Texas Press Association

Sarchets sell newspaper after 50 years of ownership
Charles and Mary Ann Sarchet sold the Briscoe County News in Silverton to Jed and Sally Moorhouse, the newspaper announced in the Feb. 17 weekly edition.
The Sarchets bought the newspaper from Mr. and Mrs. M.B. Cavanaugh in April 1959. Over the ensuing 50 years, they adopted the necessary production advances, from Linotype to cold type and finally to digital.
Jedd Moorhouse is serving as publisher and Sally Moorhouse is editor and office manager.
The county seat weekly newspaper was founded in Silverton in 1892 and has operated as the Briscoe County News since 1908. The newspaper’s paid circulation, based on the October 2009 statement of ownership, is 633.

Marshall daily cuts back to 6-day publication
The Marshall News Messenger on March 1 discontinued publishing its Monday editions.
In the Jan. 29 editions, Publisher and Editor Phil Latham said the move comes because of a continued soft economy and challenges in the newspaper industry, which have persisted for almost two years.
For all but about 13 years of its 132-year history, The News Messenger has been published six days a week instead of seven. In 1997, shortly after Latham’s arrival at the newspaper, The News Messenger began a Saturday edition, extending publication to seven days a week.
Latham said the Saturday edition would not be impacted by the decision and that the move would not cause any further personnel reductions.
The News Messenger was purchased by Houston-based ASP Westward Communications in 2009 from Atlanta, Ga.-based Cox Enterprises.

Report reveals substantial revenue opportunities
Newspaper organizations can increase revenues by as much as 15 percent by consistently targeting the best sales opportunities with the right type and amount of sales resources, according to a white paper report released Feb. 23 by The American Press Institute.
The free report “Sales Resource Optimization: Bringing Science to the Sales Force” provides key information on optimizing sales force effectiveness. It is a joint effort of Reston, Va.-based API and ZS Associates, a global management consulting firm specializing in sales and marketing consulting, capability building, and outsourcing.
“Particularly in these days of recession-driven staff cuts, it is estimated that newspapers and news media organizations have cut beyond fat into the bone, and have limited their ability to capture the market potential that is and will be increasingly there as the economy recovers,” said Andrew B. Davis, president and executive director of API.
Read the report at: http://www.newspapernext.org/2010/02/api-reveals-huge-revenue-oppor.htm.

School district closes off voice mail recordings
Public information advocates said the Austin school district’s practice of using a voice mail call-in system to communicate certain information with school board members violates the spirit, if not the state law, governing open meetings.
And, that the district does not retain those voice mails for public inspection is also problematic, and possibly illegal, they say.
According to the Austin American-Statesman’s report published Feb. 26, the newspaper recently made a request under the Texas Public Information Act seeking a message that Superintendent Meria Carstarphen left for trustees.
School district officials said the district maintains no records responsive to the request. They did not disclose what the message contained.
School district attorney Mel Waxler said he has advised superintendents that it’s fine to use voice mails to relay something that’s “purely procedural in nature” or to alert board members to something that will be made public so that trustees are not surprised and won’t see it for the first time in the media.
Bill Aleshire, an attorney representing the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, said the Texas Open Meetings Act was written so that the public can know “what went into board members’ minds that helped them reach a meeting of the minds later on.”
The voice mail communication system is “a creative but devilish technique they are using,” Aleshire said. “I think that practice is against the spirit of the Open Meetings Act because it is allowing someone to communicate information that is of interest to the public in secret.”
Much like e-mails and letters, sound recordings are considered public records, according to the state open records law.

Furthermore, Aleshire said, an argument could be made that under the State Records Retention Schedule, which the school district has adopted, such recordings must be retained for two years.

News’ charity effort raises 7 figures in drive
The Dallas Morning News Charities raised more than $1.2 million for the homeless and hungry during its 24th annual fund drive, the newspaper reported Feb. 6.
Bob Mong, editor of The Dallas Morning News and chairman of The Charities, said he was anxious going into the campaign because of the economy, according to the report.
Last year, the campaign totaled $927, 983.20 in funds raised.

Belo owner chalks up profit in fourth quarter of 2009
A.H. Belo Corporation, owner of The Dallas Morning News, earned $5.6 million in the fourth quarter, its first quarterly profit since becoming an independent company in early 2008.
But The Dallas Morning News published a story Feb. 25 saying the preliminary figure is likely to change, as the Dallas-based newspaper company works with its new accounting firm on accounting for future pension obligations.
A.H. Belo had nearly $25 million in cash or cash equivalents at the end of 2009. That number rose to almost $32 million at the end of January said Robert W. Decherd, the company’s chairman, president and chief executive.
“Although the macroeconomic and secular changes affecting every newspaper company will remain present to some degree throughout 2010, we are cautiously optimistic about this year,” he said. In the same story, Decherd also announced John MeKeon, president and general manager of The News, has joined A.H. Belo’s management committee, effective immediately.

