Fun newspaper ad

Here's a fun video ad for a newspaper in Finland.

Sifting through it all

Just a reminder that the Pulitzer-winning Politifact Web site is a great place to sort fact from fiction when analyzing the State of the Union address and pre-election rhetoric. It's fascinating and very even-handed. A good place to point your readers.

Winter newsletter is here

NINA's Winter 2010 newsletter will be mailed soon, but it's available here now.

iPad

Check out Apple's new iPad. I gotta get me one of these.

Here's the NYTimes liveblog from today's event. The thing does still have some issues to be worked out, like not being able to read Flash documents. Price ranges from $429 to $829.

Secret candidates

Since NINA's 2010 theme is access to public information, here's an interesting case today from DeKalb.

Recently, DeKalb's Third Ward alderman resigned. By law, the mayor appoints a successor. The mayor publicly stated that 10 people applied with him for the position, but he declined to name them. Both the Northern Star and the Daily Chronicle filed FOIA requests for this list of names. Meanwhile, the new appointee was named late last week and sworn in Tuesday night.

The city denied the Northern Star’s (and, presumably, the Daily Chronicle's) FOIA request. Its reasoning: Identifying these people would have been a "clearly unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy."

These people were seeking public office. If this had been an election for the same seat, their names would be on the ballot for all to see. How exactly is this any different in the end result? Don't citizens have a right to know who wants to represent them?

Flaming Kindle

On the eve of Apple's unveiling of its new tablet device, a University of Georgia study shows that young readers don't think too highly of Amazon's Kindle as a means to read a newspaper. They say it needs a color display and touchscreen interface. Here's the report from Poynter.

Anecdotally, I have heard from several older readers who love the Kindle for books.

Twitter's shortcomings

The Haiti crisis has illuminated some of Twitter's shortcomings, writes Joshua Keating in Foreign Policy magazine.

Twitter can occasionally be an effective means of organization -- Tweets played a role in the online campaign to pressure the U.S. Air Force into opening the Port-au-Prince airport to aid flights -- but they can just as often lead well-meaning readers astray, particularly when there's celebrity involved.

Scholarships available

The Northern Illinois Newspaper Association is pleased to announce our annual scholarship competition for graduating high school seniors who plan to continue their journalism education at the college level.

This spring, NINA will award $1,500 in scholarships, with the potential for matching amounts from the winning students’ local newspapers.

Application materials are HERE. Please forward this information to anyone who may be interested. Application deadline is March 15, 2010.

Apple's tablet and newspapers

Today's Wall Street Journal has a story looking ahead to next week's introduction of Apple's tablet device and how newspaper and magazine publishers might play a key role.

Mr. (Steve) Jobs is "supportive of the old guard and [he] looks to help them by giving them new forms of distribution," says a person who has worked with the CEO. "What drives all of these changes is technology, and Apple has an ability to influence that."

Twitter helps Haiti

Twitter campaign has raised $5 million for the Red Cross, $10 at a time through text messages this week. Story.

Editor & Publisher lives!

Press release:

Editor & Publisher Sold To Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc.
Will Resume Publication In Print and Online

NEW YORK CITY -- Editor & Publisher, the only independent news organization reporting on all aspects of the transforming newspaper business, will resume publication in print and online following its sale Thursday from The Nielsen Company to Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc., the Irvine, Calif.-based magazine and newspaper publisher.

The announcement came exactly two weeks after the closing of E&P, the acknowledged "bible of the newspaper industry," which can trace its roots back 126 years.

Duncan McIntosh said he knew immediately when Nielsen announced in December the closing of E&P that he wanted to keep the magazine and its digital newsgathering properties going.

"Such a critical information source for a newspaper industry so desperately in need of help should not go away," McIntosh said. "I've been a reader of E&P over the course of 30 years and know its incredible value to readers and advertisers."

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Charles "Chas" McKeown, who will continue as publisher of E&P, hailed the sale and the speed and professionalism with which McIntosh and Nielsen completed the transaction. "Everyone knew what was at stake here," McKeown said. "Newspapers, which are transforming beyond the printed page to all forms of digital media, simply could not lose the one place where the industry could have a conversation with itself and exchange ideas and best practices for navigating the uncertain waters ahead, exemplified by our Interactive Media Conference which includes cable, TV, radio and other media."

Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc. is the publisher of several well-respected boating magazines and newspapers, including Boating World magazine; Sea Magazine, America's Western Boating Magazine; The Log Newspaper; and FishRap. The company also produces the Newport Boat Show in the spring and the Lido Yacht Expo in the fall. Both shows are held in California.
Mark Fitzgerald, a 26-year veteran, was named as the new E&P editor. He had most recently served as E&P's editor-at-large.

"I'm of course grateful to Duncan for stepping up to keep E&P alive, and I've been extremely impressed by the passion and energy he is bringing to this enterprise," Fitzgerald said. "I'm humbled to be leading a news organization that I've always believed produces one of the best news reports of any industry sector."

