• Newsprint is one of the grades of paper in a category called Uncoated Groundwood paper or UGW.

The Texas Press Association has joined a new coalition fighting proposed countervailing duties and anti-dumping duties on imports of Canadian uncoated ground wood papers, including newsprint and other papers.
The coalition, Stop Tariffs on Printers & Publishers (STOPP), is comprised of members of the printing, publishing and paper-producing industries, which employ more than 600,000 workers.

As part of the celebration of Sunshine Month in March, several Texas organizations joined forces to promote government in the sunshine.
The Texas Sunshine Coalition includes the Texas Press Association, the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Public Citizen, the Texas Association of Broadcasters and other organizations. The new coalition’s website is www.txsunshine.org and social media channels are in development.

A second blow against community newspapers was announced this week by the U S Department of Commerce in the form of heavy tariffs on the North American paper supply.
A preliminary decision in an anti-dumping case brought last summer by northwestern US producer NORPAC came from the Department on March 13. Commerce said it was ordering duties up to 22.16 percent on Canadian newsprint production, to be added to the January assessments of 4.4 to 9 percent from a related case on countervailing subsidies.  

WASHINGTON — The Department of Commerce can legally use its discretion to mitigate the impact of proposed tariffs on newsprint so that job loss from a proposed set of duties on Canadian paper is minimized, a group of publishing organizations told the DOC in February.

Shining light on government to hold it accountable is hardly a new idea. In fact, Texas was a national leader in this realm for more than 40 years.
Sadly, the flow of public information in this huge state is slipping from the sunshine into the shadows.

This column by FOIFT Director Kelley Shannon is available to Texas newspapers to use as a guest column during Sunshine Week.

AUSTIN – The Texas Better Newspaper Contest is now accepting 2018 contest entries from TPA member newspapers. 
Deadline for entries is March 22.
TPA members are invited to submit entries through the Better Newspaper Contest portal, which can be accessed at www.texaspress.com/bnc. The contest page includes a link to the 2018 Call for Entries rules booklet.

The public’s right to know is the focus of Sunshine Week, March 11-17, a national celebration promoting openness in government.
Though spearheaded by journalists, Sunshine Week is about the public’s right to know what its government is doing, and why. Participants include print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know. 
Led by the American Society of News Editors, Sunshine Week is funded primarily by a challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation of Miami.

MISSION – Denise M. Rendon, Progress Times director of sales and marketing and owner of Savy Publishing LLC, has purchased the newspaper from Jim Brunson.
Rendon began working for the Progress Times as an advertising account representative in 2012 and was named director of sales and marketing in 2016. She has now assumed the role of publisher.
Brunson, who retains ownership of the Winter Texan Times, said he is pleased to leave the Progress Times in good hands with Rendon. 

WHITESBORO – Austin Lewter has returned as publisher of the Whitesboro News-Record.
The appointment was announced by Scott Wood, owner of the newspaper, who noted that Lewter is “a hometown boy with a proven track record in the newspaper industry and a passion for community journalism.” 
Lewter grew up in Whitesboro and graduated from Collinsville High School. He has a degree in journalism from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and completed his graduate school work in mass communications at Stephen F. Austin State University.