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Your connection to industry & member news  | Jan. 8, 2026
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We need YOU to volunteer to judge VPA's News & Ad Contests in FebruaryOur friends in Virginia are currently judging more than 3,000 SCPA contest entries and it's almost our turn to return the favor.
THANK YOU to the two dozen members who have already volunteered to help. We STILL need roughly 55 folks to volunteer as judges for their News and Ad Contests. Â
Judging will take place between Jan. 28 - Feb. 25, 2026. Here's what VPA needs:
- Writing Entries - 20 judges from daily papers
- Writing Entries - 20 judges from non-daily papers
- Digital, Multimedia and Online - 10 judges from daily or non-daily papers
- Photography and Art - 8 judges from daily or non-daily papers
- Presentation and Design - 4-5 judges from daily or non-daily papers
- Advertising - 10 judges from daily and non-daily papers
These judging exchanges make our own contests possible and give you the opportunity to see the best work from another state so please lend us a hand!Â
We will not ask you to judge another state's contest again until fall 2027!
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 | The Lexington County Chronicle's new office space is located at 205 West Main St. in downtown Lexington. Photo by Bryn Eddy, Chronicle
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| Chronicle to move to different office space on Lexingtonâs West Main Street
The bright blue house on Lexingtonâs East Main Street will no longer be the Lexington County Chronicleâs office space starting later this week.
Weâve been renting this space since 2022, and it has been such a great fit for us. As the building goes under new ownership, we are very fortunate that we donât have to move far!
205 West Main St., across from Libbyâs of Lexington, will soon be our new office space. Itâs a historic house and a shared workspace with other downtown Lexington professionals. This move will not impact paper delivery or publication datesâit only impacts where our reporters, Sophia Sousa and Jacob Phillips, and our sales and marketing manager, Kelly Mason, and I come to work each day. Weâll still be out in the community reporting on stories that matter to you.
By Bryn Eddy, Lexington County Chronicle | Read more
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Osteen Media Group promotes Hugh Osteen as its next CEO
Hugh Osteen (Hubert Graham Osteen III) has served as the companyâs chief operating officer since 2021. He brings 12 years of experience across its community multimedia newspaper properties, including Clay Today, Ponte Vedra Recorder and the Las Cruces (New Mexico) Bulletin. As COO, he has led the companyâs digital expansion and operational efficiency initiatives.Â
In his new role, Osteen will take the reins at Osteen Media Group and oversee daily business operations and business strategy across all properties.Â
âThis is a proud moment for our family and our company,â said Julie Osteen, who has served as CEO since 2021 and will continue as president, focusing on strategic initiatives.
âHugh has demonstrated exceptional leadership in his role as COO, and his vision for the future of community news positions us well for our next chapter,â she said. âI am confident the organization will continue to thrive under his leadership.â
Osteen began his career with OMG at the Las Cruces Bulletin and has lived in Jacksonville since 2014, holding multiple roles at both the Ponte Vedra Recorder and Clay Today.
He and his wife, Kathleen, have a daughter, Emily Gray, 6.
Osteen Media Group is a sixth-generation, family-owned media company with a portfolio of newspapers, magazines and digital marketing solutions serving communities in South Carolina, Florida and New Mexico. The company provides essential local news and partners with local businesses to support community growth.
From Clay Today | Read more
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 | Former Aiken Standard reporter Michelâle Jackson Anderson holds up her first childrenâs book. Photo byÂ
Bianca Moorman, Post and Courier North Augusta
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| Former Aiken Standard reporter publishes first bookÂ
AIKEN â A former journalist has taken her creative talents to the publishing world with a book about her Chihuahua.
"Chip Gets Adopted: The Adventures of Chip the Chihuahua" is a new children's book written about Michelâle Jackson Andersonâs adopted dog Chip and his journey in getting adopted.
Anderson held a book signing for the book Dec. 5-6 at the Christmas Craft Show in Aiken and read the book to students at Greendale Elementary School in December.
Anderson was able to complete the book within a year. She was a former reporter and multimedia journalist at the Aiken Standard.
By Bianca Moorman, The Post and Courier North Augusta/The Star | Read more
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Hereâs the punishment for Midlands school district after The State wins lawsuitÂ
A South Carolina judge has issued an order that ends a four-year-long legal struggle between The State newspaper and a Midlands school district.
