“What happens when the news is gone?” The New Yorker magazine asked in January, in its headline over a long story about the failing local-news ecosystem in Jones County, North Carolina. It is the best case study of the local-journalism crisis I’ve seen, and we did a Rural Blog item about it at https://tinyurl.com/tnqk4au.
Q: What is the U.S. Postal Service’s definition of a paid digital subscriber and what are the USPS requirements for reporting paid digital subscribers on postal forms?
CORPUS CHRISTI – Transparency experts will gather Tuesday, Feb. 25, in Corpus Christi for a seminar examining updates to state open government laws and offering training on the Texas Public Information Act and the Texas Open Meetings Act.
Rep. Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi is hosting the one-day open government conference, joined by the non-profit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas in cooperation with the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
When I assumed the role of Texas Press Association president nearly 18 months ago, I wondered what I could possibly bring to the table. Age and wisdom? Maybe. Age and experience? I suppose. Age? Got it.
More than anything, though, I was determined to honor the rich legacy of my predecessors.
A day or two later it dawned on me: not only would I have 18 columns to write, but I would be writing them for a fairly exclusive audience of my fellow writers and journalists.
For days, I had been planning my Thursday escape from the editor’s desk, determined to keep an appointment in Oklahoma City. As any native Texan should, I kept one wary eye on the weather forecast.
Just four days earlier, I had covered our Fall Foliage Festival wearing shorts and flip-flops. But on Monday morning, the National Weather Service advised that a new weather system might bring light rain and snow to some parts of the Panhandle.
First Amendment Attorney Laura Prather of Austin is one of the first winners of the Tony Mauro Media Lawyer Award, established this year by The American Lawyer and ALM to honor attorneys who zealously advocate for freedom of the press.
Also honored in the initial awards is CNN's legal department, led by David David Vigilante and Drew Shenkman.
A partner at Haynes and Boone in Austin, Prather was selected for her "tireless and successful efforts advocating for legislation to strengthen free press and speech rights in Texas," according to the announcement by The American Lawyer.
Registration is open for the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas annual state conference scheduled conference on Friday, Sept. 20, in Austin.
FOI leaders and experts will explore the latest developments in these areas and look to the future.
The one-day conference will take place at the Hyatt Regency, 208 Barton Springs Blvd. Early bird tickets are $115 and will be available until Sept. 6.
Legislation bringing government contracts back into public record and repairing several harmful court rulings have been signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.
By the deadline June 16, Gov. Abbott signed several important pieces of transparency legislation lawmakers sent to his desk this year, including:
While community news and lifestyle pages have replaced the "Women's News" pages of past decades, many in the newspaper business recall the kind of news discussed in this presentation at a TPA convention 80 years ago.
"How to Develop an Interesting Women's Page," a presentation by Miss Laura Lane, society editor for the Vernon Daily Record, at the 60th annual convention of the Texas Press Association, June 8-10, 1939 in Lubbock.
We Texans are fiercely independent and like to make our views known. On that, surely, we can agree.
Using our First Amendment right to speak out goes hand in hand with access to public information that helps us understand how our government functions.
By Kelley Shannon, executive director, Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas