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Your connection to industry & member news | Aug. 8, 2024
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SCPA reschedules Friday's Ad Sales training to Sept. 13
With the latest forecast showing Tropical Storm Debby persisting into Friday and many schools announcing closures and delays, SCPA has decided to cancel Friday’s Ad Sales training featuring Ryan Dohrn and reschedule this event for Friday, Sept. 13.
We had quite a few attendees coming from impacted areas and there’s too much uncertainty to ensure safe travel for all on Friday.
If you were registered for the Aug. 9 event, we will carry forward your registration for the rescheduled date of Sept. 13. If you cannot attend on the new date and would prefer a refund, please let us know.
If you would like to attend on Sept. 13 but have not registered, there are still a few spots left.
Please stay safe and thank you for all you do to serve your communities.
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SCPA seeks feedback for 2024 News ContestSCPA's Contest Committee will collaborate in September to review contest rules and divisions as we prepare to launch the 2024 News Contest rules and digital entry platform in early October.
The contest period will be for work published between Nov. 16, 2023 – Nov. 15, 2024. The deadline to enter will be Dec. 6, and awards will be presented in April 4, 2025 at the Annual Meeting in Columbia.
In addition to reviewing contest categories, the committee will evaluate divisions, looking at a possible shift for the daily divisions away from circulation to market population size. They'all also determine how to classify digital news outlets.
If you have suggestions about the rules, categories or divisions (or would like to serve on the committee), please let us know.
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|  | We had a great group of editors at SCPA last week for our annual roundtable. Thanks to everyone who attended or sent their editor! In addition to talking about legal and open government issues, we spent a lot of time sharing story/coverage ideas and discussing managing staff.
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“When you act suspiciously, it causes people to be suspicious,” SCPA Attorney Jay Bender said.
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Laurens County illegally closed council meetings, took secretive votes, judge rules
LAURENS — Laurens County Council and its planning commission "continually and habitually" violated laws intended to keep government transparent by illegally shutting the public out of meetings and making decisions behind closed doors, a judge ruled.
Circuit Judge Eugene C. Griffith Jr. pointed out nine violations from 2022 to the present, ranging from closing meetings for vague reasons like "human resources" to creating a new paid county position and putting up a classified ad for it.
The July 30 ruling stems from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed a year earlier by a group of Laurens residents opposed to a new residential subdivision. They call themselves the Laurens Residents for Quality Rural Living.
By David Ferrara, The Post and Courier Greenville | Read more
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Sullivan's Island nature trail plans happened behind closed doors, lawsuit says
SULLIVAN'S ISLAND — The disdain swirling around a nature trail through the maritime forest reached new heights after a lawsuit was filed that alleges the town violated open meeting laws.
Sullivan's Island resident Charles Stockdale filed suit against the town on July 26, alleging the nature trail extension violates the forest’s deed restrictions. The lawsuit also claims that by authorizing funding and construction on the trail without an ordinance or resolution from council, the town violated state Freedom of Information Act.
By Anna Sharpe, The Post and Courier | Read more
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Clemson City Council discusses FOIA, other items
CLEMSON — Clemson City Council discussed a lengthy amount of items Monday at its first meeting of the month.
Among those items — the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
At council’s last meeting, city clerk Jeremiah Jackson recommended that staff and council take a look at the city’s current rate for FOIA requests — which sat at $15 per hour — and consider moving it to match state law, which would be based on the prorated hourly salary of the lowest paid employee who could perform the said task. He also recommended the city take a look at a software that would give the city greater efficiency in fulfilling FOIA requests.
City administrator Andy Blondeau brought both before council Monday, and also asked for council’s opinion on the idea of software automatically uploading materials gathered in a FOIA request to the city’s website.
By Caleb Gilbert, The Journal | Read more
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We asked local SC governments for their city manager’s file. It’s not going very well
Two weeks after a Freedom of Information Act request was submitted, the City of North Myrtle Beach has yet to respond.
In the wake of North Myrtle Beach’s City Manager, Mike Mahaney, submitting a job application to a town in Florida, The Sun News submitted a Freedom of Information Act Requests to the local municipalities in Horry County, South Carolina and see what would happen.
The requests were all for the same documents: the City Manager’s personnel file.
By Elizabeth Brewer, The Sun News | Read more
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Post and Courier names Hamilton new sports columnist
A familiar name to some people in the Carolinas has been tabbed as the Post and Courier’s new sports columnist.