Judge Daniel Cobleâs order issued [Dec. 29] reinforces his finding that the school board of the Lexington-Richland 5 school district violated the stateâs Freedom of Information Act in how it handled the dismissal of former Superintendent Christina Melton back in 2021.
Coble ordered that his decision be displayed prominently on the school districtâs website for a six-month period beginning Jan. 5 announcing that the school board violated the lawâs open-meeting requirements in ending Meltonâs employment during a closed-door session without a public vote.
The school board at the time agreed at its June 14, 2021, board meeting to end Meltonâs employment and pay her $226,368 to leave her contract early, without a public vote.
âNeither party has argued that the Settlement Agreement between Superintendent Melton and the District is unenforceable or should be set aside due to its ratification in executive session, and the Court does not find otherwise,â the judge writes in his order. âThe enforceability of the Settlement Agreement, however, does not negate the fact that its execution in executive session constituted a violation of the Freedom of Information Act.â
After The State uncovered the secret agreement, the newspaperâs former senior editor Paul Osmundson filed a lawsuit alleging it violated the lawâs requirement that the actions of a public body require a public vote. The school board covering the Chapin-Irmo area voted to approve the agreement with Melton after the lawsuit was filed. In his ruling, Coble decided that did not eliminate the initial offense.
By Bristow Marchant, The State | Read more
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Scoppe: If 2025 was year of the sports FOI request, will 2026 be the year itâs fulfilled?
As the old year was exiting exhausted, a columnist for the sports business publication Sportico dubbed 2025 the Year of the College Sports FOIA Request.
Daniel Libit kicked off his case by citing a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the young woman who has made a laughingstock of UNC football coach Bill Belichick â and with him my alma mater â apparently hoping to make the case that UNCâs PR department hasnât been protective enough of her man. (This is what we get for focusing on football rather than concentrating on basketball.) The girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, has herself been the topic of several FOI requests by journalists who found cringe-worthy tidbits about her relationship with the university.
Other examples have involved more substantive matters. The Illinois attorney general ordered the University of Illinois to release a copy of the Big Tenâs media-rights deal after a public records advocate filed an FOI request. There were requests over team-conference disputes. Mr. Libit filed his own FOI requests for âthe most basic aggregated data on athlete payâ from about a dozen top football universities â and got nothing. Another reporter had a bit of success prying such information out of smaller colleges.
There were many more efforts the nation over. Here in South Carolina, USC and Clemson refused to provide The Post and Courierâs David Cloninger and Jon Blau with even boilerplate copies of the name, image and likeness contracts theyâre facilitating between local businesses and their top athletes â much less revenue-sharing contracts, which a federal judge authorized this summer in the House settlement that allowed universities to pay their best athletes directly. This new era of paid amateur athletics of course is the driving force behind the FOI bowl.
Which brings us once again to South Carolinaâs FOI hero, Frank Heindel, who is a point of light in Mr. Libitâs column.
The last time we checked in with the retired Mount Pleasant businessman, USC was trying to razzle-dazzle S.C. Circuit Judge Daniel Coble into not releasing its private explanation of its contracts with athletes. The judge has since ordered the school to provide that information to Mr. Heindel, and itâs noteworthy.
By Cindi Ross Scoppe, The Post and Courier | Read more
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The Voice receives demand letter
BLYTHEWOOD â The Voice newspaper and its publisher, Barbara Ball; Blythewood Town Councilman Donald Brock; and the Townâs Marketing Director Jordan Langland received demand letters on Monday, Dec. 15, threatening legal action if certain demands were not met.
California entertainment attorney Imene Meziane sent the letter on behalf of Blythewood resident Edward Straiter and his business, UniversalCMG World Entertainment.
The issue concerns a $20,000 award to UniversalCMG last spring from Blythewoodâs hospitality tax tourism revenue for the purpose of producing a Juneteenth celebration in Blythewood. That event and other nighttime events in the town were subsequently temporarily cancelled by a town council vote due to public safety concerns.
âThis correspondence serves as a formal demand regarding false, defamatory, and damaging statements published by The Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County on Dec. 4, 2025, and written by Barbara [Ball regarding] statements made by Councilman Donald Brock and Jordan Langland,â Meziane wrote.
