1. business and industrial
2. advertising and marketing
3. advertising

TWN
THE
WASHINGTON
NEWSPAPER
Vol. 97, No. 10
October /November 2012
Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington • www.wnpa.com
WNPA starts ‘next 125 years’
Forhan succeeds
Stoner; executive
panel selected
B
ill Forhan, publisher
with NCW Media in
Leavenworth, was
installed as president of the
Washington Newspaper
Publishers Association board at
a luncheon held Sept. 28 during
WNPA’s 125th annual convention, held at the Red Lion HotelYakima Center.
NCW Media publishes the
Cashmere Valley Record, Lake
Chelan Mirror, Leavenworth
Echo, Quad City Herald in
Brewster, and the Wenatchee
Business Journal.
Outgoing president Jana
Stoner, in remarks reviewing her
presidency, said she had wanted
from the start of her term to leave
a legacy of a special publication
for WNPA’s 125th anniversary.
“It was a blast to put together, and our thanks go to the
Wenatchee World for printing it
for us,” said Stoner, publisher
Heather Perry/WNPA
of the Northern Kittitas County
WNPA
Executive
Director
Bill
Will
gets
a
‘high
five’
from
outgoing
president
Jana
Tribune, Cle Elum.
Stoner
during
the
awards
luncheon
at
the
annual
convention
in
Yakima.
She passed the gavel to Forhan,
who assumed the podium and
said, “Thank you for the confidence the board and you placed
in me.
“I feel really good about the
board we have, a mix of young
people with knowledge about
changing technology and the old
guard who have been through
onoring accomplished and devoted
the wars and keep us relevant in
people in our state’s community newsour communities.
Bill KevenLori
paper industry is a much-anticipated
“I look forward to starting the ForhanGravesMaxim
part of the annual awards luncheon each year.
next 125 years,“ he said.
joined the WNPA executive commitFor the 125th anniversary event, WNPA
The first 125 years began on
tee as second vice president and will
Oct. 6, 1887, when members approved
Executive Director Bill Will presented awards
chair the Convention & Workshops
the bylaws at a North Yakima meeting
to a particularly compelling group of honorees,
Committee. Maxim has been active on
spearheaded by Charles W. Hobart, ediand all received standing ovations.
tor and publisher of the Yakima Republic. the Advertising Committee for several
Josh Johnson, publisher of the Liberty
On the 2012-13 WNPA Executive
years and joined the board in 2010.
Lake Splash, broke new ground in the Better
Committee, Keven Graves, publisher
Vice President of West Sound
Newspaper Contest by receiving two plaques in
of Nisqually Valley News in Yelm, adNewspaper Operations, she is responsible
the Community Service division. His projects
vanced to first vice president. A
for the Sound Publishing Inc. newspapers
were “Blessings Under the Bridge: The 12
trustee since 2007 and chair of the 2012
in the San Juan Islands, on Vashon and
Dollars of Christmas,” which provided 1,200
Convention & Workshops Committee, he Whidbey islands and in Kitsap County.
meals to homeless people, and third place,
will chair the Advertising Committee.
See AWARDS, page 16
See WNPA, page 2
Lori Maxim of Sound Publishing
Awards luncheon
recognizes best
of state’s press
H
Auction
raises cash
for interns
F
or internship scholarships, $6,367 was
donated to the WNPA
Foundation by attendees at
the 125th Annual WNPA
Convention.
From gift baskets, art and
books to kayaking and wine
tasting, items donated to the
silent auction raised $1,047.
Foundation President Scott
Wilson, publisher of the Port
Townsend Leader, raised
$3,750 in a live auction held
during an intermission of the
Better Newspaper Contest
Awards presentation.
Competitive live bidding
put golf and other weekend
stays, baskets of wine and
gourmet foods into the hands
of publishers and staff members at WNPA newspapers.
The final $1,500 was donated in $250 increments by
volunteers answering Wilson’s
call to fund just one more
student internship for 2013.
The names and newspapers
of all donors and winning
bidders are on page 16.
WNPA past presidents
Debbie Berto, Sue Ellen
Riesau, and Scott Wilson
coordinated the auction to
benefit Washington’s student
journalists and community
newspapers.
The Foundation will announce its 2013 internship
scholarship opportunities in
December in this newspaper
and by email to publishers
and universities.
Nominations from publishers and applications from
college nominees will be due
in February 2013.
Questions about the internship program may be directed
to Wilson, swilson@ptleader.
com, or Mae Waldron, mwaldron@wnpa.com.
10 regional papers win annual Blethen awards
T
he 2012 C.B. Blethen
Memorial Awards for
Distinguished Newspaper
Reporting were presented Sept.
13 to writers from 10 daily newspapers in the region. Rob Blethen, publisher of the
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin and
fifth generation member of the
Blethen family, presented the
awards at the annual meeting of
the Pacific Northwest Newspaper
Association (PNNA) in Portland,
Ore.
The awards honor reporters from newspapers in two
circulation divisions, over 50,000
circulation and
under 50,000
circulation.
The Debby
Lowman
Award for
Distinguished
Reporting of
Consumer
Rob Blethen
Affairs is an
open competition. Lowman, a
Seattle Times consumer reporter,
died of cancer in 1978.
The first- and second-place
winners in each category receive
plaques provided by the Seattle
Times.
Winners of the 2012 C.B. Blethen Memorial Awards are:
Under 50,000 Circulation Division
Distinguished Coverage of Diversity
1. Chronicle, Centralia. Adam Pearson:
“Life Without a License”
2. Herald & News, Klamath Falls, Ore.
Shelby King: “Seven Myths About the
Klamath Tribes”
Deadline Reporting
1. Chronicle, Centralia. Staff: “Centralia
Fire Aftermath: Extraordinary Moments of
Heroism, Compassion”
2. Chronicle, Centralia. Eric Schwartz,
Adam Pearson: “Vicious Triple-Murderer
Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole”
Enterprise Reporting
1. Columbian, Vancouver. Marissa Harshman: “Vancouver’s Former Payette Clinic:
A Legacy of Pain”
2. Columbian, Vancouver. Jaques Von
Lunen: “Funding Basic Ed Isn’t So Basic”
Feature Writing
1. Idaho State Journal, Pocatello.
Staff: “Sept. 11: Ten Years Later, Serving
in Crisis”
2. Daily Herald, Everett. Alejandro
Dominguez: “The Daring, DeathDefying (and Quite Profitable!) Stunts of
See BLETHEN, page 4
2
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012
TWN
Free speech worth defending even if we disagree
F
reedom of speech is the
political right to communicate one’s opinions
and ideas. In practice, the right
to freedom of speech is not
absolute, and instead is subject
to limitations, as with obscenity
and incitement to commit a
crime.
After our Sept. 5 issue was
published, the Whidbey NewsTimes website was hit by an
onslaught of online comments
directed at an elderly woman
who had written a letter critical
of the noise accompanying
touch-and-go practice at the
Coupeville Outlying Field.
The majority of comments
posted voiced support for the
Navy and strong opposition to
the letter-writer’s opinion.
In a community like ours,
where support for the military is
strong, visible
and vocal, that
comes as no
surprise.
By
Wednesday
night, long
after our office
had closed
Kasia
for the day,
Pierzga
the newspaper Publisher,
website was
Whidbey
hit with a tor- News-Times,
rent of online Oak Harbor
comments.
Many included
obscenities or hateful remarks.
But those comments paled in
comparison to the ones that
provided the letter writer’s home
address and home phone number
and urged people to terrorize
her. Some people actually followed through on those threats,
repeatedly calling and driving by
this woman’s home throughout
the night.
The worst online comments
encouraged violence against
her – even rape.
Speech that incites violence
against someone is a serious
crime. The Island County
Sheriff’s Office and authorities
from the Whidbey Island Naval
Air Station are now investigating the member of the military
who made the rape threat.
Investigations of additional
Facebook users who posted
threats against the letter writer
may follow.
Overnight the volume of
comments far exceeded our
ability to monitor. Ultimately
we determined the only way we
could prevent additional threats
was to turn off the commenting
option altogether.
Now, because the original
letter remains on the website,
people insist the newspaper is
now allowing only one opinion.
They are demanding that we
censor this woman’s letter
because they disagree with it.
The fact is, we are not censoring anyone’s opinion. Those
who want to air an opinion
should send a signed letter to the
editor or post their opinion on
Facebook. However, we cannot
allow comments that threaten
harm to someone.
We are very disappointed to
see that some of the threats and
nasty comments came from people who identified themselves as
members of the military. Navy
leadership must be disappointed
about this as well. But so far,
the public response from NAS
Whidbey has been “no comment.”
The Whidbey Island community – and especially Oak
Harbor – is extremely supportive
of our Navy neighbors. We all
are grateful to the members of
the military who make great
sacrifices to defend and protect
our nation.
Many of the commenters were
angry that the newspaper had
supported this woman’s freespeech rights “Don’t you know
that we risk our lives to protect
your freedom?”
We know the members of
the military who posted those
comments are aware of which
freedoms they are protecting.
And free speech is one of
them.
Reprinted with permission.
