Also in this issue: Poughkeepsie Journal announces plans into the future; Sunlight Foundation using technology to make government more open; NAA considering membership for digital only pubs; Newspaper essay contest - the winning prize of a newspaper! 
Issue: #383
June 10, 2016
NYSAPA announces top 2015 awards
 
From AP
- Newspapers in Plattsburgh, Poughkeepsie, Albany and Rochester were honored Saturday as Newspapers of Distinction by the New York State Associated Press Association. Also announced at the NYSAPA Annual Meeting in Saratoga Springs were winners of other top categories, including the Young Journalist of the Year.

The Press-Republican, Poughkeepsie Journal, Times Union and Rochester Democrat and Chronicle were judged the best newspapers in their respective circulation categories. The entire news product, print and digital, was judged in this competition.

The NYSAPA is one of the oldest and most competitive journalistic competitions for daily newspapers in the state. Journalists in Pennsylvania judged the contest this year.
Also honored by the NYSAPA are:

- MIKE HENDRICKS YOUNG JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR AWARD
Sarah Taddeo of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle won the award named for the former Associated Press news editor in Albany and given to a journalist with up to three years' experience.

- BRUCE CROMIE AWARD
Lauren Petracca of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle won the Bruce Cromie Award for contributing the best of the state AP's "Photo of the Month" award winners. Her photograph showed a young woman weeping at the scene of a shooting that left several people dead outside the Boys and Girls Club in Rochester. The award is named for an Albany photographer killed in an auto accident while on assignment for a member newspaper.

- AP STAFFER OF THE YEAR
Michael Virtanen of Albany, who produced strong accountability journalism on the treatment of the disabled in state care, was named AP Staffer of the Year.
Veteran reporter Joe Mahoney will write for Press-Republican, other CNHI outlets in state  

Joe Mahoney
From PressRepublican.comJoe Mahoney, an experienced government and politics journalist,has been appointed state reporter for Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.'s New York print and online outlets, effective immediately.

Mahoney most recently covered local affairs, including the proposed expansion of natural-gas lines and concerns over fracking, for the Oneonta Daily Star. He will work out of the Statehouse in Albany, covering politics, state issues and government for the Press-Republican, the Daily Star, Niagara Gazette and the Union Sun & Journal of Lockport.

The assignment marks a return to the statehouse for Mahoney, whose decades-long journalism career has included the job of Albany bureau chief for the New York Daily News. He is also a former reporter for the Albany Times Union, the Burlington Free Press and Daily Hampshire Gazette of Northampton, Mass. He joined the Daily Star in 2011. More 
Powerful changes drive Journal forward

Jim Fogler
From poughkeepsiejournal.com -
We are Poughkeepsie Journal Media!

Since I arrived home to Dutchess County in early January, one of the best parts of my new job has been visiting our business partners (our customers), and listening to readers and employees.

What I found out quickly: We live in an area filled with passionate people... and the mid-Hudson Valley is passionate about its Poughkeepsie Journal.

Now, it's my turn to share. Let me start by telling you about my confidence in our future. It is bright. As your lives and habits are changing, we are right there with you, maximizing technology, data and knowledge to boldly offer you and/or your business an array of digital news, services and capabilities you won't find anywhere else. Click here for more of the article online.  Click the photo image to watch Publisher Jim Fogler's short video of the announcement.
The Sunlight Foundation is using IFTTT (If This, Then That) to make the government more open

From Poynter.org - You might call it a recipe for transparency.

Want to know when the president signs a bill into law? When congress votes on a bill? When a new legislator is representing you? Since 2014, The Sunlight Foundation has been connecting its massive trove of government data to IFTTT, the popular web service that connects things on the internet to other things.

"It's important recognize that you have to meet people where they are," said Jenn Topper, the communications director at The Sunlight Foundation. "And if someone wants to know whether or not the president signs a bill, there aren't always easy ways to figure that out. Now, by combining the notifications with that action, people can get information however they want." More     

Gary Pruitt_ CEO and president of The Associated Press_ speaks to the Newspaper Association of America in March
From Poynter.org - In a break with tradition, The Newspaper Association of America is looking to expand its membership to include digital-only news organizations, according to its top leaders.

Chairman Tony Hunter and President and CEO David Chavern let drop that prospect in a recent phone interview on their agenda for the coming year.

But Chavern quickly added it is not a done deal yet. "I do want to find a basis for getting digital-only members on board," he said, "but there are some things to do first - figure out our value proposition for them and a dues structure." More

The Hardwick Gazette
From Poynter.org
- The Hardwick Gazette sent out a press release Wednesday for an essay contest with a newsworthy prize - The Hardwick Gazette.
"The contest winner will assume ownership of The Hardwick Gazette, the historic Main Street building where the newspaper has been published for better than 100 years, and equipment and proprietary materials necessary to operate the business."
It's real, said Ross Connelly, editor and publisher of the Hardwick, Vermont weekly. He hasn't gotten any entries yet, of course, since the release just went out, but they're supposed to come in by mail anyway. "Real mail," he said.

The cost to enter the contest is $175. The guidelines: 400 words "about the entrant's skills and vision for owning a paid weekly newspaper in the new millennium." More
UPCOMING WEBINARS AND EVENTS
 


6/23 - Watchdog Reporting for all Newsrooms - Online Media Campus - $35

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7/20 - NYNPA Awards for Excellence Banquet - The State Room, Albany - $40 
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In a New York Minute is the weekly electronic newsletter of  NYNPA, providing you with member news, money-saving and money-generating ideas, and upcoming events. If you would like to contribute to this newsletter please reply to this e-mail or contact [email protected]. For more on NYNPA please visit us on the web at www.nynpa.com.
 
Mary Miller
Education Services Director
New York News Publishers Association
New York News Publishers Association | 518-449-1667| www.nynpa.com