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Kevin picks five papers

Kevin Slimp
Kevin Slimp technology

Kevin Slimp

Kevin Slimp is director of the Institute of Newspaper Technology.

Email questions to him at
kevin@kevinslimp.com

Kevin answers reader’s question: “Who is doing things right?”

Community Newspapers Who Do Things Right

Over the past week or so, I received an email from a publisher asking if I could send examples of community newspapers who are doing things right. His plan was to contact these publishers to learn if he could benefit from their experiences. I told him I would give it some thought and send him a list of papers and contacts, but now I can’t seem to find his message hidden in the thousands of emails that have filled my in-box in the days since his message arrived.

I could have included papers I’ve visited over the past year in Kansas, Nebraska, Arizona and other places, but I decided five was all that would fit in this space, os here is my 2018 “Doing things right” list.

The Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal, Virginia

When Elsa Verbyla invited me to visit her newspaper on the shores of Eastern Virginia, I wasn’t sure what to expect. After arriving, I was most surprised by the accents of the good folks of Mathews, a town just down the road from Gloucester. But that’s another story for another day.

My second biggest surprise was meeting with the staff of the Gazette-Journal and learning first-hand how much they love their newspaper. I spent two days with the group discussing everything from sales to circulation to design. I learned about great ideas they’ve had to increase circulation and maintain readership in an area like many, where a big-city daily threatens to absorb their readers.

No worry, though. The folks of Gloucester and Mathews, I learned, love their newspaper. Like many of the most successful papers I run across, so do the staff members. As I visited with them, it was hard to find one who had been around less than 10 years.

“Oh, I’ve been here 20 years,” one told me. Another, “15 years and counting.”

With multiple sections, plenty of advertising, and no shortage of stories, it’s no wonder The Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal makes my list of favorite newspapers.

Madelia Times Messenger, Minnesota

The first time Michelle Van Hee invited me to visit her paper in Madelia, I had to get out a map. In all my travels across Minnesota, I didn’t remember Madelia. Now, it’s a regular stop for me. After three trips to visit The Madelia Times Messenger, it makes my list of my favorite newspapers.

One of the best examples of the Messenger’s spirit is their leadership following a fire that destroyed much of their downtown in 2017. When I last visited her town, Michelle couldn’t wait to show me the renovation of the downtown area.

What makes Madelia’s paper special? I could create a long list, and it would begin with genuine care for the community. Everything is local. Stories are local. Advertising is local. Ownership is local.

Michelle cares about her product, and it shows. She has folks like Ed Henninger come in to work on the Messenger’s design. I’ve been there several times. The newspaper is part of her family, and she cares for it that way.

I wasn’t surprised when I looked at their website that Michelle and her staff now publish five newspapers in the area. I remember when there was only one.

The Standard Banner, Jefferson City, Tennessee

I’ve been to Jefferson City to work with the staff of The Standard Banner many times through the years, and I’m still surprised each time I visit.

When I visited just last week, I asked Dale Gentry, publisher, “How is business?”

For some reason, I wasn’t surprised with his answer.

“Business is great!” he beamed. “Especially the last two months. Things are going really well.”

Why are things “great” in Jefferson City? Just spend a day with the staff of the newspaper and you will know.

Like the paper in Gloucester, Virginia, staff doesn’t come and go at The Standard Banner. You will find folks who have been on staff for decades. I remember meeting Kim Cook, designer, when she showed up early for my first Newspaper Institute in 1997.

I didn’t count the pages, but I bet the page count of twice-weekly paper in Jefferson City rivals that of the metro 40 miles away.

The Standard Banner has been on my favorite list for a long time, and isn’t leaving any time soon.

Kanabec Group, Minnesota

When Wade Weber first invited me to visit his paper in Mora, Minnesota more than a dozen years ago, I had no idea how much I was going to grow to love the folks at his newspapers.

Since then, Wade has added a few nameplates to his collection, but each is distinctively local and it shows. Beautiful design, quality writing, beautiful printing, and local focus are the hallmarks of the papers in the Kanabec group.

In a recent trip to Cambridge, to visit with Wade’s staff there, I was reminded of the reason people get into community journalism in the first place. I saw pride in each face of the 30 or so staff members as we looked at their stories, photos and pages.

What makes their newspapers stand out? Topping the list would be the local focus and the attention to quality.

The Neepawa Banner & Press, Manitoba

My list couldn’t be complete without mentioning The Neepawa Banner & Press in Neepawa, Manitoba.  Over the past few years, I’ve come to really appreciate the work Ken Waddell and his staff do in Manitoba.

I’ve never seen Ken without his brown brimmed hat and a smile on his face. His enthusiasm spreads throughout his newspaper and it shows.

I’ve met with his staff multiple times to look at their papers, discuss strategy, and plan new ventures. The newspaper has great designers, editors and writers who care about their community.

Ask Ken about his secret, and the answer is always the same. “We keep it local.”

Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear from Ken or Kate Jackson, Banner & Press editor, with ideas to discuss.

No wonder readers love their paper.

Plenty more out there

It’s never easy comprising a list like this. There are plenty of other papers, just as worthy, that could be included, but these five should give you a good start.

