THE Mailed from Sterling, Ill. INLANDER Inform Post Office if it arrives after October 20 Stay engaged. Find solutions. Move forward. October 2016 | Vol. 30, No. 10 131ST ANNUAL MEETING: OCTOBER 23–25, 2016 Showcasing success from the Inland’s 2016 Pacific to across the Atlantic President’s Report By Mark Fitzgerald MIKE GUGLIOTTO Success is streaming into Chicago for the 131st Inland Annual Meeting from some far reaches. 2016, a year of Fittingly, the gathering will open its first full day of sessions Monday, Oct. 24 with a presentation on innovation from the CEO of listening, then California-headquartered The McClatchy Company and begin drawing to a close on taking action Tuesday with newspaper success stories from Europe presented by the director of n a time of great transformation in global advisory from Paris-based WAN-Ifra. our industry, it’s vital that inland In between, attendees will hear stories of Iremain focused on the critical demonstrated success from more than 25 question that will allow us to serve U.S.-based media companies in addition to our membership well. the four European publishers. McClatchy CEO Pat Talamantes jump What will our industry look like in starts the Monday sessions at 8:15 a.m. with the coming years and what do we a presentation he’s calling, “Jumpstarting need to do now and moving forward innovation through design thinking: The to remain relevant and vital to our McClatchy Company story.” members? Talamantes will discuss how McClatchy is using design thinking—a formal method To answer that question, we’ve listened to of thinking that focuses on achieving a innovative product ideas and submitted ly two-third of its overall revenue. From our members. Earlier this spring, we sur- goal—to understand users, build products applications to take part in McClatchy’s Germany, the lesson is about NOZ Medien’s veyed the entire membership, and the nearly that matter, and engage employees. one-week design-thinking boot camp. A success in building a sustainable business 400 responses helped us better understand The session will cover the history of team from The Kansas City Star continued model on paid content through sweeping what our members want and need. design thinking at McClatchy, examples of onto a five-month program, partnered with transformation and aggressive diversifica- We’ve listened to our engaged board of design thinking in action, and McClatchy’s Matter, a media-focused startup accelerator, tion. directors. At its summer strategic planning plans to expand innovation in the compa- to develop and test their idea.” Axel Springer, another German publisher, meeting, the board identified a number of ny. Much of that discussion will revolve From WAN-IFRA, Ben Shaw will focus demonstrates how a digital laggard success- important and exciting initiatives, including around McClatchy’s Ignite initiative. on four European media companies with fully transformed itself into perhaps the specific deliverables and timetables. I’ll come “Ignite is McClatchy’s internal innovation lessons in success for North American news- world’s best hyperactive digital-led media back to those in a moment. competition,” he said in a message to The papers. company. And from Austria, Styria provides And, we’ve listened to dozens of smart Inlander. “Employees from across From Sweden, he reviews Schibsted’s lessons in getting even millennials to pay for operators that are having real success in tran- McClatchy formed teams, brainstormed success at boosting online activities to near- content, Shaw said. sitioning their businesses in many ways. This year’s annual meeting — Inland’s 131st — is PAGE 8-9 primarily devoted to telling the stories of Annual Meeting Program at a Glance those successes. Speaker Biographies PAGE 10 Some of the initiatives I mentioned earlier will be easily visible. Others will be less Inland Leadership PAGE 6 obvious, but still important to the organiza- tion’s future. Executive Director’s Annual Report PAGE 7 First, our membership is stable with nearly 1,000 daily and non-daily members, across Tom Shaw receives Casey Award PAGE 22 all 50 states. The board is committed to grow- ing that membership through active, member- Lloyd Case wins Ray Carlsen Distinguished Service Award PAGE 22 GUGLIOTTO, CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 THE Briefs Send items to [email protected] INLANDER Stay engaged. Find solutions. Move forward. ALL IN THE FAMILIES: VOL. 30, NO. 10 | OCTOBER 2016 After four generations, Jones family 701 Lee St., Suite 925, Des Plaines, IL 60016 | (847) 795-0380 Fax (847) 795-0385 | [email protected] | inlandpress.org selling newspapers to Adams family THE INLANDER TEAM ones Media, a fourth-generation family-owned newspaper publisher, sold its assets to Adams Publishing Mark Fitzgerald, EDITOR Group, another family-owned publisher headed by Steve Adams. Karla Zander, ADVERTISING DIRECTOR J Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Cribb, Greene & Cope of Charlottesville, Va., repre- Creative Circle Media Solutions sented Jones Media in the sale. DESIGN & PRODUCTION OUTSOURCING “After 100 years of family