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Your connection to industry & member news | Sept. 12, 2024
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File your postal statement with USPS by Oct. 1
- Oct. 10 for publications issued more frequently than weekly
- Oct. 31 for publications issued weekly or less frequently but more frequently than monthly
- First issue produced after Oct. 1 for monthly publications
Members should also email SCPA a copy of the form or an e-tearsheet showing publication of your form by Nov. 1.
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Eric Robinson named Reid H. Montgomery Freedom of Information Chair at USC
Eric P. Robinson, J.D., Ph.D., has been named the Reid H. Montgomery Freedom of Information Chair by the College of Information and Communications at the University of South Carolina. He is a tenured faculty member in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications and is a teacher and scholar in First Amendment rights for media and mass communications. He is also an academic affiliate of the USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law.
"Dr. Robinson is most deserving of the Reid H. Montgomery Freedom of Information Chair appointment," said SJMC Director Damion Waymer, Ph.D. "He is well established as an expert in First Amendment rights and has devoted his career to educating students in this area."
Robinson has been a faculty member in the SJMC since 2016 and has taught Law and Ethics of Mass Communications at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral level. He also developed a new course, Internet and Social Media Law, that provides timely content related to media law in the cyber sphere. He also teaches media law in the law school.
Robinson is a recognized scholar in the areas of First Amendment and media law. He authored two books on the topic and also edited and contributed to Internet Law: The Complete Guide. Since arriving at USC, he has authored nine journal and legal articles and presented peer-reviewed papers at national conferences.
Robinson is often sought for his media law expertise, and undertakes research and writing for the media law firm Fenno Law in Charleston. He previously held positions with the Press Law and Democracy Project at Louisiana State University; the National Center for Courts and Media at the University of Nevada, Reno; the Digital Media Law Project at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society; the Media Law Resource Center; and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Outside of his faculty duties, Robinson writes a column for the South Carolina Press Association’s newsletter and is a frequent speaker.
The Reid H. Montgomery Freedom of Information Chair was established in 1993. It was named in honor of Reid H. Montgomery, Sr., secretary-manager of the SC Press Association for 22 years. The position honors faculty who are established scholars of First Amendment rights and media law. Jay Bender held the position from 2007 until his retirement in 2016.
By J. Scott Parker, University of South Carolina College of Information and Communications | Read more
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Upload election notices to SCPublicNotices.com
All public notices related to S.C. elections should be added to our statewide public notice site. Since these run as display ads, not all are being manually added or auto-fed into the system.
SCPA is happy to add these important notices to SCPublicNotices.com for you. Please email us the PDF or let us know the run date and we'll pull the notices from your e-edition.
Thanks for your help with this important project that ensures the public's right to know!
Also, here’s a quick primer on what types of notices/legals should be added. Most folks remember to post the notices that run in the classified section, but we also need all display notices including water quality reports, info on ordinances, tax sales, meeting dates and more!
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Report and sales sheets show how S.C. newspapers deliver
Newspaper market insight from a recent study conducted by Coda Ventures, found that more than eight out of ten S.C. adults rely on print or digital newspapers for news and information. More than half of S.C. adults use newspaper advertising to make important buying decisions.
Coda has developed several resources to help S.C. newspapers share our story and drive local business growth.
Download Full Report
Download Summary
Download advertising category sales sheets with data on how S.C. adults depend on newspapers for information about restaurants/bars, grocery stores, vehicle maintenance, auto insurance, banking, home services, senior living, festivals/events, apparel, insurance, educational opportunities and healthcare services.
Coda is also happy to meet with your sales leaders and teams to talk about the research and how it can be used with advertisers in your local market.
If you'd like to meet with Coda or localize the report or sales sheets, please reach out to SCPA!
Have a tool, tip, resource or hack that you'd like to share with fellow SCPA members? Tell us what's helping you do your job and we'll share it here in a future newsletter!
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‘It’s well over two dozen,’ City of Myrtle Beach turns over one email from FOIA request
Last month, The Sun News filed a Freedom of Information Act requesting emails about the new theater in downtown Myrtle Beach.
The city’s response was a copy of one email.
