december 2013 colorado editor
DESCRIPTION
Monthly publication of the Colorado Press AssociationTRANSCRIPT
colorado Slimp: Some papers show major circulation increases. PAGE 4
Official publication of the Colorado Press Association / coloradopressassociation.com / Vol. LXXXIV, No. 12 December 2013
editor
INK on Page 7
By Cheryl Ghrist Contributing Editor
There was no escape from the heartrending web and television images of a community
overwhelmed by the tragedy of nature that was the Black Forest Fire last June:
At first – growing plumes of white, orange or black smoke filling the sky, as if ominous rain clouds were swelling from the ground. An all-encompassing brown, red and orange haze, hiding the sun and the community like dense fog. Red shooting flames edged in black smoke, in stark contrast amid green towering pines. Fire running up trees or across beds of dry, pine-needle groundcover. A house exploding in a ball of incandescent yellow flame surrounded by an eerie orange glow in the middle of a black night.
Later – acres of ghastly black trees sticking up out of a white ash base that could have been a winter scene, but wasn’t. Neighbors hugging, crying, looking over all that was left of their homes. Gray foundation walls, lone chimneys, torched pickups. Twisted and burnt metal that could have been a furnace in this pile, a bicycle in another. Displaced residents finding someplace, anyplace to hunker down for one or a few nights. A wooden sign scrawled with “Black Forest Refugee Base Camp” alongside an RV parked in one resident’s burn site.
And yet there were encouraging images as well. People leading their families, dogs, horses out of danger. Taking out treasured belongings in hastily-packed cars, trailers, campers. A tattered American flag hanging from an improvised sapling flag pole. Clothes, food and household donations
By Rebekah Romberg
In war, people die. This is a well-known fact. Yet, oftentimes the destruction and human cost is forgotten after a few years of war. People become absorbed in their own world and the latest news takes the spotlight. For Kelly Kennedy, however, war became her life in June of 2007.
Kennedy, a former Colorado Press Association staff member, was imbedded in an infantry unit in Adhamiya, a district in the city of Baghdad. She was sent to Iraq to
cover post-traumatic stress disorder.“I had been covering post-traumatic
stress disorder and they sent me to Iraq to see if I could find out more about it,” Kennedy said, beginning to laugh. “So I did.”
Kennedy was there for some of the most gruesome days the infantry unit faced. The company lost more soldiers than any U.S. battalion since Vietnam. Still, Kennedy spent a fair amount of time with the men in the infantry unit.
Symbols are embodiments of ideas, beliefs and emotions that can unite us in a common cause. The military is rife with symbols — some obvious, like the U.S. flag, others less so.
Which brings me to this Ziploc baggie of salt-and-pepper sand on my desk.
It arrived by post some months ago, boxed and double-bagged. I have carefully unzipped it only a few times, gritting volcanic, glittery crystals between fingertips,
huffing in faint sea scent before sealing it up again.
But this is not a gift for me; it is for my dad, the Marine.
Today, the Marine Corps Birthday, and the day before Veterans Day, feels like the right time to give it to him.
Last winter, at the annual convention for the Colorado Press Association, Larry Ryckman of the Denver Post displayed his
Photo by Cheryl Ghrist Black Forest News & Palmer Divide Pioneer Owner and Publisher Judith von Ahlefeldt holds a burnt pair of scissors she once used to clip ads from her newspaper.
Black Forest Fire couldn’t take down a community or one determined newspaper ownerInk from the Ash
Kennedy’s firsthand account captures human cost of war
Symbolism in the sand
laurena maynedavis
DAVIS on Page 8 KENNEDY on Page 4
2 colorado editor December 2013
colorado editorISSN #162-0010
USPS # 0122-940
Vol. LXXXIV, Issue 12December 2013
Colorado Editor is the official publication of the Colorado Press
Association and is published monthly at 1336 Glenarm Place.Denver, CO 80204-2115
p: 303-571-5117f: 303-571-1803
coloradopressassociation.com
Subscription rate:$10 per year, $1 single copy
StaffSamantha Johnston
Publisher/Executive [email protected]
Brian ClarkDesign Editor
Board of DirectorsOFFICERS
ChairBrenda Brandt
The Holyoke [email protected]
PresidentBryce Jacobson
Vice PresidentTerri House
The Pagosa Springs [email protected]
TreasurerKeith Cerny
Alamosa Valley [email protected]
SecretaryBart Smith
DIRECTORSMark Drudge
Cortez [email protected]
Laurena Mayne DavisThe Daily Sentinel
Matt LubichThe Johnstown Breeze
Don LindleyThe Durango Herald
Larry RyckmanThe Denver Post
Periodical postage paid atDenver, CO 80202.
POSTMASTER:Send address changes to
Colorado Editor1336 Glenarm Place
Denver, CO 80204-2115
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
CHAIRBryce JacobsonPublisher, Craig Daily [email protected]
Bryce Jacobson started in the newspaper business at age 8, delivering the Journal-Advocate in Sterling. He later worked in the newspaper’s mailroom and circulation department, and was named circulation manager in 1998.
Jacobson later worked in the circulation departments at the Star-Herald in Scottsbluff, Neb. and the Denver Newspaper Agency until he was hired as the publisher of the Craig Daily Press in 2006. Jacobson published the Daily Press until 2013 when he was named Advertising Director at the Greeley Tribune.
He is a member of the Kiwanis Club of the Rockies, serves on various committees with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Weld County and is enrolled in
Leadership Weld County through the Greeley Chamber of Commerce.
Jacobson is the father of two children, Peyton, age 14 and Bayley, age 10.
He has served the board as treasurer in 2011, vice president in 2012 and president in 2013.
PRESIDENTTerri [email protected]
Terri House began her newspaper career at The SUN at age 15, working in the mailroom. She held the positions of advertising manager, general manager and assistant publisher before purchasing the newspaper in 2003.
Service to her community is of utmost importance to House. She received the Pagosa Springs Volunteer of the Year Award in 2008 and Citize of the Year in 1996. She has served as President of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado and received the Mashaw’s Magic Moment Award in 2010. House has served as Council Chair of United Way, board of directors of Archuleta County Fair, Western Heritage Committee producing the Red Ryder Roundup Rodeo, Operation Helping Hand Christmas charity, the Prevention Coalition and Reach for the Peaks balloon rally among other things.
She is currently the President of the Pagosa Springs Rotary Club and serves on the advisory council of Southwest Community College.
Terri was elected to the board in 2009. She served as secretary in 2011, treasurer in 2012 and vice president in 2013.
VICE PRESIDENTKeith CernyPublisher, Valley Courier, Alamosa [email protected]
Keith Cerny is publisher of the Valley Courier in Alamosa. He is also a division manager for News Media Corporation with oversight of eight newspapers in the San Luis Valley and one in Wyoming.
Prior to moving to Alamosa in 1992, Cerny served on the Wyoming Press Association Board of Directors while publisher in Evanston and Lusky, Wyo.
Cerny serves on the board of directors of the Adams State University Foundation, Adams State University Grizzly Club, Alamosa County Economic Development Board and is the Alamosa Rotary Club immediate past president. He also serves on the San Luis Valley Regional Council for El Pomar Foundation. Cerny previously served on the Creede Theater Board and the San Luis Valley Arts and Entertainment Committee.
He was appointed to the CPA board in 2009. He served as secretary in 2012 and treasurer in 2013.
