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Your connection to industry & member news | Feb. 5, 2026
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Register for Annual Meeting & AwardsMake plans to attend March 5-6 in ColumbiaConnect, learn and celebrate with 200 members of the S.C. Press Association at the 2026 Annual Meeting and Awards! Make plans to join us March 5-6, at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center for awards presentations, educational sessions and networking.
Our meeting is a time to celebrate the Palmetto State's commitment to outstanding journalism! Come have a good time and get re-energized about the important work you do to serve your readers every day.
This year’s convention will feature educational and networking events including an opening reception at Columbia’s riverfront biergarten, informative training sessions, the Executive Committee Meeting, Independent/Family-Owned Newspaper Breakfast and our highlight event – the News Contest Awards Presentation and Hall of Fame Luncheon, which recognizes the best and brightest in S.C. journalism!
Here are some ways you can prepare for the Annual Meeting:
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Notice to Creditors bill amended to preserve newspaper noticeThe House Judiciary Committee gave a favorable report to an amended version of H. 4511, which deals with Notice to Creditors. At the hearing on Tuesday, the bill was amended to preserve print newspaper notice while also requiring online notice, if a newspaper has a website, and publication on SCPublicNotices.com. If this bill passes the full House, it will head to the Senate.
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College athlete money secrecy bill to get public hearing in SC Senate By John MonkEditor's Note: SCPA will be submitting written testimony on this bill. SCPA members are encouraged to email comments about H. 4902 to seducomm@scsenate.gov no later than Feb. 10 at noon.
A fast-tracked bill that makes secret how much college athletes and individual athletic programs get from a $20.5 million pool of athletic revenue-sharing money at the University of South Carolina and other major public universities will get a public hearing in the SC Senate Education Committee in February.
Education Committee chair Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Horry, told a State newspaper reporter this week that a hearing on the bill is scheduled for Feb. 11.
“We’re going to move it pretty quickly,” said Hembree. “We’ve had to make adjustments on NIL (Name Image Likeness money for athletes) repeatedly because it’s a very dynamic evolving area of law. We are bumping into different scenarios all the time and having to keep up.”
Hembree, an attorney, said, “We’ll have a discussion on it. It’s just not going to the floor. If there are any kinks to be ironed out, we’ll try to do that. I’m a great believer in the committee process.“
Persons wishing to comment on the bill should email seducomm@scsenate.gov, committee officials said. The number of the secrecy bill is H. 4902.
The bill would make secret details of how schools like USC are spending the $20.5 million. For example, the public would not be able to learn how much of the $20.5 million went to the Gamecocks football program, or how much went to the men’s basketball program as opposed to the women’s basketball program.
How much revenue sharing money individual athletes were paid from the $20.5 million would also be exempt from public disclosure under the bill, which was introduced in the House by Majority Leader Rep. David Hiott, R-Pickens.
The law would also keep rev-sharing payments at Clemson a secret.
The bill passed the House on a roll call vote, 111-2, on Jan. 15. It exempts details of payments to athletes from being subject to the S.C. Freedom of Information Act. It was not sent to a committee.
By John Monk, The State | Read more
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Lee Bandy to be inducted into SC Journalism Hall of Fame on March 6The S.C. Press Association has the distinct honor of inducting the late Lee Bandy into the S.C. Journalism Hall of Fame on March 6. Bandy, who worked at The State newspaper for 40 years, was a political reporter who earned the title of dean of the South Carolina press corps.
He joins a distinguished group of men and women who have excelled in their craft and made significant contributions to journalism and their communities. Roughly 80 newspaper journalists from the early 1700s to present have been chosen by their peers for recognition.
The induction will take place at the start of the SCPA Awards Luncheon on Friday, March 6, at noon.
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Use caution with Winter Olympic ads
The Winter Olympics start tomorrow, which means SCPA member newspapers should be cautious about using the Olympic Properties words and logos in advertising promotions, unless it is part of an official IOC endorsement. Here are the specifics.
Editorial coverage is allowed, but you must follow these guidelines.
If you have any specific questions about the legality of an ad or promotion and you'd like an SCPA attorney to review it before publication, contact SCPA.
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|  Feb. 13 is the final day to apply for USC's Media Law School program, which provides journalists the opportunity to develop a basic understanding of the law and legal system so that participants can report accurately on the many important legal issues in the news.
The program will be held March 26-27, on the USC campus in Columbia.
There is no registration fee for the program, and fellows receive a travel allowance of up to $500, three nights hotel lodging and selected meals during the conference. The program is funded by the American Board of Trial Advocates and the American Board of Trial Advocates Foundation. Learn more and apply here!
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❄️ Snow in the Palmetto State ❄️Send us your snow pages and photo galleries and we'll share them on SCPA's Facebook page!
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From Index-Journal, Greenwood
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From The Sun News, Myrtle Beach
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Longtime Post and Courier reporter found dead after being reported missing
MOUNT PLEASANT — Longtime Post and Courier reporter James Parker was found dead near his home on Jan. 31 after being reported missing the prior evening.
According to a Facebook post from the Mount Pleasant Police Department, Parker was reported missing after last being seen jogging around 7 p.m. Jan. 30 in the Hobcaw area near Bampfield Drive. Parker, 67, was reported by police to have had Alzheimer’s disease.
An update posted at 11 a.m. Jan. 31 said Parker had been located, though it provided no other details. The Charleston County Coroner’s Office later announced that he had been found dead in Hobcaw Creek around 9 a.m. Parker’s cause and manner of death are pending an autopsy.
Parker was raised in Virginia and was a graduate of Washington & Lee University. A longtime running enthusiast, he lived in the Hobcaw Point neighborhood for decades.
Rail thin and mild-mannered, the soft-spoken Parker joined the co-owned morning and afternoon Charleston newspapers that would later merge to form The Post and Courier in the early 1980s.
He was a prolific writer whose wife, Penny, was one of his early co-workers. They marked their 39th wedding anniversary in November.
His first byline, topping a story about a group of stowaways found on a Venezuelan cargo ship, appeared in January 1984. His last article was published in March 2019.
By Komlavi Adissem and John McDermott, The Post and Courier | Read more
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By Brandon Roberts,
Summerville Communications
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| Owning our mistakes
Every week, we put our names – and this newspaper’s reputation – on the line. We gather information from meetings, public records, interviews and community events. We double-check facts, confirm spellings and try our best to tell Summerville’s stories accurately and fairly.
But we’re human. Mistakes happen.
When they do, we correct them. Clearly. Directly. Without excuses.
Accuracy isn’t just a newsroom standard – it’s a matter of trust between the people we serve and us. A correction is not an admission of failure; it’s a commitment to the truth. It tells readers that this newspaper takes responsibility for its work and cares enough about this community to get the record right, even after publication.
Sometimes a correction is as simple as fixing a date or reversing a name. Other times, it requires a clarification – additional context that helps readers understand the full picture. In either case, the process is the same: we review what happened, confirm the facts, and update our reporting so readers have the most complete and truthful account of events.
We don’t hide corrections. We publish them in print, we note them online, and we welcome requests from readers who see something that doesn’t look right. Many of our corrections come from people who know a subject better than anyone else – teachers, coaches, parents, longtime residents, public officials. Their feedback makes us better. Read more
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