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Your connection to industry & member news | May 1, 2025
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Anti-SLAPP bill keeps moving as session nears end H. 3305, the South Carolina Public Expression Protection Act (anti-SLAPP), passed second reading in the Senate today, but can be amended on third reading next week.
The bill, which received a favorable report from Senate Judiciary as amended earlier this week, still has time to pass the Senate and go back to the House for concurrence or conference committee. There are three days left in the legislative session.
The anti-SLAPP bill passed the House in late March with unanimous support. If it becomes law, H. 3305 would allow courts to quickly dismiss strategic lawsuits against public participation (“SLAPPs”), which have become a tool used to intimidate and silence criticism through expensive, baseless legal proceedings. These suits are often filed by powerful parties to intimidate or punish speech.
South Carolina's anti-SLAPP bill is based on the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA), a model law drafted by the nonpartisan Uniform Law Commission, and has been studied and recommended by the South Carolina Law Initiative, a project of the USC School of Law that assists the General Assembly by providing informed research and non-partisan guidance.
"Protection of speech about public issues is an important First Amendment principle, and we should strengthen that protection by barring frivolous lawsuits that use the threat of litigation—and its inherent expenses and risks—to shut down legitimate discussion of public issues and controversies. South Carolina should bolster its protections for free speech by passing an anti-SLAPP statute..."
- Eric P. Robinson, Reid H. Montgomery Chair in Freedom of Information at the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications
(Read full column from 2022)
Here are a few good anti-SLAPP stories and resources:
In other Statehouse news:
- S. 454, the Charter School Accountability bill passed second reading in the Senate today.
- S. 77, Streaming of School Board Meetings, received a favorable report as amended in the House Education and Public Works Committee yesterday. This bill passed the Senate in February.
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PALMY Ad Contest live, accepting entries through May 30The 2025 PALMY Advertising Contest entry platform is now live and accepting entries through May 30.
The PALMY Ad Contest is a great way to recognize the sales reps, designers and advertisers of our state's news organizations!
New for 2025 – Thanks to support from the S.C. Newspaper Network, each SCPA news organization's first three entries are free!
In addition to making most of the contest inclusive of all print and digital ads, we've also added a couple new contests to recognize innovation and non-traditional revenue streams.
SCPA member newspapers, online news publications and associate members with print and/or digital publications are eligible to enter the contest. View SCPA members by division, as well as how each division is determined.
The contest period is for print and digital ads that ran between May 1, 2024 and April 30, 2025.
Ad directors, publishers and managers will receive log-in info later today.
Awards will be presented in person or mailed to winners in mid-July. On July 17, the digital awards presentation will be made available on the SCPA website and promoted as a resource for all members to use throughout the year. SCPA staffers will also work with winners to have a recognition event on site at your newspaper.
Please let us know if you have any questions. We can't wait to see your best revenue-generating ideas!
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SCPA Foundation awards 2025 scholarshipsThe SCPA Foundation Board is proud to announce 2025 recipients of two scholarships and two internships.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student Brantley Aycock has been named Mundy Scholar. Aycock is a media and journalism major with a concentration in journalism and minors in biology and classical humanities. A Columbia native, Aycock’s first experiences with newspaper journalism were reading The State with her dad.
As this year’s Mundy Scholar, she will receive $1,000 to put toward her education. The Mundy Scholarship is given in memory of R. Frank Mundy, the late publisher of the Index-Journal in Greenwood and the first president of the SCPA Foundation.
Since matriculating at UNC, Aycock has expanded her experience by reporting for The Daily Tar Heel as a senior writer on the city and state desk and writing for Carolina Scientific, an undergraduate-led popular science journal. Her professional interests include health and environmental journalism.
Aycock is a Pi Beta Phi member and Buckley Public Service Scholar. She loves reading, running and watching Carolina basketball – the Tar Heels and the Gamecocks.
“I am honored to be receiving this award,” Aycock said, “I know this is the first step in an exciting career of sharing meaningful stories.”
The Foundation is also awarding a $1,000 scholarship to Coastal Carolina University junior Meadow Myers, who is majoring in sports media journalism and public relations.
A native of Conway, Myers is the daughter of Jennifer and Robert Myers. She has a diverse background in media serving in numerous roles at Coastal Carolina University’s newspaper, The Chanticleer, where she served as a volunteer reporter, sports editor and currently as the multimedia editor. One of Myers’ favorite parts of working with The Chanticleer is growing her writing and sports photography skills.
Myers was initiated into Sigma Kappa sorority this semester and hopes to continue to serve her community through their five philanthropies.
She's particularly interested in news production, reporting and public relations. “This is my first journalism award, and I am so grateful to the Journalism professors at Coastal Carolina for supporting their students so wholeheartedly, and the opportunity to learn and grow with my fellow journalists at The Chanticleer,” Myers said. Meet our summer interns next week In addition to the Foundation’s scholarships, two students are headed out into the field for eight-week summer internships. USC student Cassie Cornwell of USC will intern at The Post and Courier Columbia and Colin Elam, also of USC, will intern at The State. We’ll share more in next week’s eBulletin!
Invest in the future of our industry
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| Thanks 2025 Annual Meeting Sponsors!
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A tiny SC town is over $600K behind on its bills and wasted $20K — mostly on food — audit finds
CALHOUN FALLS — A blistering state-funded audit that detailed 26 problems has become the latest chapter for a financially troubled Upstate town near the Georgia line that owes hundreds of thousands to its water and power providers. …
The report, which was dated April 12 and posted online last week, has been sent to the state inspector general to see if any further investigation is needed. Holland did not respond to requests for comment.
"I'm not surprised at all," Councilmember LaSean Tutt said of the scathing audit report.