TREASURERBart SmithPublisher, Greeley Tribune [email protected]
Bart Smith is the General Manager of Greeley Publishing Company & The Fencepost Company, which operate the Greeley Tribune, Windsor Now and The Fencepost in addition to several agriculture publications and websites in multiple states.
After earning a journalism degree from the University of Wyoming and stints in Rawlins and Lander, Wyo., Smith filled editor and publisher roles in a variety of locations, including: Whitefish, Mont., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and Roseburg, Ore. before coming back to the Rockies.
Smith got hooked on newspapers as a young U.S. Army correspondent in Vietnam in 1971.
He is past president of the Montana Press Association and chaired the News Education Committee of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. He is a former member of the National Press Photographers Association and the National Conference of Editorial Writers.
Smith lives in Greeley with his wife and a daughter attending college. His oldest daughter is a reporter for the Summit Daily News in Frisco, Colo.
SECRETARYLaurena Mayne DavisMarketing Director, The Daily [email protected]
Laurena Mayne Davis began her journalism career as a graduate assistant writing and editing stories for the Northern Arizona University’s Graduate College magazine. She later was a full-time journalism lecturer at NAU with a news writing focus.
Mayne Davis was hired as a copy editor at the Grand Junction Sentinel in 1994 and was promoted to features editor in January 2000. Mayne Davis left the Sentinel in 2003 to be an instructor of mass communication at Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University), where she continues as adjunct faculty. She also spent time at Community Hospital as a pool writer and editor.
Mayne Davis returned to the Daily Sentinel and most recently served as Managing Editor. Mayne Davis was named Marketing Director at The Daily Sentinel in 2013.
She holds a BA in Humanities from Mesa State College and an MA in English from Northern Arizona University.
HOLDOVER DIRECTORS
DIRECTORMatt LubichExecutive Editor, Co-Owner, The Johnstown [email protected]
Matt Lubich is the executive editor and co-owner of the Johnstown Breeze. He has co-owned The Breeze with his wife, Lesli Bangert, since 1997.
The 108-year-old weekly newspaper has been covering the communities of Johnstown and Milliken and surrounding Weld and Larimer Counties since 1904.
Lubich grew up in Pueblo, where his first job in the business was driving a Sunday morning contract delivery route for the Pueblo Chieftain.
Lubich graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 1986 with a degree in journalism.
Lubich worked at the Evans Star Press and for legendary Colorado editor, Percy Connaroe at The Lafayette News in the late 80s. Lubich returned to Colorado in 1991 from New Mexico. He wandered into the Breeze looking for freelance work and eventually became the paper’s editor before he and his wife purchased the paper from Clyde and Ardis Briggs in 1997.
In 2002 and again in 2005, The Breeze won General Excellence from the Colorado
cpa board electionThe following slate of candidates will appear on the
ballot during the annual board election to be held Friday, Feb. 21, 2014 during the annual convention.
No nominations for board members were submitted this year. The board is actively seeking two additional members to be added to the 2014 roster.
Regular CPA members may vote in person or by proxy at the annual meeting in February. Proxy voting instructions will be emailed to all members January 6, 2014.
The CPA Board of Directors seeks applicants for two 2-year appointments. Applicants must be a working
member of the Colorado news media and hold an management-level position in advertising, publishing, circulation, editorial, or any other newspaper department at a CPA member newspaper.
The CPA board of directors is seeking one daily and one weekly newspaper representative.
To send a letter of interest, read the complete nomination form or find out any more information about the board, visit coloradopressassociation.com/about/board or contact Samantha Johnston at [email protected] or by phone at 303-571-5117.
2014 CPAAnnual MeetingFriday, Feb. 21, 20147:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.Westin Denver Downtown (Lawrence A)
colorado editor 3December 2013
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (Nov. 19, 2013) – The Alliance for Audited Media board of directors agreed to eliminate the paid circulation requirement for U.S. and Canadian newspaper membership. The decision follows a newspaper member advisory vote in which a majority supported eliminating the bylaw that required 70 per-cent of a newspaper’s circulation to be paid.
Any newspaper—whether paid or free, print or digital—now qualifies for mem-bership in AAM.
“This change reflects the evolving nature of the newspaper industry, where content is distributed via an array of paid and free print products, on tablet and
smartphone apps, and on continuously updated websites,” explained AAM Board Chairman Sunni Boot of ZenithOptimedia Canada. “Now advertisers will have even more audited data for each distribution channel newspapers use.”
• • •
AAM President and Managing Direc-tor Mike Lavery announced plans to retire in late 2014. Lavery joined AAM in 1987 and has served as its president since 1995. The board has engaged New York-based Bert Davis Executive Search to begin the recruiting process for a new president.
Did you publish a great crime/police story or project in 2013? Enter the Al Nakkula police reporting contest for a $2,000 prize. The award honors the “bulldog tenacity’’ of legendary Rocky Mountain News Reporter Al Nakkula. Deadline for entries Jan. 27, 2014. Early entries appreciated. Late entries not accepted. Entry fee is $75. Contest is sponsored by University of Colorado Journalism & Mass Communication and the Denver Press Club. More info:
http://journalism.colorado.edu/al-nakkula-award/
Entry deadline for the 2014 Al Nakkula Award for outstanding police reporting is Jan. 27, 2014. Late entries will not be accepted. The entry fee is $75 and the first-place prize is $2,000. The award is for work produced on any media platform in 2013. The winner will be invited to the Denver Press Club’s annual Damon Runyon dinner in March and to speak to classes at the University of Colorado Boulder
Journalism & Mass Communication program. The second-place finisher receives a certificate of merit.
The Nakkula Award is named for the late Al Nakkula, a 46-year veteran of the Rocky Mountain News, whose bulldog tenacity made him a legendary police reporter. The contest is sponsored by the University of Colorado Journalism & Mass Communication program and the Denver Press Club.
Entries must be in electronic form, submitted to Michelle P. Fulcher, [email protected]
Credit Card PaymentIf you would like to use a credit card,
please click on Nakkula Award PDF, fill it out, and fax it to 303-492-0969 with Attention: Marilyn Bender.
Or the entry fee may be mailed to Michelle P. Fulcher Armory 1B15, UCB 478 Boulder, CO 80309-0478
For questions please call Michelle P. Fulcher, 303-492-0460.
Press Association.Lubich and Bangert have two daughters,
Riley, a student at Montana State University in Bozeman, and Harper Lee, a senior at Roosevelt High School in Johnstown.
Lubich was appointed the board in 2012 and elected to serve a two-year term in February 2013.
DIRECTOR Don LindleyManaging Editor, The Durango [email protected]
Don Lindley moved to Colorad in 2010 to become managing editor of The Durango Herald. Before that, he had a long career with daily newspapers in Florida working as an environmental reporter, editorial writer, managing editor and executive editor.
He serves on the board of directors of the National Freedom of Information Council. In Florida, he served eight years on the board of the Florida Society of News Editors as its FOI chair. He also was a trustee of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation for 12 years and chaired the FAF board from 2006 to 2010.
Lindley is currently the CPA Legislative Committee chair.
A native of Milwaukee, Wis., Lindley holds a B.A. in political science from Yale University and a M.S. in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
He lives in Durango with his wife.
TWO-YEAR TERM
DIRECTORMark [email protected]
Mark Drudge started his newspaper career in 1986 with the Glenwood Post as a circulation district manager and quickly moved to the advertising department working as a sales account executive for
several years. In the late 90s, he moved back to circulation working as a circulation director for the Western Slope Publishing Group.
