november 2015 colorado editor

colorado House lovin’ what she

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Official publication of the Colorado Press Association / coloradopressassociation.com / Vol. LXXXVI, No. 11 November 2015

editor

Denver Post’s Tully named Publisher of the YearMac Tully, 59, has been named 2015 Publisher of the Year by Editor & Pub-lisher magazine. Tully is president and CEO of The Denver Post, and execu-tive vice president of The Post’s parent company, Digital First Media, oversee-ing 13 other properties in Colorado.

Tully told E&P he was “very surprised” to receive the honor, noting, “I’m get-ting recognized for work that is being done by everyone at the newspaper. I’m not the one selling ads, writing stories or delivering papers. Everyone at this paper contributed to this recognition.”

You can enter the contestThe 2015 Better Newspaper contest has officially kicked off, and runs through Dec. 15. There are several changes to this year’s contest, includ-ing an early bird registration, fewer categories, but also more submissions per category allowed.

For more details go to www.coloradopressassociation.com.

If you are interested in participating in this year’s contest, and haven’t participat-ed previously or in recent years, please contact Jean Creel at [email protected].

Annual convention has six sponsors already lined upSix businesses have confirmed they will be sponsors at the 2016 Colorado Press Associa-tion Convention, scheduled for May 12-14 at the Denver West Sheraton. Signature Offset has again agreed to be a gold sponsor; Pub-lication Printers is an event host level; Colora-do Mountain News Media and Prairie Moun-tain Media Commercial Printing are slated to be silver sponsors, while Metropolitan State is a bronze sponsor, and Newz Group is slated to be a partner level sponsor.

Sponsorships are still being accepted. To learn more contact Jerry Raehal at [email protected] or 720-274-7171.

NEWS YOU CAN USE

See LABOY, 0 See PLAN, Page 11

EducateAdvocateEnhance

Laboy appointed to Board

VINCENT LABOY

Staff report

Vincent Laboy, of the Montrose Daily Press, has been appointed to the Colorado Press Association and SYNC2 Media Board of Directors.

Laboy replaces Bob Hudson, who resigned his board position in October, when he left the Pueblo Chieftain.

“It has been a tough decision, but I have accepted a position with a hospital as part of their physi-cians relations team,” Hudson wrote in his board resignation letter. “After 23 years in the newspaper industry it will be a refreshing, yet chal-lenging change.”

Laboy was named publisher of the Daily Press, a Wick

Communications paper, in October 2014.Laboy moved from Fremont, Neb. where he

worked as a daily publisher for the Fremont Tribune since 2012.

He also served as the publisher and adver-tising director for their weekly newspaper, the Plattsmouth (Neb.) Journal. Both were Lee Enterprise papers.

Laboy started with Lee Enterprises in 2005 in the capacity of advertising director. He served on several nonprofit boards and worked with several community organizations in Nebraska.

Advocacy key piece of 2016 CPA strategic planBy Joshua RobertsFor the Editor

Having worked in the industry since 1976, Bart Smith is no stranger to the demands and constantly shifting winds of change involving newspapers.

So, when the CPA board began develop-ing its 2016 strategic plan, Smith, publisher of The Greeley Tribune and the 2016 CPA board president, felt it important the asso-ciation make reaching out to smaller news outlets a priority, as a means of bolstering and pooling resources and expertise in chal-lenging times.

“Our goals, really, with the strategic plan were to do an excellent job for our members and building that value in CPA,”

said Smith, who will take over as board president in May.

“We don’t want to grow members just to grow members. That’s not the point. We want to attract new members, grow the membership base, because of the education, the advocacy, the advertising and the help … to continue making it a stronger associa-tion that has a lot of value.”

The 2015-16 strategic plan, a thorough, in-depth document that outlines the asso-ciation’s vision, future projects and finances, among other elements, can essentially be broken down into three primary areas of emphasis — education, advocacy and enhancement.

“As we move forward,” said Jerry Raehal, CPA/SYNC2 Media chief executive officer,

“I’m going to ask that question: Does this fit into one of these three areas?”

The advocacy piece is particularly excit-ing to Smith, who described it as “vital” to the state’s industry.

“Every year there are dangers in the state legislature to open records and public meet-ings law and keeping the public involved in government,” he said, noting CPA and its lobbyists do “excellent” work in protect-ing “the public’s right to know,” as well as preserving access to government records and meetings.

Smith sees outreach as tied closely to advocacy. By networking with new outlets across the state, and by extension the local

2 colorado editor November 2015

Canino new advertising director for Aurora Sentinel

Rhonda Canino has been hired as the new advertis-ing director at Au-rora Media Group, publisher of the Aurora Sentinel, Buckley Guardian and Aurora Maga-zine. In Septem-ber, she replaced Jason Woodside, the former director of advertising and member of the board of directors for Colorado Press Association.

Canino most recently has been a senior consultant with the Denver-area Maroon Ventures, and has previously worked as ex-ecutive vice president of bieMEDIA, and as Director of Business Development: Recruit-ment for The Denver Post and MediaNews Group Interactive. Overall, she has more than 20 years’ of sales leadership experience and 10-plus years in digital marketing.

CU Boulder CMCI hosts Spring Career Fair in February

CPA members are invited to participate in the CU Boulder College of Media, Com-munication and Information (CMCI) Spring Career Fair, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016, 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the University Memorial Center (UMC) Ballroom.

Reserve a free table today to recruit May graduates and continuing students for entry-level positions, and summer or other internships.

Most students will be juniors and seniors from all majors, including advertising, public relations and media design, journalism, com-munication, media sciences, critical media practices (documentary film production) and information science.

To reserve a table contact [email protected]. For more information, visit http://cmciinternships.com/employers-internship-info/career-fair-information/. For more information on working with CMCI, view a short video at http://cmciinternships.com/employers-internship-info/.

CMCI hosts career fairs in the fall and spring at the University Memorial Center on the CU Boulder campus. Newspapers can also post job and internship openings on the CU Career Buffs website. See http://cmci-internships.com/employers-internship-info/post-a-position/ for instructions.

CFOIC’s Roberts elected to national FOI board

Jeffrey A. Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition (CFOIC), was elected to the board of the National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) during that organization’s annual FOI Summit in Denver Oct. 9-10 at the Curtis Hotel. Roberts – a former Denver

Post reporter, assis-tant city editor and data journalism specialist for the newspaper’s proj-ects team (1984-2007) – has run the nonprofit, nonpar-tisan CFOIC since July 2013.

He also worked for four years at the University of Denver’s Center for Colorado’s Economic Future.

He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University.

During the conference, the University of Missouri-based NFOIC announced plans to work with the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and Investigative Report-ers & Editors (IRE) to make the best use of available funds to support FOI litigation.

Said Roberts: “I look forward to helping build a stronger national FOI organization to support the efforts of state groups like the CFOIC. It’s encouraging that the NFOIC is cementing relationships with SPJ and IRE.”

Gunnison Country Times adds Navy vet to staff

Melina Gard-ner, a former gas turbine electrician in the U.S. Navy and Veterans Af-fairs official with the University of Tennessee-Knox-ville (UT), is the new office manager of the Gunnison Country Times.

Gardner will oversee all legal and classified advertising, subscriptions and postal responsibilities, billing and editorial assistance, as well as front-line interaction with the public. She replaces Laura Ander-son, who took a position with Western State Colorado University’s marketing and public relations department.

