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Your connection to industry & member news | April 30, 2026
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PALMY Ad Contest now accepting entries through May 29First 3 entries free!The 2026 PALMY Advertising Contest entry platform is now live and accepting print and digital ad entries through May 29.
The PALMY Ad Contest is a great way to recognize the sales reps, designers and advertisers of our state's news organizations!
Thanks to support from the S.C. Newspaper Network, each organization's first three entries are free!
SCPA member newspapers, online news publications and associate members with print and/or digital publications are eligible to enter the contest. View SCPA members by division
The contest period is for print and digital ads that ran between May 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026.
Ad directors, publishers and managers will receive log-in info later today.
On July 17, the digital awards presentation will be made available on the SCPA website and promoted as a resource for all members to use throughout the year. Awards will be presented in person or mailed to winners in mid-July. SCPA staffers will also work with winners to have a recognition event on site at your newspaper if desired.
Please let us know if you have any questions. We can't wait to see your best revenue-generating ideas!
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|  We're excited to announce that our archive of past News Contest winners now includes winners from 1984-2025. The files contain winner info, judges' comments and graphics. Some even include winning stories. We're still working to digitize a few missing years but hope to add them soon. Special thanks to SCPA intern Kino Ambrister, a grad student at the USC J-School, who helped us scan and digitize many of the winner tabloids. Here are PALMY Ad Contest winners from past years.
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|  Reporters and editors who regularly cover business and growth and development beat topics are invited to attend a Business Beat Reporting Roundtable on Friday, May 15, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., at SCPA Offices in Columbia. This event, sponsored by the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications Baldwin Business and Financial Journalism Endowment Fund, will be moderated by Baldwin Business Faculty Fellow Parks Rogers. Please submit discussion topics, ideas and specific questions on the registration form. The cost to attend is $30, which includes a boxed lunch. Register to attend.
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|  With reporters under siege everywhere from the streets of Minneapolis to their homes in northern Virginia, ClassACT HR73 (a non-profit organization founded by members of the Harvard-Radcliffe Class of 1973 including SC Attorney Carl Muller) will present the second forum in its Freedom of the Press series on May 6 at 7 p.m. Its moderator Richard Tofel ’79, who was the founding general manager of ProPublica and the assistant publisher of the Wall Street Journal, will head a panel of lawyers and reporters to discuss the current physical and legal threats the press faces. David McGraw, deputy general counsel and senior vice president at the New York Times and lead lawyer for the paper’s newsroom, will join the discussion along with Bruce Brown, president of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Francia García Hernández, a reporter for Block Club Chicago who covered Operation Midway Blitz, will describe what it is like to cover immigration and ICE operations in a city where nearly one-quarter of the residents are immigrants. Learn more and RSVP for this free online event here.
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The Voice unveils new website, new ad sales manager
BLYTHEWOOD – The Voice welcomes two additions that have been long overdue at the newspaper — a new mobile-friendly website that offers digital advertising and a new ad sales manager, Denise Nelson.
Denise, an experienced print and digital advertising sales manager, has sold television and digital advertising for more than 30 years. She last worked for WWAY TV in Wilmington, N.C. She continued to work remotely for the television station after she and her husband, Kebin, moved back to their hometown of Ridgeway a little over three years ago to be close to family.
Denise retired from WWAY in October 2024 and was working part-time when she connected with The Voice’s publisher.
“I was already a big fan of The Voice when I was asked if I would help with the newspaper’s advertising needs,” she said. “I was so excited for the opportunity. I’m looking forward to helping local businesses in our area grow their presence through both print and website advertising. Now that The Voice has a thriving digital presence, I can better help our local businesses extend their advertising reach.”
By Ashley Ghere, The Voice of Blythewood & Fairfeild County | Read more
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The Post and Courier investigates South Carolina's deadly mental health crisis in county jails
A mentally ill father of two who died of neglect in the state’s largest jail. A police chief who lost an ear during an attack by a man in psychosis. A man who faced about 100 charges or citations over three decades as he battled schizophrenia.
They are among hundreds of people caught in the crushing loop that exists between South Carolina’s overloaded mental health system and its slow-moving courts.
The Post and Courier's new five-part investigative series, “Caught in the Cycle,” reveals how South Carolina’s handling of mentally ill defendants delays justice for crime victims, bleeds money from taxpayers and plunges desperate and vulnerable people even deeper into crisis.
Sparked by a court error that left more than 200 confidential psychiatric evaluations unsealed to the public, the investigation offers a rare, documented look into a system that is typically hidden from public view. Reporters discovered a shredded safety net that forces damaged individuals to cycle endlessly between jails and hospitals, often leaving them without long-term care until minor offenses escalate into major tragedies.