A few weeks earlier, on Aug. 16, council member Bill McClure said that “the city itself has received a number of emails, and I can’t tell you how many.”
Some of the emails McClure received were in favor of the project and some were against it. “So we’ve seen emails both ways,” he said. “Personally, the emails that I have received, I don’t have the count right in front of me, it’s well over two dozen, and I would say probably 70% of them question whether this is the type of project that we should be pursuing.”
The original request asked for “All emails addressed to city councilmembers and Mayor Brenda Bethune that include the words “theater”, “CCU”, “Coastal Carolina University”or “Downtown” that have been received within the past 90 days from today’s FOIA request,” an Aug. 30, 2024 email to city FOIA paralegal Agatha Puleo said. In response to that request, the city sent back a PDF of one email on Sept. 9, 2024. The singular email was addressed to the Dear City Council email address, and was received on July 4, 2024.
By Elizabeth Brewer, The Sun News | Read more
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 | Representatives from The Post and Courier and Winthrop University pose together after signing a landmark three-year agreement that includes the state's largest newspaper opening an office on campus as the headquarters for its coverage of Rock Hill and York County.
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| Post and Courier partners with Winthrop to open an office on campus. Here's what that means.
ROCK HILL — Winthrop University and The Post and Courier will partner next year to build a pipeline of journalists for South Carolina.
The university will work with the Charleston-based newspaper to establish a base of operations in the growing Rock Hill-York County region. The partnership will enable Winthrop’s mass communication majors and other students a chance to work in internships with professionals in the field while remaining on campus.
The three-year pilot agreement runs from January 2025 to December 2027. It calls for a local editor, two reporters and a publisher/advertising director to be based on campus in the Barnes and Noble bookstore in the DiGiorgio Campus Center. They will work with up to six interns in the fall and spring semesters who will handle news writing, marketing and advertising duties.
From The Post and Courier Rock Hill | Read more
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Coffee joins Tega Cay Sun as sports reporter
The Tega Cay Sun is excited to welcome Chris Coffee as its new sports reporter. With a passion for photography and a love for sports, Chris brings years of experience to the team, having photographed numerous sporting events around the Fort Mill area.
Chris and his family moved to Fort Mill in 2017 and quickly became part of the community. “We moved to Fort Mill in 2017 and absolutely love the life and friends we’ve made here,” Chris shared. His oldest son, Cole, began at Fort Mill High School, where he was a member of the marching band. When the district realigned in 2019, Cole transferred to Nation Ford High School. Andrew, Chris’s youngest son, recently graduated from Nation Ford, where he was part of the championship boys lacrosse team.
Now empty nesters, Chris and his wife spend their free time traveling to visit their sons, hiking, trying new recipes, and enjoying time with friends. “While photography is not my career, it is a passion of mine, and I have years of experience taking photos at sports events and more. I’m looking forward to applying my journalism and photography skills here with the Tega Cay Sun.”
By Thomas Hyslip, Tega Cay Sun | Read more
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Author Tom Poland captures South Carolina’s back roads
Editor's note: Tom Poland's columns are available on the S.C. News Exchange and may be published by SCPA member newspapers in print or online.
Tom Poland has built a long career exploring the overlooked pockets of wilderness and weedy backroads of the rural South.
He is a writer. A Southern writer, as he likes to say. His books (15 of them, and counting) are not the trendy type to rocket to the top of the bestseller lists, but that’s not to say the 77-year-old is obscure or totally overlooked.
Poland’s weekly column, which he started as a short-term project 15 years ago, is now distributed in more than 65 newspapers across the South and receives more than 100,000 readers a week. His poetic but deeply researched magazine articles and online stories have garnered countless readers. And Poland himself was awarded the Order of the Palmetto in 2018, the highest civilian honor in the state of South Carolina, as recognition for his decades-long contribution to the kudzu-choked, sun-soaked, dewy genre of literature known as Southern writing.
“Someone asked me once, ‘Why are you so hung up on writing about the backroads?’ I told him, ‘That’s a good question, and I got a good answer. Where I grew up, the backroads—that’s all we had. So when I’m on the backroads, I’m home again,’” Poland said.