Veteran journalist Scott Hamilton has joined the sports staff at South Carolina’s oldest daily newspaper.
His previous stops include serving as the UNC Wilmington men’s basketball beat writer for the Wilmington (N.C.) Star-News; golf writer at SportsBusiness Journal; and senior writer at Golfweek magazine.
Hamilton was later the sports columnist at the Winston-Salem Journal, a stint that saw him lead coverage of the Wakeyleaks scandal that rocked college football in 2015, as well as various rounds of Atlantic Coast Conference expansion.
Most recently, he was host of “The Scott Hamilton Show” sportstalk program on Charleston’s ESPN 989; sports contributor for NewsNation’s “On Balance with Leland Vittert”; and a regular co-host of “Press Pass” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
"We are beyond excited to welcome Scott to our outstanding sports staff," said sports editor Jeff Hartsell. "He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the job, as well as a long list of contacts and multi-media skills that will help the Post and Courier expand its digital reach in sports."
From The Post and Courier | Read more
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 | Jane Pigg, owner/operator of MyFM 93.9 WCRE-FM, 1420 WCRE-AM and The Link, receives the South Carolina Broadcast Association Radio Station of the Year award for WCRE. Photo by Farris Pigg/Special to The Link
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| WCRE wins SCBA Radio Station of the Year
The South Carolina Broadcast Association has honored WCRE at its annual STAR awards with South Carolina Radio Station of the Year.
Jane Elizabeth Davis Pigg, owner/operator of MyFM 93.9 WCRE-FM, 1420 WCRE-AM and The Link newspaper attended the event and was surprised when she heard the station announced.
Pigg serves as owner and publisher of The Link and is a past president of SCPA and SCBA.
“This is so awesome,” she said. “We’ve all worked so hard this past year to serve our communities. We’re a small staff, and we multitask to the max. I’m so proud of everyone and the outstanding job they do every day.”
By Jacqueline Hough, The Link | Read more
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Columbia Star writer receives environmental journalism award
Mike Cox of The Columbia Star was recognized for his outstanding environmental journalism by the EEASC (Environmental Education Association of South Carolina) at its annual conference at USC Upstate, where he received the Environmental Journalism award for 2024. This new category was created due to his great efforts to educate the public about environmental issues and environmental efforts in the Columbia area.
Cox began his life in the 1950s in Alabama, where, under the tutelage of his father and grandfather, he learned to appreciate the peace and inspiration that could be found in the great outdoors through hunting, fishing, and observing.
The first Earth Day in 1970 proved to be a powerful experience for Cox, and it set him on a path of trying to make a difference by using his writing skills to help people understand that the earth’s environment needs protection.
Mike retired from Bell South in 2002 and moved to South Carolina with his conservation-minded wife, who he fondly refers to as The Landlord in his collection of articles “It’s not a Criticism, It’s an Observation” in the Columbia Star. He also began writing more serious articles about environmental issues in the Columbia area for The Star.
By Jennifer Mancke for The Columbia Star | Read more
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News/Media Alliance urges ITC to reject tariffs on printing plates
Arlington, VA – The News/Media Alliance [this week] urged the International Trade Commission (ITC) to reject antidumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) on imports of aluminum lithographic printing plates from Japan and China. These duties were preliminarily imposed earlier this year at an excessive rate of 200% (China) and 87% (Japan) to these aluminum printing plates, which are used in the United States to print newspapers, magazines, books, and other printed materials. On Sept. 12, the ITC will hold a hearing to decide whether to continue to allow these duties, which would have a devastating impact on the news industry.
“A decision by the federal government to impose new tariffs on aluminum printing plates would threaten news publishers’ critical news-gathering missions, put American jobs at risk, and cause additional news outlets to shutter, contributing to expanding news deserts across the country,” said News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey. “The news and publishing industries are already operating in a challenging economic environment and the future of quality journalism is in peril. We urge the ITC to reject new antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum printing plates, which would only accelerate the disappearance of quality local journalism, at a time when we need it more than ever.”
From News/Media Alliance | Read more
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McClatchy announces planned merger with magazine giant behind Us Weekly, Woman’s World
McClatchy, one of the oldest and largest local media companies in the United States, plans to merge with accelerate360, a major magazine publisher and distribution business, the two companies announced Friday.
Both McClatchy and accelerate360 are owned by Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey-based hedge fund with other assets in journalism and communications.