Newspaper’s video site now boasts Twitter feed
On Feb. 12, The River Cities Tribune in Marble Falls announced the debut of a Twitter feed allowing viewers to receive regular news headlines and tidbits on smart phones or home computers.
And, visitors to thepicayunetv.com can post comments on any text or video story features on the site. See www.twitter.com/thepicayunetv.com.

Galveston daily to publish new night-life magazine
The Galveston County Daily News on Feb. 14 announced plans to publish “After Hours,” a free monthly stand-alone magazine focusing on night life in Galveston County.
The first edition is scheduled for release March 31. It will be distributed at nightspots and other drop spots around the county.

The U.S. Supreme Court has paved the way for lower-court approval of a massive copyright infringement settlement in Reed Elsevier Inc. et al v. Muchnick et al.
The case began more than 10 years ago as multiple lawsuits brought by freelance authors against several owners of online databases and print publishers - including several Newspaper Association of America members - alleging that the authors' works were reproduced electronically without permission being secured first.
The lawsuits were stayed pending the Supreme Court's decision in New York Times Co. v. Tasini, in which copyright liability was affirmed under similar facts.
The lawsuits then resumed and were consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The consolidated complaint alleged that the named plaintiffs each owned at least one copyright that they had registered, but the plaintiff class also included authors who had not registered their works.
Referred to mediation by the court because of the lawsuit's size and complexity, the parties reached a settlement in March 2005 after three years of negotiation.
The District Court approved the settlement, which the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later rejected, holding the registration requirement of Section 411 (a) to be jurisdictional.
The Supreme Court disagreed and held the copyright registration requirement to be more akin to a claim-processing requirement or an element of a claim, rather than a "jurisdictional" condition.
Part of the Supreme Court's analysis was based on the fact that Section 411 (a) is located in a statutory provision separate from those granting federal courts subject-matter jurisdiction over those respective claims; and Section 411 (a) does not clearly state that its registration requirement is jurisdictional. In addition, the Supreme Court noted that Section 411 (a) expressly allows courts to adjudicate infringement claims involving unregistered works in three circumstances:
(1) where the work is not a U.S. work;
(2) where the infringement claim concerns rights of attribution and integrity; or
(3) where the copyright holder attempted to register the work and registration was refused.
The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case to the Second Circuit for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.
NAA had joined several other media organizations in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to reject the Second Circuit's decision and permit the settlement to proceed.

By Jim Pumarlo

Avoiding ethical conflicts requires constant oversight in newsrooms. Navigating minefields can be a full-time job for small-town journalists.
The list is endless. A reporter’s spouse is an administrator in the local school district. A former publisher of a sister newspaper in your circulation area seeks a seat in the state legislature. A reporter is asked to serve on a commission to review the city’s charter.
And, among the most challenging of circumstances, newsrooms must guide coverage of the numerous civic organizations and task forces on which newspaper personnel serve. Editors and publishers may well be at the top of that list.
The purists draw a clear line of separation between reporting the news and being part of the news. At the other end of the spectrum, some publishers and editors will argue that their personal involvement fills an important void in community leadership. Newspapers indeed can wield influence through aggressive editorial pages and news coverage, but that often is not a substitute for direct participation by the individuals themselves.
It’s impractical to think that publishers and editors will arrive at an industry standard that fits all situations. It is reasonable, however, to expect newsrooms to adopt a simple and straightforward strategy when it comes to revealing potential conflicts of interest: Be square with readers.
The best formula for dealing with ethical challenges — for that matter, the standard for reporting all “sensitive” issues — is consistency and fairness. Newsrooms must have a plan that includes three steps: Define the policy, implement the policy, and then explain the policy.
Most newsrooms likely draw the line on what represents one of the most challenging ethical dilemmas: individuals seeking elective office. But that stance is by no means universally accepted within the industry. The pitfalls for coverage are inherent even when editors and publishers take specific steps to separate themselves from news coverage of the respective bodies. And, sad to say, some newspapers seek no separation whatsoever, which raises legitimate questions of newspaper ethics and credibility.
So how far does the ban on involvement by newspaper personnel extend? For those who want to remain pure on the practice, one can arguably apply that separation to all departments, especially management-level individuals. The reality in most communities is that if a newspaper declared all potential conflicts of interest, editors probably would constantly be adding footnotes to news stories and editorials.
Small-town journalism always will pose ethical challenges. That underscores the importance of editors and publishers convening the discussion regularly both within your entire newspaper operations and with your readers. These discussions do not mean consensus will be developed, but it assures that editors will receive many perspectives before making a final call.
Then take deliberate efforts to communicate policies. The approach should not be to convince readers that a certain policy was the “right” way or the “only” way to handle a circumstance. Rather, use the column as a conversation to help everyone better understand the decision-making process. Regular communication will pay dividends in building and fostering relationships with readers.

