july 2012 colorado editor

By Christine Mahoney Internship & Career Coordinator, University of Colorado Journalism & Mass Communication

The reports of my death have been great-ly exaggerated. ~Mark Twain

Journalism is alive and well at the Uni-versity of Colorado Boulder! Starting this

fall, we’ll be into the second semester of Journalism Plus. Journalism Plus is a dy-namic new program that combines media study and practice, immersion in a liberal arts discipline and cutting-edge skill devel-opment for the changing demands of the journalism profession.

What does that mean for you? Simply put, it means CU JMC is still a great pipe-line for talented, industrious students to

add to your staff as interns or entry-level writers and multimedia journalists. As CU leaderships takes some time to study a new entity that would include journalism with other academic disciplines, we here at JMC are moving forward. Our “traditional” print students know how to write for web-sites, are learning video shooting and edit-ing skills and are comfortable interacting

history of heroes

reorganization journalism plus

colorado Inside: Henninger: Use great photos and play to your strengths. PAGE 3

Official publication of the Colorado Press Association / coloradopressassociation.com / Vol. LXXXIII, No. 7 July 2012

editor

CU on page 2

Blackhawk Mayor David Spellman holds the 100th Anniversary Edition of the Weekly Register-Call. Last month, the Register-Call celebrated

150 years of publishing. Story on Page 3.

By Jean Gray

With an estimated 1,100 World War II veterans dying daily in the United States, telling their sto-ries becomes critical to the preservation of that era, says Dr. John Elliff of Ster-ling. “It’s like the little kid in class. The teacher says, ‘we are going to talk about Pearl Harbor.’ And the little kid says, ‘who’s Pearl Har-bor?’ That’s why it’s important. These things slip by us.”

People liv-ing in Northeast Colorado and a few in the Denver Metro area may recognize the name, Dr. John Elliff, either through his 50-

After more than a year of le-gal and technical legwork, the Colorado Press Association Foundation has been reorga-nized, refocused and renamed—and is ready to have an impact in expanded ways.

The Philanthropic Advisory Committee is the new name of the CPA’s charitable arm. Its mis-sion, as stated in PAC Operating Guidelines adopted on May 11, includes:

• Contributing positively to the continued viability of journalism and the newspaper industry;

• Developing, and support-ing the development of, New Media applications and utilization in ways that perpetuate the historic principles of a journalisti-cally sound free press; and

• Encouraging the responsi-ble use of the First Amend-ment protections provided under the United States Constitution.

Previously, the Denver Foun-dation administered the CPA’s scholarship program as the Press Association’s sole charitable ac-tivity. All funds raised in the name of the CPA Foundation were placed in what is called a Restricted Fund. Money in such a fund can legally be used only for purposes designated at the time the fund was created, which, in the CPA’s case, was its long-standing array of college student, high school student and high school advisor scholarship programs.

As a result of efforts begun in late 2010, the fund held by the Denver Foundation was divided, with about one-third of the ex-isting balance reassigned to what is called a Donor-Advised Fund. This change will enable the CPA, through its Philanthropic Ad-visory Committee, to initiate a variety of activities that are out-side the limited scope of scholar-ships or individual financial aid and reflect the wider mission as expressed in the new Operating Guidelines.

“Through this change the Colorado Press Association will be able to have a more dramat-ic and far-reaching impact on

Last week, the Colorado Commis-sion on Criminal and Juvenile Justice voted to recommend to the Colorado General Assembly that they repeal the law that makes theft of newspapers il-legal. The law, which was implemented in 2004, made theft of newspapers for the purpose of depriving other people access to information a crime.

The recommendation by the CCJJ, in effect, legalizes the crime of news-paper theft.

“Stealing is a crime. Stealing news-

papers for the purpose of depriving the public of information contained therein is theft and censorship,” said Colorado Press Association Executive Director Samantha Johnston. “There is never a time when it is appropriate for a thief to deprive the public of ac-cess to information in newspapers.”

Carl Miller, D-Leadville, served in

the Colorado House of Representa-tives from 1997 to 2004 and co-spon-sored HB 1057 with Senator Jack Tay-lor in 2004.

“It seems pretty simple to me. You don’t take things that don’t belong to you,” Rep. Miller said. “If the legisla-ture accepts this ill-conceived recom-mendation to repeal the law, it will create open season on a free press as stealing newspapers for the purpose of censoring information will be legal-ized in Colorado.”

If the recommendation makes its way to the legislature in January, Colo-rado Press Association will put this at the top of its legislative priority list in 2013.

“Beyond the danger of repealing a law that will legalize a previously crim-inal act, we are disappointed in the process by which (the commission) made its decision,” said CPA President Brenda Brandt. “Newspapers, their

CU moves on with new programNew PAC will help CPA make big impact

Mahoney

Commission votes to recommend repeal of newspaper theft lawstolen paper law

STORIES on page 8

THEFT on page 8PAC on page 5

Pair joins to tell stories of WWII veterans

Elliff

Dressman

Page 8Ex-lawmaker, journalists weigh in

Making history

2 colorado editor July 2012

colorado editorISSN #162-0010

USPS # 0122-940

Vol. LXXXIII, Issue 7July 2012

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

PresidentBrenda Brandt

The Holyoke Enterprise [email protected]

Vice PresidentBryce Jacobson

Craig Daily Press [email protected]

TreasurerTerri House

The Pagosa Springs SUN [email protected]

SecretaryKeith Cerny

Alamosa Valley Courier [email protected]

DIRECTORSMark Drudge

Cortez Journal [email protected]

Bart Smith The Greeley Tribune

[email protected]

Jane Rawlings The Pueblo Chieftain [email protected]

Laurena Mayne Davis The Daily Sentinel

[email protected]

David McClain Sterling Journal-Advocate

[email protected]

Paula Murphy Trinidad Times Independent

[email protected]

Curtis HubbardThe Denver Post

[email protected]

Periodical postage paid atDenver, CO 80202.

POSTMASTER:Send address changes to

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The Holyoke Enterprise

Community Newspapercovering Phillips County in NE Colorado

Full-Service Commercial Printing970-854-2811•holyokeenterprise.com

South Dakota publisher Tim L. Waltner has won the prestigious Eu-gene Cervi Award from the Interna-tional Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors (ISWNE) for a career of out-standing public service through com-munity journalism.

The 37th annual Cervi Award was presented to Waltner at the ISWNE’s annual conference at Western Wash-ington University in Bellingham on June 30. The award honors the memory of Eugene Cervi, who estab-lished the Rocky Mountain Journal in Denver in 1948 under the conviction that “good journalism begets good government.”

Waltner began working for the Freeman Courier in 1972 as a print-er’s devil and became editor the fol-lowing year. After spending two years in Ohio, he returned to the Courier in 1977 and ended up buying the paper seven years later.

The Courier has won numerous awards for all aspects of journalism from the South Dakota Newspaper Association, including either general

excellence and/or sweepstakes awards in 17 of the past 20 years. The Courier has earned well over 150 first-place awards for news, feature and opin-ion writing, pho-tography, typog-

raphy and advertising over the past 30 years.

The Courier has also won pho-tography and writing awards from the National Newspaper Association and nine editorial writing awards from ISWNE; Tim has received seven Golden Dozen awards and his son, Jeremy, was the 2003 Golden Quill winner.

Waltner has traveled in the United States and Canada as a speaker, pan-elist and facilitator for newspaper groups. He is currently the editorial critique coordinator for ISWNE.

“In South Dakota, Tim Waltner is Mr. First Amendment,” wrote Jack

Marsh, president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum Diver-sity Institute, in a letter of nomination. “He is a model journalist and news-paper executive who understands and embraces the media’s watchdog role over government, public officials and public institutions.

“If ISWNE’s award for public service through community jour-nalism hadn’t already been named for Eugene Cervi, it could be named the Tim Waltner Award. These two exceptional journalists have much in common.”

Bill Haupt, former ISWNE presi-dent, said Waltner represents the “gold standard” when it comes to community journalism.

“He has consistently edited and published one of the very finest small community weeklies in America for more than 25 years,” Haupt wrote.

Richard Lee, head of the Depart-ment of Journalism and Mass Com-munication at South Dakota State University from 1978 to 2002, said Waltner has been a “fearless advo-

cate” of First Amendment rights and continues to be a strong voice in the South Dakota Newspaper Associa-tion’s First Amendment Committee.

