The Indiana Publisher

Publisher The Indiana Volume 80, Issue • February 12, 2015 Published on second Thursday monthly Free ads tout pro-newspaper poll results See Sunshine, Page 4 Foundation Front: High school student publications count as fine arts credit for Core 40 diplomas. Page 3 Report publication: Remind local officials when their annual reports must be published by law. Page 2 Native advertising: A journalist gives her take on how brand content can work. Page 7 Key Points: Websites can't keep the public informed like print does. Page 8 INSIDE P rojects and events are planned around the nation in honor of the 10th annual Sunshine Week initiative. This year's week to mark open- government awareness takes place March 15-21. The Amer- ican Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press are working with four major news organizations – The Associated Press, The McClatchy Company, USA TODAY and Gannett Co. Inc. – on coverage to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Sunshine Week. A package of stories, a com- mentary piece, informational graphics and editorial cartoons will be available for free in early March. Content will be distributed by ASNE, AP, the Reporters Committee and the Sunshine Week website. Hosted by ASNE and Reporters Committee, sunshineweek.org provides participants with myriad resources in the Toolkit section, which showcases op-eds, editorial cartoons and Sunshine Week logos. There are also several sources for inspiration in FOI story ideas and Sunshine Week past work. The website also provides a list of participants and a calendar of events. To have your organization or event listed, please send links and other information to sunshineweek@asne.org. "This focus on how vital govern- ment transparency is to our nation has an impact that goes beyond Sunshine Week itself," said Reporters Committee Executive Director Bruce D. Brown. "What makes Sunshine Week work is the across-the-board participation from A colorful new series of ads from HSPA pro- mote newspaper read- ership and public notices in Indiana. The advertising series touts public notices as a necessity for government transparency. The ads promote statis- tics from a 2014 survey of Hoosiers on newspaper read- ership, public notices and voting habits conducted by American Opinion Research. (HSPA distributed results of the survey last year. For more information, visit hspa.com or call the associa- tion at 317.803.4772.) The quarter-page ads inform readers that 85 per- cent of adults surveyed said public notices should remain in newspapers, and almost two-thirds agree that publica- tion of notices is a good use of tax dollars. To download the ads, visit hspa.com. 2015 INDIANA GENERAL ASSEMBLY H SPA is working to keep a bill alive in the Indiana Senate that would preserve the pub- lication of budget hearing notices. S.B. 288, authored by State Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange, passed out of the Senate Local Government Committee with a 6-0 vote. Usually this sends the bill to the floor for its second reading, where any senator may offer amendments. But in this case, S.B. 288 was reassigned to the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. Glick was told it was due to the fiscal impact of the bill. The move means S.B. 288 must be approved in a second Senate committee hearing to stay alive. "Having the bill recommitted was a surprise since there is no fiscal impact on the state and arguably no impact on local government separate from what the cost was in 2014," said Steve Key, executive director and general counsel for HSPA. "Since the legisla- ture repealed the provision at the end of 2014, the argument was made that restoring it would have an impact for the 2,569 local government units in Indiana." The Legislative Services Agency last year estimated the average cost of the publication of notice of budget hearing was $166 for a local government entity. State Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Buck Creek, chairman for the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Com mittee, has heard from local newspaper publishers and HSPA's allies – including the Indiana chapter of the League of Women Voters, Farm Bureau and others – but HSPA is awaiting confirmation that he will give the bill a hearing. The six who voted for S.B. 288 in its first committee hearing were State Sen. Randy Head, R-Logansport, com- mittee chairman; and State Sens. Erin Houchin, R-Salem; Jim Buck, R-Kokomo; Doug Eckerty, R-Yorktown; Chip Perfect, R-Lawrenceburg; and Lawmakers push public notices back and forth Brandt Hershman Effort to continue notice of budget hearing publication sent to committee Bill that would end public notices hasn't been assigned a hearing See Public notice, Page 5 Remind readers about notices Open the door on Sunshine Week Download full-color ads to promote a 2014 survey of Hoosiers on public notices and readership. Visit www.hspa.com. Visit sunshineweek.org in March for stories, op-eds, graphics, editorial cartoons, logos and inspiration for FOI story ideas. Sue Glick

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