He held his first publisher position at the Rifle Citizen Telegram in 2000.
Drudge left Colorado for a few years and worked as both a publisher and sales manager in York, Neb. and Newton, Iowa.
Following his desire to return to the mountains to be closer to his children, Drudge joined the Cortez Journal as sales manager in March of 2010.
Drudge holds a BS in Education Ball State University. He loves to trout fish and to get off road in his 1971 Toyota Land Cruiser.
He has played the banjo since he was a child and he played and recorded in several working bluegrass bands over the years.
He has two daughters, Kelly, in Battlement Mesa and Katie, in Guam with the United States Air Force.
DIRECTORLarry RyckmanAssistant City Editor, The Denver [email protected]
Larry Ryckman is an Assistant City Editor at The Denver Post.
Larry spent 22 years at The Associated Press as a Moscow correspondent, National Editor and Assistant Managing Editor, among other postings. He covered the war in Chechnya and has overseen coverage of major events and disasters including hurricanes, wildfires, Columbine and the presidential election recount in Florida in 2000.
He also has been Local News Editor at the Greeley Tribune and Managing Editor at The Gazette in Colorado Springs.
Larry was appointed to the board in 2013.
2013 Winner: “Broken Shield” Ryan Gabrielson
Center for Investigative Reporting’s California
Watch
2012 Winner: “Both Sides of the Law”
Gina Barton The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
2011 Winner: Cris Barrish
The News Journal
2010 Winner: Mark Puente
The Plain Dealer
2009 Winner: Karyn Spencer
Omaha World-Herald
2008 Winner: Jonathan Schuppe
The Newark Star-Ledger
2007 Winner: Robert Rogers
The Sun
2006 Winner: John Diedrich
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
2005 Winner: Amber Hunt Martin
Detroit Free Press
2004 Winner: Del Quentin Wilber
Baltimore Sun
2003 Winner: Stacy Finz
San Francisco Chronicle
2002 Winner: Stephanie Warsmith
Akron Beacon Journal
2001 Winner: Brigid O’Malley
Naples Daily News
Second Place Vanessa Ho
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
2000 Winner: Tom Searls
Charleston Gazette
Second Place Dawn Hobbs
Santa Barbara News-Press
1999 Winner: Sean Gardiner
The Florida Times-Union
1998 Winner: Mark Truby
The Huntington Herald-Dispatch
1997 Winner: Andy Furillo
The Sacramento Bee
1996 Winner: Pamela Hill
Northwest Arkansas Times
1995 Winner: Melvin Claxton
Virgin Islands Daily News
1994 Winner: William Hermann
The Arizona Republic
1993 Winner: J.D. Mullane
Bucks County Courier Times
1992 Winner: Scott Bowles
The Detroit News
1991 Winner: Diana K. Sugg
The Sacramento Bee
Past Winners
AAM eliminates membership requirement; Lavery announces 2014 retirement plan
Nakkula award honors ‘bulldog tenacity’
Please join us in welcoming the Van Man!
Elizabeth Bernberg, SYNC2 Media VP of Sales
and Marketing, helped make the world a better
place with the addition of• • •
Van Wesley James
Bernberg• • •
Born August 21, 2013, 8:01 a.m.
9 lbs., 1 oz. 21.5 inches long
4 colorado editor December 2013
A few years ago, I developed the Francis A. Henninger Grant Program, which helps me improve the look of even the smallest newspapers.
From my work on those projects, I’ve realized that many editors at these papers have hardly any training in proper news design. Many of them are just “winging it,” and they’ll freely admit it.
As a result of that realization, I now offer
a seminar titled “News Design 101: All Basics. No Bull.” The presentation offers those editors an opportunity to learn some of the most fundamental techniques, approaches and practices of good news design.
Many of those who read this column also serve their community newspaper as editor, publisher, reporter, photographer, clerk, janitor, gofer, etc. And they, too, will admit they have little design training. So I thought I’d share some of the tips in that seminar here.
Here’s a Top 10 Basic News Design Things You Need to Know:
1. Headline hierarchy. Place larger heads higher on the page. Give your lead news story the largest, boldest headline. Start big, so your smallest head isn’t teeny-tiny.
Every once in a while, a design calls for big type.
I don’t mean just “big type.”I mean “B-I-G T-Y-P-E”! Huge.
Ginormous. Humongous. Yeah . . . that kind of big.
When that happens, the type transcends (a word I learned in sophomore philosophy class and have loved ever since!) the realm of typography and becomes a form by itself. Sometimes it becomes the dominant element on the page.
As a result, we have to deal with it as a form, just as we deal with the dominant element of any other design.
We have to look at its shape, especially. Though it may have been born as type, what is it now?
• Is it rectangular? Is it round? Is it more freeform?
• Does it have a diagonal force? Vertical? Horizontal?
• Do the descenders/ascenders work with nearby elements?
• Are you using it in color? What color? Why?
• Does it say what you want? Can you say that more briefly?
• Does the font work with the rest of the page?
• How about the space between letters? Inside the letters?
•How about the space around it? Enough? Too tight? Too loose?
Lots of questions, each of them forcing you to take a long, close look at what you’ve created—and to appreciate that transcendent type isn’t just something you can toss on a page.
There are times when bighugeginormous type
is just the look you need for that special feature page. When those times occur, ask yourself those questions listed above.
If you get a lot of the right answers, then go BIG! If you don’t, consider another approach. Your type will love you for it...and so will your readers.
WANT A FREE evaluation of your newspaper’s
design? Just contact Ed: [email protected] | 803-327-3322
IF THIS COLUMN has been helpful, you may 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 web site: www.henningerconsulting.com
ED HENNINGER is an independent newspaper consultant and the Director of Henninger Consulting. Offering comprehensive newspaper design services including redesigns, workshops, staff training and evaluations. E-mail: [email protected]. On the web: henningerconsulting.com. Phone: 803-327-3322.
Transcendental typography
edhenninger
2. Use a dominant photo. Give your lead photo some size. At least three columns. Anything smaller doesn’t bring enough impact to the page.
3. Crop photos tightly. Look for the picture in your picture. Rid your photos of cluttered backgrounds and zoom in on your subject.
4. Avoid funky photo formats and frames. No ovals. No notched corners, no colored or embossed frames. We are community newspapers, not high school yearbooks.
5. Use modular design. Keep all the elements and packages on your page in rectangular format. There will be times when you will have to “dogleg” a story around ads, and that’s acceptable. But stick to modular design wherever possible..
6. Keep briefs brief. No more than three to four inches. Anything more than that is a story—put a headline on it and place it elsewhere.
7. Align to the baseline. Text and text-like elements such as captions, credits, bylines should all align to a baseline grid. This is easy to set up in your software and it gives your pages a more polished, professional look. It also saves you time trying to force alignment of columns.
8. Keep design elements consistent. Set up standing heads,
column sigs, page labels and the like so they are the same throughout your newspaper. Don’t fall into the trap of making this-or-that column “different.” Eventually, everything becomes different. And...if everything is different, nothing is.
9. Use software style
sheets. This is the easiest way to guarantee long-term design consistency. And it helps speed the design process through every issue.
10. Create a design style guide. This need not be a full-bore, 40-plus page design manual. For small newspapers, it can be only two
sides of a sheet of paper. Laminate it and place copies at every design terminal. It will keep you designing in the right direction.
