Chisholm: Print to remain key

CHICAGO — Print revenues will remain critical for newspapers and publishers will need to continue to focus their efforts on that segment for the foreseeable future, according to industry analyst Jim Chisholm.

Chisholm, who also writes a column for News & Tech, told attendees at the Inland Press Association’s 125th annual meeting, that “Newspapers are not dying. They are just slow to wake up.”

Digital advertising, he said, will at best only contribute 20 percent of newspapers’ overall revenues for the foreseeable future. “Eighty percent of a newspaper’s revenues will still come from print for a long time to come and newspapers will have to continue to concentrate on the core of its business,” he said.

To that end, Chisholm encouraged publishers to concentrate on building up their sales efforts. “Publishers are continuing to reduce sales staff at a time when they need more firepower. “There needs to be a program of targeting, rehabilitating, and retaining lost advertisers – in print and digital. Introduce a customer recovery program.”
— News & Tech

Obit – Kenneth Bronson

Kenneth C. Bronson, 77, who spent 39 years with Stauffer Communications Inc. and was a sought-after newspaper consultant for decades, died Monday (Oct. 25, 2010) in Topeka.

Services are set for 10 a.m. Friday (Oct. 29, 2010) at First Christian Church, 1880 S.W. Gage Blvd., in Topeka. The family will greet visitors at 9 a.m. at the church prior to the service. Burial will be in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Penwell-Gabel Mid-Town Chapel is in charge of arrangements.

Cards may be sent to Edith Bronson in care of the funeral home: Penwell-Gabel, 1321 S.W. 10th, Topeka, KS 66604. Memorials are suggested to the Kansas Newspaper Foundation, 5423 S.W. 7th, Topeka, KS 66606; the First Christian Church, 1880 S.W. Gage Blvd., Topeka, KS 66604; or the Alzheimer’s Association, all in care of the funeral home.

Bronson was born April 15, 1933 and grew up in Kensington in north-central Kansas.

Bronson was a frequent presenter at Missouri Press state and district meetings in recent years.

He began his career in Topeka at the State Journal and Daily Capital, where he started as a sports writer in 1952 and later became state editor and news editor.

After his marriage to Edith MacArthur in 1959, the Bronsons purchased a weekly newspaper in Pierce City, Mo., and built it into an award-winner in one year.

He rejoined Stauffer in 1962 as editor of the Independence (Mo.) Examiner. Stauffer Communications transferred Bronson to Pittsburg in 1966 where he became editor and publisher of the Pittsburg Headlight and the Pittsburg Sun. He merged the two newspapers in the fall of 1966 as The Headlight-Sun as a seven-day newspaper and later converted it to a morning newspaper, the Morning Sun.

At Pittsburg, he installed the first small newspaper newsroom computer system west of the Mississippi, was a pioneer in computerizing the business operation, built a new building and installed a new Goss Urbanite press in 1973.

Oscar Stauffer, founder of Stauffer Publications, later to become known as Stauffer Communications, asked Bronson in 1976 to oversee the Stauffer newspapers as vice president. Bronson moved to Topeka in 1977 and later was given the title of senior vice president. He was responsible for a division that grew from 12 newspapers to 22 newspaper plants, producing more than 30 newspaper and shopper products.

Bronson started Stauffer Media Systems in 1976 after designing and implementing business computers at Pittsburg. He built the company into a leading vendor of newspaper software products, including the Stauffer Gold Electronic Library and Stauffer Audiotext Systems. The company also operated four retail computer stores and marketed newsroom and business systems to newspapers.

When Stauffer Communications was preparing to sell the company in 1993, Bronson moved to Indiana to work for an old friend, John Nixon, who had called and asked him to be chief operating officer for Nixon Newspapers. He retired from that position on June 30, 1997, and up until a few years ago had been traveling around the nation sharing his expertise with newspapers of all sizes and with newspaper associations.

Bronson was president of KPA in 1975-76 and of the Inland Press Association in 1992. He also had been president of the Kansas-Missouri Associated Press editors and publishers, chairman of the Inland Group Executives Seminar, a director of the Mid-America Press Institute in St. Louis and a trustee of the William Allen White Foundation. After he joined Nixon, he became a director of the PAGE national newspaper cooperative.

He presented more than 200 seminars and workshops for state and regional newspaper associations, spoke at the American Newspaper Publishers Association’s national conventions, at the National Newspaper Association national convention multiple times, at National Newspaper Foundation seminars and at many Inland Press Association and state press association conventions. He also had been a speaker at judicial conferences, both on the state and national level.

Bronson has served on the board of directors of the American Judicature Society and as a director of the Christian Board of Publications. He twice has been president of local Rotary clubs and is a Paul Harris Rotary Fellow. He was president of two chambers of commerce and was on the board of the Kansas State Chamber of Commerce. He has been on the boards of a community college, two hospitals, a public library, United Way, a Boys Club, Junior Achievement and his church where he is an elder on the local level and an officer on the regional level. During his 19-year stint as one of two nonlawyers on the Kansas Commission for Judicial Qualifications, the Supreme Court of Kansas awarded him its first-ever Kansas Justice Award in 1989 “for distinguished contributions to the improvement of justice in Kansas.” He was the first nonlawyer and nonjudge ever to chair the commission and spoke at many state and national judicial meetings.

A native of Kensington, a small farming community in north-central Kansas, Bronson attended the University of Kansas and graduated from Washburn University in Topeka after a tour of duty in the U.S. Navy. He served on the USS Boxer aircraft carrier, where he published a weekly newspaper and was editor and publisher of a history book of the ship. The latter effort involved working with a Japanese printing company and earned him a commendation from the ship’s captain. Bronson was elected to the Kensington High School Hall of Fame in 1971.

He served as interim executive director of the Kansas Press Association twice (in 2000 and 2003) and was director of the Kansas Newspaper Foundation from 2005 to 2007.

He was elected to the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2002.

He is survived by his wife, Edith, three children, Brian, Laura and Linda, and two grandchildren.

The Bronsons also traveled extensively on Inland Press Study Missions, which have involved meeting with government officials, press associations and newspaper editors. Their trips have included: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, England, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Kenya, Monaco, Norway, Peru, Romania, San Marino, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Venezuela, Yugoslavia and Zimbabwe.

Bookstaver to retire at News-Leader

News-Leader staff • September 28, 2010

Linda Ramey-Greiwe will become president and publisher of the Springfield News-Leader effective Oct. 11, the Gannett Co. announced today.

Ramey-Greiwe will succeed Thomas Bookstaver, publisher of the News-Leader since 2002. Bookstaver today announced his retirement effective Oct. 8.

Ramey-Greiwe — pronounced Ray-mee Gry-vee — also will be West Group vice president for Gannett, with oversight responsibility for the U.S. Community Publishing markets in Mountain Home, Ark.; St. Cloud, Minn.; and Sioux Falls, S.D.

“What excites me is the impact we can have on a community and the things we can do,” Ramey-Greiwe said. “I’m excited to be coming back to Missouri.”

She is a University of Missouri home economics journalism graduate. She holds an MBA from Webster University. She and her husband have family outside St. Louis.

Since January 2008, Ramey-Greiwe has been president of the Newspaper Network of Central Ohio.

She has been active in the Newspaper Association of America and served on the Display Federation Board. She currently serves on her local United Way and YMCA board. She is also active in Rotary.

Ramey-Greiwe is an avid bicyclist and runner. She and her husband, Terry, have two children.

Ramey-Greiwe began her career with Gannett in Green Bay, Wis., in advertising. She also has worked in Rockford, Ill., Louisville, Ky., Palm Springs, Calif., and Phoenix, primarily in advertising roles, and as a publisher in Salinas, Calif.

“Linda is a native Missourian and we are delighted to welcome her back to the area. She’s an innovative and experienced leader and brings a customer-first focus,” said Laura Hollingsworth, West Group president of U.S. Community Publishing, and president and publisher of The Des Moines Register.

“Tom has had a terrific career at Gannett. He has played an important role in helping Gannett move forward and meet consumers’ changing needs. He has earned his retirement and we wish him well,” said Robert Dickey, president of U.S. Community Publishing. “He leaves a strong team in place and Linda will build on his successes, finding new ways to grow our business and better serve our customers.”

Bookstaver’s career with Gannett began in 1973 when he went to work as a computer programmer at the Marion, Ind., Chronicle-Tribune. He was a publisher at the Valley News Dispatch in Tarentum, Pa., the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, W.Va., the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser and the Post Crescent in Appleton, Wis., before coming to the News-Leader. He also was finance director at the Tennessean in Nashville.

Bookstaver is vice president of Gannett’s West Group. He was previously vice president of the company’s Midwest and Piedmont groups.

He’s seen plenty of changes in the industry over the years, but he believes newspapers still have a key role in communities.

“That’s the one thing that still has not changed. I need a credible resource to tell me what I need to know about my community,” he said.

He intends to stay in the Springfield area.

“I feel like I’m really blessed to wind up in a community like Springfield,” he said. “It’s just a great place to live.”

A high priority, he said, is going to be spending more time with family, “being with my family when they want me to be there, not when I can be there.”

