Shop Talk 

March 2012
In This Issue
 

Quick Links
Upcoming Events


Spring Board Meeting
April 27-28
Las Cruces
Details to follow on planned training sessions

2012 NMPA Convention
Oct 25 - 27
Hyatt Tamaya

 

 

 

Webinars 

Here is a current list of upcoming Inland Webinars. Please note: Through co-sponsorship NMPA members are eligible for the member rates
   REGISTER NOW! Wednesday, April 11, 2012  |  10:30 a.m. CST

Blogging 101

Blogging isn't just about what your cat ate this morning anymore. Blogs are an important part of the news landscape. This webinar looks at what it takes to launch and maintain a blog, best practices and how blogs can be applied to both the news and advertising missions of your company.
With Henry Lopez, Founder, Lopez Webworks, Santa Fe, New Mexico


 REGISTER NOW! Tuesday, April 17 |  2 p.m. CST 

E-mail marketing: Your not-so-secret weapon

Do you know anyone who doesn't use e-mail?  An estimated 1.88 billion users send 294 billion e-mails every day, and your e-mail database could be the direct line of communications to customers that your advertisers want. Find out from Herald-Mail Digital Director Liz Thompson - a top-rated 2012  Mega-Conference speaker - how Maryland's Herald-Mail developed its e-mail database and defined an opt-in program that is driving readership and revenue.
With Liz Thompson, Herald-Mail digital director


 REGISTER NOW! Friday, April 20 |  10:30 a.m. CST 

Demystifying online sales

Back by popular demand after his well-attended Mega-Conference presentation, our webinar star Zach Ahrens of the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald will demystify online sales for people who have built their careers in print. Find out what reps need to know to sell online and what managers need to know tolead it? Whether you're a rookie, veteran sales professional or manager, this session will provide tools that you can take back to your weekly or daily newspaper to get results.



Visit  Inland Press  for details.

Featured Article

John Foust
 Selling is a business of words

Ad agency legend David Ogilvy once wrote, "Advertising is a business of words." The same can be said for selling. The right word can make a sale, and the wrong word can lose a sale.

Sharp sales people are aware that certain words call for special handling. Generally speaking, these are common expressions that seem harmless at first glance - but can communicate the wrong message or the wrong tone.

Technology with Kevin Slimp
The latest news in publishing technology



 

Greetings!

Please enjoy the latest edition of ShopTalk.  

If you have interesting news items please forward them to director@nmpress.org and we will include them in the next available bulletin.  

For any membership questions or inquiries please call the NMPA office. 

Phil Lucey
505-275-1377  
phil@nmpress.org  


  

State Headlines

 

Digital BNC contest   

This year entries for the Better Newspaper contest be will be entered and judged by digital submission.   NMPA will be sending out a series of emails on how to upload entries and will give you plenty of time to get familiar with the entry website before contest time.   This year the BNC contest will be judged by the Kentucky Press Association and we will return the favor by judging their contest in the fall.   Look for more details to follow.    Entries will be entered at http://betternewspapercontest.com/  

 

New educational opportunity from NMFOG!  

Register now for our May 18 seminar on public records and open meetings laws and find out what you need to know about public access to government.

 

Hear about the latest developments in case law and learn how to make ethical decisions about public access from FOG Hotline attorneys Martin R. Esquivel, Charles R. Peifer, Charles "Kip" Purcell, Robert M. White and Gregory P. Williams, with Kent Walz.

 

The class qualifies for six Continuing Legal Education credits (including one ethics/professionalism credit) but will be useful for public officials, journalists, students and community members. For the full agenda and to register, click on the link below.
Register Now

Officials Want To Ban Recordings

Torrance County Commissioners seem to be coming dangerously close to violating not only the state's Open Meetings Act but also the United States Constitution.

At the commission meeting on Feb. 22, a resolution was introduced to ban the public and media from recording meetings.

Resolution 2012-07 says that "the public is strictly prohibited from operating audio and/or visual recording devices within the Commission Chambers."

This appears to be in violation of the New Mexico Open Meetings Act, which says that during public meetings "reasonable efforts shall be made to accommodate the use of audio and video recording devices."

Read more

   

Violations of policy, law revealed in Questa audit 

The state Attorney General's Office is investigating the village of Questa following a recently released audit that alleges violations of the procurement code, the Open Meetings Act and the Anti-Donation Clause, among other findings.

Conducted by Precision Accounting, of Albuquerque, the audit of the village during the 2010-2011 fiscal year resulted in 35 findings. The audit claims the village failed to follow state and federal requirements, as well as its own ordinances, in a number of areas, calling into question council votes, village contracts, financial procedures and various expenditures.