Gardner served two deployments with the

USS Bainbridge, a guided missile destroyer. The second deployment included an anti-piracy mission off the coast of Africa, during which the destroyer came to the rescue of a U.S. cargo ship attacked by Somalian pirates – the basis of the movie “Captain Phillips.”

Gardner lived in Gunnison for a couple of years while attending elementary school. She went on to earn two degrees at UT – a bachelor degree in sociology with a criminal justice concentration, and a bachelor of arts in geography and cartography.

“I am extremely excited to be working for the Gunnison Country Times and see this as an opportunity to get to know the town and people better through the paper,” said Gardner.

Times owner Chris Dickey noted that the newspaper is excited and fortunate to have someone with Gardner’s broad experience and skills.

TownNews CEO Wil-son earns Inland Press award

Marc Wilson, CEO of Town-News.com, has won the Inland Press Association’s Ray Carlsen Dis-tinguished Service Award.

He was pre-sented with the prestigious award Oct. 26 at the Inland Press Associa-tion’s 130th Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The award is for “members who have distinguished themselves in service to the association and its affiliated foundation, who have been exemplary in service to their communities and their companies, and who deserve the recognition of their peers and colleagues.”

Wilson is the creator of TownNews.com, a content management system (CMS) platform provider whose BLOX system is the most widely used CMS among daily newspa-pers in the country.

The system serves more than 600 newspa-pers and 57 percent of U.S. daily newspapers.

The Colorado Editor wants to hear from you. We’re on the lookout for news about your staff, publications and businesses for our all-new columns and features in the Colorado Editor – your monthly membership newspaper from Colorado Press Association.

What’s new in Colorado news?

Colorado Newspapers

In the News

Send us your “breaking news” on:• New Hires• Promotions• People Moving On• Anniversaries• Retirements• Contest or Staff Awards & Honors

• New Building or Equipment Projects or Updates• Meetings, Seminars and Training• Community Projects• College-Related News and Events• Industry news that affects you• And any other personal news your staff members might want to share

Send your news items of 150 words or fewer (photo also welcome) to Cheryl Ghrist – [email protected] – using subject line “Colorado Editor News.”

colorado editorISSN #162-0010

USPS # 0122-940

Vol. LXXXVI, Issue 11 November 2015

Colorado Editor is the official publication of the Colorado Press

Association and is published monthly at 1120 Lincoln St., Suite 912

Denver, CO 80203p: 303-571-5117f: 303-571-1803

coloradopressassociation.com

Subscription rate:$10 per year, $1 single copy

StaffJerry Raehal

Chief Executive [email protected]

Board of DirectorsOFFICERS

ChairTerri House

The Pagosa Springs [email protected]

PresidentKeith Cerny

Alamosa Valley [email protected]

Vice PresidentBart Smith

The [email protected]

TreasurerMatt Lubich

The Johnstown [email protected]

SecretaryLarry Ryckman

The Denver [email protected]

DIRECTORS

Mike WigginsGrand Junction Daily [email protected]

Beecher ThreattOuray County [email protected]

Lisa SchlichtmanSteamboat Pilot & Today

[email protected]

Jason Woodside Colorado Community Media

[email protected]

Vincent Laboy The Montrose Daily Press

[email protected]

Matt Sandberg The Summit Daily [email protected]

Periodical postage paid atDenver, CO 80202.

POSTMASTER:Send address changes to

Colorado Editor1120 Lincoln St., Suite 912

Denver, CO 80203

RHONDA CANINO

JEFFERY ROBERTS

MELINA GARDNER

MARC WILSON

colorado editor 3November 2015

Q A&10 questions with

By Cheryl GhristContributing Editor

This issue, “10 Questions” checked in with Terri House, the owner, publisher and editor of the Pagosa Springs SUN, and current chairman of the board of Colorado Press As-sociation.

Her newspaper covers a scenic wonderland in Archuleta County just 35 miles north of the New Mexico border, and which includes the San Juan National Forest, Weminuche and South San Juan Wilderness areas and Southern Ute Indian land.

What is your educational and jour-nalism background, and how and when did you begin work with your newspaper?

My first job at The Pagosa Springs SUN was for former owner/edi-tor Glen Edmonds, about 1980. I was still in high school and worked part-time stuffing newspapers in

the mailroom for Steve Haynes’ publications, The Mineral County Miner and South Fork Tines.

After graduating from high school in 1982, I was working as a cashier at the local grocery store when then-editor/owner David Mitchell encouraged me to apply for a part-time job opening in the composition room.

My first day was spent carefully applying borderline tape on camera-ready house ads. I was pretty good at mitering corners. We used the headline machine to set type for the grocery store ad. That was one of my weekly projects.

I became proficient on the EditWriter 7700 along with other Compugraphic equipment.

I moved into classified advertising and ap-plied to work in the display ad sales depart-ment, eventually managing both departments.

It all seems a blur now. Sometime around the year 2000, I became assistant publisher and started learning more about managing the business. I took community college classes at night and read industry publications when-ever possible.

David asked me if I would be interested in buying the paper when he retired, and we developed a three-year plan for the transition. We were about halfway into the plan when he passed away in October 2002. His wife and sons supported me owning the paper and within the year, I stepped into the role of owner and started making payments to the family.

How long have you been with the CPA Board, including as a director, and of what accomplishments are you most proud during your time with the board?

On Sept. 22, 2008, (then-CPA Ex-ecutive Director) Ed Otte emailed me, “Congratulations – or condo-lences – the board ratified your ap-pointment. The next board meeting

will be Friday, Dec. 12, at the CPA building.

We’ll talk before then about board-related is-sues.” Bryce Jacobson and I both attended our first meeting that December.

Some of our first meetings were pretty challenging. In my time on the board, we have had three executive directors and one interim director.

We sold the old location on Glenarm Place. That was a tough decision for me personally. I loved that old building, but it was best for the organization to sell it at the time.

We’ve made great strides in making bylaw revisions and changing the levels of member-ship within the organization.

Those were topics of my first meetings back in 2008, and I commend our board members and executive directors who made the tough decisions to finally move the organization forward with these much-needed changes.

Being the top dog three times over must be demanding. What tasks do you specifically take on, including writing, editing and photography?

I took on the role of editor when my editor of some 28 years retired. I witnessed challenges by other newspapers in hiring someone who

was not in tune with their community. So, I wanted to figure out what the job was all about and look for the right person. Nearly two years later, I have figured out that maybe I am the right person. I edit copy, assign stories and take photos. I have written a few articles, but not many.

I am truly blessed to have staff who step up to the plate whenever I need them.

Pagosa Springs is the county seat and the only incorporated mu-nicipality in a beautiful part of the state. What are the challenges of covering the large expanses of resi-

dential, recreational and wilderness areas?

With our limited staff, we find that using citizen reporters to provide photos and stories on a regular basis really helps enhance the newspaper content.

They love seeing their name in print, and their friends and neighbors feel more con-nected to the paper through them. Firefight-ers provide photos of fire scenes whenever they can. Teachers send photos of school activities.

We’ve also been fortunate to forge relation-ships with other news media in the area. We

can call the Durango Herald, Cortez Journal and Pine River Times and ask for a photo of an athletic event, and we reciprocate.

And when a plane crashed in a snowstorm last year, our photographer hopped on board a news chopper that flew up from Albuquerque and picked us up at the airport. We led them to the crash.

They said they never would have found it if not for our photographer, and in the end, they used our still shot of the wreckage because it was better than theirs.

Now, whenever we need a chopper, they are willing to help us.

Your newspaper has the slogan, “The most trusted source for news and information about Pagosa Springs.” What other sources have there been or are there currently in

your area that you have to compete with?

I’ve been with the newspaper for more than 33 years. We’ve put a few competitors out of business in our time. We even have a sign from one former paper on display in our office.

Terri House

See 10 QUESTIONS, Page 11

‘I’m blessed to love what I do’

Courtesy photo

Terri House with her reservation rescue dogs Hunter (top) and Moose. “They couldn’t even walk out of the shelter when I ad-opted them at six months old,” said House. “They have come a long way in the five years I have owned them.”

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Cortez, Dolores, Mancos merge into The Journal

Three newspapers in southwest Colorado recently consoli-dated their efforts into one publication. The Cortez Jour-nal, Dolores Star and Mancos Times are now The Journal, publishing every Tuesday and Friday. On Friday, Sept. 25, the newspaper’s new website (the-journal.com) and social media sites were launched, followed by the printed version on Friday, Oct. 2.

The new website includes individual news sections for the City of Cortez, and the towns of Dolores and Mancos. Likewise, the new Facebook page (TheJournalCO) includes news that previously appeared on the Dolores and Mancos pages. The Twitter account is now twitter.com/thejournal.co. Another change involves new sky-blue news racks at vending locations. Single copies of the new newspaper will continue to be priced at 75 cents.

Grand Junction Free Press prints final edition

The final edition of the Grand Junction Free Press was published on Oct. 16, following a closure announcement the week prior. In a column published Oct. 9, General Manager Ben Rogers informed readers of the decision to close the newspaper. Noted Rogers: “This decision was very challenging for me personally. I love the Free Press and love the Grand Valley. This has been a great stop along the way and one of my favorite places to live and work.”

The Free Press was founded in 2003 by Ken Johnson and partners as “not just an alternative news source, but a vehicle to focus on the positives of our community,” noted an article Oct. 9. “But as a business Swift Communications recognized growth opportunities were limited and made the difficult

decision to stop publishing the scrappy weekly,” it continued. Swift will retain the current office space for Wheels and Deals, a twice-monthly automotive publication.

The Oct. 9 edition included “a range of stories and memo-ries from over the years,” noted a staff-reported article Oct. 16, which added: “We received comments, photos and stories from many people in the community, and from several past and present employees of the Free Press. We were not able to fit all of the great memories from over the years in this single edition, but we feel that this gives a good sense of the impres-sion that we have been able to make on peoples’ lives since our first edition in 2003.”

Newspapers consolidate, close


Grade for access:

From CFOIC

Colorado gets an “F” for public access to information in a Center for Public Integrity report released Monday that ranks each state on matters of transparency and ac-countability.

Two reasons for the low ranking: Th e lack of an agency to monitor how access-to-information laws are working and no formal appeals process outside of the court system to assist people who are denied records.

Th e “State Integrity 2015” report also dings Colorado for its Criminal Justice Records Act, which allows law enforcement agencies to with-hold a wide range of records (“think footage from police body cameras,” it says) if they determine that their release would be “contrary to the public interest.”

Another issue: Th e Colorado Judicial Branch is exempt from the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), making it harder to obtain certain administrative re-cords such as spending by the state public defender’s offi ce in the James Holmes death penalty case (the Colorado Supreme Court recently released its own rules for access-ing judicial branch administrative records).

“Th ere’s a huge, gaping hole right now,” the Center for Public Integrity quotes CFOIC President Steve Zansberg as saying. “One of the three branches of government is not subject to our open records act by its own ruling.”

Colorado’s also fl unked the “Eth-ics Enforcement Agencies” category but received praise for its transpar-ent state budget process, earning a “B+” in that category. Th e state was given a “D+” overall, although it fared better than most other states, ranking 13th.

Th e low ranking on public infor-mation put Colorado 16th from the bottom. Wyoming and New Hamp-shire scored worst. Iowa and Utah ranked fi rst and second, respectively, with each earning a “C-“.

Th e Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofi t, nonpartisan investigative news organization.

State Integrity report gives Colorado an ‘F’ for public access to information

F

Some counties charge thousands of dollars for public inspection of voted-ballot records

By Jeff rey A. RobertsCFOIC Executive Director

Th e public can inspect voted ballots in Colo-rado. So says a state Court of Appeals decision in 2011 and state legislation enacted the follow-ing year.

But some counties are making it prohibitively expensive for at least one election watchdog to obtain the records he says are needed to inde-pendently audit the accuracy of voting systems.

Election integrity activist Harvie Branscomb made Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests of eight counties for ballot records from the Nov. 3 election. As indicated by email threads posted on his blog, Douglas County wanted an upfront deposit of $4,000 to examine about 88,000 ballot scans for marks that could identify individual voters and then redact any such marks from the copies.

Mesa County quoted Branscomb $1,500 to similarly process about 29,000 ballot scans before releasing them, and Garfi eld County wanted $990 for about 11,000 scans. Jeff erson County asked for advance payment of $12,475 to review and redact about 185,000 ballot scans.

Branscomb has since limited the scope of most of his requests but is disappointed that obtaining the records required for a thorough analysis would cost him many thousands of dollars. His audits, he says, will help ensure that voting systems piloted in the 2015 election ac-curately tabulated ballots cast by voters.

“If the counties realized the positive benefi t that would come from this, they would build (ballot review and redaction) into their process and budget so it wouldn’t cost so much,” Brans-comb told the Colorado Freedom of Informa-tion Coalition.

A few counties are doing just that. Adams

County quoted Branscomb a price of “near zero” to review and redact 73,103 ballot scans from the Nov. 3 election.

“We feel that producing all of these ballot images after an election is an inherent cost of doing business,” said Adams County Clerk & Recorder Stan Martin. If the public’s cost to ob-tain the images is prohibitive, he added, “what you’re basically telling someone is that you’re not going to release those records.”

Martin said the county’s elections system vendor, Clear Ballot, makes it relatively easy to rapidly review high-resolution images for iden-tifi able markings that must be removed – such as a person’s initials or signature – before voted ballots can be released to the public. He and his staff can examine as many as four ballots every second.

By contrast, Douglas County told Branscomb it could take an average of fi ve seconds to ex-amine each ballot, although Clerk & Recorder Merlin Klotz called that estimate a “shot in the dark” because the Hart InterCivic system he uses is not designed to accommodate requests such as Branscomb’s. Th e system was built, he said, to produce accurate election results “and we’re not required to change our process to match a CORA request.”

Klotz used the analogy of someone building a car and then being asked to make it a race car. Th e public, he said, shouldn’t bear the cost of modifi cations.

“Th e parts of (Branscomb’s) request that we can provide by a straight computer dump, we’ll give him … But there’s no reason for the public to pay for his private objectives.”

Branscomb would have preferred that HB 12-1036, which set rules for the public inspec-tion of voted ballots, require all counties to do what Adams County does. Instead, the statute gives local election offi cials discretion to “deter-mine the manner in which such ballots may be viewed by the public” and it adds that “Insofar as such ballots are not able to be duplicated without identifying elector information, they are not available for public inspection.”

HB 12-1036 also gave election offi cials authority to charge requesters “actual costs” of making ballots available. A CORA fees bill enacted in 2014 caps those charges at $30 per hour with the fi rst hour free. Jeff erson County estimated it would take about 500 hours at $25 per hour to prepare ballots for Branscomb to review.

Martin said he’s asked his vendor, Clear Bal-lot, to modify its system so that Adams County can simultaneously examine 10,000 ballot im-ages. He’s hopeful the changes will be ready for the 2016 election.

“If they can get this tool up and running for next year, I can go through 150,000 ballots and within fi ve minutes have every single identifi -able mark redacted,” Martin said. “It’s incredible technology that will give us as clerks the tools to be more transparent.”

Clear Ballot’s voting system is one of four being considered by Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams for use statewide. Lynn Bartels, communications director for Williams’ offi ce, said the systems are being evaluated based on several factors, “including costs to the taxpayers, ease of the system, transparency, etc.”

Are making

public records

costprohibitive?

Metro image


Home court advantageRules for judicial branch records look more like CORA, but groups ‘less than completely satisfi ed’

By Jeff rey A. RobertsCFOIC Executive Director

Th e Colorado Supreme Court has quietly adopted new rules for accessing administrative records of the Colorado Judicial Branch, incorporating several recommendations made by the public and news media earlier this fall.

Posted on the Court’s website Oct. 30, the rules are sub-stantially diff erent from those endorsed by the branch’s Public Access Committee and put into eff ect last May via an interim directive from Chief Justice Nancy Rice.

Th e fi nal document addresses some areas of concern raised in testimony and in written comments submitted to the Court by attorney Steve Zansberg on behalf of the Colorado Free-dom of Information Coalition, Colorado Press Association and Colorado Broadcasters Association.

“Th ese organizations are grateful that the justices listened carefully and responded to the concerns they raised about the draft rules,” said Zansberg, the CFOIC’s president. “Th e fi nal rules refl ect a major overhaul of the draft rules which tracks much closer to the language of the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), while also providing commentary explaining where the fi nal rules diverge from that law. Th at is precisely what these organizations urged.”

Still, Zansberg said, the three groups are “less than com-pletely satisfi ed” with certain provisions that treat the admin-istrative records of the judicial branch “very diff erently” than the records of the two other branches of state government and all local governments in Colorado.

“Several of these discrepancies are noted in the (rules), but no meaningful explanation is provided for why these records should be treated diff erently.”

In particular, internal investigative fi les on judicial branch employees are not available for public inspection under the rules, except for the outcome of an investigation. Internal aff airs fi les on the conduct of all other public employees in Colorado are presumed to be open for public inspection, except for portions that contain highly personal or private information unrelated to work performance.

Other areas of greater secrecy for judicial branch records involve records defi ned as “work product” and the terms and conditions of contracts between the judicial branch and private vendors.

Th e Supreme Court wrote its own rules of access to judicial branch administrative records because two state court deci-sions determined that the judiciary – unlike the executive branch, legislature and all other governments in Colorado – isn’t covered by CORA.

Th e Court reworked several provisions of the Public Access Committee’s draft, notably a section detailing which portions of a judicial branch employee’s personnel fi le must be kept confi dential.

Th e draft proposal would have prohibited the disclosure

of nearly all employee information, but the fi nal document narrowly defi nes restricted personnel data to mean only “home addresses, telephone numbers, fi nancial information and other information maintained because of the employer-employee relationship.” Th at defi nition closely tracks language in CORA and specifi cally does not include applications of past or cur-rent employees, employment agreements, performance ratings, compensation and amounts paid to terminated employees.

Th e new rules “permit the disclosure of many records so long as confi dential personal information is redacted or other-wise not disclosed,” the Supreme Court wrote.

Among other changes, the Supreme Court also rewrote the draft to more closely mirror CORA’s time frames for respond-ing to records requests and CORA’s language for determin-ing when records custodians can cite the deliberative process privilege to withhold material that is “so candid or personal that public disclosure is likely to stifl e honest and frank dis-cussion” within the branch.

Zansberg said the new judicial branch rules probably won’t aff ect requests made of the Offi ce of the State Public Defend-er for information on how much tax money was spent to keep Aurora theater shooter James Holmes from the death penalty.

Th e judicial branch’s CORA exemption was one reason cited by the public defender earlier this year in refusing such requests from journalists.

Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct also forbid the release of that information, according to Public Defender Doug Wilson.

It remains to be seen whether the new rules will alter some state lawmakers’ interest in sponsoring 2016 legislation to require CORA-like records regulations for the Colorado Judicial Branch. Rep. Polly Lawrence, R-Douglas County, who testifi ed at a Supreme Court hearing on the draft records policy, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Follow the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition on Twitter @CoFOIC.

Does the National Labor Rela-tions Act protect the mere act of an employee clicking the “like” button on Facebook?

The answer in a recent case is, “Yes.”

A former employee of a sports bar posted the following on

Facebook: Maybe someone should do the owners of Triple Play a favor and buy it from them. They can’t even do the tax paperwork correctly!!! Now I OWE money … Wtf!!!!

Two current employees clicked the “like” button, and one commented, “I owe too. Such an asshole.” The Employer ar-gued that the employees should have lost the protection of the Act because their statements contained obscenities viewed by customers.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, upholding the NLRB, disagreed: Almost all Face-book posts by employees have at least some potential to be viewed by custom-ers. Although customers happened to see the Facebook discussion at issue in this case, the discussion was not di-rected toward custom-ers and did not refl ect the employer’s brand.

The Board’s deci-sion that the Facebook activity at issue here did not lose the protection of the Act simply because it contained obscenities viewed by custom-ers accords with the reality of modern-day social media use. Because the case involves current employees complaining

about tax withholding, it was viewed as protected activity.

This type of case will have to be judged on a case-

by-case basis. Not all employee

comments on Facebook will

be protected. At some point,

employees cross the line of disloyalty

when they disparage the Employer’s prod-

uct or the Manage-ment team in a public

manner.

Note: Nothing in this Legal Hotline Q&A should be relied upon as legal advice in any particular matter

?Question of

the month

Q

A

By Michael Zinser, Zinser Law Firm

Metro image


Below is a column penned by The Gazette’s Editor Joanna Bean on why the Colorado Springs paper decided to publish the name of the person identified as the shooter in the town’s recent murders.The debate of whether or not mass-killers should be named in the media is both a national and state issue.

Within hours of the first shots fired near downtown Colorado Springs on Saturday, the questions began: who was the shooter and why wouldn’t police release his name? By afternoon, this much was known: a gunman had opened fire on three people near Platte Avenue and Prospect Street, then died in a shootout with police.

I want to offer some insight to readers who are curious about — and critical of — our decisions in covering this difficult and heartrending story. And I’d like to address the growing movement that urges the media to never use the names of shooters, suggesting that to do so gives them notoriety and may encourage copy cats. The trend has grown as the number of mass shootings around the country has grown - so much so that it has its own Twitter hashtags: #forgettheshooter and #nonotoriety, among others.

Our coverage began online Saturday with reporting on the initial police calls and eye-witness accounts. Our story in the Sunday paper recounted the incident but did not include names of the victims or gunman. On Sunday afternoon, we posted a story on gazette.com identifying two of the three victims, Christy Galella and Jennifer Vasquez. They were later honored at a vigil along with a bicyclist whose name we had not been able to confirm.

