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Your connection to industry & member news | Feb. 27, 2025
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Sunshine Week set for March 16-22 Sunshine Week is set for March 16-22 and is a nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, education, government and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government.
We encourage you to write and share editorials, stories and columns about the importance of openness to your community. Please share your Sunshine Week plans, articles, projects and events so we can help promote them.
Sunshine Week is coordinated by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications and is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and many partners including SCPA.
The national Sunshine Week toolkit has logos, cartoons, games and more. Columns and other editorial content will be added in March.
Make plans now to join the annual nationwide celebration of access to public information and what it means for you and your community. It’s your right to know.
2025 S.C. Sunshine Week Event: FOIA training with Attorney Taylor Smith Thursday, March 20 | 2-3:15 p.m. | Zoom
Join SCPA Attorney Taylor Smith on Thursday, March 20, from 2-3:15 p.m. for our Sunshine Week edition of SCPA’s quarterly refresher on the S.C. Freedom of Information Act and libel. If you are new to the Palmetto State or just need a refresher, sign up for this helpful session. This session is only open to SCPA members and is free to attend. If you have specific questions or topics that you’d like Taylor to address, you are welcome to email us in advance. Please let us know if you’d like to attend.
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Independent and family-owned news leaders invited to roundtable at Annual MeetingSCPA is hosting a breakfast roundtable for independent and family-owned newspaper leaders as part of the upcoming Annual Meeting.
Join us Friday, April 4, from 8:30-10:30 a.m., at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, as leaders and owners of S.C. family-owned newspapers and online news publications come together to connect, share and learn from each other, as well as discuss the unique challenges that family-run news organizations face.
Topics are up to the group but may include business challenges and solutions, delivery issues, staffing, audience engagement, growing ad revenue and creating new revenue streams, succession planning and more.
Registrations will be accepted through March 21.
The cost to attend is $50. Breakfast will be provided.
Thanks to the SCPA Foundation Smoak Fund for sponsoring this event!
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|  SCPA hosted the first gathering of early career journalists last week. More than 20 journalists from the Midlands joined us for a very chilly outdoor happy hour. The group is excited to collaborate and work on resources, training and ways to give back. They'll host a planning meeting to set goals after the Awards Banquet on April 4, when early career journalists from across the state will be in town and able to participate. Check out the Annual Meeting schedule for more details.
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S.C. newspapers celebrate Black History Month
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|  This Black History Month, The Sumter Item is launching the “Past is Present,” a series that will focus on the people and places that helped make Sumter what it is today.
| |  The Post and Courier recently launched “12 Black Leaders to Know.” The project is now in its fifth year. Check out the special section and a series of video interviews that will be released monthly through Jan. 2026. The newspaper will also host a luncheon on March 21.
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SCPA Attorney: Great Falls meeting violated FOIA law
Great Falls Town Council voted to hire a town administrator last week, but a discussion of that hire behind closed doors violated the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, according to a South Carolina Press Association Attorney.
During last Tuesday’s meeting of Council, five matters were listed for discussion in executive session, one of which was “Town administrator” which was put on the agenda by Councilman David Dutton. Unlike the other four items, though, the reason for taking the discussion behind closed doors was not listed. Where all the others specifically noted the matters pertained to contractual or personnel matters, none were listed or announced related to the town administrator discussion.
“The executive session announcement for ‘Town Administrator — Council Member Dutton” violated the S.C. Code Ann Section 30-4-70 for failure to announce the specific purpose as defined,” said Taylor Smith, an attorney for the South Carolina Press Association, which advocates for open government.
By Travis Jenkins, The News & Reporter | Read more
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P&C's Uncovered 'Polo and Power' shows how powerful people from across the world exploit weak transparency laws to pump money into unexpected corners of the US, including SC
Earlier this week, The Post and Courier's Uncovered project and a consortium of international journalists published 'Polo and Power,' the first story in a series that asks: Who is your neighbor? Politicians from countries where corruption is endemic regularly park their money overseas in reasonably secure assets, like real estate. Research shows that the United States does little to prevent these outside actors. This story began with documents, analysis and reporting provided to The Post and Courier's Uncovered project by John Dell’Osso, director of investigations for Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa.
The Paris-based nonprofit supports individuals who leak information that is in the public interest of African citizens and also develops journalistic collaborations based on whistleblower revelations.
Post and Courier staffers Tony Bartelme and Glenn Smith then interviewed more than 30 money laundering, polo and real estate experts. They filed open records requests, obtained corporate documents and sifted through more than 5,000 pages of court documents. Their work was supported by the newspaper's nonprofit Public Service and Investigative Fund. Staff with the Aiken Standard assisted Bartelme and Smith in their investigation. Read more
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In win for Buster Murdaugh, his libel case against Netflix, others is moved to Hampton court
A federal judge ordered that some defendants in Buster Murdaugh’s libel lawsuit against out-of-state media companies — including Netflix — and one South Carolina reporter must stand trial in Hampton County.