A nip and a tuck, and public record returns
Officers:
President: Bill Forhan, NCW
Media, Leavenworth l First
Vice President: Keven Graves,
Nisqually Valley News, Yelm
l Second Vice President:
Lori Maxim, Sound Publishing
l Past President: Jana Stoner,
Northern Kittitas County Tribune, Cle Elum l Secretary:
Bill Will, WNPA, Seattle
Trustees:
Mike Dillon, Pacific Publishing
Co., Seattle l Josh Johnson,
Liberty Lake Splash, Liberty
Lake l Eric LaFontaine, Othello Outlook l Imbert Matthee,
Waitsburg Times l Stephen
McFadden, Ritzville-Adams
County Journal l Fred Obee,
Port Townsend Leader
Staff:
Executive Director: Bill Will
l Editor/Manager of Member
Services: Mae Waldron
Officers:
President: W. Stacey Cowles,
The Spokesman-Review l
Vice President: Mike Shepard,
Seattle Times Company
Board:
Rufus Friday, Tri-City Herald l
Jill Mackie, The Seattle Times
l Dennis Waller, Chronicle,
Centralia
Executive Director: Rowland
Thompson
THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER is the official publication
of the Washington Newspaper
Publishers Association. It is published monthly by WNPA, 12354
30th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98125,
phone (206) 634-3838. Email:
mwaldron@wnpa.com; URL:
www.wnpa.com, in conjunction
with Allied Daily Newspapers of
Washington, P.O. Box 29, Olympia, WA 98507, (360) 943-9960.
Email: anewspaper@aol.com.
P
ublic record is back. A
year ago, I made the hard
decision to stop publishing district court filings, the
Montesano Police Department
and Grays Harbor Sheriff’s
Office blotters and the county
jail bookings. We didn’t have
enough space in the paper to
print them every week and
couldn’t find advertisers willing
to sponsor the page.
I had considered other options, but there wasn’t other
content in the paper that took
up the same volume each week.
I heard from dozens of readers
unhappy with the decision. They
wanted to know who got booked
with a DUI, who was getting
divorced and where the cows
were rampaging in the roads.
Some suggested I cut their
least favorite columnist to make
space. Others said to cut their
least favorite columnist, but
you better not cut their favorite,
which, by the by, was the least
favorite of the other callers.
Some suggested I get rid of
monthly advertiser-sponsored
pages (sorry, they only run once
a month and
I’m not turning
away advertising money).
Others
suggested I
do away with
all that boring
city council
Leif
news. But, if
Nesheim
there’s no news Editor,
in the paper,
Montesano
its not a news- Vidette
paper. Some
suggested I
keep covering
local government but nix all
those silly feature stories about
festivals and fundraisers. Others
suggested I get rid of all those
hiking columns I seem so fond
of — you know, the ones I’m
stopped at least twice a day by
people who say they love them
and save them for visiting family members (plus they only run
like once a month).
Some suggested I get rid of all
those sports stories that nobody
but parents care about. Others
suggested I get rid of those
boring legal notices that fill up
half the paper, but those are paid
ads that bring in almost half our
revenue; without them I’d have
a paper less than half the size or
no paper at all. Monte residents
said I could get rid of all those
Elma stories nobody reads. Elma
residents said I should get rid of
all those Monte stories nobody
reads.
But just about everybody said
I needed to bring public record
back. Unfortunately, nobody
could agree on what to eliminate
to make room for it every week.
I’d love to just print a few
extra pages each week for public
record. But that costs money and
I don’t have the advertising to
support it.
So, I have to nip here and tuck
there. I’m sure not everybody
will be happy. How did I make
room?
I’m reducing the frequency
that four of the newspapers
columnists run. Annie Valentine,
Pat Neal and Tom Frederiksen
will still be in the paper.
However, instead of appearing
weekly, they will appear twice a
month. Julieanna Chilman will
appear once a month.
That frees up a little more
than half a page of space each
week — about the amount of
space the police blotters and
district court fill. I had kept
Superior Court (even expanding
criminal court coverage). I will
not be publishing the jail bookings. It is inconsistent with our
policy of not naming individuals
accused of a crime until charged
with a crime to publish jail
booking records prior to charges.
Once charged with a crime,
they will appear in either the
Superior Court or District Court
listings in a week or so.
You can’t please all of the
people all of the time. A newspaper is designed to have a little
bit of something for everybody.
Hopefully more people will
be happier with the change
than are unhappier because of
it. Either way, let me know by
emailing editor@thevidette.com,
calling 249-3311 or stopping by
the office, 109 W. Marcy St.,
Montesano.
Reprinted with permission.
It’s not up to USPS to pick winners and losers
National Newspaper Association
T
he newspaper business—
both small and large
papers—has sounded
full-throated opposition this
past month about a plan by the
U.S. Postal Service to purposely
entice advertising out of the
newspaper so ads can be placed
instead with USPS favored
stakeholder Valassis Inc., which
bought direct mail company
ADVO in 2006.
The goal of USPS is to create
more advertising mail. To newspapers that count on advertising
to pay its reporters and cover the
news, this new venture is beyond
alarming. Many think it will
push some newspapers—already
made fragile by the economy
and the Internet—over the
edge. If that happens, it is the
communities across our country
that will feel the most long-term
harm.
People have a love-hate
relationship with advertising,
whether in the newspaper or
in the mail. When advertising
helps them find deals or shop
smartly, they love it. When it
doesn’t happen to scratch the
shopping itch, they may not like
it so much. But most people
understand advertising drives the
economy and it brings other intangible benefits, like the paying
the bill for news coverage that
keeps communities informed.
On every level advertising
is highly competitive. Local,
regional and nationally, newspapers compete with a growing
field of ad media, from Internet
to television and door hangers to
direct mailers.
But now the Postal Service
wants to pick winners and losers
in this market. It is providing
postage rebates to Valassis of
more than 30 percent if Valassis
can divert more ad inserts into
direct mail from newspapers.
Not everyone can play. The
discounts can be offered by
Valassis only to large national
retailers. Newspapers cannot get
the same discount for their own
mail because they can’t sign one
national postage contract, as the
direct mail company did, with
USPS. Neither can a small clothing or bookstore or a hairdresser
or auto parts shop. We—the
newspaper and our small businesses—are all local. This deal
is only for the big guys.
For the little guys, USPS has
another advertising plan that
enables businesses to bring
unaddressed advertising directly
to the post office.
What’s wrong with this picture? It is that USPS isn’t a business. It is owned by Uncle Sam.
It exists to serve all. It shouldn’t
WNPA
be picking winners and losers in
any marketplace. It shouldn’t be
competing with and undercutting
its stakeholders, which are all of
us. It should deliver the mail that
exists, promptly and affordably.
One of USPS’s big goals is
to carry even more advertising,
as the Internet saps away letters
and bills.
But we have to ask ourselves:
does America need a federallyowned advertising service? This
newspaper says no.
from page 1
She is also responsible for 13
Little Nickel publications distributed in Western Washington
and Oregon.
Since Maxim joined Sound
Publishing in 1988, she has held
positions of publisher, group
publisher, director of marketing
and national sales manager.
Stoner will continue on the
committee as past president.
Continuing trustees are Mike
Dillon of Pacific Publishing
Co. in Seattle, publishers Josh
Johnson of the Liberty Lake
Splash, Eric LaFontaine of the
Othello Outlook, Imbert Matthee
of the Waitsburg Times, Stephen
McFadden of the RitzvilleAdams County Journal, and
Fred Obee, general manager of
the Port Townsend Leader.
Bill Will, WNPA Executive
Director, continues as board
secretary.
TWN
3
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 OPEN ACCESS & LEGAL ISSUES
State hire may have violated meetings act
theolympian.com
T
he state’s Economic
and Revenue Forecast
Council hired a new permanent director last month, but
only after holding interviews
that violated the state Open
Public Meetings Act.
The seven-member council,
which includes top legislators
and state agency directors,
went into closed-door sessions,
which are allowed under the
law for discussing personnel
matters.
But the council failed to first
issue public notice that they
were convening a quorum of
members for the purpose of interviewing three finalists for the
roughly $140,000-a-year job.
Instead, council chairman
Ed Orcutt and four others went
straight into private sessions,
bringing along some staffers.
Moreover, the forecast
council came to enough of an
agreement behind closed doors
that Orcutt put out an Aug. 31
news release saying that interim
director Steve Lerch would
become the new permanent director once the council was able
to vote in public on his hiring.
“We couldn’t have made a
better choice,” Orcutt said in
the release.
Lerch was judged the best of
17 applicants. His hiring was
made official at a public meeting last Thursday.
Toby Nixon, president of the
Washington Coalition for Open
Government and a former state
lawmaker, said the council’s
earlier sessions clearly violated
the public meetings law.
“If they have a quorum of
the entire board there, then it is
a meeting of the board. There
is a very clear attorney general
opinion about that,” Nixon
explained.
Nixon added that to have
such an executive session, the
council would have had to
advertise a regular meeting,
then announced publicly during the meeting that members
would be going into a special
session – while also explaining
the purpose of that session and
how long it would last.
Once in an executive session,
the members’ actions would be
limited.
“There is absolutely clear
case law that they can’t make
the final decision in executive
session, and they can’t really do
a straw poll to try to narrow the
field in an executive session,”
Nixon said. “(I)t’s obvious
they did that – because they
published a news release, even
if it was accidental, before the
meeting. They clearly violated
the open meetings act.’’
A court can impose fines of
up to $100 per person for violations of the meetings law, but
T
he question of
whether the governor
of Washington state can
claim an “executive privilege”
as a reason to withhold certain
documents from the public is
now in the hands of the state
Supreme Court, which heard
opposing arguments last month
on whether the exemption cited
hundreds of times by Gov.
Chris Gregoire is allowed by
the state constitution or an
attempt at secrecy that violates
the state’s voter-approved
public records law.
The high court heard nearly
an hour of arguments in the
case brought by The Freedom
Foundation, a libertarian think
tank that sued the governor last
year.
An attorney for the group
argued that executive privilege
isn’t a legitimate exemption
and that the governor is using
it to keep a broad range of
documents secret. The Public
Records Act is written so that
its mandate for disclosure is to
be interpreted broadly, and any
exemptions are to be interpreted
narrowly, ensuring public disclosure whenever possible.
There are more than 300
recognized exemptions in state
law, but executive privilege
is not one of them. However,
a Thurston County judge
ruled last year that Gregoire,
a Democrat, was allowed
to use it as a reason to keep
internal documents private. The
foundation appealed to the state
Supreme Court to reverse that
ruling.
“We have never in this state
allowed an executive to have a
secrecy-forever promise,” said
attorney Michele Earl-Hubbard.
The foundation said the governor’s office has cited execu-
Whidbey News-Times,
Oak Harbor
D
tive privilege at least 500 times
in the last four years as grounds
for withholding records.
Currently at issue are six documents the foundation is seeking
on a variety of subjects, including the Alaskan Way Viaduct
replacement, medical marijuana
and criminal pardons.
The state told justices that
executive privilege is inherent
in the constitutional guarantee
of separation of powers and that
it is necessary so advisers can
talk candidly as they work to
make decisions.
eputies with the Island
County Sheriff’s
Office are investigating
the harassment of an elderly
Coupeville woman who wrote a
letter to the editor that spawned a
controversy.
Deputy Chris Garden said the
letter writer, Caralyn Haglund,
was in the sheriff’s office crying
because of continuous harassing
phone calls and cars driving by
her home since the letter was
published in the News-Times
Sept. 5.
Garden said the behavior is
criminal harassment. He urges
people to refrain from calling or
going to the woman’s house.
“People should grow up and
be mature about this kind of
thing,” he said. “It’s OK for
people to have a difference of
opinion.”
Haglund, reached Sept. 7, said
the situation has been a nightmare for her and her husband.
After the letter was published,
she received non-stop harassing
phone calls, day and night,
until she was forced to turn off
her phone. She’s getting a new
number because she needs to stay
in touch with her sister, who is
dying.
See COURT, page 4
See SPEECH, page 9
See HIRE, page 4
High court hears challenge to executive privilege claim
The Associated Press
Controversy,
threats lead
to probe
4
S-R series wins
Connelly honor
R
adioactivity on the
Spokane Reservation,”
a series published in the
Spokesman-Review, is winner
of the 2012 Dolly Connelly
Excellence in Environmental
Journalism Award.
The award honors the
memory of Dolly Connelly, a
longtime Time-Life correspondent and freelance writer based
in Bellingham who covered
Northwest environmental
struggles, from creation of the
North Cascades National Park to
pollution of Puget Sound and the
Columbia River.
In the words of judge Peter
Jackson, editorial page editor
of the Herald of Everett, “The
Spokesman-Review’s coverage
of the Midnite Mine and the
BLETHEN
Spokane Tribe reflects the best
in public service environmental
journalism. It’s original reporting that humanizes and makes
whole the insidious legacy of the
Cold War.”
Same Howe Verhovek,
author and former national correspondent with the New York
Times and Los Angeles Times,
described the series as “an
especially artful and deft melding of feature, explanatory and
investigative journalism, driven
home by some extraordinary
photography.”
The award was presented Sept. 13 during
Pacific Northwest Newspaper
Association’s awards dinner.
from page 1
Al Faussett” Investigative Reporting
1. Herald and News,
Klamath Falls, Ore. Ty
Beaver: “The Betty Lou
Parks Case”
2. Bulletin, Bend, Ore.
Heidi Hagemeier: “Foreclosure Middlemen”
Over 50,000 Circulation
Division
Distinguished Coverage
of Diversity
1. Oregonian, Portland,
Ore. Nikole HannahJones: “Housing Bias in
the City of Portland”
2. News Tribune, Tacoma. Kathleen Merryman:
“Cecil’s Story”
Deadline Reporting
1. Seattle Times. Seattle
Times Staff: “Café Racer
and Downtown Seattle
Shootings”
2. News Tribune, Tacoma.
Staff: “January Storm”
Enterprise Reporting
1. Seattle Times. Christine
Willmsen: “The Price of
Protection” 2. News Tribune, Tacoma.
Staff: “Ten Years at War:
When Duty Keeps Calling”
Feature Writing
1. Oregonian, Portland,
Ore. Anne Saker: “The
War Bride”
2. Seattle Times. Staff:
“Elwha: The Grand
Experiment to Restore a
Legendary Valley”
Investigative Reporting
1. Oregonian, Portland,
Ore. Ted Sickinger, Jeff
Mapes: “PERS: Oregon’s
Retirement System Challenges”
2. Seattle Times, Seattle,
WA. Michael J. Berens,
Ken Armstrong: “Methadone and The Politics of
Pain”
Debby Lowman Award
for Distinguished Reporting of Consumer
Affairs
1. Seattle Times. Maureen
O’Hagan: “Feeling the
Weight: A Child’s Tale of
Temptation, Comfort and
Compulsion”
2. Tri-City Herald, Kennewick. Staff: “Hanford
Layoffs: The Ripple Effect”
The awards were established
in 1977 in honor of C.B. Blethen,
publisher of the Seattle Times for
26 years, from 1915 to 1941.
PNNA daily newspaper members in Washington, Oregon,
Montana, Idaho, Utah, Alaska,
Alberta and British Columbia
are eligible to enter the contest,
which is administered completely independent from the
Seattle Times by PNNA.
Judges are top news executives from respected daily
newspapers outside the PNNA
area and are not affiliated with
PNNA member groups.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012
TWN
Investigative records bar raised
The Associated Press
W
ashington’s Supreme
Court determined
Sept. 27 that prosecutors improperly withheld documents in a sex offender case
after a Public Records Act request, as justices took a narrow
view of a state law that allows
officials to keep investigative
records from the public.
The files involved in the
case included a recommendation for a special sentencing
program and a statement made
by a victim. Thurston County
prosecutors had argued that the
files were investigative records
and should not be disclosed to
the public.
In their 6-3 decision, justices
said neither of the records was
part of the actual investigation
into criminal activity. They said
it is not enough that a prosecutor simply considered a document or even that the document
may be useful in making a
sentencing recommendation to
the courts.
“Neither of these records
is part of an investigation
into criminal activity or an
allegation of malfeasance,”
wrote Chief Justice Barbara
A. Madsen in the majority
opinion.
The ruling reversed a Court
of Appeals decision that
had determined the victim
statement was exempt from
disclosure but the sentencing
recommendation was not.
Justice Tom Chambers wrote
in dissent that the documents
contained deeply personal information and that the public’s
interest in the files is minimal.
He called on the Legislature to
establish more protections to
prevent the release of sensitive
information.
“I do not believe the people
or the Legislature intended that
the most sensitive information of victims of a crime,
especially a sex crime, should
be revealed to newspapers and
the public, causing victims to
be victimized all over again,”
Chambers wrote.
Splash, Gazette win at NNA contest
T
he Sequim Gazette and
Liberty Lake Splash
earned awards in the
2012 National Newspaper
Association’s Better Newspaper
Contest.
The Sequim Gazette placed
third in General Excellence,
and earned seven other awards.
The Gazette won first place
for “Join us, won’t you?,” a
feature story by Mark St.J.
Couhig.
Couhig, Amanda Winters and
Matthew Nash placed second
for an investigative piece, “The
Lowdown on the Slowdown,”
about the real estate and mortgage industries.
Additional awards were
second place for a feature story,
HIRE
third places in editorials and
editorial pages, and honorable
mention in the Best Family
Life/Living Section/Pages and
sports photo categories.
The Liberty Lake Splash
earned an Honorable Mention
for “ The face of new technology/Making leaps and bounds,”
a business feature story by
Kelly Moore.
All these awards were in the
non-daily division, circulation
6,000-9,999, and were announced Oct. 6 during NNA’s
annual convention and trade
show in Charleston, S.C.
The 2012 contest is NNA’s
first use of betterbnc.com, the
contest platform developed by
SmallTownPapers of Shelton.
The company is a WNPA affiliate member and has sponsored
WNPA’s contest since 2007.
commissions like the forecast
council are not specifically
exempted.
Orcutt also argued the
council hadn’t had an executive
session, believing it was an
interview panel – not a meeting
of the council.
Hunter later said he agreed
with a reporter’s objections
– that a quorum of council
members had met without
public notice. But Hunter said
he did not think the hiring
decision – which Orcutt now
must complete by negotiating
a contract with Lerch – is in
legal peril.
State budget director Marty
Brown, who served his final
meeting on the council this
week as he moves to a new
job, also said he thought there
should have been better notice
of the meeting.
Orcutt did not acknowledge
the process was flawed, but
said he would seek legal advice
in the future.
Brown, Hunter and Orcutt
all attended the interviews, at
which state revenue director
Brad Flaherty and state treasurer Jim McIntire also were
present. Others in the room
included stand-ins for two state
senators on the council, Dino
Rossi and Ed Murray.
lege, as part of the balancing
of power between the president
and Congress.
Copsey and Earl-Hubbard
said that seven other states
have affirmed executive
privilege for their governors
based on that U.S. Supreme
Court ruling: New Jersey,
Alaska, New Mexico, Vermont,
Delaware, Maryland and Ohio.
Gregoire’s office sent out an
email before the hearing, saying that the office has released
more than 90,000 pages of
public records since 2007, and
that only 250 pages have been
withheld through executive
privilege, and that some have
since been released.
“Executive privilege is
necessary, in rare circum-
stances, to ensure the governor,
whoever that person may be,
continues to have access to
frank and open advice when
they are making important
decisions,” wrote Gregoire’s
spokeswoman, Karina Shagren.
