Pressing Issue April 2006

2006 August









Super Bowl Pales in Comparison to FIFA

by Randy Hines

BOPPARD, Germany—International news coverage is always a concern in newsrooms. Studies have shown that readers would like to see more of it. Yet, you don’t want to go overboard and dish out too much. How to find that perfect balance is a struggle for most Utah newspapers.

One major story that escaped American media for a long time this summer was the transformation that took place in the host country of the FIFA 2006 World Cup. Perhaps journalists were more concerned with covering soccer matches throughout Germany than doing a little history and observing the magnitude of what was taking place.

After all, FIFA estimates that each match during the 16-team World Cup had a worldwide television audience of 350 million, which dwarfs the 95 million who tuned in the 2006 Super Bowl.

ESPN finally mentioned briefly—during Germany’s semifinal loss to Italy—the show of nationalism that had spread throughout the country. It had been touched on in a few German publications, but those are neither regular nor random reading materials for U.S. sportswriters.

Unlike fans in other countries that worship soccer, who seem always to display fanatical behavior to extremes during their matches, German citizens have been reared in a society that frowns on such behavior. Culturally, Germans are hard-working, serious citizens. Longtime, next-door neighbors still greet one another formally as Mr. Schmidt and Mrs. Jones.

Patriotism was practically banned because of what happened when Hitler’s fervor swept the nation before and during World War II. Except for souvenir shops and public buildings, I rarely had seen German flags on display in four previous trips to this country. How that has changed over the summer. Politicians and journalists earlier this year were debating how to show support for the German team that qualified for the World Cup, without shocking the rest of the world into thinking that right-wing radicalism was alive and well.

“There was a lot of displaying of flags on automobiles,” said American Jim Sunthimer, who has lived here for 30 years. “I had never seen that in the past. Other nations had no problem waving their flags from cars after a victory. The Germans were a little reluctant.”

The owner of Hotel Günther in Boppard, Sunthimer added that the baby boomer generation is not ashamed of their nation. “I think (they) have a right to feel proud of the country and its accomplishments.”

One of my students from Germany, who studied at Susquehanna University in fall 2005, is mesmerized by the transformation of her homeland since returning to the University of Konstanz in January.

“It is a totally new experience for the Germans now,” said Frederike Nolten, 22. “This country turned upside down.”

Miss Nolten admits to not having sung her national anthem before because she never learned how. She said she had never owned a German flag, which appeared all over the country, from homes, automobiles and individuals to clothing and faces painted black, red and gold.

“I enjoy the new feeling now and the first time we’ve had the chance to be proud of this country,” she added.

Even though displays of Nazism are legally banned, the topic is not forgotten. School children learn about the horrors of that dictatorship during all eight years of public schooling. When the still-popular Hogan’s Heroes reruns appear on German TV, the salute and “Heil Hitler” statement are replaced with such German expressions as “The corn is this high” or “My nephew is this tall.”

But the most-watched television event of the year did not contribute international stories beyond the actual matches for sports pages back in the U.S.

Both newspaper and television audiences have expressed a desire for more international coverage. A 2004 study by the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation found that local viewers wanted more international stories, but with a local context. Their suggestions on what could be shortened from the newscasts were topped by crime news and the weather.

As more communities become more diverse with an international flavor, the local press will reflect that in its coverage. For example, Vietnam stories will have more impact in multicultural cities of Oregon than, say, Michigan, where Ontario datelines get displayed.

Unfortunately, international coverage has never been more dangerous. Last year saw a record number of deaths of reporters. Journalists today are just as likely to be shot as soldiers. Freedom of the press has never been cheap.


Dr. Randy Hines teaches in the Department of Communications at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa. He is in Germany this summer for academic research and a family wedding. He can be contacted at randyhinesapr@yahoo.com.

How to ask for referrals

By John Foust, Raleigh, NC

“Ever since I started selling advertising,” Marla told me, “I’ve heard about the importance of referrals. But the problem is that most sales people do a poor job of asking for them.”

She’s right. The standard request for referrals goes something like this: “Here’s my business card. If you know of anyone who wants to advertise in the paper, let me know.” That kind of request is not likely to inspire people to reach for their Rolodexes, is it?

