Defining Who We Are — Page 2 Drukker Scholarship Awarded — Page 3 It’s Nice To Be Wanted — Page 5 Vol. 20 • Issue 6 PRINTNew Jersey Press Association • www.njpa.org JUNE/JULY 2009 NIE & YOUTH State court ruling: READerSHIP COMMITTee MeeTinG Thursday, July 9 OPRA request form 11 am NJPA conference room DirecTOrieS OnLine: is not mandatory AD REVenUE SUcceSS Wednesday, June 17 The Appellate Division handed open ter to both the language used and the 2 – 3 pm government advocates a victory and a policy enunciated by the Legislature in webinar defeat on May 21: one panel saying re- its enactment of OPRA. … [S]uch rigid quests under the state’s Open Public Re- interpretation contradicts the spirit and SOciAL NETWORKinG: cords Act need only be in writing, not intent of the underlying statute.” THE NEW CONTenT necessarily on an agency form; another Tina Renna, president of the Union MODEL Wednesday, July 15 panel saying an agency need not ac- County Watchdog Association, emailed 2 – 3 pm cept OPRA requests by every electronic a request for a copy of a Union County webinar HAPPIER DAYS: Jerome Aumente with Iraqi journal- means. Board of Freeholders resolution, which ist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, in November. A few weeks The bottom line: an e-mailed request the county clerk rejected because it was MOBILE: later, al-Zeidi threw his shoes at President Bush. was OK, a fax was not. Taken together, not on a prescribed form. County Coun- FROM CONTenT TO ADS the rulings suggest that appeals courts sel Robert Barry argued that the county Wednesday, July 29 are attempting to be even-handed in should be allowed to require use of the 2 – 3 pm carrying out OPRA’s ameliorative pur- form because it streamlined the proce- webinar Who is the Iraqi pose — by not imposing arbitrary stric- dure and was more efficient. tures on requesters but also by recogniz- Unfettered access THE OnLine INSerT ing the burdens that public agencies face Carchman said that the panel under- Wednesday, August 12 shoe-thrower? in complying. stood the county’s rationale for requir- 2 – 3 pm By Jerome Aumente webinar In Renna v. Union County, A-0821-07, ing a specific form but “these legitimate The TV reporter was one of the more self-assured Appellate Division Judges Philip Carch- policy concerns must cede to the broad- Iraqi journalists participating in my seminar on new VIDEO OnLine: man, Rudy Coleman and Marie Simo- er policy of governmental transparency IMPLEMenTinG media. But after class he sought my advice, this time nelli said that while OPRA requires that and the rights of citizens to have open AND SeLLinG nervously and with far less self-assurance. requests be in written form, a specific and virtually unfettered access to gov- Wednesday, August 26 Muntadhar al-Zeidi, 30, said that ever since being form should not be a requirement. ernment records.” 2 – 3 pm kidnapped (and released unharmed) the previous Carchman wrote for the panel, “We Carchman noted that no state with a webinar year in Baghdad, his nerves were on edge and he had deem the legislative mandate for a form similar public-document-access statute trouble sleeping. It was post-traumatic stress. Could to be one of accommodation rather than requires requesters to use a specific form NJPA Exclusive! I help him find assistance? restrictive. To suggest otherwise would and that many other states have com- Such requests from endangered journalists are not create a circumstance that runs coun- — Continues on Page 14 Cold, Hard Love unusual in my seminars. Attendees come from places like Iraq, Bosnia-Herzegovina or Serbia. What was The different this time was that — a few weeks after our NJPF honored for Mock Election Obie November, 2008 conversations in Beirut — al-Zeidi attained instant, international notoriety and folk-he- Declaration of Independence to visit NJ Story ro status in the Arab world when he threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush. New Jersey’s outstanding participa- and by the voter registration organiza- See Page 6 For doing that, he was sent to prison. tion in last fall’s National Student/Parent tion Declare Yourself – whose founder for story In a rage, al-Zeidi hurled his shoes at Bush during Mock Election is earning recognition for Norman Lear purchased this rare copy and photos. a Baghdad press conference in December. He shout- the New Jersey Press Foundation, which of the Declaration with the goal of bring- ed in Arabic: “This is a gift from the Iraqis. This is the coordinated the national effort here. ing “the people’s document” directly to farewell kiss, you dog!” A startled Iraqi Prime Min- As a result, the state was selected for people across the nation. ister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki tried to shield Bush as a visit this month by one of the few re- Early in 2008, Tom Engleman, then the American president twice nimbly ducked a shoe maining original copies of