AlaPressa

The Newsletter of the Alabama Press Association APRIL 2010

The future now

Will the new
generation of
tablet computers
and netbooks
finally provide
the portable
answers for
electronic
media
newspapers
have been
waiting for?
PAGE 6

ALSO INSIDE
2010 Summer
Convention
has a new look

APA announces
new officers

APA welcomes two

new members

Rainsville and
Fort Payne papers
merge

Libel suit against

Anniston Star
dismissed
 SEPTEMBER 2009 AlaPressa 2

Journalism Summit will mix

students with APA delegates
Alabama Press Association
Alabama Newspaper Advertising
Service Inc.
3324 Independence Drive
Suite 200
Birmingham, AL 35209
(205) 871-7737
(205) 871-7740 (fax)
www.alabamapress.org

Board of Directors
Joe Thomas, President,
The Tri-City Ledger,
Alan Davis, First Vice President,
VP of Media General
Leada Gore, Second Vice President, 2010 Summer Convention
APA returns to the House.
Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham Following the luncheon,
for the 139th winter meeting, Parsons will participate in a
has a new look
Hartselle Enquirer
Cy Wood, Chairman of the Board, coined this year as the panel discussion moderated
Valley Times-News Journalism Summit & Job Fair by APA General Counsel
on Feb. 25-27. APA has an Dennis Bailey. The panel will
Michele Gerlach, The Andalusia
Star-News Signature event set for June 4-5
exciting program planned this discussion elements of cover-
Stacy Graning, The Messenger year, mixing journalism stu- ing a political campaign from
Ann Laurence, News Courier dentsThere
fromwill be athe
around new venue
state the perspective of a candi-
Mike Marshall, Press-Register for the 2010 APA
with editors and publishers. Summer date, a reporter and a consult-
Bob Martin, Montgomery Independent Convention
The summitJune will4-5:
open thewith
Caribe
ant. Joining Christi on the
Condominiums, located just across
Tommy McGraw, Sumter County athe
reception and barbecue
bridge from the Perdido Beach buf- panel will be Dr. Larry Powell,
Record-Journal fet at the
Resort. Alabama Sports Hall professor of communication
LaVale Mills, The Red Bay News of Fame. Buses will be
This will mark only the secondavail- studies at UAB.
David Moore, The Arab Tribune able
timeto and1987
since from that
the APA
Wynfrey
has held APA Journalism Found-
David Proctor, Clay Times-Journal a summer meeting anywhere other
Hotel. mail
ation’s Jobdelivery.
Fair willHeath
round will
out also be
Jim Rainey, The Opelika-Auburn News than the PBR.
Friday In the summer
programs of available
will the afternoon.to Editors
review andyour postal
Tom Scarritt, The Birmingham News 2001, with
begin APA a ventured to the eastern
presentation statement,
by publishers willso bring
havea copy
the of your
Jerome Wassman, Daily Mountain Eagle shore of Mobile Bay to the Grand most recent
Peter Zollman of Classified opportunity to visit with jour- statement.
Hotel. The luncheon speaker
Intelligence,
ConventionLLC and The
registration nalism
packets students in a format
former Press-Register reporter
of will be
Advanced
will be mailed Interactive
in a few Media
weeks, but15-minute
Eddie prearranged
Curran, whose inter- recently
APA Staff Group sponsored by SNPA’s views.
you can reserve your condo now by released book, “The Governor
Felicia Mason, Executive Director Traveling Campus.
calling Caribe Zollman’s
at 1-888-607-7020. And,
of Goatdon’tHill”,
forget the raffle
covers the political
Brad English, Advertising Manager There is will
program a two-night
focus onminimumshow- for benefiting
downfall the APA Journalism
of former Gov. Don
Leigh Leigh Tortorici, Senior APA
ing members,
delegates how however
to engagethe cost Seigelman.
Foundation! The drawing will
Marketing Representative per nightwith
readers decreases the longer you
online products, be held Oneduring
thing that
the will not change
Friday
Michelle Touchton, APA Event and stay.APA
with a lookalso hasnew
at the a block
world of of
rooms aboutreception
evening this summer convention is
featuring
Journalism Foundation Coordinator available at the Perdido Beach
classified. the recognition
selected artwork of of the BNC and
artist
Resort. Advertising Contest winners on
Tay Bailey, Member Services The luncheon
Some of the will feature will
programs Daniel Moore.evening.
Saturday The lucky win-
Coordinator Alabama native Christi ner willThe receive a trip to St.
include a presentation from Kevin winning entries will be on
Chris McDaniel, Parsons, WhiteJournalismHouse and Luciadisplay
and $1,000
Slimp on Digital duringcash.
the afternoon, and
Network Coordinator Correspondent
simple ideas for generatingfor the Web After the reception,
the reception APA
and banquet will
D Dennis R. Bailey, General Counsel revenue.Tribune/Los
Chicago In addition to Kevin
Angeles recognize
will honor winners from
the recipients of theboth the
Scott Goldsmith, APA Accountant Slimp, Parsons
Times. we’ll have postalthe
covered expert
2010advertising
Lifetime and editorial contests.
Achievement
Obama campaign from its on
Max Heath with breaking news Award.Mark your calendars for June
postal issues,
beginning to including
the White the recent 4-5, and look for registration
discussion on eliminating Saturday materials soon.

2 AlaPressa • April 2010

Welcome new APA officers
Left to right: Cy Wood, Joe Thomas, Alan Davis, Leada Gore.
Joe Thomas, publisher and editor
of The Tri-City Ledger, has been
elected president of the Alabama
Press Association. Thomas
succeeds Cy Wood, publisher and
editor of the Valley Times-News in
Lanett. Wood became chairman of
the board for a year.
Thomas is a native of Tuscaloosa
and a journalism graduate of the
University of
Alabama. He began his career as
a staff writer at the Elk Valley Times
in Fayetteville, Tenn. He returned to
Alabama as a staff writer and later
sports editor at the Andalusia Star-
Pappas
IMPORTANT DATES
Online Media
Campus Training:
Social Media
Friday, April 2
1 – 2 p.m. CST
Intro to
Photoshop
Friday, April 16
1- 2 p.m. CST
Journalism
Foundation
Meeting
April 22
University of
West Alabama
News. He worked as editor and
publisher of the Brewton Standard
before becoming editor of the Tri- Selling Against
City Ledger in 1989. He was named
publisher in 1996. Your Competition
Thomas has previously served Friday, April 23
two terms on the APA board of
directors and has chaired the Better 1 – 2 p.m. CST
Newspaper Contest Committee.
He is a member of the Flomaton
Area Chamber of Commerce, APA Summer
the Escambia County Industrial Convention
Development Authority, and the
Flomaton Public Library Board. His June 4-5, 2010
Orange Beach, AL
See OFFICERS, Page 4
Pappas leaves Daily Home
for new adventure
Former APA president Carol Pappas has formed a multimedia
Pappas has resigned from her post marketing firm, Partners by Design,
as publisher of The Daily Home in which will be based in Pell City.
Talladega, a position she held since She is joined by Graham Hadley,
1997. Pappas first joined The Daily who resigned as managing editor at
Home as a reporter in 1981. The Daily Home, to join the new firm.
She also resigned her position as Ed Fowler, vice president
a member of the Board of Directors of operations for Consolidated
of Consolidated Publishing. Pappas Publishing, will serve as interim
served as APA president in 2006. publisher at The Daily Home.
She is a native of Birmingham and a Fowler was publisher of the
graduate of Auburn University. newspaper from 1992 to 1997.
AlaPressa • April 2010 3
4 AlaPressa
Judge dismisses open meetings suit
against Montgomery Board of Education
Circuit Judge Eugene Reese
ruled last month that while the
evidence presented in the case
against the Montgomery Board of
Education clearly showed meetings
occurred that were not noticed, and
no minutes were kept, the meetings
did not violate the Open Meetings
Act.
In December Clay Slagle, the
operations officer for Montgomery
Public Schools and a former
candidate for superintendent sued
the Montgomery County Board
of Education alleging the board
met in secret during the selection
process and later in discussing the
superintendent’s performance.
The case alleged that on Nov.
Officers from Page 3
wife, Debbie, is a reading coach in
Flomaton. They have two children,
Abbott, 17, and Maggie, 13.
Alan Davis, vice president
and regional publisher for Media
General in Alabama, became
first vice president of APA. Davis
currently serves as chairman of the
APA Advertising Committee. He
has previously served two terms on
the APA board, and served on the
Executive Committee in 2007.
Leada Gore, publisher of The
Hartselle Enquirer and The Madison
County Record, was elected second
vice president.
Gore is a graduate of the
University of Montevallo with a
degree in history. She joined Boone
Newspapers in 1992 as a staff writer
at the Shelby County Reporter.
Currently she writes a column
that appears in six Alabama
newspapers.
Gore is a past board member
of the Junior League of Huntsville
and current secretary-treasurer
of the University of Montevallo
Foundation. She lives in Madison
with her husband, Greg, and her
16, 2009, the seven-member board
met in subgroups to avoid a quorum
to discuss the performance and
goals of the superintendent as well
as other items concerning public
funds and public education.
The board held a special meeting
the next day and voted 7-0 to
approve goals and objectives for
the superintendent.
The suit claimed the Alabama
Open Meetings Act was intentionally
violated with the use of serial
meetings to avoid a quorum.
A second part of the suit claimed
four members of the board met
together in June to discuss the
selection of a superintendent.
In his order, Judge Reese states
two-year old daughter, Sutton.
Greg’s son, Derek, is a sophomore
at Gardner-Webb University in
North Carolina.
Board members elected for
their first two-year term were:
Ann Laurence, publisher of The
News-Courier in Athens; Jerome
Wassmann, publisher of The Daily
Mountain Eagle in Jasper; David
Proctor, publisher of the Clay
Times-Journal in Lineville; and
Mike Marshall, editor of the Press-
Register in Mobile. Bob Martin,
publisher of The Montgomery
Independent, and Michele Gerlach,
publisher of the Andalusia Star-
News were elected to second two-
year terms.
Members remaining on the APA
board are: LaVale Mills, publisher of
The Red Bay News; David Moore,
editor of The Arab Tribune; Tom
Scarritt, editor of The Birmingham
News; Tommy McGraw, publisher of
the Sumter County Record-Journal
in Livingston; Jim Rainey, publisher
of the Opelika-Auburn News; and
Stacy Graning, publisher and editor
of The Messenger in Troy.
The APA Journalism Foundation
elected Tommy Campbell, publisher
of The Choctaw Sun-Advocate in
March 2010
the evidence is “without dispute”
that at no time during the meeting
on Nov. 16 were there more than
three board members present,
which did not constitute a quorum.
Therefore, there was no violation of
the law.
As for the June meeting, the order
states that when the board realized
four members were present, one
member left so that a quorum was
no longer present. Again, Judge
Reese did not find a violation of the
Open Meetings Act.
An appeal has been filed claiming
the meetings of three members
were committee meetings, and
therefore must follow the notice and
quorum provisions of the law.
Gilbertown, as its new president,
and Tim Prince, publisher of the
Shelby County Reporter and
The Clanton Advertiser, as vice
president. Campbell succeeds
Jerome Wassmann, publisher of
The Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper,
who became chairman of the board.
Publishers Ricky Matthews
of the Press-Register in Mobile,
Darrell Sandlin of The TimesDaily
in Florence, and Jason Cannon of
The Demopolis Times, were elected
for their first two-year term on the
Foundation board.
Journalism Foundation board
members elected for a second term
are: Adam Prestridge, publisher
of The Atmore Advance; Rhonda
Gray, editor of The Call News
(Citronelle); Kerry Whipple Bean,
publisher of The Brewton Standard;
and Tom Wright, executive editor of
The Decatur Daily.
Members remaining on the
Foundation board are: Ron Reaves,
executive editor of The Gadsden
Times; Kevin Wendt, editor of The
Huntsville Times; Patrick Johnston,
managing editor of The Eufaula
Tribune; and J.D. Davidson,
publisher and editor of The Fort
Payne Times-Journal.
March 2010 AlaPressa 5