ownership, selling Jones Media was not an easy decision for our family,” Jones The Inlander is the official publication of the Inland Press Media President and CEO Gregg Jones said. “However, there was no clear succeeding generation of our Association and Foundation. It is published 12 times a year. family working in the business, so we came to the difficult decision nearly a year ago that selling was the The Inlander is printed by Shaw Community News Group, Sterling, Ill. Paper supplied by PAGE Cooperative, King of best option for our employees and the communities we serve.” Prussia, Pa. Newspapers in the sale of the premier newspaper DISCLAIMER: Columns and articles do not represent the include Tennessee and digital companies in the opinions of Inland Press Association or its members or of the publication The Greeneville country. We salute the Jones Inland Press Foundation. Submissions from law firms do not Sun; The Daily Post- family and all of the Jones constitute legal advice or opinions. They are intended for Athenian in Athens; The associates for their fine general information purposes only Daily Times in Maryville; work, and look forward to a The Newport Plain Talk; prosperous future.” THE INLAND PRESS ASSOCIATION The Rogersville Review; For his part, Gregg Jones The Inland Press Association is a not-for-profit organization News-Herald in Loudon said, “We felt deeply that owned by its members and operated by a volunteer board. Dues County; The Connection in the new owner of the are among the lowest in the industry, about $32.20 per Tellico Village; The company needed to reflect thousand circulation for dailies, $137.50 flat rate for weeklies. Advocate & Democrat in the family’s value system The Inland Press Foundation assists with continuing education programs for newspaper employees. Monroe County; and The and support for community Herald-News in Dayton. newspapers and their staffs. Tom Slaughter Karla Zander North Carolina publications “The Adams family shares EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MANAGER OF RESEARCH sold include the Watauga our own family’s passionate [email protected] AND MEMBER SERVICES Democrat in Boone; The belief in a bright future for [email protected] Patricia Slusher Mountain Times in Watauga the community newspaper Steve Hoffman DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP County; Ashe Mountain business, one that includes AND PROGRAMMING ACCOUNTING MANAGER [email protected] [email protected] Times in West Jefferson; The ink on paper as well as one Avery (County) Journal-Times; and The Blowing Rocket in that aggressively embraces the opportunities for new, Blowing Rock. exciting products and services made possible in our ever- INLAND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Jones Media’s holdings also include a tourist publication emerging digital world,” Jones said. operation and a full-service digital marketing solutions firm, All of Jones Media’s full-time employees will be offered Mike Gugliotto Doug Hiemstra ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT-ELECT High Road Digital, based in Johnson City, Tenn. employment and benefits with the Adams Publishing Group, Pioneer News Group Co. BH Media Group Minneapolis-based Adams Publishing Group owns and the two companies said at the sale closing Sept. 1. Seattle, Wash. Omaha, Neb. operates newspapers and printing plants in 11 states and is a Gregg Jones will continue as president and CEO of Jones Cheryl Dell Doug Phares division of an Adams company that owns and operates a Media, a role he has held for more than 15 years, and ASSOCIATION CHAIRWOMAN FOUNDATION PRESIDENT number of other businesses, including Adams Outdoor, succeeda his late father, John M. Jones, III, as publisher of Sacramento Bee Sandusky Newspapers Inc. Fairway Outdoor, Adams Radio Group, Good Sam, The Greeneville Sun. Sacramento, Calif. Sandusky, Ohio Camping World, and wineries and vineyards in the United Additionally, Steve Adams and his family have asked Tom Yunt Jeremy Halbreich States and Europe. Gregg Jones to assume a greater leadership position within ASSOCIATION VICE PRESIDENT FOUNDATION VICE PRESIDENT “We’re very excited to welcome Jones Media to our their overall newspaper publishing operations nationally. United Communications Corp. AIM Media Texas Kenosha, Wis. McAllen, Texas family of companies,” said Steve Adams. “Through “I have accepted the Adams’ offer,” Jones concluded, “for generations of stewardship, Jones Media is considered one which I am grateful and deeply complimented.” Tom Slaughter SECRETARY-TREASURER Inland Executive Director Des Plaines, Ill. After more than a century of Waters family ownership, sale of the Columbia Daily Tribune makes it part of GateHouse Media’s Missouri newspaper cluster The Inlander: (ISSN 1066-2146) is published monthly by the Inland Press New Media Investment Group Inc., since January, 2011, said the decision The paper reported that discussions Association, Inc. Subscription rate for non-members is $75. Periodical the parent of GateHouse Media, to sell was “extremely difficult.” about the sale began in the spring.