The letter, demanding âretraction, correction, apology and monetary damages arising from defamatory publications concerning Edward Straiter and UniversalCMG World Entertainment,â addressed a story titled, âBlythewood Town Council looking for $20K paid out for cancelled event,â published in The Voice on Dec. 4, 2025.
The story quoted Brock as saying in a public session of town council, â$20,000 walked away, and it canât be accounted for.â
Meziane wrote that Brockâs statement, âwas patently false and defamatory,â and that âBarbara Ball, in republishing and amplifying this false allegation in The Voice of Blythewood & Fairfield County, acted with reckless disregard for the truth by failing to verify key facts⌠Her article falsely suggested unlawful or unethical appropriation of public funds and thus conveyed an accusation of misappropriation amounting to libel per se under South Carolina law.â ...
Media Attorney Jay Bender, who represents The Voice of Blythewood and Fairfield County and Barbara Ball, responded to Mezianeâs demand, citing several South Carolina laws.Â
âThere is a fair report privilege available under the common law and the First and Fourteenth Amendments that protects from liability one who publishes a substantially accurate report on statements made by public officials in a meeting and for reporting the contents of public records,â Bender wrote.
By Barbara Ball, The Voice of Blythewood | Read more
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Sumter school board Chairman Ragin will not respond to Item on questions
Sumter school board Chairman Shawn Ragin has not responded to a series of board-related questions since November and now says those reporting efforts have been antagonistic and that he will not provide answers.
Since Sumter School District Board of Trustees' Dec. 8 meeting when Ragin combined the board's Facilities and Finance committees, effective immediately and saying the move is temporary, The Item has asked him four times to explain why and also respond to a fellow trustee's concern about the action.
Ragin sent an email on Thursday, Dec. 18, and said that "I will not engage with or respond to your continued rudeness and disrespectful communication." He added that the reporter's efforts, "as evidenced by your repeated lines of questioning and tone, have consistently sought to portray both the Sumter School District and me in a negative and misleading manner. That time is over."
At the end of his email, Ragin requested that The Item assign a different reporter to communicate with him personally moving forward. The newspaper's executive editor, Kayla Green, said that no changes in coverage will occur.
Ragin's actions in not answering the newspaper's questions appear to be against the board's bylaws, which govern the conduct of the board. Policy BEDI News Media Services at Board Meeting states "the board believes that one of its paramount responsibilities is to keep the public informed of its actions" and reads later that "the board chairman will be the official public spokesman for the board."
S.C. Press Association Attorney Taylor Smith told The Item last week that school boards' bylaws serve as "their promises" as a governing body.
The newspaper has used various methods in its questioning to the board's spokesman to include phone calls, voicemails, emails and text messages.
By Bruce Mills, The Sumter Item | Read more
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Feb. 16 is deadline to enter Center for Integrity in News Reporting Awards, with $150,000 in cash prizes
The Center for Integrity in News Reporting Awards will award six $25,000 cash prizes (a total of $150,000), including a new category for Investigative Reporting, alongside awards for Print Reporting, Broadcast Reporting, Cable Network Reporting, Digital Reporting, and reporting by members of the White House Correspondentsâ Association.Â
Now in its third year, the CFINR Awards recognize journalism that exemplifies the long-standing principle articulated by Adolph Ochs: âto give the news impartially, without fear or favor.â The awards are focused exclusively on news reporting (not opinion, commentary, or advocacy), and are open to work published in print, broadcast, cable television, and digital formats within the United States.
News reports published in the calendar year 2025 are eligible for submission.
Feb. 16 is the deadline to submit entries. There is no entry fee.
View full contest rules, category definitions and submission instructions here.Â
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Enter Golden Quill contest by Feb. 2
The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors (ISWNE) is accepting entries for its annual Golden Quill editorial writing contest. The deadline is Feb. 2.
Entries should reflect the purpose of the ISWNE: Encouraging the writing of editorials or staff-written opinion pieces that identify local issues that are or should be of concern to the community, offer an opinion, and support a course of action.
All newspapers of less than daily frequency (published fewer than four days per week) are eligible to enter. Online-only newspapers must be considered community news sites.
Golden Quill winner will be invited to attend ISWNEâs annual conference in Cardiff, Wales, July 15-19. The winner will receive a conference scholarship and travel expenses up to $1,000. Here are more details.Â
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Longtime Upstate publisher Don Wilder dies
Donald Everett Wilder, age 82 husband of Joyce Anne Toler Wilder was welcomed into Heaven on December 18, 2025.