E&P's new owners announced plans to publish a February print issue and continue the monthly print publication schedule. Online reporting on its Web site began immediately on the close of the transaction Thursday, as did posting on its two blogs.

Media Contacts:
Duncan McIntosh
949.660.6150 x 211
Charles "Chas" McKeown
646.654.5120
Mark Fitzgerald
773.610.0026

Dispatches from behind the lines

Over the past year, several of our new NIU graduates have found reporting jobs at small-town daily newspapers across the country.

Based on what they’d heard and read, I think they half-expected to find these places in ruins: dark, empty newsrooms … tumbleweeds blowing through the pressroom … the assorted journalism refugee hiding behind a stack of yellowed newspapers, swilling whiskey, snarling into a disconnected, rotary-dial phone, “Get me Rewrite!”

They’ve encountered something very different: vibrant newsrooms that still produce a printed product their communities can’t imagine living without. To be sure, there’s an empty desk here or there. The economy and the newspaper decline have taken a toll. But you hear a lot less talk in a small town about newspapers going away. You hear a whole lot more talk sparked by what's in the paper.

Newspapers remain the lifeblood of these communities whose entire populations would fit comfortably inside Wrigley Field, or even snugly into Huskie Stadium. A few months into their jobs, I offered my former students the chance to reflect on their career decisions and life far away from a big-city metro.

“Working for a small-town newspaper has really shown me what it means to be a community journalist,” said 2008 grad John Puterbaugh, a reporter and copy editor for the Daily Chronicle in DeKalb. “I also live in the community in which I work, and it’s not difficult to find that my own world is not too far detached from anyone else’s.”

He especially likes the fact that sources, readers and journalists are all neighbors – much more so than in a large city or suburbia.

“I get the feeling that connections made and relationships formed in small communities are the kinds of connections you can count on for the long run,” he said. “I guess, with a less fluid populace, it’s just easy to grow comfortable working and living in smaller communities.”

2009 grad Caitlin Mullen got a reporting job at the Sanford Herald in Sanford, N.C., a city of 29,000. Staff there has shrunk; one of the paper’s three reporting positions isn’t being refilled for now. So no one’s exactly holding pep rallies in the newsroom.

“But, I do love my job,” she said. “I enjoy talking to new people every day and building relationships in a new place. Everyone has a story. And I like small towns. Most people here are very friendly.

“I love interacting with people, and getting to tell their stories is a privilege. As long as I can do that, I’m happy.”

Giles Bruce (’09) works at the Charles City Press in the northern Iowa town of 8,000.

“My paper doesn’t have another newspaper in town to compete with, nor are their bloggers aiming for our scraps,” he said. “There’s a radio station in town, and other papers and TV stations nearby, but a lot of their Charles City news comes from us.
People here actually get their news ... from the newspaper. Not the online version or a blog or a TV station, but the actual print, hold-in-your-hands paper. That’s something I — who still read print editions — can appreciate.

“I also never thought a town of 8,000 people could support a five-day-a-week daily. I’ve lived in towns with six times the population that only had a weekly. And the folks here don't think anything of it — a paper arriving at their house every weekday morning is just how it’s always been.”

John Ranallo (’09) works for the Beloit Daily News in the Wisconsin town of 35,000. This after spending last summer interning at a weekly newspaper in Wolf Point, Mont., where the pronghorn population may outnumber the people.

“I really think small town journalism is where it’s at,” he said. “It is great to live in a town where you see the effects of your work rather than have it get buried in a larger mass of news. It is humbling to receive calls and letters from real people who care about the area they live in. I have learned that being a reporter is a very noble job – one that requires me to become actively engaged in everything I am doing, and I love it.

“I use to think I wanted to be a big metro reporter, and while I haven’t ruled it out someday, it is great to make a difference. Sometimes I think reporters don’t understand how much of a difference they can make. I never envisioned myself here, but I am glad I made it.”

Haiti links

Three Haiti links you might share with your readers today:

People in Haiti using Twitter today: http://twitter.com/georgiap/live-from-haiti

List of charities setting up relief efforts: http://ow.ly/W8a7

Donate online to International Red Cross: http://tinyurl.com/yg6kbgw

Training opportunity for reporters

From SPJ:
Print journalists with three years (or less) of professional experience are invited to apply to attend the print-based Reporters Institute. The program will be held May 23-26 at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida.

MORE

What Lou Grant saw

Remember the late-'70s TV show "Lou Grant"? Don Terry does, and he wrote a wonderful piece for the Columbia Journalism Review, about watching episodes of the show on his iPod after being laid off by the Chicago Tribune.

