Nominations are now being accepted for the 2019 Yankee Quill award
The Yankee Quill award is administered by the New England Society of News Editors Foundation and recognizes the efforts and dedication of those in New England who have had a broad influence for good in the field of journalism.
Recipients are inducted into the Academy of New England Journalists upon receiving the Yankee Quill award in the fall.
The 2018 honorees were David Randall Moats, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorialist and former editorial page editor of the Rutland Herald; Wayne Phaneuf, executive editor of the Springfield, Mass., Republican; Ken Squier, sportscaster and longtime owner of the Radio Vermont Group of “Live and Local” stations; and Lou Ureneck, professor of journalism at Boston University and former editor of the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram.
Selection for the award is not based on a certain achievement in reporting, writing or editing or on the fact that someone runs a good newspaper or broadcast show or station. Instead, it honors a lifetime of contribution to the profession. Nominations may range across the entire field of journalism — including daily and weekly newspapers, radio and television news coverage, and other forms of media that meet the tests of journalism.
History nominations are also accepted. The History award category focuses on those who had a significant impact on journalism starting in New England from the early years of the founding of our country up to the last 100 years or so.
Members of the Academy of New England Journalists, along with the representatives of several New England media associations, will select the persons to receive the Yankee Quill Award this year.
Members of the Academy of New England Journalists, along with the representatives of several New England media associations, will select the persons to receive the Yankee Quill Award this year.
The deadline for nominations is noon Monday, June 3, 2019.
Nominations may emailed to: info@nenpa.com or hard copies may be mailed to:
Yankee Quill
c/o NENPA
1 Arrow Drive, Suite 6
Woburn MA 01801
History nominations with summary of the work of the candidate and reasons for consideration should be sent to Rod Doherty, history committee chairman: roddoherty411@gmail.com.
For further information contact:
George Geers, academy chair, gnews@empire.net, (603) 785-4811
or Linda Conway, academy clerk, l.conway@nenpa.com, (781) 281-7648
Free Members Only Webinar: 5 Ways To Grow Your Obituaries
For most publishers, the obituary category is a huge traffic driver and an important classified revenue stream. To help our members learn more about this vital revenue category, NENPA has partnered with Legacy.com to offer a FREE webinar to help you grow your obituary category.
The webinar will be held on Wednesday, May 22nd from 2-3pm and will provide insights across the 1,500+ newspapers that work with Legacy.com and detail how they’re starting to see a decline in obituary volume nationwide.
Whether you work with Legacy or not, this session is designed to provide you and your staff with useful info on issues related to obituaries along with ways to address them.
The webinar will be presented by Ron Speechley, who recently joined Legacy.com and works closely with their newspaper partners in an effort to maximize the obituary category. Prior to Legacy, Ron spent 20+ years working for SRDS (search engine for media) and built many relationships with newspapers across the country. Ron lives in Lockport, IL with his wife and four children.
For more information contact Christine Panek at 781.281.7284 or c.panek@nenpa.com.
Deadline? What deadline? My story is already filed!
Doesn’t every journalist want to wrap up the workday and be home with their kids or their dog or their houseplants (or like this writer, be at the golf course or the tavern or out on a hike) by 5:30 p.m. like most normal office jockeys?
And yet, whether it’s a daily grind story or a weekender that needs finishing, many newsies find themselves sweating it out on deadline as an anxious editor nips at their heels.
As an editor, I would grow impatient immediately upon wrapping the afternoon news meeting to get the stories edited and filed to the copy desk. To motivate the laggards, I had this technique of standing directly behind them while holding my arm pointed to the ceiling and moving it back and forth like a metronome while making an audible “tick-tock” sound. I found it hilarious and effective, and I always assumed that the writers did, too (OK, in reality I know they hated it, but the discomfort was a crucial element of the technique!)
So, from here on out, in all cases except bona fide breaking news scenarios, let’s all get out of the office earlier. Here are some tips gained from years of seeing a life beyond work.
- Talk to your editor more. Have a quick pre-reporting chat, then a midday update and finally a pre-writing confab to make sure you’re on the same page and both know what to expect. These chats can be one minute or less.
- Write throughout the day. Ever notice how fast and easy it is to write an adder for another reporter? You quickly pick your best stuff, grind it out and shoot it over. So, why not do this with your own material? Write as you report. Keep your notes in story form as much as possible to really speed things along. Write in chunks and link them with transitions later.