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.

Guillermo Morales
Guillermo M. “Memo” Morales, 47, died of natural causes in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico, on Jan. 21, 2010.
A news correspondent, news analyst and typographer, Morales contributed stories for more than 20 years to The Presidio International, in addition to working for Contacto de Ojinaga, El Heraldo de Chihuahua and other newspapers and radio stations.

Mildred Neatherlin
Mildred Charlene Brazzil Neatherlin, 78, of Highlands, died Jan. 23, 2010, at St. James House in Baytown.
In 1955, Neatherlin moved to Highlands with her husband Alton. The couple, along with Mildred’s brother James Brazzil, founded The Highlands Star, which later became The Highlands Star-Courier.  She was co-owner and publisher of the newspaper for 37 years.

Bill Poole
William Robert “Bill” Poole, 82, died Feb. 20, 2010.
A graduate of Greenville High School and a former student at the University of Texas at Austin, Poole began his journalism career as a sports reporter for the Greenville Morning Herald, a newspaper owned and operated by the Poole family. The newspaper was sold to Harte-Hanks in 1954.
He was former owner of the Princeton Herald and the Farmersville Times, purchasing the Farmersville Times from Burton and Martha Fielder. He was joined by his brother Tom R. Poole Jr. and sister-in-law Josalyn Poole in the newspaper operation. The Pooles founded the Princeton Herald in 1972. Tom Poole died in 1990 and Bill Poole sold both newspapers to Chad Engbrock in 2002.

Bill Thompson
Bill Thompson, 83, died Feb. 6, 2010.
Thompson, born in Tustin, Calif., served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and worked for Boeing aircraft after the war before launching a 45-year career in the newspaper business. He started as an aviation editor for the El Paso Times in 1959 before moving to the El Paso Herald-Post. Among his many noted assignments, he covered the 1966 Texas Western Miners’ NCAA championship basketball season.
Thompson also covered a variety of other assignments as a reporter and photographer. He continued writing for newspapers in East Texas until his seventies.

Granite Publications

About five miles north of Taylor in a new building at 2675 CR 374, on a thick slab of concrete, a brand new Goss Community SSC printing press is humming along, churning out newspapers each day. Granite Publications hosted a grand opening for the new printing plant on March 18.
Constructed to run full-color on the outside web, the front and back and the inside front and back, the new press runs about twice as fast as Granite's old press that was housed in the Taylor Daily Press building at Taylor.
Granite's old press was engineered for black and white and was converted to run color. "This new press gives us more flexibility in the different formats of jobs we can run, providing more customized service," said Granite Publications President Rick Reynolds.
The press can handle up to a 20-page broadsheet section with four-color on four pages. Maximum press speed is 30,000 per hour. The press has four units on the slab floor, a folding unit above in the middle of the line and a four-high unit to produce full color. Having color units stacked on top of one another arranges the printing cylinders closer together, allowing color to be printed more precisely.
The press features a computer-to-plate (CTP) system, improving color reproduction and efficiency by eliminating many of the pre-production steps like negatives and stripping. In addition to the improved quality, it also reduces time and waste.
"Our color capacity is much better now, and our gain, because it is coming directly off of the CTP, means the color is very sharp," said Production Superintendent Jorge Perez. "The reproduction on this press 50 percent better than the old press because of how it is configured and the dot gain. We can offer better quality and more consistent color."
The press offers remote register, motorized ink fountains, blanket cylinders, pneumatic controls and a central grease lubrication block, all of which help ensure quality printing.
"The Goss Community SSC is built and was always designed to run newspapers. It is a newspaper press that has commercial capacity," Perez said. The new press makes Granite Printing more versatile and helps get customers in and out faster with a quality product in hand. "We can do quick turnaround on short runs between 2,000 to 10,000, and we are very flexible with multiple formats," Perez said. "We also have the capacity with this press to run tall tabs, providing just one more new print option."
While the press is the shiny, new feature at Granite Printing, the years of know-how and customer service are what set the operation apart. The Granite Printing staff of eight boasts more than 100 years of combined experience.
"For us, the customer always comes first," Perez said. "Our goal is to satisfy our customers. We have knowledgeable staff in prepress to assist customers in building projects."
The press weighs between 60,000 and 70,000 pounds, Reynolds said, which in the expanding Blackland soil of Williamson County required a unique concrete slab design. The press sits on 27-foot concrete piers buried into the ground, and the slab supporting it floats above the soil. Around the press, the slab for the press building sits on the ground as normal. "The slab is designed that way for the structural integrity of the press," Reynolds said. "It has to be on a solid surface. The slab has to be very stable on which the press sits. If we were west of I-35 sitting on bedrock, we wouldn't have to do that."
For more information, contact Granite Vice President Brandi Guy at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .