Torrington, Conn., Register Citizen wins 2011 APME Innovator of Year Award

The Register Citizen of Torrington, Conn., a Journal Register newspaper, won the fifth annual APME Innovator of the Year award today in Denver.

 

The Register Citizen was honored for its open newsroom project, which gives readers full access to the paper's archives and its news meetings.

 

The Associated Press Media Editors expanded the annual contest this year and now recognizes top innovative work monthly. The Register Citizen had been honored as the January winner.

 

The Register Citizen will receive $2,000 from APME's sponsors of the Innovator of the Year award -- GateHouse Media and the Reynolds Institute of the University of Missouri.

 

"The Register Citizen's open newsroom concept impressed APME judges when we first heard about it," said incoming APME president Bob Heisse, executive editor of the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa. "It was no surprise that our conference attendees voted it the winner today."

 

"The work in the 16-member Torrington newsroom should give ideas to editors in all size newsrooms," Heisse said.

 

The award was presented at APME's annual conference in Denver.

AP-APME launch new joint reporting project: Aging America

On the heels of the successful Broken Budgets national reporting project, The Associated Press and APME have launched another project that should also resonate with readers.

 

While Broken Budgets continues to examine how state and local governments are dealing with the nation's fiscal crisis, the new Aging America project is telling the story of aging baby boomers.

 

The oldest among the boomers are reaching retirement age, and there are millions to follow. The project will look at the impact – costs, strains and positive influences – that this so-called silver tsunami will have on the communities in which they live.

 

With the expanded resources of a joint project, we should be able to drill down to the state and local level to tell the story of what happens when the population ages. And aging it is: 10,000 people will turn 65 every day for the next 20 years or so. By 2050, 1 in 5 Americans will be seniors.

 

The project will examine health, business, transportation, recreational and residential issues, among others.

Aging America stories already have started moving, accompanied by a logo.

 

Although we anticipate that a large portion of the series will be enterprise, we will fold in spot, breaking news where appropriate.

 

The reaction thus far has been positive. One editor called it an "incredible series" on an important topic.

 

The project model employed by AP and the Associated Press Media Editors leverages the resources of the AP and news organizations across the country. Collectively, we develop ideas on these topics, and go deep and wide with the reporting. The result has been an amazing collection of front-page stories, many of which were bolstered with localized reports.

 

To join in, members don't have to engage in a full-blown collaboration. When your staff does a particularly compelling story on the state's fiscal problems or aging boomers, point it out to your AP bureau chief for use as a member exchange; localize one of the upcoming stories; and kick in ideas for full collaborations.

 

Terry Spencer, AP news editor in Miami, will be the news editor for the project. He will oversee the content, but stories will be edited on the regional desks. His email address is TSpencer@ap.org.

 

Ebony Reed, AP assistant chief of bureau for New England, is taking the lead among the bureau chiefs, and Alan Miller, managing editor of The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch will be liaison with APME. Carole Feldman, AP director of news operations and finance in Washington, is the overall coordinator. Their emails are: EReed@ap.org, amiller@dispatch.com, and CFeldman@ap.org.

 

The goal is to set up a team of reporters for the project – at AP and in member newsrooms around the country.

 

As with the Broken Budgets series, this will be a rolling, ongoing series with contributions from the AP and from members. In many cases, the stories will be structured in such a way that members can localize them, and we will seek to give advance notice of stories and offer advice on data or other resources to aid in localizing them.

 

Find details on the Aging America project here:
http://www.apme.com/?AgingAmerica

APME elects Bob Heisse as president and elects new directors

 

Bob Heisse, executive editor of the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa., was elected president of the Associated Press Media Editors at the group's annual conference in Denver.

 

As vice president this year, Heisse worked closely with the AP-APME Broken Budgets reporting initiative and oversaw the expansion of the five-year-old APME Innovator of the Year contest to award monthly recognition.

 

"More than ever APME is delivering for newsrooms, whether it's in top training through NewsTrain, top content through national projects, or guidance in unsteady times." Heisse said. "Thousands of editors in our newsrooms need the support and resources that APME can offer."

 

"I look forward to welcoming AP broadcasters, educators and student media editors to APME," he said. "We have a lot planned in coming months, including new social media projects, continuing two national reporting initiatives on Broken Budgets and Aging America, and unveiling the APME50 project to reach out to editors in a new way."

