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Your connection to industry & member news | Oct. 31, 2024 🎃
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SCPA welcomes new membersSCPA's Executive Committee voted Oct. 24, to approve the following membership applications.
Applications for Online Publication Membership:
- Fort Mill Prep Sports - Covers local high school sports. Launched in October 2019 by Fort Mill resident and longtime local sports reporter Mac Banks, who serves as publisher and editor.
- GAB News - Launched in June 2016, site serves news and features covering "Georgetown and Beyond" (GAB). Scott Harper is publisher and editor. Angie Carroll serves as advertising director.
Applications for Individual Membership:
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SCPA launches early career journalists groupRSVP for Nov. 20 Happy HourSCPA is launching a group for early career journalists (targeted at members with 10 or less years of experience) to connect and collaborate.
Our early career community will host networking events, virtual and in-person training, develop resources and offer a safe space for early career journalists to get connected with fellow members. The group will also help SCPA by volunteering with the Collegiate Division. Let us know if you'd like to get involved and we'll add you to the group's WhatsApp.
We'll kick off activities by hosting a Happy Hour for early career journalists on Wednesday, Nov. 20, from 6-8 p.m. Drop by WECO Bottle & Biergarten in West Columbia to network with your peers and get plugged in to opportunities. Your first drink is on us, thanks to sponsorship by the S.C. Newspaper Network! Food will be available for purchase. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
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Have programming suggestions for the '25 Annual Meeting?SCPA is starting to make plans for the 2025 Annual Meeting and Awards, set for April 3-4, 2025, at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in downtown Columbia.
In addition to the Family-Owned/Independent Newspaper Retreat and Counselors Off the Cuff, we plan to host a couple more training sessions or panel discussions and would like your feedback on topics and/or speakers. If you have suggestions, please let us know. Sessions are typically related to timely news coverage topics, reporting tools and strategies, audience engagement or innovation.
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Email SCPA your 2025 postal statementsSCPA has been able to pull most postal statements from member newspapers with postal permits, but we're still missing a dozen. Please email SCPA a copy of the form or an e-tearsheet showing publication of your form.
In addition to submitting your USPS Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation (Form 3526) to your postmaster, the form should have been published in your newspaper in October.
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|  | SCPA attended the S.C. Library Association's Conference this week to promote S.C. newspapers and talk about public notice and media literacy. Van Hope, who worked as a photojournalist at The Times and Democrat and shoots photos for the Pickens County Courier, attended the conference representing Clemson University Libraries, where he's the digital lab manager.
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|  | Last week's Post and Courier Pints and Politics chat at Thomas Creek Brewery in Greenville featured candidates for South Carolina's 4th congressional district seat, including incumbent U.S. Rep. William Timmons, who spoke to reporters David Ferrara and Macon Atkinson. (Photo by Tim Kimzey for The Post and Courier)
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 Check out this special edition from The Sumter Item. Thanks for all you're doing to educate voters!
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| Call SCPA Legal Hotline with election coverage questions
A friendly reminder that SCPA's Legal/FOI Hotline, staffed by Attorneys Taylor Smith and Jay Bender, is here to help SCPA members with election coverage and newsgathering questions including campaign access, exit polling, newsgathering in or near polling places, access to election records, political advertising and more.
News and advertising employees of SCPA’s member newspapers can use the Legal/FOI Hotline by calling SCPA at (803) 750-9561 or emailing us.
“Journalists are America’s eyes and ears at campaign events, polling places, protests, and in government buildings. They should be free to do their job without undue restrictions, especially when it comes to legally permissible photography. We also remain increasingly concerned about pervasive harassment of journalists online, especially against women and people of color. Reporters should have the freedom to write and broadcast their work without fear of partisan retribution, and efforts to silence that work through intimidation must be condemned by all sides. As reporters, our only job is to seek the truth and report it."
– Emily Wilkins, President of the National Press Club
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SC Investigates
SC Investigates Board is available to help S.C. journalists with accountability work.
During last week's SCPA Executive Committee Meeting, SC Investigates' founder, Gina Smith, noted that the group is willing to provide free virtual individualized coaching and advice to member journalists and newsrooms struggling with high impact, investigative and accountability stories and projects. Email SC Investigates if you'd like to more details.
The group also hosted a webinar last summer on documents you need to FOIA now to take your watchdog work to the next level. If you'd like the link to the recording, please reach out.
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Sumter bought land to preserve Shaw Air Force Base, then built a hunting hideaway for officials
... South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act guarantees that the public has access to government records and is an important tool for citizens to learn how public officials use our tax dollars. The law says citizens should have access to public records at “a minimum cost or delay.”
But Sumter demanded $1,098 for basic records about the welcome center's construction and use as a hunting destination. (The newspaper's nonprofit Public Service and Investigative Fund paid for those documents, after a protracted challenge.)
Sumter took 10 days to acknowledge the newspaper’s request and another 30 days to spell out how much the city intended to charge. After negotiations, the newspaper received some records, a roughly five-month process.
The newspaper also sought personnel records for Marshall French, the caretaker, to better understand his role. But the city refused to hand those records over, even though the state’s open record law allows for their release.
The city's tactics extend beyond news organizations. Mark DuBose, founder of Palmetto State Audit, a citizen watchdog group, also sought documents about the welcome center and said he spent several hundred dollars.
"In some cases, they flat-out didn't want to share (the records), and they unfairly charged outrageous amounts," DuBose said.
Other governments have created similar roadblocks.
In September, Sumter County demanded that a citizen, Rusty Brown, fill out a sworn affidavit signed by a notary public in response to his Freedom of Information Act request about zoning issues. The county's attorney then wrote that if Brown used the records to insult or embarrass public officials, he would contact law enforcement.
"They just put you off and put you off," Brown said. "I think they're trying to scare people."
By Tony Bartelme and Seth Taylor, The Post and Courier | Read more
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ITC approves tariffs on aluminum printing plates
The United States International Trade Commission determined on Oct. 22 that a U.S. industry is materially injured by imports of aluminum lithographic printing plates from China and Japan that the U.S. Department of Commerce established are sold at less than fair value and subsidized by the government of China. Commerce will issue a countervailing duty order on imports of this product from China and antidumping orders on imports of this product from China and Japan.
By Holly Lubart, News/Media Alliance | Read more
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By Dean Ridings,
America's Newspapers
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| Why local newspapers hold trust while national media slips
The recent decision by The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times to skip endorsing a presidential candidate has put the issue of media trust in the spotlight — and it underscores just how differently local newspapers are perceived from their national counterparts.
America’s Newspapers, the leading trade association for local newspapers nationwide, understands that local newspapers hold a unique place of trust within their communities, especially when compared to national media, social media and cable news. Recognizing this critical distinction, America’s Newspapers commissioned a national study to quantify how local newspapers continue to earn and retain the trust of their readers, even as skepticism about media in general grows.
The 2024 America’s Newspapers Trust Study shows that while public confidence in national news sources is declining, local newspapers remain a trusted source for communities across the country. More than half of Americans see their local newspaper as their most reliable news source, citing the transparency, ethical standards and community focus that are unique to local journalism.
Unlike national media outlets, local journalists are active members of the communities they cover. They’re present at town hall meetings, reporting on school boards and investigating local government. This closeness fosters a relationship of accountability that simply doesn’t exist with national media, which can feel distant or disconnected from the everyday lives of their readers. Read more
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