So, there you have it. Follow these 10 tips and yours will be a better-designed newspaper. Now . . . and for the long term.
KENNEDY from Page 1
“[The men] were pretty good at understanding that this was rough on the people who’d been hanging out with them. I mean we’d been in the basement the night before doing karaoke with these guys and lost four of them,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy was not the only imbedded journalist following this particular infantry unit. A photographer joined her. One of the days where multiple men were lost was particularly hard.
“The photographer, if you look at his coverage from that day, he had turned on his camera; it’s all of the ground,” Kennedy said. “For the whole day.”
While in Adhamiya, Kennedy saw many lives lost and did learn her fair share about post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I ended up learning a lot about post-traumatic stress because I watched how it affected these guys – still affects these guys,” Kennedy said.
She found that it affected her as well. “I came home and was running through
stop signs. I just didn’t see them. It would take me three hours to read the newspaper in the morning,” Kennedy said. “And the Washington Post is a good sized paper, but it’s not that good sized.”
Upon her arrival back in the states, Kennedy decided to write a book about her experiences in Iraq.
Published in 2010, They Fought for Each Other: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Hardest Hit Unit in Iraq tells many stories of the Charlie Company. As the title implies, there were good days and there were bad days. The book outlines the many sacrifices the soldiers made for their country during war.
Kennedy has been lauded for the matchless nature of the stories told in her book. Many critics note how They Fought for Each Other is
unlike many other stories from the war in Iraq. The comments of Ben Greenman, an author
and editor of The New Yorker, illustrate the power of Kennedy’s story.
“If you think you understand the human costs of war, you don’t, and that’s why books like this are so important: as a reminder, a report, an admonition, an illumination, but above all, as a wrenching, moving story.”
Currently, Kennedy works at USA Today as a health and policy reporter, primarily covering the Affordable Care Act. Since her time at the CPA, Kennedy has written for a variety of publications including the Associated Press, The Denver Post, and the Army Times.
And, of course, Kennedy published her book, telling the story of a very hard hit infantry unit in Iraq.
“We were there while they were dealing with all this stuff, which as a journalist was really difficult because you don’t want to sensationalize it,” Kennedy said. “You know it’s going to be important to them later. This is something that’s going to be a part of their future.”
Book tells story of hard-hit unit
colorado editor 5December 2013
I had to laugh a few days ago, when I saw my pic on the top fold of the front page of a monthly industry pub with the headline, “Slimp’s
invention has served newspaper industry for 20 years.”
I’ve got to tell you. I don’t know where those years went. Back in those days, it seemed like everybody introduced me as the “young whiz kid” of the newspaper
industry when I stepped on stage at a convention. In those early days, it seemed like everyone wanted me to speak about where I came up with the idea for using PDFs to print newspapers and transmit ads. My first speaking gig was keynoting the Texas Press Association Convention. I remember having the flu and barely making it downstairs to speak.
When discussing the steps that led to newspapers using PDFs, my most popular line was, “I don’t know. It seemed like it ought to work.”
You know, most great discoveries in life and business seem to boil down to common sense. As I write this column, I’ve just returned from Nashville, where I met with a group of publishers from Middle and West Tennessee. Metros, small dailies and non-dailies were represented.
When I lead something like this, I become a statistic junkie for days before, as I study every stat I can get my hands on. Two statistics struck me as very interesting as I prepared for this summit.
The first was a study released by Pew Research Center, indicating just how little most social media sites, other than Facebook, are actually used by anyone. My best friend, Ken, who is a marketing guru in Dallas, had me convinced that it was time to throw away Facebook, paper and all my other resources because the world, as he had described it, had turned to Instagram and Twitter. Well I certainly know now, thanks to this study, that compared to print and Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are used by just a small portion of the population. I was especially surprised at how few teens used Instagram, after Ken almost had me drinking the Kool-Aid.
More surprising to me, however, were the most recent statistics from the Alliance for Audited Media, formerly known as ABC, showing the circulation of the 25 largest metro papers in the country. You may be wondering why I’m writing a column, primarily read by community newspaper publishers, about metro circulation. Just follow along for a little while longer.
How’s this for a surprising number? The Atlanta Journal Constitution had a huge increase in circulation. That’s not a misprint. According to the AAM report, they grew from 174,000 subscribers to 231,000 in one year. And the Orange County Register, the same paper I
predicted would have huge growth, grew 27 percent, from 280,000 subscribers to 356,000.
I know what you’re thinking, “It’s those digital subscribers.” But guess what? Atlanta’s total digital circulation sits at 6,000, while Orange County’s sits at 15,000. Yes, less than 5 percent of total circulation for both.
So why do I even bother you with this stuff? Because, my friends, print is alive and well. We keep hearing that community papers, as a whole, are doing well this year. But we also keep hearing that the big papers are dying, which - in turn - means that we’re all going with them.
That whole mess in New Orleans and other Newhouse cities has caused the whole nation to believe the sky is falling. But guess what. It’s not. More newspapers than the naysayers would like us to believe are doing very well. Sure, some aren’t. But many are. I believe that’s always been the case.
Last night, I spoke with someone from Associated Press about these numbers. She was quite surprised to hear them. So much so, that she asked me to send her the handouts we used at the summit, so she could see them for herself.
What did I discuss with these publishers in Nashville? I reminded them that their future is bright, if they’ll resist the lure of the “print is dead” philosophy and keep producing quality publications.
You know, there are groups that don’t invite me to speak anymore because I refuse to say that we should all abandon print. But I remember when I was working on the PDF project 20 years ago. It seemed that everybody, including Adobe, said it would never work. Only a few close colleagues believed that we would ever transmit and print files in a method we take for granted today.
But common sense told me they were wrong. And common sense tells me that statistics don’t lie. Our newspapers have a bright future. Hold on for the ride.
Secrets to successI thought the holidays were
supposed to be the easy time of the year. Whoever came up with that idea surely wasn’t a journalist. I remember looking at my calendar just a few months ago and thinking that November and December were going to be awfully quiet. It’s funny how things work out differently than planned. That’s certainly been true for me lately.
My, how things have changed. A year ago, I was spending most of my time writing and speaking about the situation in New Orleans and other Newhouse cities. At the time, it seemed like we might all be following their lead. Funny how things change in a year.
In the past few weeks, I’ve been all over the map. I would like to be the first to declare that “The end is near” period has ended and most newspapers are now figuring out
how to improve their products again.
OK, in truth, plenty of others have realized that lately. It’s becoming quite chic again to write about the future with optimism.
And what are newspapers asking of me these days? My recent trips can be broken down into three categories:
Publishers Summits: Groups of publishers gather now and then to discuss what’s going on in the industry and how to better prepare for the future. I’ve been leading these and the change in perception has been quite striking since a year ago. While some publishers still arrive with serious worry about the future of their newspapers, most seem to come with stories of rising profits and optimism about the future. There’s a lot less talk about digital - which seemed to be all we were talking about a couple of years ago - and a lot more talk about creating better products.
Getting Color Right: I guess it’s only natural that since we do, indeed, have a future, it only makes sense to prepare for it. Over the past two weeks, I’ve been in Tupelo, Mississippi and Newport, Rhode Island, working with daily newspapers to improve the quality of their printing. I suppose I shouldn’t forget the Selmer Independent Appeal, a weekly newspaper in West Tennessee. And
in the next few weeks, I’ll be in Minnesota and back in Tennessee, doing the same thing.