APME -- an association of editors at AP's 1,400 member newspapers in the U.S. and newspapers served by The Canadian Press in Canada, and 3,000 AP broadcast outlets in the U.S. -- works closely with the news company to strive for journalism excellence. APME also supports training and development of editors in a changing media landscape, as well as initiatives in online credibility and diversity. Its name was changed Wednesday to Associated Press Media Editors to reflect the changing makeup of the 78-year-old organization.

 

Heisse began his career at Bucks County Courier Times in Levittown, Pa., and later became city editor of the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa.. A Penn State journalism graduate, he joined the Centre Daily Times, which is owned by the McClatchy Co., in 2002.

 

He is immediate past president of the Pennsylvania APME and is a former president of the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors.

 

He will serve as association president until the next APME conference, which will be held at the First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 18-21, 2012.

 

Other APME officers elected were Brad Dennison, vice president of News & Interactive for GateHouse Media, as vice president, and Debra Adams Simmons, editor of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer as secretary. Dennison will serve as president in 2013 and Adams Simmons in 2014.

 

Added to the APME ladder as Journalism Today chair was Alan D. Miller, managing editor/news for The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. He is in his second term on the APME board and will serve as association president in 2015.

 

Miller is a past president of the Associated Press Society of Ohio and a member of the professional advisory board for the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.

 

He started at the Dispatch as a reporter in 1984 and served in various roles before becoming managing editor in 2004. He previously worked at The Repository in Canton, Ohio, and The Daily Record in Wooster, Ohio. He has bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Ohio University.

 

Hollis Towns,executive editor of the Asbury Park Press in Neptune, N.J., completed his term as association president and will become president of the APME Foundation. Otis Sanford, who holds the Hardin Endowed Chair of Excellence at the University of Memphis, has completed his service to APME with a term as Foundation president.

 

Re-elected to terms on the board were: Michael Days, managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer; Jan Touney, executive editor of the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa; Martin G. Reynolds, editor of the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune; and Laura Kessel, managing editor of the News Herald of Willoughby, Ohio; and Kurt Franck, Executive Editor of the Toledo (Ohio) Blade.

 

Elected to an at-large term on the board was Aminda (Mindy) Marques Gonzalez, executive editor of The Miami Herald.

 

Elected to the small newspaper seat was Bill Church, executive editor of the Statesman-Journal of Salem, Ore.

Elected to the online seat was Joe Hight, director of information and development at The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com in Oklahoma City.

 

Elected to the new seat for an AP broadcast member was Jim Farley, vice president for news and programming at WTOP-FM in Washington, D.C.

Reporter notes: A blessing and a curse

By Alison Noon

In the First Amendment/Public Records session at APME's 2011 Conference, the idea of concealing sources behind a veil of irrefutable public records is presented as an ideal alternative to a subpoena.

Contributing greatly to the discussion of public records in modern journalism is Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network Editor Laura Frank.

The importance of records, she says, does nothing to inhibit attempts to restrict access to them.

Post-September 11, 2001, the security of federal documents has been tightened because, in Frank's experience, some information is being withheld for the supposed conservation of the country.

Privacy laws, too, she continues, are popping up and, "seem to trump all others."

Perhaps, then, pin-needle sources cannot be concealed in a haystack of public records?

Frank's examination of this situation offers optimism for reporters who find themselves in it:

Although there is no absolute protection to keep a reporter from having to testify, she suggests that government is actually moving in the right direction for the American journalist. Among other things, information is being recorded not more accurately, but more regularly.

So, how can reporters remain protected while also safeguarding their sources? The First Amendment panel states that making all ordinary reporting within a journalistic institution a consistent practice will be a first defense again any subpoena.

Such "consistency" of note-taking varies across the board of Associated Press Media Editors, even within the panel.

Dave Tomlin believes fully in the protection of notes, majorly for the use of the actual reporter.

Frank admits that she keeps her most valuable notes under the stairs within her home. Fellow panel member Steve Zansberg half-jokingly offers that cleaning out the alcove once it reaches capacity, much like a desk drawer, could be a consistent practice.

Zansberg states that while notes may be an irreplaceable part of the storytelling and fact-proving process, cellphone recording devices and landlines (let alone their online counterparts such as Vocaroo) are not secure methods. Despite privacy laws, the details of a phone conversation, location, or data are easily compromised by government and police officials.

It appears to me, then, that truly safe and effective note-taking must be done in its earliest form: the mighty pen.

