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Your connection to industry & member news | Aug. 29, 2024
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SCPA Foundation intern Win Hammond hones reporting skills at Aiken StandardBy Mae Giorgi, SCPA Intern
USC J-School graduate student Win Hammond spent his summer as an SCPA Foundation intern at the Aiken Standard, sharpening his interviewing and reporting skills as a crime reporter.
He mainly wrote incident briefs and covered programs at the county detention center, but he also delved into business, politics and investigative journalism.
Hammond’s editor, John Boyette, was impressed with his work, leading to him offering a three-week extension of his internship. In this time, Hammond worked on an investigative piece about the opioid crisis in Aiken, which he described as his most exciting project.
Hammond said he found the internship to be a pivotal experience in shaping his career interests.
“It made me really interested in the cops/courts/public safety beat,” Hammond said. “I love politics, but I also love stories that affect everyone, so I thought I would be more interested in development. But crime is just the right amount of excitement that makes me excited to come into work every day.”
Aiken Standard Executive Editor John Boyette said Hammond did a great job this summer.
“He was punctual, represented himself and the newspaper well, and was pleasant to be around,” Boyette said. “He seems eager to learn and make a difference through journalism.”
Hammond said he liked that he could always pop in to Boyette’s office to talk about the stories he was working on.
“It's bittersweet for me to leave Aiken,” Hammond said. “I sincerely wish I could have stayed longer.”
Boyette attested to Hammond’s experience.
“Win commented that he wished it could have been longer, and I agree," he said. "I think he was starting to hit his stride when the eight weeks were up, and I’m glad we could extend it further.”
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"He seems eager to learn and make a difference through journalism."
– John Boyette, Aiken Standard
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Invest in the future of our industry
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Virtual FOI & libel training set for Sept. 26
Join Attorney Taylor Smith on Thursday, Sept. 26, from 2-3:15 p.m. for a 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, which will be held on Zoom, 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. RSVP to attend.
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Friday Night Lights are back!
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Candidate SLED checks
A reminder that SCPA is able to run SLED criminal background checks on candidates for local and state races.
To obtain a SLED check, you must provide the candidate's full name and date of birth.
Please call our office during business hours at (803) 750-9561 to request a SLED check.
If you have a large number of checks, please email them and we’ll get them done within 48 hours.
SCPA is able to run SLED checks for all news stories, including crime/public safety reporting.
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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Personnel files from Myrtle Beach area top employees all tell their own story, one denial
Last month, The Sun News submitted public records requests for personnel files for the top employee in the following municipalities: Town of Surfside Beach, City of Myrtle Beach, City of North Myrtle Beach and the City of Conway.
The timelines and costs of each file were different with each municipality.
All of the municipalities completed the request, except for the City of North Myrtle Beach, who sent their denial 10 business days after the initial Freedom of Information Act request was sent.
The costs ranged from free due to not completing the request from North Myrtle Beach to over one hundred dollars from Conway. ...
South Carolina Press Association’s legal counsel, Taylor Smith, said denying the request in full doesn’t follow the privacy statute the email cites. “Arguably, in the governance of a city, is no more important a figure to learn about concerning the performance of their public duties than that of a manager,” he said over the phone on Monday. “Consequently, the public’s interest in the right to learn those public activities is highly frustrating when efforts to get records of their job performance are denied by the city. It is a bastardization of the understanding of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to think that it would be an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy to understand what a public employee does in the performance of their public duties.”
By Elizabeth Brewer, The Sun News | Read more
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In our view: County is learning FOIA laws can be complicated and a little frustrating
The Laurens County government staff reacted quickly to a judge’s ruling that county boards, committees and county council itself had been in violation of the state’s Freedom of Information Act and held a workshop for all of its board members this past Thursday at The Ridge at Laurens.
The county – we believe rightly – claimed that its bodies did nothing egregious and attempted to act within the spirit of the FOIA, but that didn’t stop a local citizens’ group from winning its case against the county.
Thursday’s workshop was led by relatively new County Attorney Wes Meetze, who may be diving into FOIA for the first time in his legal career.
The irony was not lost on us that while the workshop involved members of boards that work with the county, no public notice was given prior to the workshop.
County leaders said they got legal counsel from the state Association of Counties that said no notice was required.
That differs from our opinion, and we would have suggested also speaking with South Carolina Press Association Attorney Jay Bender, who is arguably the state’s foremost authority on FOIA and deals with it every day, and then making a decision.
From The Laurens County Advertiser | Read more
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Clemson OKs new FOIA policy
CLEMSON — Clemson City Council approved a few items on Monday — including a new policy for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
The policy was passed unanimously in its second reading, with Councilman John Ducworth absent from the meeting.
The main changes in the city’s newest policy include changing the city’s rate for FOIA requests to match the state’s policy, which is based on the prorated hourly salary of the lowest paid employee who could perform the said task. The policy will also add wording to the rate chart that mentions the use of an attorney for review and redactions, if needed.
At council’s last meeting, city administrator Andy Blondeau asked for councilmembers’ thoughts on responses to FOIA requests being uploaded to the city’s website to cut down on duplicate requests. Council agreed, but at Monday’s meeting, that portion of the policy was scrapped — something Clemson Police Chief Jorge Campos requested.
By Caleb Gilbert, The (Seneca) Journal | Read more
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Beaufort County Council gives spending report to law enforcement. When can public see it?
In a unanimous vote of 11-0, Beaufort County’s elusive spending report will be sent by the council to law enforcement agencies for review and a more thorough assessment if any laws were broken.
