The Indiana Publisher

Page 4 I recently came across several news items that raise questions as to whether public access to information takes a back seat to controlling the message by public offi- cials. Exhibit No. 1: The emails of then-Gov. Mike Pence It was reported in June that Gov. Eric Holcomb authorized a $100,000 contract with a Shelbyville law firm, McNeely Stephenson, to review and process requests for the 13 boxes of copies of emails from Pence's private AOL account dealing with matters of state business. The emails were delivered to Gov. Holcomb's office in March after The Indianapolis Star wrote a story outlin- ing now Vice President Pence's use of the private account. Dozens of Access to Public Records Act requests have been received – some broad requests to see what the private emails include while others are specific to emails con- cerning the 2016 election, voter fraud and Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Since emails are digital records, I wonder why Pence's staff didn't make the personal emails available in an electronic format? With word- search programs, digital files could be searched and processed faster and easier than humans sorting through 13 boxes of paper, which could delay production of requested documents by months. Or was that the reason the state was provided paper copies? To his credit, attorney Lee McNeely told The Star he is trying to obtain the records in a digital format. "Given the number and breadth of he requests faced by his client, this is the most reasonable and efficient way to proceed," McNeely said. Exhibit No. 2: Purdue's private "New U" Last month, I wrote about Purdue University's last minute insertion into the state budget bill language that would exempt the operation of the school formerly known as Kaplan University from the Open Door Law, Access to Public Records Act and audit by the state Board of Accounts. I still question why a state educa- tional operation controlled by a subset of the Purdue University Board of Trustees should operate outside the accountability tools that other Indiana universities find acceptable – includ- ing Purdue University? When Purdue University lobbyists were making their case to me for the difference: There will be no public funding for New U, New U is run by a "separate" board than Purdue University's Board of Trustees, the deal was secured with $1, they left out one small fact. There's a $600 mil- lion potential obligation for Purdue University to Kaplan University if the contract is not renewed after its initial 30-year term. Would that make a difference in whether New U should be subject to the state's public access laws and state audit during the 30 years? Exhibit No. 3: Public notice by Internet I read a story last week concerning the state takeover of the contract to build I-69 in southern Indiana from the now-bankrupt private company that was awarded the contract. The story mentioned that the State Budget Committee had posted on the Internet notice only 24 hours prior to the meet- ing. Did those public officials expect to reach interested Hoosiers on such short notice? The Open Door Law requires state and local government units to give at least 48-hours notice to newspapers and other media out- lets that request such notice by Dec. 31 for the following year. I recall the lobbyists for Indiana counties and Indiana cities and towns fighting a few years ago the concept of giving 48-hours notice of meetings via posting on their websites or sending out emails to citizens who expressed an interest in receiving notice of the unit's public meetings. What was passed by the Indiana General Assembly was language that said a board, council, commission, etc., could adopt a policy to provide notice of meetings 48-hours in advance either by posting on the government unit's website or sending an email blast to those who requested it. The State Budget Committee appar- ently hasn't approved this policy. I wonder how many local govern- ment units have such a policy? If the answer is what I think it might be, it makes you wonder if those locally elected officials want people to show up at their meetings. Steve Key is executive director and general counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association. Key Points Steve Key Does public relations trump access? LIKE THE HOOSIER STATE PRESS ASSOCIATION ON FACEBOOK FOR INDUSTRY NEWS, DEADLINES AND UPDATES. July 2017 News in brief Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) reporters and editors won national gold and silver honors from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers for coverage in 2016 that included stories about a con- troversial vaping law, a Salesforce expansion in Indianapolis and free trade issues. Reporter Hayleigh Colombo, Susan Orr, Scott Olson and Jared Council were recognized. Editors Mason King and Jeff Newman also won a gold award. Reporter Anthony Schoettle won a silver award for body of work by a single reporter. IBJ also won a silver award for editorial writing. AABP handed out the awards at its June 2017 conference in Dallas. - Indianapolis Business Journal Charles G. Lee has been appointed publisher and advertising director of The Lebanon Reporter and the Zionsville Times-Sentinel, effective immedi- ately. Lee is the former sales director of the Houston Community Newspapers and Media Group. Previously, he had been sales man- ager for the Houston Chronicle and also the Dallas Morning News. In addition, he served in sales roles at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. - Zionsville Times-Sentinel Former The News-Dispatch Sports Editor Justin Breen has started his own communications firm – BrEpic Communications LLC. Breen was Assistant Managing Editor and Sports Editor at the Times of Northwest Indiana and Assistant Sports Editor at the Post-Tribune. - The News Dispatch (Michigan City) KPC Media Group has purchased Envision Graphics of Auburn, KPC's Chief Executive Officer Randy Mitchell announced Friday. Cindy Busch will continue working and manag- ing the day-to-day operations of Envision Graphics, which now will be housed in The Star office at 118 W. 9th St. in downtown Auburn. The business produces booklets, banners, busi- ness forms, brochures, pamphlets, shop tags and other corporate needs, with design services avail- able. With the move to downtown Auburn, Envision Graphics' Brandon Street building will be offered for sale. - KPC Media Group APME's NewsTrain is bringing affordable training in digital-journalism skills to suburban Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 21. Early-bird registration is $75. Sessions include producing data-driven stories, using social media as a reporting tool, mobile storytelling, shooting short, shareable smartphone video, and using smartphones for mobile newsgathering. Learn more and register at http://bit.ly/ OhioNewsTrain. IBJ wins national honors News-Dispatch loses editor Central Indiana publisher Named Meanwhile, consider that HSPA's American Opinion Research study in 2014 found that 3.8 million Hoosiers read at least one newspaper per week. It's also worth noting that budget notices are almost impossible to miss when they're published in a newspaper. At a minimum, they gen- erally occupy several columns on a page and contain bold text and lines of numbers that jump out at the aver- age reader. So, when Mike Pence signed the law eliminating newspaper notice of proposed budgets, the state of Indiana traded a medium that by its very nature promotes effective notice for one that does not. And it swapped 3.8 million potential readers for, at best, a handful of highly motivated citizens. If you wanted to wrest control of local tax and budget processes from regular citizens in order to hand it to politi- cians, lobbyists and activists, this would be a great way to start. This isn't the way public notice is sup- posed to work. Richard Karpel is owner of APW Management, and a contributing author to the Public Notice Resource Center. Budget Continued from Page 1 "The guidebook will be a breath- ing, growing item as we add more information to it based on the ques- tions raised by HSPA member news- papers about the placement of pub- lic notice advertising, Key said. The Associated Press Managing Editors joined HSPA Foundation in presenting "Everything About Covering a Beat" at the Reporter's Workshop in Indianapolis. Eric Weddle, education reporter with WFYI Public Media, began the program for the 46 participants, with tips on covering education. He stressed how reporters can take a statewide issue and make it rel- evant locally. Allison Carter, the Facebook editor for The Indianapolis Star, explained the importance for report- ers and newspapers to have a pres- ence on social media. She said for younger audiences news is found on platforms such as Twitter and reported on Facebook. Those medi- ums should be used to drive traffic and readers to newspaper websites and print products so that advertis- ers can see the value of using news- papers, whether in print or online, to reach customers. Bill Powell of The Herald (Jasper) and Dubois County Sheriff Let. Tim Lampert joined forces to give reporters a primer on how to cover the police beat. They explained the various forms and reports available to the media to gather information on crime. Powell also stressed the need to develop a relationship with officers – recognizing that they have a job to do as do reporters. HSPA's Key wrapped up the pro- gram with points reporters and edi- tors should know about the Open Door Law and Access to Public Records Act that enable them to bet- ter cover local government units. The tips included information on the use of juvenile names, access to board packets, meeting memoranda, and notices of executive sessions. "I always enjoy the opportunity to talk to members of newspaper staffs," Key said of the training sessions. "Our goal is always to attempt to answer all their ques- tions on whatever topic that is being presented." Training Continued from Page 1 KPC Media makes acquisition Lee NewsTrain rolls into Ohio

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