Forget the 2012 election ... here are the results of the 2011 APME election

by Mary Rochelle

Hollis R. Towns, the now-former APME president, spoke before announcing the new APME president.

"I want to thank each of you for allowing me to serve. I tried to do my very best as president of this organization and I think we did a pretty good job, said Towns. "It was a team effort --  a great effort."

"This is a symbolic changing of the gavel," said Towns, as he announced Bob Heisse as the new APME president.

Bob Heisse proceeded to introduce his fellow incoming board of director members.

They are as follows:

Incoming Board of Director members

President: Bob Heisse of the Centre Daily Times
Vice President: Brad Dennison of GateHouse  Media Inc.
Secretary: Debra Adams Simmons of The Plain Dealer
Journalism Today: Alan D. Miller of The Columbus Dispatch


At-large:
Michael Days of the Philadelphia Inquirer
Kurt Franck of The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
Laura Kessel of the News-Herald Willoughby, Ohio
Aminda Marques Gonzalez of the Miami Herald
Martin G. Reynolds of The Miami Herald
Jan Touney of the Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa


Small newspapers:
Bill Church of the Salem (Ore.) Statesman-Journal

Online:
Joe Hight of The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City

Broadcast:
Jim Farley of WTOP-FM, Washington, D.C.

AP Editors Outline Initiatives for Coming Year

By Christine Larsen

According to the 2011 Associated Press Stylebook: A group of octopus is
referred to as "octopuses;" the year 2010 is pronounced "twenty-ten;" a female
third baseman in softball is referred to as just that; and a message sent via
electronic mail is an "email."

So said David Minthorn, editor of the 470-page AP Stylebook, which sets the
precedent for standardized journalistic writing and approves guidelines for news
writing.

Minthorn was among the presenters of the Associated Press News Presentation
at the APME conference held in Denver today. Others included new AP chief
political writer, Liz Sidoti, who presented commentary on her critical views of the
current political and social conditions in the United States and personal forecast
for the upcoming presidential election.

Sidoti began her discussion by listing the reasons why "most believe the country
is going the wrong direction" and how the general population's view on
President Obama is that "nobody is happy with him." She added that if the
election were held today, he would lose his chance of winning the swing states
of moderate voters.

"People do not like his policies. Not at all," she said, who included that America
is still proud of electing a black president. "But people still have hope in him and
they want him to do well."

One of the ways the AP will capture future political news coverage is through a
nation-wide political team, including AP political contributors: Steve Peoples,
Beth Fouhy, Chuck Babbington, and Tom Beaumont.

Next, Kristen Gasley provided an overview of state reports. During her
presentation, she gave an update on the joint AP-APME broken budgets, which
she said focuses on how states and local governments are dealing with fiscal
fallouts brought on by broken budgets.

AP Director of Photography, Santiago Lyon, discussed state news photographs,
including the importance of feedback. He also said that during the 2nd quarter
of the year, member contributions are up 22 percent.

"We want to provide good news that directly involves you," he said. "Through
your robust feedback, we continue to make good progress on quality and
volume."

His presentation involved a slideshow of an array of startling and heart-
wrenching photos of live shots ranging from a U.S. Marine losing a game of tic-
tac-toe to a 4-year-old and a game of ear-tugging in Alaska to a naked child
being rescued from a burning building and chaos spurred from a stage collapse
that caused gasps and laughter from a ballroom of AP members.

For the first time, the AP board invited broadcasters to join the organization,
who showcased a haunting video on Hurricane Irene with a recollection of still
shots and real-time videos and interviews.

Director of broadcasting, Kevin Roach, said they are also taking on a big issue to
do more with less but are "delighted about the new prospect to be part of this
great organization." He said he is excited to share ideas, learn from each other,
and teach each other while maintaining a competitive spirit.

APME Conference Blog

Thank you so much! This has been fantastic.

-Christine Larsen

'Patch.com' no longer a threat?

By Janice Bates

 

Many newspapers have begun to show some concern with the growing popularity of sites like 'Patch.com,' which have taken business away from various newspapers and local news businesses. These hyperlocal websites attempt to cover information specific to local communities across the country, and it is suggested that they do a better job of this than local print newspapers do. However, is Patch.com still a threat to the print-news business model? Or will it burn out sometime in the near future? These are just a couple of the questions that a panel of speakers at the APME Conference in Denver attempted to answer.

