The 2024 Texas Better Newspaper Contest opens Jan. 20 on the Advanced Contest Entry System (ACES) platform.
Participants have until Feb. 18 to upload entries on the platform, www.newspapercontest.com/Texas.
Contest rules and eligibility guidelines are available now on the Texas Press Association website, www.texaspress.com/better-newspaper-contest-0.
WASHINGTON — Disclaimer: This is not a newspaper story. Let’s call it an analysis of an analysis.
Analysis by Donnis Baggett, Texas Press Association
The Poynter Institute’s latest “OnPoynt” report on the state of journalism has good news and bad news for hometown newspapers.
The good news: Your readers still consider you credible. They differentiate between the believability of their hometown paper and the national media, thank goodness.
Every year, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) collects data on recycled newsprint. Texas law requires that newspaper publishers submit their report for 2024 to the TCEQ by Jan. 31. More information about the reporting requirement is available in the Texas Health and Safety Code, Section 361.430.
The current survey form is available online for publishers to fill out and return to the TCEQ. To access the 2024 survey form and for more information about the program, visit the TCEQ Recycled Newsprint website at https://www.tceq.texas.gov/p2/recycle/newsprint.html.
Among the Walls Commentary Awards winners are (from left) Dion Lefler, opinion editor of The Wichita Eagle, Wichita, Kansas; Nedra Rhone, lifestyle columnist of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia; Lissa Walls Cribb, CEO of Southern Newspapers; and Greg Weatherbee, publisher of The Lufkin Daily News.
Online only content now accepted in some categories
New rules for the 2024 Texas Better Newspaper Contest will allow online content to be submitted as entries in writing and photography categories. In addition, the new rules specify AI generated or AI modified/enhanced content is not eligible for submission.
After announcing closure of the Lindale News and Times, owner Jim Bardwell decided to turn over the newspaper’s intellectual properties to Rambler Texas Media, Texas’ original nonprofit, 501 (c) (3), paid circulation community newspaper.
John and Stacey Starkey built and ran Rambler Newspapers for 20 years, until changes in the industry forced them to seek a different business model. According to Stacey Starkey, Rambler Texas Media grew out of Rambler Newspapers, a weekly newspaper serving Irving, Coppell, and Grand Prairie in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
Photo by Louis C. Stas, Wheeler Times
By Bill Patterson, TPA president, 2024-25
In September, a group of TPA publishers had some cyberfun reminiscing about “the good old days.”
Americans’ right to speak their minds is considered sacred, which is why we must fight to protect the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Citizens Participation Act. Both measures were carefully written with protection of the individual — the “little guy” — in mind. They’re designed to give a David a fighting chance if he finds himself in a legal duel with a Goliath.
School is in full swing and everyone is settling into fall. The change in seasons brings out the hustle and bustle in all our markets. This year, it also brings election season. Whether we’re mostly print, mostly digital or a combination of both, our communities will turn to us for credible and timely news and information leading to the November election.
By Bill Patterson, TPA President 2024-25
By BILL PATTERSON, TPA President 2024-25
Thanks to everyone who attended the Texas Press Association convention for your interest in finding the model that's right for your market as the world around us keeps changing.
As I mentioned at the closing luncheon, I'm a big believer in change. As I sit here today and as we approach Back To School time, I can’t help but think about how it has changed.