My job in these situations is to run test after test to determine how to get color and black & white images to look as good as they can when printed. Tupelo had just installed a new $10 million press. You can bet they want their photos to look as good as possible. So do my friends in Rhode Island, Minnesota and Tennessee.
Here’s what I’m learning during these color tests: No two presses print alike. Sometimes the differences are startling. It gives me real optimism about the future to see newspapers investing in presses again. This wasn’t my first client to purchase a new press in 2013.
Staff Training: Newspapers are doing a lot of staff training again. Three or four years ago, I was starting to think that my days as a trainer were over. It’s funny how a little optimism can change things. From 2008 or so through 2012, it seemed like training was a thing of the past. Association conventions were getting smaller, papers weren’t hiring trainers and the whole idea of improving our products seemed to give way to divesting, instead of investing, as the primary method of increasing profit.
In many of the conventions where I spoke in 2013, I was told the attendance had increased significantly over previous years. I don’t think that has to do with me
as much as it has to do with a return to the idea of value in training. And conventions, obviously, offer a cost-effective method to share ideas and get training.
But newspapers aren’t only going to conventions in larger numbers again, they’re investing in on-site training for their staffs in greater numbers. Tomorrow, I leave for Los Angeles to work with the staff of El Clasificado, then to Baton Rouge, the following day, to spend a few days with the staff of the Business Report.
One of the joys of working with newspapers around the holidays is to get invited to staff parties and holiday gatherings. At a company-wide luncheon in Tupelo, I was privileged to hear Clay Foster address his staff, who cheered as he approached the podium, about his appreciation for all they do. He mentioned that, while they didn’t meet every goal for 2013, they ended the year profitably and had much to be thankful for. This is a daily newspaper with a circulation of 33,000 in a town of 35,000 people and a county of 84,000.
It’s no wonder that newspapers like El Clasificado and The Tupelo Daily Journal are successful. They’ve moved past “the end is near” philosophy and moved on to “the future is bright.” I wish every newspaper publisher could see what I see. Local content, quality products and investment in the future. Those are the keys.
Some papers show big circulation increases
kevinslimp
6 colorado editor December 2013
Sherry works in the production department of a large paper. She told me about the special formula they frequently use in meetings that are intended to evaluate procedures. The meetings are based on three simple questions: (1) What should we start doing? (2) What should we stop doing? And (3) What should we continue?
“I don’t know the origin of the formula,” Sherry said, “because it was being used before I arrived. Like so many other techniques, the beauty is in its simplicity. We begin by posting three sheets of flip-chart paper on the wall. One is labeled ‘start,’ one is labeled ‘stop,’ and one is labeled ‘continue.’ We focus on a specific issue and list ideas in each category. It’s natural to bounce back and forth between the categories. One idea leads to another, sometimes on a different sheet.”
Let’s take a look at the three questions: 1. What do we need to start doing? “In
an industry that is changing faster than ever before, this forces us to think beyond the way we’re currently doing things,” Sherry said. “It also gives us permission to consider ideas we’ve heard about. We talk to people at newspaper conferences – and sometimes we call other papers – to ask how they approach certain problems. Why reinvent the wheel, when we can learn from others?
“We write down the ideas and analyze each one. What might work? What are the steps to implementation? How could we propose it to management?”
2. What do we need to stop doing? “This reminds me of the story about the lady who cut the ends off a ham before putting it in the oven,” Sherry said. “A friend asked why, and she said her mother had always done that. The conversation motivated her to
investigate and she learned that her mother did it because her mother had done it. Then she asked her grandmother about it and learned that the ends were trimmed to fit in her grandmother’s small oven.
“Nothing is off-limits in our meetings,” Sherry explained. “We can’t afford to keep doing certain things because they’ve always been done.”
3. What should we continue? “Of course we have to adapt to stay ahead, but change just for the sake
of change is not a good thing,” Sherry said. “Some processes work fine – and we want to keep doing those things.”
I believe Sherry’s technique can be used in a lot of departmental meetings – including advertising. Think of all the time that is wasted by sitting around the table trying to answer the vague question, “What should we try to change around here?” Wouldn’t it be better to focus everyone’s attention on these three specific areas?
“Not all of our meetings produce groundbreaking ideas,” Sherry said. “But these three questions have helped us focus our attention on how to put out a better product. We don’t care who comes up with the ideas. All we care about is results.”
Results. That sounds like a pretty good reason to try this technique.
© Copyright 2013 by John Foust. All rights reserved.
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: [email protected]
A family’s farm is devastated by a tornado. A reporter is on the scene moments afterward to record the events, including talking with family members.
A student commits suicide and, understandably, it’s a shock to many people. A story documents the community’s response; the family relives the episode, blow by blow.
A child is murdered. Within days, an interview with the grieving parent is published.
All three stories were handled during my tenure as editor of the Red Wing Republican Eagle. All three dealt with tragedies and involved interviews with family, friends or others close to the situation. All three probably put people in an unfamiliar – and uncomfortable – spotlight.
Tragedies are some of the most readable stories but also the most difficult to write. It’s probably the toughest assignment for any reporter – rookie or veteran.
It’s difficult to predict how the people will respond – when approached for the story, during the interview and after it’s published for all to read. Anger, bitterness, remorse, guilt – people may react with any of these emotions.
A reporter from another newspaper, who was involved in such an incident, wrote about a letter to the editor his newspaper received describing the reaction of the family of a man killed in a car-truck collision. It was written by a member of the man’s family.
“To be honest,” the family member wrote, “our first reaction was anger and dismay that a reporter would violate our family’s privacy during a time of grief. The reporter, however, handled the contact with tact and concern that was not upsetting to our mother.
“The result was an article that provided your readers with some small comprehension of this man who died in the crash. For many readers who wondered
why they were late to work, your paper let them know it was because a decent, hardworking man lost his life that day, and this man had a family that is now grieving its loss.
“A reporter’s job can be very difficult. Reporters are forced to confront the most unhappy circumstances on a daily basis. Our purpose in writing this letter is not to criticize, but perhaps to enlighten journalists to the immense impact that a seemingly insignificant article can have on the parties involved.
“On behalf of families everywhere who find themselves facing similar circumstances, we would like to let the press know that a small investment of empathy and time is what distinguishes someone who is a professional from someone who is just doing his job.”
The advice is well taken when pursuing any story, but especially when reporters are in the midst of a sensitive or tragic situation. Often how a story is pursued is equally important to how it is presented.
In this case, the reporter’s approach was professional and much appreciated by the individuals directly involved, and it resulted in a better story. That will reap benefits for himself, his newspaper and the readers.
Jim Pumarlo writes, speaks and provides training on community newsroom success strategies. He is author of “Journalism Primer: A Guide to Community News Coverage,” “Votes and Quotes: A Guide to Outstanding Election Coverage” and “Bad News and Good Judgment: A Guide to Reporting on Sensitive Issues in Small-Town Newspapers.”
He can be reached at www.pumarlo.com and welcomes comments and questions at [email protected].
MULTIMEDIA EDITORThe Garden City Telegram
is seeking a multimedia editor who has a sharp eye for copy editing and a creative flair to be a lead page designer, while also possessing the digital media savviness to help manage our newspaper’s web content and social media efforts — and who has the ability to do it all on tight daily deadlines.