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Bordeleau’s career built on passion, ethics

By Leila Habib Bulletin Correspondent

‘It’s not about your byline. It’s about making sure you do the best job you can when you are reporting a story because it’s a reflection on the profession. It’s a reflection on every other journalist there trying to do the right thing. Make sure you have all your ducks in a row before you publish anything.’

— Karen Bordeleau,
Veteran Journalist,
Journalism Professor

“You could tell stories, real stories, of people in this amazing way.” 

That was Karen Bordeleau’s first thought after reading Tom Wolfe’s “The New Journalism,” which she received on her 16th birthday. That book, along with the Watergate scandal, spurred her interest in journalism, which would turn into a successful career.

“The fact that it forced a state to bring down a president by diligent reporting amazed me, and I wanted to be a part of that,” Bordeleau, a Rhode Island native, said about the Watergate coverage.

The beginnings

Bordeleau began her journalism career with an internship at The Kent County Daily Times in West Warwick, R.I. Her first front-page story, about a class trip to Austria where she and her classmates misjudged their skiing levels, was published when she was 18.

“Intermediate in New England is not the same as intermediate in Austria,” Bordeleau said with a laugh, describing the unexpected difficulty of the slopes the students would ski down. “We made it down in one piece, but barely.”

She wrote about the experience.

 

“I had a byline, and all my parents’ friends were ooh-ing and ahh-ing over this story,” she said. “All this attention, it was kind of fun.”

Bordeleau pursued a bachelor’s degree at Northeastern University’s journalism school. She landed her first co-op internship at The Call of Woonsocket, R.I., and immediately found herself drawn to the energy of the newsroom.

“When people are reporting on important topics, there’s this energy that is very difficult to explain,” she said. “You want to be a part of the group that’s shining light in dark places and making a difference and changing laws and changing the way government behaves.”

‘When people are reporting on important topics, there’s this energy that is very difficult to explain. You want to be a part of the group that’s shining light in dark places and making a difference and changing laws and changing the way government behaves.’

— Karen Bordeleau, Veteran journalist, journalism teacher

Making history

After graduating from Northeastern in 1982, Bordeleau returned to the Kent County Daily Times in 1989 and the Call in 1994, both newspapers where she previously interned, as an editor.

Bordeleau became a reporter at The Providence (R.I.) Journal in 1996, climbing the ranks until becoming, in 2013, its first female executive editor.

Bordeleau said of her role as executive editor: “It’s like guiding a child or raising a child. You’re always protecting the child. It is always protecting the integrity of the brand no matter what you do, no matter where you are.

“You are constantly aware that you’re representing these two groups of individuals and that your success is their success,” she said about being a female journalist. “It’s making sure that you’re making the right decisions because if you make a mistake, it reflects on the profession. It also reflects on other women, so you really have this incredible responsibility to make sure you get it right.”

Humanizing lost lives

In February 2003, a fire in a West Warwick nightclub, The Station, killed 100 people. The Providence Journal launched a nearly year-long investigation into the fire, uncovering fire code violations and the installment of a flammable sound insulation material. The Journal then contacted and interviewed the families of victims to depict the lives that were affected.

“There was just no reason for 100 people to perish,” Bordeleau said. “We wanted people to understand what we lost in that, who we lost in that.”

The coverage made the Journal a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Bordeleau was one of the two primary editors for the series.

Bordeleau took her passion for naming the voiceless to Pakistan, where she was invited to participate in a journalist exchange program by the International Center for Journalists in Washington, D.C. While teaching news management and advanced reporting courses in the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Karachi in 2015, Bordeleau noticed that publications would report the number of terrorist attack victims, but not give any context about who they were.

‘You have to be smart, but you also have to have a high level of emotional intelligence in order to understand  what motivates people, how to manage people, and how to get them to understand why we’re doing what we’re doing. It’s not just about writing and reporting stories when you’re an executive editor. It’s about teaching others why it’s so important for us to do it this way, and both of those individuals taught me that.’

— Karen Bordeleau

“It’s unnerving because they don’t really explain or hadn’t explained who these people are and the impact of that loss,” she said.

Bordeleau decided to bring that into her classroom curriculum for the working professionals taking her courses in Pakistan.

“I was explaining how we did the Station fire and challenging them to tell their country who is lost in these impacts,” she said.

In December 2014, there was a terrorist attack on a school in Pakistan that killed 141 people, 132 of whom were children.

After taking Bordeleau’s news management course, a Pakistani online editor led an initiative to locate the children’s families and discover who the victims were, similar to the coverage of the Station fire.

“It explained to Pakistan what was lost in that terrorist attack. It wasn’t that 141 people died. It was that these were people, and that they’re not there anymore. They’re not going to grow up and be doctors, or veterinarians, or teachers, and that was very impactful,” Bordeleau said.

Marginalized voices first

In addition to The Station series, Bordeleau oversaw a year-long explanatory piece titled “Race in Rhode Island,” published in 2015 by the Providence Journal.

There was an obstacle to covering that topic.

“How could we tell this story with a white staff?” Bordeleau said.

To alleviate that obstacle, a group of 16 people was formed to serve as “eyes and ears in diverse communities.” Bordeleau said members of the group, which included the president of the NAACP, a Muslim doctor, and a Latino professor, would meet for a few hours every month.

