The Indiana Publisher

INSIDE Publisher The Indiana Volume 83, Issue 4 • April 2018 Published on second Thursday monthly Pete Van Baalen: Training session highlights value of newspapers, Page 3 Tariffs could put more newspapers out of business, Page 5 Hotline: Steve Key answers your legal, access questions. Page 11 Positives outweigh negatives during mixed session AIM Media Midwest buys Ohio-based Sentinel Company, Inc. Legislative Update Steve Key Hoosier State Press Association The positives out- weighed the negatives in the 2018 legislative session that saw a win for public access to electronic records, several unsuc- cessful attempts to curtail public notice advertising and disappointment for student journalists seeking greater freedom. Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law on March 21 S.E.A. 392, which contains language guaranteeing Hoosiers can obtain electronic records (such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, or Adobe pdfs) in that format from state and local government units. The records can be emailed to the requester with no copying fee involved. Under the existing Access to Public Records Act, a public official could decide to only provide a printed copy of such a record and require the requester to come to the agency office and pay a copying fee for the record. S.E.A. 392 also clarifies items county commissioners and town boards can discuss in "adminis- trative functions" meetings. Existing Open Door Law language outlines what can't be done, but doesn't give much direction as to what can be discussed. An administrative function meeting can be held without providing the public 48 hours notice of such a meeting. It's not practical to require a 48-hour wait before the county commissioners could react to a broken heating system or other maintenance needs The public still has the right to observe and record administrative function meetings – only the notice provision is waived under the Open Door Law. The changes to the state's access laws originally was filed in H.B. 1258, authored by Rep. Mike Karickhoff, R-Kokomo. The bill died for lack of a hearing due to a mix-up, but both S.B. 392 author Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, and House Local Government Committee chair Rep. Dennis Zent, R-Angola, agreed to amend the H.B. 1258 language into S.B. 392. Rep. Zent's committee approved S.B. 392 with a 12-0 vote. The House then approved it 93-0. Sen. Niemeyer did file a A company with management ties to The Republic (Columbus) and the Reporter (Greenfield) has purchased an Ohio media company. AIM Media Midwest LLC announced it has acquired the publishing assets of The Sentinel Company Inc. of Bowling Green. The publication and affiliated website included in the transaction are the daily newspaper serving Bowling Green and surrounding Wood County, the website sent-trib. com, and a variety of other specialty and periodic publications. "The Sentinel Company has long been one of the most respected and admired local publishing and media companies in the United States," said Jeremy L. Halbreich, chairman and CEO of AIM Media Management. AIM Media Midwest already owns and operates 17 daily newspapers, 15 weekly newspa- pers, affiliated websites and a variety of related weekly and specialty publications in Ohio and West Virginia. AIM Media Midwest is an affiliate of AIM Media Texas and AIM Media Indiana, which owns The Republic and Reporter. All the AIM entities are managed by AIM Media Management of Dallas, Texas, where Halbreich serves as chairman and CEO and Rick Starks serves as president and COO. AIM focuses on local content across all forms of media includ- ing print, online and video. The company recognizes the value and benefits that local news, informa- tion and advertising services bring to local communities and regional markets and is the leading information source in the commu- nities it serves. See related column on the upcoming special session, page 4 Representatives on the floor of the House Chamber at the Indiana State- house in February 2018. Photo/Ruth Witmer See Legislature, page 6

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