‘Creative Circle’ e-mails didn’t come from VPA

Members who received e-mails linking the Virginia Press Association with an advertising company should be advised that those e-mails are not VPA-sanctioned.

 

VPA received word this week that members were receiving e-mails from Creative Circle Advertising titled “Virginia Press Association Online Tips.” The e-mail messages then linked columns from Scott Bateman, VPA’s online media consultant, with content programs from Creative Circle, making it appear as if VPA was endorsing these products. Those e-mails were neither authorized by VPA nor sent by any VPA staff member.

 

VPA’s policy has been and always will be that the association does not participate in any endorsements — product/program, political or otherwise. Members should keep that in mind if they see e-mails such as this in the future.

 

Creative Circle has been contacted by VPA about these e-mails.

 

 

 

Contest information you need to know

A reminder — everything members need to enter the 2008 News and Advertising contests now is available on the VPA Web site. Click here to view the main contest page.

 

A new feature for contest queries this year is the addition of two forums — one for each contest — to the VPA Web site’s Forums page. The forums provide another avenue for members to ask questions about contest topics. Check the forums frequently, as a question you might have about a category or entry may have been asked and answered already. In order to post to these or any other forum, you must be registered to the Web site. Click here for information about site registration.

 

Calls for entries and rules for both contests, plus other pertinent information, are downloadable from the site as PDFs.

 

Also available are electronic entry kits for the News Contest:

 

For Windows/PC, click here.

 

For Mac OS9 (Classic), click here.

 

For Mac OSX, click here.

 

These files are compressed and need to be opened with the Stuffit Expander application. If you do not have Stuffit on your computer, click here to find out more about how to download it.

 

If, for some reason, you are unable to download any of the PDFs for either contest, VPA will fax or mail them. Contact Stephanie McCraw at (804) 521-7578 if hard copies are needed or if you have any specific questions about the contests.

 

 

 

VPA unveils ‘Sales Professional of the Year’ competition

The Virginia Press Association has issued a call for nominations for its inaugural “Outstanding Sales Professional of the Year” Award.

 

The honor, to be presented at next April’s Advertising Conference in Charlottesville, is designed for sales personnel only. Two winners will be named: one for daily publications and one for non-daily publications (includes specialty publications). A manager may be eligible only if he or she spends more then 50 percent of their time actively selling local accounts during the normal sales cycle through the year.

 

Candidates will demonstrate leadership and tenacity that have engineered growth in linage and revenues, developed and grown new accounts.

 

Additional skill sets should include: excellent time management, organized approach to sales presentations, detail-oriented, accurate paperwork, excellent copy and layout skills, excellent communication skills and extraordinary customer service for clients.

 

Nomination forms and a complete list of eligibility requirements can be downloaded by clicking here. The deadline to nominate someone is Jan. 15, 2009.

 

For more information about the award, contact Stephanie McCraw, member services manager, at (804) 521-7578.

 

 

 

Coalition calls for openness in Obama administration

From a news release

The Sunshine in Government Initiative has suggested that the new administration of President-elect Barack Obama should take four immediate, concrete steps to strengthen open government to counteract years of growing government secrecy in a climate in Washington increasingly hostile to the people’s right to know.

 

"President-elect Obama can act quickly to make transparency in government a signature component of the Obama administration," said Rick Blum, the coalition's coordinator. SGI's recommendations help the public stay informed of government activities by bringing down barriers to accessing public information. These actions would show President-elect Obama intends to fulfill his pledge to restore open government in Washington.”

 

The Sunshine in Government Initiative (SGI) consists of nine media organizations that believe in open government. Members include: American Society of Newspaper Editors, The Associated Press, Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, National Association of Broadcasters, National

Newspaper Association, Newspaper Association of America, Radio-Television News Directors

Association, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Society of Professional Journalists.

 

Specifically, early in his administration, Obama should:

• Restore the presumption of disclosure across the executive branch. Federal agencies should

exercise their discretion to withhold information under the Freedom of Information Act only when a foreseeable harm would result from disclosure.

• Create an independent, online ombudsman to help citizens access their government. The

Obama administration should quickly ramp up the Office of Government Information Services at

the National Archives and Records Administration to mediate disclosure disputes.

• Ban agencies from proposing or endorsing unnecessary statutory exemptions from

disclosure. Any new laws proposed or supported by the administration to specifically exempt

certain information from disclosure should be limited in scope and life and include oversight.

