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Your connection to industry & member news | Jan. 30, 2025
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SCPA to announce News Contest winners Feb. 6 Winners from the 2024 News Contest will be posted online for proofing on Feb. 6.
The list will include winners from the News and Associate/Individual contests.
Judges are currently hard at work reviewing entries. So far, 40% of the judgements have been submitted. We hope to have the rest back by next week. If any judgements are still outstanding after the initial announcement on Feb. 6, additional winners will be added to the Google Sheet in real-time as they come back from judging.
You'll have until Feb. 13 to proof your newspaper’s winners and submit corrections.
Secret winners, President's Cup winners and Best of the Best will be announced at the SCPA Annual Meeting on April 4. The Annual Meeting schedule of events and registration will go live in mid-February.
Thanks to members of the Kentucky Press Association for judging our contest! SCPA will return the favor by judging KPA's contest later this year.
Collegiate winners were announced earlier this week. Awards will be presented at the Collegiate Meeting on Feb. 28 at SCPA Offices in Columbia.
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Use caution in Super Bowl adsSuper Bowl LIX is set for Feb. 9 which means SCPA member newspapers should be cautious about using NFL trademarked words and logos in advertising promotions.
The NFL has more than 100 federally registered trademarks, including "Super Bowl" and "Super Sunday." The Super Bowl logo, NFL shield and team names and designs are also trademarked. These words and designs cannot be used in newspaper ads or for any other commercial purposes without the NFL's permission.
While you are OK using vague terms like "the big game," any ads that suggest a connection to the Super Bowl should be called back.
It is acceptable to use these words and graphics in news stories about the Super Bowl.
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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|  SCPA is launching a group for early career journalists (targeted at members with 10 or less years of experience) and our first event is a Happy Hour for early career journalists on Thursday, Feb. 20, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at WECO Bottle & Biergarten in West Columbia. Your first drink is on us, thanks to sponsorship by the S.C. Newspaper Network! Food will be available for purchase. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
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SC county to disclose Google data center's water usage to settle legal battle
After fighting its disclosure for more than a year, Dorchester County has agreed to publicize the amount of water used at a data center Google is building, reversing its previous stance that the information is a closely guarded trade secret that shouldn't be shared with the public.
The decision is part of a settlement with Frank Heindel, who sued the county last year saying the internet giant's service agreement is a public record subject to the S.C Freedom of Information Act. As part of the agreement, the county will make public Google's daily and monthly water usage at a data center it's building near St. George.
The county, which will provide water to the data center, also agreed that Google's usage is not a trade secret as it had previously claimed.
The company had required the county to hide its water usage data as part of its agreement to build the St. George server farm and another at the Pine Hill Business campus west of Summerville.
The lawsuit only named the St. George site because the county entered into a special water services agreement for that location.
Dorchester County will also pay $10,000 of Heindel's attorney's fees in a case that stems from the county's September 2023 rejection of his request for the data under the state's open-records law.
"This settlement agreement holds significant implications for public transparency and environmental accountability," Heindel, a Mount Pleasant resident, said in a written statement. "This agreement will, for the first time, allow the public to see the actual daily water usage of a Google data center — information that is vital for informed public discourse and policy making."
By David Wren, The Post and Courier | Read more
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Judge hears arguments in FOIA lawsuit against the city of Clemson
CLEMSON — A hearing was held Tuesday to decide whether a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the city of Clemson would proceed.
Judge Jessica Salvini of the Pickens County 13th Judicial Court heard arguments from both sides in Eleanor OMeara Hare, plaintiff, et al. v. Clemson City of South Carolina.
Plaintiffs Hare and Holley Ulbrich originally filed the lawsuit in August 2024 and alleged Clemson City Council held “illegal, secret subcommittee meetings, improperly held one or more executive sessions, and improperly held illegal, secret meetings or discussions for which there was no public notice, no minutes or other public records, and no public forum such that City residents could engage in the process or provide public comment, all related to Hub Clemson.”
The duo asked for invalidation of the city council’s “unlawful” votes on the Hub Clemson development of April 1 and April 15, 2024, according to court documents.
By Evan Smoak, The (Seneca) Journal | Read more
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New RCFP tipsheet helps journalists access immigration, deportation records
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has published a new tipsheet to help journalists access public records while reporting on immigration and deportation. ...
The Reporters Committee’s two-page tipsheet helps journalists navigate the complex web of federal, state, and private entities that make up the American immigration system. It is intended to simplify the newsgathering process and answer questions journalists are likely to have when they set out to obtain data, documents, and other records from agencies like U.S. Customs and Border Protection and private detention facilities that have contracted with federal agencies.
The Reporters Committee soon plans to publish a more extensive legal guide focused on helping journalists and newsrooms cover immigration and deportation.
