The Indiana Publisher

November 2017 IP

Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher

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Investigative reporting, photo- journalism, mobile video, public access and narrative writing are among the session topics on tap for the 2017 HSPA Newsroom Semi- nar. The annual event will return to the Indianapolis Marriott North on Saturday, Dec. 2. The day-long con- ference will conclude with the Bet- ter Newspaper Contest awards lunch where Indiana journalists from newspapers across the state are honored for their work. Pulitzer Prize recipient and final- ist Tom French and Kelley Benham French will present, "Hunting & Gathering: Reporting for Scene, Character & Story," a double ses- sion focusing on exploring in-depth storytelling tools and techniques that can be incorporated into reporting. To register for the conference, visit hspa.com. Deadline to register is Nov. 22. Contact Shawn Goldsby with questions at (317) 803-4772, sgoldsby@hspa.com. Hey, can they do that? Steve Key answers your legal questions. Page 3 Key Points: Don't assume readers understand how you produce news Page 4 News: New publishers, editors take positions across state. Page 2 In memoriam: Sports icon Don Jellison Page 2 INSIDE Publisher The Indiana Volume 82, Issue 11 • November 2017 Published on second Thursday monthly Paper's blank front page asks readers to imagine a town without news December Newsroom Seminar features top-notch talks CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — If you do a Google search for the phrase "two newspaper towns" you'll find a lot of articles mourning the loss of such places. The story always seems to play out the same way; after decades a lo- cal newspaper is forced to close ei- ther from lack of readership, lack of funds, an inability to keep pace with the digital age of news media or, likely, all three. Citizens worry what the loss of the publication will mean for their town and morning routines. News outlets reporting on the clo- sures fret about what it spells for the future of print media and the fate of democracy. And yet, somehow, print media and democracy persist despite the dire predictions that surface each time a newspaper closes its doors. In Crawfordsville, print media and civic life aren't just surviving, they are thriving. Here the narrative of two newspa- per towns is playing out in reverse. Since 2004 Crawfordsville has boasted two daily print newspapers, the Journal Review and The Paper of Montgomery County. The Jour- nal Review prints Tuesday through Saturday and The Paper prints Mon- day through Saturday with a Sunday digital edition. Gerry Lanosga, a journalism pro- fessor at the Indiana University Me- dia School, said today two newspa- per towns are exceedingly rare. "It's kind of remarkable to have it in a small town like Crawfords- ville. … It's very rare. Sadly, it's very rare," he said. The Journal Review was founded in 1929 when The Crawfordsville Review (founded 1841) and The Journal (founded 1848) merged. In 1974 the Journal Review was sold to Freedom Newspapers Inc., and in 1999 it was acquired by PTS, a me- dia company located in Alabama, which still owns the Journal Review today. Between 1929 and the incep- tion of The Paper in 2004, the Jour- nal Review was Crawfordsville's only daily newspaper. In 2004, however, The Paper emerged as a direct competitor to the longtime, local daily. Lanosga said the fact that a paper established itself so recently and was able to persist through the recession, which saw a spate of newspaper clo- sures around the country and be- yond, is nothing short of remarkable. "In 2008 the economy had a heart attack moment, and newspapers started changing right before our eyes," Tim Timmons, publisher and one of The Paper's founding mem- bers, said. "If we'd known before then what we know now, I'm not sure we would be here." The question is why and how have both papers persisted in a market smaller than many that have seen the recent death of dai- lies? The population of Crawfords- ville is less than 20,000, while the population of Montgomery County is just short of 40,000. The answer isn't exactly straight- forward and tends to vary depending on who you ask. Shawn Storie is the group man- ager and publisher for the Journal Review. He said the editors and re- porters there like to find off-beat sto- ries that are relevant to readers. "We like to look at Montgomery County and find unique angles. We're not going to do a lot of the doom and gloom; we try to be uplift- ing," Storie said. In addition to this, managing edi- tor Tina McGrady said staff and re- porters are local, they're part of the fabric of the community they're re- porting about. "Their families have been here for so long. They're out there talking to their families and friends, we have truly local people working here," McGrady said. Just down the street at The Paper, however, editor Neil Burk's answers as to why The Paper has persisted mirror those of McGrady and Storie. "We like to think of ourselves as the little paper that could. … We try to be innovative in the way we see things," Burk said. And another part of The Paper's success? Local employment, much like the Journal Review. Burk said the newspaper has a Emma Ea Ambrose Journal & Courier (Lafayette) Small Indiana town supports two newspapers Video misses mark: Mix of traditional, digital is best approach for ad success A few weeks ago, someone dropped a bomb on LinkedIN. Within my circle of connections, the post by Jerry Miller created a lot of ripples: https://lnkd.in/dr8sJDD Thankfully, many people spoke up and denounced his proclamation that "Print advertising is dead." Clearly I don't agree with Mr. Miller, but I'm not here to badmouth his point of view either. I'm here to offer some facts, which he's short on in his quick little LinkedIN video. But I'd also like to point out that there are a lot of Jerry Miller's in your market right now saying the same thing. How are you responding? There are 'marketing experts' parading around offering similar advice in your market! Often times these experts are brought forward by your local chamber of commerce or other organizations. These organizations consider it an opportunity to provide education to their members, and of course the 'marketing expert' sees this as a chance to land new customers for their marketing company. Why do they do these free seminars? Because they work. And because it works, it is time for you to step forward and offer a marketing class for your local chamber, downtown business association or whoever will give you the audience in your market. When you have the audience, give them the real perspective of how a marketing mix of traditional and digital platforms is the best approach for business success. The principles of marketing and advertising have not changed. What has changed are the options available to convey those mes- sages to potential customers. Increasingly, those new digital options offer never before seen tracking ability to help measure results. The video by Miller harps on the lack of trackability for print advertising. Print can absolutely be tracked. Coupons, QR codes, special offers and specific phone numbers are just some of the options available to someone who is deeply concerned with the performance of a print campaign. Also, the slide he stands in front of while making that point is titled "The Power of Social Media." There is definitely value in social media marketing, both organic and paid social media options. But to suggest that money spent on print is thrown away and wasted is a huge mistake. Broad, generalized statements like "print is dead" ignore basic marketing principles. The core audience of print products remain the audience with the most disposable income. Van Baalen Pete Van Baalen Fort Wayne Newspapers Photo by John Terhune, The Journal & Courier (Lafayette). See Video, Page 3 On Oct. 6, in conjunction with 2017's National Newspaper Week, the Herald Journal of Monticello printed a largely blank front page to illustrate what no news would look like in its community. The Indiana Publisher asked HJ Editor Gregory Myers about the decision and response. Q: What prompted you to make this move at the Herald Journal? A: With a completely new editorial staff at the Herald Journal, we wanted to do something that would "affect" people. The HJ had never done anything like that before, but we wanted to make a splash, and I feel like we did. The staff didn't know what to expect and were a little cautious about the whole thing. Q: What kind of response did you get? A: For the readers, it hit home exactly like I had hoped. The most common response was, "That was affective." It caught the people's attention and made them think, which is exactly what we wanted to do during National Newspaper Week. Q: Your flag's tagline is, "Your life. Your community. Your news." That fits right in with the message of recognizing the importance of having and valuing a trusted, local news source. Has that always been the paper's motto? A: Your life. Your community. Your news— it is a new tagline here at this paper but one that correctly describes our mission as a newspaper. I have always felt that journalism is a form of community See Herald Journal, Page 3 See Crawfordsville, Page 3 Hundreds of awards for journalistic excellence to be presented at luncheon Kelley Benham French Tom French

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