Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/118241
The Indiana Publisher Published alternate Thursdays Volume 78, Issue 7 • March 28, 2013 Pulliam interns set for summer T 2013 INDIANA GENERAL ASSEMBLY Change could fix Ag Gag measure he HSPA Foundation assigned another 10 Eugene S. Pulliam interns to newspapers across Indiana for 10 weeks of work this summer. 19 people testify against legislation By Kyle Wood Hoosier State Press Association H SPA expects Confirmed SB 373 – the Ag Gag bill – to be amended March 28, hopefully to address First Amendment concerns. More than 50 people attended a hearing on the bill at the Statehouse March 21. More than two dozen private citizens and representatives of business asso ciations weighed in on the mea sure. Eight spoke in favor of it. The bill's author, State Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle), said the measure would protect the commercial and privacy interests of individuals and corporations engaged in agricul tural and industrial operations. According to Holdman, the bill would limit the ability of individuals to publish photo graphs or recordings with intent to defame or harm the business relationship between an agricul tural or industrial operation and its customers. The bill creates a civil infrac tion for the first offense, punish able by fine. A second offense would be a class B misdemeanor, carrying a punishment of up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Holdman said the mea sure does not violate First Amendment rights since any one charged with violating the would-be law could defend the charge by showing a good faith belief that the photograph or recording contained a violation of law. PHOTO SUPPLIED BY SARAH O. WILSON Sarah O. Wilson, owner and publisher of the Rochester Sentinel (left), and Randall Shields, vice president for HNE Printing in Columbus, visited the U.S. Capitol as part of a contingent of newspaper executives from around the country who lobbied for six-day mail delivery. Publishers go to Washington Indiana newspaper executives take turn as lobbyists in favor of 6-day mail delivery By Sarah O. Wilson and Randall Shields The Rochester Sentinel and HNE Printing W e believe in newspapers. At HSPA's invitation, we took our convictions to Washington, D.C., this month on behalf of the Fourth Estate in Indiana. We visited the nation's capital March 14 to lobby our state's congressional delegation as part of the We Believe in Newspapers Leadership Conference and Postal Summit sponsored by the National Newspaper Association. The association, noted for its focus on U.S. Postal Service issues, hosts an annual meeting in Washington. Normally about 35 publishers attend. This year more than 100 from 34 states showed up to oppose recent major postal decisions and proposals. These include the Feb. 6 announce ment that Saturday mail delivery would end Aug. 6 and the Postal Regulatory Commission's approval of a negotiated service agreement between private direct-mail company Valassis and the Postal Service. When Tonda Rush, CEO and general counsel for the National Newspaper Association, asked HSPA to send Hoosier publishers to the summit, Executive Director and General Counsel Steve Key thought of us because our papers started utilizing the Postal Service to deliver news to readers in recent years. (HSPA subsidized our attendance.) The Rochester Sentinel moved its Monday through Saturday subscriber delivery to all-mail in 2008. The Greenfield Reporter (an HNE paper), its weeklies and its shopper moved four years ago, although The Reporter's Saturday editions See Washington, Page 4 See Gag, Page 2 The selection com mittee of editors read applications from students at 15 Indiana colleges and universities. The 2013 Pulliam interns and their placements are: Inside For more information on the interns, read Karen T. Braeckel's Foundation Front column. Page 3 Nathan Brown of Noblesville: The senior at Indiana University will work as a sports reporter for The HeraldBulletin (Anderson). Dustyn Fatheree of Shelbyville, Ill.: The Indiana State University senior will intern at the Tribune-Star (Terre Haute). Matthew Glowicki of Brookfield, Ill.: The IU senior will work at the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. Shannon Hall of Crawfordsville: A senior at the University of Southern Indiana, she will work at the BannerGraphic (Greencastle). Jessie Hellmann of Kokomo: Also a senior at Southern Indiana, Hellmann will intern at the Kokomo Tribune. Daniel Morgan of Indianapolis: The IU junior will work at The Daily Reporter (Greenfield). Caitlin O'Hara of Zionsville: A senior at IU, she will work as a photography intern at the Daily Journal (Franklin). Matthew Stefanski of Valparaiso: The IU sophomore will intern at The News-Dispatch (Michigan City). Sarah Kathryn (Kate) Stoltzfus of Goshen: A senior at Goshen College, she will work at The NewsSun (Kendallville). James Vaughn of Indianapolis: A junior at the University of Southern Indiana, he will intern at The Shelbyville News. National survey: Community newspapers tops for news 71 percent read their local paper at least once a week A 2012 survey conducted in small U.S. towns and cities by the research arm of the University of Missouri School of Journalism for the National Newspaper Association found that 71 percent of respondents read a community newspaper at least once a week. National Newspaper Association President Merle Baranczyk, publisher of The Mountain Mail (Salida, Colo.), said the survey shows that without a doubt, people read their community newspapers. "The numbers are selfevident. They indicate the degree readers rely on and the connection people have with their community newspaper," Baranczyk said. The survey found: • 92 percent said their local newspaper was informative. • 83 percent agreed that they and their families relied on newspapers for local news and information. • 96 percent of readers paid for their newspaper. • 75 percent read all or most of their newspaper. • Every paper has 2.18 readers. • 77.4 percent read the paper for local news and information. • 84 percent of readers (and their families) look forward to reading newspapers. • 69 percent believe newspapers provide valuable shopping and advertising information. • 75 percent said local newspapers entertained them. • 49 percent of those with Internet access said they "never" read local news online. • 51 percent said they often read public notices. • 78 percent said gov ernments should be required to publish public notices in newspapers. • 85 percent said they never visited their local chamber of commerce website. • 71 percent believe the accuracy of their local paper is either "good" or "excellent." • 70 percent believe the coverage is either "good" or "excellent." • 59 percent believe the fairness of their local paper is either "good" or "excellent." • By a 3-1 margin, respondents prefer their newspaper compared to TV for local news. • 60 percent said they own a simple cell phone. • 24 percent said they own a smart phone. • 16 percent don't own a cell phone. The survey summary is available at www.nnaweb.org.