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Your connection to industry & member news | Jan. 9, 2025
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 | Hayes with the Dec. 18, 2024, edition of the News-Chronicle.
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| Hayes takes reigns at Belton News-ChronicleThe Belton-Honea Path News-Chronicle is changing hands as of Jan. 1, but will remain in the leadership of local resident James Hayes.
"We are happy to welcome former four-year military veteran and local resident James Hayes as the new owner of the newspaper," said editor Elaine Ellison-Rider. "He will keep that local aspect to the newspaper and we are confident he will continue to cover the news in an aggressive manner - both online and in print."
Hayes created upstatenewstoday.com on Sept. 10 and has expanded the online presence incredibly.
"The vision I had was to get Anderson County residents news as it happened. I have been very successful in doing just that. We have reached over 300,000 views since the inception,” said Hayes.
As a result of the purchase, he is acquiring more than 7,000 Facebook viewers of the newspaper, as well as the print edition publication and readership.
At the moment, he will still be located at 218 City Square in downtown Belton with the current phone number (803) 338-6124.
"I come from a background in EMS for the last 12 years. Most recently, I ran for Anderson County Coroner. I started the race in April as a name not recognized in Anderson County against my opponent of 28 years. While we fell short in the votes, we still prevailed with one-third of the total votes."
Weekly newspapers have a historic reputation for serving in the state House and Senate, as well as other elected positions - including state Rep. Fred Moore of Honea Path and State Rep. Nathan Coward of Belton.
The Belton paper was founded in 1925, while the Honea Path paper has been published since 1894. The Coward family merged the two papers about 34 years ago to form the News-Chronicle.
“I have a 3-year-old child; his name is Spencer. Spencer loves the action, just like his daddy,” said Hayes. “I want all of our readers to be reassured we are taking the News-Chronicle into the future, providing everyone with the latest news in Anderson County not only in print form, but online as well. I look forward to meeting our readers out in public and eating beside you at the local cafe.”
From the News-Chronicle
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|  | Special thanks to our Winter Break interns who helped us get contest entries ready for judging in Kentucky later this month. USC J-School students (from left) include Eva Flowe, Win Hammond, Catherine Pruitt, Ty Williams and Amanda Petty (not pictured.) Sorting is wrapping up this week. If you haven't received your master entry report and invoice, they will be sent out by Friday. Winners will be announced for for proofing in early February.
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McCormick newspaper offers workspace if anyone loses powerJohn Stone, publisher of The Journal Messenger and Reporter, reached out to alert fellow SCPA members that if any newspapers lose power or are shut down due to winter weather conditions, the McCormick office has a private newsroom that can be used, and the newspaper can accommodate up to seven writers. Hotels and restaurants are nearby.
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Former SC Senate candidate ordered to pay $76K to newspaper after defamation lawsuit
Former S.C. Senate candidate John Gallman and his attorney have been ordered to pay Waccamaw Publishers, Inc., the parent company of MyHorryNews, more than $76,000 after suing the newspaper for defamation.
“This is a significant decision. We stood by the reporting and the story from the beginning, and the court agreed,” said Stephen Robertson, publisher of Waccamaw Publishers. “The baseless lawsuit took a long time to produce results, but the results were good. We hope the court's decision sends a message about the burden frivolous lawsuits put on the court system, taxpayer money, and defendants.”
The 2021 lawsuit came after the publication of a 5,000-plus-word news article titled “State senate candidate disputes domestic abuse allegations in court records,” which was published seven days before a runoff election in which Gallman lost to longtime S.C. Senator Luke Rankin.
In response to the article, Gallman filed a lawsuit alleging defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and civil conspiracy. Listed as defendants were Waccamaw Publishers, the article’s author Christian Boschult, Rankin, a Political Action Committee and several others involved in the Rankin campaign.
The lawsuit alleged that Boschult had a confidential source, referred to as “The Dossier” in court filings. However, in the MyHorryNews article, it stated that the outlet based its report “on public court records including interview notes, police reports and third-party affidavits in order to avoid relying purely on [Galman's ex-wife Sarah] Price or Gallman’s narratives.”
In 2023, summary judgment was granted in favor of Waccamaw Publishers. Shortly after, Waccamaw Publishers filed a lawsuit under the South Carolina Frivolous Civil Proceedings Act. On Monday, Judge Cordell Maddox, Jr. issued an order granting the newspaper reimbursement for its legal fees.
The judgment in favor of Waccamaw Publishers, Inc. is for $76,474.68 against Gallman and his attorney Tucker Player.