“Our investigation exposed the full depths of a growing crisis in our judicial system, where mentally ill defendants cycle through our jails and courts again and again without getting desperately needed treatment — only to be dumped on the streets to commit more crimes,’’ said Jeff Taylor, executive editor of The Post and Courier. “The consequences are often brutal for victims and are costly for taxpayers. Jail staff, police and judges are subjected to horrific circumstances that they are not equipped to deal with. And all the while, the accused remain trapped in despair and the grinding wheels of an overwhelmed system.”
How they did it
This series began in 2024 with a tip that a man charged in a James Island hatchet slaying would be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility and a reporter’s discovery of his unsealed mental health evaluation.
The document chronicled a revolving door of hospitalizations, arrests and missed opportunities to provide help before tragedy occurred.
The Charleston County Public Defender’s Office sued the newspaper to prevent reporting on the document. The newspaper prevailed just as reporters learned more than 200 other defendants had their records exposed over 15 years.
A team of reporters examined thousands of pages from those cases and sought to understand how those mental health histories intersected with the justice system. The newspaper converted state rap sheets into a database, obtained 25 years’ worth of Charleston County court case data and assembled them into interconnected datasets that totaled about 70,000 records.
Collectively, these data and records showed a dysfunctional system that trapped people in a crushing cycle of emergency hospitalizations, arrests and incarceration – often without long-term care to manage their illnesses.
The newspaper used general artificial intelligence (Google Gemini) to generate Python code to process this data. Journalists were involved at every step. No sensitive records were provided to artificial intelligence. Data journalist Hongyu Liu and data analytics consultant Phil McDaniel were critical in this process.
The reporting team went even further in analyzing hundreds of in-custody deaths in South Carolina jails. Reporters identified those people who died between 2015 and 2024 while struggling with mental illness. Incarceration Transparency, a project maintained by University of South Carolina professors and students, was foundational in this work. incarcerationtransparency.org
Understanding this information involved interviewing more than 100 mental health experts, court officials, offenders, victims, police and others across six states. And the reporters reviewed more than 1,000 pages of government reports, academic studies and news clippings from around the country.
The National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts’ Response to Mental Illness provided crucial guidance in identifying states working to improve their handling of mental competency cases.
Reporters: Glenn Smith, Jocelyn Grzeszczak and Alan Hovorka
Photos and Video: Grace Beahm Alford and Gavin McIntyre
Presentation: Brandon Lockett
Graphics: Brandon Lockett and Matthew Hill
Data: Alan Hovorka and Jocelyn Grzeszczak
Editing: Allison Nugent-Caruso, Jason Cato and Jeff Taylor
Read the full series here.
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Post and Courier ‘Monkey Business’ story wins national Headliner Award
The Post and Courier’s watchdog work on the controversial monkey breeding colony in Yemassee and on South Carolina’s Morgan Island earned a first place National Headliner Award.
Written and reported by Marilyn W. Thompson and Mitchell Black, the stories explored a research center in Yemassee, which received international attention after 43 rhesus monkeys staged a breakout. ...
The Post and Courier’s Uncovered journalism collaboration, which included The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also took two third-place National Headliner Awards in the investigative reporting and international reporting categories.
Written by Tony Bartelme and Glenn Smith, “Polo and Power” exposed the unlikely connection between polo and Nigerian real estate investments in Aiken, followed by additional reporting with Christian Boschult on these investments throughout the state. A separate piece revealed how Russian bankers in Beaufort County’s Palmetto Bluff resort had been sanctioned.
From The Post and Courier | Read more
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USC-J School retirees met for lunch at SCPA Offices last week!
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|  | SC Investigates director Gina Smith recently presented a session on media literacy for the USC College of Information and Communications. “Good journalism creates more understanding than outrage,” she said. “We're helping readers understand and navigate their world.”
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SC is on the verge of passing a charter school reform bill. Which one will it be?
The South Carolina Senate has a decision to make on charter school reform. The upper chamber, which earlier this year passed legislation that would bring greater transparency, accountability and procedural clarity to the growing sector, must weigh three options in light of the House’s swift and unanimous passage of an amendment to the bill Thursday.
It could:
1. Accept the House version of the bill, which largely expands on the Senate’s accountability framework with some exceptions;
2. Reject the House version, sending the bill to conference committee, where a small group of House and Senate lawmakers would attempt to hash out their differences;
3. Work out a compromise bill that precludes the need for a conference.
The bill’s sponsor, Senate Education Committee Chair Greg Hembree, said he favored the third approach because it gives lawmakers more flexibility in coming to an agreement.
“If you go to conference, it’s either A or B,” the Horry County Republican said. “You don’t have the flexibility to write a brand new amendment that’s in between the two.”
House Education committee chair Shannon Erickson, whose amended version of Hembree’s bill sped through the lower chamber last week, expressed a willingness to sit down with her Senate counterpart to work out a preconference compromise.
The pair has worked together for years, she said, including last session when they negotiated a compromise on competing school voucher bills.