“We wanted to make sure that we were telling the right stories, not just the stories that white people think are important,” she said.

Even with the presence of the sounding board, Bordeleau felt nervous about covering certain stories, such as a story about the “n-word,” and “minority.” Bordeleau sad that the pieces were received well, however, and showed that minority communities aren’t a monolith.

“We interviewed on video a lot of community leaders who had different things to say about it,” Bordeleau said. “It was really important to understand that just because you’re black doesn’t mean that everybody who’s black thinks the same thing about the word. It was really important for us to show that people have different opinions.”

‘When people are reporting on important topics, there’s this energy that is very difficult to explain. You want to be a part of the group that’s shining light in dark places and making a difference and changing laws and changing the way government behaves.’

— Karen Bordeleau

Passing the torch

Bordeleau has received many awards, including the Judith Brown Spirit of Journalism Award in 2016 and the Yankee Quill Award in 2014. She was named one of the 30 Most Powerful Women in Rhode Island by Rhode Island Monthly in 2014 and was named one of the Top 10 Women to Watch in Media by Editor & Publisher in 2013.

She was elected president of the New England First Amendment Coalition in January, has been selected as a Pulitzer Prize juror twice, and has served on the board of directors of a nonprofit housing developer in Rhode Island called Women’s Development Corporation and of the Metcalf Institute of Marine and Environmental Reporting at the University of Rhode Island.

That list of recognitions and accomplishments does not include all of her distinctions, and it does not include what Bordeleau considers her most important achievement.

“My two daughters,” she said. “They’re just great people who contribute significantly to their own professions. To watch that is the most tremendous feeling, to watch them go about doing what they do.”

Between her family and career, Bordeleau finds time for herself on the competitive ballroom dance floor.

“It keeps me sane, the artistic expression,” she said. “Sometimes, when you’re in a newsroom, everything’s in your head. You’re always thinking and processing information. When you dance, it’s what’s in the heart, and it’s nice to have that balance.”

Bordeleau didn’t get to this point alone. She notes that William Kirtz, one of her Northeastern journalism professors, and Thomas Heslin, the Providence Journal executive editor before her, were important mentors in her life.

“You have to be smart, but you also have to have a high level of emotional intelligence in order to understand what motivates people, how to manage people, and how to get them to understand why we’re doing what we’re doing,” she said. “It’s not just about writing and reporting stories when you’re an executive editor. It’s about teaching others why it’s so important for us to do it this way, and both of those individuals taught me that.”

Bordeleau is continuing her 20-plus year teaching career. She began teaching in 1996 at the University of Rhode Island, and later has taught at Emerson College and Northeastern University, focusing on newswriting and journalism ethics.

“I don’t think you can accomplish anything good unless it’s through the filter of ethics. It’s about maximizing truth and minimizing harm, and you always have to make decisions based on those two truths,” she said. “It’s not just about writing pretty stories; it’s about making sure you go about it in the correct way.”

‘Who doesn’t like hanging around 20-year-olds? When I leave the classroom, I am so jacked because the students are so passionate about learning about this profession. It’s really just their enthusiasm that’s just a reminder about why I went into it and why I stay in it.’

— Karen Bordeleau

Being in a classroom rejuvenates Bordeleau’s love for her field, as she learns about the newest social media trends while cultivating her students’ passions for journalism.

“Who doesn’t like hanging around 20-year-olds? When I leave the classroom, I am so jacked because the students are so passionate about learning about this profession,” she said. “It’s really just their enthusiasm that’s just a reminder about why I went into it and why I stay in it.”

Bordeleau also taught two journalism ethics courses earlier this year at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University as an Edith Kinney Gaylord Visiting Professor of Journalism Ethics.

“I’m really humbled to have been invited to teach there,” she said.

Maintaining integrity

In the era of fake news and alternative facts, Bordeleau thinks that one of the most important roles of journalists is to protect the integrity of the profession.

“We’re seeing so many assaults on this profession, and they’re faceless,” she said. “There are some people in government today that are trying to chip away at the respectability of the profession by attacking it. But people need to know that journalists have integrity.”

Bordeleau thinks that that can be achieved by verification and accuracy.

“There is a huge amount of verification that goes on before a story is published because we have an obligation … not just to tell the story, but to tell it in an accurate way,” she said.

Bordeleau thinks that that responsibility extends beyond borders.

“One of the most important contributions that us journalists can make is to not just concentrate on our own journalism in this country … but to also make sure that we share our information with journalists in fledgling democracies, because without journalism, you don’t have a democracy,” she said.

She advises young journalists to remember that being a journalist is more than about being an individual journalist.

“It’s not about your byline. It’s about making sure you do the best job you can when you are reporting a story because it’s a reflection on the profession. It’s a reflection on every other journalist there trying to do the right thing,” she said. “Make sure you have all your ducks in a row before you publish anything.”

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Ya gotta have a plan

Ed Henninger design

Ed Henninger
Design

ED HENNINGER is an independent newspaper consultant and the director of Henninger Consulting.

