Official Publication of the Oklahoma Press Association Vol. 82, No. 9 • 20 Pages • September 2011 Download The Oklahoma Publisher in PDF format at www.OkPress.com/the-oklahoma-publisher Find us at www.facebook.com/okpress THIS MONTH: Elk City charter rejected for second time For the second time, and we’re embarrassed, notice. An error in pub- -proved a resolution to hold and that the proposal and Elk City’s charter has been and I really don’t know lic notice that was only another election on April 5, announcement of the elec- OPEN MEETINGS rejected by the governor’s what else to say.” published digitally on a 2011, in conjunction with tion must both be published SEMINARS: Oklahoma office due to a problem OPA Executive Vice government website could the municipal election. once a week for three con- AG Scott Pruitt, the OPA with the legal publication President Mark Thomas have easily and conve- Voters once again secutive weeks. and ONF are holding six of the notice. expressed surprise and niently been corrected,” passed the revised charter The legal notice also seminars around the state. For the new charter to empathy for the city’s dif- said Thomas. “The vot- and the certification was requires the date for the Find one close to you for a become effective, a third ficulty. ers need confidence they forwarded to the gover- charter election to be not refresher in Open Meeting/ election will have to be “We certainly under- are receiving accurate and nor’s office for approval less than 20 days nor more Open Records laws. called, and voters will have stand when people make timely public notice. We on April 26. than 30 days after the last PAGE 3 to approve the now twice- honest mistakes,” Thomas commend Governor Fallin In July, Maria Maule, publication. approved charter once said. “Changing governing and her staff for being so deputy general counsel for In a prepared statement PLAYER PROFILE: This again. documents like a charter or diligent in enforcing these Governor Mary Fallin’s Holloway made to the new feature takes a look After the Daily Elk constitution isn’t easy. It very important and funda- office, corresponded with Daily Elk Citian, he said: at member publishers and Citian began making inqui- shouldn’t be. mental citizen notices.” City Attorney Steve Hol- “After reviewing my how they deal with the ries into whether or not the “We recently worked Voters first approved loway about an attorney file I found that I had pre- newspaper business in their charter had been approved with the Municipal League amendments to the charter general’s opinion and a pared the charter resolu- own unique ways. by the governor, a meeting to clarify and simplify this in July 2010. Two months section of the Oklahoma tions and utilized an erro- PAGE 10 was called in the confer- legal notice requirement. later, a memo from the Constitution dealing with neous publication timeline. ence room in City Hall to We are very pleased the governor’s office stated charter elections. “I had forgotten that the explain the situation. city is committed to getting there was a problem with The documents ex- charter had to be published ONF SUMMER INTERNS “This is an embarrass- this right on behalf of their the legal publication, and plained that just publishing and that there was a unique share their memories from ing situation,” said Com- citizens. that the proposed charter a summary of the proposed publication timeline estab- their summers spent at missioner Tom Mike John- “This also shows the had been nullified. amendments, as the city lishing a municipal elec- Oklahoma newspapers son. “It’s messed up again, value of printed public The commission ap- had done, is not sufficient, tion to amend a charter.” PAGE 12 NATIONAL NEWSPAPER WEEK Oklahoma Publishing Company TO BE CELEBRATED OCT. 2-8 National Newspaper Week will plans to sell to Anschutz Corp. be celebrated October 2-8, the first The Oklahoma Publishing Company “This transaction will not cause OPUB- full week in October. This year, (OPUBCO) on Sept. 15 announced on its CO to disappear — rather, only the owner- the theme is “NEWSPAPERS – website that the company will be sold to ship will change,” said Everest. the number one source for local The Anschutz Corporation in early Octo- “Mr. Anschutz’s stewardship of OPUB- news.” ber. CO’s properties will carry the company’s Promotional material will be The Anschutz Company, owned 108 year history well into the future.” available beginning Sept. 19 at by Denver-based businessman Philip Closing of the transaction is contingent www.nationalnewspaperweek.com. Material available Anschutz, will be acquiring all assets upon receipt of certain regulatory approv- includes ads, crossword puzzle, editorials and columns. that OPUBCO owns or