“Generic requests are okay in some circumstances,” Marla said, “but they rarely produce immediate results. I talked to a lot of other sales people – many of them outside the ad business – looking for a better way to get referrals. Along the way, I learned a technique that is designed to generate leads on the spot. It’s based on the idea that you have customers who already know people who are good prospects for you, but they need help in seeing those people as prospects.”

If you’d like to try Marla’s approach, here are three points to keep in mind:

1. Pick the right time. The two best times to ask for a referral are (1) as soon as a sale is finalized and (2) as soon as an ad campaign starts producing results. You want to catch them at a time when they feel good about the decision to advertise in your paper. That increases the likelihood that they will want others to follow their lead.

2. Paint a word picture. In sales presentations, it’s important to help prospects think visually – to help them see their businesses being advertised on the printed page. (Isn’t that what we do all the time with spec ads?) Why not do the same thing in asking for referrals?

Say something like, “I wonder if you will help me with something? I’m looking for someone who runs a business in town. They’ve been around for a few months – maybe a year or two – but they’re still searching for the right way to reach potential customers. They’ve tried some advertising, but nothing long term. Do you know anyone who fits that description?”

3. Narrow the focus. “You want to be specific enough to help them visualize potential prospects,” Marla said, “but not so specific that you limit the possibilities. Don’t say, ‘I’m looking for someone who has a $3,000 monthly budget’ or ‘Can you think of a business that is trying to reach married couples between the ages of 25 and 50?’”

Every industry has a network. It’s a sure bet that your customers know more about their regular contacts than they know about anyone else. So if you’re talking to a car dealer, look for links to companies that supply products or services to that dealer. And if you’re talking to a store owner, ask about new and existing businesses in the neighborhood.

“This technique has generated more leads than anything else I’ve tried,” Marla said. “Some of my customers have actually looked through their files to find prospects for me.”

(c) Copyright 2006 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

John Foust conducts on-site and video training for newspaper advertising departments. His three new video programs are designed to help ad managers conduct in-house training for their sales teams. For information, contact: John Foust, PO Box 97606, Raleigh, NC 27624 USA, E-mail: jfoust@mindspring.com, Phone 919-848-2401.

“Nobody reads the newspaper anymore.”

By Tom Larimer, Arkansas Press Association

Ever heard that one?

Here are a couple of ideas to disprove that erroneous statement in no uncertain terms. Both of these work. I know because I’ve tried each of them.

OUTSTANDING WARRANTS: Work with your local police chief or county sheriff or both. See how many outstanding warrants they have on file. Run an ad, a series of ads or an insert listing those with outstanding warrants for unpaid fines, etc.

Even better, run them as a series of ads and run their mug shots with their name, their offense, etc. A daily newspaper I was publishing did this and in less than a year it resulted in 300 arrests. There was plenty of copy since the local sheriff had over 4,000 outstanding warrants on file.

After the series ran for a while, the sheriff reported he had people turning themselves in who no longer lived in the state to prevent the embarrassment to their family still living in the area by having their mug shot published in the newspaper.

We sold sponsorships on the ad to bail bondsmen, security services, and private investigators. The series produced revenue, while providing a community service, while helping the sheriff clean up his outstanding warrants, AND it proved undeniably that people were still reading the newspaper as several of those published “mugs” were turned in by neighbors and acquaintances.

The account of a similar effort was published recently in the Oklahoma Press Association’s Oklahoma Publisher publication. A four-page insert published in the Shawnee News-Star listed more than 900 offenders with outstanding warrants. It resulted in 23 arrests. Prior to these publications, offenders were offered amnesty for a month, but only 50 turned themselves in before the publication. HOT CHECKS: Here’s another idea to provide yet another community service while making some revenue for the newspaper. Check with your prosecuting attorney and ask him or her about hot check collections. For many prosecutor offices, these are a major nuisance. If that is the case in your area, offer to run a list of people they’re seeking for passing hot checks.

Run the list for nothing, but ask upfront for a share of the portion collected. Some prosecutors add this on to the court costs to those hot check writers caught, and share this with the newspaper.

Plus, I can assure you it will be one of the best-read features of your newspaper, proving once again that people really do still read newspapers.


Small-town papers have big potential

by Hamilton Nolan, Reprinted from PR Week USA.

In the newspaper world, small is the new big.

Or soon will be.

As newspaper executives bemoan declining revenues, editors slash reporting staffs and foreign bureaus, and investors fl ee from the industry, small, local papers may be in a far better position than major metropolitan dailies to ride out the shockwaves of the changing media landscape.

Long derided as fish wrappers, small papers were the original “micromedia,” and have persisted in America ever since ornery colonists started cranking out broadsheets.

While the big boys win the Pulitzers and attract the top journalistic talent, the little guys do the everyday grunt work of covering City Council meetings, reporting high school football scores, and interviewing local Elks Lodge members about what these darned kids today need to do to shape up.

Small papers still enjoy a much tighter grip on that asset which is rapidly slipping away from larger ones: a virtual monopoly on local news and information, especially in towns too small to have much of a radio and TV presence aimed specifically at them. Instead of being eaten alive by the Internet, these papers are

finding that building their Web presence can only help them strengthen their position as the only game in town. Readers of the Tinyville Herald Eagle Bugle Gazette still have to turn to it as the only source of wall-to-wall coverage of last night’s zoning board meeting; but once the website is up and running, they’re less concerned about the fact that the paperboy tossed today’s issue in the sinkhole out front.

Recent research by the National Newspaper Association (NNA), which represents more than 2,500 small, community papers, shows these outlets live a far less besieged existence than the ailing big city papers.

The NNA’s most recent survey of markets with less than 100,000 people, published in January, finds a host of good news. Newspapers are listed as the primary source of local news by 50% of residents, more than triple the amount of television, the closest competitor.

People who get the paper are reading it closely; three quarters or more say they read local education, sports and other news. And those who read it actually like it: 78% of readers say their “local news coverage is good to excellent,” a clear indication of the lack of media critics and bloggers in small-town America.

The survey also shows that a vast majority of those readers do read the ads, and rely on them more heavily than other sources of advertising. And a full 87% said they had visited their local paper’s website in the past week.

Most community papers are privately owned so financial information is hard to come by. But the NNA points out that in the past 40 years, the number of large-market dailies and their circulation have both declined, while the readership of non-dailies -- a hallmark of many small markets -- has doubled in the same period. Brian Steffens, the NNA’s executive director, says that while small town and suburban papers are probably growing, those serving rural areas are having a harder time, as they rise and fall with the fortunes of those areas’ local business base.

But the overall strength as a category is indisputable.

Top 10 for community papers

The following column comes from University of North Carolina journalism professor Jock Lauterer. With apologies to David Letterman, here’s my Top 10 List for community journalists – with several bonus points thrown in for anyone who could use some affirmation and a chuckle.

• Whether you know it – or like it – or not, you’re doing community journalism.

• A community newspaper is not just a smaller version of a big-city paper.

• Regardless of who you’ve been told owns your newspaper, your paper’s true owner is the community.

• The doors of your newspaper should be just as open as the doors of the homes, offices and meeting rooms of the people you expect to cover.

• The purpose of your paper is to serve your community – pure and simple.

• Your mantra is “Local, local, local,” followed by “All stories are local.”

• Your job title is only a beginning. Don’t take it too literally.

• You don’t have to wait until you get to the Washington Post, Sports Illustrated or National Geographic to do your best work. You can do it now.

• You may not get rich, but your psychic pay will be enormous.

• Small is beautiful. Believe it – don’t wish it away.

• Everybody has/is a story.

• Every story will lead to another story. It’s all connected. Just pay attention and trust.

• The “middle of nowhere” is the center of someone else’s universe.

• When journalists say, “There’s nothing going on here,” they’re really telling you about the space between their ears.

Jayson Blair wouldn’t have lasted a week at a decent community newspaper. --SDNA Bulletin





Two courts cases put crack in HIPAA privacy wall

By Joel Campbell

While the horror stories resulting from the three-year old federal health privacy regulations are still mounting, there are two recent court cases that offer support for access to public records officials want to close in the name of privacy.

In June 2006, the Texas Court of Appeals ruled that the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) does not trump the Texas open records law. Judges ordered that state to release statistics about alleged sexual assaults at mental hospitals.

The case started back in 2003, the same year the HIPAA regulations went into effect. Joe Ellis, an investigative producer at Dallas-based KDFW TV, learned about a female patient at a state institution who had become pregnant. He requested statistics on alleged sexual assault and abuse incidents at state mental hospitals, subsequent investigations, and the outcome of any investigations. Ellis did not ask for victim's names, but the locations of the assaults.

The Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation cited HIPAA and denied Ellis' request. The Texas Attorney General disagreed and said that HIPAA did not preempt the state's open records law and said HIPAA allows disclosure of health information if it is "required by law." A district court judge rejected the attorney general's argument but bought the department's line. The four-judge Court of Appeals rejected the department's logic saying that just because public records laws aren't listed in the HIPAA rules doesn't mean they don't apply. (Abbott v. Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation).

In March, the Ohio Supreme Court also reached a similar conclusion, ruling that Cincinnati Enquirer reporters had a right to look at lead paint violations. Journalists had asked the Cincinnati Health Department to provide "copies of the 343 lead citations and any others that were issued between 1994 and the present." The city balked, citing HIPAA including a claim that it was a "covered entity" under the federal HIPAA rules.



The Enquirer asked the appeals court to overrule but judges voted against the records release. On appeal, the Supreme Court ruled that lead citations and related reports did not contain protected health information as defined by HIPAA.

Furthermore, Supreme Court justices explained that, even if the citations and reports contained protected health information and even if it is determined the Health Department operated as a "covered entity" as defined by HIPAA, the requested reports would still be public under the "required by law" exception in HIPAA (Cincinnati Enquirer v. Daniels).

Many legal experts see these two rulings as a promising way for the public to continue to get information it needs about important issues, such as lead paint poisoning and sexual abuse in mental institutions. SPJ chapters and members can be leaders in citing the "required by law" HIPAA exception in other states to open records of public interest. At the same time, there is still plenty of bad news created by the over broad interpretation of HIPAA.

In May, the Louisiana Supreme Court voted to not hear a case where the state refused to release information in 911 calls. The calls were made in 2005 from the private Baton Rouge residence of then-Secretary of State Fox McKeithen the day he suffered a paralyzing fall. The Gannett Co.'s Louisiana newspapers and the state's press association sued the city-parish a month after the accident to try to get the 911 calls (Hill v. E. Baton Rouge Parish Department of Emergency Medical Services).

Officials with the city-parish Emergency Medical Services refused to make the recordings public, claiming the HIPAA protected medical information in the calls.

A state district judge who listened to the tapes ruled that McKeithen's privacy rights outweighed the public interest in the call contents. Judges at the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal voted 2-1 to keep the records confidential. Judges agreed with the medical services' contention that those calling 911 should feel they can talk candidly without fear of embarrassment from any future public disclosure. The appellate court panel also found EMS should be considered a health-care provider and therefore protected from public disclosure by HIPAA.

In March, Nevada's attorney general's office issued an opinion saying that social service or welfare agencies can't reveal records about cases where child abuse resulted in death. That's even after officials received a letter from an official with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services saying that the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act includes "specific reporting elements pertaining to child fatalities that should be required and potentially made public," according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

In Rhode Island, weeks after a Superior Court judge ruled that he be allowed to attend the municipal Police Academy, a Woonsocket police recruit remained assigned to clerical duty at the city's Police Department, while officials hid behind HIPAA rules so they didn't have to explain why. In Texas, details of a murderer's death "from natural causes" still remain a mystery after prison officials cited HIPAA

Across Utah, fire departments and police agencies still refuse to provide information citing HIPAA. For example, a Wisconsin fire department refuses to give even the time that fire calls came in. That's despite that many agencies are not considered "covered entities" under the law and some attorney generals have ruled that police reports aren't subject to HIPAA.

As journalists begin digging they shouldn't simply take public official's line that the information they seek is protected by HIPAA. It may not be.

Joel Campbell is UPA's legislative monitor. A former reporter and editor, he is an assistant professor in the Brigham Young University Department of Communications, Provo, Utah. He can be reached at joelcampbell@byu.edu.

The Rule of Three. Easy enough to remember but not so easy to follow.

By Ed Henninger

The beauty of The Rule of Three (yes, I cap each word, out of reverence for the rule) is that it can help to make life less difficult for you as a designer, an editor—and a publisher.

It does that by dictating that we use only three type faces throughout the design of a newspaper. It’s a rule many designers (yours truly included) choose to live by because it helps create a clear, consistent and comfortable design. Clear, consistent, comfortable—and not that other “c” word: complicated.

Following The Rule of Three, we use:
TYPEFACE ONE for headlines.
TYPEFACE TWO for accessories such as subheads, pullouts and other display elements.
TYPEFACE THREE for text.

Using only these three families—always—helps make your design more consistent from issue to issue and eventually creates a strong comfort level for your readers. And, please, don’t even go there with trying to claim that The Rule of Three limits your creativity. That’s bunk.

Here are some tips on The Rule of Three:

GO FOR THE GOLD: When choosing your type families—especially your headline faces—go for those that are proven winners. Remember that your readers expect you to be good, not different. Look for classic headline faces. Some serifs to look at: Bauer Bodoni, Berkeley, Caslon 224, Concord, Garamond Condensed, Kepler Standard, Photina, Walbaum Book. Sans serifs that work well: Akzidenz Grotesk, Frutiger, Futura Condensed, Formata, Myriad Pro. Fort text, look at: Nimrod, Cheltenham, Utopia.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: When choosing your type face, also look for a family that is extended. Photina, for example, offers at least eight fonts in the family. Myriad Pro lets you choose from among 40 fonts. And Kepler Standard? Well, there are 168 fonts in that family. Now, tell me you can’t be creative with that!

CREATIVE LICENSE: Use the different fonts in a family (see Kepler Standard, just above) to give your pages a fresh look without departing from The Rule of Three. If you have fewer fonts in a type face (Caslon 224 is limited to four), you can use these in a creative fashion on those pages where creativity is called for. Some suggestions: all caps, small caps, in color, with a soft shadow, with a baseline shift.

TEXTING, TEXTING: Let’s avoid being too creative in text. Remember that readers get 80% or more of the information you provide by reading text. Keep it simple. Keep it clean. Keep it large enough—without getting into what I call “See Spot Run” typography—14 point on 18 spacing just doesn’t work for newspapers though there are probably some readers who would welcome it.

STYLE GUIDE IT: Once you’ve done your mockups and made your decisions on how you’re going to apply The Rule of Three at your newspaper, write down your amendments to The Rule of Three. Put them into your Design Style Guide. You do have a Design Style Guide, don’t you? Don’t you?

THE RULE OF TWO: An adjunct to The Rule of Three, The Rule of Two simply states that in some cases, you can actually use only two type face families to achieve the same effect. For example, fonts of Kepler Standard serve very well as text as well as headlines and other display elements. The same is true for Photina.

THE RULE OF FOUR. There’s a time when you may really need that fourth type face. For details, visit Ed Henninger’s web site at www.henningerconsulting.com and leave a request with an e-mail address. We’ll fill you in.


ED HENNINGER is an independent newspaper consultant and the Director of Henninger Consulting. Offering comprehensive newspaper design services including redesigns, workshops, training and evaluations. E-mail: edh@henningerconsulting.com. On the web: henningerconsulting.com. Phone: 803-327-3322.


Dear Friend of Education:

Great newspapers require journalists who are proficient in writing, keenly aware of our federal and state laws and possess strong ethical values. Community newspapers provide the public with information, education and entertainment. The informed individual is the most elemental building block of our democracy.

The mission of the National Newspaper Association Foundation is “to enhance literacy, print journalism and the role of community newspapers.” The Foundation endeavors to achieve this goal by attracting individuals to this exciting and challenging industry and offering educational opportunities and professional development for newspapermen and women to enhance their skills and/or prepare them for the future.

It is an honor to invite you to join NNAF in preserving and strengthening America’s community newspapers through a tax-deductible contribution to the NNAF Silent Auction.
Please see the enclosed brochure for details.

Your contribution will support the following programs:

• Community Building Symposium – the only presentation of community journalism research of its kind in the country; co-sponsored by the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media at Kansas State University.

• Alan Cruikshank Scholars program – a partnership with the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri at Columbia to prepare graduate students with the skills needed at community newspapers.

With your generous support, NNAF can expand these programs and build on its success. Your participation in the 2006 NNAF Annual Silent Auction will help secure the vitality of the community newspaper industry now and for years to come.

Sincerely,
Bob Sweeney,
President
National Newspaper Association Foundation

P.S. No goods or services will be provided in exchange for your donation. Your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.


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