 

Brad Dennison began by giving everyone a brief background on Patch.com (an AOL company), as well as each of the speakers that would follow him. Neal Simpson was next, a reporter from The Patriot Ledger out of Quincy Massachusetts, and former writer/reporter for Patch.com. He provided everyone with his own experience with 'Patch', which gave decent insight into what 'Patch' has looked like, and progressed to in the last year. When he was approached about writing for 'Patch', he was working for a print paper in Brookline, Mass. and was eager to work at a place where he would "be on the leading edge" of journalism, "a place on a blazing trail." However, he went on to find out that he would be working long hours, with very little help and not a lot of teamwork since he would see his regional editor maybe once a week. They also proceeded to hire people with less experience, who would come in and try to run things, which seemed to leave him frustrated. Simpson went on to say that he left 'Patch' in April 2011 after they moved to focusing on one topic each day in an attempt to create more traffic to their sites. Since then, he feels he has the best job that he's had in his short career in journalism, a reporter at the Ledger, and he loves the teamwork, and pride that everyone has in the final product. He still has to compete with 'Patch', which keeps him on his toes, trying to report as quickly as he can.

 

Overall it seems that he doesn't regret his experience with Patch.com, however he enjoys working for print newspapers a lot more than an online company. While he didn't really directly answer the question 'Is Patch.com a threat?' he gave off the notion that 'Patch' is not, and will not be a threat to newspapers and how they do business.

 

Up next was John Lynch, not the football player but the Director of Digital Strategies at Serengeti communications. He focused on looking at 'Patch' from a "search engine perspective" and tried to show their business model through statistics based on this perspective. He started out by giving an example of a Google search page, and asked the question, "Why is Patch.com's link at the bottom of the search page, instead of at the top?" His answer to this was that search engines look for trust signals when they determine which links go where, and 'Patch' doesn't send out too many of these signals, which is why they are not featured at the top of the page. This he felt was one thing that hurts 'Patch' in the amount of revenue they take in. He went on to give numbers on 'Patch's' attempt to gain revenue through how many times people click onto their page. While he feels that 'Patch' needs to have a call to action in order to get more traffic to their sites, he ultimately felt that they are in no way a threat to print news. He gave various reasons for this, one being that he feels they don't organize their content very well, and that their site is tough to navigate through. He also gave suggestions that 'Patch' competitors could use to gain the upper hand on these hyperlocal sites, which is how he ended his lecture. He suggested that print news needs to focus on creating lasting relationships with their users/readers, and that they also need to harvest reader contact info. He also felt that if print news uses Google and Facebook to get long-term enthusiasts for their papers, they will have an advantage over hyperlocal sites like Patch.com.  

 

The final speaker was Brian Timpone, the CEO of BlockShopper.com/Journatic. He focused mainly on what print newspapers are currently doing wrong, and what they need to focus on to compete with hyperlocals. He feels that there is currently a production problem in print news, and that there is not enough content for the right cost. He then went on to talk about his website, which focuses on real-estate in local communities all over the U.S. 

Timpone continued by explaining some problems he sees with Patch.com. He feels that they take a "top down approach" to the stories they cover, and feels that they are centered around individual talent, instead of a team oriented environment. This reminded me of what Simpson was saying about his experience with working for Patch.com and his feeling of a lack of teamwork in the newsroom. Timpone ended his talk by giving a very positive outlook for print newspapers. He feels that if they focus on local news, and personalizing their papers and stories more (keeping the personal touch), they will then in turn create more competition for each other which will only fuel the industry.

 

Overall, there were some similarities in what each speaker had to say about Patch.com and print newspapers. While Lynch was the only one to firmly answer the question as to whether or not 'Patch' is still a threat to print and local news businesses, everyone seemed to feel that Patch.com would not remain a threat, and is currently not a threat to print media. Although no one from 'Patch' was able to speak with this panel, Simpson's account of his experience working for them did give credible insight into how they operate and what they focus on. In addition, Timpone did somewhat explain and give ideas on what print media could do to improve themselves, and compete with hyperlocal sites like Patch.com. Only time will tell as to whether or not hyperlocal sites will remain threats to print newspapers, or if print newspapers will change some of their content focus and compete with and supersede these hyperlocal sites.

 

Sports access issue sparks lively debate during panel discussion

Media representatives and officials from two sports enterprises squared off Thursday morning at the Associated Press Media Editors conference in Denver to talk about the tension over media restrictions on access to sporting events and athletes.