The Washington Supreme
court doesn’t have a specific
timeline on when it will rule,
but its decisions often come six
to nine months after a hearing.
WNPA and Allied Daily
Newspapers of Washington
joined with the Washington
Coalition for Open
Government in a friend of the
court brief in case that supports
The Freedom Foundation’s
stance against the executive
privilege claims.
from page 3
that rarely happens.
Both Orcutt and Rep.
Ross Hunter, D-Medina and
chairman of the House budget
committee, initially defended
the council’s actions. “We had
to count the votes. That’s what
you do in executive session,”
Hunter said.
But he apparently was
confusing “executive sessions”
that the Legislature’s caucuses
hold to determine strategy and
vote counts with the “executive
sessions” held by bodies governed by the open meetings act.
The Legislature has
exempted itself from the meetings law, although boards and
COURT
from page 3
“We’re not asking for a
bright line saying that should
or should not be disclosed,”
Alan Copsey, deputy solicitor
general, told the justices.
“What we’re saying is that the
governor should have the decision space, the elbow room,
to consult with close advisers
about the important issues that
she must decide.”
The state cites the same historical ruling as the Thurston
County judge did in her ruling:
a 1970s U.S. Supreme Court
decision where the court ordered President Richard Nixon
to turn over taped conversations to a criminal prosecutor.
In that case, however, the justices also formally recognized
the doctrine of executive privi-
TWN
5
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 PASSINGS
Record-Bulletin’s unsinkable Dodgson dies at 66
Prosser Record-Bulletin
L
inda Lee Dodgson passed
away unexpectedly on
Aug. 29, 2012, of complications after being diagnosed
with cancer. Friends and family surrounded her at Kadlec
Medical Center in Richland.
She was born in a nursing
home in Wapato, Washington,
on Jan. 18, 1946, the daughter
of Clair and Opal (Myers)
Dodgson. Linda was fondly
thought of as the matriarch
of the Dodgson family, a title
bestowed when her grandpa
gave her the keys to his ’55 Ford
and informed her that she’d be
doing the driving from that point
forward. She was 16 years old.
She took her role seriously and
was extremely loyal to her family throughout her life.
Linda attended Prosser
schools and after graduation in
1964, attended Yakima Business
College. Upon
finishing
college, she
immediately
began working
full-time at
the Prosser
RecordBulletin in
the layout and Linda
design depart- Dodgson
ment. She
made multitudes of friends over
the next 46 years.
From toddlerhood on, Linda
looked up at her two older
brothers, Larry and George. The
threesome explored and lived
adventurously out in the country
near train tracks, building forts
from willows and cattails. When
George and Larry shot quail and
squab, Linda cooked a small
feast in a coffee tin oven at their
self-proclaimed “camp.“
Linda was just eight years old
when her father was killed. Her
mother went to work, and Linda
picked up the slack for her
family, cooking, cleaning and
helping care for Val, nearly eight
years younger than she.
The Dodgson children’s
favorite pastime was swimming.
Linda was known for her floating expertise and her brothers
agree, “There was no sinking
her!” George and Larry recall
fun trips to cut Christmas trees
and sledding behind a vehicle
driven by Linda at what seemed
like 50 miles per hour, though
she claimed to only be going 15
mph.
Linda’s cooking prowess,
learned in the outdoor “camps”
as a child, continued into adulthood. Beginning in 1978 and
continuing for decades, Linda
enjoyed staying at base camp in
the Blue Mountains while her
brothers and friends hunted. She
was fondly nicknamed “Blue
Mountain Mama,” for the amazing homemade noodles (rolled
with an empty whiskey bottle),
stews, soups and apple pies she
baked in makeshift ovens at
camp.
Linda enjoyed a full life —
one packed with family, friends
and adventure. She helped raise
her niece, Trisha, and eventually,
Trisha’s three children. During
high school, Trisha’s friends
also found a “home” at Auntie
Linda’s house. She took them
camping many times.
During her long tenure at the
Prosser Record-Bulletin, Linda
saw many changes. She played
a major role in the inaugural
Grape Vine, a tourist publication, and helped kick off the
Great Prosser Balloon Rally.
She volunteered as a member of
the Prosser Wine and Food Fair
Committee for more than 20
years. Linda also moonlighted at
Bern’s Tavern, owned by Darren
(Carla), for the past 12 years. As
Larry said, “She didn’t let the
grass grow under her feet; she
was always busy.”
Linda was preceded in death
by her parents and sister, Val
LaRae Dodgson.
Survivors include her brothers Larry (Julie) Dodgson
and George (Diane) Dodgson
and her niece Trisha Dodgson
and Trisha’s children Dakota,
Sydney and Samantha Benefit,
all of Prosser; cousin Paul
“Vern” Austin; nieces, nephews,
great nieces, great nephews,
cousins and a host of friends.
Those wishing to honor
Linda’s memory may make donations to the American Cancer
Society.
TNT’s MacGougan passes at 83 Valley publisher
The News Tribune, Tacoma
D
enny MacGougan, the
popular Tacoma News
Tribune columnist
who – for better or worse – was
the newspaper’s unofficial voice
through the 1970s and early
1980s, died Aug. 15 at a Gig
Harbor nursing home. He was
83.
“It was not unexpected,”
MacGougan’s son, Scott said.
“He hadn’t been well for quite a
while.”
MacGougan suffered from dementia in his later years, his son
said, and for the past two years
lived at the Manor Care Health
Services in Gig Harbor.
MacGougan was hired at the
News Tribune in 1951, shortly
after he graduated from the
University of Washington. He
worked as a city hall reporter
and as an editor, but did not find
his true voice until he became a
columnist in the early 1970s.
His column, “MacGougan At
Large,” ran four times a week,
positioned along with his photo
in a prominent spot on Page A2.
It was the first thing many readers turned to.
The
newspaper
capitalized on
MacGougan’s
popularity,
at least once
featuring him
in a marketing
campaign that
Denny
put his face
MacGougan
on billboards
throughout the city.
MacGougan wrote in a style
popularized by San Francisco
columnist Herb Caen and
sometimes referred to as “threedot journalism” – short items
separated by ellipses, heavy on
insider gossip, humor, puns,
politics and goings on about
town.
“He was the Herb Caen of
Tacoma,” said John Gillie, a
News Tribune reporter who
worked with MacGougan. “His
repertoire included a cast of
local characters who offered
opinions on almost anything –
most of the time when they’d
had a drink or two.
“He was not a 9-to-5 guy,”
Gillie said. “He’d spend a lot
of time out of the office, which
I think usually meant Honan’s
Bar, across from City Hall.”
News Tribune columnist
Kathleen Merryman also worked
with MacGougan.
“He was part of the great generation of reporters who lived
like they had ink in their blood
and would tell anyone that they
did have ink in their blood – and
probably a few imbibibles,”
Merryman said.
“He kept abreast of issues in a
true old Tacoma way,” she said,
“finding out what people were
talking about at Honan’s and
Red Kelly’s. He was a man of
his day.”
MacGougan was born and
raised in Everett.
At UW, he was the editor
of a humor magazine called
Columns, and was vice president
of his senior class.
Ardene Reeder, MacGougan’s
first wife, was secretary of the
senior class that year, Scott
MacGougan said.
They were married for 22
years and had three children:
Scott in 1952, Mark in 1954
and Margaret “Meg” in 1956.
See MacGOUGAN, page 9
Former Cle Elum, Odessa publisher dies
Northern Kittitas County
Tribune, Cle Elum
W
alter Richard (Walt)
Larson of Ellensburg,
retired publisher of
the Northern Kittitas County
Tribune in Cle Elum, died Sept.
23. He was 88.
Born April 30, 1924, in
Glendive, Mont., Larson grew
up in Circle, Mont., the fifth
of 10 children of Ben and
Josephine Larson. He was proud
to be a World War II veteran, entering action on D-Day + 1
at Omaha beach and serving in
Europe as part of a Signal Radio
Intelligence company.
Walt married Mary Lou
Harrison on Sept. 17, 1948 in
Billings, Mont. In 1949, he
graduated from the University
of Montana with a degree in
journalism. Over the course of
his lifetime, Walt was the owner
and publisher of eight weekly
newspapers in Montana, Idaho
and Washington, including
the Odessa Record in Odessa,
Wash. from 1964 to 1978 and
the Northern Kittitas County
Tribune in Cle Elum from 1972
to 1999. Walt was strongly invested
in the communities in which he
lived, with involvement in city
council, chamber of commerce,
school board and community
planning activities. He was considered to be a thoughtful voice
of reason and quiet leader. One
of his most rewarding achievements was taking part in establishing the annual Deutschesfest
in Odessa. Walt and Mary Lou were partners in both life and business,
working side-by-side at each
newspaper, even at one time
writing the “WRLing ’round”
and “MLLing ’round” columns
for their readers of the Missoula
Times weekly paper. They had
seven children together.
Faith was very important to
Walt. He was an active member
and had leadership roles in
churches in every community
in which he lived, including
First Lutheran Church in
Ellensburg. Walt was a musician, having learned to play the
baritone horn as a child. He
sang throughout his life and
enjoyed singing in many church
choirs. He could even be caught
at times walking over to the
family piano and “tickling the
keys” a bit on his own.
Family was also a cornerstone
of Walt’s life. He was a dedicated father and continued to
provide inspiration and support
to his children even throughout
their adult lives. He liked spending time with his grandchildren
and great-grandchildren. They
have already been told the
See LARSON, page 9
Fournier dies, 75
Public memorial
set for Nov. 9 on
Whidbey Island
Yakima Herald-Republic J
ohn Fournier Jr., longtime
owner and publisher of
weekly newspapers in
Grandview and Prosser, died
Oct. 1 at age 75.
