Changes in the business environment for community newspapers have encouraged a growing number of publishers to investigate the Requester Periodicals category that allows a newspaper to qualify for Periodicals rates and service by having more than 50 percent of its circulation either paid or requested. The General Periodicals category long-used by newspapers requires paid circulation.
Looking for local demographics? The final Population Estimates are available for July 1, 2015 and January 1, 2016. The Texas Demographic Center produces annual estimates of the total population of counties and places in the state. Estimates of county populations by age, sex, and race/ethnicity are also available.
Q: I am new to Texas and want to check on laws regarding the advertising of alcohol and tobacco products in print and online that are specific to tobacco barns and liquor stores.
A: First, here is a link to a list of laws affecting advertising in the Texas Alcoholic Beverage code:
http://texaspress.com/legal-notice-laws
(Click “Alcoholic Beverage” to view the short list of laws.)
Second, another good resource is the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission marketing practices link:
It’s January, and thoughts will turn shortly to spring – but before that, many a publisher will be considering contest entries.
It will be June before those coveted plaques are handed out, but the deadlines for entries will be much sooner, and I have a few thoughts (and pet peeves) to share about newspaper contests and participation therein.
GATESVILLE – Debbie Day has succeeded her husband, the late Marshall Day, as publisher of The Gatesville Messenger.
“I am honored to have been Marshall’s wife and I am honored to carry on Marshall’s legacy,” Day said. “He taught me this business and I will run the newspaper just like he did – nothing will change.”
Marshall and Debbie Day were married in 1991 while he was publisher of the Jackson County Herald-Tribune in Edna.
They met in Granbury when he worked for the Hood County News and she worked at the Granbury Chamber of Commerce.
GONZALES – Kevin Wright has assumed duties as publisher of the Gonzales Inquirer.
Wright, who came to Gonzales from Ureka Springs, Arkansas, got his start in newspapers in 1982 with Jim Chionsini, who, at that time, had a newspaper in Ulysses, Kansas.
From there, Wright went on to publish newspapers in New Mexico and Colorado before moving to California to work for Auto Trader magazine.
“We’re excited to have Kevin here as part of the Gonzales Inquirer,” General Manager Brandi Chionsini said.
MARIE HALL WHITEHEAD
RUSK – Marie Hall Whitehead, 88, former owner of the Cherokeean Herald newspaper and radio stations KTLU-AM and KWRW-FM in Rusk and the widow of state Rep. Emmett H. Whitehead, died Nov. 26 at her home in Rusk.
Over a 66-year period, Mrs. Whitehead and her late husband utilized the print and broadcast media platform they built to support causes benefiting Rusk and Cherokee County.
Stephen Garcia
PLEASANTON – Stephen Garcia is the new sports editor for The Pleasanton Express, which has one of the largest sports sections dedicated to high school and sub-varsity sports in Texas.
Garcia, who grew up in Corpus Christi, received his bachelor of arts degree in mass communication with a print journalism concentration from Louisiana State University.
Two-minute selections from some Poynter News University online courses are offered on www.poynter.org as coffee break classes. More than an an overview of the full course (courses for which tuition is charged) the shorts offer some good material and suggestions.
If you are covering the social determinants of health care, chances are you will need some data on areas such as income and gender that can influence health. One place to find everything from the number of doctors in a particular part of the country to demographic information on veterans is the U.S. Census Bureau. This federal agency culls data not only from the U.S. Census taken every 10 years but also from a host of other more frequent surveys.