has an interest in als. Details of the transaction remain pri- National Newspaper Week has been sponsored by including The Oklahoman, NewsOK.com, vate. the Newspaper Association Managers (NAM) since the corporate headquarters building and Look for more information about this 1940. the printing facilities. breaking story in next month’s issue of Florida Press Association and the Florida Society of Christy Everest, Chairman and CEO The Oklahoma Publisher. News Editors coordinated this year’s promotion. of OPUBCO, said Anschutz approached them with a unique offer in early June. 2 THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, September 2011 Effective teams drive engagement, the study suggested. Engaged employees care Curtin retires from about the organization, are willing to give extra effort, and take ownership of a proj- Watonga Republican; ect. Further, the study asserts that employ- ees are more loyal when they feel like part of a team, not just part of the company. Schultz named GM OPA PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Banding together as teams promotes sup- Since he was eight years old, Tim Cur- BY RUSTY FERGUSON, PUBLISHER OF THE CLEVELAND AMERICAN port and encouragement. Finally, the study tin spent his life working at the Watonga says that great teams live by sets of simple Republican. rules and hold one another accountable for It was a Tuesday. Deadline day. As I Newspapers have been vital in report- Curtin’s father, Gerald ‘Cowboy’ Cur- those rules. One important ingredient of dropped my children off at school on Sept. ing the tragedy of 9/11 – detailing events tin, bought one-quarter interest in the the simplicity suggestion was to “root and 11, 2001, I was mentally sifting through leading up to and following the attacks, paper in 1941. cheer” for one another. the pile of papers I left next to my com- telling stories of personal tragedy and Tim Curtin sold the Republican to Brett With those thoughts in mind, we can puter the night before. My thoughts were triumph, sharing accolades of so many Wesner in December 2010, but remained ask ourselves… do staff members have interrupted when a news alert came across heroes, celebrating courage and bravery, on as general manager until Sept. 1 of clarity about why we do what we do? Are the radio – I remember questioning if I had and educating (how many of us knew this year when advertising manager Carla they sold-out on giving it their all? Do accurately heard the announcer. I reached much about Jihad 10 years ago?). News- Schultz took over that position. they feel like they’re part of a team? Are to adjust the volume and the news was papers have excelled at reporting the story Curtin’s first job with the paper was to our rules and policies too complicated? Do clear – a plane had just hit one of the tow- and recording history. remove trimmings from the moving belts we cheer about their good work? Are they ers of the World Trade Center in New York Today, a decade later, newspapers con- on old newspaper folding machines, a job united in purpose? City. By the time I got to the office my tinue to show impressive teamwork in that required the eight-year-old Curtin to staff was huddled around the TV. The news publishing special editions and series of crawl under the machine and risk crushing only got worse. America was under attack. stories commemorating the tragedy and What do a machinist, clockmaster, his fingers in the gears of the folder. That was a tough day as sifting though recognizing the manner in which Ameri- glassblower and mathematician have in As he got older, Curtin took on other that pile of papers next to my computer in cans responded in the face of horror. common with inventor Thomas Edison? jobs including sweeping the shop, doing search of local news somehow felt rather Effective collaborations are what make They were part of a united team. It’s true. wraps for out-of-state papers and deliver- shallow as I was interrupted with thoughts newspaper work stand out. Newspapers Your elementary teacher may have forgot- ing sale bills door to door. of those who would be sifting through have helped bring clarity to confusion ten to tell you, but Charles Batcheldor, By fifth grade Curtin was casting lead piles of rubble in search of life. while a country torn apart came together. John Kruesi, Ludwig Boehm and Francis pigs and dealing with 700-degree molten It’s a connection we all have. We clear- Headlines have made it clear that what was Upton were on Edison’s team and worked lead for stereotype mats. ly remember where we were when we first meant to divide, instead united. together to create the first commercially Curtin’s father died in 1965, prompting Tim to transfer from Oklahoma State Uni- heard the news.