We Are Not the Chamber of Commerce by Marcia Martinek Arrest of Two Men and the Confiscation of “Need to Know” Editor Drugs and Weapons, All of Which Is Pictured
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Published by the Institute of International Studies, Missouri Southern State University, Joplin, MO Volume 38, No. 4 • May/June 2013 We are not the chamber of commerce By Marcia Martinek arrest of two men and the confiscation of “need to know” Editor drugs and weapons, all of which is pictured. and provide a Herald Democrat Bad news? Certainly bad news to the two medium for busi- Leadville, Colorado who were arrested and charged. Good nesses to advertise. April 11, 2013 news? Certainly good news to the Leadville Some of our news police who made the arrest. And to the rest isn’t pleasant. We It never fails that we get the occasional let- of us? Some will find it good news that the wish that the hos- ter or comment from someone who 1) won- arrest was made. Some will find it bad news pital would stop ders why we don’t just print the “happy” that this whole incident even happened at bleeding money, news or 2) objects to a specific story or series all. And a few will wish we hadn’t run the the school test of stories or editorial (or cartoon) that, story at all, because now everyone knows, scores would and Leadville looks “bad.” despite being true, shows a local institution improve and the Marcia Martinek in a bad light. So periodically we want to clarify that we county commis- In response to the first, we have on occasion are not the chamber of commerce. We are sioners would stop taken ruler in hand and actually gone not the tourism panel. Both of these organi- giving excuses for holding illegal meetings. through the newspaper measuring the inch- zations have their missions and their roles. Apparently wishing doesn’t make it so. es of good (or happy) news, bad news and We like to think that we contribute to their With the first two examples, we hear regu- plain old news. (An example of the latter efforts when we produce our winter and larly from people who wish we would ignore might be a meeting announcement.) summer fun publications, our cycling guide, hospital finance and school test scores. So our heritage guide and the Boom Days bro- Invariably we come out with a good percent- far no one has objected to our concern over chure. But those are publications. They secret meetings on the part of the BOCC. age of good news, a whole lot of plain old aren’t newspapers. news and a small amount of bad news. Things happen. We write about them with- (These are not scientific measurements.) The Herald Democrat, both the paper version out censoring the news. and online, is a newspaper. By definition it You have to understand, of course, that contains news, articles of opinion, features Some of these stories you won’t like. Some of good or bad news is in the eye of the and advertising. Our mission is to provide the same stories we won’t like either. beholder. all the local news we can dig up, give our Look at today’s front page. It’s a story of a opinions and yours, supply feature stories Marcia Martinek can be contacted at Leadville home invasion resulting in the that often are more “nice to know” than [email protected]. The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors By Cheryl Wormley The Woodstock Independent, Woodstock, Ill. Meet the ISWNE board and Chad Stebbins I received a welcome email from Chad Writing this column may be my least favorite academician and level-head and was day- Stebbins, executive director of the aspect of being ISWNE president. But at the trip planner for the last two winter board International Society of Weekly Newspaper other end of the spectrum: as president, I meetings. Editors in late April. “By the way,” he wrote, have had the privilege of working with the Members of the class of 2014 are Andy “the column you write for the May issue will board and Chad. Therefore, this column is Schotz and Barry Wilson. Andy is assistant be your last one as ISWNE president. There about them. managing editor of The Gazette weekly news- will not be a June newsletter ….” Kelly Clemmer, Wainwright, Alberta, is papers in Maryland. He also is chairman of You see, writing a column for each of ISWNE vice president. He and I were elected SPJ’s national ethics committee. ISWNE’s newsletters is my least favorite presi- to the board in 2009. He is editor and chief of Barry is our board member from down dent responsibility. I have been writing a Star News Inc., which has two weekly news- under. He is managing director of Asset weekly column for my newspaper, The papers with a combined circulation of 7,300. Media Services and lives