... Right now I need a little help in getting past the anger, fear, and sense of loss that keep me up at night. It was watching Lou and the gang at the fictional Los Angeles Tribune that originally helped to convince me that a life in journalism was what I wanted—that it was fun and honorable and important. I’m surprised and happy after every episode at how good it feels to be back in a newsroom, even if it is only make-believe.

Coming to student journalists' defense

From the Chicago Tribune today:

Journalistic heavy hitters lent support today to an effort to toss out a prosecutors' subpoena for notes, grades and other materials from Northwestern University journalism students, an investigator and their professor in connection with the case of a man the students argue was wrongfully convicted.

Tribune, Sun-Times, NYTimes, Washington Post and others have signed on.

Full story here.

New NINA president looks ahead

And here's a column from incoming NINA President Mike Cetera:


The weak economy has seen our industry shed jobs, news hole and paying readers, creating a difficult atmosphere for many newsrooms. Yet these losses may have given us something as well: a unique opportunity to re-examine our mission and reinvent ourselves.

We must ask, how best can we be relevant? One answer is to redouble our efforts to hold accountable the public officials who spend taxpayers’ money.

While trained journalists perhaps are best equipped to monitor whether politicians are upholding the public trust, our industry challenges have made this calling more difficult. But we also face obstacles put up by those we cover.

At the December meeting of the Northern Illinois Newspaper Association board, I proposed we look at public information and how we get it as a broad theme for 2010. The idea was born out of a concern there has been an erosion of access.

As an example, one long-standing tool of the trade – the police scanner – may become obsolete as some police and fire departments move to more secure networks and shut out journalists in the process. When we can no longer hear about that fire, accident or arrest, can we possibly do our jobs as well?

In 2010, NINA would like to offer training sessions that address problems with access. But we need your help. Have you noticed that government layoffs have made getting your questions answered more difficult? Are local governments following FOIA laws in getting you information the public is entitled to know? Are your local boards properly following the Open Meetings Act?

Please share your experiences in these and all areas of access to help NINA make 2010 the year of open government. You can e-mail me here .

Mike Cetera, NINA’s 2010 president, is the senior interactive editor for Sun-Times Media’s Suburban West Division in Aurora.

NINA president looks back at 2009

Here's a column by Pete Nenni, outgoing NINA president, that will appear in our print newsletter soon:

The most challenging year in recent memory for the news media in general, and newspapers in particular, was equally as challenging for NINA board members.

Our newsrooms suffered through the same tight budgets, staff and expense cutbacks and advertising revenue declines. Our employees, like yours, scrambled to create products in print and online that would make us useful, relevant and necessary to readers. In short, we shared your pain.

Sadly, we have no magic bullet to combat the weak economy and ongoing shifts in readership.
And, like you, NINA was forced to think out of the box in 2009. Our mission was to identify different approaches to training and conveying critical information to meet the needs of our members.

Some of those efforts included:

• The Spring Conference, which focused on “The New Basics” and featured a panel discussion aimed at showing journalists what they can do to save and advance their career.
  The Chicago Tribune’s Ray Long talked about how he uses social networking Web sites to promote his work and build audience; Barbara Vitello of the Daily Herald discussed her switch from the features desk to the courthouse and how it has made her a more valuable asset to the newspaper; and Denise Schoenbachler, dean of the Northern Illinois University College of Business, brought a business perspective about adapting to an uncertain career path.
• NINA communications coordinator Jim Killam, the adviser for NIU’s daily student media, the Northern Star, expanded the use and reach of Digital Ink, NINA’s blog. There, he created and fostered discussions on some of the most pressing issues facing our industry. For the first time, NINA also offered free listings on its Web site for job seekers.
• NINA offered a Webinar training for the first time when we arranged a discounted fee for members to participate in the Poynter Institute’s NewsU Facebook for Journalists discussion. It provided insight into using the popular social networking tool.
• Recognizing the cost and time constraints facing our members, NINA changed the traditional format of our Fall Conference. Instead of a half-day training program, the event featured an evening dinner and keynote speaker George Papajohn, of the Chicago Tribune, who discussed the critical need for the media to continue its watchdog role.

While we sought new approaches to training and presenting information, we didn't abandon our most important traditions.

We again honored great journalism in the annual awards program, and we continued to support the future of the industry by helping high school journalists pursue their careers. NINA honored five talent high school journalists in its 12th annual scholarship competition. A total of $1,400 in scholarships was awarded.

And, that leads us to 2010.

To be sure, the New Year will be no less challenging. Our members will still be required to be vigilant in finding ways to provide meaningful coverage to communities and reach out to readers.

The NINA board, under new president Mike Cetera, will use responses to a 2009 survey of members to develop programs to help support you in the effort.

It’s an exciting time and we want you to look to NINA as a resource in meeting that challenge.

Pete Nenni, NINA’s 2009 president, is the Lake County editor of the Daily Herald in Libertyville.

Census info

Media info and contacts for 2010 Census stories can be found here.