Late Sunday, we posted another story naming the gunman, Noah Harpham. From the time of the shooting until Monday afternoon, authorities remained tight lipped. “Pending completion of the au-topsies and notification of the next of kin the El Paso County Sheriff ’s Office does not have any updates on the investigation regarding the officer involved shooting yesterday and the ensuing investigation,” the office said on Facebook on Sunday. Colorado Springs police said they wouldn’t discuss the shootings until autopsies were completed.

Early Monday afternoon, some of Harpham’s fam-ily issued a statement to The Gazette. Autopsies were completed later Monday, and the coroner deferred to the police to provide names. The Sheriff ’s Office issued a statement Monday afternoon identifying Harpham. A police statement at 5 p.m. identified the three victims, including the bicyclist, Andrew Myers.

Why did The Gazette name the gunman, and why did we do so before law enforcement?

We knew the name of the gunman Saturday afternoon, from a tip from a local person. After several hours of work to confirm that fact, we weighed whether to publish his name Saturday night.

But we weren’t 100 percent sure - our threshold for publication.

By Sunday, friends of Harpham’s told Gazette reporters that he was in fact the gunman, and we learned more about him from his blog and other reporting.

The naming of the gunman took on a life of its own on social media starting Saturday afternoon. One

Joanna Bean

EditorThe Gazette

Why we named the shooter

See BEAN, Page 10

What would you do?The Colorado Pro Chapter of the Soci-

ety of Professional Journalists joined with the Colorado Press Association this fall in arranging visits to the state’s four-year university journalism programs.

The visitation teams were comprised of SPJ and CPA representatives, most of whom were with daily and weekly newspapers near the campuses.

Ethics and news judg-ment were discussed dur-ing each visit, either with ethics classes or reporting and news writing classes. Copies of the SPJ Code of Ethics were distributed in each class and the visitation team members asked real-life ethical questions.

Q-AND-A

Should your news organization identify the gunman in a mass shooting on a college campus in your city? Or should you subscribe to the “no notoriety” campaign to not name mass murderers? What would you do?

This topic was discussed during our visit to Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction on Oct. 1, the day a gun-man killed nine people on a community college campus in Roseburg, Ore.

Some of the CMU students criti-cized the news media for “glorifying” the shooters in these incidents and said the news coverage encourages copycat killings. When asked which news outlets glorify the gunmen, no one could cite an example. But they said using the gun-man’s name and photo in stories gives him the notoriety he sought. The students were asked two local news questions: If a similar incident occurred on the CMU campus, would they want to know the identity of the gunman? Would they want to know the gunman’s motive?

Some students said the victims are for-gotten while the gunman’s name is used repeatedly in stories. The four-month Au-rora theater shooting trial was cited as an example. It was pointed out by one of the editors that many of the news organiza-

tions that covered the trial devoted space or time to the victims and their families. And the judge listened to comments by

the families during the sen-tencing phase, and those were reported.

The topic was discussed during subsequent campus visits and the visitation team members emphasized two points:

A. Many young people don’t read newspapers or watch TV news. They get their information from the Internet and social media. It is there that the copycats learn about the shooting at Umpqua Community Col-lege.

B. “Don’t shoot the mes-senger” is how to describe reaction to the bearer of bad news – but that would have been an unwelcome way to phrase it in this discussion.

“Don’t blame the messenger” if you don’t like the message, one member of the visitation team said.

In early September, a BBC reporter interviewed a Syrian who was walking with other refugees in Hungary toward the Austrian border. A few seconds into the interview, the man asked the reporter to help him and his family. They were thirsty, hungry, tired and his children needed shoes. If you were the reporter, what would you do?

The SPJ Code of Ethics advises jour-nalists to act independently by avoiding “conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts.” Simply stated: Journalists should report the story, not become a part of it.

The students wrestled with this, at-tempting to balance their obligation as a reporter with their humanistic desire to help the refugee.

In each campus discussion, they said the reporter shouldn’t give the refugee anything during the interview. However, after the camera was turned off, many said they would give the man water or food or clothing.

You are a TV reporter and the newly elected sheriff in your county asks if you would coach him on how to conduct large news conferences. He says he is comfortable in one-on-one interviews but doesn’t have news conference experience and feels nervous facing a group of reporters and TV cameras. What would you do?

Students understood the conflict of interest involved in coaching the sheriff, either as a paid or unpaid consultant.

A visitation team member said the sheriff should seek professional advice from a former or retired journalist because “there are a lot of ex-TV reporters and anchors out there.”

You are a TV news director and your station manager wants to establish a policy to avoid conflicts between your staff ’s consumer reporting and the station’s advertising clients. Should you push for a firewall that forbids communication between the newsroom and the advertising department? Or should you opt for a policy in which the ad department is advised not to schedule certain ads during a newscast that will feature a critical consumer story? What would you do?

The visitation team explained two points before asking the students for their opinions:

1. News organizations must be profit-able and that means healthy advertising revenue.

2. The ad department often can provide good story tips to the newsroom.

The students saw the value in both poli-cies. Some liked the firewall idea while others understood the business aspect. This led to a discussion about infotain-ment programming and the growth of native advertising.

The SPJ Code of Ethics states: “Deny favored treatment to advertisers, donors or any other special interests, and resist internal and external pressure to influ-ence coverage. Distinguish news from advertising and shun hybrids that blur the lines between the two. Prominently label sponsored content.”

ethical or

Ed Otte

PresidentColorado SPJ

See ETHICS, Page 11

i-Stock image


Jo BennisonFormer Gazette Telegraph, Denver Post employee

Jo Bennison, a former employee of the Gazette Telegraph and Denver Post newspapers, has died. A memorial service was scheduled for Nov. 13, 2015, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Denver.

She was born to Wanda and Junius Bennison in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Bennison graduated from Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1949. She was a member of the National Honor Society and other organizations. The family moved to Colorado Springs in 1950.

In Colorado Springs, Bennison went to work for the Ga-zette Telegraph newspaper as a photographer. She later went to The Denver Post to work in the advertising department until her retirement. Bennison was also an accomplished watercolor artist, and an active volunteer with the Denver Dumb Friends League.

She is survived by her sister, Jane Irwin of Colorado Springs; two nephews, Robert C. Irwin of Colorado Springs, and F. David Irwin of Broomfield, Colo.; and friends Car-mella Dade of Denver, and Jenny Kachnic of Bailey, Colo.

Everett “Craig” DavidDenver Post pressman for 42 years

Everett “Craig” David, who worked as a pressman for The Denver Post for approximately 42 years prior to his retirement, died Oct. 15, 2015, at his home in Erie, Colo., at age 82. He is survived by two daughters, Doris Crouch of Thornton, Colo., and Janice Lewis of Westminster, Colo.; two sons, Lawrence David of Chicago, and Steven David of Denver; a brother, Reagan David of Bailey, Colo.; seven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lorraine David; a sister, Azalea Butchko; and a brother, Duane David. A me-morial service took place Oct. 30, 2015, in Lafayette, Colo.

Harriet EngleFormer Rocky Mountain News photographer

Harriet Engle, a former photog-rapher for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, died Oct. 11, 2015, at age 92.

Born in 1923, she was also a teacher for Denver Public Schools until her retirement. Preceded in death by her husband, Morris A. Engle, and her parents, Harry and Sade Rhoads, she is survived by four children, Catherine, William, Morey and Chris; seven grandchil-dren; and 16 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service took place Oct. 19 at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver.

