The Indiana Publisher

Page 6 May 2018 The following questions were submitted by the Spencer Evening World, Hendricks County Flyer (Avon), Brown County Democrat (Nashville), The Corydon Democrat: Since the county attorney is a contracted position, I assume it would stand that discussion of the resignation of the county attorney, and consideration of that position and candidates for the position should be discussed in an open session, not in execu- tive session? If the county attorney is a contracted vendor of services, not an employ- ee, then the county commission- ers or county council could not use the provisions in the Open Door Law to discuss job perfor- mance or receive information about alleged misconduct in an executive session. So, you are correct. I'm reaching out to you about an ad some- one wants to place in our paper. The person running the ad is not running for office herself, but the ad lists the can- didates she supports. In doing so, she specifically called out one candidate that she does not support. Can we run this ad, and if so, are there any dis- claimers we should include? The ad is a political ad because it advocates the election or defeat of a candidate. You are correct in adding the language that states who paid for it and that it isn't approved by any candidate or candidate's committee. As to the negative content about the one candidate, unless the newspaper knows any of the allegations are incorrect, you're fine with running the ad. (For example, if the newsroom says there have been no violations of the Open Door Law by the candi- date, then you should remove that allegation.) Brown County stu- dents are participating in a student-led pro- test on the anniversary of the Columbine shootings. Because of "threats" the superintendent said she has received from the public (directed at her, not the students), she decided to hold the protest in the school gym. She has now notified us that she is not allowing any media inside the school buildings. Can she do this in a public school? While a school building may be a publicly owned building, that doesn't make it a "public forum" under First Amendment cases. The school district can control who comes and goes within its buildings – you won't find members of the public roaming the halls or hanging out in the gym. She can prevent you from coming inside, but I would press her for a reason why since this is a newsworthy event – students caring enough about an issue to organize a protest that the school district is apparently recognizing. Her wanting to quarantine the event could become part of the story. Threats on the superinten- dent obviously is also a story. If she doesn't budge – you might reach out to the student newspaper staff to provide you with a story/photos/video. Or find some students to facetime the event with the newspaper. A member of one of our fire district boards invited me to attend a meeting she scheduled that will include the rest of her board. She also invited other fire dis- trict board members and town- ship trustees from throughout the county as well as the three county commissioners. As part of the meeting (designed to help fire district boards become better educated about what's required of them, this woman said), she has a conference call scheduled with the state board of accounts. She called me back later and said the state board of accounts won't do the call if the media is present. Would you consider this gathering to be an "orientation" and, therefore, not required to be a public meeting? I've had a couple of calls with the state Board of Accounts and my under- standing is there will be a public meeting, but the state Board of Accounts training session will be done beforehand. It will not be an executive session, but it can be closed to the public because it's an orientation session, which is an exception to the definition of meeting under the Open Door Law. Since it's not a meeting, there will be no notice needed for the training session. I was also led to believe that they might still invite you to sit in on the training session and that would not be a problem for the SBOA. Send your questions to Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, skey@hspa. com. HSPA Legal Hotline A Discussion of county attorney's resignation covered by Open Door Board of Accounts training session can be closed to public, press Q Q A OK to run political ad from customer supporting, criticizing candidates Q A Superintendent can restrict access of media to event at public school Q A Press Operation Seeking a Press Manager to organize, control and monitor the flow of publishing 8 daily newspapers and TMC products. The Press Manager sets schedules, meets quality expectations, oversees the work of press staff, and ensures deadlines are met. Goss Urbanite Press experience is essential and maintenance background required. Send resume to lkelsay@chronicle-tribune.com or mail to Chronicle-Tribune, 610 S Adams Street, Marion, IN 46953 News Editor Can you handle the Truth? The Elkhart Truth, established in 1889, is seeking a news editor for a busy newspaper office. The Truth is a seven-day daily with a strong digital media presence. The candidate for this position will be an experienced journalist, a careful and thorough editor, with the ability to find news stories and mentor young writers and photographers. Must be able to multi-task, meet deadlines, super- vise staff and execute policy and strategy. Evening and weekend hours required. Send resume and writing /edit- ing samples to Lois Tomaszewski, Managing Editor, ltomaszewski@ elkharttruth.com or mail to: Lois Tomaszewski Managing Editor Elkhart Truth 574-296-5939 While hspa.com is undergoing maintenance, direct questions about posting jobs to sgoldsby@ hspa.com. Employee Sought

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