Previous experience as a copy editor and page designer at a daily newspaper, preferrably with InDesign, desirable. Knowledge of AP Style required. Experience with and working knowledge of digital content management systems and social media also required. Writing and reporting skills preferrable as this position could include some writing. Experience with video production and editing preferrable, or at least the willingness to learn. Spanish speaking skills a plus, but not required.
The Telegram, a daily newspaper in southwest Kansas and part of the Harris Group, offers a generous salary and
benefits package and a chance to work with an outstanding staff of reporters and editors. The Telegram is an Equal Opportunity Employer. To apply, send résumé and cover letter to: Brett Riggs, managing editor, The Garden City Telegram, 310 N. Seventh St., Garden City, KS 67846. For more information or to express interest in the position, send e-mail to: [email protected].
NEWS EDITORDo you have the skills and
drive to help the copy/design desk, while still maintaining that passion for grabbing a pen, notebook and camera and covering a story? If you have the skills and desire to wear both hats, The Garden City Telegram may have just the opportunity for you.
We’re looking for a news editor who can help the news desk with copy editing and page design, assist the managing editor with coaching reporters and managing the newsroom, and who also is able to pick up some reporting duties. The ideal candidate
will have sharp editing skills, a knack for headline writing and the ability to design clean, creative and compelling pages. And if you’re good enough to help polish our reporters’ work, we’re hoping that means you’ve got the flair for storytelling, the eye for AP style and the inquisitve mind to help us on the reporting side, too. Experience with InDesign preferred. Experience with online editing, as well as new media and social media endeavors, also ideal.
The Telegram, part of the Harris Group, offers a generous salary and benefits package, a chance to work with an outstanding staff and opportunity for advancement. We are a six-day, morning daily. The Telegram is an Equal Opportunity Employer. To apply, send résumé, cover letter and work samples to: Brett Riggs, managing editor, The Garden City Telegram, 310 N. Seventh St., Garden City, KS 67846. For more information or to express interest in the position, send e-mail to: [email protected].
GENERAL MANAGERThe Mirror newspaper, the
publication of record for the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, has an opening for a general manager. The Mirror is a Monday weekly print publication, updates its website throughout the week, and promotes its stories and events via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The Mirror is approaching its 95th year of serving the UNC community and is a non-profit 501(c) business that operates independently from the university. The duties of the general manager include running the business, maintaining the off-campus building, and advising and managing the 40-plus students who work part-time. Applicants must have a minimum of five years of journalism and/or sales experience, be well-versed in the day-to-day operation of a newspaper, understand how to advise the advertising and editorial teams, and be progressive in web development. The salary starts at $40,000 and benefits are not
included. All applicants must provide a cover letter, resume and any supporting documents that might set them apart to [email protected]. The deadline to apply is Dec. 16.
SPORTS & WEEKEND REPORTER
The Mountain Mail, a community newspaper in Salida, Colo., is seeking a sports and weekend reporter. Responsibilities include reporting on local high school sports and activities, outdoor sports such as running, cycling, skiing and kayaking, community activities and breaking news stories.
Ideal candidate should possess strong writing and photography skills and have knowledge of team and individual sports. Candidates should be able to identify unique story angles and be willing to go the extra mile to get that story. Proficiency in social media skills is a plus.
Email Managing Editor Paul J. Goetz at [email protected].
cpa marketplace
A simple formula for (sales) meetings
A lesson in reporting tragedy
johnfoust
jimpumarlo
colorado editor 7December 2013
INK from Page 1
beginning to pile up in makeshift help centers. The American Red Cross on the scene. And more firefighters, volunteers and rescue workers than you could count.
And in the midst of it all, the local newspaper – the decades-old Black Forest News & Palmer Divide Pioneer – still came out, fire or no fire.
• • •
Nearly six months after the fire, the owner and publisher of that popular community newspaper sat down for lunch at the local coffeehouse/artisan bakery, the R&R Café, and calmly related details of that devastating event. Judith von Ahlefeldt has been running things since 1997, following BFN founder Harry Gorman (February 1960), Miles and Opal Roper (more than two decades’ worth) and two other owners. “I was working at the paper part-time in 1997, and all of a sudden it was for sale,” she said. Today, Judy (she goes by either name) still runs the newspaper that has won more than three dozen Colorado Press Association Better Newspaper awards for public service, news series, and sustained news coverage, among others. As her website notes, the newspaper is “locally owned and independently operated,” and includes coverage of land use and environmental issues, local business promotion and advertising, and community events and feedback.
Judy is the only staff member listed on the masthead. She does it all for the approximately 1,000 subscribers, from copy to layout to ad sales. She offers hardcopy subscriptions in- and out-of-state, plus softcopy cyberscriptions. The weekly deadline is Monday at 4 p.m., and there was no way she was going to miss even one of those.
• • •
Loss estimates for homes in the area range from 486 and up. The website BlackForest-Co.com lists the following: 509 homes – Total Loss; 28 homes – Partial Damage; 3,654 homes – Appears Unaffected. Judy’s house fits into the first category, and her actions during the fire mirrored most of her neighbors. On Tuesday, June 11, 2013, Judy was in her home of 44 years, which she designed and helped build – 4,300 square feet with an attached garage, multiple levels and a wood exterior that fit well in her forest surroundings, sitting at the end of a cul-de-sac dirt road. Her 15-acre lot with towering pines and a gentle-sloping pasture for her two horses was a retreat from city life. (“I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1940s-1950s, when the Cuyahoga River was burning and Lake Erie was dead, so I really appreciate Black Forest,” she explained.)
She was busy as, on any other Tuesday, “That’s my deadline day to get the paper out.” So in her basement office she worked on articles, layout and ads – until her friend Amy Phillips called her about 2 p.m., saying there was a “bad fire” in the Peregrine Subdivision, north of nearby Shoup Road but west of Milam Road and Black Forest Regional Park, about halfway between Black Forest Road on the east, Highway 83 on the west. Ever the journalist, Judy grabbed a camera and headed out in her SUV. “As soon as I got to the end of my driveway, I saw a modest plume of white smoke,” said Judy. She headed from her area over to Cathedral Pines, a nearby housing development with a high point that offers “a commanding view. I could see the smoke,” but it was still west of the regional park. “I’d been with the U.S. Forest Service as an ecologist for seven years and taken firefighting training, and I could see the fire had changed,” she said. Now, “it was putting up black puffs of smoke.” For nearly an hour she took photos and watched the plume grow. At 2:40, she could “first see flames of the fire now crowning in the trees, still west of the park. I thought I’d better go home.”
Her partner, professional forester Len Lankford, met her there with his three forestry summer interns, their vehicles and his one-ton forestry truck. “I asked the interns to load our belongings into their vehicles, while I went to halter my two BLM mustangs,” she said. Putting prepared identification on the horses, she turned them into a small field, left the gate open, then locked them out of the corral and barn area. Monty, 13, was from the Bureau of Land Management wild horse adoption program. Sundance, 4, was a veteran of the Canon City federal prison inmate program.
• • •
Back at the house, she packed up her two cats (yellow-and-white male tabbies named Ringtail and Copycat), and “organized what to do with the two large dogs at departure time.” The next task “was to take apart the Black Forest News desktop computer and load it into my Jeep. Then I had the interns put the newspaper’s 50-plus volumes of bound archives, dating back to
Paper didn’t stop in face of wildfire
Photos courtesy of Judy von Ahlefeldt Left: Judy von Ahlefeldt’s home of 44 years, prior to the Black Forest Fire in June 2013. Right: Cleanup work on Ahlefeldt’s property, where only the founda-tion of the house remains.