Website: www.henningerconsulting.com
Phone: (803) 327-3322

WANT A FREE evaluation of your newspaper’s design?
Just contact Ed: edh@henningerconsulting.com | (803) 327-3322

IF THIS COLUMN has been helpful, you might be interested in Ed’s books: “Henninger on Design” and “101 Henninger Helpful Hints.” With the help of Ed’s books, you’ll immediately have a better idea how to design for your readers. Find out more about “Henninger on Design” and “101 Henninger Helpful Hints” by visiting Ed’s website: www.henningerconsulting.com

In one of my recent weekly Henninger Helpful Hints, I mentioned that it was important to have a consistent position for the jumps from page 1.

“Decide where your jumps will go,” I said, “and then put them there in every issue. That’s right, every issue. You can do this if you plan your paper. After all, you always know where your obits page is gonna be, right? And the opinion page? And the sports front? And Classifieds?”

One reader replied: “No, Ed, I do not know which pages my obits, sports, editorial, or classified will be on each week. How can I, when each week I receive my thumbnail and I am instructed not to put obits on certain pages because certain advertisers don’t want to be near them?

“If I am lucky enough to have color ads in front, my editorial page, usually page 4, gets bumped to page 6 because of press limitations. I only jump page 1 stories and they all jump together, but not to the same page every week.

“When your paper fluctuates between 10 and 16 pages — down from 26 to 32 a few years ago — it’s impossible to dedicate certain pages each week. Same for sports — it gets whatever two pages are available. Classifieds depend on overall advertising as well. Welcome to my small-weekly world.”

I feel for her. Shoehorning her news content into a much tighter paper is difficult enough, but not having a plan makes the job a nightmare.

Many newspapers pay little attention to consistent organization from issue to issue. For example, content that readers find important—such as obituaries and comics—will float throughout the paper. In one issue, the obits will be on page 6. In the next, they could be on page 8. And in still another issue, obits could be on page 5.

Readers have a right to expect consistency from you, and you get that consistency by creating a sequencing plan.

Sequencing is the logical, orderly and consistent placement of elements within your newspaper.

A good sequencing plan strives to give readers key content in the same place with each issue.

There are three approaches to sequencing:

  1. Page number. The Opinion page is page 4. Always has been, always will be. If you’re reading this week’s editorial, you’re on page 4.
  2. Position: Sports front is always the first page of the B section.
  3. Relative position: Legals are always placed just before classifieds. Or comics are always on the page following classifieds.

To draw up a sequencing plan, you need key people be involved:

  1. The publisher, who will tell us whether we can increase our page count, or whether she’s willing to accept moving the Opinion page if it helps to better organize the paper.
  2. The advertising director, who will help by looking for win-win situations where he can get better advertising space by making some trade-offs with editorial for page position.
  3. The editor, who works with the ad director and the publisher to achieve those trade-offs while looking out for the interests of the reader.
  4. The designer, who has to make the plan work with every issue, and may know some reasons why a particular move may not work.
  5. The press chief, who will be able to help you by identifying color positions and working out how the paper breaks down on the press.
  6. The ad layout person. This is the person who actually dummies the ads into the paper—and usually knows better than anyone else why a particular florist is upset when her ad is not on the obits page.

Yes, I understand that at some newspapers, one person may perform two or three of these tasks. The objective is to get editorial, advertising and production all helping each other to build a better paper.

Working together, these key people take a list of “must” content and form a plan that puts that content into the same sequence issue after issue after issue. Yes there will be exceptions, but you can’t deviate from the plan if you don’t have a plan.

A sound sequencing plan will help you to create a newspaper that is better organized, more predictable and easier for your advertisers and your readers to use.

And who doesn’t want that?

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New England Newspaper Awards Entries: Deadline Is July 12th

Once again this year the New England Newspaper & Press Association will identify our region’s very best daily, weekly and specialty newspapers, and recognize them with the prestigious “New England Newspaper of the Year” award.

This is a one-of-a-kind competition – it is the only distinction in our industry that is judged by the audience members. New England newspaper readers will be appointed to evaluate the entries from a news consumer point of view and decide which deserve the honor of being named “Newspaper of the Year”. Plus, all newspapers in the contest will receive in-depth feedback from the judges about the strengths and weaknesses of their publication (on both print and digital platforms) and how their paper stacks up compared to similar-size papers in our region. Each editor that enters will receive a summary scorecard with the readers’ ratings across a range of attributes that are typically associated with quality newspapers, along with written verbatim comments.

Download 2018 Entry Form

Mail Entries To: NENPA , 1 Arrow Drive, Suite 6, Woburn, MA 01801

Entries are also being accepted for five other prestigious awards:

Publick Occurrences Awards
This award recognizes individual or team stories, series, spot news coverage, columns or photojournalism that ran in print and/or online. Editors should view this entry as their “very best work of the year.”

Allan B. Rogers Editorial Award
This award recognizes the best editorial on a local subject that ran in New England in the past year.

New England First Amendment Award
This award will recognize a New England newspaper for its exceptional work inupholding the First Amendment and/or educating the public about it.

Bob Wallack Community Journalism Award
This award celebrates the accomplishments of someone who, over a sustained period of time, has faithfully served the communityfor which they are responsible and has played an active, constructive role in contributing to its quality of life.