Fournier had owned the
Grandview Herald and the
Prosser Record-Bulletin since
1986.
Fournier died at a hospital
on Whidbey Island, where he
lived with his wife, Christine,
after a battle with cancer and
strokes.
His daughter, Danielle
Fournier, 38, also of Whidbey
Island, will take over as interim
publisher of both weeklies.
“We’re not totally sure
what we’re doing long term,”
she said in an Oct. 1 phone
interview.
Danielle Fournier remembered her father as a man with
a sarcastic sense of humor who
believed small town newspapers helped create a sense of
community.
“He liked talking to people,
he told great stories and
believed in the power of community,” she said.
Fournier was raised in the
newspaper industry. His father,
John Fournier Sr., purchased
the Aberdeen Cruiser in 1938.
The family later purchased
three newspapers in the Kent
area and at one point owned
the Valley Daily News in
Renton, Danielle Fournier said.
Fournier attended Kent
High School and served in the
Marine Corps before joining
his father’s business. When
Fournier Sr. died in 1972, he
took over, Danielle Fournier
said.
His brother, Charles
Fournier, and stepmother, Jean
Morgan, also have owned
newspapers. He was an honor-
ary life
member and
past president of the
Washington
Newspaper
Publishers
Association.
“He
knew so
John
much about FournierJr.
publishing,” said Karen Derrick, who
worked for Fournier in Prosser
since 1986. “He just knew
everything.”
Derrick, who semi-retired
from the business about five
years ago, recalled her former
boss as an energetic man
whose mind raced rapidly from
topic to topic.
Fournier owned a home on
Whidbey Island as his primary
residence but spent four days
a week in Prosser overseeing
the production of the newspapers, which publish every
Wednesday, Danielle Fournier
said.
All four of Fournier’s
children at one point worked in
nearly every part of the business, said Danielle Fournier.
They are Suzette Nordstrom
of Spokane, John Fournier III
of Bend, Ore., and Matthew
Fournier in Sacramento, Calif.
Danielle Fournier took to
the reporting and photography
more than her siblings and returned to the business full time
in 2004 as associate publisher,
she said.
Fournier’s widow, Christine
Fournier, owns her own horse
tack business.
Survivors also include his
sister, Gail Dallas of Redmond;
brother, Charles Fournier
of St. Simons Island, Ga.;
stepmother, Jean Morgan of
Swainsboro, Ga.; and four
grandchildren.
For information on the Nov.
9 memorial service, contact
Bill Will, bwill@wnpa.com,
(206) 634-3838 ext. 0.
6
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012
TWN
Real estate
Survey: Publishers of small dailies most optimistic
section, ad
revenue grow
for Herald
University of Missouri
T
he publishers of U.S.
dailies remain optimistic
about the future of
newspapers.
In the largest survey of its
kind, nearly two-thirds of responding publishers expressed
optimism about the future of
the newspaper industry. Forty
percent said they were “somewhat optimistic,” while 25
percent identified themselves
as “very optimistic.” Thirty-one
percent were neutral. Only four
percent identified themselves as
“not optimistic;” no respondent
chose “not optimistic at all.”
The question was asked
as part of the RJI Publishers
Confidence Index, the first in
an annual series of surveys
benchmarking opinions of
Daily Herald, Everett
S
ince the Herald launched
an expanded and upgraded
real estate advertising
section this past June, Herald
real estate advertising sales have
been up 20 percent compared to
2011, advertising director Ron
Lee said.
The section offers a mix of
informational articles about
the nuts and bolts of real estate
financing and transactions,
Q-and-A profiles of Snohomish
County real estate agents, an
improved listing of open houses
that includes a locator map, and
advertising that’s considerably
more colorful and visually
appealing than traditional textheavy newspaper classified ads.
Lynn Jefferson of the Herald’s
art department designed the
section, the content of which is
produced entirely by the advertising department.
Sales for the real estate section and its digital counterpart
are handled by Herald real
estate account executive Patrick
Johnson, whose professional
background is well-suited to
the job — he’s worked both at
newspapers and as a licensed
real estate agent.
“Everybody has been excited
about it,” Johnson said. “I’ve
talked to a Realtor who said
he’s bringing the section to open
houses to hand out to people.”
The section also brings
together advertising for both
existing and new homes for sale,
which has pleased local builders,
Lee said.
After several difficult years
during the Great Recession,
“we’re seeing a definite (improvement) in the real estate
market,” Lee said. “New home
builders especially have seen an
increase in business.”
newspaper leaders about the
future of the industry and their
organizations’ ability to adapt
to fast-changing market conditions. The Donald W. Reynolds
Journalism Institute (RJI) at the
Missouri School of Journalism
is devoted to exploring new
ideas, experiments and research
that will improve and sustain
journalism, and released the
survey in mid-September.
In the survey, 458 in-depth
telephone interviews were conducted with publishers, presidents, senior vice presidents or
other senior managers or editors
designated by the publisher.
The interviews, conducted by
the RJI Insight and Survey
Center, represent one-third of
the daily newspapers in the
United States. In assembling
the sample, researchers were
careful to ensure it reflected the
distribution of circulation sizes
across the industry.
Circulation size was a key
factor associated with the degree of optimism expressed by
publishers. Although publishers
from every circulation size
were included in both the “very
optimistic” and “somewhat
optimistic” groups, 83 percent
of those in the “very optimistic”
category lead papers with average weekday circulations below
50,000.
Although the survey revealed
increased effort being poured
into development of new digital
products at newspapers, many
publishers are counting on the
print edition to continue to
play a significant role in future
success.
Responding to the question,
“Do you ever envision a time
when your organization will
not publish a printed edition,”
62 percent replied “no.” Onethird of the respondents replied
“yes,” and 5 percent said
“maybe.” Circulation size also
was associated with answers to
this question, with publishers
of smaller papers less likely
to envision a time without a
printed edition.
Of those publishers who
envision a day when their companies will no longer print, 19
percent expect that to happen in
less than 10 years; 46 percent
estimated it would happen in
10-20 years; 14 percent expect
it will not happen for at least 20
years.
Forecast: Print ad revenue to grow again, finally
Borrell and Associates
T
he newspaper industry’s
print ad revenue will finally start to grow again,
albeit slowly, Gordon Borrell,
CEO of Borrell Associates,
said during NetNewsCheck’s
“Prioritizing Digital in 2013:
Maximizing New Revenue
Streams” webinar early this
month.
For the industry overall, print
revenue is predicted to rise 0.5
percent in 2013, Borrell said.
Most of that growth will come
from small papers. Mid-sized
papers, those in the 50,000 to
100,000 circulation range, are
expected to see mixed results,
with revenue staying mostly flat.
At large metro papers,
FIND YOUR 25-HOUR DAY
My 50 years on 15 small
publications can help you:
• sell more ads & subs
• simplify operations
• avoid bricks through your window
• start/improve your website
Jay Becker
Community Consulting
jaybecker@aol.com - (206) 790-9457
- - - - Advertising- - - -
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




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





Borrell predicts hard times will
continue, with revenue declines
in the 4 percent to 6 percent
range predicted.
The consultant’s forecast for
preprint advertising is cloudy.
The USPS negotiated service
agreement with Valassis earlier
this year — which national
newspaper groups are attempting to block both in court and in
Congress — could shift some of
that money to the direct mailer
and negate any growth the
industry might see.
“If that goes away, all bets
are off.”
Borrell also projected that
most markets will see local online ad revenue rise 30 percent
next year. in 2013. Targeted
banner ads related to content
readers covet and video will be
the primary drivers behind the
rise.
Borrell attributed the rise
of video ads to a shift in how
users consume online content.
Consumer habits have switched
from “reading the Internet”
to “watching the Internet,” he
noted. The increase of broadband speeds and the growing
popularity of tablet computers
have made online video more
attractive to web surfers.
TWN
7
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 Top picks from Adobe’s latest suites
I
t’s that time of year again.
Fall means lots of road trips
to conventions and training
events. One of the things I really enjoy when speaking at a
conference is the chance to lead
a workshop or two while there.
This fall, I took it upon
myself to create all new material
for my workshops. While time
consuming for me, it gives
people who have heard me
multiple times something new
to go home with. And for me, it
makes teaching that much more
interesting.
One thing that I always keep
in mind is that most of us can’t
keep the latest version of software on our computers all the
time. It can get expensive to try
to stay up to date with the latest
and greatest.
But every now and then, it
becomes necessary to upgrade.
My rule of thumb is to stay
within two versions of the latest
software.
That means if I’m a
QuarkXPress user, I’m using
version 8 or 9. For InDesign users, that would be CS5 or 6. No,
I didn’t forget 5.5, but let’s stick
with whole numbers.
Adobe recently released
version 6 of the Creative Suite.
I wrote about a few of the new
tools in InDesign a while back.
But what about the other CS
applications that we use?
OK, they are, in no particular
order: My favorite new features
in Adobe Creative Suite 6. We’ll
stick with the applications most
used by newspapers.
Photoshop CS6
Perspective Crop Tool: Oh
geez, I love this one. Now don’t
start an email campaign against
me. This tool is not for use with
news photos. But for those of
us who are constantly working
on photos and illustrations for
ad design, the Perspective Crop
Tool is going to be a favorite.
It’s incredibly simple to use. Just
take a pic shot
in perspective.