Questa Mayor Esther García said many of the audit's findings arose from recent staff turnover and an ongoing mold problem that had prevented the village from accessing a number of records.

Read More

Judge dismisses priest's defamation suit
The New Mexico Supreme Court has made the grounds more restrictive for defamation cases by ruling against an Episcopal priest who sued four parishioners for accusing him of pedophilia. State District Court Judge Nan Nash dismissed the Rev.Walter F. Smith Ill's lawsuit, ruling he had not demonstrated an injury to his reputation. The state Court of Appeals in 2010 overturned Nash's ruling, finding that "humiliation and mental anguish is sufficient to establish actual injury for liability purposes in a defamation action."
But on Monday, the state Supreme Court unanimously reversed the appellate court, effectively upholding Nash's decision.
Read more

County Website Wins Award

Bernalillo County's website.www.bernco.gov, was among 214 government sites nationwide to receive an award for transparency.

 

Albuquerque Praised for Transparency

The city of Albuquerque's website has been awarded an A-plus for transparency.

 

Las Cruces website wins national award for transparency
  Sunshine Review, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to government transparency, has selected the website for Las Cruces municipal government as one of the winners of its "Sunny Awards" for 2012.

 New Mexico scores poorly in government accountability report
A nationwide review finds that New Mexico is at higher risk of corruption than most other states because of poor accountability and transparency in government.
The Center for Public Integrity hired reporters in all 50 states to look at various criteria to see how well the laws protected against corruption. New Mexico received a D-, good for the 39th ranking out of all states.
Read more

Newspaper joins city in effort to draw Texas travelers

About 330,000 Texans in the more affluent parts of Dallas and Houston will get a 24-page tabloid promoting Santa Fe as a tourist destination in their newspaper on Easter Sunday, April 8.

RSVP Santa Fe is a joint production of the city of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe New Mexican aimed at advertising the city's hotels, restaurants, art galleries and special events to its biggest tourism market.

The total press run of 350,000 full-color supplements is the largest in the history of The New Mexican and the first time the newspaper has partnered with city government on such a project.

The supplements will be stuffed into copies of The New Mexican delivered to subscribers April 8, as well as to subscribers to the Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle in certain ZIP codes -- but not in copies of those newspapers sold in machines or at newsstands.

Read more

Woman gets probation for assaulting Sun-News reporter

LAS CRUCES - A retired attorney who assaulted a Sun-News reporter last fall in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces has been placed on probation for one year and ordered to pay a $250 fine and complete 10 hours of community service.

Federal prosecutors requested today that Marjorie Reese Stewart, 75, serve 30 days in jail for her actions on Sept. 29, when she elbowed and shoved former Sun-News reporter Ashley Meeks, who was at the federal courthouse covering a hearing for Stewart's relatives who are charged with selling weapons and ammunition to undercover federal agents and a Mexican cartel member turned government informant.

Read more

Officials block efforts to obtain public records

For the better part of the past year, city officials resisted The New Mexican's attempts to bring to the public eye documents pertaining to alleged embezzlement of public funds from the Parking Division.

The newspaper repeatedly requested the documents under the provisions of the state's Inspection of Public Records Act.

Read more

Open Meetings Act: City of TorC Still More Opaque Than Transparent

Public oversight and participation are not yet improving, under the City of Truth or Consequences' new city commission, Last week -on Wednesday, March 21- the Airport Advisory Board met at 4 p.m.

City Clerk Mary Penner said the meeting was posted "since Thursday" on local bulletin boards. The city's monthly legal ad of regular meetings said no Airport Advisory Board meeting would be held.

Neither of the local newspapers was faxed notice of this special meeting, which is the city's usual practice. Neither newspaper was in attendance, according to Mayor John Mulcahy.

Read more
 
 

Public Notice promotion 

Thanks to Maria Lopez Garcia and the Rio Grande SUN we have new promotional ads letting the public know they now have several options to find notices: in print, the NMPA website, sunshineportlanm.com and now newmexico.gov.   The state websites do not upload our content, they only provide a link to the existing website.  Please run the ads as space permits.  Not only does it let the public know where to find these notices, it will also be instrumental in the upcoming legislative session to make legislators aware of how the newspaper industry has made these notices accessible and a clear message to any outside interests that have thoughts of creating new public notice websites that newspapers already have that covered.   No other medium can deliver public notices to the public in print and online like newspapers can.  Session begins January 17th thank you for helping to spread the message.    Find the ads online at NMPA Public Notice Ads.  