Duane Dailey to be honored

Duane Dailey, longtime agriculture journalist and photographer, is being honored Friday, Sept. 24 with a reception, 3 to 5 p.m. at the Reynolds Alumni Center on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Dailey writes a weekly column, published by a number of Missouri newspapers.  He is one of those dedicated people who attend most Missouri Press Association annual conventions and many of the state’s district press association meetings.

In 2006, he was inducted into the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame in Washington, MO.  And, for years he has assisted with the Missouri Photo Workshop, sponsored by the Missouri School of Journalism.

You may send your congratulatory wishes to Duane Dailey, 511 W. Worley, Columbia, MO 65203-3324.

VOTERS READ NEWSPAPERS!

Recent reports from Pulse Research, Inc. show that most people read their local community newspaper for information about local politicians and their campaigns (July 2010).  53% respondents said newspapers are their primary source compared to just 22.4% for television. Radio, the Internet and direct mail only received 12.2% combined!

The most recent Media Audit report shows the cume audience “past year voted in local, state, national election” of the Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune nearly doubles that of the two local TV news stations (June 2009).  Add the 30 other newspapers, which have avid readers within the two TV news signals, and newspapers are clearly the distinct leader in reaching likely Mid-Missouri voters.

Scarborough reports relating to The Kansas City Star have similar results (2009).  None of the four local network television stations in Kansas City come anywhere close to the reach of The Star – in PRIMETIME!  Kansascity.com is even 36% higher than the nearest local tv website, beating it by more than 100,000 adults.

St. Louis?  Running a spot on every newscast on KSDK for an entire week would reach 676,800 (41%) of Missouri voters in the St. Louis DMA.  (How many Illinois voters do they reach?  Illinois voters who can’t vote in Missouri.)  You’d reach TWICE THAT many Missouri voters running in the Post-Dispatch, Suburban Journals & STLtoday.com for a week (1,107,100 or 67%). Scarborough 2009.

And, don’t forget the many community weekly, community daily, and niche newspapers that round out the metro- and non-metro areas of Missouri.  Our state has more than 300 newspapers.

So the question remains, why do politicians and advocacy groups dump the largest portion of their budgets into a medium that is barely half as effective as newspapers?

Voters read newspapers.

What is OpenMissouri?

OpenMissouri is a project created by David Herzog, a faculty fellow at the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism.  The one-year pilot project is designed to promote government transparency by informing journalists, information professionals, citizens and businesses about offline data held by state agencies.  The keystone of the project will be a website, to launch in November, that will feature a card catalog that provides information and how-to tips on accessing offline databases and descriptive details about the information they contain.  Users will also be able to post actual data that they uncover during research projects.

So far OpenMissouri has the support of the Missouri Press and Broadcasters associations and the Missouri Sunshine Coalition and is actively seeking organizations and individuals to lend support by:

Spreading the word about OpenMissouri

Following the project on Twitter: @OpenMissouri

Helping build data card catalog

Using the website

Participating in conversations on the site

Contributing data

More information:  http://www.rjionline.org/fellows-program/herzog/index.php

— University of Colorado may drop Journalism School

The University of Colorado has announced a proposal to discontinue its School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Faced with budget cuts and citing the rapid evolution of digital media, the university will consider creating a broader school of information, and decide whether it should close its traditional journalism school.

An exploratory panel will work this semester to consider a new program for “information and communication technology.”

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication has 647 undergraduates, 58 master’s students and 26 doctoral students. Another 684 undergraduates are in the pipeline as “pre-journalism” majors.

Rust Communications names regional vice-presidents

Cape Girardeau, Mo. — Rust Communications has elevated three of its veteran group publishers to roles as regional vice-presidents, working with Rust newspaper publishers in different regions of the country.

Ron Kemp, based in Arkansas, has added the responsibilities of papers in southwest Missouri, central Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Idaho. Bud Hunt, based in southeast Missouri, has added responsibilities there as well as in western Tennessee. Randy List, based in Indiana, has added responsibilities in central Tennessee and Iowa.

The announcement was made August 31 by Rust Communications co-presidents Rex Rust and Jon K. Rust.

“The secret to our company’s success has long been excellent publishers who are committed to their communities,” said Jon K. Rust. “Maintaining the special culture here – hardworking, respectful, faithful, fun, innovative, familial and open – was vital to us in determining our management structure for the future.”

“We have great confidence in Ron, Bud and Randy,” said Rex Rust. “We look forward to them taking expanded leadership roles throughout Rust. This is a management transition, which we developed over the past year, but sadly implemented earlier than planned.”

Former chief operating officer Wally Lage died unexpectedly in August.