I shot a photo
down a hallway
in my home.
On the wall was
a caricature of
my kids and
me. Using the
Kevin Slimp
Perspective
Director,
Crop Tool, I
Institute of
was able to
Newspaper
Technology
select the area
around the
caricature and,
voila, watch as
it was replaced by a near perfect
pic of the caricature as if taken
directly in front of it. Incredible.
Content Aware Patch:
Adobe introduced Content
Aware Fill in CS5. This allows
the user to make something
disappear from a photo by making a selection of the offending
object and clicking a couple
of buttons. It’s really handy
when removing a car that’s
blocking a house in a realty ad.
CS6 introduces Content Aware
Patch, which makes it a one-step
process to duplicate something
from one area of a photo to
another, while seamlessly editing the surrounding pixels so
the duplicated area looks like it
belongs there.
InDesign CS6
Linked Content: Imagine
being able to change text on one
page and have it automatically
change to match on other pages
in the same document. Now
imagine changing a story in one
document and having it change
automatically in another document. Linked Content allows
the user to do just that. Simply
select the original content, select
Edit>Place and Link, and you’re
ready to go.
Alternate Layouts: Wouldn’t
it be nice if you could design a
print version of your newspaper
and an iPad version at the same
time? Now it’s possible with
The Perspective Crop Tool in
Photoshop CS6 allows the user to
take a photo like this ...
InDesign’s Linked Files allow you to make a change
to a text block on one page
and see the change take
place throughout your
document. This also allows
you to make universal
changes between documents.
Alternate (Liquid) Layouts.
Using your Pages Panel, you
can create alternate layouts for
Web pages, iPads, Kindles and
more. When you design the print
version of your newspaper, the
elements automatically are recreated as a separate layout that
can be exported on its own.
Arrange Documents: View
two or more InDesign documents side by side while working on them. Users can use this
feature to drag pages from one
document into another.
... and make it look like this.
The Arrange Document function in InDesign CS6 allows
the user to move pages from one InDesign document to
another.
Flash CS6
HTML5 Export: I had no
problem deciding what my
favorite new feature in Flash
was. The ability to export existing Flash files to HTML5 is the
answer to the problem with Flash
on iPhones and iPads. Move over
SWF. HTML is the new king.
Illustrator CS6
Most of the buzz about the
latest version of Illustrator
surrounds its appearance. The
interface has been rebuilt from
the ground up, promising a more
pleasant and efficient design
experience for users.
Pattern Creation: Illustrator
users will appreciate the ability
to create repeated patterns from
vector graphics that have been
traced or created from scratch.
Improved Tracing:
Illustrator traces more quickly
and with more accuracy than
before.
As with any major upgrade,
there are thousands of enhancements in Adobe Create Suite 6.
These are a few of my favorites.
Download a free full functioning demo version from Adobe.
com and try out these and other
features for yourself.
Reach Kevin at Kevin@
kevinslimp.com
Two WNPA member papers celebrate 20th anniversaries
Review’s reprint
part of birthday
in Sammamish
H
appy birthday to us” read
the headline in the Aug. 29
Sammamish Review, where
the newspaper’s 20th birthday was
commemorated with a reprint of the
first front page, dated August 1992.
The accompanying anniversary
story outlined the history of the
suburban community, initially composed of large residential subdivisions adjacent to but not part of the
neighboring towns—Redmond to
the north and Issaquah to the south.
“(Sammamish) was struggling
with an identity crisis,” publisher
Debbie Berto said.
“You had two halves—one that
related to Redmond and one that
related to Issaquah. Each half had
its own school district — there was
this divide right down the middle.
…We thought, “If this is going to be
a city, we want to be its newspaper.”
The 1992 attempt at incorporation failed (58.4 percent of voters
were opposed), but in 1998 the
measure passed by 67 percent.
Sammamish City Councilman
Don Gerend understands the value
of the paper, and talked about it
with Review Reporter Caleb
Heeringa.
“We don’t really have a physical
heart and soul as a community yet,”
Gerend said. “We’ve got the plaza
with City Hall and Sammamish
Commons and that’s a good start,
but our local paper really is the
heart and soul of the community.”
A lighthearted sidebar described
Gerend’s early idea for naming the
city Heaven. He wanted to install
pearly gates at the entrances and
have Providence Point, a large
retirement community outside city
limits, describe itself as “the closest
place to heaven on Earth.” The
first council talked about the idea,
Gerend said, but the city is named
for the nearby lake.
Beacon marks second decade
W
hen the Mukilteo Beacon reached its 20th year
this year, Publisher Paul Archipley selected
several ways to communicate the good news to
readers.
A photo of the staff standing in front of the
company banner, a fresh design, and columns about
the anniversary and the newspaper’s origins were
published the Sept. 5 issue.
Archipley publishes three Beacons, weeklies serving Mukilteo and Edmonds and, since February 2011,
a monthly covering South Everett, and websites for
each paper.
A director of the WNPA Foundation, Archipley
completed his service on the board of Washington
Newspaper Publishers Association when his term as
2011-12 Past President ended at last month’s WNPA
convention.
Circulation audit firms ABC, CAC to join forces, add services
The Inlander, Inland Press
C
ertified Audit of Circulations
(CAC) will become a subsidiary of the Audit Bureau of
Circulations (ABC) later this fall, the
two newspaper auditing organizations
announced.
The union will create a central repository of audited data from nearly 2,000
dailies and weeklies, with CAC-member
papers included in ABC’s twice-yearly
FAS-FAX reports. Combining the two
auditors will result in “additional service
opportunities for CAC members and
anticipated cost savings,” the announcement said.
Wayne, N.J.-based CAC will remain
an independent brand with its own board
of directors, bylaws, audit statements and
staff, the organizations said. The cashless
transaction is subject to member approval
at CAC and ABC, which is headquartered
in Arlington Hts., Ill.
“The publishers on the CAC board are
also strongly supporting this effort,” said
Mike Gugliotto, president and CEO of
Pioneer Newspapers Inc. and a CAC director. “This initiative offers newspapers
more services and more visibility in a
new database. And with a separate board
and staff, CAC member interests will
continue to be top of mind.”
“CAC and ABC joining forces is a win
for the newspaper industry. GateHouse
Media works with both organizations, and
this initiative will bring more than 100 of
our titles into a central database for greater
visibility to our advertisers,” said Kirk
Davis, president and COO of GateHouse
Media and an ABC board director.
8
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012
TWN
CAREER MOVES
n Sharon Ostant celebrated
her 37th year as editor of the
Senior Focus and her 40th year
at Senior Services of Snohomish
County this summer. In covering
the celebration for the Mukilteo
Beacon, publisher Paul
Archipley included observations
from Ostant’s colleagues. Teri
Baker, who has been writing for
the newspaper for 19 years, said
Ostant has an innate ability to
spot newsworthy stories. “She’s
wise enough to know what’s a
good story, an excellent editor,”
Baker said. Robert Quirk,
director of social services at
the agency and a longtime coworker, said the newspaper’s
importance can’t be overstated,
citing recent articles on elder
abuse that generated numerous
calls to Senior Services.
n Ed Parker is the new
circulation manager at the TriCity Herald in Kennewick. He
joined the Herald after six years
as the home delivery manager
at the Idaho Statesman in Boise.
He has 40 years’ experience in
the industry, and will manage
the Herald’s 350 carrier routes,
all handled by independent
contractors.
n Anita Hedahl is new at
the front desk of the Stanwood/
Camano News. She worked
in the office supply business
for 25 years, owning a store
in Smokey Point and later
managing two stores on Camano
Island. She has lived on the
island since 1979, and in 2004
was the community’s Woman
of the Year. She and her retired
husband enjoy camping, hunt-
ing and fishing, and watching
her 18 chickens. “They have
cool personalities, she said.
“It’s kind of like the casino
… mindless, but entertaining
because you just have to watch
what happens next.” Also new
on the News staff is Rhonda
Hundertmark, who succeeded
Beth Harrison as a page designer. Hundertmark, a graphic
designer with her own business,
has lived on the island with her
husband, Frederic, for six years.
She works with local businesses
and artists, and directed the
Camano Island Studio Tour for
four years. She has degrees in
graphic design and digital illustration from Everett Community
College.
n The Columbia Basin
Herald in Moses Lake hired
Tiffany Sukola as business
and agriculture reporter. Earlier
this year Sukola graduated in
English from Eastern Oregon
University in LaGrande. She
took a year off from school to
intern at a newspaper on Guam,
where she thrived while reporting on public utilities, politics
and the island’s legislature.
Sukola was born in Hawaii and
grew up on Guam, and now
looks to Moses Lake for a water
view.
n Marc Stiles, former
managing editor of the Kent
Reporter, has joined the Puget
Sound Business Journal as a
staff writer covering commercial
real estate and government.
Most recently he reported
for Seattle’s Daily Journal
of Commerce, covering com-
mercial real estate, Sound
Transit and Seattle City Hall.
His background includes a stint
as a junior real estate broker,
as well as assistant editor of
the Highline News in Burien
and news editor of the Chinook
Observer in Long Beach.
n Cary Rosenbaum has been
named managing editor of the
Omak-Okanogan Chronicle.
Previously he worked for the
Chronicle in Centralia, the
Tribal Tribune in Nespelem
and the Easterner in Cheney.
Rosenbaum, 27, was born
in Inchelium and introduced
himself to Chronicle readers as
“yearning for knowledge, especially from this area of which
my ancestors, both American
Indian and white, hailed from.”