• Speak on the record, and urge his senior deputies and aides to do the same, in all statements

about policy and current news about public matters.

 

A brief, four-page white paper outlining the issues and recommendations is available by clicking here.

 

 

Some need-to-knows for the 2009 News Conference & Annual Meeting

A few notes to remember for the upcoming News Conference & Annual Meeting March 20-21 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott:

 

• After-Banquet Party host is needed. A member-generated tradition of the News Conference & Annual Meeting always has been the After-Banquet Party that follows the Awards Banquet.

 

In years past, someone from a member newspaper in or near the host city has taken on the role of coordinator for the party. This person, or group of people, work out the details of the party, such as refreshments and entertainment. The party is member-financed, meaning that newspapers pool resources to pick up the tab.

 

If you would like to coordinate the party efforts, please contact Kim Woodward at (804) 521-7574.

 

• The Annual Meeting is a time for VPA to commemorate retirements and remember losses at member newspapers during the previous year.

 

Member newspapers that wish to have retirements or deaths noted during the meeting are asked to e-mail that information to Bill Atkinson.

 

 

 

Sign up for a Dec. 11 Webinar for VPA members

Borrell & Associates will present a Webinar for VPA on Dec. 11 on improving online classified ad sales.

 

The Webinar, titled “Improving Online Classifieds: What’s Next for Recruitment, Real Estate and Automotive,” will be held from 2 to 3 p.m.

 

Newspaper sites have remained dependent on classified verticals. So what can a local newspaper do to maintain and gain share? Join a consortium, partner with a competitor or continue to slug it out alone. The Webinar will cover the numbers for each vertical and offer concrete examples of newspapers that have found their niche and are making money in the verticals through segmented tactics.

 

Viewers will leave this Webinar armed with:

• the latest spending forecasts for the Big 3 classifieds;

• examples of successful classified campaigns; and

• strategic insight of pure-plays in the verticals.

 

The cost to participate is $75 for one login. More than one person can view. Participants will be invoiced.

 

At least 11 more participants are needed to make the Webinar happen. The deadline to register is Dec. 5, but early sign-ups are encouraged.

 

To reserve a space in the Webinar, click here.

 

 

 

‘AP Day at the Capital’ offers doses of politics, budget

From a news release

Reporters and editors attending AP Day at the Capital on Dec. 2 will get a double dose of politics.

 

The day begins with a panel analyzing the political scene in Virginia, including the presidential race. And at lunchtime, participants will have a chance to hear the gubernatorial candidates and submit questions.

 

There also will be sessions on the Virginia budget and on some of the basics of covering the legislature, such as how to get to the source of a bill and contacting legislators.

 

The event, organized by Virginia Associated Press Managing Editors and co-sponsored by Virginia Press Association, will be in the first-floor conference room at the Richmond Times-Dispatch building, on Franklin Street in downtown Richmond. Fees are $10 per person – and that includes lunch. AP Day at the Capital is open to all Virginia newspapers.

 

An agenda and registration information can be found here.  Please note that the deadline to register is 5 p.m. Nov. 24.

 

For more information and to register, contact Stacey Carroll at AP.   

 

 

Check out the VNA calendar online

Here is a list of the remaining sessions on the VNA calendar for 2008-09. Click here to see the complete session descriptions.

 

2009

• Jan. 8 (Two sessions) — How to Manage Your Manager, with Carolyn Cullen, The Daily Progress, Charlottesville (9:30 a.m. to Noon); Leading in Times of Change, with Twana Miller, human resource expert, Fredericksburg (1-4 p.m.)

 

• March 5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Selling Against the Competition, with Adam Cook, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk

 

• April 2 — Joint Workshop with Online News Association (presenters, topics and times to be announced)

 

• April 30 (Two sessions) — Do's and Don'ts of Crime Reporting, with Pam Gould, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg (9:30 a.m. to Noon); Court Reporting Basics, with Mike Allen, The Roanoke Times; and Steve Helber, The Associated Press (1-4 p.m.)

 

• May 14-15 — Virginia Writers' Workshop, with Kate Long, writing coach; and Ted Anthony, The Associated Press (Kate Long 4-6 p.m. May 14; Ted Anthony 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 15)

 

• May 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — API Upholding Ethical Standards, with Steve Buttry, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

 

• June 4, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — Working in a Multimedia Newsroom, with Randy Covington, director of IFRA Newsplex

 

• June 18-19 — Community Journalism Workshop, with The Experts (1:30-7:30 p.m. June 18; 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 19)

 

Contact Kim Woodward at (804) 521-7574 if you have any questions about the lineup.

