The Indiana Publisher

The Indiana Publisher Published alternate Thursdays Volume 77, Issue 26 ��� ��December 20, 2012 Expected legislative activity in 2013 Potential bill could affect fee for records T hree bills being drafted for the 2013 Indiana General Assembly will have HSPA fingerprints on them. Speaker of the House Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, asked HSPA for input on Brian Bosma legislation to address the burden on government units when voluminous records requests are made. An HSPA search of other states��� public access laws found that 27 allow for some type of search fees. Steve Key, executive director and general counsel for HSPA, developed a set of principles for allowing a search fee. Key sought input on the parameters from the HSPA Board of Directors��� Freedom of Information Committee, chaired by Bill Nangle, executive editor at The Times (Munster). To prevent a search fee from becoming a barrier to public access, HSPA suggested the legislation contain: ��� A threshold before a search fee could be imposed. The federal Freedom of Information Act threshold is two hours of search time. ��� No charge should include attorney fees or redaction time. ��� A limit on the hourly rate that can be charged to process voluminous requests. HSPA has asked Bosma to include a provision in the legislation to assist citizens making records requests. The provision would allow the citizen making the request, not a government agency, to determine whether a copy of an electronic document should be provided in electronic or print format. Current law gives that control to the government. Good company & great ideas at Annual Meetings Expert speakers, plus festivities at stadium I f you aren���t concerned about the 2013 legislative session���s effect on newspapers, postal issues, social media���s place in the newsroom, competition for your preprint market, public access issues, digital advertising, independent contractors or centralized services, you may want to stay home. But if any of these affect your news operation, join your fellow publishers and get some ideas and reassurance Feb. 7-8 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Indianapolis. Members should now have the HSPA & HSPA Foundation Annual Meetings and Government Conference brochure and registration form. Return the form or register online at www.HSPAfoundation.org/annualmeetings. Attendees may choose one of several payment options: Mail a check, call HSPA with a credit card number, or use Google Checkout (account required). The Annual Meetings planning committee, led by HSPA Vice President Robyn McCloskey, hopes the addition of a Thursday evening event at Lucas Oil Stadium, a wide variety of round-table discussions with expert leaders See MEETINGS, Page 4 A message from the auctioneer Jack Pate, publisher of Evansville Courier & Press and secretary of the HSPA Foundation board of directors, will serve as MC during an auction at the Annual Meetings. Pate sends this appeal: HSPA needs your help to add excitement to this year���s Annual Meeting Feb 7-8. We will auction off baskets filled with items donated from our membership and vendors. Attendees will have opportunities to earn ���conference bucks��� during the two-day event to use during the auction. You can earn 25 ���bucks��� before you even get there. Just register by the earlybird deadline of Jan. 14, 2013! Some publishers already committed items: Colts tickets, an executive suite during an Evansville Icemen hockey game, and Holiday World passes. Could you donate something that holds significance for your community to add value to the baskets? Think local restaur�� ant certificates, hotel stays, event tickets, T-shirts, coffee cups ��� use your imagination! Please send items by Jan. 11 to HSPA, Auction, 41 E. Wash�� ington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN 46204. See Legislative, Page 4 Court first ordered paper not to publish H SPA Foundation re�� ently honored Virc ginia Black and Mary Kate Malone with the Ray Moscowitz Award for their reporting efforts in the series For the Love of Children. Virginia Black The Moscowitz Award honors those who foster the advancement of the First Amendment. Black, a writer for the South Bend Mary Kate Tribune, and Malone Malone, a former staff writer with the paper, were honored for their work in obtaining a recording of a phone call to an Indiana Department of Child Services child abuse hotline regarding 10-year-old South Bend resident Tramelle Sturgis. The boy later died, and his father, Terry Sturgis, is serving a 140-year prison sentence for the boy���s murder. The boy���s grandmother, Delia Castille, is in prison for her role in not reporting the abuse. Black and Malone also won a best community service award and took second place in best news coverage with no deadline pressure, second place in the best special section category, and third place in best ongoing news coverage for the series. When Black and Malone where announced as Moscowitz winners during a recent HSPA Foundation awards luncheon, they received a standing ovation from journalists from across the state. Talk to students at Journalism Job Fair Economic development corporations The second bill including HSPA input concerns access to records of economic development corporations that receive taxpayer dollars. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Columbia City, will author the bill. HSPA suggested the bill look at the threshold where the state Board of Accounts can waive the requirement of an audit of how taxpayer funds are spent by the economic Writers honored for series on abuse When: Saturday, Feb. 2 Where: Franklin College INSIDE Foundation Front: Members of the HSPA and HSPA Foundation boards of directors have contributed to a fund designed to increase the Foundation���s reach, writes director Karen T. Braeckel. Page 3 HSPA Hotline: Can a school board choose a replacement member in secret? Can newspapers increase public notice advertising rates? Steve Key answers your legal questions. Page 4 Registration: Sign up at www.HSPAfoundation.org/ jobfair Registration deadline: Jan. 18, 2013 Cost: $50; lunch included (payment may follow) Information: Shawn Goldsby, (317) 803-4772

• 12_20_2012_Publisher_Page1
• 12_20_2012_Publisher_Page2
• 12_20_2012_Publisher_Page3
• 12_20_2012_Publisher_Page4