He succeeds Dee Camp, who
continues on the staff as a
reporter.
n Eugenie Jones, for 20
years fitness guru at the Kitsap
Sun in Bremerton, wrote her
last weekly column for the
newspaper late in August.
Though budgetary decisions and
a reorganization of the paper’s
features closed out her space,
she used her final column to
challenge her readers to keep
fitness as a priority.
n After nearly 36 years,
Joan Morrish retired in August
from her carrier position at the
Peninsula Daily News in Port
Angeles. When Morrish started
as a carrier, she was a newly
single mother in 1976, working
two part-time jobs in addition
to her newspaper route, she
said. Morrish gradually built
up her route and quit the other
two jobs. When publisher John
Brewer named her Carrier of
the Year in 2000, he estimated
she had driven 50,000 miles,
delivered 3 million copies of the
paper, and had a complaint ratio
of only 0.25 per 1,000 papers
delivered — one service error
for every 4,000 papers. Morrish
went through at least 10 cars
during her career, which at its
height included 777 customers
and 87 miles of driving each
day. She turned her route over
to Dave Johnson of Joyce, who
has been her substitute for more
than 10 years.
n Josh O’Connor of Sound
Publishing’s Bellevue office
has announced several staff
changes at Reporter newspapers
in north and east King County.
Andy Nystrom, for more than
five years editor of the BothellKenmore Reporter, has been
named editor of the Redmond
Reporter. Nystrom started his
Washington career covering
sports and business news for the
B-K Reporter and its predecessor, the Northshore Citizen.
He wrote for the Reporters
covering Bellevue and Redmond
in the early 2000s. Previously,
Nystrom worked for seven years
at the Los Altos Town Crier,
near Palo Alto, Calif. Nystrom
succeeds Bill Christianson,
who left the newspaper after
five years as editor to become
a full-time father to his infant
son, Blake. Christianson’s
fiance Holly Diehl returned to
work last month, and the couple
plans a December wedding.
Press Forward
We applaud the Washington Newspaper Publishers
Association’s commitment to advocating for community
newspapers, freedom of the press and open government.
We are honored to continue serving as a resource in these
valuable efforts.
Anchorage. Bellevue. Los Angeles. New York. Portland. San Francisco. Seattle. Shanghai. Washington, D.C. | dwt.com
© 2012 Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. All rights reserved. 877.398.8417
Matt Phelps is the new assistant
editor at the Bothell-Kenmore
Reporter, succeeding Nystrom.
Phelps covered sports for the
Mercer Island Reporter beginning in 2000, then joined the
Kirkland Reporter staff in 2009.
New on the Kirkland Reporter
staff is Raechel Dawson, a
2012 graduate of the University
of Washington. Dawson
covered the Washington State
Legislature in 2012 for the UW
News Lab, working alongside
WNPA Legislative Reporting
Interns Scott Panitz and Maida
Suljevic. Dawson will work
with Phelps and Carrie (Wood)
Rodriguez in the Reporter
newspapers’ Totem Lake office.
Rodriguez has been editor of
the Kirkland Reporter for four
years, and returns from maternity leave this month to begin
her new role as regional editor
for the Kirkland and Bothell
newspapers.
n Normand Garcia, most
recently the lead reporter for a
Spanish-language paper in Utah,
has joined El Sol de Yakima
as its new editor. The 35-yearold Peruvian native comes to
Yakima from Salt Lake City,
where he worked for Ahora,
the award-winning Spanishlanguage newspaper of the Salt
Lake Tribune. Garcia studied
journalism at the Universidad de
San Martin de Porres in Lima,
Peru, finishing his degree in
2007. He worked in Salt Lake
City for more than a year before
Ahora folded for financial
reasons.
TWN
WNPA adds
new member
from Republic
Ex-Lower Valley
publisher vows
to bring back
closed papers
T
Yakima Herald-Republic
T
he previous publisher of
a group of small Lower
Valley newspapers that
ended operations Aug. 31 said
he plans to restart them.
The Toppenish-based
newspaper group — Yakima
Valley Newspapers — published
two weeklies, the Review
Independent and Spanishlanguage Viva, and the monthly
Yakima Valley Business Journal
in addition to the free Central
Valley Shopper. In response to the closure, Jim
Flint, the former owner and publisher of the newspaper group,
said in an email that “I intend to
make sure the publications are
reactivated and give the communities the kind of newspapers
they deserve.”
In the email, Flint said he was
in France and unable to elaborate on his plans at this time,
but that he would divulge more
when he returns Sept. 7.
Longtime Toppenish City
Councilman Blaine Thorington
said he hopes the newspapers are
revived, especially the Review
Independent, which is the city’s
official newspaper.
“I certainly hope somebody
picks it up,” he said during a
Saturday telephone interview.
“It predates me. As long as I can
remember, there has always been
a newspaper. I hope it can be
ressurrected. It would be a sad
thing if we don’t have a local
paper.”
In 2006, Flint sold the newspaper group to former Wyoming
newspaper broker Mike Lindsey.
Lindsey notified the Yakima
Herald-Republic’s printing
department of the closure on
Aug. 31. The Herald-Republic
provided commercial printing
for the newspaper group.
The closure came as a shock
to the Toppenish Chamber
of Commerce, said Chamber
Director Zack Dorr.
“Personally, I will miss
picking up my weekly copy
every Wednesday morning at
the convenience store,” he said.
“Reading it always gives me that
small-town feeling that I love.
I can remember reading articles
on my favorite local sports stars
as a child.”
The Review Independent
emerged in 1999, when the
Wapato Independent merged
with the Toppenish Review,
which began in 1904. Flint’s
parents operated both newspapers before he took them over in
1975.
MacGOUGAN
9
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 State archives celebrate dual role
Annual event puts
spotlight on ‘Law
& Order’ aspect
T
he State Archives might
not have every episode
of the long-running TV
series “Law and Order” in its
collections, but it does have an
extensive collection of legal
and historical documents and
photos featuring criminals,
law enforcement and courts in
Washington.
This collection provides
the theme for the state’s sixth
annual Archives Month this
October.
This year’s official theme
is, “Law & Order in the
Archives: Crooks, Cops and
Courts.”
The month-long event, part
of a national celebration, is cosponsored by the Washington
State Archives, a division
of the Office of Secretary of
State.
Throughout October,
the public is encouraged
to explore, free of charge,
millions of items through the
State Archives and its Digital
LARSON
ON THE WEB
Law & Order Archives:
www.sos.wa.gov/archives
Archives, historical societies,
museums, public libraries, and
university special collections.
State Archivist Jerry
Handfield says the State
Archives, which is heavily utilized by lawyers, government
employees, history buffs and
genealogists, plays a crucial
role in preserving Washington
history.
“Whether it’s a famous
Washingtonian or someone’s
own family history, Archives
can help direct you toward the
documents and resources that
will help you in your search,”
Handfield said.
All 31 days in October are
devoted to helping the public
appreciate and better understand the legal and historical
records that protect people’s
rights and property, and keep
government accountable and
open, said Handfield, who
added that Archives Month is
an opportunity to learn how to
preserve personal records and
how to use public records to
enrich people’s everyday lives.
Free events, workshops
and copies of an Archives
Month poster will be available in Olympia and in the
Regional Archives branches in
Bellevue, Bellingham, Cheney
and Ellensburg.
At the State Archives Open
House visitors will see some
of the interesting documents in
the State Archives and can go
on a tour of the 1963 nuclear
bomb shelter located within
the facility.
For more information contact Benjamin Helle at (360)
586-7320 or benjamin.helle@
sos.wa.gov.
The State Archives houses
nearly 2 billion legal and
historical items and is the
home for the nation’s first
Digital Archives (located
on the Eastern Washington
University campus in Cheney),
which preserves electronic
records in an award-winning
online database that is used
by thousands of people every
day. Check it out at www.
digitalarchives.wa.gov.
from page 5
stories of his long love of
hunting duck, antelope,
deer and elk in Montana
and Washington. He even
“bagged a grouse” on what
is now the resort property in
Cle Elum.
Walt spent the last few
years living at Dry Creek
where he enjoyed getting
to know the staff and other
residents. Both Walt and his
family appreciated the loving
care he received while living
there.
Larson was preceded
in death by his wife of 52
years, Mary Lou; an infant
daughter, Laura; his parents;
and three siblings. Survivors
include six children: Gwen
Larson and Marla (Terry)
Firman of Ellensburg,
Steve (Rosa) Larson of Cle
Elum, Jone (Jeff) Stout of
Pasco, Nancy Larson of
Sacramento, Calif. and Ron
(Jeanette) Larson of Santa
Rosa, Calif.; 8 grandchildren; 7 great grandchildren,
6 siblings and many nieces
and nephews.
A memorial service was
held Oct. 5. Memorial
contributions may be given
to First Lutheran Church in
Ellensburg, or ELCA World
Hunger.
from page 5
Margaret died in 2008. After a
divorce, MacGougan married
Diane Bassett Lynch. That marriage also ended in divorce.
Scott MacGougan said his
father wound up his university
career with enough credits to
graduate, but not enough to
qualify him for any one particular major.
“They gave him a degree in
‘general studies,’” Scott said.
“That was typical for him.”
While his father was mostly
known for his writing, Scott
MacGougan said he was also an
amateur musician who played
the banjo and an approximation
of the stride style on the piano.
“To call him good would
have been a stretch,” the
younger MacGougan said, “but
he made up for it in terms of
verve and gusto.”
Jonathan Nesvig, a News
Tribune editor who worked
with MacGougan, remembers
him as an unconventional but
effective and congenial journalist.
“He made you feel at home,”
Nesvig said. “He made you feel
comfortable.”