Born and raised in Lincolnton, Georgia, he grew up stomping through creeks and exploring the wilderness, and that sense of exploration, of revealing the stories beneath overturned stones and dilapidated old barns, still drives Poland more than seven decades later. His relationship with his publisher, University of South Carolina Press, and a vibrant partnership with photographer Robert Clark, have led to the creation of some of the most beautifully written books on Southern nature published in the last 50 years.
By Evan Peter Smith, TOWN | Read more
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Poland’s advice for young writers- Take on projects you’ve never done before.
- Work for free if the subject matter truly interests you.
- Find a subject matter you love and explore it deeply.
- Don’t just study the work of your favorite writers; study their lives.
- Don’t worry about success; instead, try to make a body of work you are proud of.
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New Poynter report addresses trends – and some reasons for optimism – in audience, revenue, local news, trust, AI and more
In the opening of [OnPoynt], Poynter president Neil Brown writes that “doom and gloom narratives that cherry pick stories of vulture capitalists, job loss statistics and print closures are incomplete or out of date, painting an inaccurate picture of a news and information ecosystem on life support. OnPoynt aims to offer a forward-minded look at the state of journalism and the news industry that propels the story by considering trends related to creative product ideas, audience growth strategies and traction around revenue, artificial intelligence and innovation.”
This detailed report acknowledges the challenges that news outlets face, but it also celebrates examples of hope and creativity thanks to new, different and inspired work from news organizations big and small. It also asks journalists to widen their perspectives on how to serve audiences beyond offering up traditional content.
As Brown explains, “As the industry navigates these complications, it is imperative for news organizations to adapt, innovate and redefine their value. By embracing new formats, fostering community engagement and delivering compelling storytelling that resonates with diverse and distinct audiences, journalism reinvigorates its connection with the people it serves.” One of the takeaways is a call to action for news executives to “Lead more, lament less.”
Read OnPoynt, Values Rising: Trends and traction in journalism and the news industry, a report from The Poynter Institute.
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Best practices for engaging survivors of tragedies
The Supporting Mass Shooting Survivors research project, an initiative of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium, recently shared its recommended practices for media outlets working with mass shooting survivors.
The media's approach to these sensitive stories can have a significant impact on both the individuals directly affected and the broader public's understanding of these events. This guide offers a unique opportunity to enhance reporting while prioritizing the well-being of survivors and impacted individuals across various types of tragedies.
This research was supported with funding provided by the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University.
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Copy editors know best: A journalist’s guide to avoiding common language missteps
Epitome — it’s a noun we all know and have used in our work, but chances are many of us have been using it wrong.
Recently, I wrote a story about longtime Philadelphia Eagles announcer Merrill Reese, who was awarded the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As I wrote in my story, “Reese said he thought the epitome of his career” up until that point was entering the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2018.
So, what’s wrong with my use of epitome? According to Bob Yearick, columnist and author of “The War on Words,” it’s often misused to mean “pinnacle” or “high point” when it actually means “a person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type.”
His correction reminded me of a scene from the fifth season of HBO’s “The Wire” — often repeated in newspaper circles. In the scene, a young reporter gets corrected by a veteran copy editor for writing, “120 people were evacuated.” As the editor notes, “A building could be evacuated. To evacuate a person is to give that person an enema.”
You can always learn something from a copy editor. Unfortunately, with many of us still working remotely, an unplanned chat with our colleagues on the copy desk doesn’t happen often. Even worse, many news organizations have laid off most of their copy editors and outsourced those left to regional hubs miles and miles away.
I thought it might be fun to seek knowledge from Yearick and some copy editors about the low-hanging fruit of the English language, which writers often trip over in the mad dash to meet a deadline.
Yearick, an avid reader of regional newspapers in and around Philadelphia, said his main bugaboo isn’t misusing certain words or grammatical mistakes that slip by editors. It’s clutter and redundancy.
“We can all write and speak in a briefer way,” Yearick said, pointing to a famous line written in 1657 by French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal and adapted by folks like Benjamin Franklin and Woodrow Wilson: “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.”
By Rob Tornoe for E&P Magazine | Read more
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By Brandon Roberts, Editor, Summerville Journal Scene
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| Newspapers are the essential voice of communities
I always wince when someone indirectly or directly implies that local newspapers aren't as important or influential as they once were or as relevant other mediums.
The dissenters are correct in one aspect, however, when they claim newspapers are different nowadays because we are now full-fledged news, advertising and marketing organizations.
I was recently asked to speak to a local group about this topic. While putting together my talking points, I inadvertently wrote a column. I love it when that happens.
During the discussion with the group, I underscored the significance of our community's newspaper and how to leverage it effectively. It's not just a newspaper; it's our community’s voice. The information we provide may be new to some people and a reminder to others, but it is important nonetheless.
What follows is how I chose to define our roles in what we do:
Strengthening Communities
Local newspapers, websites and social media platforms are vital in informing and engaging communities, fostering local identity and promoting economic growth.
Information Dissemination
- Newspaper: Deliver community-specific news, such as local events, politics, crime reports and business developments. It enables residents to stay informed about issues that directly affect them.
- Website: Function as accessible hubs for news, resources and services, providing real-time updates to the community
- Social Media Platforms: Enable the rapid sharing of information and news while offering space for public dialogue and immediate feedback. Read more
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By Ralph Mancini, Editor, Moultrie News
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| Judgment day for journalism
The difference between a good life and a bad life is how well you walk through fire. – Carl Jung
Technological advancements have made this world a better place — and progressively worse for some who have seen their jobs replaced by programmed machines over the past 50 or so years. The latest form of automation that’s all the rage is Artificial Intelligence, better known as AI, which is currently being used in several industries, including healthcare, transportation and retail.
I, in fact, has also made its presence felt in how news is gathered and reported. Now, I’m no expert when it comes to detailing how it has transformed the way other journalists ply their trade, but I can safely state that it has made my life easier from one aspect.
Up until a year ago, I was still transcribing each of my meetings and interviews by hand, which — if you’ve ever tried it before — can be a painstaking and coma-inducing experience. But it was a necessary evil needed to achieve a high level of accuracy in my reporting.
And then came AI.
To be clear, AI apps were already out and widely used prior to me incorporating this technology into my day-to-day. I opted to give Otter AI a whirl to help me transcribe my meetings and interviews in the interest of accelerating my output.
So, essentially the phone app acts as a recording device in that it produces actual text of what was said and also plays back remarks made at a meeting or press conference.
Does it mean I allow this phone app to write my articles or generate headlines for me? Not a chance. AI gets stuff wrong — a lot. It will misunderstand words and replace them with ones that have a completely different meaning. This is why I still listen to recordings a second — and sometimes third — time.
In fact, as an added tool in my quest for accuracy, I still carry pens and notebooks with me and jot down notes. Read more
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| Compelling Writing with Jerry Bellune
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By Jerry Bellune, Writing Coach
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| Twenty questions, thousands of answers
If you don’t get a readable story from your next interview, it’s probably your fault.
What I’m going to share with you are questions we developed for our writers after an interview that looked like it was going no where.
A reader had asked us to talk with a gardener who had become a tutor to others like herself.
We sat in her garden and talked about why anyone would want to get dirt under their finger nails.
The interview wasn’t going to produce anything anyone would want to read.
Finally, about twilight, I asked, “Celeste, what’s the worst thing that ever happened to you?”
The question touched a nerve. Her face showed that she did not have to search deeply. The film reel was turning in her head.
“It was about this time of day,” she said. “My husband was across the highway on his tractor.
“I was in the kitchen watching as he turned on his tractor headlights. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the headlights of a big truck.
“I prayed my husband or the driver would see each other’s lights. They didn’t. By the time the ambulance arrived, my husband was gone.”
Some time it takes lots of questions to produce dramatic answers. Here are 20 questions.
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Oct. 4 | News Contest Rules & Site Live
Oct. 24 | Executive Committee & Budget Meeting | SCPA, Columbia
Dec. 6 | Deadline to enter the News Contest
April 3-4, 2025 | SCPA Annual Meeting & Awards | Columbia
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