor- mation available on crime reports after IMPD imple- mented a new computer reporting process. The city offered the meeting to address media concerns. This isn't the first time changes in incident report- ing have impacted the pub- lic's ability to know what law enforcement is doing in Indiana. I'm sure it won't be the last because police depart- ments will always be looking at more efficient ways to deal with paperwork so officers can spend more time on the street. I'll give Indianapolis offi- cials credit for trying to address the issue and say- ing the right things. They expressed a desire to give the media as much information as possible. But the reason they were in this position appears to be because someone representing the public's interest wasn't at the table of stakeholders when the new computer sys- tem was selected. It's a lesson publishers and editors across the state can benefit from if they are pay- ing attention when local law enforcement agencies move to upgrade technology, whether dispatching or software for officers to use in patrol cars. Newspapers need to remind law enforcement officials that new equipment and software purchasing decisions should examine whether it impacts their ability to comply with obligations under the Access to Public Records Act to cre- ate daily reports on police activity. Editors and police beat reporters should have a copy of IC 5-14-3-5, which clearly spells out what information must be made available to the public when an arrest is made, when someone is jailed, and when calls for assistance are made to the police. Journalists should be prepared to correct the mis- conceptions police may have about their obligations. During the meeting, Indianapolis' corporate coun- sel initially said victims' names don't have to be report- ed. The attorney later cor- rected herself – because the law requires the name and age of victims to be part of the report to the public, with an exception for sex crimes. Many police officers believe the names of juvenile victims should be kept confidential. But the law doesn't differ- entiate between children and adult crime victims. The confusion probably exists because juvenile crime laws have a presumption that the alleged delinquents' names be confidential. News staff should note that the police can legally chose to identify juveniles accused of committing crimes, so don't be afraid to ask. The release of the infor- mation would fall under IC 31-39-4-8. It's at the chief's or sheriff's discretion instead of a required release. A miniscule description of what happened when police are called isn't sufficient under the law. The daily log or report of suspected crimes, accidents or complaints must include "the factual circumstances sur- rounding the incident." I tell police officers if their superior asked them what happened – their answer would be what the public should expect to see in the daily report. Granted, they would tell the superior the name of suspects, but they don't have to make that publicly known yet. That's understandable because police don't want suspects to flee before they develop a case to the point of asking a judge for arrest war- rants. The most common problem I see under the daily log/ report statute is skimpy nar- ratives provided to reporters. During the meeting, HSPA suggested what may be a simple way for IMPD to fix its problem with shrinking nar- ratives for the media. We'll see if it works out that way. HSPA also shared copies of the "Handbook on Indiana's Public Access Laws" to report- ers and news directors at the meeting. IC 5-14-3-5 is found on Page 42 of the handbook, so do your homework and read it. If your newsroom doesn't have the handbook, let HSPA know and we'll send you some copies. Steve Key is executive direc- tor and general counsel for HSPA. Key Points By Steve Key Know requirements of police daily log We'll make you stand out. Commercial Web & Sheetfed Printing Personalized Customer Service // Mailing & Fulfillment Resources Quick Turnaround // Two Central Indiana Production Facilities 3330 W. International Ct, Columbus // 812.342.1056 22 W. New Road, Greenfield // 317.462.5528 bstone@hneprinting.com Eye-catching printed materials keep your customers focused on you. O n e f a m i l y - 1 4 0 y e a r s Full Service Printing, Bindery & Mailing HNEPrinting.com Political advertising resources Increase sales to political advertising clients with HSPA's free customizable brochure, handout, PowerPoint document and more. Download materials at hspa.com/2014political W omen are much more likely than men to read news stories found within social media on their smartphones, according to the latest mobile media survey from the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. About three-quarters of the women who owned smartphones said they had interacted with social media, and 65 percent said they had read news stories found within social media in the week prior to participating in the survey. By comparison, about two- thirds of men said they used their smartphones to interact with social media, and 54 percent said they had read news stories found within social media. While men were somewhat more likely than women to consume content pro- vided directly by news organizations and to search the web for news on their smartphones, women and men tended to spend about the same amount of time using their smartphones for these activities. About 60 percent of men and women overall said they spent more than 20 minutes on a typical day with news organization content and nearly as much time searching the web for news on their smartphones. Around one-third of men and women overall spent more than 20 minutes on a typical day reading news found on social media. Among the survey's other findings: • More than half of smartphone owners age 18 to 54 said they spent the majority of their usage time on activities that required Internet access. About a quarter of owners 55 or older said they spent the majority of their usage time on Internet activities. • Owners 18 to 34 were found to be the most likely to search the Web for news on their smartphones. They also tended to spend more time with this activity than older owners. Nearly 1,200 randomly selected U.S. adults participated in RJI's third annual Mobile Media News Consumption survey between Jan. 1 and March 31. For more information and infographics on this study, visit rjionline.org/research. By Roger Fidler Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute Women on smartphones more likely to read social media news links

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