Using Social Media

to Foster Community
Friday, April 2
2:00-3:00 p.m. EST | 1:00-2:00 p.m. CST
Registration deadline: Tuesday, March 30
(Registrations submitted after this date are subject to a $10 late fee.)

Registration fee: $35

Group discounts are available. Visit our website for more information.

In this webinar...
The presenter...
Now that you know the various social media
Nathan Wright
tools - what can you do with them? has over 10 years
This session will cover the technology platforms of expertise in
social media, web
and best practices for connecting with your readers culture, emerg-
on their turf - including how to handle commenting ing media, user
wars, new forms of monetization, niche content, interface design,
branding and digi-
mash-ups, and eReader devices that will have a big tal communications. He found-
impact on the publishing industry. ed Lava Row in 2007 after
serving as the Interactive Lead
at The Meyocks Group, an in-
tegrated branding firm. Wright
can often be found organizing/
attending TweetUps and Social
Media Breakfasts.
Presented in partnership with: Wright also writes about web
strategy for The Des Moines
Business Record’s IowaBiz.
ALABAMA PRESS ASSOCIATION com.

REGISTER TODAY AT WWW.ONLINEMEDIACAMPUS.COM

Online Media Campus is brought to you by Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and Iowa Newspaper Foundation
6 AlaPressa March 2010

Can the Apple iPad save newspapers?

The Apple iPad can reintroduce the serendipity of reading we know from print
The Apple iPad – that tablet
computer everyone was speculating
about – is out, and publishers are
hoping that Apple will can offer the
same magic for the print world that
it did for the music industry with
iTunes. So is digital journalism
suddenly saleable?
After remaking the business of
the music industry and re-inventing
the mobile phone, Steve Jobs
obviously is up for something new,
and journalism has got his attention.
The New York Times quoted an
internal source: “Steve believes in
old media companies and wants
them to do well. He believes
democracy is hinged on a free press
and that depends on there being a
professional press.” Sounds like he
has a business model in mind.
Presenting the iPad yesterday,
Jobs was joined by the New York
Times’s Martin Nisenholtz, the
senior vice-president overseeing
the paper’s digital operations, to
present a crisp Times app for the
iPad. Financially the New York
Times has not struck any deals
with Apple yet – as Nisenholtz said,
it gave them only three weeks to
develop the app. However, this
seems likely to be the device that
will finally put a price on digital
journalism, and not only because
the Times is heading towards a
metered pay model for its content.
So what does it look like?
When Nisenholtz introduced the
Times application, he said: “We’re
incredibly psyched to pioneer the
next generation of digital journalism.
We want to create the best of print
and best of digital, all rolled up into
one.” Which is what they did.
Still there is something new that
might be worth paying for: a much
stronger focus on design via a 9.7
inch colour display.
This allows the iPad to
reintroduce the serendipity and
the browsing we know from print:
several articles fit on one screen
and the size of an article marks
its importance. As seen with some
experiments before, video can play
inline. In addition, with Wi-Fi, 3G
and the multitouch interface, it can
offer readers more interaction than
ebook readers such as Amazon’s
Kindle.
The app developed within three
weeks combines the visual design
of print with new interactive features
Combining a new visual approach
with the iTunes payment system,
which reaches 100m credit-card
accounts, Apple could help create a
way for media companies to change
the consumer attitudes of the up till
now free digital era.
The New York Times were the
only publishing company that was
approached by Apple. However,
Condé Nast is preparing for the
iPad since quite a while. Sarah
Chubb, president of Condé Nast
Digital, said the company plans
to have some of their magazines
ready when the iPad ships in
March. Stephanie Clifford of the
always well informed Times’ Media
Decoder blog is as specific as
saying that Vanity Fair, Wired and
GQ are likely candidatest to be
the first. Sports Illustrated of Time
Warner is also ready for take off.
In December, they had their ideas
presented by the Thing.
Next Issue Media, the digital
initiative of Condé Nast, Hearst,
Meredith, News Corporation and
Time Inc. announced last month,
declined to comment, saying:
“We are certainly paying close
attention to all developments in
this area (including today’s iPad
announcement) and are looking
forward to seeing new products
come to market that will support the
kind of highly featured, immersive
reading experience we intend to
create.”
For that, the new device has
to become popular – and the
acceptance of the Kindle says it
can. While the Kindle’s exact sales
numbers are not released, it is
widely estimated that as of the last
quarter 2009 there were about 1.5
million devices sold. If Steve Jobs
would save journalism, it might be
possible that publishers would get
him the Holy Grail.

WHAT A GREAT IDEA! LEGAL NOTICES PUBLISHED IN

The Centreville Press
Check out the simple
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Organ and as a
ARE ALSO ON THE WEB AT
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March 2010 AlaPressa 7

Libel suit against Anniston Star dismissed

A Calhoun County judge ruled in favor of Consolidated Publishing, publisher of The Anniston Star, in
a libel case brought by an Anniston city councilman.
The councilman claimed that several articles and editorials published by the newspapers related to
an alleged connection between the councilman and a consultant who received a city contract were
libelous.
See below an article written by Dennis Bailey of Rushton, Stakely, Johnston and Barton, who
represented The Anniston Star in the case. Bailey is also APA General Counsel.

The attorney’s view of the case

By Dennis R. Bailey
Public Official Libel Plaintiff: “I don’t like that they printed about me this in
the editorial: ‘It is often a rude profession, one with a reputation of calling out
the incompetent buffoons and demagogues inhabiting public office.’”
Defense Attorney: “Isn’t that what editorials do?”

Public Official Libel Plaintiff: “What is a buffoon anyway?”

Defense Attorney’s Unspoken Answer: [An elected official who does not know
what a “buffoon” is.]