“We work very well together, we respect one another and we will do our best to come up with what we both think each of our bodies will accept,” Erickson, R-Beaufort, said Monday.
By Zak Koeske, The State | Read more
Related Editorial: SC Senate can still improve impressive House charter reform (The Post and Courier)
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Public records shed some light on Aiken School District official’s placement on administrative leave
AIKEN — Public records requested through the Freedom of Information Act by the Aiken Standard have shed some light on the circumstances surrounding a top school district administrator’s placement on administrative leave.
Sal Minolfo, the Aiken County Public School District’s chief of human relations, was placed on administrative leave with pay March 9 after serving in the role since June 2025.
Recently shared documents indicate that Minolfo displayed “inappropriate conduct towards and had inappropriate communications with a District administrator.”
Neither the school district nor Minolfo have responded to Aiken Standard requests for comment.
By Erin Weeks, Aiken Standard | Read more
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Newspapers face tight supply as mills cut newsprint production
As if they didn’t have enough to deal with, America’s newspaper publishers are facing a tight supply of newsprint that’s driving up prices.
The crunch may be temporary but it highlights the uncertainty and cost pressures straining a local news industry that’s largely online nowadays but still heavily dependent on printed newspapers.
If these conditions persist, cost and supply challenges may lead more newspapers to reduce pages, as The Seattle Times is doing temporarily until supply improves, cut print frequency or accelerate plans to become entirely online products.
“It’s kind of a double-whammy for publishers. It’s not only expensive, it’s really hard to find newsprint right now,” said Kevin Craig, CEO of PAGE Cooperative, a North Carolina nonprofit that purchases materials and services for around 1,200 newspapers.
As a result of mill closures and disruptions, newsprint prices “have gone haywire — they’re as high as I’ve seen in many years,” Craig said.
One of two remaining newsprint mills in the U.S., NORPAC in Longview, Wash., produced its last roll of newsprint on Tuesday. It was recently acquired by International Paper, an industry giant that’s prioritizing packaging products.
The last remaining U.S. newsprint mill, Inland Empire Paper near Spokane, is booked and can’t fill any additional orders until June or July, according to Stacey Cowles, president of the Cowles Company that owns the mill.
By Brier Dudley, Seattle Times Free Press editor for E&P | Read more
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Apply for Google News Initiative Growth Catalyst by May 7
The Google News Initiative Growth Catalyst program is back.
The application deadline is May 7, and all U.S.-based news organizations with a proven model and a clear, credible plan to expand into a new market are eligible.
Through a combination of funding and operational support — including one year of expert coaching and strategic planning from Blue Engine Collaborative — this program helps high-performing publishers expand into new markets, particularly underserved communities and news deserts.
Selected organizations will receive up to $100,000 in support and join a peer group of publishers also pursuing geographic expansion. Here's more details and how to apply.
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Renowned Southern historian Jack Bass died last week at 91
Southern political historian Jack Bass, a celebrated Carolinas newspaperman who graduated to academia and became a widely respected author or co-author of 10 books, died Thursday afternoon at age 91 in hospice care, according to son David Bass of Raleigh, N.C.
In 2020, Bass moved from Charleston where he once taught at the College of Charleston to Raleigh with his third wife, legendary cooking personality Nathalie Dupree, to be closer to their family. Dupree died in January 2025 at age 85.
Bass, born in Columbia, S.C, was the youngest of seven children of Esther (Cohen) and Nathan Bass, immigrants from Poland and Lithuania respectively. Jack Bass was the sixth child in the family to attend the University of South Carolina, where he caught the news bug and served as chief editor for the school’s newspaper, The Gamecock.
After graduating in 1956, he worked as a sports intern with The (Charleston) News and Courier and soon married his first wife, Carolyn McClung. He then served more than three years as a naval flight officer, returning to the Charleston newspaper to focus on politics. The next year, he went to work in Columbia for the afternoon Columbia Record and then the morning newspaper, The State. In 1965, he won a prestigious Nieman Fellowship for journalism at Harvard University where he started focusing more on politics, civil rights and the changing South.
The following year, he became Columbia bureau chief for The Charlotte Observer and for seven years covered, among other things, the Orangeburg massacre at S.C. State College in February 1968. Bass called the event in which three Black students died the “most unknown tragedy of the civil rights era.”
While at the Observer, Bass also started teaching journalism part-time at USC, later accepting a visiting research position at Duke University to work on a book on Southern politics. After a three-year stint at S.C. State College in Orangeburg as a writer-in-residence and research scholar while he worked to complete a master’s degree in journalism, he ran for Congress unsuccessfully as a Democrat against Republican U.S. Rep. Floyd Spence.
During his 13-year newspaper career, Bass was named S.C. Journalist of the Year twice by the S.C. Press Association, according to the S.C. Academy of Authors, before his shift to academia.
By Andy Brack, Charleston City Paper | Read more
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