From RCFP | Read more
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O’Neil named publisher of S.C. Paxton Media papers
LANCASTER, S.C. — The parent company of The Lancaster News has named a new publisher in the wake of the departure of Dale Morefield last week.
Paxton Media Group has named Linda O’Neil publisher of all six of Paxton Media Group’s South Carolina papers, as well as one in North Carolina. Besides the Lancaster paper, those include the News & Reporter in Chester, the Progressive Journal in Pageland, the Chronicle Independent in Camden, the Lee County Observer, the Country Chronicle in Blythewood and The Enquirer Journal in Monroe, N.C.
O’Neil has been in the newspaper industry for over 30 years; the last four years with Paxton Media Group, which purchased The Lancaster News in 2021, along with the Chester and Pageland papers. It bought the other South Carolina papers in 2023.
“I am excited Linda O’Neil will be leading the newspaper for the community. Her years of experience provide a wealth of knowledge that will benefit our readers, advertisers and staff,” said Jana Thomasson, president/group publisher of Paxton Media Group Eastern Division.
Paxton Media Group is a family-owned media company headquartered in Paducah, Ky. Paxton now publishes about 120 newspapers, mostly in the Southeast and Midwest.
O’Neil, who has been circulation director and marketing manager of The Lancaster News since 2015, and other papers as they were acquired in the last few years, will retain that role, in addition to her new responsibilities. She has been with The Lancaster News since 2003, focusing primarily on audience, distribution and advertising.
“I am excited and honored to be promoted to publisher of Paxton Media Group’s South Carolina newspapers and The (Monroe) Enquirer Journal,” O’Neil said. “Community journalism is a vital resource to local communities. Imagine your community without a newspaper. There would be no ‘watchdog’ for the community and no local interest information for you and what affects you. I am dedicated to leading these newspapers with this mission.”
By Jane Alford, The Lancaster News | Read more
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P&C Rising Waters Lab receives MacArthur grant to support climate journalism
The MacArthur Foundation recently announced more than $6 million in grants to support the growing field of climate journalism in the United States.
The Post and Courier is one of 15 organizations that will receive a three-year general operating and flexible support grants.
The Rising Waters Lab at The Post & Courier will receive $400,000 for its reporting about how climate change-fueled flooding, rising seawater, and related issues impact South Carolina’s diverse communities.
From MacArthur Foundation | Read more
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Hardy named CEO of The Marshall Project
Editor's Note: Congratulations to Katrice Hardy, who served as executive editor of the Greenville News and regional editor of USA Today Network's South region. She is also a former Executive Committee member of SCPA.
Katrice Hardy, a seasoned media executive who has led major news organizations in Texas, Indiana and South Carolina, has been named chief executive officer of The Marshall Project, the Pulitzer prize-winning nonprofit newsroom that covers criminal justice. She begins on March 17 and will be based in Dallas.
Hardy takes on a new role at The Marshall Project, which was previously co-led by a president and editor-in-chief. As chief executive officer, she will oversee both the newsroom and business sides of the 10-year-old nonprofit.
“For 10 amazing years The Marshall Project has shined a light on our country’s broken criminal justice system,” said Liz Simons, chair of The Marshall Project’s board of directors. “Now, at a time when journalism is under siege and truth-telling more urgent than ever, I couldn’t be more excited for the next chapter Katrice will usher in. She brings rich editorial experience, an innovative mindset, and a deep commitment to our mandate of telling stories that would otherwise be untold.”
From The Marshall Project | Read more
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Deadline to enter Center for Integrity in News Reporting Awards extended to Feb. 15
The Center for Integrity in News Reporting Awards will award four $25,000 awards for the most fair, impartial, objective news reporting that has the courage to not fear and the discipline to not favor.
News reports published in the calendar year 2024 are eligible for submission.
The deadline to submit entries has been extended to Feb. 15. There is no entry fee.
Judging will be done by the Newspaper Association Managers, the national organization of the state press associations.
SCPA member news organizations are strongly encouraged to enter this contest. Learn more
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‘You’re a dying breed.’ SC’s Nancy Mace spars with reporter over Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons
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Columbia homeless shelter manager fired after speaking to press. The exact reason remains a mystery.
COLUMBIA — A manager at the city's homeless shelter said she was fired after speaking with a reporter during a planned tour of the facility last week, but no one will say who made the decision or for what reason.
Andrea Jamison was one of several staff members at Columbia’s Rapid Response Homeless Shelter interviewed by The Post and Courier on Jan. 23 about what it was like to work there during a days-long cold snap.
The following morning, she was fired from her job as house manager.
By Chloe Barlow and Josh Archote, The Post and Courier Columbia | Read more
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