By S.T. Cardinal, My Horry News | Read more
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Post and Courier reporter arrested in Berkeley County while trying to attend a court hearing
MONCKS CORNER — A Berkeley County sheriff's deputy arrested and handcuffed a Post and Courier reporter Dec. 20 who was attempting to attend a magistrate court hearing.
The reporter, Alan Hovorka, said the deputy would not allow him to enter the courtroom of Magistrate Judge Martin Housand. Hovorka said he protested, stating that he had a right to attend because court proceedings are open to the public.
Hovorka said he was cuffed and detained for more than 30 minutes before other Berkeley County Sheriff's Office employees removed the cuffs. Sheriff Duane Lewis stepped in and directed Hovorka to be released. Lewis said the reporter should not have been handcuffed and threatened with charges for persisting in his efforts to get into the courtroom.
"There was a lot of miscommunication," Lewis later told The Post and Courier.
Lewis said he fired the deputy, Dennis Chapman, and ordered an internal affairs review.
Hovorka said he asked to speak with the judge, but that did not happen. After handcuffing Hovorka, the deputy sat him in a lobby area and called for another deputy to take Hovorka to be booked into the jail, but he was not taken there.
Article 1, Section 9 of the S.C. Constitution states that "all courts shall be public." That should always be the case, with a few exceptions such as when a jury is being charged or during sensitive testimony from a witness, said Jay Bender, a longtime media lawyer for the S.C. Press Association and its member newspapers, including The Post and Courier.
"Anybody should be able to walk in (to a courtroom) anytime, except in limited circumstances," Bender said. "A reporter has no more rights than members of the public in South Carolina, but a reporter also has no fewer rights."
From The Post and Courier | Read more
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Column: We expect bad government from Beaufort County, not Hilton Head Island. Until now.
Note to Hilton Head Island Mayor Alan Perry: Stop it!
Perry made a horrible decision to participate in a private, unannounced meeting on Dec. 6 with Beaufort County Council chair Joe Passiment, vice chair Larry McElynn and fellow Town Council member Alex Brown.
It was a secret meeting to discuss public money, and there is no reason for this discussion to be held in private.
It adhered to the Freedom of Information Act by circumventing it.
By self-selecting a little in-crowd, no quorums were involved, and therefore the public, and even fellow members of the county and town councils, were left in the dark.
The public is sick of being slighted by Beaufort County. It’s sick of government it can’t trust.
By David Lauderdale, The Island Packet | Read more
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Editorial: Make the new year the year of accountability
As we all welcome a new year, 2025, we encourage you, the taxpayers, to demand more accountability from those you elect and who are appointed to serve you.
You elect, they appoint. From municipal and county governments to public school boards, these people are wholly and fully accountable to you. You pay the fees for the service provided by those you elect and your tax dollars go into the bank accounts of those who do the public’s work — your work — and who are hired and retained by those in public employee management posts.
City and county managers work at the pleasure of the councils that hire them. The superintendents of public schools work at the pleasure of the boards that hire them. At the end of the day, however, they all work for the taxpayers and voters.
And so it should anger you when, for example, the director of a publicly funded charter school in Greenwood County is allowed to resign only two days after being placed on administrative leave while largely only that school’s board members know the circumstances surrounding these actions.
You have every right to know details of this administrator’s job performance and why he stepped aside. You should not need to speculate, to suppose, to question whether rumors that circulate are truths. No, you need transparency when it comes to why public officials are no longer on the job. Releasing details of a public official’s job performance, especially as it relates to his or her termination or resignation, is in no way an invasion of that person’s personal privacy.
From Index-Journal | Read more
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News & Press celebrates 150 years
This year marks an historic milestone for the News & Press newspaper in Darlington, as we celebrate 150 years of dedicated service to the community!
The Darlington News was established in 1875 as a weekly, publishing on Thursdays. In 1908 it was consolidated with the Darlington Press, under the new name News and Press. Since then, the News & Press has been a cornerstone of local journalism, chronicling the events, milestones, and stories that define the lives of Darlington County residents.
The News & Press began as a modest publication with a clear mission: to inform, engage, and connect the people of Darlington. Through wars, economic upheavals, and social transformations, the newspaper has remained steadfast, adapting to the times while preserving its commitment to journalistic integrity.
“It’s truly remarkable to reflect on the journey of the News & Press over these past 150 years,” said General Manager Jordan Grimsley, “From the early days of hand-operated presses to the digital age of today, the focus has always been on providing accurate and meaningful reporting for our readers.”
Throughout its storied history, the News & Press has played a vital role in shaping the local narrative. From covering groundbreaking moments like world wars and the desegregation of schools in the 1960s, to spotlighting community achievements and preserving cultural heritage, the publication has been a trusted voice in Darlington County.
The News & Press would like to thank Brian Gandy, Executive Director of the Darlington County Historical Commission and Museum (DCHCM) and his wonderful staff for their tremendous help with our research during this time.
In honor of its sesquicentennial, the News & Press has planned a series of celebratory events throughout the year. These include special historic articles, featuring highlights from the newspaper’s archives, special offers during the year and an event later this year to thank the community for your 150 years of support.
“The News & Press is more than just a newspaper; it’s a living archive of our community’s history,” said one Darlington resident. “It’s incredible to think about the countless stories they’ve shared over a century and a half.”.
By Stephan Drew, News & Press | Read more
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By Sam Hall,
The Post and Courier
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| P&C bringing a daily E-Paper to Greenville
Since opening a local newsroom in Greenville, we have been thrilled by the growth we’ve seen. Readership. Subscribers. Revenue. Even staff. It’s all grown.
Even more exciting, the appetite for a strong, local news organization that is investing in the local community and expanding its operations is as strong as ever. We continually hear from readers who tell us how glad they are that we’re here. It makes us want to work even harder to bring you local stories that resonate with you and impact your life throughout the Upstate.
That’s why we are excited to announce the launch of a five-day daily E-Paper for Greenville. This digital replica of a printed newspaper will be available online Monday-Friday. You’ll be able to access it from any device through our website or from your mobile phone through our app. And you’ll also still be able to pick up our monthly printed paper, which is getting even bigger in January.
The new E-Paper is in response to readers who say they love our coverage on our website but miss the experience of reading a traditional newspaper each morning. The E-Paper is the best way to provide that kind of experience digitally, while also allowing us to showcase our best local news stories with eye-pleasing print designs. Read more
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 | Diane Daniell, second from right, is retiring from the Aiken Standard. Her daughter Emily Murphy, husband Walter and mother Susie Barfield joined her at a lunch Dec. 12. (Photo by Bill Bengston)
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| Diane Daniell off to write her next chapter with retirement from the Aiken Standard
It’s the end of an era at the Aiken Standard.
Longtime employee Diane Daniell, best known for her work in the advertising department, is calling it quits after 37 years on Rutland Drive. Her last day in the building is Dec. 23.
Diane has been a valued colleague and — more importantly — a great friend to me, my wife Kathy and our families. We’ve helped each other through the best, and worst, of times.
Newspaper employees are sometimes guilty of not keeping up with the news that is in their own paper.
That doesn’t apply to Diane, who has all the traits of a great reporter. She is curious, she’s not afraid to ask questions and she loves to let people know what is going on in the community.
Diane began her Aiken Standard career as a receptionist, but that didn’t last long.
“I had too much energy to be in one spot for eight hours,” she said in a 2022 profile story.
Advertising was a natural fit for someone as outgoing and personable as Diane, and she started there as an office manager before moving to national ad coordinator, sales representative and, finally, sales manager.
By John Boyette, Aiken Standard | Read more
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WSJ hires Josh Dawsey for DC Bureau
The Wall Street Journal recently announced the hiring of four reporters to its Washington D.C. bureau, bolstering the newsroom with some of the industry’s top reporters covering the White House, Congress and trade. Josh Dawsey [and three other reporters] will join over the next month and will report to Washington Coverage Chief Damian Paletta.
Josh Dawsey returns to the Journal and will join the bureau’s enterprise team as a political investigations reporter. Dawsey joins from The Washington Post where he spent the past seven years, most recently as an award-winning political investigations and enterprise reporter. He was previously a White House reporter for POLITICO and began his career with the Journal covering politics. Dawsey is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. He joins the Journal on February 3.
[Dawsey got his start in journalism at The Aynor Journal, where he was named editor at age 17. He went on to study journalism at the University of South Carolina, where he served as editor of The Daily Gamecock. While at USC, he was named SCPA’s Collegiate Journalist of the Year and was an SCPA Foundation intern at The Island Packet.]
From Dow Jones | Read more
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Kinnard named spring Georgetown University Politics Fellow
The Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service recently announced its Spring 2025 Fellows Class, which includes Meg Kinnard, national politics reporter for The Associated Press who is based in South Carolina.
The fellows will bring decades of experience in politics, government, public policy and journalism to the Hilltop, and come from across the political spectrum.
Over the course of the semester, members of the Georgetown community will have the opportunity to engage with the Fellows in discussion groups, case studies, one-on-one conversations, and even site visits across town – providing a unique behind the scenes look at how D.C. really operates.
Kinnard will lead a discussion group on, "Judging Journalism: Exploring Trustworthiness in Media."