Mr. Wilder was born November 28, 1943, in Portsmouth, Virginia, a son of the late Donald Everett Wilder and Onie Marie Baynard Wilder.
Surviving in addition to his wife of 63 years are one daughter Shayna Lynae Wilder Blackwell and husband Stephen, of Woodruff, SC; two grandchildren, Dr. Sagen Lynae Blackwell of Roanoke, Virginia and Karder Larson Blackwell of Woodruff, South Carolina; one sister, Anita Marie Wilder Shupe of Scottsdale, Arizona and a brother-in-law, Richard Lee Cannaday of Wertz, Virginia, and half-sister Sharon Ann Thomas-Stahle Hatch of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mr. Wilder was predeceased by his stepfather Edward Bass Griswold of Martinsville, Virginia; his half-brother, James Allen Wilder of Atlantic City, New Jersey; and his brother-in-law, Douglas Wayne Toler of Bedford, Virginia.
Don served as a publisher of The Union (SC) Daily Times (1970-1994), The Williamson (WV) Daily News (1994-1996) and CEO of Hometown News in Spartanburg, SC in 1996 until his retirement in 2012.
[During his newspaper career, Wilder served twice on the Executive Committee of the S.C. Press Association.]
He was a coach to many baseball teams and loved all the boys he called his own. After coaching he became an umpire, calling games for college and minor league teams. Don was charter President of the Kiwanis Club of Union, SC. He served as a South Carolina Highway Commissioner from 1990-94 for the 16th Judicial District. In 1994, he was awarded the South Carolina Order of the Palmetto by Governor David M. Beasley. He was active in the General Daniel Morgan Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution and the Valley Forge Society. He was a member of Burnsview Baptist Church in Greer, SC. Read full obituary.
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Grace Livingston, past president of the former SCPA Women's Division, dies
Grace Dukes Livingston, 91, peacefully entered her heavenly home on December 29, 2025. She was surrounded by her granddaughters who loved and cherished her dearly.
Grace was born in Orangeburg, SC, the fifth daughter of the late Julien Leroy and Margaret Summers Dukes. She received her education in Orangeburg City schools and Columbia College. As "Miss Orangeburg" of 1953 she represented the city on many occasions. Grace married her high school sweetheart, Dean Bennette Livingston, on December 22, 1955 and was a devoted and loving wife of 59 years before his passing in 2014. Grace and Dean experienced many amazing travel adventures both stateside and abroad. Her faith, cheerful nature, and sensible view of life with personal responsibility set an example that has been a source of strength and guidance for her children and grandchildren. At the center of Grace's life was always her family who affectionately called her "GiGi."
Her community involvement included Junior Service League, Philanthropic Educational Organization Sisterhood, Orangeburg Assembly, Historical Society, Verdant Garden Club, National Society Colonial Dames XVII, and Mary Sterling Heatly Chapter. She also enjoyed birding and researching family genealogy.
Grace supported her husband's career and was Society Editor of the Times and Democrat newspaper. She served as president of the former Women's Division of the SC Press Association (1968-69). She was a Girl Scout leader and active in many civic endeavors. Grace was a member of the Thursday morning bridge club which enriched her life for over 60 years. She was a lifelong member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church of Orangeburg where she served in many capacities. Read full obituary.
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By John Foust,Â
Advertising Trainer
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| The big news about small advertisers
A number of years ago, I shared a story about an ad manager named Jay, who talked about the financial impact of happy and unhappy customers. On average, a customer will tell nine to 12 people about a good experience â and up to 20 people about a bad experience. Thatâs a dramatic ripple effect.
Using that formula, letâs say a business owner spends $300 a week in Jayâs newspaper. In a lot of media circles, that would be called a small advertiser. But if she has a negative customer service experience â or if her ads fall short of expectations â she might pull the ads out of Jayâs paper and move them to a competitor. Over a year, that $300 a week adds up to $15,600 in lost business. If she tells ten of her business friends (a middle-of-the-road number) about her experience â and if her story discourages them from advertising in Jayâs paper â thatâs an additional yearly loss of $140,400.
In this hypothetical example, consider the power of habit. Suppose those 11 advertisers eliminate Jayâs paper from their media purchases for ten years. That amounts to $1,716,000 in lost revenue over a decade. Read more
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