The Indiana Publisher

April 13, 2017 Page 3 See Fold, Page 4 The following questions were sub- mitted by the North Vernon Plain Dealer and North Vernon Sun, Greene County Daily World, The Paper of Montgomery County (Crawfordsville): The Jennings County attorney disagrees with your opinion that the county has to advertise for bids for a firm to serve as construction manager for a proposed new county jail. Garmong Construction Services is not a general contractor, but would be the project manager. So perhaps that is why she contends that the county doesn't have to advertise for bids for that service. Your thoughts? It's very possible that I've misunderstood the scope of services/work that will be secured by the county, but the legislature has set up processes for government units to buy products, build facilities or secure services. For example: I.C. 5-22-7 – competitive bidding I.C. 5-22-7.3 – negotiated bidding I.C. 5-22-9 - request for proposal I.C. 5-22-10 – special purchasing methods. If I'm off-base as to what contract they are attempting to enter, I can't answer the question as to which statu- tory process they should be following. Instead of me trying to argue for what might be an inappropriate choice, the county has the obligation of sharing the statute they are following. The county attorney should be able to give the newspaper the answer as to what process they are using to hire a project manager. You can then take a look at that statute and see what the requirements are under that pro- vision and whether it would appear to apply for the type of contract the county wants to enter. I'm not a construction expert, but I would think a project manager would serve as an owner's representative overseeing the general contractor hired to build a new county jail. So, the contract for the project manager would be a professional services con- tract with the county, similar to the law firm hired by the county to serve as its general attorney (assuming the attorney isn't a county employee). There would be a separate process involved in hiring an architect or gen- eral contractor to design and build the jail, but those contracts, I would think, still fall under a vote of the county commissioners, not the hired project manager. If the county doesn't know what statutory process it should use to hire this project manager, they prob- ably could get some direction from the state Board of Accounts, since it would be the entity that would audit the process for compliance with state law. I wanted to check in with you on the legality of a situ- ation. A member of the com- munity recorded his phone call with a board member of our local REMC to discuss his living arrangements. The community mem- ber then sent me the recording, which does not appear to give approval from the second party for the recording. From my personal research, it appears Indiana allows such record- ing, as long as at least one party gives consent including the caller. But, I want to verify this, because Google doesn't necessarily know all! You are correct. Indiana's wire-tapping law doesn't apply if one of the parties involved in the call has agreed to the recording. (Many states require both parties to agree, but not Indiana). Your internal debate will be more along the lines of the appropriate- ness of using the information. When you say living arrangements (are we getting into someone's residence for purposes of eligibility to hold office or are we talking about someone co- habitating with another person, which could open us some legal issues that you may not want to explore, even if true). Is it acceptable for police dispatch to omit any crimes or requests for assis- tance from the daily police blotter if they're potentially "damaging to an investigation?" Do they have to include pre-planned stops that are part of an investigation in the police blotter? I'm assuming the "blot- ter" is the police depart- ment's attempt to satisfy the requirements of public trans- parency under I.C. 5-14-3-5(c) of the Access to Public Records Act. If that's correct, the answer is: No, they can- not pick and choose what requests for assistance will be included or left off – even if they think making the report public will hamper the investigation. The code very specifically sets out what information must be included in the daily "log or report" if a crime has been reported. You may need to set up a meeting with the police chief to remind them of their statutory obligation. They are free to ask the newspaper to hold back on publishing certain aspects of the crime or delay the publication of the information, but whether you decide to comply or not with the request is your call – not the police. The fact that stops by an officer visiting witnesses, victims or potential suspects were removed from the daily log or report is not a problem because they aren't required under law and publication could hamper an investi- gation. A Q Q HSPA Legal Hotline best steakhouse in the US? They have a great list of paying restau- rants who made that list including St. Elmo's in Indianapolis, one of my favor- ites. Not surprising, the steakhouses are virtually all in markets served by Southwest. They obviously know their audience and have done a great job of selling that benefit to these businesses. The same is true for the best plastic surgeons, and lasik and cataract sur- geons in the US. (2) There is an obvious connection between the sales department and editorial. I'm not suggesting that the wall is down between the two, but common sense cooperation is a must for a successful magazine, and that is on display here. Editorial has devel- oped an editorial calendar, and the sales department is working with that information in advance. There are fea- tures on Greenville, South Carolina, Baltimore, Maryland and other places. Advertising has done a great job of adding to the content for the reader by providing appropriate advertising to enhance the feature story. (3) While not identified as such, the magazine definitely is using native advertising to drive content and rev- enue. Well done native content is hard to distinguish because it does all the things normal editorial content does. A feature story on how your dog can be featured in a picture at Chuy's Restaurant is a fun quick read, and yet a commercial at the same time. (4) The layout and content for the magazine is well done and FUN! The content has a positive attitude about it, and I appreciate it. Magazines can sometimes take themselves too serious- ly, and that is not the case here. Maybe that is a by-product of the airline itself, which tends to be a little anti-establish- ment. Either way, I like it and believe others can learn from them. Magazines need to learn from these types of examples. Serve your purpose and niche, but still make the reader smile with great content. That great content is both editorial and advertis- ing! Pete Van Baalen, general manager for Fort Wayne Newspapers, is a member of the HSPA board of directors and presi- dent of Indiana Newspaper Advertising Executives Association. Airlines Continued from Page 1 Q A A Email: info@newspaperconsultants.com | Phone: 910-323-0349 | www.newspaperconsultants.com TV Magazine Ad Sales For 20 years, ANC has worked with newspapers to generate millions in ad revenue. We offer a comprehensive TV magazine ad sales program that will turn your TV magazine into a true revenue center in 10 days or less. No one knows the TV Magazine marketplace like ANC. We are experts at iden fying the right adver sing prospects who target the reader demographic of this weekly insert with its long shelf-life. We will meet with you to create a program that encourages par cipa on of your sales staff and sets the stage for success. This sales event will lead to contracted, annual adver sing revenue! We are the industry's leading TV magazine ad sales consul ng company, genera ng millions in annual ad revenue for newspapers. ANC currently serves over 25 daily newspapers in Indiana and would love to partner with YOUR newspaper! Contact us at 910-323-0349 for more informa on on this money-making sales program!

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