 

Generally, the four panelists agreed that there is room for both the media and sports enterprises in delivering information to fans. They also agreed that disagreements are not rooted in First Amendment issues but in contract law, which panelist Dave Tomlin, assistant general counsel for The Associated Press, said leaves room for negotiation.

 

But there is strong disagreement about how much access the media should have and how important that access is to fans and other readers.

 

Tomlin riled panelist Bob Bowman, chief executive officer of MLB Advanced Media, when Tomlin said that independent reporting benefits sports enterprises, because it "confers credibility and respectability," and that it will help grow a fan base.

 

Bowman bristled, saying that it was insulting to the "125 hard-working, independent" members of his reporting staff to suggest that their work is suspect because they report for an organization connected to Major League Baseball.

 

"I'm not suggesting that it isn't professional; but it's owned by baseball," Tomlin said. "What I'm saying is that you don't want the only voice about baseball to be baseball's."

 

Bowman agreed and said he wants to own live streaming of games and video recaps, but he does not want to supplant the analysis and commentary found in most newspapers.

 

Mobile delivery of text and images from sporting events had been an issue in the past, but it appears that has subsided. Most of the specific flashpoints discussed by the APME panel were around photos and video.

 

Mike Colbrese, executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, said that high-school associations such as his are fairly collegial when it comes to working with the media or others who seek to report on or videotape sporting events.

 

"The tug-of-war comes in the fact that we're all looking for that dollar," he said.

 

He said there is little tension over still photos, but video is another matter.

 

"We're going to be very vigilant about things that are important to us," Colbrese said. "A lot of us have contracts with video, and we're making some money from it, and we're not going to jeopardize that because a local newspaper wants to live-stream a game."

 

The reality of covering college and professional sporting events today was brought home by John Leyba, a photographer for The Denver Post.

 

"We have to make friends with everyone you meet at the stadium," he said. "In past, you were allowed to go pretty much anywhere you wanted. Now, they limit you to certain parts of the stadium or arena. Now, I make friends with anyone I can in stadium so that I can get where I need to be."

 

Leyba said he has to ask permission for access to locker rooms and players, and "a lot of times, we're shot down."

 

He fears, he said, that one day, there will be one entity supplying photos, "and we'll have to buy them."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Innovators' compete for annual award

By Alison Noon

The opening session of day two at the APME Journalism Conference introduced Innovator of the Year Award finalists and, after peer vote, the 2011 winner.

Three finalists were chosen from a pool of about 15 Associated Press-affiliated applicants, according to Laura Sellers-Earl, Audience Director at the Conference.

The Register Citizen of Torrington, Connecticut, The Kansas City (Mo) Star, and accumulated Pennsylvania Newspapers presented their projects.

After a manual count of the votes by fellow APME Editors, it was announced that The Register Citizen would be taking home the $2,000 grand prize.

The Open Newsroom project presented by Editor and Publisher of the Register, Matthew DeRienzo, is a small-scale representation of the transparency that journalism constantly strives for.

When it moved to a new location in the Spring of 2010, the 21-person staff of Torrington's local newspaper found themselves in a newsroom resembling a, "blank sheet of paper," according to DeRienzo.

It was from that large, empty physical space that the team's Open Newsroom concept was born.

The 16 people devoted to daily news coverage in Torrington invite any and all citizens of the 35,000-person town to share in the journalistic process by physically being at the Register's newsroom. Coffee, pastries, and leather chairs handy, the newspaper's office is designed to put the public at ease and encourage face-to-face conversation.

Cubicle walls are short, solid walls are minimal in number, and budget meetings are held publicly all, according to DeRienzo, to literally open up the journalistic process.

Citizens take advantage of these liberties not only by sitting in the air-conditioned building and using the free-Wi-Fi, but by pitching story tips directly to the writers.

The Register began their Open Newsroom project less than a year ago, but has already received widespread acknowledgement within the industry for the achievement. The community, DeRienzo understands, is catching on more slowly.

The Kansas City Star's Midwest Democracy project and the Pennsylvania newspapers' APME-AP Broken Budgets project were contenders to the transparency concept presented by the Register Citizen. All three projects revolved majorly around interaction of readers with the reporting and coverage processes of the papers.

The Innovator of the Year award is an annual update of profound journalism pursuits with sizable impact recognized by the AP community. Outside of the recognizable journalism concepts, Award applicants emphasized a shift to reader-accessible technologies.

Contact University of Colorado at Boulder student Alison Noon at alisonjnoon@gmail.com.