The above [except the
unspoken part] comes from
page 228 of the Deposition of
City Councilperson Ben Little
during his deposition in a case
he filed in an Alabama Circuit
Court claiming The Anniston
Star libeled him in an article and
editorial, questioning whether
he had a personal relationship
with an independent auditor
he recommended as well as
his general effectiveness as an
elected representative. In the
real world, I bit my tongue and
moved on to the next question.
Fortunately, after months of
discovery and depositions of
the reporter, editorial writer
and publisher, taken after a
motion for summary judgment
was filed, Circuit Judge
Malcolm Street, Jr. entered
a 10-page order granting
summary judgment for The
Anniston Star and its reporter
one week before the case was
to be tried before a jury.
To me, this decision helped
me appreciate more fully the
importance of a libel decision
that arose back during the
Civil Rights Movement in my
hometown of Montgomery,
Alabama.
Actually, it is a case which
you probably can name off
the top of your head. It just
so happens that the biggest
libel decision in our lifetimes
originated from what was, at
the time, the largest jury verdict
in Alabama entered in the
Circuit Court of Montgomery
County, Alabama. It was
affirmed unanimously by the
Alabama Supreme Court, and
then reversed by a unanimous
United States Supreme Court.
Yes, I am speaking of THE
New York Times v. Sullivan
case. I know one of the lawyers
who tried the case and argued
it (on the losing side) before
the U.S. Supreme Court: “I
told the Court the only way we
could lose was if they changed
the law of libel.” My father
was a friend of L.B. Sullivan,
the plaintiff. I have the Times
advertisement: “Heed Their
See ATTORNEY, Page 8
8 AlaPressa
Attorney from Page 7
Rising Voices” in my desk. I
have actually read the reversed
Alabama Supreme Court
opinion as part of teaching libel
law to my media law class at
Auburn University because it
is a textbook on libel law prior
to the establishment of actual
malice as a defense.
The case of Ben Little v.
The Anniston Star presented an
ironic twist of the facts of New
York Times v. Sullivan. Instead
of a Caucasian elected police
commissioner complaining
to an all-white jury about a
Southern Christian Leadership
Council sponsored ad critical of
police treatment of Dr. Martin
Luther King and published
in that “anti-Southern” The
New York Times, Little was
an African-American elected
city counci lmember from
a predominately African-
American ward of Anniston,
Alabama, who sought to
inflame a racially mixed jury
with his perception that The
Anniston Star criticized him
either because it was racist or
because the newspaper wished
to profit from an opposing view
on the best way to develop
Anniston’s old Ft. McClellan
property because its offices
were built on a portion of that
land.
Specifically, Little claimed
that a quote from a white
council member at a public
meeting that there was a “buzz”
in the community that he had a
“personal relationship” with an
unmarried female auditor he
had recommended the city hire
(after renting a car to visit her
and taken her out to dinner two
times) was “false, defamatory
and malicious” although the
article went on to quote the
author of the statement as
saying: “If this is true it needs
to be disclosed and if not true
it is not fair to Mr. Little;” and
despite the fact that Little, an
unmarried man, was quoted as
saying the allegation was false
and “if true it would not involve
city business.”
An editorial the next day
listed a “litany of Little’s
failures” and commented on
the “Sweetheart Deal” Little
had proposed for the auditor.
Star editorial writers suggested
Little was a demagogue,
buffoon, crank, and very
divisive to boot. It was bare
knuckled criticism of a popular
elected official about his job
performance.
But the evidence also
established that Little had
been offered and turned down
the opportunity to respond to
the editorial in the form of an
op-ed piece. Instead, Little
chose to respond on a radio
program he hosts and with a
libel suit claiming unspecified
compensatory and punitive
damages.
Fortunately, after discovery
was complete and the case was
a week away from trial, Judge
Street found that the statement
that there was a “buzz” in
the community that Little
had a personal relationship
with the auditor was either
“substantially true” or never
asserted or proven to be false.
He also held it was “not capable
of a defamatory meaning.” He
further ruled the statements
in the editorial were pure
March 2010
opinion and not statements of
fact. Finally, based upon New
York Times v. Sullivan, and its
progeny, he ruled that Little had
failed to come forth with “clear
and convincing evidence”
of actual malice sufficient to
defeat a motion for summary
judgment. Little’s claim under
the Alabama Tort of Outrage
was subsumed by the libel
claim and dismissed also.
Brandy Ayers, publisher
of The Anniston Star (which
incidentally is referred to as the
“Red Star” by conservatives
locally because of its alleged
history of “liberal” activism)
had a characteristically colorful
quote about the decision:
“Anybody who has paid
attention to city hall politics
over the past few years knows
the suit against The Star was
vagrant, without any visible
means of support.” Testimony
in the case revealed that Ayers
had been at the top of the
KKK’s “hit-list” in the 1960s
and claims that Ayers was a
racist were laughable to anyone
who had followed his career to
the slightest degree.
The bottom line is that the
case turned out the right way
although getting there was
expensive, contentious and
unpleasant for the subjects of
the suit and even their lawyers.
But the case is a reminder of the
dangers a libel case with racial
undertones would present today
in Alabama if L.B. Sullivan’s
$500,000 verdict had not been
reversed by the U.S. Supreme
Court in 1964. Hopefully,
the Little decision will chill
the “buffoonery” of a public
official libel case in Alabama
for at least a few years.
March 2010 AlaPressa
Sales Tax Information for
Alabama Newspapers
Kim B. Smith, CPA
JamisonMoneyFarmer PC
During recent years, states, cities and counties
have experienced a loss of sales tax revenues.
Much of this loss can be attributed to Internet
sales and the general economic downturn of the
country. Governments have placed an emphasis
on collection of sales tax revenue, and there is
a general increase in the amount of sales tax
audits performed at both the state and local level.
The purpose of this article is to provide general
information about sales taxes applicable to the
newspaper industry.
The sale of a newspaper is a retail sale. As such,
tax is collected and remitted on the gross sales
price of the newspaper. Newspapers are sold in
a variety of ways – racks, over-the-counter in the
newspaper office, through independent carriers
and via U.S. mail. In each of these instances, the
newspaper should collect and remit sales tax on
the total gross proceeds of the sale.
Alabama law states that a consumer should be
informed of the amount of sales tax that is being
collected and remitted in a sales transaction.
Alabama Regulation 810-6-4-.20 states,
“Whenever practical, each retailer shall add the
sales tax as a separate line item to the selling
price. The initial invoice, bill, charge ticket, sales
slip, or receipt shall separately state the amount of
the tax being charged.
If not separately stated, it will be presumed
that sales tax was not charged to the customer
or collected. In such cases, the measure will
be the gross receipts. In those instances where
it is practically impossible to furnish a customer
with an invoice, bill, charge ticket, sales slip or
receipt, the retailer shall conspicuously post a
sign indicating that the charge for the item being
purchased includes the price of the item and the
total percentage of sales tax being collected.”
Technically, it is not enough to have a statement
on the invoice that states “sales tax included in
purchase price”. The newspaper is required to
indicate on the invoice or receipt the gross sales
price, tax and total amount due.
Alabama Regulation 810-6-1-.110 also states
that “Postage charges over and above the regular
price for the publication, separately billed, for
mailing to individual readers will not be required to
9
be included in the measure of the tax.” Therefore,
newspapers are not allowed a deduction from
gross proceeds for the cost of postage. Postage
costs are only excluded from sales tax if they are
separately billed to the customer.
Some newspapers will have rack sales in
multiple cities and counties. In these cases, the
sale is completed when and where the customer
takes possession of the newspaper. The sales
tax is based upon where the rack is located.
Newspapers that are delivered to or sold via rack
sales in multiple counties will be required to remit
sales tax based upon the county where the sale
takes place. One exception to this rule is when
subscriptions are mailed out-of-state and out-of-
county. Sales out-of-state or out-of-county are
considered interstate commerce sales and are not
subject to Alabama sales tax requirements. If the
newspaper has a physical presence in the state
where the newspaper is delivered, the newspaper
may be required to follow the sales tax rules for
the state where the newspaper is delivered.
In addition to sales tax, it is possible that
the newspaper will have requirements to file
Consumer’s Use Tax returns. Consumer’s Use Tax
is imposed on tangible personal property brought
into Alabama for storage, use or consumption in
Alabama when the seller did not collect the sellers
use tax on the sale of the property. (Alabama
Code Section 40-23-60) Use tax applies to local,
city, and county taxes as well. For example, if
a newspaper purchases supplies or a piece of
equipment over the Internet from a company that
does not have nexus in Alabama and sales tax
is not paid at the point of sale, the newspaper is
required to remit use tax to Alabama, and the city
and county where the equipment is delivered. Use
tax also applies to items previously purchased at
wholesale that are withdrawn from inventory for
the withdrawer’s own use.
Advertising supplements or circulars are
sometimes inserted into newspapers. Alabama
Regulation 810-6-1-.130 states that there are
no sales tax consequences when the inserts
and advertising supplements are inserted into a
newspaper when the inserts and supplements are
printed by the publishers of the newspaper and
sold as part of the newspaper published. Also,
See TAX, Page 10
10 AlaPressa March 2010

Alred named
publisher at
Jacksonville and
Piedmont
Consolidated Publishing Corporation has
announced that John Alred has been promoted
to publisher of The Jacksonville News and The
Piedmont Journal. Alred had been managing
editor of both newspapers.
Alred replaces Phil Sanguinetti as publisher in
Jacksonville and Robert Jackson as publisher in
Piedmont. Sanguinetti and Jackson will remain as
consultants.
“This is a great honor for me,” Alred said. “I
believe community newspapers are the backbones
to smaller communities like Jacksonville and
Piedmont, and I am proud to be the publisher of Alred
these newspapers.
“I have some big shoes to fill. Phil has been the
publisher in Jacksonville for many, many years. In at The Times, Alred worked as a reporter, news
Piedmont, I’m following not only Robert Jackson, editor, sports writer and assistant sports editor,
but Austin Johnson and Lane Weatherbee. copy editor and in the advertising department as
“Let me say this. The readers of these two creative manager.
weekly newspapers will continue to get the very When he retired from The Times, he came to
best of local coverage they have come to expect. The Jacksonville News, and after less than a year,
We have good people at both newspapers who he was named managing editor of The News and
are dedicated to bringing our readers the news The Journal.
that means the most to them.” He is a native of Gadsden and is a graduate
Alred joined The Jacksonville News in 2006 after of Jacksonville State University. He lives between
32 years at The Gadsden Times. During his tenure Jacksonville and Piedmont with his wife, Karen.

Tax from Page 9

when the supplements and inserts are printed
by another printer for insertion into a newspaper
sold at retail, the publisher will purchase the
supplements and inserts at wholesale (no sales
tax paid). The inserts must actually be a part of
the newspaper and not circulated separately to
the customers of the newspaper.
If the newspaper contracts to send the
supplements separately, sales tax will be due at
the time the inserts are purchased.
It would be wise to review sales tax practices in
your business to ensure that you are complying
with the sales and use tax laws of Alabama. Keep
in mind that the sales tax rules of the state also
apply to the individual counties and cities. We
recommend that you review your sales and use
tax procedures at least annually to ensure that
you are collecting and remitting the proper amount
due. An internal review can provide you with the
best chance to receive a “no-change” audit report.
JamisonMoneyFarmer PC is available to assist
you with an internal review of your company’s
compliance with sales and use tax requirements.
205-345-8440. You will hear more on this topic at
the summer convention.
March 2010 AlaPressa 11

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Online Media Campus is brought to you by Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and Iowa Newspaper Foundation
12 AlaPressa March 2010