Steven Bruce HartmannFormer machinist for

Rocky Mountain News, Denver Post

Steven Bruce Hartmann, who worked in the newspaper industry for more than 40 years, died Sept. 24, 2015, of cancer at age 63. Born in Colorado Springs on June 22, 1952, to Don and Connie Hart-mann, he moved to Denver with his family and graduated from Alameda High School in 1971.

Hartmann began his newspaper career at age 18 as an apprentice machinist at the Rocky Mountain News. Over the next 40-plus years, he also worked for Rockwell Goss, The Denver Post and finally the San Diego Union Tribune. One tribute said “he became one of the best machinists in the business, worked hard and did his job well.”

He is survived by his wife of 43, years, Pam (Will) Hart-mann; two daughters, Jennifer and Jayme; a sister, Donna Pettit of Florida; a brother, Mike of Indiana; and many nieces and nephews. A Celebration of Life took place on Oct. 18 in Lakewood.

obituaries

EVERETT “CRAIG” DAVID

HARRIET ENGLE

STEVEN HARTMAN

CJR shifts emphasis to digitalIn a move meant to “better align our resources with our

mission,” the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) will signifi-cantly boost its investment in its digital operations, said editor-in-chief and publisher Elizabeth Spayd in an Oct. 14 note to readers. To that end, the compa-ny will shift its print magazine schedule from bimonthly to two special issues a year, beginning in 2016 in the spring and fall. Spayd noted that “in the past decade, our print readers have steadily declined while our online audience has ballooned, with visits up 35 percent over last year…This strategic shift will allow us to move more forcefully into the realm our read-ers already inhabit, without abandoning print.”

IAB eyes digital ad revenue, ad blocking

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has reported that domestic digital advertising revenue reached a landmark high of $27.5 billion for the first six months of 2015. That translates to a 19 percent rise over the $23.1 billion posted in ad revenues for the first half of 2014. The quarterly report is conducted by PwC Advisory Services, LLC.

The year-over-year comparison showed mobile advertising increased 54 percent, from $5.3 billion to $8.2 billion. Mobile revenue also accounted for 30 percent of all revenue generated by digital advertising during the same time period, up from 23 percent the previous year. In addition, the same top-three advertising verticals continued to account for nearly half of ad revenue: retail (22 percent), financial services (13 percent) and automotive (13 percent).

The IAB also is targeting what it terms widespread ad blocking via a new program it hopes will set industry stan-dards for ads that will not prompt users to block them. The new program is called L.E.A.N. – which stands for “light, encrypted, ad choice, non-interruptive” – will roll out within the next six months with the hopes that publishers will clean up their sites and rely less on “annoying” or too many ads per page that slow sites and mobile devices and cause users to block them.

briefs


Michael was talking to me about one of his favorite sales techniques. “Even though I’ve been selling ads for a lot of years,” he said, “there’s always something new to learn.

A friend in the furniture industry shared a great idea on how to ask questions to get the right kind of information.

I don’t know if this technique was developed specifically for the furni-ture business, but it works just as well in ad sales.”

He explained that the technique involves asking a prospect to rate his or her experience with exist-ing ads.

Then it’s easy to shift the conversation to the benefits of advertis-ing with his publishing company.

STEP 1: “The first thing I do is

determine where they are currently running ads,” Michael said. “If I already know, I just confirm it by asking, ‘I see you’ve been advertising with XYZ Media. Is that right?’ And if I’m not sure where they’re running, I ask, ‘Where are you currently advertising?’ In just a few seconds, they identify my primary competitors.”

STEP 2: “The next step is to sincerely compliment their

current media choices. Find something positive to say, even if they are the weakest media outlets in the market. It’s foolish to be critical and put them in a position to defend their choice. For example, I might say, ‘It’s easy to see why someone would pick that radio station. I know a few people who work there, and they are excited about their product.’”

STEP 3: “This is where the magic starts,” Michael said. “I

ask the prospect to rate the experience, by saying something like, ‘On a scale of one to ten – with ten being the best – how would you rate the job those ads are doing for you?’

“People are generally willing to give their ads a rating. A ten-point scale seems to work better than a five-point scale, because there’s a wider range. Most people are reluctant to rate at the very top or bot-tom, so a rating of eight on a ten-point scale is more revealing than a rating of four on a five-point scale.”

STEP 4: “Let’s say I talk to somebody who gives a rating

of seven. Next I ask, ‘In your opinion, what would it take to turn that seven into a ten?’ This question can produce a ton of good information. Sometimes they talk about their current marketing results and – most important – what they would like to accomplish in the future. That opens a discussion about what I can do for them.”

STEP 5: Then Michael works to manage expectations. “It’s

unrealistic to expect a perfect ten,” he said. “After all, a lot depends on things in their businesses that are beyond my control – like parking and customer service. So I say, ‘I think we can agree that perfection is rare. So let me ask if you would be happy if we change that seven to a nine?’”

See where Michael’s technique can lead? Looks like it’s worth a try.

John Foust has conducted training programs for thou-sands 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]

Selling on a scale of one to ten

John Foust

A newspaper’s credibility is directly linked to its ability to identify, collect and report the relevant community news. Then why do so many newspa-pers make it so difficult for readers to connect with reporters?

Let me explain. I’m pas-sionate in my belief that community newspapers still can claim a stronghold in today’s fractured media landscape – if they stick to the basics. That means owning the franchise for aggressive reporting of local news. That will occur only if readers have a direct pipeline to editors and reporters.

Yes, I understand the important and necessary role of social media both in collecting and reporting the news – in connecting with readers. Social media is integral in my day job directing communications and media relations for a statewide business advocacy organization.

But nothing replaces direct, one-on-one conversation. It’s truly amazing the barriers that so many newspapers place between themselves and their readers – their news sources.

A few tips from someone who has sat on both sides of the editor’s desk:

• Post your contact information – prominently – on the home page of your

website. Include phone numbers as well as e-mail addresses.

• Provide the direct phone numbers and individual e-mail addresses for staff, if available. Readers have no assurance that a general voice mail or e-mail boxes are regularly monitored and mes-sages forwarded to appropriate staff.

• Keep contact information current. If you have voice mail, change your recording daily so readers know whether you are in the office and whether you are monitoring messages. Ditto for e-mail; use your “out of office” message when applicable.

• Avoid using automated phone answering services during regular business hours. If you must, callers still should have an opportunity to con-

nect to a “live voice.”• Be responsive to customers. Be prompt

in returning phone or e-mail inquiries.I recently tried to submit a news item

about a former resident to his hometown newspaper – the type of “people” items that remain the lifeblood of community newspapers. I searched the newspaper’s website for at least 10 minutes for a list of reporters and contact information. I finally called the 800 number; the recording only gave me options to reach someone in the circulation department.

I turned to Google, matching the newspaper’s name with “e-mail addresses.” It didn’t surprise me, but it should concern the newspaper, when the search produced a website with the declaration that this newspaper “does not offer e-mail support.” Among the reasons: “few readers have wanted it.” Not exactly a ringing endorse-ment for the newspaper’s community connections.

I also vividly recall an instance years ago when telephones were the primary – the only – way to communicate. I called a fel-low editor to ask a question. The recep-tionist politely responded that he did not accept any phone calls until after noon – not just that day, but any day – because he was on deadline in the morning. I always wondered: What if I had been a reader calling in with a breaking news tip?

