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Your connection to industry & member news | Oct. 10, 2024
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Telling our stories
It's National Newspaper Week! Thanks to everyone who has participated so far. We've really loved reading your personal reflections on why journalism matters to you, and what drives you to work in this business. Please keep sharing your columns and stories with your community and SCPA. Here are a few we've spotted: - Celebrating trust, accountability and the power of newspapers (By Brandon Roberts, Summerville Communications)
- Caring about our neighbors (By Andrea Kelley, The Journal, Seneca)
- Community journalism starts with community (By Jonathan Vickery, The People-Sentinel)
- It's National Newspaper Week: Here are our stories (By Bryn Eddy, Jacob Phillips and Sophia Sousa, Lexington County Chronicle)
- Why I’m still here (By Martin Cahn, Chronicle-Independent)
- Recognizing importance of local newspapers (By Caleb Gilbert, The Journal, Seneca)
- It doesn’t take a village — just a great neighbor (By Kasie Strickland, The Easley Progress)
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Executive Committee will meet Oct. 24 to review membership applications
SCPA has received the following applications for membership, which will be reviewed by the Executive Committee on Oct. 24:
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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Political advertising legal guide for S.C. newspapers
SCPA has several advertising guides available if you’re ever unsure about an ad.
With Nov. 5 fast approaching, here is a guide on political advertising for S.C. newspapers.
Political advertising is subject to legal requirements not found in non-political advertising. Those requirements are concerned with disclosure of the sponsor of the advertising and the rate charged for the advertising space. Before determining which requirements must be met, you must first determine if the advertising relates to a federal candidate, a candidate seeking state or local office or a ballot issue. If you have any questions about an ad’s content or advertising rules, give SCPA a call at (803) 750-9561 or email us.
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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"Local news is a public good, as crucial to our democratic systems as utilities are to our homes and businesses. Reporters and editors who live in suburban and rural communities are far better prepared to cover those communities than national media outlets, who swoop in only when there’s a major story that was usually discovered by (guess who) the local newspaper.
Truly local news outlets provide local jobs, ensure community values are prioritized in local coverage and tell stories that are relevant to folks’ everyday lives. When these outlets disappear, the gap is often filled by the national, partisan media — a stark contrast to the local news outlets championing the stories that bridge partisan divides, like the church bake sale or the local high school football team’s run to the state championship."
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By Lee Harter, Editor
Times and Democrat
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| After 43 years as T&D editor...
My 68th birthday was in September. In October, The Times and Democrat marks 143 years of publication. I was named editor of the Orangeburg daily newspaper 43 years ago in October as The T&D celebrated its centennial.
As another Orangeburg professional of the same age recently told me: "It's been a good run." The T&D is and has been so much of my life.
But there comes a time to step aside. That time for Lee Harter will come in November, when I will retire as editor of The T&D and state editor for parent company Lee Enterprises.
A person well known to Orangeburg will be taking the reins as editor, Gene Crider. He is an Orangeburg native, veteran T&D journalist and an excellent editor with a real knack for local news -- plus a love for community. The T&D newsroom will be in good hands.
Memories abound. So many stories to share. But the job of good editors and reporters is to communicate as concisely as possible: an economy of words. I'll try. Read more
Watch Lee's video announcement
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"I often stated way back when that South Carolinians trained as journalists in South Carolina should remain in South Carolina to make South Carolina journalism all it can be. I am proud of my career and having spent it in Orangeburg."
– Lee Harter
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By Elijah de Castro, The People-Sentinel/Report for America
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| People-Sentinel reporter says goodbye to Allendale, accepts job in New Hampshire
When I first arrived in Allendale County as a reporter in July 2023, I was told the typical narrative about Allendale: a rural community ailed by high rates of crime, poverty and corruption. But the longer I’ve worked here, the more I’ve come to recognize these characteristics as part of a stereotype about Allendale, rather than what Allendale actually is.
It’s true that Allendale County and its counterparts in rural America face enormous struggles, particularly with gun violence and poverty. Over the past four decades, Allendale and rural America have been increasingly left behind and abandoned. But if I’ve learned anything since I began my work as a reporter here, Allendale (as well as Barnwell) is a community of great resilience. It’s got great, friendly people who refuse to let the injustices their community faces wear them down. It’s people like that who we need the most during these times of instability.
