2008 February

Scholarship Baskets

Winter Convention Deadline

By
Michael J. Fox

It looks like the deadline to register for Winter convention is rapidly approaching. Please take a few minutes to fill out the attached registration form for each person attending convention and get it back to us by Tuesday, February 20th at the latest. We are meeting at the newly built Hilton Garden Inn in St. George again this year, room reservations must be in by Feb. 19th.





We have invited the Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to speak to us on the realities of Freedom of Information. He can give us all first hand information regarding this issue that can and does effect every newspaper in the State.


Senator Karen Hale will be speaking to us about her time as senator and how she feels we can most effectively work with the legislators on capitol hill.


We have asked Reed Brown and Ed Mc Caffrey from Matchbin to help us better understand the challenges of moving to a more internet focused newspaper in the future. These gentlemen have in insights first hand that they will be sharing with convention attendees.


Dean Singleton is scheduled to be our Keynote speaker Friday. He will be sharing his knowledge of what he feels we need to expect in the near future of newspapering. How we should position ourselves and what to expect as far as changes in the next few years.


The Better Newspaper Awards on Saturday are always a thrilling part of each convention. We no doubt will have some surprises for those who entered and remorse for those who did not. High School Better Newspaper Awards is headed up again this year by Dixie Brunner and are scheduled to be announced at the Friday night banquet.


We hoping for tons of sunshine, great opportunities to learn and always good times to get reacquainted with old friends and new associates. We look forward to seeing you there.

Registration 2008 Winter Convention PDF download
Download PDF form here
Please use the interactive PDF form which can be downloaded here

http://www.utahpress.com/bnc/


just cut and paste the above URL into your browser, form appears as image above

Winter Convention Agenda

Editor vs. Publicist for Control of Utah Paper

By Randy Hines

The war between journalists and public relations practitioners has had a massive ceasefire violation. The continuous, love-hate relationship between the two sides has existed since, well, since modern public relations started in this country a little over 100 years ago.

Let me begin this column with an upfront disclaimer: I am a journalist who also does PR work. I have two degrees in journalism and one in public relations. I teach both at the university level. I have been active in SPJ—starting when it was called Sigma Delta Chi—and am now a card-carrying member of the Public Relations Society of America. Nine years ago I earned the distinction of being accredited in the profession of public relations (APR).

Fellow Utah newsroom colleagues, please consider me on a mission behind enemy lines. I frequently criticize the quality of writing by corporate communication professionals. I’ve written how-to articles (about AP style, for example) in PR trade publications. I co-authored my first textbook with Joe Basso, The Writer’s Toolbox: A Comprehensive Guide for PR and Business Communication (Kendall/Hunt, 2005), intended to teach PR students as well as professionals the basics of proper journalism writing style. (It talks about grammar, AP style, leads, news articles and features. In reality, it also could be used for journalists and journalism classes. We plan to produce a second edition in another year.)

Furthermore, I have joined online forums to voice my displeasure with the quality of news releases prepared by such groups as PR Newswire and PRSA, two organizations that should know better. As the recipients of such releases, you’ll probably agree that many appear to be written by dimwits.

But the latest ceasefire violation is another major reason for the mistrust in newsrooms of what PR practitioners attempt to do in generating publicity for their clients. As some of you are aware, the term is called pay-per-placement. It sounds good to many clients, who have to fork over the big bucks only when and if their PR firm creates media mentions for the corporation, retail store or entrepreneur. It could be a major newspaper, a local paper, a magazine, radio talk show or network TV news. Prices vary for the clients, of course, depending on the size of the audience and impact of the news.

Many in this publicity camp can do no other kind of public relations practice. It’s promotion for the bucks. Period. And if one interview results in two other articles, so much the better. Just write the check that much larger please.

The temptation to garner media coverage is huge, as is the lure of paying only when the client gets in the public spotlight. Fees, likewise, are often huge for doing essential behind-the-scenes public relations work resulting in little media coverage. PR pros will often help companies improve their internal communications, plan special events, conduct research, perform communication audits and carry out research.

So pay-per-placement is a gamble for PR pros, who only collect money when they strike gold with a hit in the media. But the issue, highly criticized as well from within the PR profession, is that pay-for-placement practitioners essentially claim they have power to control the media. Real PR practitioners (those who understand journalists and can write as they do) avoid this unethical scheme. They realize that planning and research are vital for PR success, perhaps more so than targeting dozens of releases to uninterested media outlets. Those legitimate PR people realize media gatekeepers determine what gets into the paper, as well as when and where.

What if an alert Utah newspaper editor changes a gushy release, shortens it and then adds critical comments about the company? Does the pay-per-placement PR firm still demand its money? Would a client feel cheated to be charged for such an article?

One pay-per proponent said his company stresses tangible results for clients. But his Web comments contain run-on sentences and misspellings, giving you a clue as to what journalists will do with his releases. For example, he brags that his company was “founded by former CEO’S....” That shouts to me to be aware of jargon-plagued releases full of country club hot air (and AP errors).

Journalists, understandably, have little patience for mere flacks who crank out three pages of garbage with little regard to newsworthiness, timeliness or localization. Then they belligerently call the busy newsroom every day to see if their “publicity release” arrived and when it will run. As I said above, I am a journalist who does PR work. I’m on your side in this struggle.

