The Indiana Publisher

The Indiana Friends Com- mittee on Legislation was honored at the Indiana High School Press Association's annual fall convention Fri- day, Oct. 20, for support of a First Amendment bill for stu- dent journalists. Dr. Bill Chapman, IFCL lobbyist, ac- cepted the Louis Ingelhart Friend of Journalism award on behalf of the organiza- tion's effort during the 2017 legislative session. New Voices legislation speaks to the Quaker belief in "truth to power." Some high schools throughout the country promote strong jour- nalism programs and en- courage students to report about important issues that relate to teenagers. But some administrators control potentially controver- sial coverage, a practice that has prompted some states to pass specific legislation to en- sure that students attending public high schools can report about relevant topics. Illinois passed a similar bill year. Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Al- bany, and Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, also received the Ingelhart for their work on the legislation. They served as authors of the bill. Steve Key, general coun- sel for the Hoosier State Press Association, also was recognized at the Friday convention. Key was award- ed the Ingelhart several years ago and continues to work for IHSPA issues The IHSPA has supported student journalism since the organization was founded at Franklin College in 1922. The group's "Friend of Journalism" award was named after Ingelhart, a na- tionally recognized advo- cate for student press throughout his career at Ball State University. Clere and DeLaney plan to work with students for similar legislation during the 2018 session. Those with questions about the legislation can contact Chapman for more information, drchapman@ earthlink.net — Diana Hadley The following questions were submitted by the Kokomo Tribune, The News and Tribune (New Albany), and South Bend Tribune: The Howard County Community Corrections Advisory Board voted to suspend its department head in a quick vote following an executive session. When asked why they suspended the official, board members would only say that during the executive session they discussed a "job perfor- mance evaluation" that led to his suspension. Are they required to give us more infor- mation about the suspension? We believe they might be based on the "factual basis for a disciplinary action" phrase in the Access to Public Records Act language concerning personnel records. When asked, they don't have to respond to your verbal question, but you've found the section that's the key to getting information. Under the "factual basis" language, they should pro- vide you from the personnel file documen- tation that goes to the level of discipline handed out and documentation as to the basis for the discipline and any records concerning that discipline (be it a findings of fact, copy of a witness interview, etc.) Be warned, some interpretations of "factual basis" are limited to official rea- son for discipline, but HSPA argues that was not the intent of the state legislature when it passed the language in 2003. So ask for records from the department head's personnel file associated with the disciplinary action. I am sending you an adjustment for a public notice advertisement (legal) at my newspaper. This notice was placed by an attorney on behalf of a government agency. They are really blurring the lines here because of the rate difference. Am I correct that if it is not placed by a government agency, we can bill our regular "non-government" rate? Otherwise, what would stop all government agencies from running notices through an agency? It's not who physically places it, but who is the ultimate party responsible for paying for the public notice adver- tisement. In your example, if it's a local taxing unit, then the notice is eligible for the rate. If it's another client of the attorney, say someone seeking a variance from a local zoning board, then the public notice would not be eligible for the state-mandated cap on the cost of the ad. You may need to train those taking the ad to recognize what the notices contain in case they want to question whether the government rate should apply before the billing occurs. I know the Access to Public Records Act says the record contain- ing information about police calls, incidents, arrests, etc. must be created not later than 24 hours after the suspected crime, accident or complaint has been reported to the agency. If a police records division is closed on Saturdays and Sundays, do they still have to provide public access to their log during those days? And if they provide access to the log on Saturdays and Sundays, but the log doesn't provide all the details required under the law, must the police agency provide those details via some other means on weekends? The question revolves around the "business hours" of the police department. The Access to Public Records Act says any person can make a records request "during the regular business hours" of the agency. See I.C. 5-14-3-3(a). The police department could argue that while they have officers on duty, its business hours are 9-5 M-F when a person who can handle records requests and other walk-in traffic is in the office. The 24-hour time limit on the daily log is for creation of the record. See I.C. 5-14-3-5(c). The result is you'll have to work out what you can as far as getting info on Saturday and Sunday with the departments' public informa- tion officers because that isn't regular busi- ness hours for them. If they do have a means of getting you information on the weekend, the "daily log or report" should be available for everything past the 24 hour deadline. Send your questions to Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, skey@hspa.com or call (317) 624-4427. November 2017 Page 3 HSPA Legal Hotline Email: info@newspaperconsultants.com | Phone: 910-323-0349 | www.newspaperconsultants.com Boost your annual advertising revenue with a new or existing TV magazine! ANC currently serves over 25 daily newspapers in Indiana and would love to partner with YOUR newspaper! Contact us at 910-323-0349 for more informa�on on this money-making sales program! Email: info@newspaperconsultants.com | Phone: 910-323-0349 | www.newspaperconsultants.com A Disciplinary action details should be available Weekend access to police info needs to be worked out Public notice ad rate determined by who pays Q Rep. Ed DeLaney, Rep. Ed Clere and IFCL lobbyist Dr. Bill Chapman receive the Louis Ingelhart Friend of Journalism Award from the Indiana High School Press Association IFCL, legislators receive IHSPA's Ingelhart Friend of Journalism Award network of freelancers and stringers who are all longtime members of the community, in some cases retired men and women who still want to be active in Crawfordsville life. "We want to involve the community in every way we can, so it only makes sense to go to the community for our reporters," Burk continued. And it might be that sense of community and civic en- gagement that drives the suc- cess of both newspapers, rather than drastically differ- ent reporting approaches. "People want to know what's going on," Burk said. Crawfordsville is a tight- knit community, Storie agreed, and not only is civic engagement high but it likes to take care of its own. "It comes down to the busi- ness and people really want- ing to support local business- es," Storie said. People in Crawfordsville value infor- mation and the vessels in which it's delivered, he added, and so they go out of their way to support the local news orga- nizations. You can look to other busi- nesses in town and see the same pattern, Storie said. You'll find businesses around Crawfordsville that might seem redundant yet thrive. "We have a number of (car) dealerships, and they are all successful and have been for ages," Storie continued. "You could look at the newspapers the same way. … We are competitive but at the same time the community embrac- es their own." Not only does civic engage- ment and interest help strengthen the newspapers, Burk said, but it works the other way around. Local gov- ernment tends to operate with more transparency, he said, when it knows more people are watching. "The government knows people are interested in what they are doing, and the gov- ernment functions properly because of that," Burk said Crawfordsville mayor Todd Barton agrees. "Competition is always good. It makes everybody bet- ter. The more information you can push out there the better," he said. To read the whole Journal & Courier story online, visit http://tinyurl.com/twopapers. " We are competitive but at the same time the community embraces their own." Shawn Storie group manager and publisher, Journal Review. Crawfordsville Continued from Page 1 I hope you watch the video, and that it serves as a wakeup call. This is a message that is being presented through- out your area, and you and your advertis- ing staff need to know how to combat it. A final suggestion for you; show this video to your sales team. Ask them to role play how they would respond to the statements of Jerry Miller. Only then will you be prepared to combat these views, and win back revenue that might be slipping away from your organization. Video Continued from Page 1 Herald Journal Continued from Page 1 service, and should be reporting on what the community wants to know about or should know about. Our focus here at the HJ has recently transitioned over to "Hyper Local" and the response has been great. Circulation is up and 80 to 90 percent of the comments we have received has been positive. With the whiteout— we wanted the commu- nity to stop and think what it would be like if they didn't have a local and trusted news source anymore, because there are numerous communities who do not have that anymore. Q Q A A

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