in Kiama, New Woodstock Independent, for more than 25 Kelly will be a featured speaker at ISWNE’s South Wales. Barry is an evangelist for years. I haven’t kept a tally of the number of Green Bay conference this summer. ISWNE in Australia and New Zealand and columns, but multiplying 25 by the number Steve Bonspiel, editor/publisher of The has offered to host the 2016 conference — an of weeks in a year puts me over 1,300 col- Eastern Door, Kahnawake, Quebec, was elect- item on the board’s July board meeting agen- umns. ed to the board at the Bellingham, da. It’s one thing to write a column for my Washington, conference last summer and is Members of the class of 2013 are longtime paper’s readers. Writing for an astute audi- in the class of 2015. The Eastern Door, circula- ISWNE members Paul MacNeill and Gary ence of professional peers is another. I’ve tion 2,000, covers the Mohawk community of Sosniecki. Newspapering and ISWNE are in chosen to use the president’s column to build Kahnawake. Steve has owned the paper since Paul’s DNA. He is publisher of The Eastern ISWNE’s membership and encourage mem- July 2008. Graphic, Montague, Prince Edward Island, as bers to utilize member services — the Hotline, David Gordon, also in the class of 2015, is was his father, Jim, who was ISWNE presi- Golden Quill contest, conferences, editorial professor emeritus at the University of critiques and newspaper exchanges. Wisconsin-Eau Claire. David is the board’s continued on page 3 Cheryl Wormley Kelly Clemmer Dr. Chad Stebbins Steve Bonspiel Dave Gordon President Vice President Executive Director Paul MacNeill Gary Sosniecki Andy Schotz Barry Wilson Kris O’Leary Immediate Past President 2 May/June 2013 The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors ISWNEISWNE membermember isis Britain’sBritain’s longest-servinglongest-serving editoreditor Scottish editor Drew Cochrane has been He was interviewed on the Shareen “British newspa- recorded for posterity by the British Broad- Nanjiani Saturday programme to speak per managements casting Corporation. about the vicissitudes of being in the edi- are already using Cochrane, who was the first-ever Green- tor’s hot seat for 38 years continuously. the slogan ‘digital slade Bursary recipient in 1977 when the Describing himself as a “dinosaur of the first’ despite the ISWNE conference was held at DeKalb, newspaper industry,” he recalled starting fact that 85 per Illinois, is reckoned to be Britain’s longest- as a cub reporter on his local Ardrossan & cent of the reve- serving editor. After he produced the Saltcoats Herald in 1969 amidst the clank- nue comes from 7,000th edition of the Largs & Millport ing linotype machines and hot metal print,” he pointed Weekly News, in the Ayrshire holiday town pages. out. of Largs last October, Cochrane, 60, was At that time you didn’t need to complete a Asked about the Drew Cochrane invited to record a radio programme with four-year university media course before biggest story on BBC Scotland. becoming a journalist. his small-town patch in almost 39 years as an editor, he “I recalled that I worked from a Monday to reckoned it would have to be the one in Thursday as an on-the-job reporter and on 2011 when a married couple in Largs a Friday would travel by train to Glasgow walked into a local shop and purchased a to study law, government, newspaper prac- lucky dip Eurolotto ticket which earned tice, etc. leading up to the national qualifi- them the world’s record-breaking £161 mil- cations. The editor could send me to court lion prize. or anywhere from day one because I arrived with 120 words per minute “The lucky couple, Colin and Chris Weir, Officers of the International Society Pitman’s shorthand which I had gained at have decided to continue living in the town of Weekly Newspaper Editors: school, so that I was able to take verbatim and they keep giving money to local causes notes.” which makes for even more great stories,” President: Cheryl Wormley he added. The Woodstock Independent When put on the spot by presenter Shareen Woodstock, Ill. about how long he foresaw local newspa- Incidentally, Cochrane has just spent time pers surviving, Cochrane reckoned that, if in the States visiting family who live in Vice President: Kelly Clemmer you based it on annual circulation decreas- Fairfield, Connecticut and intends to Star News Inc. become a regular visitor. Wainwright, Albert es of 5 to 7 per cent, there could still be weekly papers 20 years from now, but more “Even more regular if I could get early Executive Director: closely aligned to income-earning digital retirement!” Dr. Chad Stebbins, Director, Institute of International Studies, Missouri Southern website versions.