 

 

 

New Dominion parent launches redesigned Web site

From a news release

Augusta Free Press Publishing has relaunched its signature Web portal AugustaFreePress.com with a new look and feel.
 
The new-look AugustaFreePress.com features a four-column layout that better displays its array of print, video and audio content with up-to-the-minute updates on news and current events in Greater Augusta and the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia.
 
"The new website is cleaner and much easier for our visitors to access than our old site and other news sites here in our markets," said Crystal Graham, the president of Augusta Free Press Publishing, the parent company of AugustaFreePress.com and The New Dominion print magazine, which begins a monthly print run with its January 2009 issue.
 
The addition of the video and audio components to AugustaFreePress.com, in development for several months, makes the site a virtual one-stop shop for those who want to stay on top of what is going on in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia.
 
"AugustaFreePress.com is essentially a print newspaper, a TV station and radio station all rolled into one, and with our sister publication, The New Dominion, going monthly in January, our advertisers get access to our base of more than 10,000 sets of eyeballs through a variety of marketing platforms," Graham said.

 

 

 

Judge: Times vs. Radford battle will continue into December

From The Roanoke Times

A legal fight between The Roanoke Times and the city of Radford over a Freedom of Information request that the city wants to keep confidential will continue into December, a judge ruled Nov. 14.

 

After hearing arguments and testimony in the case, Radford Circuit Court Judge Joey Showalter directed attorneys for both sides to submit briefs by December. Another hearing will be set later, Showalter said.

 

The lawsuit centers around two FOIA requests filed with Radford officials in August and September by Roanoke Times reporter Tim Thornton. Among other things, Thornton asked the city to provide him copies of any other FOIA requests the city received between June 15 and Sept. 18.

 

In response to Thornton's requests, City Attorney Jim Guynn provided heavily redacted copies of two FOIA requests, erasing names and other pertinent information and in one case excluding two pages of a two-and-a-half-page document. The redacted letters were FOIA requests written by Radford spokeswoman and Deputy City Council Clerk Becky Hawke to the city in July and August requesting a copy of a findings report from an internal city investigation into a harassment complaint.

 

Radford City Council members have declined to discuss the investigation referred to in Hawke's FOIA requests.

 

To redact information from public records, the city must point to a specific exemption in the law that allows the information to be withheld. Under the law, personnel records pertaining to identifiable individuals may be kept confidential. In this case, Showalter must decide if parts of a FOIA request can also be classified as personnel records and thereby withheld from the public.

 

 

 

Paper: Drug maker paid millions in claims

From The Free Lance-Star

A drug maker whose medicine was implicated in the deaths and injuries of heart surgery patients at Mary Washington Hospital has paid millions to settle claims against it.

 

Central Admixture Pharmacy Services and its parent company, B. Braun Medical, paid more than $5.5 million to settle four recent cases. These, combined with earlier payments, push the total paid by the companies to more than $6 million.

 

In all, 10 patients or their families filed lawsuits against the companies in Spotsylvania Circuit Court, beginning in 2006. Nine of the cases have been settled, and one is pending.

 

The latest cases were brought by the widows and children of four men who died in 2004 or 2005, soon after bypass surgery at Mary Washington.

 

It's not clear from court documents how much of this money went to the Richmond attorneys who represented the families. Frequently, a plaintiff's attorney in a wrongful death case will receive one-third of any award.

 

Central Admixture fought to keep the settlement amounts private. In at least one of the cases, it paid the family extra money for agreeing to keep the settlement confidential.

 

But The Free Lance-Star and Media General Operations Inc., publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, pushed for disclosure. They argued in court that Virginia law requires settlement amounts in wrongful death cases be open to the public.

 

The Virginia Supreme Court agreed, ruling in September that the details must be available.

After that ruling, Spotsylvania Circuit Court Judge David Beck ordered the court files unsealed, and they were made available several days ago.

 

 

Send your rate cards for both print, online ads

Virginia Press Services Inc. requests that VPA members who updated their rate cards for both print and online advertising should send those updates to VPS.

 

VPS uses this information to customize ad-placement orders for newspapers and newspaper Web sites throughout Virginia.

 

Rate cards may be e-mailed to Diana Shaban, VPS advertising director. Hard copies of the cards should be mailed to her attention at Virginia Press Services Inc., 11529 Nuckols Road, Glen Allen, VA 23059.