AP Sevellon Brown New England Journalist of the Year
This award is bestowed by the New England Society of News Editors, and it recognizes an individual for producing journalism of distinction in New England this past year.

The awards will be presented at the New England Newspaper Conference on Thursday October 11, 2018 in Natick, MA. This conference is one of the most prestigious functions in the newspaper industry. This event includes expert speakers, the New England Newspaper Awards luncheon and the New England Academy of Journalists’ Yankee Quill Awards Dinner. If you are interested in sponsoring or being an exhibitor at the event email Christine at c.panek@nenpa.com. Registration and more information to come!

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Help fight the newsprint tariffs on Canadian newsprint

A Message From the News Media Alliance

Newsprint tariffs petitionOn July 17, 2018, the International Trade Commission will hear testimony on the preliminary tariffs. We have asked Members of Congress to testify or submit comments for this hearing, and describe the impact of these tariffs on their local newspapers and jobs in their districts /states. We are also asking them to argue that U.S. newsprint producers will be harmed by the tariffs as their customers reduce their consumption of newsprint by cutting pages; reducing days of delivery, …etc. Relatedly, the Secretary of Commerce (who has an important and distinct role in the newsprint case) expressed interest in receiving information from newspapers on the impact of the tariffs on their businesses.  We need your help to promote newspaper participation in an industry survey so that we can collect data that can be shared with Members of Congress and the Department of Commerce.  We ask that newspapers answer as many questions as possible by July 3.
Additionally, the Stop Tariffs on Printers and Publishers coalition has initiated a citizen and employee petition against the tariffs that will be sent to the ITC around the July 17 hearing. Right now, we have over 2,800 signatures, far short of our goal of 10,000. Please consider signing the petition. The preliminary tariffs are currently costing publishers and printers hundreds of millions of dollars.
Take Survey
Sign Petition
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CNHI explores sale of newspaper company

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – CNHI, LLC, one of the country’s leading providers of local news and information, said Monday it is exploring the sale of its newspaper properties in 22 states.

The announcement was made after its parent company, Raycom Media Inc., reported it has signed an agreement to be acquired by Gray Television group, a public company headquartered in Atlanta.

Donna Barrett, CNHI’s president and chief executive office, said the company has retained the newspaper brokerage firm of Dirks, Van Essen, Murray and April to handle the sale of its newspapers.

“We’re excited to open the next chapter in our commitment to top-flight community journalism,” said Barrett. “We are looking for a transaction or transactions that will carry on CNHI’s rich tradition of public service through award-winning journalism.”

CNHI is a 20-year-old newspaper company that has grown from a few community newspapers at the outset to more than 100 papers today. They are located in the Midwest, Southwest, Southeast and Northeast.

Raycom Media Inc., which owns or operates television stations in 65 markets, acquired CNHI nine months ago.

“As we undertake this exploration process, we cannot say that any particular transaction will or will not take place,” said Barrett. “What we can say is that we will consider various options as we work to find a partner or partners that share our dedication to community newspapers and the vital journalism they produce to serve local audiences.”

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One way to handle advertisers who resist change

John Foust Advertising
John Foust Advertising

John Foust
Advertising

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.

Email for information: john@johnfoust.com

john-foust-ad-libs

Colleen is a veteran ad manager who has worked with just about every type of advertiser. “One of the most challenging prospects was a second-generation owner of a building supply company,” she told me. “He had a loyal base of long-time customers, but his market share was declining.

“Every advertiser wants to attract new customers,” she said, “but his case was more complicated. Although they had state-of-the-art products and services, the company’s public persona was stuck in the past. His logo and ad layouts looked ancient, and the copy was stilted. He adamantly resisted changes and told us, ‘My father started this company and he had special ad formats. If those things were good enough for him, they are good enough for me.’”

Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar and others have told the story of the bride who suggested cutting off the ends of a ham before putting it in the oven. When her husband asked why, she said her mother did it that way. Being a curious sort, he called his mother-in-law, who told him that her mother did it that way. Then he called grandma, who explained that she cut off the ends so it would fit into her small oven. The original reason for cutting the ham had disappeared when the family got larger ovens, but the practice remained. The point: it’s not a good idea to do things a certain way, because they’ve always been done that way.

All those years ago, Colleen’s advertiser’s father had sensible reasons for his advertising approach. But a generation later, those reasons weren’t quite so relevant.

“We handled it by putting together a special presentation,” Colleen said. “The first step was to help him understand that it was okay to change. We showed him a few examples of well-known brands that have updated their advertising. To make it as objective as possible, we used one old ad and one new ad from industries that weren’t related to his business – automotive, electronics and a department store. The ads were easy to find online.

“We told him, ‘When your father started this business, he must have shown a lot of creativity in adapting to the marketplace. That’s why the business grew so much over the years. I think he would have continued that approach today.’ Then we got his permission to put together some ideas – with the promise that the ads would honor his company’s history.

“He agreed on a new logo and updated ad designs. And we ended up with a campaign with a ‘what has and hasn’t changed’ theme. One ad featured side-by-side photographs of the original and current stores. One had photos of their old and new delivery trucks. And one ad featured a picture of father and son at work. Of course, the ‘what hasn’t changed’ element was their commitment to customer service.”