BLACK FOREST FIRE: Where to Get Help & How to Help
BLACK FOREST ANIMAL SANCTUARY16750 Thompson Road, Colorado Springs CO 80908719-494-0158
Web: bfasfarm.orgEmail: [email protected]: facebook.com/pages/Black-Forest-Animal-Sanctuary-Romero-Wildlife
BFAS is a private farm in Black Forest, offering rescue and rehabilitation for horses, dogs, cats and goats – animals that are abused, neglected or no longer wanted by their owners. Host farms are located in Colorado with nationwide adoption and rehabilitation as resources allow. Also known as Charlotte & Arthur Romero Wildlife Sanctuary, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit and all-volunteer group. Uses network of foster homes to place animals for adoption. Rescued approximately 1,000 animals and some people from the Black Forest Fire. Donations still needed to cover expenses, help with vet bills, replace equipment and animal feed. Check for upcoming events and donation process online.
BLACK FOREST COLORADO CROSSES FOR LOSSES12490 Black Forest Road (corner of Black Forest and Shoup)719-495-8831; 719-235-2810; 719-440-4579
Web: crossesforlosses.orgEmail: [email protected]: www.facebook.com/ Black ForestColoradoCrosses forLossesHours: Weekday hours Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; see website for more information.
Grassroots community effort to serve victims of the fire. As families of Black Forest move on from recovery to rebuild, your help and support is needed now more than ever. Purchase gift cards from your favorite grocery or retail location. Drop it off at Crosses for Losses store to be given directly to a neighbor in need. Or stop by any Academy Bank location with your monetary donation for “Crosses for Losses.” Donations will also be used to purchase gift cards for direct distribution. Organization provides victims donations of food, clothing, and household items. Non-perishable food items now being accepted at EZ Pawn, 1654 South Circle, Colorado Springs.
BLACK FOREST FIRE DEPARTMENTBob Harvey, Chief; 719-495-4300;
Web: bffire.org
FALCON FIRE DEPARTMENTVernon Champlin, Fire Marshall; 719-963-3784 cell; Web: falconfirepd.org
Proactive help in the reconstruction of the communities affected by the Black Forest Fire.
Information on rebuild plan reviews and inspection fees (waived for victims); impact fees (none); residential fire sprinklers; fire code and fire flow requirements; and any other project-specific questions.
BLACK FOREST FIRE INFORMATION
Web: http://fire.blackforest-co.comWebsite for residents of Black Forest, friends and family. Information and links to help in recovery.Links to relevant Facebook pages, El Paso County sites (Development Services, Environmental Division, and Disaster Assistance), Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, a Recovery mailing list, Black Forest Fire Forum, and mitigation tax credits. Message board, calendar of events, information on burn area including map and satellite view.
BLACK FOREST TOGETHER11445 Teachout Rd., Black Forest CO 80908719-495-2445 Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Web: Sign up to “Get Help” or volunteer to “Give Help” at www.blackforesttogether.orgEmail: Email questions or offer to volunteer at: [email protected]: blackforesttogether; Twitter: @blackforesttoget
Independent, non-profit corporation of community volunteers formed to assist fire survivors in recovering their lives as well as rebuilding the Black Forest Community. Will assist with clean-up and rebuilding, humanitarian needs, volunteer efforts, social and holiday events, and serve as a single point for collection of funds to be kept within the community. See website for information on the BFT Discount Card (honored by participating merchants), the Lutheran Family Services (LFS) Disaster Response Program, volunteering, and donating.
OUR LADY OF THE PINES CATHOLIC CHURCH11020 Teachout Rd., Colorado Springs CO 80908Parish of the Diocese of Colorado Springs; Fr. Andrzej Szczesnowicz, Pastor
Office hours: Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-noon; 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m.Web: ourladyofthepines.orgContact: Vickie Walsh: 719-495-2351, ext. 13; email: [email protected]
If you have been affected by a loss due to the Black Forest Fire, the parish would like to assist you as much as possible with immediate and long-term needs. The church has information about financial assistance, tree and well inspections, plus gatherings that are taking place at the parish.
WILD BLUE ANIMAL RESCUE & SANCTUARYP.O. Box 88252, Colorado Springs, CO 80908719-213-1127 information recording; 719-964-8905 Lauri Cross, executive director. Web: Check website for programs, events, adoption processes, volunteer information and donation needs. www.wbars.orgEmail: Go to websiteFacebook: www.facebook.com/wbars.org
FIRE on Page 8
8 colorado editor December 2013
DAVIS from Page 1
collection of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs. What a treat!
I lingered over Joe Rosenthal’s photo of five U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising an American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.
David McClain, of Sterling, struck up a conversation with me. McClain, now retired, was a legendary newspaperman some four decades. He’s worked at newspapers in eight states and run strings of newspapers and radio stations.
He also flew helicopters in Vietnam during the war.
I told him my father, Jerry Mayne, served in Vietnam — three tours — and was in the Marine Corps 20 years.
“I have something for him. I’ll send it to you,” McClain said, adding that in 2007 he had been the New Mexico representative for the Department of Defense Joint Civilian Conference.
I’m familiar with these coveted civilian tours of areas of significance to the Armed Forces.
McClain toured the Pacific Command. While on Iwo Jima, he was allowed to scoop up some of the sand from the shore. Since then, he has shared his dwindling pile with Marines he encounters.
The box and baggie of sand came with folded photocopies of columns McClain published after his tour:
“The compelling message I must share with my readers is that these are outstanding young men and women who serve our country,” McClain wrote. “They have a universal commitment to excellence. They are proud of what they do. They are dedicated to freedom, defense of America, to each other and to the greater goals of their duty assignments.”
He went on to write that Marine Capt. Binstock, a military information officer, had laid out the itinerary on the first day in Honolulu. The group of 36 civilians would go first to Guam, then Manila and Okinawa. They next would tour Iwo Jima On Nov. 10.
Iwo Jima, she said, is the second best place in the world for a Marine to be on the Marine Corps Birthday.
“What’s the first?” someone asked.
“Back in Iraq, fighting for freedom on the frontlines” with her fellow Marines, she replied.
Happy Marine Corps Birthday to my dad and to all Marines. Semper fi. And Happy Veterans Day to all the enlisted men and women who have put service to their country before their own needs.
In honor of Veterans Day, I asked Margie Wilson, owner of Grand Valley Books, 350 Main St., for her recommendations of
military-related books.“We have an extensive
collection of military history at Grand Valley Books,” Wilson said. “Here are a few books about military history that I highly recommend:”
• “The Things They Carried,” a novel by Tim O’Brien. This is often assigned reading for high school students’ Advanced Placement literature classes. The story is told in a meditative, introspective style, and is the poignant reminiscing of a Vietnam soldier. The theme that recurs is the fragility of life and the way that storytelling serves to wash the soul clean. There’s a quietness about Tim O’Brien’s telling of the soldier’s story that contrasts sharply with the horror of war, the endless background noise in battle that continues long past the battle’s end, and the healing that comes from remembering and articulating the memories. I give this one 4 Stars.
• “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin for a slant on the Civil War from the perspective of Abraham Lincoln and those who were on his team as well as his opposition.