I grew up in Trumansburg, New York, a small village in Upstate New York where Main Street was the community’s center. But I also grew up spending lots of time in the boroughs of New York City, so I feel that I can accurately compare both rural and urban lifestyles. Although urban areas have great mannerisms, they lack one thing that rural communities like Allendale have: neighborliness.
Neighborliness is the quality of being friendly and helpful to the people who live in your community. In rural South Carolina, it means helping your neighbor clean up their lawn after a hurricane. Read more
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|  The Link goes pink for breast cancer awareness.
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Richland County broke public records law, court finds. But it likely won't have to pay up.
COLUMBIA — A decade-long legal battle between a former South Carolina state representative and Richland County over a public records request found that the county violated a state law. But a Sept. 25 opinion from the state's Court of Appeals could mean the county won't pay anything.
Wendy Brawley sued Richland County in March 2015 over a request for documents she made related to a federal grant for which Richland had applied. She made the request through the Freedom of Information Act, which requires public bodies to turn over internal documents and records to the public.
By Hannah Wade, The Post and Courier Columbia | Read more
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Reporters Committee urges Congress to pass PRESS Act
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is once again urging members of Congress to pass a bipartisan shield bill that would establish robust federal protections for the newsgathering rights of journalists.
In separate letters sent on Oct. 8 to the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, the Reporters Committee and 107 news media and press rights organizations including SCPA expressed strong support for the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, or PRESS Act, which passed the House in January and is currently pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The PRESS Act would bar the federal government from using subpoenas, search warrants, or other compulsory actions against journalists to force the disclosure of information identifying confidential sources as well as other newsgathering records, except in very limited circumstances. It would also broadly limit the government’s ability to use the same actions against third parties, including email providers and search engines, to seize journalists’ data, with narrow exceptions.
From RCFP | Read more
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AP Stylebook releases 2024 elections topical guide
AP Stylebook has released a style guide for the 2024 elections, based on the AP Stylebook and common usage in AP stories.
For Kamala Harris, AP’s style for the possessive form of her last name is Harris', not Harris's.
AP's style for the possessive form of Tim Walz’s last name is Walz's, not Walz'.
For more AP style guidance on the 2024 elections, check out the AP Stylebook Online Topical Guide.
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API shares election resource guide
As news organizations enter the final stretch before Nov. 5, the American Press Institute is sharing actionable lists, articles and guides to help you prepare to address misinformation and navigate Election Day while keeping well-being at top of mind. View all API election resources here.
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5 basic things journalists need to know about polls and surveys
Want to learn about the benefits and pitfalls of poll and survey research? Read on for insights from a political scientist, a social psychologist, a statistician and an investigative journalist.
By Denise-Marie Ordway, The Journalist's Resource | Read more
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‘The worst I have ever seen’: Disinformation chaos hammers FEMA
Misinformation is beginning to take a toll on hurricane responders and survivors alike, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday as another massive storm headed for the Southeast.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the swirl of false conspiracy theories around Hurricane Helene is dissuading survivors from seeking help and hurting morale among responders.
“It is absolutely the worst I have ever seen,” Criswell told reporters on a Tuesday morning call.
“It’s creating distrust in the federal government, but also the state government, and we have so many first responders that have been working to go out and help these communities,” she added.
By Adam Aton, Scott Waldman and Andres Picon, Politico | Read more
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| Compelling Writing with Jerry Bellune
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By Jerry Bellune, Writing Coach
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Give pace and flow to your writing
Few sins are worse than pompous, self-important and cluttered thinking and writing.
Stick to just the facts, ma’am. Give us the unvarnished detail.
Focus on the tense faces or frantic concentration of your characters.
Keep quotes and dialogue to the point. This is not the time for long speeches. Get in, get out.
Read it aloud. Hear how it sounds as well as reads. Feel how it affects your breathing.
If you run out of breath, shorten your sentence or split it into two sentences.
Shorten all sentences. Aim to cut 8% to 10% of your words.
Don’t be afraid to use sentence fragments to convey dramatic effect or a sense of speed.
Those first 14 sentences total 113 words or eight words per sentence.
As you have already figured out, I am a short sentence fan. They do only one job at a time.
One job. One idea. I trust that you as an intelligent writer will become a short sentence fan, too.
The five sentences above total 36 words or 7.2 words per sentence. That’s really short – but effective. Read more
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