Colleen’s advertiser was happy with the results. “He liked the ads,” she said. “And they worked.”

(c) Copyright 2018 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

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How a reporter can avoid being laid off

Bart Pfankuch

Better Writing
with Bart

Bart Pfankuch, an investigative reporter for South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit public-service news agency online at sdnewswatch.org, will offer his excellent writing advice. He can be reached by email at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.

 

 

Which reporter in any newsroom is always the editor’s best friend, and as such is the least likely to get laid off?

It isn’t the woman who tells funny jokes, though that certainly helps break the tension. It’s not the friendly fellow who brings in donuts every week, though that’s not a bad job-protection strategy either. And it’s certainly not the sycophant who tells everyone what they want to hear (duh, since spotting falsity is a key job skill for editors and reporters.)

Instead — with other basic skills such as accuracy, attitude, hustle and organization all being equal — look to the reporter who never needs to be given an assignment, the writer who can propose and produce an A-1 story on the drop of a hat, the journalist who always has a list of ideas both great and small that can not only fill a hole but do so with flair or feistiness.

Of course, editors still desire depth, storytelling and watchdog journalism. Those higher-level pieces and packages remain the top goal of any good editor and news organization.

But if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll realize that in the modern shrinking newsroom, productivity has become priceless.

Look at it this way: you’re an editor and you have to cut a position, so who goes first? The reporter with a dozen doable story ideas, or the writer who comes to every story meeting with the same list of duds or yearlong projects that never get off the ground?

To that end, here are some ways to generate good story ideas that will not only offer a modicum of employment protection, but which can also prime the pump of higher-level reporting and storytelling along the way.

  • Read and think. These are the simplest of all idea-generation techniques, but still top the list. Read books, magazines, news feeds, blogs, online journals, advertisements, your competitors, meeting agendas, government reports, free community newspapers and shoppers, press releases, church bulletins, posters taped to light poles, and for heaven’s sake, read your own publication (and don’t forget the legal ads and letters to the editor.) Then think about how the things you read relate to your community, your beat or your readers’ lives. Begin to put concepts together in meaningful ways.
  • Use windshield time wisely. When driving, turn off the radio, put down the cell phone, keep your eyes open and think. What are you seeing? What’s new? What’s changing? Who’s around and what are they doing? Take a different route to and from home. Pick a place on a map and zip over there. Know your surroundings and you’ll know where news is oozing. Be safe and pull over if necessary to record ideas. But never forget that driving time is thinking time.
  • Work your beat, then work it some more. Drop by city hall or the courthouse or cop shop and talk to people, anyone. Listen to what they say. Be curious and let them know you care. Share a little of yourself to break the ice. Ask about things that are sensitive. Read agendas in full. Seek out supporting documents. Go where few others go. Always ask people: What’s new? What’s good or bad? What’s inspiring or troubling? What’s coming up? What story would you like to see get told? Get on multiple list serves or press release email lists, even if they’re not directly on point to your beat. Return all phone calls and emails.
  • Your real life is an idea wonderland. Keep your mind always open to ideas. Talk to people you meet at the store, in church, at the dog park, in the restaurant or even on the street. If 10 quick conversations lead to one good idea, it’s worth it (plus, being interested in others is just being nice.) Talk to people at work both inside and outside the newsroom. Let non-news colleagues know you are interested. Be the reporter who answers the random newsroom phone call or who handles the oft-dreaded visitor drop-by.
  • Always ask yourself: “What’s up with that?” That simple question has been a driving force in my journalism career. Why are things they way they are? Can things be different or better? Is the old way the best way? Is something new part of a larger trend? I remember driving the same interstate route in Florida for a year before finally asking myself, “What’s up with that?” and stopping to see why many farms had long one-story metal buildings but no silos. Meeting a farmer, I discovered that row-cropping was nearly dead in the Sunshine State and that mechanized chicken farming in the long narrow barns had become a new agricultural lifeblood. A solid news trend story resulted after I found out “What’s up with that.”

The bottom line on all these tips is to be curious, constantly curious. Think like a child for whom every person, place, thing or concept is a marvelous mystery waiting to be discovered and understood. I can’t guarantee you’ll keep your job, but it surely won’t hurt.

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Obituaries June 2018

Carol S. Knapton

Carol S. Knapton, 86, of Needham, beloved wife of David A. Knapton, passed away on June 5, 2018. Born in Newton, MA, to Rev. Louis Clarence and Emma Johannaber Schroeder, Carol was a resident of Needham for more than sixty years. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Oberlin College, and later a master’s degree in English literature at Boston University. Carol taught English in the Lakeview Ohio public school system before her marriage, and in later years, taught English at the Kingsley School in Boston. She served as a professor of English as a Second Language at Bentley, Lasell, Babson, Boston College, Lesley, and BU. She also was a journalist for the Needham Times and The Patriot Ledger. Carol was active in the League of Women Voters and Friends of the Needham Public Library, as well as a vocal and influential champion of civil rights and the environment. Carol was a lively conversationalist, passionate in her beliefs, an arts aficionado, and had a wonderful and witty sense of humor. Carol loved to swim, garden and play word games. Carol is survived by her husband David; her four children: Paul Knapton of Malden; Sally K. Schroeder of Tempe, AZ; Emily Knapton Chang of So. Salem, NY; and Cheryl Toler of Swampscott; two grandchildren: Aubrey and Bobby Chang; and her sister, Emily Scroggs of Bridgewater. On Wednesday, August 22 at 2 p.m., a memorial service will be held at First Parish in Needham Unitarian – Universalist, 23 Dedham Ave, Needham, MA, with a private burial for family prior. Memorial contributions may be made in Carol S. Knapton’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Mildred “Millie” Siegel