Rust Communications is a family-owned media company with 19 daily and more than 30 weekly newspapers in eight states. Besides newspapers and related web sites, the company publishes numerous niche magazines, operates commercial printing operations and is partial owner of 17 radio stations. The new positions of regional vice-president will report directly to the co-presidents. Gary W. Rust is chairman of the board.

New Missouri newspaper vending rules take affect

If your newspaper is sold or distributed at Missouri interstate highway rest stops, here is a development just released:

Proposed rescissions of current rules and proposed new rules involving newspaper vending machines located at interstate highway rest areas in Missouri were published Aug. 16, 2010, in the Missouri Register.

Comments about the proposals may be filed with the Missouri Department of Transportation, Pamela J. Harlan, Secretary to the Commission, P.O. Box 270, Jefferson City, MO 65102.

Comments must be received within 30 days after publication of the notices in the Missouri Register.  This means comments must be received by the Commission by Sept. 15. No public hearings are scheduled on the proposals.

Missouri Press Association needs to hear from publishers whose newspapers will be affected by these proposed regulations.

To read the proposals, see pages 1173 to 1180 of the following link:

Click to access v35n16a.pdf

Here are a few of the highlights of the proposals:

No publication vending machine shall be installed at a rest area except those machines owned and installed by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.

At each rest area, the commission may provide one publication vending machine bin which may hold up to four individual machines to allow the vending of publications. The commission, in its sole discretion, may provide additional bins if the commission determines sufficient room exists within the rest area to accommodate additional bins.

A publisher shall not install is own newsrack(s).

The commission may grant to a licensee (for instance, Sheltered Workshops) an exclusive license to authorize publishers to lease machine space.

The licensee may lease machine spaces within the bins to such publishers or such publishers’ agents and such spaces shall be available on a first-come, first served basis.

The licensee shall collect a license fee of $12 per year from each publisher or its agent for each machine space in a rest area to cover the administrative and maintenance costs the licensee shall sustain due to the operation of the machine and the debris the machine will generate.

The visible contents of the publication as displayed in the machine shall not be offensive to members of the general public.

The publisher is responsible for damages to bins and machines.

The licensee, or a publisher or its agent, shall remove any outdated issue of such publication from within each machine and remove all debris which is not properly placed in rest area trash containers from the rest area grounds.

Each publisher and is agents shall be liable for damage sustained to the commission’s bins, machines, and the contents thereof that is caused by the publisher or its agents.

API awards fellowships to nine industry professionals and journalism educators

MISSOURIAN AMONG EDUCATORS SELECTED FOR API AWARDS

RESTON, Va. – The American Press Institute has awarded fellowships to nine industry professionals and journalism educators for its 2010 Fall/Winter seminars.

The fellowships provide seminar tuition, hotel, group meals and some travel. They are intended to offer greater access to API leadership and industry development seminars for journalism educators, future leaders and those from smaller or independently owned newspaper organizations.

The recipients include:

Holly Anderson, magazine and local features editor, Idaho Statesman, Boise, winner of the William L. Winter Fellowship, to attend “8 Steps to Profitable New Products.”

Jason Begay, assistant professor/director of Native American Journalism Projects, The University of Montana School of Journalism, Missoula, winner of the Minority Journalism Educators Fellowship, to attend “Beyond the Newsroom” and “The Next Generation of Media Managers.”

Jodi M. Bell, vice president of revenue development, The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, winner of the William L. Winter Fellowship, to attend “Maximizing Sales Force Effectiveness.”

Douglas Campbell, professor of Communication Media, Lock Haven (Penn.) University, winner of the James H. Ottaway Fellowship, to attend “Digital Delivery.”

Jackie Kaczmarek, executive editor, The Sentinel in Hanford, Calif., winner of the Malcolm F. Mallette Fellowship, to attend “Digital Delivery.”

Jeramiah Martin, Interactive Sales Manager, Idaho Statesman, Boise, winner of the William L. Winter Fellowship, to attend “The Next Generation of Media Managers.”

John Scott, digital director, The Indianapolis Star/Star Media, winner of the Edmund C. Arnold Fellowship, to attend “Digital Delivery.”

Randall Smith, professor, Donald W. Reynolds Chair of Business Journalism, University of Missouri School of Journalism, Columbia, winner of the James H. Ottaway Fellowship, to attend “New Revenue Models That Work.”

David Trinko, senior content editor of The Lima (Ohio) News, winner of the Malcolm F. Mallette Fellowship, to attend “Beyond the Newsroom.”

To learn more about the fellowships API offers and how to apply please visit: http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/pages/api/seminars/api_fellowships/

About The American Press Institute
The American Press Institute (www.americanpressinstitute.org) is an independent non-profit educational center providing skills-based training and leadership development in the news industry, offering seminars, workshops and custom programs for newspaper professionals and organizations.