- Think lead and form all day long. Great leads, transitions, nut graphs and kickers take time, so it helps save time if you think about how a story will come together before, during and after the reporting. If a good idea comes to you, scribble it down immediately.
- Write a nut graph first. If you know the nut graph going in, writing the rest comes easy. And don’t forget: your nut graph can always become a hard-news lead if you can’t craft a meaningful narrative or anecdote.
- Report to write. While reporting, always think about what the story needs and how it might take shape. If you’re always on the hunt for a lead, a nut, details, anecdotes, examples, data and an ending, those elements will be present in your head when you sit down to write.
- Work quickly, but don’t rush. Make a reporting plan and source list at the start. Discuss angles with your editor or colleagues. Get going on art or graphics right away. Then, when you do interviews (the most important part of reporting), you’ll have banked more time to go deeper.
- Take what you need and leave the rest. Survey reporting, or talking to many people with nearly the same viewpoint or background, can be critical to project reporting but is rarely necessary in daily reporting. Seek out the best possible sources and be patient with them.
- Send a lead and nut note to your editor. To avoid uncomfortable disputes, which the editor will invariably win, send an instant message with, “Here’s what I’m thinking on this story, what do you think?” and attach the top and nut. This prevents wasted time and heartaches.
- Draft an outline. This technique sounds quaint, but creating a written plan for your story can dramatically speed up the writing process and also ensure you don’t leave anything important out.
- Work harder, faster and smarter. Watch to see who leaves work on time and who ends up staying late, then emulate those who get to it and get out. Arrive early, be on task and hustle.
- Keep the gabbing to a minimum. Stay clear of newsroom gossips, gabbers or gripers. A quick chat or joke is fine, but the time you waste talking to a gabber, or worse yet listening to them, will only lengthen your day and reduce your productivity. Whether you realize it or not, those people will bring you down.
- Avoid perfectionism. Don’t struggle over a single word, sentence or paragraph. Let the copy flow, get it all down, and then go back and revise. Also, don’t get too married to a lead or story format; you can always try a new technique tomorrow.
Bart Pfankuch is an investigative reporter for South Dakota News Watch, online at sdnewswatch.org. Contact Bart at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.
NESNE Finalists & Specialty Award Winners Announced
The New England Society of News Editors presents several prestigious awards each year to journalists in New England who are so expert and accomplished that they have truly “mastered” their craft. At the same time, NESNE also recognizes New England journalism’s most promising up-and-comers.
Below is a list of the NESNE Finalists and Specialty Award Winners for 2019. All winners will be honored at the NESNE Spring Awards Celebration held at The Boston Globe on Thursday, May 2nd.
2019 Specialty Award Winners
2019 NESNE Finalists
“Police clamp tight rein on information”
Tommy Gardner & Caleigh Cross, Stowe Reporter
“Suicide deaths mount, stigma persists”
Neal Simpson, The Patriot Ledger
“Paid a lot to do very little”
Josie Albertson-Grove, Republican-American
“Bucking the Broncos”
Courtney Lamdin and Colin Flanders, Milton Independent
“The Boardroom Gap”
Grant Welker, Worcester Business Journal
“Judges spares heroin dealer from jail”
Julie Manganis, The Salem News
“Domestic violence victims struggle in family courts to retain custody of children”
Shira Schoenberg, The Republican
“Making a City Series”
Jim Haddadin, Jonathan Dame and Staff The MetroWest Daily News
“Til Death Do Us Part”
Mark Davis, Seven Days
“Beyond the Stigma Series on NH’s Opioid Epidemic”
Shawne K. Wickham, New Hampshire Union Leader/Sunday News
Hayes defeats Glassman
Steven Valenti, Republican-American
Police react when two are shot
Ben Garver, The Berkshire Eagle
Storm
Alyssa Stone,Marshfield Mariner
Riot
David Sokol, North Shore Sunday
Haircut
Dave Roback, The Republican
Man vs. Nature
Ken McGAgh, The MetroWest Daily News
Grieving Family
Allan Jung, Telegram & Gazette
Doggie in the Window
Peter Pereira, Standard-Times
Northern Lights
Paul Rogers, Stowe Reporter
Lexington Football too much for Brockton
Ann Ringwood, Lexington Minuteman
From Mexico to Maine: A blueberry raker’s story
Jack Dodson,The Ellsworth American
A Dog Day
Eva Sollberger, Seven Days
The coach who never curses
Peter Huoppi, The Day
Countryman Peony Farm
Eva Sollberger, Seven Days
Vineyard Gazette, Staff
Cape Cod Times, Staff
“Into the Arena”
John Walters, Seven Days
“DA Early and Bibaud probe”
Staff, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
“What would you grab if a disaster was on the way?”