Mildred “Millie” Siegel, 93, of Danbury, wife of Morton Siegel, died on Wednesday, May 30, 2018 at her home.

Millie was born in Huntington, West Virginia, May 3, 1925. She charmed Morton while he walked his family dog. Spottie on the West Side Drive, in New York City.
A loving mother of two independent creative spirits (Ellyn and Joseph aka Larry), Millie was a lifelong musician virtual artist, traveled to many places in the world, met many dignitaries and celebrities, worked as a secretary, an advertising copywriter, a newspaper journalist in many capacities at the Danbury News-Times. She was a coordinator of the Danbury Cultural Commission, an award winning painter and member of the Flyboys Club, a visual arts collective.

She was an active member of the Woman’s Club and was a founding member of the Richter Association for the Arts. Millie championed music and the arts in the greater Danbury area for fifty years.

She will be sorely missed. Everybody loved Millie.

Pamela (Holley) Wood

Pamela Holley Wood, writer, teacher, journalist, pioneer in documentary field studies and founder of Salt Inc., died May 29, 2019, at her home in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Born in Maud Okla., Nov. 6, 1929, Pamela was a gifted pianist. Choosing to forego a career in music, she accepted a scholarship to Radcliffe. Pam graduated in three years and married John Frisbie Wood who shared her passion for journalism. They moved to California, pooling their resources to purchase a small daily newspaper, the Corning Daily Observer. Pam reported on all the county news, John secured advertising, wrote editorials and managed production.

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Phebe Ann Clarke Lewis

Phebe Ann Clarke Lewis, 103, died peacefully May 5, 2018, in Manchester. She drew first breath November 2, 1914, and received her double first name and its uncommon spelling in honor of her mother’s mother, in whose Lake Forest, Illinois, home Phebe Ann was born.

Vermonters might recall Phebe Ann’s reminiscences about her youth in Manchester that were included in Vermont Public Television’s first “Vermont Memories” documentary.

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Elsie Talanian

Elsie Talanian, 98, of Pelham, NH died peacefully on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 at Salemhaven.

She was born June 10, 1920 and she was educated in Bristol, CT, the daughter of the late Sophie (Winterhuff) and Otto Bochus. Elsie graduated from Bristol High School, Class of 1939 and Bristol Secretarial School. She began her career in newspapers in Connecticut, later moving to Salem, NH. Elsie was well known for her column, “A Chat With Elsie” that appeared in the Salem Observer for 42 years.

She had a giving nature and a great sense of humor. She lived by the adage, “If you give to the world the best you have, the best will come back to you.”

Elsie is survived by her beloved friends who were like family, Mary Griffin, Faith Harris Shaw, Betsy Harris, Sue Harris Garnick, Charlotte Cate, June Lambert, and Anita Michaud.

She was predeceased by her husband George Talanian and many friends. Elsie was an member of the NENPA Hall of Fame.

At Elsie’s request, services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Elsie’s name to Salemhaven Resident Council, 23 Geremonty Drive, Salem, NH 03079.

Robert G. Wilmers

PITTSFIELD — Robert G. Wilmers, chairman and CEO of M&T Bank Corp. and a co-owner of New England Newspapers Inc., died unexpectedly at his home in New York City on Saturday night. He was 83.

A longtime resident of Stockbridge — he purchased his home there in 1969 — Wilmers was a regional philanthropist and a local one, too. He quietly made donations totaling in the millions to cultural institutions across the Berkshires from The Mount in Lenox to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams.

Wilmers was among the group that purchased The Berkshire Eagle and three Vermont papers in May 2016. The group also includes Hans Morris of Stockbridge, Judi Lipsey of Buffalo, N.Y., and Fredric D. Rutberg, of Stockbridge, who is president and publisher of the company.

“The Eagle lost a visionary leader committed to excellence and Berkshire County lost a devoted, generous neighbor who supported practically every civic and cultural cause in our area,” Rutberg said.

As a businessman and Stockbridge resident, Morris knew Wilmers for 30 years before both men decided to be part of NENI’s new ownership team. Morris wasn’t too surprised his friend got involved in the local Fourth Estate.

“He cared so much about newspapers, so much about journalism. He read five papers a day,” Morris said.

The Wall Street Journal, in reporting news of Wilmers’ death on Sunday, said of him: “His manner was low-key and he spoke in public only rarely. But he didn’t mince words.”

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Gail P. Delmolino

Gail P. Delmolino, 71, passed away on June 6, 2018, at her home, after a lengthy illness.