Kinnard is currently in her 20th year with The Associated Press. Most recently, she covered the 2024 presidential campaign with a focus on the GOP presidential primary. Before joining AP, Kinnard previously covered Congress and campaign advertising for National Journal in D.C., also traveling to both presidential nominating conventions in the 2004 cycle. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, she grew up in a political family and received a BSFS in International Politics with a concentration in International Security Studies, from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
From Georgetown University | Read more
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If you report on the US economy, get to know these 8 data sources
From the Federal Reserve to the Bureau of Economic Analysis to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are a variety of free federal sources journalists can turn to for high-quality data on the U.S. economy.
While these will be most relevant to business reporters, economic issues cut across beats, so journalists covering almost any topic may find these useful. Most data featured here is macroeconomic, meaning it indicates the health of the national economy, or segments of it.
Below, we spotlight eight data sources reporters should know and use, including several Federal Reserve regional banks.
By Clark Merrefield, The Journalist’s Resource | Read more
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Goal-setting can be an important part of improving your news organization
January is a time when many people set new goals for themselves. There’s something about a new year or a milestone birthday that makes people think more about planning, goals and self-improvement.
Even if you’re not one to make personal New Year’s resolutions, you still should think about what goals you would like for your department or newspaper to accomplish in the coming year.
People who operate day to day -- or week to week as the case may be with weekly newspapers – often don’t take enough time to think about the larger, more important goals for themselves and their news organization.
In many years of working with newspapers and online news sites, I watched as the advertising, circulation and business departments set specific goals for each year and measured their performance against those goals. Newsrooms at larger news organizations sometimes did the same thing, but I found that journalists at smaller newspapers often were reluctant to set goals for various reasons.
The No. 1 reason they cited: News is unpredictable and priorities are determined by the news. Other times, journalists said they were uncomfortable with trying to measure goals for news coverage and other content, with fears of clunky story quotas or forced adherence to pre-determined plans.
Those concerns are understandable, but they should not lead to the alternative – no goal-setting or planning.
One of the primary differences between a good news organization and a great news organization is planning. Another key difference is the ability to set important goals and reach them.
By Benjy Hamm, Institute for Rural Journalism | Read more
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Media lessons for tomorrow from 40 years of yesterdays
January 2, 2025 means more to me than just the second day of a new year.
The date marks 40 years since my first day in my first “professional” journalism job* — as a copy editor and page designer at The Sun/The Daily Herald (now just The Sun Herald) in Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi.
In 1985, the tools of that job included primitive, unreliable video display terminals, paper dummy sheets, pica poles and proportion wheels. Pagination was a new concept, and though the first Macintosh computers had been announced just months before, the desktop publishing and graphic design revolutions they would spawn were hardly imagined.
January 2 also marks 30 years since my first day in a “purely digital” media job — as director of online services for The Indianapolis Star/The Indianapolis News (now just IndyStar).
In 1995, the tools of that job included HTML manuals of style, dial-up internet access, and image-mapping shareware. The commercial World Wide Web had barely surfaced, and none of us foresaw how broadband access, the iPhone, Google, YouTube, Facebook or artificial intelligence would reshape our world.
Reflecting on these anniversaries and all that happened since, I could choose to reminisce aimlessly or lament that more of my career is past than future. But I won’t, because I’m not done yet. I prefer to draw on experience to offer a few lessons that might help those of you celebrating lower-numbered anniversaries, or even Day 1 on your first jobs in local media.
By Jay Small, Local Media Association | Read more
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| Compelling Writing with Jerry Bellune
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By Jerry Bellune,
Writing Coach
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| Build your readers’ expectations
Almost everybody likes a mystery.
Most of us want to be in on secrets or to hear the latest gossip about people we know.
Expectations and questions about what happens next engage readers and put power in almost any kind of journalism – print, digital and online.
Editors and publishers now see readers, rather than advertisers, as their primary customers and sources of revenue, says Karen Shiau-Jing Ding an internet startup entrepreneur. Deliver the right content for the right audience and the advertisers will follow.
Here’s a cleverly-written example of creating readers’ interest and expectation from Clare Ansberry in The Wall Street Journal:
Word oozed out earlier this month.
The news quickly spread.
Worries softened.
Aldi supermarkets had lowered the price of butter.
Note her word choices: Word oozed out. The news quickly spread. Worries softened. Read more
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- Feb. 28, 2025 | SCPA Collegiate Meeting & Awards | SCPA, Columbia
- April 3, 2025 | SCPA Executive Committee Meeting | SCPA, Columbia
- April 3-4, 2025 | SCPA Annual Meeting & Awards | Columbia
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