The council also promised that if the report’s finding of “no evidence of criminal activity” is corroborated, its release to the public will be next.
Over a month ago, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner made public his interest and obligation to see the full, unabridged, and unredacted report into questionable and possibly illegal spending by county employees during 2023. Tanner shared with The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette in July that he and/or his office had requested the document three separate times only to be stonewalled by the county. Monday night, in their first meeting since Tanner publicly spoke on the report, the Beaufort County Council voted unanimously to release the report to both local and state law enforcement agencies. This means that both Tanner’s office and Attorney General Alan Wilson, who took over the case in December, will get the 30-plus page document. They’ll be the first non-county officials to review it.
By Sebastian Lee, The Island Packet | Read more
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 | Cassandra Singfield has overseen publishing and sales for the PCA since January of this year. The newspaper will move back to a weekly print edition on Oct. 30. (Photo by Elizabeth Hustad)
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| Post and Courier North Augusta/The Star to resume weekly printing, become paid subscription
Starting Oct. 30, the Post and Courier North Augusta/The Star will be back to a weekly print schedule, this time as a paid subscription.
The paper has delivered free copies of the monthly into nearly 14,000 North Augusta mailboxes, a move that was consistent with how The Post and Courier’s other expansion markets were operating.
Now, it’s back to weekly print ahead of what will be its 70th anniversary this fall.
Randy Mitchell, group publisher of the Aiken Standard and Post and Courier North Augusta/The Star, said the decision to return to a weekly – and paid – subscription really brings it back to how things had been several years ago, acknowledging also how the paper has undergone multiple changes after coming into the Post and Courier portfolio in 2022.
“Everyone loves the paper – we want you to love it more,” he said.
By Elizabeth Hustad, The Post and Courier North Augusta | Read more
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Deadline to apply for MIT Environmental Solutions Journalism Fellowship is Oct. 14
The MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative has opened its 2025 Journalism Fellowship that supports freelance or staff journalists associated with U.S. newsrooms in developing a high-impact news project that connects local perspectives, values and priorities with climate change science and solutions. The four-month non-resident fellowship provides a $10,000 stipend, training, and an opportunity for newsrooms to dedicate time and attention to local storytelling on this topic
For this cohort of fellows, special consideration will be given to news projects centered on climate solutions within the food and waste systems, including food waste and methane emissions in waste management.
Applications are due Oct. 14, 2024. Learn more and apply here.
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Postal Service considers rural mail slowdown after election
Allowing slower service to rural areas could improve the Postal Service’s finances, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said.
Top U.S. Postal Service officials are considering plans to allow slower mail delivery in the coming months for long-distance and rural service to cut costs at the financially troubled agency — but not until after the election.
The changes would give customers within 50 miles of the Postal Service’s largest processing facilities faster delivery service, which accounts for the vast majority of mail and packages, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told The Washington Post. But the agency cannot afford to maintain the same model for deliveries into far-flung areas, he said. That could add an additional day to current delivery timetables, though mail would still be delivered in five days or less across the country.
By Jacob Bogage, Washington Post | Read more
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How to increase community engagement on Facebook
Jada Glass is a 2024 RJI Student Innovation Fellow partnered with Houston Defender Network. The RJI Student Fellows will be sharing their innovative work throughout the summer in Innovation in Focus.
The Defender Network has experienced lower engagement on Facebook compared to other platforms. To address this, we devised a strategy to enhance interaction and expand their target audience.
Our approach includes launching a Community Photo Highlight contest, utilizing Facebook’s targeted advertising to specifically reach individuals who are 35 years old or older in the Greater Houston Area.
The Houston Defender’s Community Photo Highlight contest invites community members to share photos they’ve taken in the Houston area that fit a specific theme. More than just a competition, this is a chance for the Defender to celebrate local creativity and grow its presence and engagement on Facebook.
By Jada Glass, Reynolds Journalism Institute | Read more
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Retired Anderson Independent Mail editorial page editor Bonnie Williams dies
Bonnie Calhoun Williams, a member of the Scripps Hall of Fame for Journalism Excellence, died August 23, 2024. She was 73. ...
Bonnie graduated from Valley High School and LaGrange (GA) College. After a brief career in banking in Atlanta, where she met lifelong friends, Bonnie returned to Langdale and became the Lifestyles Editor for the Valley Times-News. Bonnie’s newspaper career took her to the Managing Editor’s job at the Dalton (GA) Daily Citizen News and Pagination Coordinator with the Rome News Tribune and its community newspapers. Bonnie later became a public relations writer for Clemson University before ending her career after more than ten years as Editorial Page Editor for the Scripps owned Anderson Independent Mail.
Bonnie’s editorials were twice recognized at Scripps National Journalism Awards Ceremony at the Washington Press Club and her induction into the Hall of Fame at Scripps National Headquarters in Cincinnati, OH. Bonnie also received journalism awards from the Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina Press Associations.
Her friend, mentor, and former editor, John Huff, said “It’s tough to lose a beautiful soul like Bonnie. I knew her as a smart, talented, journalist who truly cared about our Upstate community and its people, about our state and our country, and who worked hard to shine the light of compassion and positive ideas into our lives. I knew her as a friend who never wavered in her love and support. Sweet and tough. Smart with great humor. She was a wonderful friend. Over 45 years of the news business, I never worked with any better journalists or had any better friends than Bonnie and her husband, David.”
Read full obituary.
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Sept. 2 | SCPA Offices Closed for Labor Day
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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