People
The Medical Association of the work as a reporter and editor for Daily Home Publisher Carol
State of Alabama has awarded both papers. Maze was formerly Pappas, began a new business
Choctaw Sun-Advocate editor managing editor for both papers. venture, Partners by Design.
Dee Ann Campbell with the Katie Cole was named editor
2010 William H. McDonald Print of Lake magazine. She was Rob Rice has been named
Journalism Award for excellence formerly a reporter for both editor of the Blount Countian
in medical reporting. papers and will continue in that in Oneonta. Rice has been
The award is given annually to role in addition to her work on managing editor since 2004, and
one community journalist in the the magazine. replaces Molly Howard, who
state whom the association feels Natalie Nettles also joined will remain as publisher.
has best presented medical the TPI group as a general
issues in a manner that is factual assignment reporter. She is a Wesley Sinor has returned
and relevant to the community. graduate of Auburn University to Price Publications as a
Campbell received the award and worked at The Plainsman, sports writer for The Tallassee
for her article on Alzheimer’s the school’s student newspaper.Tribune. He previously worked
disease that appeared in the July at The Wetumpka Herald and
8, 2009, issue of The Choctaw Erin Sellers has joined the as an intern and later a full-time
Sun-Advocate. This year marks staff of The Piedmont Journal employee. Sinor is a graduate of
the third consecutive year that as advertising director. She is a Auburn University with a degree
Campbell has been selected for graduate of Troy University and in journalism.
the award. Campbell will receive has a degree is journalism.
her award during MASA’s annual Austin Nelson has joined
session and awards banquet to Geni Certain has returned the staff of The Greenville
be held on April 9 in Huntsville. to Consolidated Publishing as Advocate. He is a native of
managing editor at the Daily Houston, Texas, and a graduate
Tallapoosa Publishers recently Home in Talladega. She was of Auburn University. Nelson
announced several staff changes previously managing editor at The will be working has a community
at The Outlook in Alexander City Anniston Star before becoming reporter.
and The Dadeville Record. Dale director of Consolidated
Liesch was named print editor Publishing’s Online Department Melanie Patterson will
for The Outlook and The Record. in 2000. She retired three years become the new managing
He was formerly news editor ago and completed her master’s editor of The North Jefferson
for The Outlook and overall degree from Jacksonville State News in Gardendale. She is
responsible for The Record. University in history. replacing Adam Smith who is
Brent Maze will focus on TPI’s Certain replaces Graham moving to Georgia with another
print products, and continue to Hadley, who along with former newspaper position.

The Auburn Plainsman,
Auburn University’s student
newspaper, was recently named
the top newspaper in the region
at the 2010 Southeast Journalism
Conference at Southeastern
Louisiana University in
Hammond, La.
Also honored were Plainsman
Photographer Rod Guajardo
Briefs
(second place, photographer of
programs in the country. New
the year), Reporter Elli Langford
York University took the top
(ninth place, journalist of the
ranking overall for the second
year), and The Plainsman’s Web
year in a row. The award was
site (eighth place). announced earlier this month at
the PRWeek Awards Ceremony
The University of Alabama in NYC.
received recognition from PRWeek is a weekly trade
PRWeek as one of the top two
Public Relations educational See BRIEFS, Page 14
March 2010 AlaPressa 13

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Briefs from Page 12

magazine based in New York Reflections of our Lives and by a grant from the Alabama
City for the public relations Times. Press Association. Journalism
industry. The Heritage will be inserted Education Association
the last week of each month administers the program.
The staff at the News Courier into The Red Bay News as well Alabama mentors are Nora
in Athens was honored recently as being sold as a stand alone Stephens of Huntsville, Jo Ann
by Athens State University with publication. Hagood of Jackson and Marie
its Deweese and Jim Beasley The new publication will cover Parsons of Tuscaloosa. The
Appreciation Award for their work three counties in Northwest retired teachers have more
to ensure The News Courier Alabama – Franklin, Marion than 75 years experience and
informs its readers of what is and Lamar, and also three have been trained specifically
happening in the community. Mississippi counties – Itawamba, for journalism mentoring. The
Publisher Ann Laurence and Tishomingo and Monroe. program is designed to support
Managing Editor Kelly Kazek The content will be provided and encourage new journalism
received the award for the staff. mostly from readers and will be teachers so they will become
Since 2002, the staff has printed in a newspaper format. highly effective advisers to
won more than 200 state and student staffs in newspaper,
national press awards. The Publishers are invited to yearbook, literary magazine and
staff and Laurence are involved nominate new advisers of high broadcast.
in numerous community school publications to enter To learn more about the
organizations. a mentoring program offered program or to recommend an
through the Alabama Scholastic adviser, please contact Meredith
The Red Bay News recently Press Association to help them Cummings, Director, Alabama
launched a new monthly through the crucial first two years. Scholastic Press Association,
publication called Heritage – The national effort is supported meredithcummings@gmail.com.

Industry Watch
ABC offers service for
small newspapers
The Audit Bureau of Circulation
has launched a new ABC
Community Newspaper Audit
service that will significantly
lower publisher costs and simplify
audit requirements. The service
became available to all U.S. and
Canadian newspapers with paid
circulation under 25,000 on Jan.
1, 2010.
The new service will feature:
• All-inclusive fees that
begin at a flat annual rate of
$2,000 per year
• Streamlined, off-site
audits that occur every other
year and require less publisher
preparation and involvement
• Simplified rules and
reporting requirements
• Inclusion in FAS-FAX
and ABC’s searchable online
database
• Flexible billing options
“This is a significant new
service offering that directly
addresses the challenges many
community newspapers face
today,” said Kirk Davis, president
and COO of GateHouse Media
Inc. “Many publishers in this
category will likely see savings of
25 to 50 percent, with the quality
and brand draw of an ABC audit
to help them attract local, regional
and national advertisers. I think it
will have widespread appeal for
many newspapers.”
Merle Davidson, director of
media services at J.C. Penney
Co. and chairman of the ABC
board, added, “In today’s
marketplace, many regional
and national companies are
advertising in community
newspapers to improve reach
and coverage in local markets
no longer being served by
metropolitan newspapers.
Having important, ZIP-code-
level information from these
newspapers included in ABC’s
integrated database is essential
for advertisers that want to build
the most effective media plans.”
ABC’s new Community
Newspaper Audit service is just
one of several steps the nonprofit
organization has taken recently
to help its publisher members
address the realities of today’s
See INDUSTRY, Page 15
March 2010 AlaPressa 15

Industry Watch from Page 14

market. The ABC board has also
agreed to freeze audit fees for
2010, the third year in a row fees
have been held in place.
In-county newspapers
entered at delivery offices
avoid 78% piece price
increase for ‘FLIMSY’
newspapers
National Newspaper
Association received news this
week that its campaign to help
community newspapers avoid
a postage up-charge intended
for lightweight publications
was successful, and a 78% in-
county piece rate increase that
would have taken effect in June
has been averted. The Postal
Service announced that it would
not assess a charge on carrier-
routed newspapers entered at
delivery offices. The charge
may still apply to outside-county
carrier-routed newspapers that
fail a “droop” test.
The test applies to flat mail
that droops more than 4 inches
when extended 5 inches off a flat
surface.
NNA President Cheryl
Kaechele, publisher of the
Allegan County (MI) News,
said the charge was proposed
last fall, and that NNA’s Postal
Committee Chairman Max
Heath had immediately swung
into action to prevent it. The
“droop” test is imposed to charge
flats that are too lightweight
to be handled by automated
sorting machinery, but in the
latest iteration, USPS had said
it thought that even publications
not sorted by machine should be
assessed the charge.
“We were greatly concerned,”
Kaechele said, “The Postal
Service had announced that
there would be no postage
increases during this very
challenging economy. Then
to suddenly find this daunting
charge looming because of a
mere rules change was very bad
news indeed. We congratulate
the Postal Committee and Max
Heath for effective advocacy
to turn back this threat to our
industry.”
Heath said: “NNA won a
decisive victory in its effort to
ensure that so-called ‘flimsy
flats’ entered at DDU post
offices retain the Basic carrier-
route price for 6-124 Periodical
pieces or 10-124 Standard Mail
Enhanced Carrier route pieces
on a route if they fail a so-called
‘deflection’ test.
“NNA was the only association
publicly cited during a presentation
on the final rule at the Mailers
Technical Advisory Committee in
Washington February 17 for the
reasonableness and quality of
arguments to a Federal Register
filing. NNA, several members,
and some state associations
filed comments showing
that newspapers would be
discriminated against with a 78%
increase to 5-digit Periodical
rates should a newspaper fail
a new, more restrictive ‘droop
test.’”
This revised test applies to
“flat mail” that droops more than
4 vertical inches when extended
5 inches off a flat surface.
The final rule, effective June
7, indicates that the test will be
applied to periodicals, such as
magazines, that don’t enter at
Destination Delivery Units.
Heath said, “I encourage
publishers to maximize their DDU
drops if at all possible to avoid
this nasty penalty if they have
a concern that their newspaper
could fail the droop test.”
“This decision once again
shows the value of mailers
dropping their own subscriber
copies via Exceptional Dispatch
to DDU post offices, both in-
county and across county lines,
anywhere substantial carrier-
route mail exists,” Heath said.
“Likewise, those with Standard
Mail shoppers get the same
price discount on Basic price
carrier route sorted mail entered
at the DDU. High-density and
Saturation mail is already
exempt from this penalty in both
classes.”
Each NNA member
newspaper without high page
counts will enjoy a savings of 4.6
cents per piece when sorted to
the Basic carrier-route price In-
county (line A13 of Form 3541),
and 12.3 cents on every Basic
carrier-route price piece Outside
County (line C25 of 3541). DDU-
entered shopper copies would
have a savings of 11.4 cents per
piece from Basic-price pieces
staying on line I12 rather than
going to line E9 for 5-digit rates
on a 3602-R.
Members can annualize
their savings by multiplying
$0.046 times in-county Basic
carrier route copies times the
number of issues in a year, then
$0.123 times outside-county
Basic carrier route copies times
annual issues. For newspapers
with shoppers, or free Standard
Mail newspapers, paying Basic
carrier-route rate, multiply
$0.114 times line I12 copies
times the number of issues in a
year. That should more than pay
for annual dues for any member
and multiple years membership
for some.
Details of the deflection test,
which is still being argued by
major mailers, will appear in Max
Heath’s Pub Aux Postal Tips
column prior to implementation.
16 AlaPressa March 2010

The future online is linked, not paid

By Debra Gersh Hernandez
(Editor’s Note: The following story
is from the National Newspaper
Association’s Government Affairs
Conference held recently in
Washington, D.C.)
WASHINGTON—The “most sacred
role for journalists” is finding out the
truth, said Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington.
To wit, she dreams of a non-partisan, fact-checking tool
that automatically flags political misstatements or half-
truths.
At the National Newspaper Association’s 49th annual
Government Affairs Conference, Huffington also cautioned
against the media tendency to focus obsessively on one
sentimental story at the expense of providing more news
in a bigger context.
Calling it “lazy journalism,” Huffington decried the
tendency in political reporting to write simply about right
versus left rather than looking at what is in between.
Fading, too, are the journalists who flag issues before
they become problems: “Far too many autopsies and far
too few biopsies,” she said.
Community and local newspapers, she told the NNA
audience, “are uniquely poised” to tell stories of “amazing
empathy” and people giving back to their fellow citizens.
These stories, Huffington said, “are essential to rebuilding
our communities.
“When we report on people giving back, it encourages
others to do it,” Huffington added. “Our problems are so
big we can’t rely on government alone. We need people
to get involved.”
Solidly on the side of linked content online, without
paywalls, Huffington said that unless content is extremely
specific, there’s no going back to the past with paid
content.
“I don’t claim to have all the answers,” Huffington
said, “but I think linked content [versus paid] is like [what
Winston Churchill said about] democracy—it’s the best of
all the other systems out there.”
To make money in such a system, “we need to find
ways to monetize our content no matter where it appears,”
Huffington explained. This can be done, for example,
within embedded video players or through monetized
links.
Debra Gersh Hernandez is a freelance writer. She can
be reached at debragh@verizon.net.