 

 

 

Webinar Training

There are a series of upcoming webinar training sessions offered through Inland Press.   NMPA members are afforded special member prices through co-sponsorship of these convient training sessions.  Please take a look at the upcoming topics on the left hand side of this newsletter.   Clicking on the title will bring you to the registration page and provide additional information.  

   

 

Industry Headlines

 

Around the Industry

 

We Believe!
Have you seen the latest promotional video produced by NNA?  It touts their We Believe campaign promoting community newspapers. Not only that, it features New Mexico's own Dave Puddu (Number 9 Media) and Jorge Lopez and Natisha Hales (Las Cruces Bulletin) 
Click HERE to watch the video.  


NAA calls on FCC to end three-decade ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership

Arlington, Va. - The Newspaper Association of America called today for a full repeal of the 37-year-old ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership in comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission.

"Technology and market forces have moved light-years ahead of this outdated rule," said Caroline Little, NAA president and CEO. "Consumers have more choices among media voices than ever. It makes absolutely no sense to keep a rule on the books that has shackled newspapers and broadcasters since 1975.

Read more

Readers vote - and voters read
More and more candidates have begun to rediscover what they had long forgotten about newspapers. As a result, campaigns have increased newspaper political advertising investments tenfold from 2002 to 2010. How did they do it? Or perhaps a better question is why, in the age of "new media," is a medium as "old" as newspapers not only able to compete, but also able to thrive?
Read more

ABC Board Focuses on Digital Reporting
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (March 20, 2012)-The ABC board of directors has endorsed a new report format that significantly expands how consumer magazines will report metrics for digital publications. It also reviewed plans for a broad newspaper vision built upon cross-media reporting; it approved a Consolidated Media Report (CMR) for business publications; and it outlined a vision of more frequent reporting of data via an enhanced integrated database.
Read more

iPad Users Are Spending $70,000 A Day On iPad Newspapers And Magazines

Maybe the iPad is going to save the media business after all.

According to a new report from analytics company Distimo, iPad users are spending $70,000 a day in the newsstand, which is where Apple keeps newspapers and magazines.

The most popular news applications come from the New York Times, The Daily, and the New Yorker, says Distimo.

News apps account for 7% of the top 200 grossing apps, and almost all of the revenue comes from in-app purchasing. That means the app is free, and then you pay for an upgrade.

The newsstand has only been a part of Apple's mobile software for 6 months. Its early success is a good sign for publishers.

 

 

Obama, Romney and Lagarde to Speak at Newspaper Industry's Annual Conference

President Barack Obama, Gov. Mitt Romney and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde have joined the impressive schedule of speakers at the nation's largest annual gathering of newspaper media leadership during the Newspaper Association of America's mediaXchange 2012 conference in Washington, D.C., April 2-5.  

 

 

 

 

 






 


People in the News  


Ruidoso News Advertising Manager Ross Barrett has been promoted to advertising director of the Carlsbad Current-Argus.

In this capacity, Barrett will be focusing on leading the advertising staffs of the Ruidoso News and Carlsbad Current-Argus into the next generation of interactive advertising.

  

ARTHUR R. MONTOYA "TOOTIE" Age 73, of Bosque Farms, NM, passed away on Saturday, February 18, 2012.  Tootie worked for the Albuquerque Publishing Company for over 40 years; starting as a paper carrier at 12 years old he had worked almost every job imaginable in the Circulation Department from defensive driving to account collections, where he retired in September 2000.

 

Burt Wittrup, a former chief of bureau for The Associated Press in New Mexico, has died in his home state of Iowa, where he returned in 2008.  


Send updates of new hires, promotions, retirements, memorials, etc to
  director@nmpress.org.  We will print the news in this section each month.  

  
Looking for extra revenue?

Newspapers that participate in the Classified and 2x2 networks run ads on a weekly basis and have the opportunity to receive revenues in two easy ways: receive payments on a bi-annual basis from a pool of revenue from the 2x2 network and receiving commissions on any ads sold into either network. NMPS actively sells clients into these networks on a weekly basis, but you can too!

Click Here for more information  NMPS Networks


Classifieds
Have something to sell?  Looking to buy?  Need to hire or need a job?  Send details to director@nmpress.org.  We will print the news in this section each month.  

 Job Openings


Sports editor/reporter
The Carlsbad Current-Argus is seeking a dedicated sports editor/reporter for our one-man sports department.

Salespeople
Las Vegas Optic newspaper is looking for high-energy successful salespeople.

Business Manager/IT Manager
Hobbs News-Sun seeks a Business Manager/IT Manager.