Tracey O’Shaughnessy, Republican-American
“A Town Divided”
Jane Seagrave & Julia Wells, Vineyard Gazette
“Of #MeToo and truth-speaking”
Heather Beasley Doyle, Lexington Minuteman
“Sewage Spill Impacts Felt”
Michael Puffer, Republican-American
“Ferry Martha’s Vineyard Loses Power in Latest Mishap for Steamship Line”
Sara Brown, Vineyard Gazette
“Remaking Worcester”
Staff, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
“Under pressure: Mental health needs challenge schools”
Elizabeth Clemente, The Portland Forecaster
“Chemical regulation bill backed”
Jim Therrien, Bennington Banner
“Grace Under Fire”
Tommy Cassell, The MetroWest Daily News
“Marathoner with dwarfism conquers Boston and life”
William J. Kole and Steven Senne, The Associated Press
“Athletic Policy Questioned”
Lori Riley, The Hartford Courant
“The Motivator”
Brendan Kurie, Standard-Times
“Goooooal! World Cup Rocks the Coop”
Noah Asimow and Landry Harlan, Vineyard Gazette
“Endless Love”
Kayla Canne, The Sun Chronicle
“Song of Himself”
Dan Bolles, Seven Days
“Marathoner with dwarfism conquers Boston and life”
William J. Kole and Steven Senne, The Associated Press
“Elusive dream”
Geoff Spillane, Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll, Steve Heaslip, Ron Schloerb, Cape Cod Times
“Introducing Quinton Oliver Jones”
Will Broaddus, The Salem News
Blumenthal, Swalwell & Menendez Introduce The Journalist Protection Act
[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15), and U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the Journalist Protection Act to make physical attacks and threats of such attacks against journalists a federal crime. Today’s bill introduction comes at the beginning of Sunshine Week, when we recognize the importance of free and unfettered access to information. A free press is critical in helping to shine light on our government and illuminate the challenges facing our country.
““The values celebrated during Sunshine Week – accountability through transparency, access to public information, and freedom of the press – are under attack like never before. Under this administration, reporters face a near-constant barrage of verbal threats, casting the media as enemies of the American people and possible targets of violence. This bill makes clear that engaging in any kind of violence against members of the media will simply not be tolerated,” said Blumenthal.
“From tweeting #FakeNews to proclaiming his contempt for the media during campaign rallies, the President has created a hostile environment for members of the press,” said Swalwell. “A healthy democracy depends on a free press unencumbered by threats of violence. We must protect journalists in every corner of our country if they are attacked physically while doing their job, and send a strong, clear message that such violence will not be tolerated. That is what my bill, the Journalist Protection Act, would do.”
“Over 200 years ago, our Founding Fathers had the foresight to recognize the importance of a free press to a fledgling democracy. Now, more than ever, their importance can’t be overstated,” said Menendez. “Despite the dangerous rhetoric coming from the Trump Administration, and yet another disturbing attack on a journalist covering a MAGA rally, a free press will never be the enemy of the people. A free, and independent press—a strong Fourth Estate—is essential to the American people and our democracy, ensuring an informed public and holding those in power accountable. In the spirit of Sunshine Week we must work to make government more transparent and to protect the journalists dedicated to ensuring that reality.”
Both before and since taking office, President Trump has blatantly stoked a climate of extreme hostility toward the press. He has called the press “the enemy of the American people,” and described mainstream media outlets as “a stain on America.” He once tweeted a GIF video of himself body-slamming a person with the CNN logo superimposed on that person’s face, and retweeted a cartoon of a “Trump Train” running over a person with a CNN logo on its head.
The Journalist Protection Act makes it a federal crime to intentionally cause physical harm or threaten physical harm to a journalist while he or she is doing their job. It represents a clear statement that assaults against people engaged in reporting is unacceptable, and helps ensure law enforcement is able to punish those who interfere with newsgathering.
Such antagonistic rhetoric encourages violence against journalists. In March 2017, OC Weekly journalists said they were assaulted by demonstrators at a Make America Great Again rally in Huntington Beach, California. The following August, a reporter was punched in the face for filming anti-racism counter-protestors in Charlottesville, Virginia. At a rally hosted by the President in El Paso, Texas just last month, a man in a Make America Great Again hat attacked a BBC reporter and yelled expletives directed at “the media.”