• Another favorite of mine in this genre is McKay Jenkins’ “The Last Ridge.” I’ve talked with McKay about his book, and he told me that his extensive interviews were the source of many untold anecdotes of the 10th Mountain Division. The training that took place near Leadville at Camp Hale is a part of Colorado’s culture, and while many of the 10th soldiers have passed away, a few still tell the stories at their yearly reunions. So many of the early developers of ski areas in Colorado and the Intermountain West were members of the 10th Mountain Division, and they came back to Colorado following WWII. Their bravery and incredible stamina in European alpine battles turned the tide of the war. Jenkins does a fine job detailing the battles in a readable way, and in telling the stories of these men from firsthand accounts.
The Daily Sentinel is giving U.S. flags — while supplies last — to veterans who show proof of service. These are large – 3 by 5 feet — beautiful flags with a pole and mounting bracket. Stop by our offices at 734 S. Seventh St. during business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and let us honor you.
Have news about local authors, bookstores, book clubs or writing groups? Email Laurena Mayne Davis at [email protected]. Davis is the director of marketing and product development for The Daily Sentinel.
1960, into Len’s pickup truck.” Len took his forestry truck and trailer to the old Black Forest Lumber yard, south of the fire, about 4 p.m. “In an hour-and-a-half the remaining vehicles were packed,” dogs were aboard, caged cats yowling. Judy left the house for the last time at about 4:40. But she didn’t realize it was the last time.
She and the interns arrived at the lumber yard just before 5 p.m. Len asked where his pickup truck and trailer were. “At the end of the cul-de-sac; we didn’t have a driver,” for that vehicle, Judy told him. Len and intern Conner Meehan “jumped into Len’s Subaru and went back for his pickup and trailer. The wind was still blowing from the southwest, and when he got back, Len said the roads were all open and there wasn’t smoke at the house.”
But in the few minutes it had taken Len and Conner “to hitch the trailer to the truck, and grab a beer and watermelon from the garage refrigerator, the wind shifted – blowing strong from the north,” and sending a wide front of fire toward them. By the time the two reached the county road a half-mile west of the house, “they were in the fire, which was crossing Herring Road, flaming across it from crown to crown from the west and northwest. Luckily, they made it the last quarter-mile to Shoup, which was at the edge of the fire run.” While Judy waited nervously with the other two interns, Len and Conner finally made it back to the lumber yard an hour and a half later, after being caught in an exodus traffic jam on Vollmer Road.
“I expected the fire to miss us,” said Judy, who estimated it was moving at a rate of 100 feet per minute. As they waited to find out, they spent the night sleeping on a concrete floor in an old cinder-block building, “ready to take the vehicles, dogs and cats south and out of the trees if the wind changed again.”
The next day was Judy’s 70th birthday. “It dawned smoky and still,” she recalled, “with the sun rising like a big, red ball above the burned forest to the east.” Later that day she and Len moved to a hotel at the north end of Colorado Springs. (By Sunday, they were back at the lumber yard in an RV borrowed from a friend, then by the beginning of July into a rental house.) But there was other work to be done. On little sleep and with sporadic Internet service, Judy put together an eight-page newspaper by Thursday, getting it to the printer by Friday. Her lead headline was: “Tragic Week for Black Forest – Most of Forest devastated by Extreme Wildland Fire – Many must hit the Reset Button and start
over.” It included her own fire photos and an editorial with a timeline of the event. That June 13 issue was published from the hotel room; the next two issues were put together in a friend’s barn in the Forest. Also on Thursday, she learned that one of her mustangs, Monty, had died in the fire. The other was at a veterinary hospital 20 miles away with severe burns.
It took until about noon on Saturday for firefighters to say they had 45 percent of the fire contained, and until June 20 to hit 100 percent. It took a week after the fire for Judy to be able to go back and enter her property. Her house and barn were gone, all personal belongings, business records, furnishings, appliances, ranch tools and supplies now blackened, twisted or merely ash heaps from the 2,700-degree fire that had ravaged the square mile where she had lived for so long. Just one building (a work shop), a house concrete foundation, some fencing, and a mass of charred trees and grass remained.
When it was finally over, it was worse than the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire. Said Judy: “The burn area perimeter included 14,280 acres of a complex of hot burn, scorched heat-damaged trees, and unburned patches.” Two people had died, some 500 homes were lost. Judy’s cul-de-sac neighborhood – “in a hot burn area crossed by a wind-whipped crown fire the evening of June 11” – was essentially gone. In her June 13 editorial, she pondered the cause of such devastation, touching on what might have been done to prevent or mitigate the damage. “I’d written scores of articles about the importance of forest stewardship and fuel reduction, but not enough people had taken action. The fire won.”
• • •
She continues that forest stewardship message even today in the Black Forest News, but perhaps not for too much longer. She talks about “being ready to sell the paper, to someone younger. I would like to do something else. I have lots of things I would like to do,” she said. That might involve her love of music; she’s classically trained and enjoys playing her fiddle (and managed to save several stringed instruments from the fire). She lost an extensive plant species collection in the fire. Perhaps renewed work there. She also would like to get back to other writing, including book projects, on her favorite subjects of ecology and “the care of Black Forest.” And maybe more writing on the ongoing need for residents of wooded areas to
manage their property and remove excess and dangerous brush and trees. “And using the wood, yes, even burned wood!” she emphasized, for “decorative purposes.” She has the credentials for all of that and beyond. She earned a doctorate in landscape ecology at Colorado State University – studying the Palmer Divide and Black Forest ecosystems – and has taught biology and chemistry at Colorado College and Colorado Springs School.
Judy moved to the 127.5 square miles of Black Forest, dense with 40,000 acres of largely Ponderosa Pines, in 1970. By 1979, she was so enamored of the area she wrote a book, “Thunder, Sun and Snow – The History of Colorado’s Black Forest,” after “interviewing more than 80 old-timers. It might be time for an update to that book.”
• • •
A tour of her property is a fitting end to Judy’s fire story. Today all is calm. The sun is shining, the air is clean and cool. Thanks to a rainy summer, native plants are now growing over most of the property, she points out. The only sounds are a few work trucks going in and out to rebuilding projects, a distant chainsaw, an occasional hammer strike, and one delicate, chirping bird.
She points out where the rooms of her house used to be. The living room here, kitchen there, bedrooms and basement, and large windows with a view of the pines. She walks around the site, talking of her plans to rebuild and what the new and improved house and ranch will encompass. So far, she’s cleared some “hazard trees,” rebuilt some fence, and piled up and removed most of the debris of the flames. From what looks like a pile of rusty tools, she picks up something by one corner, saying matter-of-factly, “This used to be a pretty good pair of scissors. Good for cutting out ads,” to give to her business advertisers.
Although she notes that, “Some people are having a lot of trouble psychologically dealing with their losses,” she’s calm and collected, and while she’s giving the land “time to heal,” she’s also ready to get started rebuilding her house in earnest next spring – smaller and with fewer levels, no steps, but bigger offices.
Her focused personality clearly is what got her through the fire, and what will sustain her through the enormous rebuilding process to come. And it’s also how, during a devastating firestorm that tried to destroy her community, she managed to get her paper out, come hell (in this case) or high water.
“I’d written scores of articles about the importance of forest stewardship and fuel
reduction, but not enough people had taken action. The fire won.”
Black Forest News & Palmer Divide Pioneer Owner and Publisher Judith von Ahlefeldt in a June 13 editorial
Books capture history of U.S. Military
FIRE from Page 7
• • •