TPA gavel passes to Bill Patterson

TPA President Bill Patterson presented the Past President's Award to Ken Esten Cooke during closing activities at the 2024 TPA Convention & Trade Show. Cooke will serve as chairman of the TPA board this year.

Presidency of the Texas Press Association passed to Bill Patterson as he accepted the gavel from Ken Cooke and other past presidents during final activities at the 2024 TPA Convention and Trade Show in College Station.

A past president of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association, Patterson is a recipient of the Frank Mayborn Award for community leadership. Active in TPA, He has served in all officer positions, as a director and has chaired the Legislative Advisory committee for many years.

Patterson’s family owned the Record-Chronicle for most of the 20th century before selling it to The Dallas Morning News in 1999. Patterson stayed on as publisher and bought it back in 2018, however, the financial pressures of the last few years left him worried about its future and looking for a strategy that would leave Denton with a hometown paper. In 2022, plans were announced for a merger with KERA, North Texas’ source for NPR and PBS programming. In 2023, the merger was officially completed and the newspaper now belongs to a wholly owned limited liability corporation, Denton Public Media, operated by KERA. Patterson continues as publisher of the Record-Chronicle.

A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Patterson was recently named chair of the OSU Foundation board of trustees. He has served his community in many roles, including past board member and board chair, Presbyterian Hospital of Denton; trustee/board of governors, OSU Foundation; past board chair, board member and now Life Member of United Way of Denton County; co-chair of the United Way of Denton County Needs Assessment 2011 and 2017; as a member of the board of directors, Texas Health Resources Foundation, and on the board of directors for the Children’s Advocacy Center for North Texas.

Joining Patterson as officers are First Vice President Lisa Chappell, Greenville Herald Banner; Second Vice President Yvonne Mintz,

Clute, The Facts; and Treasurer Roger Estlack, The Clarendon Enterprise.

Cooke, publisher of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, remains on the TPA board as chairman for the 2024-25 term.

Newly elected members of the board of directors are Lange Svehlak, Athens Daily Review, and Kelli Barnes, Livingston, Polk County Enterprise. Holdover elected directors are Neice Bell, New Braunfels, Herald Zeitung; Brad Blakemore, The Dallas Morning News; and Murray Judson, Port Aransas South Jetty.

Appointed directors are Ana Cosino, Navasota Examiner; Rick Craig, Nacogdoches Sentinel; Pat Canty, Odessa American; Jason Hennington, Taylor Press; Phil Major, Mineola, Wood County Monitor; Jim Moser, Moser Community Media; J.L. Mankin, Big Lake Wildcat; and Dalton Sweat, San Marcos Record.

The passing of the gavel ceremony and Texas Better Newspaper Contest awards presentation capped three days of activities in the 2024 TPA Convention and Trade Show. In addition to networking opportunities and visiting with vendors at the trade show, the convention included training sessions focused on the future for print and digital resources for Texas newspapers, as well as data-based sales strategies and ideas for improving layout, ad design and photography.

Van Nguyen of Sony Electronics and Guy Tasaka of Local Media 3.0 gave programs on the use of AI tools. Tasaka’s Saturday program delved into the capabilities of different AI programs. Ken Campbell of AdCellerant discussed using digital tools to tailor advertising sales to the needs of specific businesses.

David Arkin of Arkin Consulting demonstrated the use of videos to sell digital advertising, and Joey Young of Kansas Publishing Ventures discussed the special community events his newspaper has used to grow subscriptions, ranging from informal community discussion groups to festivals. Bill Ostendorf of Creative Circle Media displayed ideas for using photography to engage readers by diverting from standard shots. He also showed examples of redesigning advertising based on asking the advertisers questions about their businesses and then focusing on that new information.

An especially eye-opening session was conducted by Julie Reed, Baylor University, and Austin Lewter, Tarleton State University. Three senior Tarleton students shared their college study experiences, discussed generational differences and talked about their plans for the future as they seek employment in journalism. Tarleton University Texan News Service executives Haeley Carpenter, Jolee Skinner and Reese Keeling also staffed a booth at the trade show.

Four newspaper legends were inducted into the Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame and seven veteran journalists were honored with Golden 50 Award in recognition of 50 years or more in the newspaper business.

Texas Better Newspaper Contest awards were presented during the final event Saturday.

Highlight of the convention was the concert by country music star Michael Martin Murphey and a barbecue dinner at the Lucky B Bison Ranch, hosted by Donnis Baggett and Beverly Brown.

Sponsoring the convention were eType Services, sponsor of the Trade Show; AdMessenger, sponsor of the Saturday luncheon; Explore Branson, sponsor of the Friday awards luncheon; Brightspeed, sponsor of the Robert Burns Memorial Golf Tournament; Texas Press Service, sponsor of the Friday evening concert and barbecue; session sponsors The Newspaper Manager, Blox and QuinType with Advantage Newspaper Consultants, and Metro Creative Graphics sponsoring coffee stations.

“The convention was just terrific and the TPA staff did an incredible job with interesting speakers who always challenge us and get us to think about how to improve our products. The rest of the event was great as well, and I love seeing so many friends and also making new ones each year,” outgoing President Cooke said.

“Friday night was such a special evening at the Lucky B Bison Ranch, owned by Donnis Baggett and his wife, Beverly. They treated us to a great meal and we saw those majestic animals. Our Executive Director Mike Hodges and his wife, Ilene, arranged a private concert for our members with Michael Martin Murphy (of ‘Wildfire’ fame). The weather was pleasant and we sat and listened as he gave a wonderful solo performance. As he sang his song, ‘Mountain Storm,’ a light rain shower began, and it was one of those perfect moments where all was right with the world.”