The ruling by U.S. Judge Richard Gergel means that Murdaugh’s potentially strongest libel cases will be tried in the rural county where the Murdaugh family has held sway in society, law enforcement and legal affairs for more than 100 years.
The cases against other defendants will remain in federal court.
“Buster and I look forward to fighting this case, no matter the venue,” said Murdaugh’s attorney Shaun Kent.
Buster Murdaugh, 28, is the surviving son of convicted killer and disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh.
Buster Murdaugh’s libel lawsuit against the media companies alleges they falsely linked him to the 2015 violent death of Hampton County Stephen Smith, an openly gay teen. The lawsuit is just one of several high-profile legal cases involving the Murdaughs in state and federal courts.
In court filings, the media companies have denied the allegations.
By John Monk, The State | Read more
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Judge rejects immediately restoring AP’s access to White House but urges government to reconsider
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday refused to immediately order the White House to restore The Associated Press’ access to presidential events, saying the news organization had not demonstrated it had suffered any irreparable harm. But he urged the Trump administration to reconsider its two-week-old ban, saying that case law “is uniformly unhelpful to the White House.”
U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden’s decision was only for the moment, however. He told attorneys for the Trump administration and the AP that the issue required more exploration before ruling.
McFadden said the AP had not proven harm requiring an immediate restraining order. But he cautioned the White House that the law wasn’t on its side in barring AP over continuing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico, not simply the “Gulf of America” as Trump decreed in an executive order.
“It seems pretty clearly viewpoint discrimination,” McFadden told Brian Hudak, a government attorney.
With no ruling made, the White House is free to continue barring the AP from the Oval Office and beyond. The case promised to stretch at least until March 20, when an additional hearing was set.
By Matt Sedensky, The Associated Press | Read more
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Not sure whether you can publish information illegally obtained by a third party? RCFP has a new guide for that.
Journalists, especially those who report on national security issues, have long relied on information that was illegally obtained by a source to fuel powerful reporting in the public interest. While the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized First Amendment protections for this kind of reporting as long as the publisher acted lawfully, the details are important.
For example, what if you, as a journalist, are actually involved in acquiring the material? Does it matter if you know the source’s identity? And what if merely possessing the material is itself a crime? You can find the answers to these and many other questions in a new resource from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: A Journalist’s Guide to Reporting on Information Illegally Obtained by a Third Party.
Born out of inquiries to the Reporters Committee’s free Legal Hotline, this latest addition to our collection of free legal resources is designed to help reporters better understand the legal risks associated with receiving or publishing material that was illegally obtained by a third party — and how to minimize them.
By Emily Vespa, Reporters Committee | Read more
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Firing of FOIA officers leaves experts worried about public records access under Trump
The federal government — no matter the administration in charge — has always had issues fulfilling public records requests in a timely manner. But the recent firings of staff responsible for handling such requests have left some experts worried about access to government records under President Donald Trump.
“I think that reporters, as is the American citizen, are in for a boatload of trouble in the next four years in this regard,” said Terry Mutchler, an attorney and former journalist who serves as the vice president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition’s board.
CNN reported Tuesday that it had used the Freedom of Information Act to ask the Office of Personnel Management for records related to the security clearances for billionaire Elon Musk and the staff of the Department of Government Efficiency. An OPM email responded, “Good luck with that” — the staff responsible for responding to FOIA requests at OPM had been fired.
“Anytime that whole FOIA offices are getting fired, it portends terrible things,” said Washington Post FOIA director Nate Jones.
By Angela Fu, Poynter | Read more
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Mississippi city drops lawsuit over newspaper editorial that judge ordered removed
A Mississippi city dropped its lawsuit Monday against a newspaper that had its editorial criticizing local leaders removed by a judge in a case that sparked widespread outrage from First Amendment advocates.
The city of Clarksdale’s board of commissioners sought to dismiss its libel lawsuit against The Clarksdale Press Register, filing the request moments after its board of commissioners approved the move.
The judge in the case must still dismiss her order that the editorial be removed from the paper’s website, which the city also asked her to do. She had originally set a hearing for Thursday in the case.
“It’s still very, very wrong what they did and it awakened the entire First Amendment community nationally, which is very encouraging,” said Wyatt Emmerich, president of Emmerich Newspapers, the parent company of the paper. “I’m really excited to see how all these people rallied around us to protect our rights.”
By Andrew Demillo, The Associated Press | Read more
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'Turtle Times' is student-driven celebration of community journalism
The 2025 edition of The Turtle Times once again graces us with its presence, proudly displaying a stamp-like photo on its cover, declaring this special section as a "Journal Scene Newspaper Project." While we are honored to be a part of this endeavor, it is only right to acknowledge the true driving force behind this journalistic achievement: the dedicated, insightful students of Summerville Elementary School and their inspiring mentor, Ms. Sarah Cooke.