Former APA
President M. Hollis
Curl, editor and
publisher of the
Wilcox Progressive
Era in Camden,
died Tuesday, Feb.
2 at his home in
Camden. He was
74.
Curl was born in Red Bay, Ala.,
and was raised in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Curl and his wife, Glenda, have
owned the Wilcox Progressive
Era since 1969. He began his
newspaper career with a paper
route for the Knoxville News
Sentinel. He also put out his own
version of a neighborhood paper as
a youngster. When the Oak Ridger
began publication in the late 1940s,
Curl was the first one to get a paper
route.
While in college, Curl worked
at the student newspaper at the
University of Mississippi as well as
working in a print shop in Oxford.
He returned to Oak Ridge in 1956
and married Glenda, his high school
sweetheart. He soon returned to
the Oak Ridger as an advertising
Obituaries
representative. In 1959, he moved
to the Clinton (Tenn.) Courier News
as advertising manager. In 1960,
he went to work in advertising
at The Dothan Eagle, and later
became publisher and owner of The
Choctaw Advocate in Butler. Over
the years, Curl owned newspapers
in Demopolis, Montevallo and
Marion before settling in Camden.
Curl is survived by his wife,
Glenda, son Mark, daughter Julie
and seven grandchildren.
Valerie Harvey, wife of The
Advertiser-Gleam editor Sam
Harvey, died Feb. 1, 2010, at her
home in Guntersville. She was 79.
Harvey, a native of Marguerite,
Pa., was married to Sam Harvey for
57 years.
They moved to Guntersville in
1967 when Sam became editor of
the family paper, The Advertiser-
Gleam. Valerie later joined the staff
of the paper as circulation director
and receptionist. She eventually cut
back to part-time and wrote feature
stories for the paper before retiring
in 1986.
Harvey was an accomplished
vocalist and a member of the choir
at St. William Catholic Church.
While living in Washington, D.C.,
she was a soloist with the Pentagon
Choral Club.
She is survived by her husband
Sam Harvey, two sons, two
daughters and eight grandchildren.
Ralph Higginbotham, former
publisher of The Jacksonville News,
died Dec. 22, 2009. He was 93.
Higginbotham worked for The
Anniston Star for 16 years. He
formed Higginbotham Printing
Company as well as Calhoun
Publishing, publishers of The
Jacksonville News.
Higginbotham was active in
many civic organizations, hi church
and in the field of education.
Mary Kennedy, office manager
of the Clay Times-Journal and the
earlier Ashland Progress, died on
Jan. 24. She was 87.
Kennedy served the newspapers
for 34 years, working until she was
85 years old. She handled billing
and receipts, subscriptions and
assisting with mailing each week.
March 2010
Kevin answers questions concerning
photos, InDesign and PDF problems
Kevin Slimp
Institute of
Newspaper Technology
kevin@kevinslimp.com
From Becky in Iowa:
Hi Kevin,
I have an SD card that was taken out of a
camera and placed in another without first
downloading the photos. We tried using
PhotoRescue (3 years old) to retrieve the
photos. We were able to get some but most
seem corrupt. Do you have any ideas how
else to retrieve these photos? It is an 8GB
card with approximately 1,000 photos.
Dear Becky:
It sounds like you did what you could do to get
them. There are services that normally charge
$700+ to retrieve info from drives, but that’s
probably more than you want to spend to get
your photos back. My favorite program to do
this is Klix, from JoeSoft.com. It might be
worth $30 to give it a try. Good luck! (Becky
wrote back: “Thanks Kevin! I tried Klix and
it retrieved almost all of the photos undam-
aged. I downloaded it for $30, but it’s worth
it. Thanks!”)
From Victor in Tennessee:
Hi Kevin.
How can I open an InDesign CS3 file in
CS2?
Not a problem, Victor.
Simply export the file in InDesign CS3 as an
InDesign Interchange (INX) file. You will
be able to open the file in InDesign CS2,
CS3 or CS4. Now for an interesting side
note. During a trip to Minnesota recently,
someone told me they had been successful
in opening an INX file in a text editor and
changing a few numbers, which allowed
them to open the file in earlier versions of
InDesign than usual. Normally, an INX file
can only be opened in versions of InDesign
AlaPressa
Columns
one number lower than the version it was
exported from. This morning, I opened a
file in InDesign CS4, exported it as an INX
file, then changed three numbers in the INX
file by opening it in Apple Text Editor and
changing three settings. Sure enough, I sent
the file to someone using InDesign CS and
they were able to open the file successfully.
The settings I changed were “DOMVersion,”
“readerVersion” and “product.”
From Curt in Illinois:
Kevin,
We are getting more and more ads from
outside of our company in which black is
made up of all four CMYK colors. I re-
member reading one of your articles a
while back about either a plug-in or a pro-
gram used to fix these PDF files. Can you
suggest a good one?
l version=”1.0” encoding’”UTF-8” standalone=”yes”?>
type’”document” DOMVersion=”5.0” readerVersion=”4.0” product=”5.0”
By changing a few numbers in the
INX le, InDesign documents can be
opened in earlier versions
17
Yes, Curt. I can think of a couple of options.
Your most affordable option, other than to open
the file in Photoshop and go through what can
be a grueling process of converting the plates to
black, is available in Acrobat 9 Pro. There is a
color conversion tool that sometimes does a very
good job of finding all the black text on mul-
tiple plates and converting them to the black
plate only. While this doesn’t always work, it
works often enough to give it a try. Another op-
tion, though a bit expensive for many newspa-
per budgets these days, is Enfocus Pitstop Pro.
This plug-in for Acrobat does a great job of
correcting color problems, including converting
text on all four plates.
From Beckham in Iowa:
I’m having trouble that no one can seem
to help with. My company is still using
InDesign CS2. I tried calling Adobe for
help, but they’re no longer supporting
this version of Creative Suite. We just got
two new 27” iMacs, with OS 10.6 (Snow
Leopard). On the new computers, InDe-
sign keeps crashing, won’t export PDFs,
and randomly has items disappear from
the page. Is this a problem with using
CS2 on the new machines? I also thought
it may be a problem with our ancient font
package; a lot of them conflict with the
system fonts in the new OS. I’ve disabled
all of the fonts that do, but am still hav-
ing problems. I am assuming that it’s ei-
ther the fonts, or CS2 or both, but no one
can tell me for sure. This only happens in
InDesign.
Dear Beckham:
If it were the fonts, I would think you’ d
see similar problems in other applications.
Have you tried throwing away your In-
Design preferences? That’s the first thing I
always try. You’ ll find them in your User
folder>Library>Preferences>com.adobe.in-
design.plist. (Beckham wrote back the fol-
lowing: “I just exported a PDF. You made
my day! Thanks.”)
18
Curl remembered for passion for journalism, Wilcox County
By Al Benn
(The following is reprinted from
The Montgomery Advertiser Sunday,
February 7, 2010)
If you called Hollis Curl a journalistic
dinosaur, he’d probably laugh first and
then agree because he’d consider it a
compliment.
He loved newspapers, but most
of all he loved journalism because of
what it enabled him to do to help those
who needed it the most.
Today’s newspapers are a far cry
from his days as a shoeshine boy in
the tiny northwest Alabama town of
Red Bay, where he’d sell a few copies
of the local weekly paper while waiting
for his next customer at the local hotel.
If he had trouble getting polish off
his fingers at times, imagine what it
must have been like when printer’s ink
began seeping into his system.
His death last week at the age of
74 may have ended his love affair with
the printed word and the people who
read his “For What It’s Worth” columns
for 40 years, but it’s unlikely to erase
fond memories of a man who has left
an indelible mark on his profession.
Clarke County Democrat publisher
Jim Cox said it best when hearing of
Hollis’ death after a long battle with
cancer, calling him “the last of a breed
of community newspapermen that is
fast disappearing.”
“It is a cliche to say ‘They don’t make
‘em like him anymore,’ but they don’t,”
Cox said. “And that is the newspaper
industry’s and society’s loss.”
The Thursday memorial service
for Hollis drew many mourners to the
ferry terminal on the Camden side of
the Alabama River — an appropriate
site.
The ferry and the Alabama River
would become important parts of
Hollis’ life when he and his wife,
Glenda, arrived in Wilcox County in
1969 as a turbulent decade filled with
a bloody war, assassinations, a race
to the moon and civil rights protests
faded into history.
By that time, ferry service had
stopped between the predominantly
black community of Gees Bend and
the mostly white town of Camden.
Whites in political control of Wilcox
AlaPressa
Columns
County felt the best way to stay in
power was to keep new black voters
as far away from the courthouse as
possible.
It also distanced black residents
from the county’s only hospital. Some
Gees Benders who had a car never
made it there in time. They died during
the hour-long drive to a bridge leading
to Camden.
Hollis never denied his
segregationist beliefs, but then he
wasn’t any different from most whites
in the Deep South during that period.
Change was, indeed, blowing in
the wind during the 1960s, and it
swept into Hollis’ heart as he began
printing the Wilcox Progressive Era in
a county where progress often was in
the eye of the beholder.
His was basically a one-man
operation. He took care of just about
everything — writing, editing and
photographing everything in sight.
Glenda was by his side every day of
the week when she wasn’t overseeing
household and motherly obligations.
They tried to find time to get away
for a few days whenever possible
and one of their joys was attending
Alabama Press Association events
as well as journalism conferences
around the country.
Awards quickly began to fill every
inch of walls inside the Progressive
Era. He won Troy University’s coveted
Hector Award four times and became
the first weekly newspaper editor in
the country to receive an Ethics in
Journalism Award from Sigma Delta
Chi, the Society of Professional
Journalists. It was presented to
him at the National Press Club in
Washington.
Restoration of ferry service four
years ago came about primarily
because of Hollis’ persistence. It took
years of editorializing, gentle arm-
twisting of those in high places and
whatever else he could do to bring it
about. The best part? He lived long
enough to see it happen.
Hollis’ efforts weren’t overlooked by
black residents, including some who
once looked at him with disdain.
“I believe time changes all of us,”
said Wilcox County Circuit Clerk
Ralph Ervin, a black leader who
attended the memorial service. “A lot
March 2010
of segregationist views were based
blindly on the times.”
The service was held without
comments from anyone, just a slow,
quiet passing of friends who stopped
at the casket and took one final look
at a man they admired.
Slides of Hollis and relatives were
shown on a large screen along with
a musical backdrop that included
“Home” by Michael Buble and
“Yesterday” by Ray Charles.
Hollis’ editorials were often hard-
hitting examinations of important
county issues, but he was also a bit
of a curmudgeon who liked to spice
them up with his own special brand of
levity.
That humor never left him, even as
he knew his days were numbered and
he wouldn’t allow maudlin thoughts to
cloud good conversation.
Cox recalled the day he and several
other publishers drove to Camden to
have lunch with Hollis when he was
still able to get around.
“He looked around the table and
said he wondered why we had all
come to see him,” said Cox, who