the Declara- program director for NJPF, responded flying past his head. The incident ignited street dem- tion of Independence. The visit will co- when the NJ Division of Elections need- onstrations throughout the Arab world in support of incide with a celebration of New Jersey’s ed organizational help and promotional — Continues on Page 4 345th birthday. firepower to conduct New Jersey’s part Opportunities to see the only travel- of the national student/parent mock ing copy of the document are scheduled election effort. for Wednesday and Thursday, June 24 Previously the division had run the and 25, at the State Museum in Trenton. mock election here as part of its duties The June 24 viewing will be by invitation under the state Office of the Attorney only. The June 25 session will be open to General. In 2008, however, the Division the public. of Elections was being moved into the The document’s visit is being spon- New Jersey Department of State and the sored by the NS/PME mock election or- move made many demands on staff time ganization, by the Pearson Foundation, — Continues on Page 5 Page 2 • JUNE/July 2009 • InPrint INPRINT a monthly publication of As I see it... New Jersey Press Association 840 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 305 West Trenton, NJ 08628-1019 Defining who we are PHONE .............................................609-406-0600 FAX ....................................................609-406-0300 Someone commented to me recently ed to define such an organization’s EMAIL [email protected] that our democracy would be in trou- role. After lots more thoughtful dis- NJNN FAX.........................................609-406-0399 ble if newspapers disappear. America cussion, they drilled down to: NJNN EMAIL .................................. [email protected] needs newspapers to survive, they A Digital News Organization is EXECUTIVE DirECTOR John J. O’Brien said. one that gathers, reports, edits COMMUniCATIOns MGR Catherine Langley Well, I humbly disagree. Our De- and provides news and informa- MEMBER SERVICES MGR Peggy Stephan mocracy doesn’t need newspapers — tion of a general nature in a digi- BUsinEss MANAGER Denise Sawicki ACCTG COOrdinATOR Jane Hartsough it needs journalists. After all, this ink- tal format. IT MANAGER John Viemeister on-paper thing is simply a product During its most recent meeting, the NJNN DirECTOR Amy C. Lear of history. Prior to newsprint, it was sub-committee reviewed various stan- MARKEtinG/RESEARCH MGR Brian Critchley dards and qualifications from other MAjOR ACCT SPECIAList Jennine Remington animal skins and before that messages Print MEDIA SPECIAList Joe Odas were written on clay tablets or carved state press associations that have simi- ADVErtisinG AssistANT Erin Rozansky in stone. It is the continuing effort, by lar membership categories and drafted ADVErtisinG AssistANT Adam Wilson dedicated individuals, to seek out the John J. O‘Brien a list for NJPA. SCAN/2x2 NEtwORKS MGR Diane Trent The next step NJPF DirECTOR George White truth that makes our form of govern- Executive Director ment last. New Jersey Press Association Sub-committee members presented BOARD OF DIRECTORS As our industry reinvents itself, their findings at the board of directors CHAirMAN so must the New Jersey Press Asso- George White and yours truly. meeting on May 21. There an impor- Arthur R. Hall ciation. We must continue to reshape The sub-committee was charged tant next step was taken. The board Cape May County asked that the committee’s report go Herald Times, Rio Grande ourselves so we can continue to serve with updating NJPA’s bylaws and cre- to a newly formed committee of on- PREsidENT the people who carry on this impor- ating a new membership category for Bruce Tomlinson tant work. Last year the NJPA board what they referred to at the time as line experts who represent papers New Jersey Herald, Newton of directors formed a sub-committee “Online Newspapers.” Once discus- from throughout the state, to get their Vice President • Weeklies to do just that. The group is headed by sions started, however, it soon became insight and opinion of the effort. Ray Worrall Worrall Community Newspapers, Union Ray Worrall of Worrall Community apparent that the term “Online News- As one member suggested, why not Vice President • dailies Newspapers, who is NJPA’s Vice-Pres- papers” did not capture the full scope hear from the folks who live in this Jennifer Borg ident of Weeklies. and breadth of this new segment. new world! The Record (Bergen County), Hackensack Also on the sub-committee are NJPA After much give and take, the com- I believe this is an excellent step in TREASURER President Bruce Tomlinson of the New mittee agreed that the following phrase this ongoing process to redefine who Frank Gargano we are as an industry and an associa- Gloucester County Times, Woodbury Jersey Herald, Joe Cavone of the Dai- best describes what they envision as tion.