At The Journal Scene, we see our role as facilitators rather than creators in this project. Our contributions—editing (though minimal was needed), formatting pages and managing the printing—serve only to bring these students' hard work to the wider community. While we call this a "partnership," it is more accurate to say that we are privileged passengers on the students' creative journey, witnessing their enthusiasm and commitment firsthand.
We also appreciate the faculty and staff who generously gave their time for interviews and photographs, embracing the spirit of collaboration that defines community journalism. A true community newspaper reflects the voices within it, and The Turtle Times exemplifies this, capturing the unique perspectives and stories of Summerville Elementary School.
What makes this student-led publication truly remarkable is the personal touch evident throughout its pages. From the well-crafted articles to the hand-drawn advertisements, each element speaks to the students’ creativity and growing journalistic skills. At The Journal Scene, we are grateful for the opportunity to support their exploration of storytelling, research, and publishing — skills that will serve them well beyond the classroom.
By Brandon Roberts, Summerville Journal Scene | Read more
Related: Turtle Times: building future journalists (By Sarah Cooke, Fifth Grade Teacher at Summerville Elementary School)
Meet the Turtle Times staff!
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T&D, Morning News changes only temporary - work underway to restore systems
... When a Feb. 3 cybersecurity attack shut down many of the systems we use to produce the newspaper, our staff started brainstorming how to get the paper out. Teams worked through the night to develop a new plan to print the newspaper. Everything from placing stories, obituaries and ads in the newspaper to delivering pages to the press needed a new process, and most of the work had to be done by hand. This significantly increased the time it took to put a paper together — but it worked.
In order to get you the most important news, we decided to produce a smaller paper and we started earlier in the day. That means that late-breaking stories and some features you have come to expect have not made it into the printed paper or the E-edition.
Rest assured, these features still exist. The latest local news, sports and lifestyle stories continue to be posted all day and night at SCNow.com. You can subscribe to newsletters that alert you to the latest news, and find us on Facebook. And all of the content will return to the newspaper soon.
Many of you have asked if these changes in the newspaper are permanent. I assure you, this is not the new normal. We are working to get systems restored as soon as possible, and when that happens, we will bring you all the news, sports and features you have come to love and expect.
You’ve asked for a specific date when things will return to normal. That’s impossible to say right now. We know from covering other businesses who have been victims of cyberattacks that a full recovery can take several months. But we have already made progress on restoring systems and hope to return many of your favorite features in the coming weeks.
By Gene Crider, Editor of The Times and Democrat and Morning News | Read more
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Making a better case for local journalism
We’ve got problems: News avoidance is up, trust in news is down, and sustainability is an ongoing challenge. Journalism has real challenges – but so does everyone else. Now more than ever, local news organizations must find effective ways to tell their own story of value to their communities.
Eighteen newsrooms received valuable feedback on how to “make the case” for journalism from a panel of funder judges at Pitch Day for the latest cohort of the LMA Lab for Journalism Funding. The lessons they learned can and should be applied by any newsroom, not just to earn philanthropic funding but also to win community support. Here the the six top takeaways:
1. Ground your work in community need, not your own. To be sure, newsrooms are under financial pressure. But the best way to earn community support is to focus on serving and solving community needs.
2. Start with listening. Don’t assume you know what your community needs and values from you. Assuming we know is a mistake of the past we cannot continue. Deep community listening is the foundation for impactful journalism.
3. Develop journalism responses to these community needs that include but go beyond mere “reporting on the problem.” Design ways to engage and convene community, and report on solutions and effective responses, not just problems.
By Frank Mungeam, Local Media Association | Read more
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By John Foust,
Advertising Trainer
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| Brand loyalty is a powerful force
Newscaster Edward R. Murrow once said, “To be persuasive, we must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible, we must be truthful.” Although he was referring to the reporting of news, the same can be said of advertising.
Claude Hopkins, in his book, Scientific Advertising, wrote, “Superlatives…suggest looseness of expression, a tendency to exaggerate, a carelessness of truth. They lead readers to discount all the statements that you make.”
That’s a serious condemnation. When an advertiser uses superlatives, consumers are likely to dismiss everything the advertiser says – including statements that may be completely true.
Fortunately, there is a solution. If an advertiser insists on using a superlative, there are four simple ways to make it more acceptable. Just remember the acronym TOTE:
(T) Tone it down: Let’s look at a four-letter word which has become one of advertising’s most common superlatives – the word “best.” Countless ads feature claims of “the best service”…or “the best selection”…or “the best price.” All the talk about being “the best” has little impact on consumers. It reminds me of football fans who wag their index fingers and shout, “We’re number one,” after their team wins a game, even though they’re still in last place.
A simple tweak can tone down the claim. Say something like “we’re one of the best”…or “we’re among the best”…or “we’re working to be the best.” Read more
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