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Your connection to industry & member news | May 28, 2026
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SCPA members cover redistricting effort, early votingThanks to South Carolina's journalists and news organization staffers who did an excellent job covering redistricting and other election matters over the past few weeks! We appreciate all you've done to inform South Carolinians about important election issues. Here's some of what we've spotted:
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Editorial: Which laws will SC legislators exempt themselves from next?
People are so dug-in and emotional about our Legislature’s rush to redraw congressional districts that we risk overlooking a dangerous step House members took along the way, a step that has ramifications well beyond redistricting.
So let’s set aside that topic, because what the House did wrong would have been equally wrong if it had been rushing to debate legislation that declares motherhood a good thing.
South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act requires governing bodies to let us know 24 hours before they hold meetings, but on Monday night, the House Rules Committee gave only eight minutes’ notice of a meeting to change the rules to speed up the debate. And spoiler alert: The problem goes well beyond ignoring the FOI law as well.
When redistricting opponents complained, House Speaker Murrell Smith said the dispute involved “internal workings” of the House and was not subject to the open-meetings law. When they filed a lawsuit, he sent his lawyer into court to argue the same thing.
And the judge hastily agreed, noting that a House rule gives the speaker the authority “in case of necessity due to exigent circumstances” to waive the 24-hour requirement. He also called the dispute a “purely political question that is nonjusticiable” and said “judicial intervention would violate well-established separation of powers principles."
From The Post and Courier | Read more
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No more $1K FOIA fees: How SC’s charter school overhaul forces sector to open its books
After the Voorhees University Charter Institute of Learning approved its first charter school last month, The State Media Co. asked the authorizer for a copy of the school’s application.
Voorhees’ executive director responded that it would take 15 to 25 hours of staff time to comply with the request. If The State wanted a copy of the standard document, it would need to pony up between $765 and $1,275, she said.
The newspaper hasn’t paid the hefty fee. Following last week’s passage of the Charter School Accountability Act, it won’t have to — and neither will anyone else.
The state’s new charter schools law, which took effect Friday, requires authorizers to post all charter school applications “in a prominent location” on their websites.
The new requirement is just one way the law enhances transparency and accountability in the growing sector, which serves more than 66,000 students statewide, according to the S.C. Department of Education.
The reform legislation, which came together last week after a series of interchamber negotiations between House and Senate education leaders, has significant implications for charter schools, the authorizers that oversee them and the Department of Education, which will now oversee authorizers.
By Zak Koeske, The State | Read more
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Remembering former Post and Courier Executive Editor Richard Schreadley
CHARLESTON — Former Post and Courier executive editor and retired Navy officer Richard Schreadley was a man of passions: writing, history, news and community theater, among his many.
“My father was the smartest man I ever met,” said his son, Rhys Schreadley. “He was thoughtful and always willing to discuss current events and offer his keen insight.”
Richard Lee Schreadley passed away May 5 in Marietta, Ga. He was 95.
A celebration of life will be held locally on May 24 from 2-4 p.m. at J. Henry Stuhr Downtown Chapel, 232 Calhoun St. His remains will be interred with those of his wife at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Schreadley was born Jan. 3, 1931, in Harrisburg, Pa. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and history from Dickinson College. He went on to earn two masters degrees and a doctorate at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy from Tufts University in Boston, where he performed in local theater.
He enlisted in the Navy as a seaman recruit and retired after 25 years of service as a commander. He was a veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam wars, with duties including a year “in country” in Vietnam and three commands at sea.
“He was able to travel all over Vietnam and in every type of craft the Navy deployed there,” Rhys Schreadley said. “He was a well-respected commander.”
After his military service, Schreadley worked as a reporter for The News and Courier in Charleston, where he had once been stationed in the Navy. After several years, he became editor of the Charleston Evening Post. In 1981, he was promoted to executive editor of both newspapers as part of a planned merger of the two newsrooms — which later became The Post and Courier.
By Joey Izzo, The Post and Courier | Read more
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By John Foust, Advertising Trainer
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Where’s the beef in your newspaper advertising?
Wendy’s ran a series of TV commercials in the mid-1980s which featured actress Clara Peller, as she disapprovingly observed the size of the burgers in fast food places. I remember one which showed Clara and two of her friends at the counter of a place called “Home of the Big Bun” (according to the sign behind them). Her friends commented on the size of the “big fluffy bun,” but Clara sternly said, “Where’s the beef?” when she saw the tiny burger inside. The voiceover included the statement, “At Wendy’s, you get more beef and less bun.”
Wendy’s received a lot of publicity from the campaign and Clara became an instant celebrity. In fact, “Where’s the beef?” became a popular catchphrase. (If you want to see the commercials, go to YouTube and put “Wendy’s where’s the beef?” in the search bar.)
These days, as I browse through printed pages and online media sites, certain ads make me wonder, “Where’s the beef?” or “Where’s the message?” Those ads have generic words and pictures, but nothing else. Nothing of interest. Nothing that makes me want to conduct business with them.
How can advertising contain substance – real beef – that is worth noticing and remembering? Lets’ take a look at three important ingredients. Read more
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