She won her seat in a 2023 run that started because she wanted to know how the town was spending tax dollars, and she hadn't been able to get her questions answered as a resident.
"If I can't get it as a citizen, surely I can get that (as a council member)," she said. "And I still wasn't able to."
She's asked for the same financial records that auditors reviewed — public records most residents should be able to obtain through the Freedom of Information Act, and public officials should have access to through the privilege of their position.
"To this day, I have not received the documentation. ... I'm on council, and I literally don't know anything," she said.
By Matthew Hensley The Post and Courier Spartanburg | Read more
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US Justice Department announces plans to revoke critical protections for journalists
Update: On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice published an updated version of the “news media guidelines.”
On April 25, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memorandum to all U.S. Department of Justice employees titled “Updated Policy Regarding Obtaining Information From, or Records of, Members of the News Media.” The memo outlines changes to the internal policy at DOJ, often known as the “news media guidelines” and codified at 28 U.S.C. § 50.10, that governs the use of subpoenas, court orders, and search warrants targeting journalists or their third-party communications or other service providers. The guidelines do not carry the force of law and are voluntarily adopted but are a crucial protection for a free press in the United States.
By Gabe Rottman, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press | Read more
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2025 Lizard Man Stomp to be held in memory of Millie Scott
The 2025 Lizard Man Stomp will take place June 28 in Bishopville from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This year’s Stomp is being dedicated to the late Millie Scott in honor of her many contributions to Bishopville and Lee County.
Scott formed the Friends of the Lizard Man in 2016 in order to breathe new life into the legend. The following year, she founded a 501©(3) nonprofit to establish funding for what is now the Lizard Man Stomp.
“Her hopes were to have the event on the last Saturday in June each year,” Friends Secretary LouAnn Williams said. “Without her willingness to preserve the legend, we would not be celebrating today.”
Known as “Ms. Millie” and the “Cake Lady,” Scott worked at the Lee County Observer for many years (and, in fact, owned the building in which it currently operates), running the front office, running ads and writing a very popular cooking page. Before passing away on Feb. 8, she was most recently working with the Lee County Council on Aging.
From Lee County Observer | Read more
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Spring semester Carolina News & Reporter staff
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USC J-School capstone presentations May 5-6
Students from the Carolina News & Reporter, the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication's capstone semester (formerly known as senior semester), will be showcasing the digital journalism created this semester.
SCPA members are invited to portfolio presentation by the juniors and seniors, who created competitive news for the Columbia market.
Portfolio presentations will be held May 5 from 1-2:30 p.m. and May 6 from 9-10:30 a.m. in Room 109/108 of the J-School located at 800 Sumter St. in Columbia.
Please reach out to instructor Eileen Waddell with questions.
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Jessica Brodie publishes debut novel
Jessica Brodie, editor of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, has published her first contemporary Christian novel, The Memory Garden.
Brodie's protagonist is a disgraced New York City journalist who’s lost everything, including her fiancé, and moves to a fictional South Carolina town to run a struggling small town newspaper. There she becomes close with a young boy through a series of articles, and their friendship transforms both of them.
Brodie is an award-winning journalist, author, blogger, editor, inspirational speaker and devotional writer with thousands of articles to her name.
The Memory Garden releases May 6. Learn more here.
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|  | Jen Madden and Randall Savely had a great time getting to know members of the Rotary Club of Newberry last week and talking about S.C. newspapers and how local journalism strengthens communities. Pictured with Rotary Club President Melody Jepson and Rotary Club member Andrew Wigger.
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By Hannah Strong Oskin,
My Horry News
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| Opinion pieces, hard news, paid content — A breakdown of the editorial world
We publish a lot of stuff. Photos, features, hard news, videos, Facebook posts, letters to the editor, columns, sponsored content, editorials.
What does this all mean?
Well, some of it is easy to explain. Most people understand what a light-hearted feature story is or a regular news article.
But what’s the difference between a news story and a column or editorial? Or a news story compared to a sponsored or paid article?
Let’s break it down.
In the newsroom, reporters and editors usually focus on writing news stories pertaining to hard news, like what government bodies are doing, breaking news, feature stories, and any other type of coverage in between. We do not get paid by advertisers to write these stories.
However, advertisers may pay to run a sponsored content article that they may read and make changes to before it runs. News stories do not work this way. These pieces should not be written by the newsroom and should be written by someone who works closer with the advertising department. (That’s another topic for another day.)
To identify a sponsored or paid story, check the byline or for an italicized note that says it's paid for by an advertiser. Our bylines for these stories typically will say "Sponsored Content" under the headline or at the end, it will state the piece is paid for by a particular business.
Let’s talk about the opinion or editorial pages.
Editorials are opinions or viewpoints from the editor or editorial board. Read more
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| Compelling Writing with Jerry Bellune
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By Jerry Bellune, Writing Coach
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| Become a better professional
In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig writes about classicals and romantics.
Romantics, he explains, see the world but don’t question how it works. They just want it to work. When it doesn’t, they don’t look for or repair the problem. They look for an expert who will fix it for them
Pirsig’s friend John is a romantic. He owns and rides an expensive motorcycle. Yet he does not know or care to learn how to maintain it.
If it breaks down, he depends on a mechanic to fix it. This works if he can take it to a mechanic.
But what if he is out in the wilds of Montana, hundreds of miles from home?
His motorcycle no longer runs. All John can do is to start walking and curse his luck.
Classical thinkers, Pirsig writes, learn what to do. They learn the rules. What works. What doesn’t.
Their ears are tuned to listen for trouble. They check their engines before they go. They are alert to how their engines sound. They clean spark plugs, tighten drive chains, fix anything needing attention. Read more
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