The Texas Medical Association invites Texas journalists to enter the annual Anson Jones, MD, Awards competition for a chance at the title Texas Health Journalist of the Year or to win in other categories tailored for print and online work. Entries are being accepted now.
Any work first published by a Texas-based publication during 2021 is eligible. Visit the TMA website to learn about the updated award categories and to see award-winning work from past competitions.
Texas Press Association has entered an agreement with Digiversity.tv to co-sponsor the subscription fee for employees of member newspapers to access training sessions on publishing tools.
Digiversity.tv Host Russell Viers invites TPA members to visit the newly revamped www.digiversity.tv training site and “snoop around a bit” to see the new website in the making. The site is a storefront to a growing library of training videos.
By JIM PUMARLO, Consultant
Webinars, online and in-person workshops and other training opportunities for staffs of Texas Newspapers:
Obituaries published in the September 2021 edition of the Texas Press Messenger
It’s almost time to work up our 2021 Fall Sports posters (we include football, band, volleyball, fall tennis, cross country, cheerleaders, twirlers, flag lines and drill teams) for two of our area schools. Suzanne works very hard every year to top the previous year’s revenue and I expect she will do the same this year.
And no – you can’t borrow her to sell yours.
Last summer’s Grassroots Editor still sits in my stack of journalism publications. The edition announced the Golden Quill winners in annual competition sponsored by the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.
I have a passion for vibrant, local editorials. I believe energized, local editorials are at the foundation of energized communities. The Golden Quill recognizes the top 12 editorials written among nondailies.
By Jim Pumarlo, Consultant
It is taking 10-14 days for my Lindale News & Times newspaper to make it just 40 miles down the road. It is mailed in Smith County on Wednesdays and is supposed to be delivered to adjacent Upshur County on Thursday – the next-day Thursday, not Thursday a week or two from now.
I am sure this is nothing new to many of you, if not all of you.
I am losing subscribers and advertisers because of the lack of timely delivery. And when we ask the post office why the service is so slow we get no answers.
With state lawmakers immersed in the COVID-19 pandemic response and Texas’ electricity failures, the public’s access to information must be at the forefront of the Legislature’s actions. Information allows citizens to watch over their government, to speak out and to ask questions.
By Kelley Shannon, Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas
The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week was driven by a mistaken belief, generated by President Trump and his allies, that the election was stolen from him. Millions of the president’s supporters believe this lie, so it is damaging our republic by undermining faith in our elections, courts and other governmental processes. Journalism goes hand in glove with democracy, so what should journalists do about it?