* * *

Dr. Randy Hines, APR, teaches in the Department of Communications at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA 17870. He can be reached about workshop information at randyhinesapr@yahoo.com.

Henninger Hint Quote ME

Recent cases show why open records are necessary

By Joel Campbell
UPA Legislative monitor

While Utah newspapers have always supported open government, it’s nice to know that the law is working in revealing the actions of politicians and government.

Case in point -- the Salt Lake Tribune’s requested to see archived records about the Leavitt administration’s so-called “early morning seminary” between Leavitt and top advisors. The advisors were reading scriptures to looking for guiding principles for public policy. The state archivist, using balancing authority granted under Utah’s Government Records and Management Act, said the records should be open.

A Salt Lake Tribune editorial said:
“That revelation came when The Salt Lake Tribune obtained copies of papers from the state archives that Leavitt has sought to suppress. We believe, however, that when the leaders of their state government are reading scriptures to mine guiding principles for public policy, the people have a right to know that. There is no valid reason why that information should be guarded as a secret, and the state archivist ruled correctly on Monday to keep those papers public.”

I agree. The public has a right to know how officials arrive at public policy, whether it is reading the scriptures or the writings of Mao Tse-tung or Marx. I’m glad the records law worked in this instance and kudos to the Tribune for pursuing the request.

In Davis County, the owners of a private club learned of a closed meeting where city officials talked about ways that lead close down the tavern. The pretense of the closed meeting was “pending litigation.” If you listen to the tape of the session, it sounds more like the city was “creating litigation,” (which is not covered under the Open Meetings Act exemptions). With GRAMA and the courts, the club’s owners had a judge, again using his power to balance both public and private interests, declare the protected tape of the closed meeting a public document.

In the recording of the meeting, a speaker believed to be Schilling tells the council he was approached by state investigators concerning the club. The speaker said he was asked if the city would be interested in exercising its “political will” in raising an “objection” to the private club’s being able to renew its liquor license, according to the Standard-Examiner. The tape then discloses strategies that the city might use to help shut down the club including charging an owner with DUI.

On the tape, the mayor advises the council of the potential political and economic ramifications to the city if the private club were to close.

“If you got something that’s a menace to the community, it doesn’t matter what happens,” an unidentified participant in the meeting is heard saying.

Other updates
Utah Press board members will meet with Sen. Dennis Stowell in his hometown of Parowan on Jan. 10 to discuss our public notice project.

Nothing too threatening has appeared yet as a prefiled bill in the legislature. UPA is already aware of bills removing birth dates from public voter registration records and changes to Truth-in-Taxation advertising law. However, there are several bills aimed at allowing business to make claims against the government for taking away business from the private sector. If online public notices pass, Utah newspapers ought to be first in line to file a claim.

Look beyond the obvious

By John Foust
Raleigh, NC

Extraordinary customer service requires looking beyond the obvious.

I was talking to Nigel, who has been advertising in his local paper for many years. “I’m crazy about my account rep,” he said. “Even though she has a lot of bigger advertisers on her list, she always makes me feel like I’m her most important client. She does more than the obvious things – like returning calls promptly, and making sure our ads stay on schedule. She is always asking questions about changes in my business, new products, new services, new people who join our staff.”

“Does that ever seem a little nosy to you?” I asked.

“No way,” he said. “She doesn’t ask prying, personal questions. She’s just looking for ideas. She instinctively understands the power of information. The more she knows about our operation, the better the ads will be.”

Talking to Nigel reminded me of a business trip that took me to several cities in Arizona. The night before flying home, I stayed at a Phoenix hotel. It wasn’t fancy, but it was within several miles of Sky Harbor Airport. There was a maintenance man – wearing a blue shirt with his name on the pocket – standing behind the registration desk, chatting with the lady who was checking me in. “Going home?” he asked.

I nodded. “Headed back to North Carolina.”

“Morning flight?”

“Yes.”

“Got a rental car?”

“Yes.”

“Planning to return it tomorrow morning?”

“Yes.”

“Want to save some trouble?”

“Yes.” (I was amazed at the amount of information he was getting with simple, closed-ended questions.)

“Why don’t you return that car tonight? The rental places are jammed in the morning, but they’re not busy at night. Turn in the car, take their shuttle bus to the terminal, call the hotel, and our hotel shuttle will pick you up and bring you back. In the morning, take our shuttle back to the airport. It’ll drop you off right in front of your terminal, and you’ll avoid the zoo at the rental return.”

Wow! In less than a minute, he solved a big problem for me. I thought back to the times I had traveled to Phoenix and gotten tangled up in long delays at the rental return. Going to the airport that night seemed like a minor inconvenience, compared to the possibility of missing my flight the next day because of a logjam at the rental return.

I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels, some with concierge staffs wearing starched and pressed uniforms. They all know how to answer questions. (Where is the museum? What time does the restaurant open? Where is the subway?) But they could learn something from that maintenance man in Phoenix. He knew how to ASK questions to fix problems.

“My account rep is always on the lookout for new solutions to my marketing problems,” Nigel concluded. “That’s what sets her paper apart from all the other advertising options I’ve considered.”

Look beyond the obvious. That’s a good way to find – and solve – problems.


COPYRIGHT LINE
(c) Copyright 2008 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

CREDIT LINE
E-mail John Foust for information about his training videos for ad departments: jfoust@mindspring.com