The boards of both companies voted to approve the intent to merge this week. Tony Hunter, McClatchy’s chairman and CEO, would take the helm as chairman and CEO once the new entity is formed.
The merger would fuse a local newspaper company that has won more than 50 Pulitzer Prizes with a line of glossy lifestyle and celebrity magazines – an unconventional marriage in the media industry that comes with cultural and ethical challenges.
By Michael Wilner, McClatchy | Read more
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Google is an illegal monopoly, federal court rules
A federal court has found that Google illegally abused its market power to quash competition in internet search. The ruling hands the Justice Department its biggest victory in more than two decades in limiting the power of Big Tech companies to control and dominate the huge markets they have created.
“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in his judgment on Monday.
Mehta ruled that the Justice Department was right in saying that Google violated antitrust law by forging restrictive contracts with Apple and other phone makers that required them to install Google as the default search engine on smartphones. He also decried other practices of the Alphabet Inc. unit that prevented its rivals from competing on an even playing field.
By Eva Dou and Gerrit De Vynck, The Washington Post | Read more
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Opinion | Why Bloomberg’s broken embargo matters
The big news last week: After 16 months of imprisonment in Russia under false charges, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was free.
The Journal was not the newsroom to break that story, however.
Bloomberg News was.
And it wasn’t a scoop to celebrate, since it came thanks to what looks like a broken embargo and before Gershkovich and other prisoners were safely back in the United States.
In the days since, the story of how that happened has itself become the news.
“Embargoes are an important tool for both journalists and sources,” said Kelly McBride, Poynter’s senior vice president and the chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership. “Most of the time they involve a timing request by the source: Don’t report this information until this specific point in time. They allow journalists to prepare a news story, so that they can publish the moment the embargo is lifted. Just like granting a source background or off-the-record status, agreeing to participate in an embargo is a promise that you are making.”
They can also be crucial to national security, troop movements and people’s lives.
By Kristen Hare, TyLisa Johnson, Josie Hollingsworth, Angela Fu and Ren LaForme, Poynter | Read more
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6 live journalism event ideas you can replicate in your community
Live events are a valuable platform for any news organization: a chance to not only showcase your journalistic work, but to reach new people and deepen loyalty with your existing audiences.
In early 2024, the American Press Institute convened a five-month cohort to help six Table Stakes Local News Transformation Program alumni organizations do exactly that. Their projects ranged from community picnics to trivia nights to listening sessions, but they all shared a few things in common — among them, a commitment to centering diverse audience needs and pursuing both journalistic and strategic innovation.
“I think this showed us that … there’s a lot of room for growth in these types of live events for us, which is awesome,” said Bethany Taylor, the event coordinator at Boise State Public Radio. Her team is hosting a series of three panel discussions on mental health in partnership with a local TV station.
Here’s a look at that project and the five others that came out of API’s 2024 Live Events Sprint, with tips and tricks for other organizations hoping to rev up their journalism-led event operations.
By Caitlin Dewey, API's Better News | Read more
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Poynter offers free grant writing training for journalists
Learn the ins and outs of applying for grants to support your journalism, from developing a project or program; writing a budget; and creating a monitoring and evaluation plan.
This online grant writing course, designed by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in collaboration with the Center for Sustainable Media, was designed specifically with journalists in mind and can be completed on your own time and at your own pace. Learn more
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By Jim Pumarlo,
Newspaper Consultant
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Scrutinize letters during election season
Campaigns are in full swing as Election Day nears. Editors should pay extra attention to letters that give a thumbs up or thumbs down to candidates and other ballot initiatives.
Letter-writing campaigns have become as sophisticated and strategic as advertising campaigns. An unfortunate result is that many newspapers now charge for election-related letters. I appreciate the arguments for enacting the policy. It’s still disappointing, and I respectfully disagree.
The policy is perplexing as editors often bemoan the lack of reader interaction on opinion pages. Then, when election season swings around and letters naturally ramp up, newspapers limit debate to “paid opinions” only.
The pros and cons of paid letters could consume an entire discussion, but I pose one question as newspapers contemplate, implement the policy: Where do you draw the line? Orchestrated letter-writing campaigns occur year-round on a variety of issues before local policy-making bodies. Are you accepting only “paid opinions” in these instances as well? It’s a sure-fire way to squelch the lively exchange of opinions and vibrant community conversation.
That debate aside, editors can and should diligently enforce letters policies – and even take extra steps – during election season. Here are a few guidelines to consider. Read more
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