I appreciate the frenzied pace of newspapers, no matter your department. Punching your DND button on the phone or deferring to e-mail communication certainly minimizes your interruptions. Be careful though; it can backfire.

Remember, those interruptions can translate opportunities – to resolve a delivery issue, to accept an ad, to explore a potential news story. Those are the con-nections that keep you relevant to your communities.

Jim Pumarlo writes, speaks and provides training on community newsroom suc-cess strategies. He can be reached at www.pumarlo.com and welcomes comments and questions at [email protected].

You want to stay relevant? Be accessible

John Pumarlo

Want to make your page—espe-cially your front page—more compel-ling? Give it more impact? Get more readers to give it a close look?

Use a dominant visual.Most times, that will be a photo.

But occasionally, it may be a grouping of smaller pix or a graphic or illustra-tion.

Whatever that visual may be, there’s one quality it must have to make it work. That quality? Size. If your visual isn’t large enough to dominate the page, then it isn’t a dominant visual.

How big? My guideline has always been 3 columns wide by 8 inches deep, 4 columns wide by 6 inches deep—as a minimum. Again, that’s a minimum. And, yes, those figures ap-

ply to tabloid pages as well. If your visual isn’t big, it hasn’t got the impact and pull you need to bring readers into the page.

Other points:RELATIVE SIZE: One of the ways you can guarantee the

dominant size of your key visual is to take care that no other visual elements compete with it for attention. You can do this by making sure that other elements are no larger than half the size of your dominant visual.

OPTICAL CENTER: As indicated in the illustration, optical center is an area of the page that’s above and left of dead center. Precisely how far above…and how far left? No one’s been able to determine that, but we do know that optical center is an area of the page where the reader’s eye naturally falls first. And that’s where we want to place the dominant visual element.

THE FOLD: Does your dominant visual have to be above the fold? Well, on the front page, the answer is usually “yes.” If you place the visual over the optical center, it goes without saying that it’s also above the fold.

GROUPING: Instead of one visual element, it’s OK to pack-

age a few together. This can work well, for example, if you have group of photos taken at the same event.

CONTENT: Select an element with compelling content for your dominant visual. Check-passing photos and grip-and-grin shots certainly have their place in community newspapers, but they lack the interest needed to give the key visual strong reader appeal. If it’s a photo, look for action and strong color.

CROPPING: Give the element even greater impact by removing unimportant or extraneous content. A photo of a car/truck crash, for example, need not show yards of pavement at the bottom and miles of sky at top.

You want readers to look forward to the content and impact of your pages—especially your front page and section fronts. One of the best ways you can do that is by offering them a dominant visual.

ED HENNINGER is an independent newspaper consultant and the Director of Henninger Consulting. On the web: www.henninger-consulting.com. Phone: 803-327-3322.

Want impact? Use dominant visual on page

Ed Henninger

Best to place your dominant visual over optical center of the page.


“While I didn’t serve on the Nebraska Press Association board of directors, I was an active member and served on a couple different commit-tees,” Laboy said.

In the year Laboy has been a publisher in Colorado, he’s made an impression and shown to be active and willing in the changes the CPA is looking at making, and volunteered to be chair of the 2016 membership committee prior to being appointed to the Board.

“Like most press associations and our industry as a whole, the CPA is in a period of transition,” he said. “To

navigate through these changes it will require strong leaders who are willing to listen to our members and make some hard decisions. Yes, it’s going to be challenging, but I’m excited to be a part of this process.”

Per the CPA bylaws, when a board vacancy occurs during term, the Board President — currently Keith Cerny of the Alamosa Valley Courier —appoints a new board member.

The appointment is later ratified by the Board of Directors at its next meeting, which is scheduled for Dec. 4 in Highlands Ranch.

Appointed board terms last until the next membership election, which for Laboy is slated for May 13, 2016. If Laboy decides to run again, he would be vying for a two-year term.

One person tweeted this: “I don’t know if police are refusing to identify the shooter because they don’t want to get infamy or another reason.” On Sunday, another wondered “What’s his name?!?!?! Why don’t we know who the shooter is? It’s been over 24 hours.” Also, there was this: “The media is destroying this country. If they didn’t make these shooters famous they might cool it down a little.”

We believe it was critically important to name Harpham as the gunman as soon as we had appropriate confirma-tion, no matter what law enforcement was doing about identification.

Naming the gunman provides con-text for a horrific chain of events that has left a community wondering what kind of person would gun down three innocent people, what his motives might be, how he came to possess the rifle he used, whether he suffered from mental illness or substance abuse.

In the immediate aftermath of such an event, naming the gunman can alert others who know the shooter, so they can provide information that might protect the public. Misinformation and rumors abound in the absence of facts. Some might wonder if, in a community that’s home to five military installations, the shooting was an act of terrorism. And, of course, consis-tency and fairness are hallmarks for our journalism. If we don’t identify shooters and victims, readers could reasonably wonder if we’re covering up for a VIP

or someone else.Knowing who the gunman was, and

the circumstances of his life, enables a community to ask questions about such things as access to mental health services, law enforcement response to active-shooter situations and how people acquire guns. In a community that conducts its business largely in public, we are a proxy for the public, attempting to move such conversations forward by providing accurate, timely and complete information. Facts matter when the public wrestles with difficult issues.

Several weeks ago, after the mass shooting at Umpqua Community Col-lege in Oregon, Sheriff John Hanlin did not name the gunman. He said at a news conference that he would leave it to the coroner’s office to identify the killer.

“I will not give him the credit he probably sought,” Hanlin said. “You will never hear me use his name.”

Kelly McBride, with the Poynter In-stitute, a journalism training organiza-tion, made the case for why such killers must be named.

“It’s easy and convenient for politi-cians to beat the press up by accus-ing them of glorifying a bad person. Responsible reporting is the antidote. Instead of vowing to avoid the name of the shooter, journalists would be better off promising to use the name responsibly, to tell the stories of the victims completely and to refrain from publishing poorly-sourced information that has a higher likelihood of being wrong.”

Reach Joanna Bean at 636-0273 or [email protected].

BEAN

Continued from page 7

LABOY


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10 QUESTIONS


The owner brought it to us when he closed his doors. He said he couldn’t compete with our quality. We really don’t feel we

compete with anyone. Quality work and professionalism has earned the trust and respect of our community.

Your newspaper website has an interactive, multiple-choice question, “Whaddya Think?” What kind of response do you get to these questions, do they spark more coverage of a given topic, and do they ever really surprise you?

Our response numbers are really quite high and fairly consistent according to other newspaper editors who have critiqued our editorial pages. I am only surprised when the poll responses don’t align with mine, since I am always right. Or, at least that is what I tell everyone!

Can you name your top three mentors, in or out of journalism, and how they influenced you?

My dad taught me how to work hard and to always do the right thing. My best friend, Michael Hodgson, challenges me to look at things from different perspectives.

In the industry, Steven Henson taught me that my gut reac-tion is probably right. I appreciate being able to bounce my

thoughts off Steve and know he will always give me the best advice. Matt Lubich is one of the most talented writers I have ever met; I strive to be the quality of writer he is. Bryce Jacobson is one of the most brilliant newspapermen in the state. His drive, intelligence, honesty and caring are inspiring. I was lucky to serve all but one year on the CPA board with him. Richard Ballantine has taught me the importance of having good friends in this industry who have your back.