“He has served SDNA twice as its president,” Lee wrote. “He has served ISWNE has its president, as a con-ference co-host (Rapid City in 2007) and an enthusiastic speaker. He has become a sought-after speaker in the United States and in Canada on edi-torial writing and on newspaper ex-cellence. Tim Waltner is cast perfectly from the mold of what the Eugene Cervi Award is about. ISWNE can do no better.”

David Bordewyk, SDNA general manager, said any time someone asks him for the name of someone who epitomizes the best in South Dakota newspapering, he refers them to Waltner.

“Tim publishes and edits one of the best, if not the best, weekly news-paper in South Dakota,” Bordewyk wrote. “And he has been doing it for more than three decades. He truly is a leader in our industry and our state.

S.D. publisher wins Cervi Award

Waltner

CU from Page 1

of social media communities. This is where I come in. As the

new Internship & Career Coordina-tor, I welcome your questions and your involvement in our program. I come from a broadcast news back-ground, having worked as a radio and TV reporter/anchor for 12 years, before starting my own media production company, Honk! Media. For the past nine years, I’ve been teaching news writing classes here at CU JMC. My friend and colleague, Alan Kirkpatrick, retired about a year ago and says “Aloha!”

We hope you’ll embrace the new JMC! Please don’t hesitate to contact me about placing interns, advertis-ing jobs and communicating your needs. I can be reached at [email protected] or 303-492-5480.

Second semester for CU program• Follow us on Twitter: @JMCInternships

•JMC LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/University- Colorado-Boulder- Journalism-Mass-1028047

The annual CPA Regional Meet-ing session will begin Thursday, August 16 in Grand Junction. This year’s partnership with the Colorado District Attorney’s Council will focus on the relationship between the news media, law enforcement and district attorneys with respect to access to re-cords and information.

Meeting locations and additional details will be released next week.

Meeting ScheduleAll meetings are from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.• Grand Junction – Thursday, Aug. 16• Durango – Friday, Aug. 17• Frisco – Thursday, Aug. 23• Fort Collins – Friday, Aug. 24• Pueblo – Thursday, Sept. 13• Sterling – Friday, Sept. 14

Contact Samantha Johnston at 303-571-5117, [email protected], facebook.com/coloradopress or DM us on Twitter @ColoradoPress.

Regional Meetings kick off in August

colorado editor 3July 2012

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Publisher’s Note: To try and review 150 years of history in one issue would be daunting to both you as the reader, and to me as Co-Publisher & Editor. So we’ll start with a short history of the origin and merging of multiple newspapers as presented in the 100th Anniver-sary issue, followed by interesting excerpts from the archives as selected by our Senior Reporter, Lynn Volkens. We’ll continue in short segments for the next few weeks, and we welcome your comments. Thanks, Aaron Storms

The First Hundred Years “One hundred years with their lights and

shadows having faded into oblivion. Estab-lished in 1862, and published continuously without missing an issue.”

From Weekly Register-CallVol. C, CENTRAL CITY, COLORADO FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 1962,

NO.51Gilpin County Newspapers A short history regarding the various

newspapers published in Gilpin County since 1861. The following article, written by former Gov. Teller Ammons, in collaboration with the Editor.

This week’s issue of the Weekly Register-Call marks the one hundred anniversary of the foundation of the paper, still published each week in one of the two buildings that withstood the flames of the conflagration of May 21, 1874, the other being the Teller House. Both are of massive stone and brick construction, and these venerable structures stand across the street from each other. The Register-Call is published on the second floor; above it, on the third, is one of the most picturesque as well as historic Masonic Temples in the country, with its murals, all of which were painted by candlelight, its hand-wrought fixtures and furniture over which a collector would wax enthusiastic. And in the composing room of the Register-Call, lighted by large windows in the thick wall, high up, a protection against the mountain cold-for heating still is furnished by the big potbel-lied stove-there is a wealth of ancient type, including thirty cases of hand-carved wooden letters, that are museum pieces of rare value.

The very first newspaper in Gilpin County was started by William N. Byers, who gave Colorado its first newspaper, the Rocky Mountain News. Byers started from Omaha with Gibson and John L. Daily March 8, 1859, with wagons carrying the Washington hand press and type. April 22, the first copy of the News came from Uncle Dick Wooten’s story-and-a-half log cabin in what is now west Denver.

While Denver may claim the distinction of having the first newspaper plant in the state, Gilpin County was not far behind, as the first newspaper printed in the county was known as the Rocky Mountain Gold Re-porter, and later, the Mountain City Herald. It was printed at Gregory Point, midway between Central City and Black Hawk, by Thomas Gibson, about two months later than the founding of the Rocky Mountain News, of Denver, in 1859. In November of that year, the plant was sold and removed to Golden by ox teams, where it was published under the caption of The Mountaineer, by the Boston Company, which started the town, the idea being that Golden should supersede Denver as the metropolis of the mountains. The edi-tors of The Mountaineer were A.P. Richard-son, Col. Thomas L. Knox, and George West, the last named gentleman, now deceased, later changing the name to the Transcript, of which he was the editor to the time of his

death. Within two weeks, John Hamilton

Gregory struck gold at grass roots at what is the present Central City. By June 10 when the News issued the first extra ever published west of the Missouri, containing the signed statement of Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune that he, with A.D. Rich-ardson, noted correspondent of the Boston Journal, and Henry Villard of the Cincin-nati Commercial, who accompanied him west, had actually seen gold and that he was satisfied it was there in paying quality and quantity, there were 5,000 men already on the ground. This was too much for Gibson. He left Byers and that summer, in a cabin opposite Gregory Point, marking the original discovery, published the Rocky Mountain Gold Reporter and Mountain City Herald, when snows of autumn threatened Gibson came back to Denver. For three years the camp, which was the marvel of the world, was without a newspaper.

Alfred Thomson brought out from Glenwood, IA., in the early summer of 1862, a Washington hand-press and type, to Central City, July 28, the first number of The Min-ers’ Register was run off. It was a tri-weekly. Thanks to David C. Collier, it thrived. A few days later, Thompson was unavoidably detained while absent from Central City and it appeared there would be no issue. Collier, a young lawyer, took charge, writing editorials and news, and doing it so well that Thompson retained him.

Collier was from Wyandotte, Kansas. He reached Denver just about the time General Larimer was finishing the first house on the Denver side of Cherry Creek, and the Lar-imers, son and father, invited him to live with them. Larimer had brought the only window with panes on Cherry Creek. There were no carpenter’s tools, and he used his penknife to shape the sashes for the four panes. This was in November, 1858.

He had brought law and other books with him, and when Central City became the larg-est and wealthiest town in Colorado, moved there. He was practicing law when Thomson’s absence made him a newspaper man. Of good education and a clear-thinking mind, he was an excellent editorial writer. He had wide knowledge of national politics, and this was invaluable during the progress of the heated campaign; indeed, his ringing editorials appealing to the loyalty of his fellow citizens helped materially to keep Colorado a staunch member of the Union. Colorado was in a dangerous situation; there were many brilliant Southern sympathizers here and arguments for secession were strong. He wrote editorials during the campaign and also proved himself a good reporter. It was natural, therefore, that his name should remain permanently at the head of the editorial columns.

The paper prospered, and April 9, 1863, Collier, with two other employees, Hugh Glenn and George A. Wells bought Thom-son out, the firm becoming Collier, Glenn & Company. Collier had charge of the edito-rial department, Wells of the mechanical, and Glenn of the circulation. May 30, it was enlarged to a 24-page sheet; August 10, it appeared as a morning daily. The issue of Sep-tember 29, announced that Glenn had sold his interest to his partners; the firm became Collier & Wells. November 7, The Miners’ Register appeared in an entirely new dress and a truly metropolitan form. The telegraph line having just been completed, it com-menced the regular publication of telegraphic

Some newspapers are “photo papers.” Others excel at typography.Still others use graphics very well.Do you know which you are? And...if

you do...do you use those skills to make your paper more appealing to read-ers?

If you have a star pho-tographer on your staff, it’s to your benefit to cre-ate more photo packages and more photo pages to showcase her skills. Give her more oppor-tunities—and give your readers more compelling packages as a result.

Better yet, get her in-volved in your weekly

(or daily) and long-term planning sessions. (You do have regular planning sessions, don’t you?) With her visual skills, she’s bound to offer more ideas for you to attract readers.

Let’s assume otherwise: You don’t have that super photographer—but you do have a page designer who can take good (not great) photos and package them will with your sto-ries to create pages that capture your readers’ attention.

So be it! If that’s the case, then have that designer help guide your newspaper’s destiny with strong input in every issue—and even stronger input in long-term editorial plan-ning. He can help point the way by suggest-ing story ideas and photographic approaches that will bring increased attention to your every issue.

OK, so you have neither. No star photog-rapher, no super designer. But you do have writers. And they may be the key to your winning more readers. If, that is, you encour-age good writing. No, we’re not talking about the inverted pyramid and the county sewer board meeting. But we are talking about those writers who can fashion gripping and memorable stories about your community and your readers.

I recall one newspaper I reviewed many years ago. Terrible design. But that paper

had more than 95 percent penetration in its community. One of the reasons: its obituar-ies told the life stories of people in that town. These weren’t obits—they were true tales of how those people lived. And loved. And were loved. And those stories were, well...memo-rable.

The publisher of that newspaper asked me: “Why do I need to redesign? We are the story of our community!” Why, indeed?

His point was well made...and well taken. And my point is this: Every newspaper

has a star...a light that can glow for all read-ers to see.

That light may be a photographer. Per-haps a designer. Maybe a writer. Or maybe even a clerk who does your accounts and can make gorgeous charts with Excel.

What ever your light is, don’t hide it un-der a basket.

Play to your strengths

edhenninger

If photos are your strength, play your photos—big!

Big anniversary for Weekly Register-Call

REGISTER-CALL on page 6

Readers have been inundated for months with coverage of the 2012 presidential election. Newsrooms also should be brainstorming for ways to bring attention to local races. In many instances, reporting is well under way.

Election coverage is one of the most exhaus-tive and scrutinized tasks facing community newsrooms. Substantive coverage also is vitally important to an informed and engaged citizenry.

Most important, editors and publishers should give consider-ation to endorsing candidates for local office. Newspapers have a right – indeed, a responsibility – as an institution in their communi-ties. They are also in excellent position to do so as a clearinghouse of information.

Editorial endorsements often receive the usual outcry from readers: “What gives you the right to tell us who to vote for?” The anticipated pushback only makes newspapers more hesitant. It is also an excellent reminder that editors should make it regular practice to educate readers on the role of editorial pages. A healthy exchange of ideas is at the core of healthy communities.

Don’t misinterpret. This is not to minimize the challenges inher-ent in offering local endorsements. Perhaps the best advice is: “Just the facts, please.” In other words, in most cases stick to issues and avoid personalities. The strongest editorials are those that identify the issues paramount in a race, and then recommend candidates based on their stances.

The reality is that commu-nity newspaper editors – absent a personal relationship with, say, a member of Congress, find it relatively painless to weigh in on the strengths and shortcomings of national candidates. It’s quite the opposite when newspapers are recommending who citizens should support for the local school board, city council or county board – and even legislative contests. Yet these races are arguably the most important for community newspa-pers to address in news profiles and endorsements.

Editors and publishers rou-tinely are challenged on editorials, especially if readers perceive a feud or ongoing editorial disagree-ments between a newspaper and a particular candidate. The most dif-ficult circumstances are local races where all or some of the candidates may have personal relationships with the newspaper -- specifically with someone in management.

Those endorsements will be scrutinized both for whom the newspaper does and does not endorse. It is naive to believe that personal relationships do not play a role in endorse-ments, but issues ought to be the foundation for each decision.

In that regard, one of the early exercises should be a brainstorming ses-sion on the primary issues in each race. These issues will be the basis for candi-

date interviews, and the candidates’ responses will provide a framework for endorsements.

For those newspapers that still are skeptical about endorsing specific individuals in local races, consider this idea as a first step. Write an editorial outlining what the newspaper considers to be the key issues in a race – and where you stand on these issues – and encourage readers to vote for the individuals who align with those stances. The editorial has not iden-tified specific candidates, but the message allows readers to connect the dots.

The final step is to allow feedback. The effectiveness of any editorial is minimized if readers aren’t allowed to debate its merits. Newspapers routinely promote the editorial page as the heart of the First Amendment. Yet too many newspapers routinely present their endorsements only days before -- and sometimes even after -- the deadline has passed for election commentary.

It’s unfortunate – and even a bit paradoxical – that edito-rial endorsements are becoming increasingly scarce. Consider that editorials frequently urge govern-ment bodies to take action, or take officials to task for lack of action. It seems a natural parallel that news-papers should have equally strong convictions about the people who will ultimately make those decisions. If newspapers tout their roles as government watchdogs, endorsing candidates for elected bodies should be at the top of their responsibilities.

Jim Pumarlo writes, speaks and provides training on community newsroom success strategies. His newest book is “Journalism Primer: A Guide to Community News Cov-erage.” He also is author of “Votes and Quotes: A Guide to Outstand-ing 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].


coloradopressassociation.com

By Steve Henson and Matt Lubich The Johnstown Breeze

The death sent the media into a frenzy.Headlines and newscasters screamed:“Sister and boyfriend kill little girl acting out moves

from the video game Mortal Kombat.”It was front-page news and featured on CNN and

other TV networks. Talking heads and columnists na-tionwide spouted indignation about the danger of vio-lent video games.

Trouble is, the story wasn’t true. Seven-year-old Zoe Garcia did die at her home in Johnstown, Colo., and she had been beaten to death.

But it had nothing to do with Mortal Kombat. And the older sister’s involvement was mostly that of a by-stander who didn’t know how to stop her drunk and vio-lent boyfriend.

A tragedy made media-simple by blaming it on vio-lent video games was far more complex. To understand it, you need to come to terms with children having chil-dren, the numbing of logic brought on by reliance on bureaucracy, poverty, drug abuse and parental neglect.

Yes, the sister and the boyfriend played the game Mortal Kombat.

But that was one of the few normal, kid-like things that was going on in a rental house in the 500 block of Charlotte Street in Johnstown, a tiny community south-west of Greeley.

It was the early winter of 2007, with Christmas just around the corner . . .

Sister/momHeather Trujillo, now 21, is scheduled for release in

December from the Colorado Department of Correc-tions Youthful Offender System prison on the grounds of the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo.

She agreed to an interview recently with The Pueblo Chieftain.

Her story is a terrible one, a tale of her parent who was a drug abuser and mostly absent. A tale of a young girl who by the age of 10 was raising her siblings, three of them toddlers. A tale of a teenage boyfriend from a broken home who was drunk and brutal.

It’s the story of how she begged for money outside a convenience store to buy diapers and food for herself and her siblings, but also to buy marijuana and booze for her-self and her boyfriend.

It’s the sad and violent epitaph for the slain victim, a first-grader who had the misfortune to be born into hell, who by the time she died already was smoking cigarettes and pot.

It’s also the story of how the system failed. How social services responded numerous times to calls involving the family in both New Mexico and Colorado, but didn’t take definitive action.

Today, it’s the tale of a young woman who wants to save what’s left of her life. To do that, in part, she must exorcise her past. And that means setting the record straight . . .

Dysfunctional familyDana Trujillo was 13 years old when she gave birth

to Heather in Socorro, N.M. Heather’s father and Dana were divorced five years later, and Dana was left to raise, at any given time, up to 10 children from several men.

By all accounts, she did a miserable job. She worked mostly as a bartender and abused drugs, mostly meth-amphetamine. She was seldom home and, when she was, she was too high to be of any help to anyone.

By the time Heather was 12, what was left of the fami-ly — Dana, Heather, Zoe and two younger twin sisters — was on the run. A New Mexico arrest warrant had been issued for Dana Trujillo, charging her with child neglect following an investigation by social services there.

“I was glad to leave New Mexico,” Heather said. “I was bullied all of the time by the kids there. I had a Hispanic name but didn’t look Hispanic. They were always taunt-ing me, taking stuff out of my backpack and keeping it from me. Harassment-type stuff.”

The family fled to Colorado, living with relatives in various places and sometimes in their car, homeless.

They finally landed in Johnstown. Dana Trujillo got a

job bartending and returned to her New Mexico

ways; namely, spending most of the time high and away from home.