added: “Then he exclaimed: ‘Damn
pallbearer candidates.’”
Mark Curl, a member of the Wilcox
County Commission, said discussions
on how his father should be laid to rest
brought a couple of “suggestions” and
laughter. “He once told me he should
be cremated with his ashes spread in
next week’s ink in the paper or put into
shotgun shells and for us to go duck
hunting,” he said.
In the end, Mark drove the hearse
onto the Gees Bend Ferry and, as it
drifted slowly across the Alabama
River Thursday morning, remembered
his dad with love in his heart and tears
in his eyes. Then, it was on to the ferry
terminal for the memorial service.
Hollis’ name is on a plaque inside the
entrance, but it should be stretched
across the top of the building.
Let’s hope that oversight is
corrected soon. No one deserves it
more.
Alvin Benn writes about people
and places in central and south
Alabama.
If you have suggestions for a story,
contact him at 875-3249 or e-mail
him at benn8071@bellsouth.net.
March 2010
Web sites an integral part of election coverage
How to use the
Internet wisely
By Jim Pumarlo
A small-town editor lamented an
approaching press conference by a
statewide candidate. The issues to
be addressed were at the forefront of
her community, but unfortunately her
readers would receive the word first
from the nearby daily.
Many community newspapers likely
face similar circumstances, yet the
predicament need not be so daunting
if newspapers utilize their Web
sites. The Web places community
newspapers on a level playing field
with their larger counterparts and the
broadcast media. The Web should be
at the forefront of all newsrooms in
everyday operations and especially
so during the election season.
The Web affords dailies and
nondailies alike an avenue to expand
coverage. At the front end, it’s the first
stop for breaking news. On the other
hand, the Web affords unlimited space
for in-depth coverage.
Here is one checklist for utilizing the
Web to complement and supplement
coverage. Newsrooms should
take time to brainstorm additional
opportunities for embracing the Web
in all aspects of election coverage.
Expand the coverage. Post
candidate position papers, complete
press releases and other material
that editors deem newsworthy but
are unable to accommodate in the
print edition. List appropriate links to
candidate Web sites. Make certain
however, that unlimited space does
not translate into a free-for-all for
candidates and their public relations
machines. Releases and position
papers must be scrutinized for news
value. Candidates who attempt to
portray advertorial as news should be
directed to the advertising department.
Think beyond words. Don’t limit
the expanded coverage to words.
Focus on video and audio as well;
the opportunities are many. Present
slide shows of campaign events.
Bring a camera to a press conference
and present immediate coverage,
AlaPressa
Columns
promoting a more detailed story in the
print edition. Post full-length candidate
interviews for those readers who want
to hear candidates think on their feet
and respond to questions in their
actual words. Live video streaming
from iPhones or other handhelds
via ustream.tv or qik.com are also
available.
Letters to the editor.
Newspapers generally experience an
overabundance of letters to the editor
and other commentary during election
season. One option is to reserve
space in the newspaper for the more
substantive letters that address
issues.
The strictly “endorsement” letters –
those that express general support for
candidates but don’t really focus on
issues – can be posted on the Web.
Create a letters section on the Web for
easy reference.
Compare and contrast candidate
endorsements. Many organizations
and newspapers weigh in on which
individuals they believe will best
represent various constituencies.
Package these endorsements in one
section so readers can evaluate the
arguments and then respond with
their own comments.
Provide links to other Web sites
and blogs. Many individuals and
organizations offer their perspectives
on candidates and issues. Candidates
also might forward links to Web
sites that promote their campaigns.
Establish criteria for publicizing
these links. No. 1, Web sites should
be verified as credible sources of
information. No. 2, editors must sift
through the maze of blogs to see which
ones are pertinent and worthwhile to
the election dialogue
Enlist a citizens panel. Many
newspapers, no matter the size
of their newsrooms, are strapped
for resources to present thorough
campaign coverage. Select a citizens
panel – representing a cross-section
of your community’s demographics
– and have them weigh in at various
stages of the campaigns. Who do they
support, and why? Are their opinions
swayed by a particular event or press
conference at a critical juncture of the
campaign, and why? What do they
identify as candidate strengths and
19
weaknesses? Their observations and
reactions throughout the campaign –
and on election night – can be posted
on the Web immediately with minimal
or no editing.
Breaking news. Distribute e-mail
blasts for important breaking news.
Campaigns from beginning to
end. Editors would like to believe that
all readers are attentive to the blow-
by-blow developments in campaigns.
The reality is that people are busy
and stories get missed. The Web
presents an opportunity to chronicle
campaigns from candidate profiles to
debates to Q&As on issues central
to the race. Readers have a one-
stop shop to a comprehensive and
chronological overview of campaigns.
Most important, however, is that the
coverage is organized and easy to
navigate.
Election-night coverage. Post
running vote totals on election night,
especially for those local races where
the information might not be readily
available in other media outlets.
A couple of final points to consider
as newsrooms weave the Web into
their everyday election coverage.
No. 1, personal blogs for editors
and political reporters should be
mandatory. The observations and
insights can be valuable elements in
election dialogue.
No. 2, explain what coverage will
be found in the newspaper and what
will be posted on the Web. Readers
and candidates can become confused
if coverage is fragmented and
disjointed.
Newspapers should continually
cross-promote their tandem coverage
between the print edition and the
Web. The best coverage in either
venue will be missed if readers are not
kept abreast of the hows and whys of
coverage.
Jim Pumarlo writes, speaks and
provides training on Community
Newsroom Success Strategies. He is
author of “Votes and Quotes: A Guide
to Outstanding Election Coverage”
and “Bad News and Good Judgment:
A Guide to Reporting on Sensitive
Issues in a Small-Town Newspaper.”
He can be contacted at www.
pumarlo.com.
20 AlaPressa
Columns
The power of a freebie
Recently, I ran across two interesting
ads in the same paper. Each ad made
use of one of the most effective tactics in
the marketing toolbox – a free offer. The
first ad was for an insurance company,
and promised a free key ring – with built-
in flashlight – to anyone who called for an
estimate on car insurance. The second ad
offered a free Mini Cooper automobile with
the purchase of a high-end condo.
Obviously, there is a huge difference –
in significance and cost – between a new
car and a key ring. However, even though
these offers are worlds apart, they have
a lot going for them. Here’s what we can AD-LIBS
learn from these two examples: by John Foust
1. Make it relevant. The insurance ad
targeted an older audience, a fact which
was clearly stated in the ad. The real estate ad was aimed at hip,
young professionals – the audience that also fits the profile of Mini
buyers. That was no coincidence.
An offer has to be relevant to the target audience. The condo
buyers would not pay attention to a key ring offer. And a Mini would
have zero importance to senior readers.
Even though the flashlight feature may seem cumbersome and
unnecessary to some readers, that feature makes the key ring
particularly desirable for seniors. Many older people have difficulty
finding keyholes at night.
The condo developer probably considered a variety of models,
once he or she decided to give cars away.
But I have a hunch that the choice was quickly narrowed by the
fact that the Mini’s “coolness factor” would make a statement about
the personality of the development. If you’re cool – or if you want to
be cool – this is the place for you. It’s clearly an offer that appeals
to their Yuppie audience.
2. Be a matchmaker. The value of the giveaway should match
the action you want readers to take. A freebie that accompanies
a purchase should be more expensive than a gift that rewards an
inquiry. And of course, the bigger the purchase, the bigger the
giveaway.
A car is an eye-popping gift – big enough to stop readers in their
tracks. A key ring is small. But that’s okay, because each offer is a
good match.
3. Keep it fresh. If an advertiser offers freebies all the time, the
tactic will eventually lose its appeal. To produce results, a free offer
should seem special – and create a sense of urgency. (“Respond
now, before we run out of these handy widgets.”)
Each offer should seem new and different, not the same old
thing. For years, a business magazine to which I subscribe made
the same renewal offer – a free pen. Ho hum. They finally changed
their tune, and their most recent subscription notice offered
additional issues at no extra cost. That offer is much better.
Although free offers have been around for years, they continue to
motivate consumers to take action. The secret is to think it through
– and make the right offer to the right audience.
(c) Copyright 2010 by John Foust. All rights reserved.
E-mail John Foust for information about his training videos for
ad departments: jfoust@mindspring.com
March 2010
Beware of
information
missing in
plain sight
Let’s start this month
by looking at a small story Common
with a big problem (some Sense
details have been changed
to protect the guilty): Journalism
Headline: Woman by Doug Fisher
dies in early morning
shooting
Wherever County sheriff’s deputies are
investigating the shooting of a woman early
Sunday. She was shot in the upper body at 1234
Rounder Drive, sheriff’s officials said. She was with
four other women involved in an attempted robbery,
the officials said.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers
at 765-4321.
The headline says the woman died, but nothing in
the story says she did. In fact, she lived, prompting
a later correction. (There’s also the ambiguity of
whether she was part of the robbery or somehow
just “with” the other women.)
I call these “missing in plain sight” cases. There’s
just enough information to make you think it’s all
there, but a vital piece is missing. In this case,
“shooting” sounds vaguely complete, but of course
a person shot can be dead or injured.
Readers needed the woman’s condition, and to
get that the reporter probably needed her name, too.
So one query from an editor could have produced
two solid pieces of information and prevented that
very wrong headline.
And if the information isn’t available, say so. If
it’s likely to be an obvious question for readers, you
won’t hurt your credibility by saying you at least
tried.
There was a time when such things seemed
relatively rare – I could go weeks between adding
to my collection. Now, my file seems to be regularly
getting new entries.
– There was the recent full-color, spread in a
newspaper’s local lifestyle magazine touting how a
county tennis center would be the center of a major
national tournament. But if the readers wanted
to go, they might have had to turn to Google –
nowhere in the story did it say where that tennis
center was.
– One story was full of details about a bank
robbery, down to the street and block – except it left
See SENSE, Page 21
March 2010 AlaPressa 21