Oh wait, did you say only three? I could go on and on.

Your Facebook page denotes a general joy of life: swimming dogs, Dog Social Media and “Oreo” Speedwagon cartoons, Chocolate Cream Cheese Monkey Bread, gorgeous sunrise and supermoon photos. Do you have favorite websites or friend’s postings that you enjoy visiting and sharing?

My friends are always tagging me in Oreo memes and grammar-related posts. I don’t have a particular favorite site, other than PagosaSun.com. Posting snow reports from Wolf Creek Ski area also brings in a lot of comments. I have found that photos of my

dogs, wildlife and scenic photos get a lot of likes, shares and comments.

Neat desk or not so much, and what would we see there?

I probably come a close second to Richard Ballantine, but he threatened me if I told how bad his desk is. Richard told me that once you start piling things on the floor, you are in trouble. I am in big trouble.

Do you have a current personal or professional goal in mind?

When I bought the newspaper in 2003, my goal was to make it five years as owner. I never readjusted that goal. I’ve had a few offers to buy the paper over the years, but for now I am happy doing what I am doing in such an amazing community. I am blessed to love what I do. I am blessed to have the employees I

have. I am blessed to live where I live.

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AQA

Q

A

QAQA

Courtesy photo

From left: Friends Diane Brown, Terri House, Lisa Oney and Kim Moore enjoying a Kentucky Derby Gala fundraiser.

You are the editor of a daily newspaper and you hire a young out-of-state reporter to cover the business beat. Two months into the job, you get a telephone call from a local businessman who said after the reporter interviewed him for a story, he asked if his company is looking for a public relations person. The reporter explained that his girlfriend majored in PR in college, she needs a job and would be a good hire for his company. What would you do?

The consensus of opinion among the students was that the reporter should be fired. It was explained by visitation team members that the reporter shouldn’t have mentioned his girlfriend to the businessman.

He could have encouraged his girlfriend afterward to apply for the PR job, with everyone – the business-man, the girlfriend and the reporter – agreeing that, if she was hired, the relationship wouldn’t create favor-able news coverage for the company.

But they acknowledged that such an arrangement would be problematic.

“This would have all kinds of potential headaches – for everyone involved,” one editor said. “A city of any size has lots of PR jobs. The young woman could seek a job with the school district, city government or the county or a college. Anything that isn’t on the reporter’s business beat.”

What did the editor do? After receiving the phone call, the editor called the reporter into his office and closed the door. He asked the reporter if he lobbied the businessman to hire his girlfriend. The reporter admitted he did because they needed two incomes to pay their living expenses.

After explaining why his actions hurt the newspa-per’s credibility, the editor fired the reporter and told him to remove his personal belongings from his desk.

His final paycheck was mailed to him.

6. You are the editor of a daily newspaper and you have an impressive college intern who is doing a terrific job covering concerts and interviewing touring musicians. One day you get an email urging you to compare recent stories in The New York Times with the stories written by the intern. You realize the student plagiarized the stories. What would you do?

The SPJ Code of Ethics states: “Never plagiarize. Always attribute.” One member of the visitation team answered in Internet terms: “Google makes it easy to plagiarize. Google also makes it easy to discover where you stole the original content.”

The editor fired the intern, whom he described as “a rising star” before her mistake “because if she didn’t learn then why it was wrong, she would likely continue to plagiarize other peoples’ work.”

You are the editor of a newspaper that has a strict policy against accepting gifts or favors, from news sources or advertisers or people in the community. All such offers are to be declined. One day in mid-December, the newsroom receptionist knocks on your office door and tells you a woman wants to talk to you. Standing near the receptionist’s desk is an older woman holding a tray of homemade Christmas cookies. She wants to give you the cookies in appre-ciation for the coverage of her organization’s work in the community. What would you do?

According to the SPJ Code of Ethics, journalists should “refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment.”

That sounds simple enough but this was awkward. As people in the newsroom watched, the editor thanked the woman and started to explain why he couldn’t accept the cookies.

Would the woman understand the reason? Would she be embarrassed? After a few seconds, he thanked her and took the tray of cookies to the employee break room.

However, clinging to the remaining shred of his ethical beliefs, he didn’t eat any of the cookies.

ETHICS


legislators those outlets cover, he said CPA can help develop a “stronger unified voice in Denver to advocate for not just our membership, but also the public.”

Raehal said there’s another part to advocacy, and one he believes could be done better, that CPA will work hard to address in coming months.

As an industry and an organization, he said, “what we haven’t really done enough of is strong, active pro-motion of newspapers. We constantly go out and we hear about the demise of newspapers, and we need to do a better job of countering that as a press association.

“Newspapers have done a great job of telling other people’s stories, but done a really poor job of telling their own,” he said. This year and next, he said, CPA will be active in promoting not only the industry, but also success stories of newspapers across the state, in print and online.

He pointed to a successful meme as one way CPA is actively working to promote newspapers. The meme, posted Sept. 27 to Facebook, reads:

“Saying ‘I don’t need newspapers, I get my news from the Internet’ is the same as saying, ‘I know, right?

I don’t need farmers ‘cause I get my food at the super-market.’”

The post had 600,000 views, nearly 1,000 likes, and most importantly, more than 5,000 shares.

“To me, it showed the message resonates with people,” Raehal said. “One of the things I said in an email to other press association people is, ‘I’m tired of sitting here and feeling like we’re taking punches about how we’re dying. I’m ready to throw some.’”

Under education, CPA has launched a webinar program, covering topics in editorial and advertising once per month.

Raehal said he’s heard from numerous people in key positions across the state who either want more train-ing for themselves or their staff, but don’t have a lot of time or money to invest in it.

“That’s how the series was created — answering a need with something they could utilize,” Raehal said.

Smith added, “Jerry has done a really strong job of pushing that, both on the news and advertising side. We provide very solid, up-to-date, helpful education.

“What we’ve found is the smaller companies, the smaller organizations need the most help. We have all kinds of help available to members. The ones that use it most are the smaller organizations; they’re doing great work, reporting on their communities, but they need some help, and we’re happy to help them.”

PLAN


Attention ad managers and publishersDo you want to brainstorm with other ad leaders on what's going on in the in-dustry and/or hear some tips?

Join the monthly ad manag-ers meeting, which is held via webinar.

To learn more, contact Doug Hay at [email protected]


KEEP CALM

AND

PRESSON

COLORADO PRESS ASSOCIATION 138TH ANNUAL CONVENTION • MAY 13-14, 2016

DENVER WEST SHERATON#CPAPressOn

Save the date

sponsored by

Colorado's Premier Cold Set Printer • Various Web Widths and Stock Options Newspapers, Broadsheet and Tabloid • Magazines, Booklets, Newsletters, Flyers

gold level event host& silver

bronze level partners

Want to be a sponsorAs the association’s largest annual event, the CPA convention draws more than 300 newspaper people from across the state of Colorado, and last year’s convention saw a dramatic increase in attendance.

This is your chance to directly support the annual CPA convention and learn more about what is happening in the news industry, social-ize with decision-makers and network for opportunities to enhance your business. For more details, contact Jerry Raehal at 720.274-7171 or at [email protected]

Signature Offset continues to rely on the Colorado Press

Association convention as a single point of contact for ALL the

prominent Publishers in Colorado.

“”Erik Hall

Signature Off set

May 1

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november 2015 colorado editor

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