Where was social services?Over the period of months prior to Zoe’s death, the

Weld County Department of Social Services was at the house several times, and police on other occasions, due to outside complaints of neglect, according to official re-cords.

Neighbors heard babies crying for hours, or loud noises, or saw an infant wandering in the front yard wearing only a soiled diaper.

But no serious action was taken. Dana Trujillo re-tained custody and Heather “raised” herself and her sib-lings.

It was a terrible situation that became worse when Heather and a classmate, Lamar Roberts, met at school and fell in love.

“Well, I thought it was love,” she said. “I was 14.”Roberts had his own mess at home. His mother was

an alcoholic and his brother died at the age of 11.In many ways, the two dysfunctional teenagers

reached out to each other for support. It would be a trag-ic connection.

It wasn’t long before the two were sexually active and abusing drugs — marijuana, Ecstasy, pain-killers and al-cohol.

Within a year, Roberts ran away from his home and moved in with Heather.

Roberts was only slightly older; the two were 15 at the time.

It remains a mystery how the mothers of these two — and social services — allowed this to happen and con-tinue.

A 2008 report released by the Colorado Department of Human Services, which investigated Weld County social services’ role in this case, detailed a “chaotic” and “dangerous” living situation that Dana Trujillo had little control over or involvement in.

Weld County social services denied wrongdoing, but instituted numerous reforms in an attempt to prevent a future similar tragedy.

They may have responded to calls alleging neglect, but the officials had no idea what really was happening in that home.

“We didn’t have any money, so I panhandled at the (convenience store) by our house,” Heather said. “I’d buy food, weed, vodka for Lamar. I was paying the rent, buy-ing everything we needed . . . Later, I sold drugs there.

“. . . I came home from school one day and social ser-vices was there,” she said. “The baby (a sister less than a year old) had been crying for hours. My mom wasn’t around, and the oldest girl (Zoe) in the house (at that time) was 4. I didn’t go back to school after that.”

She became a dropout, living with a teenage boy who was demonstrating a frequent and escalating propensity to be physically abusive as his drinking got worse. The two frequently were high. Her mom was seldom home and of no use when she was.

Abuse escalates“At first, (Roberts) would drink and call me names,”

Heather said. “Then he started pushing, then hitting me. He had studied martial arts, said he had a black belt, and he’d use arm bars on me, smother me with pillows, use choke holds on me until I’d pass out.”

Why didn’t she call the authorities?“I’m not sure,” she said. “I loved him, and he was help-

ing me raise the girls.”Plus, she added, “social services had been to my house

and his house about 20 times. They never did anything. I didn’t think authorities would do anything.”

Plan now for endorsements

Girl’s death highlights tragedy of children having children

Well, I thought it was love. I was 14.”

Heather Trujillo

jimpumarlo


kevinsimp

You’ve heard me say it time and time again. Julie, in Minnesota, even wrote to me a couple of years ago to thank me for “saving her life” after convincing her to add backup drives to all her machines.

So it is with much chagrin (I’ve been waiting almost 20 years for an opportunity to use “chagrin” in a column) that I admit that this doctor is his own worst patient.

That’s right. On July 2, two days before my country’s Independence celebration, my five year old iMac began to crawl.

To be completely frank, I thought the computer was about two years old. Between computers at my home and office, not to men-tion laptops, iPads and iPhones, I have a hard time remembering when I got what.

I did what any self-respecting guru would do at a sign of slowdown. I restarted. Upon re-start, I was greeted by a gray screen. You know the one. The one that eventually turns to blue, then fills with folders and drives.

The problem was that I didn’t see any fold-ers. Or drives. All I saw was a gray screen.

No problem, I thought. I pulled out my handy Disk Warrior CD, restarted the computer, then ran the utility that can fix just about anything wrong with a Mac, other than a “fried” drive or faulty memory chip.

Disk Warrior found the errant drive, then began a process of checking the hard disk for problems. It found one. Then another. Before it was done, Disk Warrior found dozens of bad sectors on the drive.

I began the process in Disk Warrior to restore the files on the bad disk and copy them over to my backup drive. I quickly learned

there were two problems.First, the files and folders on the

hard drive would not transfer. Every time I tried to move a folder, the computer locked up and had to be restarted.

Second, I soon learned that my hard drive wasn’t the only thing destined to make my holiday week less than celebratory. Something had happened to my LaCie external backup drive. It, too, was history. I quickly tried to restore it using Data Rescue III, by Prosoft. But it was too little, too late.

Never one to give in to hard-ware hyperbole, I didn’t panic. I had a second backup in the “cloud.”

I get asked quite often about clouds. Clouds are nothing more than computer servers in a remote location that you use as if they were in your own building. My data was being stored on a computer up in the “cloud” somewhere.

Much to my chagrin (there’s that word again), I quickly learned that my space in the cloud was full and hadn’t backed up anything in a few weeks.

After a full day trying to resurrect my criti-cal information, I realized this drive was dead. Kaput. No files were going to be saved.

Fortunately, I have a third backup. It’s a Western Digital external USB drive that I used to backup my Time Capsule backup (original backup drive that had gone bad). For PC users, Time Capsule is a utility built into Macs since OS 10.6. This means it’s been around for a couple of years. Time Capsule automatically backs up your entire computer and external drives throughout the day. At any time, you can go back to any point in history and restore your

computer to that point.II make it a habit to leave this drive at my

home, in case some type of emergency destroys my computer and all its drives Newspapers who have dealt with fires know of what I speak.

Every couple of weeks, I bring this drive to the office and do a complete clone of the original backup.

So at least I have my information from two weeks ago. This meant I could restore most of my email and critical files, but anything I’ve saved on my computer over the past two weeks is history.

I really am mad at myself. After spending three full days restoring my computer, you have no idea how mad that is.

What can you learn from my mistakes? Plenty. Let me share what I relearned, never to forget again:

1. Have some type of backup device for each computer in your office. Most of mine are Firewire drives, but there are other types available.

2. Have an off-site backup plan. There are many of these around. I was using a popular application called Dropbox. I just installed a new cloud backup called “Just Cloud” that gets great reviews for both Macs and PCs. Unlimit-ed backup space for one computer runs around $10 per month.

3. Make sure that Time Machine (if you’re a Mac user), your backup drive and off-site backups are all working correctly. I thought mine were. I was wrong.

Like Julie in Minnesota, someone will write me soon to let me know that I’ve “saved his life” by reminding him to get his backup program up to date.

When it comes to backups, do as I say, not as I doCrashPlan is a favorite of many Mac and PC users because of its ability to backup on-site and off-site at the same time. Individual unlimited licenses available for $3 each per month. Multiple licenses available for as little as $6 per month. www.crashplan.com .

PAC from Page 1

future of newspapers in our state,” said CPA executive director Sam Johnston.

Eleven highly qualified and seri-ously committed professionals from newspaper publishing and related fields have accepted positions on the PAC. They include:

Richard Ballantine, publisher of the Durango Herald, who served as CPA president in 1999;

Doug Bell, editor of Evergreen Newspapers, adjunct professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver and a member of the Region 9 Board of Directors of The Society of Professional Journalists;

Denny Dressman, retired ex-ecutive at the Rocky Mountain News and a CPA past president (1993);

Jean Gray, retired publisher of the Haxtun Herald and a former CPA president (1994);

Greg Luft, Alumni Coordina-tor and Chair of the Department of Journalism and Technical Commu-nication at Colorado State Univer-sity;

Joe McGowan, retired chief of bureau for The Associated Press in Denver, among many postings dur-ing a long career as an AP corre-spondent and bureau head;

Dan Petty, social media editor at The Denver Post;

Willard D. (Wick) Rowland, president and CEO of Colorado Public Television and former dean of the University of Colorado School

of Journalism and Mass Communi-cation;

Jim Saccomano, vice president of corporate communications for the Denver Broncos;

Suzanne Schlicht, chief operat-ing officer for The World Company who leld the CPA as president in 2003; and Kay Turnbaugh, former publisher of The Mountain Ear in Nederland, CPA president in 1992, and originator of the Colorado Press Association Foundation.

Denny Dressman is serving as the PAC’s first chairman; Joe Mc-Gowan as vice-chair; and Greg Luft and treasurer.

Three task forces will be respon-sible for various dimensions of PAC operation. Luft will head the Finance Task Force, joined by Wick Rowland and Jim Saccomano. Jean Gray is chair of the Programs Task Force, joined by Doug Bell and Dan Pet-ty. Suzanne Schlicht will chair the Grants Task Force, joined by Richard Ballantine and Kay Turnbaugh. As PAC chair and vice-chair, Dressman and McGowan will assist all three task forces as needed.

The PAC will meet four times per year. At its next meeting on Au-gust 10, PAC task forces will discuss fund-raising and PAC awareness ef-forts; consider a variety of program options; and begin to formalize pro-cedures for accepting grant applica-tions and making awards.

Look for monthly reports on PAC activities and programs in succeed-ing issues of The Colorado Editor.

Eleven talented professionals part of new committee

Ballantine Bell Dressman Gray

Luft McGowan Petty Saccomano

Schlicht Turnbaugh Rowland


REGISTER-CALL from Page 3

The Civil War was at its height; every per-son, man, woman and child was absorbed in the great conflict. Extras were issued as often as the news warranted, day and night. As soon as the newsboys came rushing from the office, a shout was heard and people gathered in groups to buy, read and listen. As soon as the carrier put in an appearance, each quartz mill whistle would be blown by the engineer. When carriers reached the mills simultaneously the roar amid the encircling hills was deafening.

Wells sold his interest to Frank Hall, October 17, 1865, and the firm became Collier & Hall. Meanwhile the Register building of stone had then been erected. This is the fine old structure, still occupied.

Frank Hall, afterward Secretary of the Ter-ritory of Colorado, author of one of the best histories of the state, and prior to his death the mining editor of the Denver Post, brought his young bride to Central City and became one of its best beloved and leading citizens. Two years before, in 1863, William Train Muir had started in the town of Black Hawk, adjoining Central City, the Colorado Miner, a weekly, which the same year was purchased by Ovando J. Hollister, who changed its name to Black Hawk Mining Journal. Toward the close of 1863, Frank Hall became associated in the management, and remained until he went to the Miner’s Register.

July 26, 1868, the name was shortened to Central City Register. It was hard work, even though the whirligig of drama in that roaring camp was a mental stimulant and the profits were large. Collier had a physical breakdown, from excessive mental labor, and June 12, 1873, sold his interest to W.W. Whipple, the firm becoming Hall & Whipple, Hall tak-ing care of the editorial department and Whipple of the mechanical end. June 1, 1877, the partnership having been dissolved some time before, Hall, sole owner, sold to James A. Smith and Den Marlow, who conducted it un-til February 1, 1878, when Halsey M. Rhoads bought in.

A few months prior to the change in the Register, H.M. Rhoads established a small daily, called the Town Talk, which was issued from G.M. Laird’s job office, and after several months’ publication, he discontinued the Town Talk, and started another paper, called the Republican, which suspended publication after a short life.

G.M. Laird, who had worked on the old Register under Hall, as a young lad, with Den Marlow, started that month The Evening Call, and the following May purchased the Register, lock, stock and barrel, and consolidated it with their paper. The Register-Call came out as a daily and a weekly, with Colonel John S. Dormer as editor, and J.P. Waterman as min-ing reporter.

In 1936, that splendid gentleman, the dean of Colorado journalists, George Laird, died. He carried on, week after week during the decline and fall of the once great min-ing city; the Register-Call came out regularly though the years were laying a heavy toll upon the editor who had seen so much and written so many millions of words that someday will furnish the historian, from the files of the Register-Call, the material for an epic. He represented the ideal newspaper man, in many respects. He courageously fought for what was right; he never compromised, and the golden kingdom of Gilpin was better for his pen and his presence. And he was the friend of all, rich and poor; when the shadows fell and the pots of gold were empty, and no longer sounded the whistles of the mills, he stayed on, one and the leading one, of the few hundreds left. For he was their friend, and he had faith in the old town and the brooding hills that he had seen pour forth golden streams. There was work to do, in bringing back Central City, and he stuck at his post until he saw the beginning of the revival of mining and knew his dreams were coming true at last.

Black Hawk was also represented by newspapers, as the Journal was established in 1861 in that city by D. J. Hollister and Frank Hall, and continued publication until 1866, when it was sold and moved to Central City, where it was published as the Times and one year later Thomas Campbell purchased the plant and again changed the name, this time to the Colorado Herald. Three years later, Frank Fossett became the proprietor, and the paper continued under his management until late in the summer of 1873, when it suspended.

In February, 1878, G.M. Laird and Den Marlow started the Evening Call, a five-column daily, which was printed in Laird’s job office, then situated in the building now occupied by the Chain O’ Mines Hotel. It was printed one page at a time on a Gordon job press, (which job press, by the way, is still in the office of the Register-Call and still being used.) Motive power was supplied by the leg, the proprietors and printers taking turns “kicking off ” the edition, which was in the neighborhood of 1,200, one page being printed at a time, necessitating close to 5,000 impressions each day.

In May, of the same year, Laird and Marlow purchased the Register plant and consolidated the Call bringing to life the Register-Call. On the 13th of October, 1895, Mr. Marlow died, and in 1896, Mr. Laird purchased his interest and up to the time of his death in April 1936, was the sole editor and proprietor.

In 1876, Wm. McLaughlin and W.W. Sullivan established the Times in Black Hawk, and a short time later Mr. James R. Oliver purchased Mr. Sullivan’s interests and at the death of McLaughlin, the firm name became Oliver & Brandgust. The plant was later moved to Central City and the name of the paper changed to The Post and after short life was again changed to The Gilpin Observer, which was edited by Alex McLeod, and after several years was leased to several parties, among the latter being Fritz J. Altvater, who published the same for a number of years, later selling the plant to W. J. Stull who continued the publica-tion until about 1920, when he suspended publication and moved the plant to Wyoming.

The Gilpin Observer plant was purchased by the Observer Publishing Company, June 21, 1887, the stock holders all being residents of Gilpin County, from the late A.C. Crosson who established the Black Hawk Times in 1885. The company continued to publish it as the Post until July 27th, when it was merged into the Gilpin Observer. The directors were:

James McD. Livesay, Joseph S. Beaman and Alexander McLeod, the latter gentleman be-ing the editor and Mr. McD. Livesay, man-ager. After the retirement of Mr. McLeod, its publication was continued under different managements until October, 1898, when it was purchased by Fritz Altvater.

The Observer was issued in the interests of the Democratic Party and at times in addi-tion to the above gentlemen mentioned was also owned and published by Mr. J. C. Cal-houn and also by A. B. Gray. The Hon. John C. McShane, Hon. Henry C. Bolsinger, and Fred Bolsinger were at times owners. For several years, or until 1898, Mr. J. D. Hurd edited and published the paper for the above mentioned owners.

In politics it was originally published and continued until 1898, as a Democratic paper, but in that year it espoused the cause of the Silver Republicans, Populists, and Silver Democrats, which caused the sale of it to Mr. Altvater, and the old time Democrats then set up a new paper called The Miner, and which was edited by Mr. Hurd.

Mr. Altvater operated the Observer until 1904 when after being elected County Clerk & Recorder, he sold it to W. J. Stull.

In December 1883, Calvin & Lucas started the publication of the Weekly Ledger from Central City, and continued for about a year, when it suspended publication.

In December, 1897, Charles M. Johnson and Louis Slingerland started The Star at Black Hawk which suspended the following year. In July of the same year, Daniel Sayrs started The Independent at that city which was consolidat-ed a few months later with The Republican in Central City, which was published by Wright and Sayrs and later by W. C. Fullerton.

In the fall of 1900, the Kingdom of Gilpin was started by Hassett and Pense at Pine Creek, or Apex, a small mining camp some six miles west of Central City, having for its object the publication of the proposed amendments to the Constitution of the State of Colorado, and after the election it suspended. In 1896 another paper was started at Apex called the Pine Creek Silver Belt, and which existed for a few months, when it folded up and in the fall of that year, another paper, The Pine Cone was brought to light, and it, like its predecessors, existed but a short time.

After operating The Gilpin Observer, which was purchased by W. J. Stull from Fritz Altvater, until 1924, Stull removed his equip-ment to Graybull, Wyo., where he remained in business for several years, and due to contro-

versies with the Typographical Union of that city moved his plant to New Mexico where he operated a job printing plant.

The Register-Call was the only newspaper in the county from that date until the latter part of 1954, when the Tommy Knawker, a weekly newspaper, was started by Claude R. Powe. This paper is printed on an offset press which has many advantages over the hot type and cylinder press in use in the Register-Call, inasmuch as it is printed from photoplates and a picture taken could be reproduced on this offset press in a matter of minutes. The Tommy Knawker is still issuing its newspaper each week (as of June 29, 1962).

The Past 50 Years (as written in June, 2012) This week’s issue of the Weekly Register-

Call marks the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the paper, still published each week in Gilpin County, though now our office is located in Black Hawk.

In 2003 the printing press in Denver who was printing the broadsheet newspaper for the WRC notified the publisher that they would no longer accept manual newspaper layouts as they were going to an all-digital format. These large flats consisted of waxed galley copy manually pasted to layout boards, and were required to be kept cool to keep the wax from melting, and transported carefully from the WRC office to the press. There they were photographed with a huge stat camera to create large negatives before converting to photo-etched metal plates which were then wrapped onto the web printing press drums and ink applied to transfer the image to the paper as it was moving through the press. With the new digital pre-press process called “direct to plate,” the printed product was much better quality as the photo negative process was no longer needed and the computer-generated images were transferred directly to the photo emulsion on the metal plates. Since the WRC didn’t have the knowledge or experi-ence to create a digital layout, one of their reporters referred them to Aaron Storms who had moved to the area from Houston. In that city, he had owned a graphic design company which published monthly magazines in addi-tion to other high-end marketing brochures and web-based graphics. Storms was contract-ed to create the digital layout and freelance for a year to ensure the transition was smooth and deadlines were met.

After finishing with bringing the WRC up to date with current technology, Storms saw a disparity in the news coverage for the commu-nity, so after determining there was an interest, he launched the Gilpin County News, a mod-ern tabloid-style newspaper the first week of August, 2004 and published as such through July of 2009 at their Black Hawk office. Within the first year of publication, the City of Black Hawk acquired the Gilpin Gazette, and sold that publication to Storms, who merged it with the Gilpin County News.

In July of 2009, after the passing of Wil-liam Russell, Jr., the 91 year old publisher of the Weekly Register-Call, the executors of his estate contacted long-time resident, business-man, and Black Hawk Mayor David Spellman, to see if he would be interested in purchasing the newspaper. Spellman’s family has been actively involved in the community for 150 years, so he was keenly interested in the lo-cal history and saw the value in keeping the publication going. He contacted Storms to see if a partnership agreement could be made to merge the papers and do so without missing an issue. Storms would continue to determine content, do the publishing, editing, design and layout, and they agreed to do the partnership deal for the benefit of the community. So the newspaper continued with the same Gilpin County New staff and format, but took on the Weekly Register-Call name to continue the incredible run of 147 years of consecu-tive weekly publishing history through today at our 150th anniversary. May we have many more!

Weekly Register-Call Pub-lisher Aaron Storms holds the 100th Anniversary Edition of the Weekly Register-Call. Last month, the Register-Call celebrated 150 years of publishing.


Let’s take a look at four important numbers in advertising.

One: The best ads make one point. The point can be made in several different ways, but the bottom line is that an ad should make only one point.

A lot of advertisers think they can multiply their impact by putting numerous selling points in every ad. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work. Years ago, I heard that one of the most important advertising formulas is E=0. Everything equals nothing. When an ad tries to say every-thing to everybody, the end result is zero impact. That’s especially true in today’s over-communicat-ed society. To break through the clutter, keep it simple.

Two: There are two types of advertising – image and response. Image advertising is intended to strengthen a brand in a gen-eral sense and give consumers a good feeling about the adver-tiser. For example, you’ll find the “good hands people” at Allstate. Wrangler sells “Real. Comfort-able. Jeans.” And John Deere says, “Nothing runs like a Deere.”

On the other hand, response advertising’s objective is to motivate consumers to take some specific action. Save 25 percent on sunglasses this weekend. Better hurry – only three townhomes left. Buy one pizza, get one free.

While image advertising has a longer success curve, response advertising is designed to make cash registers ring right away. Too few advertisers realize the difference. They believe that all they have to do is announce they’re open for business, and consumers will flock to their door.

Ad sales people should help clients set realistic expectations. Ideally, a campaign should include image-building and response tactics.

Three: The headline is the most important part of an ad. Because numerous studies reveal that only about 20 percent of people who read a headline will read the rest of the copy, the headline should tell read-ers right up front what the ad is about. If a headline is loaded with puffery (“fantastic savings,” “unbelievable quality,” etc.) or doesn’t provide helpful information, it won’t move the needle.

There are three types of effective headlines – ben-efit, news and curiosity. Benefit headlines promise an immediate payoff (“Save 50 percent on new carpet”). News headlines emphasize something newswor-thy (“Introducing the daily flight to London”). And curiosity headlines ask a question or make an unusual statement (“Which of these two houses has the lower heating bill?) Because some curiosity headlines are more extreme than others, a case could be made for a separate category – surprise headlines (“If your para-chute doesn’t open, the second jump is free”).

Four: A typical print ad has four elements – head-line, illustration, body copy and logo. The headline should let page-turners know what they’ll learn by reading more. The illustration should have a direct relation to the headline. The body copy should expand on the theme which is introduced in the headline. And the logo – the most prominent logo, if there’s more than one – should identify the advertiser most closely associated with the message.

Better advertising? It’s as easy as one, two, three, four.

© Copyright 2012 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]

SMALL WEEKLY FOR SALESmall weekly in Colorado mountain commu-

nity. Grosses about $120,000. Good opportunity for young couple starting out, or older “down-sized” journalists. Easy news beats. Monopoly situation. All buildings and equipment included in sale price; you can walk in on Monday and put out a paper on Tuesday. Current owner will stick around to help with transition. Beautiful location, great for fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation. Excellent schools, low crime, no traffic. Price includes office building and residence. July price reduced to $220,000 from $270,000. Call 970-723-4404.

REPORTERThe Mountain Mail in Salida is seeking a

full-time reporter. Duties will include covering county, school district and hospital meetings, as well as courts and community. Send resume to Managing Editor Paul Goetz at [email protected].

FULL TIME GENERAL MANAGERA print and digital media company, publish-

ing Monday thru Saturday in a rural Colorado town, is looking for a General Manager to oversee its operation. The successful candidate must have extensive print and digital sales experience and will be expected to lead a sales team to con-tinue growing digital revenue while maintaining and growing strong print advertising products.

This is not just a desk job. The General Man-ager will take an active role in helping to drive the growth of total print and digital audiences through successful implementation of growth strategies established for the market. Qualified candidates must have a proven track record of successful leadership, innovation and goal achievement in a multimedia company.

The staff is small but the opportunities are great. Development of digital and print revenue from metropolitan areas located just minutes away will be vital to the success of the company.

Salary plus annual MBO.We offer a choice of medical insurance, dental

insurance, life/AD&D, managed disability insur-ance and a 401(k) investment savings plan.

Apply to Human Resources, Attn: General Manager, P. O. Box 592, Boulder, Colorado 80306.

EDITOREditor for mountain weekly in Buena Vista,

Colo. The Upper Arkansas Valley offers a bounty of outdoor action, from skiing and shoeing to river sports, hunting, fishing and cycling. Experi-ence necessary but this could also be an op-portunity for the right person to be stepping up.

We’re looking for someone to lead a small staff, someone who is intent on covering community news. Responsibilities include supervision of two full-time staff and and part-time contributors; news content; design and pagination; and web direction. Health and medical insurance provid-ed. Send letter and resume to Merle Baranczyk, publisher, via e-mail: [email protected]; or to POB 189, Salida, Colorado 81201.

REPORTERThe Cortez Journal is seeking an experienced

reporter with strong investigative and writing skills and a commitment to community journal-ism. Candidate will be expected to cover a variety of issues, manage beats and develop sources with limited guidance. Some photography will be expected.

The ideal candidate will be a self-starter with a drive to produce quality content and the moti-vation to always do better.

The Cortez Journal is an award-winning three-day-a-week publication committed to excellence. The opportunities to do special journalism is here and the next member of our team will be in position to make a difference in our community.

Cortez is a community of around 8,500 located in Southwest Colorado, where the sur-roundings range from high desert country to mountain peaks rising more than 14,000 feet. Residents here enjoy hiking, mountain biking, four-wheeling, camping, fly fishing, hunting, skiing, kayaking, river rafting and other activities. Mesa Verde National Park is next door, and south-ern Utah’s canyon country is a short drive away.