Columns
A publisher’s type face? text?

questions style guide?

By Ed Henninger page position? display face?

A new publisher’s got a lot to think about: cash flow,
staffing, profit and loss, circulation, paper costs, internet signature color?
presence—and that’s just for starters.
Eventually, he’s going to want to focus on the paper’s
design—because he understands that the visual impact of
measures?
his newspaper is critical to its success with both readers and
advertisers.
What does he need to know? What are the questions he
needs to ask so he can take a leadership role in the design A new publisher should
process? It’s not important that he know all the details, or have a batch of questions
even that he remember them if he’s told. What is important is about the design of his
that his managers—especially in the newsroom—know the newspaper.
answers and be ready to respond when asked.
If newsroom leaders can’t offer ready responses to any of
the following questions, it’s a sign that someone isn’t giving • What is our text font? Why that one?
the newspaper’s design the attention it requires. • What is our display type face? Why that one?
These 25 questions (some with follow-up questions) • What are the rules for the use of non-standard
will help any publisher know more about the design of his typefaces?
paper—and how well that design is being shepherded by his • Why do we use (or not use) page labels?
newsroom. • Do we have a consistent style for labels and other
25 questions a publisher should ask about the design of standing elements?
the newspaper:
• What is the size of our text type?
• What is the spacing between lines of text? See QUESTION, Page 22