Born on October 2, 1946, she was the daughter of the late William and Mabel Saulpaugh Faivre.

Gail was a lifelong resident of the Berkshires having graduated from the former Searles High School with the class of 1964 and later earning a degree in Interior Architecture from Russell Sage College in Troy, NY.

She was employed for many years at the Berkshire Courier, now the Berkshire Record, as a journalist and editor. She also had her own real estate company, “Quarry Hill Realty” for several years. An accomplished artist, her beautiful paintings grace the homes of her family and friends. She was an avid animal lover and always cherished her dogs, of which she had many over the years.

Gail is survived by her son Edward A. Delmolino, IV, his wife Pilar and their children, her beloved granddaughters, Mareika and Emilia Delmolino of Pollock Pines, California. She also leaves her long-time companion John Bugsch, her cousins and her many friends.

A special thank-you to Maryann Decker for her friendship and caring over the past few years.

Peter M. Casolino, Jr

Peter M. Casolino, Jr., died on June 15, 2018 at the age of 51 at St. Raphael’s Hospital, New Haven, CT following a brief illness.

Peter was born May 4, 1967 to Diane (Thompson) Manzi and the late Peter Casolino, Sr. in Danbury, CT. He attended schools in Danbury and then Southern Connecticut State University for Fine Arts, printmaking and photography. He worked as a staff photographer / Editor at The New Haven Register from 1991-2014 and more recently as a contract photographer for the Hartford Courant, As a staff photographer he covered breaking national news events including 9/11 attacks in New York City and the tragic Sandy Hook school shooting.

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Dorothy Frazer Carpenter

Dorothy Frazer Carpenter was born June 17, 1926 in Rockville Center, N.Y. and grew up in Long Beach, N.Y. a short walk from the white sand beach and ocean of the south shore of Long Island. She graduated from the Long Beach public schools and the University of Vermont. She was a member of several honor societies, an editor of the UVM Cynic, and did graduate work at the University of South Carolina.

In September of 1947 Dotsy (or Duck as she was called by many friends) married Torrey Carpenter. They lived and raised their children in Burlington, for many years on Cliff Street before moving to her present home on So. Prospect St.

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Roger Conrad Bowman

Roger Conrad Bowman, 84, of Greenfield died Thursday, June 7, 2018 at home. He was born June 28, 1933 in Derby, CT to Llewellyn H. Bowman and Mabel (Young) Bowman. He moved with his family to Mechanic Falls, ME where he graduated as valedictorian from Mechanic Falls High School. Roger received his BA in English from the University of Maine where he was an ROTC student and entered the Army following graduation. He was stationed at the Pentagon for the duration of his service.

He held editing jobs in DC and NYC before relocating to this area where he worked as the Leisure Editor for the Recorder. Roger had a love for theater and acted with groups both in DC and New York as well as with the Arena Civic Theater here in Greenfield. He was a Board Member for the Shea Theater in Turners Falls for a time and was also a long-time member of the Greenfield YMCA.

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Richard J. Johnston

WINDHAM – Richard “Dick” Johnston, 83, died peacefully at Genesis in Lebanon, NH on June 3, 2018 with family around him. He was born September 8, 1934 to the late John and Genevieve Johnston of St. Johnsbury, VT.

His first job was delivering papers, and after graduation from St. Johnsbury Trade School. He worked full time for the Caledonian Record in St Johnsbury. His love of newspapers showed his whole life. All the grandkids knew to leave the papers around Bompa’s chair alone. He was particularly fond of solving the daily Jumble.

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Philip Gimli-Mead

Winooski – Philip Gimli-mead, 63 of Daleville, VA passed away on September 18, 2017.

He was born in Winooski, Vermont on November 11, 1953 to Kenneth Linwood Mead and Dorothy Rita (DeForge) Mead and lived in the Botetourt area for the last nine years. Phil was a graduate of Lyndon State College, and in 1974, founded the Islander, the first newspaper in the Champlain Islands. Later, he became an Investment Broker. Phil was a benefactor to many young people who wished to continue higher education and was a strong supporter of the Art programs in the High Schools in Vermont over several decades and recently in Botetourt, Virginia. He enjoyed the Mets baseball team and the New York Giants football team. Phil was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers; and is survived by a brother, two sisters and his childhood sweetheart and fiancée Heidi A. Miller.

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Convention Scenery

Bulletin photo by Jonathan Polen 
Hadley Barndollar, a reporter with The Exeter (N.H.) News-Letter, displays a smile and her plaque after winning the rookie of the year award for weekly newspapers.

Convention Scenery

Speaker moments…

They included times of quiet reflection, speakers as seen from the audience’s perspective, and shadowy scenes framed by the low light for video displays.

 

Audience moments…

A time for expressions of appreciation, for questions,

 

Celebratory moments…

The audience and award winners found multiple ways to react to the joy of victory, including applause, smiles and laughter, high-fives, fist-bumps, and photo-taking.

 

Quiet moments…

Silent symbols sometimes defined the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s winter convention: note-taking, place settings, a pile of award plaques among them.

 

 

 

Bulletin photos by Jonathan Polen, Alastair Pike, Leila Habib, and Angela Gomba

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