Potential applicants are encouraged to research the area online before they apply.

The Journal offers a full benefit package, in-cluding medical/dental/vision and life insurance, paid time off and 401k plan with a generous company match.

The Journal is an equal-opportunity employer. The publication offers a drug-free workplace, and drug screening is mandatory for new employees.

E-mail a cover letter, resume, 3-5 clips and references to [email protected] or send them to Human Resources, 123 N. Roger Smith Ave., Cortez, CO 81321.

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR/REPORTER The Pueblo Chieftain, Colorado’s third-largest

daily and the state’s oldest newspaper, continues to move aggressively into the digital world and is expanding its newsroom to include the position of Social Media Editor/Reporter.

“This individual would work closely with

the newsroom staff under supervision from the director of digital media in delivering content to various social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook and many others.

The person hired must be a journalist, able to write stories, shoot photos, video and obtain audio as needed.

The position requires the following specific skills:

* Adobe Creative Suite experience (at least PhotoShop, but Illustrator and InDesign experi-ence is helpful).

* Microsoft Office and Google Docs conversant (shared workflow, spreadsheets for data).

* Familiarity with blogging and content management systems such as WordPress.

* Video recording and editing experience desired (Final Cut Pro, Roxio Creator, Adobe Premiere).

* Twitter-literate (retweets, hashtags, lists, two-way communication).

* Understand the difference between a Facebook profile and a fan page, and be able to exploit each.

* Able to moderate online comments and engage with users when necessary.

The Pueblo Chieftain is a family-owned newspaper that takes great pride in thoroughly and accurately covering the historic Southern Colorado community of about 150,000. The Chieftain is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

For further information or to submit an application, contact Jayson

Peters, Digital Media Director, at [email protected].

WEEKEND AND SPORTS REPORTERThe Mountain Mail in Salida is seeking a

full-time weekend and sports reporter. Duties will include covering local high school sports, weekend events and breaking news coverage. Send resume to Managing Editor Paul Goetz at [email protected].

DESIGNERHigh Country News, the nonprofit biweekly

magazine for people who care about the West, seeks full-time associate designer to work on magazine, promotional materials and hcn.org. Must relocate to Paonia, pop. 1,600. Passion for Western issues, proficiency in Creative Suites, ability to meet deadlines and very high standards a must. Junior-level position. Great benefits. Job description - http://www.hcn.org/about/jobs/associate-designer/. Cover letter, resume, clips to [email protected]. EOE

cpa marketplace Advertising by the numbers

johnfoust

SENIOR OUTSIDE SALES REPRESENTATIVESYNC2 MEDIA/CPA

The Outside Sales Representative is responsible for establishing and maintaining profitable relationships with customers on behalf of SYNC2 Media and actively prospecting for new accounts and maximizing sales potential with existing customers.

As the Outside Sales Representative, you are the primary external representative of SYNC2 Media in addition to the VP of Sales and Marketing; you must convey a sense of expertise in our print and digital services and capabilities, as you serve as a key educator to our community and business accounts. This is an aggressive sales position and will require high call volume when in the office and many outside meetings with agencies, direct clients and association members.

You are a member of the Sales Team and together we are accountable for meeting the monthly, quarterly and annual metrics, revenue and sales goals of the company. The sales and strategic marketing activities of the team will be designed to achieve these revenue goals. You and the team are responsible for supporting the company vision and mission.

Sales Representatives will guarantee satisfaction and value for our clients (agencies, direct clients, other state press associations and member newspapers); Contribute to a work environment that fosters pride in being part of a winning team and promotes personal growth; Maintain personal productivity and quality standards that make possible attractive financial returns so that we may continue to provide

excellent service to our customers and ensure job security and career growth for our staff.

Must also have working knowledge of traditional print advertising (ROP, inserts, classified) in addition to digital advertising on multiple platforms (display, mobile, social, e-mail and search).

Because you will be in contact with current and prospective customers and you are in a key position to influence their satisfaction and SYNC2 Media’s prosperity, this position requires tact, sensitivity, and professionalism.

Responsibilities and Duties:• Communicate effectively with VP of Sales

and Marketing, Executive Director and other CPA/SYNC2 Media team members as needed, informing and updating them regularly to guarantee that sales and client objectives are met.

• Reports directly to VP of Sales and Marketing• Follow all systems and procedures and actively

participate in idea generation and discussion to improve procedures when necessary.

• Participate as a key team player by supporting operations as needed.

• Assist in developing and implementing contract processes.

• Prepare reports of business transactions and keep expense accounts.

• Identify prospects, customers, and referral sources and develop/maintain relationships to ensure attainment of company business goals. Support efforts to consistently grow the base of referral sources.

• Actively manage short and long-term leads from external referral sources (press associations) to qualified prospects and advance them through the sales process.

• Manage marketing data using applicable sales management systems or tools (e.g., database, computerized call calendars and time

management systems) to maximize efficiency and analyze data/marketing activity on a weekly basis

• Effectively present and discuss SYNC2 Media print and digital solutions to current and prospective customers in a way that conveys an image of quality, integrity and superior understanding and delivery of customer needs.

• Perform market assessments, competitor analyses, pricing strategies. Draw conclusions from market assessment data on the competitive environment and the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and targets, and provide input to VP of Sales and Marketing.

• Develop a strategic sales plan that identifies prospects and customers, prioritizes them according to importance and ability to provide results.

• Develop a call schedule to adequately cover territory and provide reports and data on results (KPI spreadsheet).

• Investigate and resolve customer problems. • Keep current on new technology. • Understand and comply with the sales system/

program in place. Qualifications: • Bachelor’s degree with previous newspaper

sales experience a plus (3-5 years).• Strong verbal and written communication skills

and good math skills. • Strong persuasive and interpersonal skills and a

sales aptitude. • Ability to identify and meet customers’ needs

and requirements. • Strong sense of urgency and ability to work

under tight deadlines and juggle multiple projects simultaneously.

• Must be a self-starter and a problem solver. • Must possess a valid state motor vehicle

operator’s license.


STORIES from Page 1plus years practicing Ophthalmol-ogy in Sterling or through his perfor-mances as a soloist jazz pianist or as a member of the Hoagies, a Denver-area jazz and swing-era music group. He splits his time between Denver and Sterling these days.

Others may recognize one or more names from the list of 36 vet-erans, all but one from Northeast Colorado, that Dr. Elliff enticed to tell their stories. Those stories, first video tapped and later transcribed, wound their way through the capable editing of veteran Denver journal-ist and CPA Past President Denny Dressman, and into a book titled Sterling Heroes of World War II, ap-propriately launched this past July 4.

Dr. Elliff recorded the interviews over a 10-year period beginning in 2000, all but one of the men com-ing to him as patients. “They chose me,” he says, readily admitting that the 36 men, 17 of which have since passed away, represent a mere frac-tion of the number from Northeast Colorado who fought in WWII. “We sent thousands of guys from this part

of the country,” he says, adding that he feels the group represents a profile of all who served. “These guys went everywhere. They did everything. They flew. They were in the Pacific. They were in Asia. They were in Eu-rope. We got guys who were in the Navy. We got guys who were prison-ers of war.

“Everyone of these guys was ab-solutely sincere in their work. A lot had various adventures, but these guys were true patriots. They were upset about the Japanese attacking us (at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941), so a lot of these guys volunteered when they were 17 and had to have their mothers sign for them to go into the service. A unique bunch of guys.”

He says the first person narratives make the book unique. “That’s the difference in this book and most war stories. Most war stories are third person. Somebody is talking about it. This book, these guys are telling their own story.”

Ten years into tapping the in-terviews, he decided he wanted to put them in book form so he asked employee Lila Moore to transcribe

them.Once Moore transcribed the

tapes, Dr. Elliff took the manuscript to Scott Johnson, a friend and fellow musician who runs Sputnik Design Works in Denver. Johnson suggested they ask Dressman to edit the tran-script to a manageable size. “When I interviewed these guys, I tried to get their story from the service. What happened to them? How did it affect them? How did it affect their family? A lot of that’s not in the book. Denny just chopped it out.”