Citing President Trump’s rhetoric bashing the media, the international organization Reporters Without Borders dropped the United States’ ranking in its annual World Press Freedom Index by two points, to 45 overall, last April.
The bill is supported by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and by News Media for Open Government, a broad coalition of news media and journalism organizations working to ensure that laws, policies and practices preserve and protect freedom of the press, open government and the free flow of information in our democratic society.
“American journalists are facing assaults, threats, intimidation and even murder simply for fulfilling their First Amendment duties by reporting the news,” said Bernie Lunzer, president of The NewsGuild, a division of the CWA. “The Journalist Protection Act strengthens the free press that’s essential to our democracy.”
“Now more than ever, our industry needs the Journalist Protection Act to ensure both our members and their equipment have an extra layer of defense from attacks,” said Charlie Braico, president of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, also a CWA division. “It’s also another way of saying in these turbulent times that yes, the First Amendment matters – and it’s worth protecting.”
“A journalist should not have to worry about threats of harassment or physical attacks solely for doing their jobs and informing the public,” said Melissa Wasser, Coalition Director for News Media for Open Government. “Forty-eight journalists faced physical attacks while gathering and reporting the news in 2018, as documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. More than two dozen newsrooms have received hoax bomb threats, disrupting their operations. Not only is the role of the news media in our democracy under attack, but the safety of individual journalists is threatened. The Journalist Protection Act would not elevate journalists to a special status, but rather would ensure they receive the same protections if attacked while gathering and reporting the news.”
Original co-sponsors of the Journalist Protection Act in the House include David Cicilline (RI-1), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Hank Johnson (GA-4), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Andy Levin (MI-9), Gwen Moore (WI-4), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Bobby Rush (IL-1), Darren Soto (FL-9), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23).
Do you have a sales prevention department?
John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from in-house training. E-mail for information: john@johnfoust.com.
Every business has procedures in need of tweaking. Do any of those procedures at your newspaper involve the advertising department? It might be a good idea to take a look.
I remember a Monday night long ago when my cable TV stopped working. I called the customer service line and went through the frustrating process of getting a real person on the line. That person was nice, but said they couldn’t do anything about my cable until Thursday. Between Monday and Thursday, I received at least six automated messages to remind me of the appointment.
On Thursday, I made plans to be home to meet the service tech. When he arrived, he quickly determined that the cable box needed to be replaced. He retrieved a new box from his truck and installed it in a couple of minutes. Then the real trouble started. He couldn’t activate the box until he received authorization from the cable company. As he explained it, the box which he had just connected to the TV had to be transferred in their records from the company’s inventory to his truck’s inventory to my TV. He submitted that request, but they couldn’t make the switch right away because he had to wait his turn.
He was a nice fellow. As we sat in the kitchen and waited, he talked about his work, his family and his children’s interests. Along the way, he mentioned that he liked his job, but that he spent most of his time waiting for the home office to authorize the equipment he installed.
After an hour of waiting, I tried to help by placing a call to customer service. When I eventually got someone on the line, I explained the problem and handed the phone to the technician. The customer service rep said she would look into the problem. But after more waiting, the tech decided to call another technician to see if he had a cable box that had already gone through an inventory switch. The new tech showed up a little later, and luckily that box worked.
The end result was that he was there for three hours to do twenty minutes of work, he was over an hour late for his next appointment, and — worst of all — he said it was an ordinary day.
The story doesn’t end there. About an hour after the technician left, I received another automated phone call to remind me of the appointment.
Everyone I encountered was genuinely concerned about my problem, but they were limited by a faulty internal system.
I’m reporting this experience in excruciating detail to illustrate the negative chain of events that can result from a flawed process. I’ve run across some newspapers with similar system defects.
In fact, I once heard of an office that had such a stringent credit process that people referred to it as the “sales prevention department.”
The challenge is to find problems and fix them. If you do that, you’ll become a customer service hero.
Obituaries April 2019
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Needs Your Help
Newspapers across the country have been helping the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF.org) in their effort to find missing photos of killed military members that are listed in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in D.C.
When this project started five years ago only one state had found all of their photos. Today, 36 states are complete, and five of the six New England states have found all of their photos. Massachusetts only has 23 photos left to find.
Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated, even if it is a news story about the project near Memorial Day. This is a project that is of great value to our country for now and future generations.
VVMF.org are projecting the photos on their website by birthday and displaying them with mobile displays.