Sense from Page 20
readers to guess the name of the bank.
– Another reported how a car had
run off a local interstate highway
interchange and hit a tree, killing the
driver. But what interchange, exactly?
In each case, it seemed on the
surface there was enough information,
but when you dug deeper, there was a
hole.
In the case of the tennis center story,
it’s a dangerous hole, too. Start sending
your readers to something like Google
to get the necessary information and
they might just find they can get what
they need without you.
It’s not enough to have just the who,
what, when, where, why and how; you
have to make sure you have enough
of each. But doing so is tough work
and requires discipline and the time to
enforce it.
You may have seen those brain-
teasing examples where parts of words
are left out or the letters scrambled,
but we can still read and understand
the text as long as the first and last
letters are there. The brain is powerful
in its ability to fill in the blanks, to press
forward. It is born of the need to make
quick, often life-preserving decisions
with incomplete information, but it is a
trait that does not always serve us well
when writing or editing.
So while I’d like to think my file
is swelling for a reason other than
decimated, harried copy desks (and
newsrooms overall), I fear that’s why it
is.
Aside from accuracy and credibility,
there’s another reason to pay attention.
You might actually find a better story.
My friend Benjy Hamm, editorial
director of Landmark Community
Newspapers, uses for instruction
a Florida newspaper article about
how funding cuts were endangering
summer classes at that state’s colleges
and universities. It meanders for about
20 inches through the budget woes
and possibility of class cuts. But a few
paragraphs from the end pops out a
sentence that Florida makes students
take nine summer credits.
A state that requires students to take
summer courses to graduate is thinking
of doing away with many of those
courses? Isn’t that something readers
would be talking about tomorrow? If
true – and with more information about
that – you have a heck of a story.
And if it isn’t true, questioning it
could save an embarrassing gaffe.
Doug Fisher, a former AP news
editor, teaches journalism at the
University of South Carolina and can
be reached at dfisher@sc.edu or 803-
777-3315.
Past issues of Common Sense
Journalism can be found at http://www.
jour.sc.edu/news/csj/index.html.
22
Question
from Page 21
• How wide are our gutters?
• Why that width?
• What unit of measure do we use:
picas or inches (or other)?
• What are our rules on color use?
• Do we have a signature color?
What is it?
• Why do we have certain pages
positioned where they are?
• What pagination software are we
using?
• When was the last time we
upgraded our software?
• When was the last time we
redesigned?
Multimedia Manager/
Classified
Advertiser Media Group is the River
Region’s number one source for news
and information. We offer a variety of
print and internet product to meet our
customer’s needs. We are looking for
talented individuals who want to grow
with the organization and be a part
of our success story. We have the
following opportunities available:
MULTIMEDIA MANAGER/
CLASSIFIED
The Multimedia Manager/Classified
responsible for developing and
executing strategies and tactics to drive
revenue and active account growth
across classified verticals including
automotive and real estate for our
daily and weekly newspaper, digital
and magazine products. As an integral
member of the organization’s leadership
team, this person will be responsible
for making recommendations to
enhance our competitive position
in the marketplace. The selected
candidate must also have the proven
ability to define, develop, and assist in
coaching our teams to a high level of
performance.
The ideal candidate must have a high
sense of urgency, be a self-motivated
over-achiever and have a strong desire
to succeed.
AlaPressa
Columns
• Why did we do it then?
• How is it holding up?
• Do we have a design style guide?
• When was it written?
• Who wrote it?
• Who is in charge of updating it?
• When was the last time it was
updated?
• Whose responsibility is it to keep
the design on track?
• When did we last do a focus
group looking at the design?
If the newsroom can answer these
questions without hesitation, the
new publisher can rest assured that
someone is looking out for the well-
being of the design.
Help Wanted
This is an outstanding career
opportunity for candidates to develop
a rewarding career working with
one of the River Region’s most high
profile brands – The Montgomery
Advertiser, while working for one of the
nation’s leading news and information
companies—Gannett.
Responsibilities
• Lead a team that is responsible
for automotive and real estate sales
and service functions across print and
digital platforms including Cars.com,
Homefinder.com and Apartments.com.
• Develop staff skills on prospecting
new advertisers, closing sales,
communication, negotiation, and
selling multi-media product packages.
• Manage and measure expected
results through use of standards of
performance and by coaching team
members to success through ongoing
feedback, training and conducting
annual performance appraisals.
• Achieve revenue and active
account goals through development
and implementation of products
focused on meeting customer needs.
• Grow revenue for the Advertiser’s
high profile products by developing
business from existing and new
customers.
• Assess and monitor market
conditions and sales performance.
Create, adapt, implement and
communicate strategic and tactical
plans to achieve desired results and
March 2010
FREE DESIGN EVALUATION: Ed
Henninger offers design evaluations—
at no charge and with no obligation—
to readers of this column. For more
information, check the FREEBIE
page on Ed’s web site: www.
henningerconsulting.com
ED HENNINGER is an
independent newspaper consultant
and the Director of Henninger
Consulting. Offering comprehensive
newspaper design services including
redesigns, workshops, staff training
and evaluations. E-mail: edh@
henningerconsulting.com. On the
web: www. henningerconsulting.com.
Phone: 803-327-3322.
initiatives.
• Negotiate contracts and establish
relationships with key current and
prospective clients.
• Serve as a member of the
departmental operational planning
team responsible for executing
strategies and budgets.
Requirements
• Minimum three years sales and
managerial experience. Newspaper,
magazine or digital sales and sales
management a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree or combination
of education and experience.
• Ability to effectively manage
and develop others and direct the
operations of the department.
• Ability to meet/exceed sales/
revenue goals and to identify new
opportunities and create sales solution
• Knowledge of digital product
applications as they relate to advertising
opportunities. Excellent understanding
of sales compensation and standards
of performance programs.
• Excellent verbal communications
skills. Must be articulate and persuasive.
• Highly organized and disciplined
self-starter able to work independently
and as part of a team.
• Must have the drive to exceed
expectations and outperform peers.
• PC and Internet proficiency,
including MS Office and Outlook
See HELP, Page 22
March 2010
with advanced skills with Excel and
PowerPoint.
• Current driver license, clean driving
record (no more than three moving
violations within three years), reliable
transportation and proof of insurance.
Your Opportunity
• Competitive base compensation
with bonus potential.
• Comprehensive benefits plan that
promotes health and wellness, builds
current and future financial security,
enhances work-life balance and allows
for personal choice and flexibility for
employees and their dependents.
The Advertiser Company offers
an excellent compensation package
including health, dental, vision and
401(k) plan. If you are interested and
meet our requirements, please email,
mail or fax your resume along with a
cover letter, and salary history to:
The Advertiser Company Human
Resources Department
425 Molton Street
Montgomery, AL 36104
Fax: 334-261-1587
Email:
HR@MontgomeryAdvertiser.com
EOE/M/F/D/V
All positions are listed on
CareerBuilder.com™ and you may also
apply online there.
03/23/10
Multimedia Manager/Retail
Advertiser Media Group is the River
Region’s number one source for news
and information. Our family of news
products includes the Montgomery
Advertiser, montgomeryadvertiser.
com, Prattville Progress, Wednesday
Progress, Millbrook Progress,
Wetumpka Progress, Bulletin Board,
and the Maxwell Gunter Dispatch. We
are looking for talented individuals who
want to grow with the organization and
be a part of our success story. We have
the following opportunities available:
Multimedia Manager/Retail
The Multimedia Manager/Retail
is responsible for developing and
executing strategies and tactics to
drive revenue and active account
growth across retail verticals including
daily and weekly newspaper, digital
and magazine products. As an integral
AlaPressa
Help Wanted
member of the organization’s leadership
team, this person will be responsible
for making recommendations to
enhance our competitive position
in the marketplace. The selected
candidate must also have the proven
ability to define, develop, and assist in
coaching our teams to a high level of
performance.
The ideal candidate must have
a high sense of urgency, be a self-
motivated over-achiever and have a
strong desire to succeed.
This is an outstanding career
opportunity for candidates to develop
a rewarding career working with
one of the River Region’s most high
profile brands – The Montgomery
Advertiser, while working for one of the
nation’s leading news and information
companies—Gannett.
Responsibilities
• Lead a team that is responsible
for retail sales and service functions
across print and digital platforms.
• Develop staff skills on prospecting
new advertisers, closing sales,
communication, negotiation, and
selling multi-media product packages.
• Manage and measure expected
results through use of standards of
performance and by coaching team
members to success through ongoing
feedback, training and conducting
annual performance appraisals.
• Achieve revenue and active
account goals through development
and implementation of products
focused on meeting customer needs.
• Grow revenue for the Advertiser’s
high profile products by developing
business from existing and new
customers.
• Assess and monitor market
conditions and sales performance.
Create, adapt, implement and
communicate strategic and tactical
plans to achieve desired results and
initiatives.
• Negotiate contracts and establish
relationships with key current and
prospective clients.
• Serve as a member of the
departmental operational planning
team responsible for executing
strategies and budgets.
Requirements
• Minimum three years sales and
23
from Page 22
managerial experience. Newspaper,
magazine or digital sales and sales
management a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree or combination
of education and experience.
• Ability to effectively manage
and develop others and direct the
operations of the department.
• Ability to meet/exceed sales/
revenue goals and to identify new
opportunities and create sales solution
• Knowledge of digital product
applications as they relate to advertising
opportunities. Excellent understanding
of sales compensation and standards
of performance programs.
• Excellent verbal communications
skills. Must be articulate and
persuasive.
• Highly organized and disciplined
self-starter able to work independently
and as part of a team.
• Must have the drive to exceed
expectations and outperform peers.
• PC and Internet proficiency,
including MS Office and Outlook
including advanced skills with Excel
and PowerPoint.
• Current driver license, clean driving
record (no more than three moving
violations within three years), reliable
transportation and proof of insurance.
Your Opportunity
• Competitive base compensation
with bonus potential.
• Comprehensive benefits plan that
promotes health and wellness, builds
current and future financial security,
enhances work-life balance and allows
for personal choice and flexibility for
employees and their dependents.
The Advertiser Company offers
an excellent compensation package
including health, dental, vision and
401(k) plan. If you are interested and
meet our requirements, please email,
mail or fax your resume along with a
cover letter, and salary history to:
The Advertiser Company Human
Resources Department
425 Molton Street
Montgomery, AL 36104
Fax: 334-261-1587
Email:
HR@MontgomeryAdvertiser.com
EOE/M/F/D/V. All positions are listed
on CareerBuilder.com™ and you may
also apply online there.
03/23/10
See HELP, Page 25
24 AlaPressa
Selling Against
Your Competition
Friday, April 23
2:00-3:00 p.m. EST | 1:00-2:00 p.m. CST
Registration deadline: Tuesday, April 20
(Registrations submitted after this date are subject to a $10 late fee.)
Registration fee: $35
Group discounts are available. Visit our website for more information.
In this webinar...
Based on in his soon-to-be-released book, Competitive Selling,
newspaper industry sales trainer Landy Chase will show you
the proper approach to positioning yourself as the best possible
media option – and how to consistently win media buying
decisions over radio, television, and other media competitors. In
this content-rich webinar, you will learn:
• The keys to value differentiate the value of newspaper media
buys
• How to sell against radio, TV, and other major media
competitors
• How to persuasively communicate your ability to deliver results
• Why competitive media sales are rarely lost on “price” – and
what really drives most media buying decisions
• How to identify, and gain access to, the decision maker in the
media buying decision
• How to win media sales consistently as the higher-priced option
Presented in partnership with:
ALABAMA PRESS ASSOCIATION
REGISTER TODAY AT WWW.ONLINEMEDIACAMPUS.COM
Online Media Campus is brought to you by Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and Iowa Newspaper Foundation
March 2010
The presenter...
Landy Chase is the author of VALUE-BASED SELLING
for ADVERTISING SOLUTIONS, the first skills-based sales
training system developed exclusively for newspapers.
He specializes in helping newspaper organizations attain
ad revenue results through highly effective learning re-
sources. He has worked with properties of all sizes around
the United States including The Houston Chronicle, The
Denver Post/Rocky Mountain News, The San Antonio Express-News, The
San Francisco Examiner and many others. He also works regularly with state
press associations around the country and has been a repeat featured pre-
senter for the Newspaper Association of America.
His work is based on personal field experience and includes repeat national
President’s Club awards as a sales professional, formal experience as a
National Sales Trainer, and management experience directing the efforts of
sales forces in both small business and major-account sales teams. His first
book, Competitive Selling, will be published by McGraw-Hill in June 2010.
He holds the CSP designation from the National Speakers Association, the
highest earned level of excellence in the industry and a distinction represent-
ing the top seven percent of all members of the speaking profession.
March 2010
Immediate Opening:
Versatile Reporter.
The Gadsden Times has an
immediate opening for a versatile
reporter to enhance our print and
online products. Ideal candidate
will be a self starter capable of
developing stories from a beat or
from an assignment and be equally
comfortable with hard news or
features. Familiarity with video story
telling will be a plus. Knowledge of
AP Style is very important. College
degree or equivalent experience is
required. Please send resume and
clips to Ron Reaves ron.reaves@
gadsdentimes.com. No phone calls
please.
03/22/10
General Assignment
Reporter, Magee Courier,
Magee, MS
The Magee Courier/Simpson
County News is seeking the right
candidate to join our staff as a
general assignment reporter.
Experience is not required however
candidate should have school
training in journalism. Candidate
must have excellent writing skills
and computer knowledge. This
position will include covering city
and county government, sports,
law enforcement as well as other
news assignments. Compensation
$20,000 to $22,000 based on
experience. We offer paid vacation,
holidays, insurance benefits
and 401K. For more information
please send resume to mcourier@
bellsouth.net.
03/17/10
Publisher
Marion County Newspapers,
Inc. seeks a dynamic publisher
with a proven track record in print
and internet advertising sales. As
publisher, you will be responsible
for all aspects of the operation.
The ideal candidate will have
sound news judgment as well as
AlaPressa
Help Wanted
experience in managing a small
staff. Community involvement,
leadership and sales skills are a
must.
Our two weekly newspapers
and shopper serve the beautiful
Sequatchie Valley, approximately
one half hour west of Chattanooga,
TN. We offer a competitive salary/
incentive plan; along with a benefit
package including paid vacation
and sick leave; group health
insurance; and a company match
IRA program. To apply, please
EMAIL a resume, cover letter and
earnings expectations using MC
PUBLISHER as the subject line to
buccom@comcast.net EOE.
03/16/10
Editor
The Cullman Times, an
11,000-circulation daily in north
central Alabama, is seeking an
editor to take us to the next level.
This is the top position in our
eight-person newsroom, with
responsibility over our print edition
and Web site. We need someone
who can wear a lot of different hats
– Quark page designer, editorial
writer, copy editor, project planner,
writing coach and occasional
reporter – all while maintaining high
editorial standards and inspiring our
team of young, talented journalists.
Planning and execution are critical,
as is an understanding of the
importance of local news content in
a community newspaper. Our new
editor also needs to have the skills
to give our readers a great Web
experience, preferably including
audio and video content. We offer
competitive pay, a good benefits
package and a wonderful place to
live.
Cullman has some of the best
public schools in Alabama, a vibrant
downtown, meticulously preserved
historic neighborhoods and the
best parks you’ll find anywhere.
E-mail resumes to publisher@
cullmantimes.com, or mail them to
25
from Page 23
Bill Morgan, The Cullman Times,
300 Fourth Ave. SE, Cullman, AL
35055.
03/01/10
Sports Reporter Wanted
St. Clair County News is
seeking a full-time Sports reporter.
Located in Pell City, Alabama the
St. Clair County News is a weekly
newspaper covering all of St. Clair
County. The ideal candidate will
be a professional sports reporter,
with a passion to cover local sports.
The position requires good people
skills and ability to manage multiple
stories while meeting demanding
deadlines. This is a full-time
position; salary range is $24-$28
a year. There is also insurance,
vacations and other benefits.
To receive consideration, email
editor@stclairconews.com.
01/25/10
Online advertising sales
representative
The Commercial Dispatch
is seeking an intelligent, self-
motivated, full-time online
advertising sales representative.
This position will be responsible
for selling online advertisements
on company websites and for
coordinating online campaigns
with print advertising sales
representatives. Cdispatch.com
is the primary website of The
Dispatch and it is one of the most
visited news websites in the area.
Required technical skills include an
expert knowledge of web browsing
and email as well as a familiarity with
popular social media websites such
as Facebook and Twitter. Applicants
should be able to communicate
effectively, be comfortable with
cold-calling prospects and should
be detail-oriented. Interested
parties should deliver a resume to
bproffitt@cdispatch.com or to 516
Main Street, Columbus, MS. No
phone calls please.
01/22/10