Dressman, a 43-year veteran of the newspaper business and author of four books, read portions of the transcript before signing on. “I read a couple of the interviews from the transcript at random and realized how extraordinary they were,” he says. “I saw tremendous potential. My goal was to present them in the most effective way that would allow their unique first-person accounts to shine.

“From that goal, I came up with the idea of the third-person intros, and then realized that, in order to not disrupt the flow of the first-person

accounts, something like the Histori-cal References was needed to explain or elaborate on certain things they talked about.”

In his editor’s note at the end of the book, Dressman writes that it is one of the most unusual books in the vast array of Word War II literature published. “You should judge for yourself, but I am proud of the way it turned out. I think it provides a picture of America during the war years, and the experience of military service then, that is unique. It’s a real microcosm of the time in America, and all the more amazing because Dr. Elliff didn’t screen the 36 guys or try to select guys to represent the broad spectrum that he wound up with. These are 36 guys from the same area, who had all of these different experiences. Amazing!”

Dr. Elliff, who was 13 in 1941, says he hopes the children and grandchil-dren of these 36 veterans read the book so they understand, not only what these men did, but what the world was like at that time. “The United States was totally mobilized,” he says. “We had rationing. We had

shoe rationing. We had gas ration-ing. We had clothing rationing. We had paper drives. We had rubber drives. We had scrap drives. Every-body was into it.”

Dressman says he hopes the book becomes one schools use to teach the WWII era in America and America in WWII.

He says a quote on the back of the book by Rick Crandall, president of the Colorado Freedom Memorial Foundation, sums up his thoughts on the importance of the book to Colorado. “Colorado has much to be proud of in these hometown heroes,” writes Crandall. “I never tire of read-ing about the feats of ordinary people in extraordinary times.”

An essay in the front of the book notes that, “without exception,” the men who told their stories said, “I am not a hero.” Dr. Elliff disagrees. “These guys represented 100 per-cent of the effort. Every one of them I called a hero. They risked their necks. Every one of them.”

Those interested can order Ster-ling Heroes at www.ComServe-Books.com.

Interviews with WWII vets led to book on heroes

Editor’s note: The following is a letter from Brenda Brandt—CPA president and publisher of the Holyoke Enter-prise—and Samantha Johnston—execu-tive director of the Colorado Press As-sociation—to James. H. Davis, chair of the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.

July 11, 2012 — Dear Mr. Davis:We are writing to express to you

and members of the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice the ex-treme opposition of the Colorado Press Association and our member news-papers throughout Colorado to the proposal from the CCJJ’s Sentencing Task Force that the crime of newspaper theft be repealed.

While we understand that some concerns have been raised about whether it makes sense to have the theft of newspapers be its own, unclas-sified misdemeanor, it is beyond our comprehension how anyone could argue that the underlying crime of stealing newspapers for the express purpose of depriving the public of access to news should not be illegal in our state.

While incidents of newspaper theft in Colorado and across the country are relatively rare, there is never a time that it is appropriate for anyone to deprive the public to access to information by theft of newspapers. We understand that the Sentencing Task Force made its recommendation based upon concerns about whether this crime warrants a criminal penalty and that it has been prosecuted just five times since it was implemented in our state in 2004.

Additionally, we heard from Rep. Claire Levy that there is concern that no value can be established for papers that are available to the public without cost, that a homeless person who took newspapers to sleep under could be charged, that advertisers should have no expectation of their solicita-

tions reaching customers or potential customers in free newspapers and that the crime was established based on an isolated instance and the ability to define intent is not clear.

The interested parties and the General Assembly carefully considered most of these issues when House Bill 1057 was adopted in 2004. The reason that the crime of newspaper theft was classified as its own, unclassified misdemeanor was because that was determined as the best way to address the issue of establishing societal values and losses when the public is deprived of information, advertisers have been deprived of their rights to communi-cate with the public and newspapers have been deprived of their rights to provide information to the public.

There was also a general under-standing when the law was passed that as a misdemeanor it would not be

charged on any kind of regular basis, but that is was important the prosecu-tors have a way to proceed when ap-propriate and that aggrieved members of the public have a civil remedy when criminal prosecutions does not occur. Additionally, our research at the time showed instances across the country of people stealing newspapers when there are things printed in those newspapers that they didn’t want the public to see. The Student Press Law Center correctly characterizes these thefts as, “a terribly effective form of censorship.”

We know that our advertisers do expect their ads to reach the public and will be happy to have them share those thoughts with members of the CCJJ and General Assembly if it is necessary. We do not believe that overworked prosecutors will file charges against homeless people for sleeping under-neath newspapers.

While we believe the current statute works fine, we will make ourselves available to work with CCJJ to address the issues of whether the act of stealing newspapers could be a violation of an existing class of crime or whether additional work should be done to ad-dress the issues of intent that Rep. Levy raised. However, we are unequivocally opposed to repealing the underlying crime of stealing newspapers. Should the CCJJ recommend such legislation and should it be introduced, CPA and its member newspapers will make opposition to it among our highest legislative priorities in 2013.

Thank you very much for your consideration of these comments. We would appreciate it very much if you will share this letter with the rest of the members of the CCJJ before the recommendation of the Sentenc-ing Task Force to repeal the crime of newspaper theft is considered by the full Commission. We also encourage you and members of the CCJJ to reject the recommendation to repeal the law making theft of newspapers a crime.

Editor’s Note: The following col-umn is by Carl Miller, D-Leadville, who served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1997 un-til 2004. He also served as a Lake County Commissioner and as a member of the Colorado Public Util-ities Commission.

Sometimes when you see something that is wrong, you know you need to do something about it. Nine years ago, I was serving as the state representative in District 56, representing the people of Eagle, Lake and Summit Counties in the Colorado House of Representa-tives. Someone was upset about something written in one of the free distribution newspapers in my district and decided the best way to stop everyone else in town from seeing it would be to steal all the newspapers.

The theft of those newspapers was damaging to virtually all of my constituents. The people who depended on that paper for news and information were victims as the thieves effectively violated their First Amendment rights to benefit from a free press when they censored that newspaper by steal-ing all the copies. The businesses that advertised in the paper spent hard earned money and made business decisions based upon the advertisements they’d purchased were hurt when the entire run of that newspaper was stolen for the express purpose of making sure that no one, including their cus-tomers and potential customers, would ever see anything printed in it. Finally, the newspaper itself was hurt. It lost financially as its investment to make the newspaper available was stolen, but even more so by a thief who stole the paper’s right to communicate with its community.

When local prosecutors declined to prosecute the case be-cause they said they no crime had been committed under Colorado law because they couldn’t establish a value for newspapers that were distributed to the public without cost, I knew something had to be done.

Working with representatives of law enforcement, business orga-nizations and newspapers, Senator Jack Taylor and I introduced House Bill 1057 in 2004. The bill made it a crime to steal newspa-pers for the purpose of depriving other people access to information. It passed the legislature by huge margins and was signed into law by Governor Bill Owens.

I was shocked to hear earlier this year that a task force of the Colorado Commission on Crimi-nal and Juvenile Justice was consid-ering recommending doing away with the newspaper theft law and was even more amazed that the full commission has now recommend-ed repeal to the legislature.

It seems pretty simple to me. You don’t take things that don’t belong to you. But beyond that, We carefully crafted HB 1057 to only bring the law into these crimes when it could be proven that the theft took place to deprive other people the right to read what was printed in the newspa-per. If the legislature accepts this ill-conceived recommendation to repeal the law, it will create open season on a free press as stealing papers for the purpose of censor-ing information will be legalized in Colorado. I urge the CCJJ to reconsider its very flawed recom-mendation, but if it goes forward, the legislature owes it to my former constituents and all Coloradans to swiftly kill the bill and leave exist-ing protections in place.

Theft hurts manyTheft of newspapers should be a crimeTHEFT from Page 1

advertisers and the citizens served by Colorado’s free news-papers had no opportunity for input before a decision was made that could adversely impact all of them. We hope that the CCJJ will reconsider its recommendation.”

Colorado Press Association is asking newspaper members and interested parties to contact their legislators and ask them not to support the legalization of news-paper theft if it reaches the legis-lature in January.

“Colorado Press is and has been agreeable to a conversation that will ensure newspaper theft remains a crime, while helping the CCJJ to clean up the statute,” Johnston said. “In our letter to the commission prior to their meeting last week, we made clear our willingness to address the is-sues and be part of the solution.”

july 2012 colorado editor

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