He also had a offbeat sense
of humor, Nesvig said, remembering that MacGougan once
sent a hearse, complete with
coffin, to pick him up for a party and – at least as legend has it
– conspiring on an obituary that
was accidentally published for
another of the paper’s reporters,
who was alive and well.
MacGougan left The News
Tribune in 1986, when the
McClatchy Corp. bought out
the paper’s local owners.
he Ferry County View, a
community newspaper
for Republic published by
Gregory S. Sheffield, was approved for regular membership
at the Sept. 27 meeting of the
board of Washington Newspaper
Publishers Association.
The View has 900 paid circulation and is distributed by mail
and single copy sales. A broadsheet newspaper, it is published
weekly on Wednesdays and is
online at www.ferrycountyview.
com.
The View was first published
in September 2009.
It operates in offices at 771 S.
Keller St. in Republic.
Sheffield also publishes the
Ferry County View Extra, a free
monthly with distribution to all
households in Republic, Curlew,
Malo, Danville and Wauconda.
Including the View, WNPA
has 102 regular members, 18 associate members and 20 affiliate
members.
SPEECH
from page 3
“My husband keeps watch during the night. We don’t get any
sleep and we are just a wreck,”
she said. “This is costing me my
health.”
A Navy spokesperson said it’s
premature for the leadership at
Whidbey Island Naval Air Station
to comment on the controversy.
“The local authorities have the
lead on this matter and the Navy
will provide assistance where
needed with their investigation,”
spokeswoman Kim Martin said in
a written statement.
Haglund’s letter, “Navy
should act like our guests,” has
definitely touched a nerve in
the North Whidbey community.
The letter generated more than
300 comments overnight after it
was posted on the News-Times
website. The publisher of the
News-Times closed the comments
because of excessive abuse of the
terms of use.
The majority of the comments
expressed anger at Haglund for
writing the letter, which criticized
the Navy for jet noise, and at the
News-Times for printing it. Many
resorted to swearing and name
calling. Several people posted
Hagland’s name and address.
Others implied threats.
On the other hand, there were
civil, intelligent comments.
What really seemed to upset
people the most was the final
line of Haglund’s letter: “Listen
up, Navy: We pay taxes here. I
suspect you don’t. We aren’t your
guests. In reality, you are ours.”
The noise from Navy aircraft
an issue that has generated a lot
of controversy over the years,
though never at this level. The
Seattle Times and the Everett
Herald have recently run stories
about Whidbey residents who
claim that jets from Whidbey
Island Naval Air Station are
killing their trees. Just last month,
the Island County commissioners’ hearing room was packed
with people who were upset
about jet noise.
Haglund said she is turning
over copies of the online comments to the sheriff’s office and
the FBI.
10 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012
TWN
LEADERS IN FORMATION
Proud to be the Hotline Attorneys
for WNPA and its Members
Marilou Sullivan/Port Townsend
2011-12 WNPA President Jana Stoner, center with sign, welcomed members to WNPA’s 125th Annual Convention at the Red Lion Hotel, Yakima
Center. Stoner is publisher of the Northern Kittitas County Tribune, Cle Elum. From left are Patrick Sullivan, Port Townsend Leader; Publisher Ellen
Morrison, Renton Reporter; Kim Hollister, East County Journal, Morton; Alex Kramer, LaConner Weekly News; Publisher Donna Etchey, Bainbridge
Island Review and North Kitsap Herald (Poulsbo); Publisher Colleen Smith-Armstrong, Islands’ Sounder, Eastsound; Publisher Roxanne Angel,
Journal of the San Juan Islands, Friday Harbor; on Stoner’s left, Danielle Lothrop, Port Townsend Leader; Lori Maxim, Sound Publishing, Poulsbo;
Christina Crea, DeVaul Publishing, Chehalis; Philip L. Watness, Skamania County Pioneer, Stevenson; Mae Waldron, WNPA. Second row: Honorary
Life Member Dave Gauger and Rick Gauger, Gauger Media Services; Publisher Scott Hunter, Star, Grand Coulee; Publisher Scott Wilson, Port
Townsend Leader; Krista Olson, LaConner; Publisher Sandy Stokes, LaConner Weekly News; Publisher Don Nelson, Methow Valley News, Twisp;
Polly Keary, Monroe Monitor & Valley News; Josh O’Connor, Sound Publishing, Bellevue; Gloria Fletcher, Sound Publishing, Poulsbo; Charles
Lam, Northwest Asian Weekly, Seattle; Cate Gable, Chinook Observer, Long Beach. Third row, Kathleen Merrill, Issaquah Press; Sebastian Moraga,
SnoValley Star, Snoqualmie; Frank & Judy DeVaul, DeVaul Publishing, Chehalis; Andy Taylor, Sound Publishing, Everett; Fred Obee, Port Townsend
Leader; Casey Clark, Northern Kittitas County Tribune, Cle Elum; Terry Hamberg, Northern Kittitas County Tribune, Cle Elum; Gary DeVon,
Okanogan County Gazette-Tribune, Oroville; Jonathan & Rachel Pinkerton, Quincy Valley Post-Register; Mark Journey, FEI, Bellevue. Fourth
row: Bill Will, WNPA; Publisher Imbert Matthee, Waitsburg Times; Publisher Paul Archipley, Beacon Publishing, Mukilteo; Angie Evans, Nisqually
Valley News, Yelm; Megan Hansen, Nisqually Valley News, Yelm; Publisher Keven Graves, Nisqually Valley News, Yelm; Tyler Whitworth, Nisqually
Valley News, Yelm; Cindy Steiner, Northern Kittitas County Tribune, Cle Elum; Publisher Kasia Pierzga, Whidbey News-Times (Oak Harbor),
Whidbey Examiner (Coupeville), South Whidbey Record, Langley; Jean Foster, Skamania County Pioneer, Stevenson; Michele Earl-Hubbard,
Allied Law Group, Seattle; Dean Radford, Renton Reporter. Fifth row: Publisher Stephen McFadden, Ritzville-Adams County Journal; Publisher
Eric LaFontaine, Othello Outlook; Stephen Barrett, Sound Publishing, Bellevue; Publisher Scott Gray, Enumclaw Courier-Herald, Bonney Lake/
Sumner Courier-Herald; Publisher Rudi Alcott, Federal Way Mirror; Publisher Josh Johnson, Liberty Lake Splash; Jim Fossett, Northern Kittitas
County Tribune, Cle Elum; TeAire Baier, Omak; Publisher Roger Harnack, Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle; Sara Radka, Port Townsend Leader;
Honorary Life Member Pat Garred, Port Townsend; Lynn Hoover, Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle. Back row: Publisher Dan Leontescu, Eastern
European Echo, Seattle; Meia Glick, WNPA; Valter Hristescu, Eastern European Echo, Seattle; unidentified attendee; Aaron Rider, Daily Sun News,
Sunnyside; Honorary Life Member Frank Garred, Port Townsend.
THANK YOU
TO SPONSORS OF THE
125TH ANNUAL WNPA CONVENTION
Helping you tell the stories that need to be told.
www.alliedlawgroup.com • Seattle • Olympia
TWN
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 HONORS AND OFFICERS
Photos: Heather Perry/WNPA
ABOVE: Bill Forhan, publisher of NCW Media, Leavenworth, accepts the presidential
gavel from Jana Stoner, 2011-12 president and publisher of the Northern Kittitas County
Tribune, Cle Elum. TOP RIGHT: After accepting the presidential gavel, Forhan looks
ahead to the next 125 years of WNPA. BELOW RIGHT: WNPA Executive Director Bill
Will admires a plaque given him by Stoner on behalf of the board. BELOW LEFT: 2009
WNPA President Sue Ellen Riesau, former publisher of the Sequim Gazette, reacts as it
becomes clear that Will is presenting the 2012 Miles Turnbull Master Editor/Publisher
Award to her. On her right is Eric LaFontaine, publisher of the Othello Outlook. On her
left is Liberty Lake Splash Publisher Josh Johnson, who received first and third place
in Community Service during the luncheon. BOTTOM PHOTO: More than 100 people
gathered in the Garden Terrace, Red Lion Hotel-Yakima Center, for the officer installation and awards luncheon.
11
12 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012
HONORS AND OFFICERS, cont’d
Photos: Heather Perry/WNPA
ABOVE LEFT: Stoner
shows off the prize won
by the Northern Light of
Blaine, an enlargement
of the staff photo the
newspaper submitted for
WNPA’s 125th anniversary slide show. ABOVE
RIGHT: Jille and Cliff
Rowe listen as Bill Will
awards WNPA Honorary
Life Membership to Cliff,
retired journalism professor at Pacific Lutheran
University. RIGHT: Krista
Olson of the LaConner
Weekly News, RitzvilleAdams County Journal
Publisher Stephen
McFadden, and Alex
Kramer of the News enjoy
the luncheon presentations.
ABOVE: Jana Stoner reads the Past
President’s plaque she received
to commemorate her service as
2011-2012 WNPA president. RIGHT:
Rowland Thompson, executive
director of Allied Daily Newspapers
of Washington, smiles during
the awards presentation, where
he received the 2012 Walter C.
Woodward Freedom’s Light Award.
TWN
TWN
13
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 IN SESSION
Photos: Heather Perry/WNPA
LEFT: NNA postal guru
Max Heath elaborates on
postal issues at a session
for publishers. CENTER
LEFT: Danielle Lothrop
co-presented a session
on selling high-value web
advertising campaigns
at the Port Townsend
Leader. CENTER RIGHT:
Beacon Publisher Paul
Archipley, 2009-11
WNPA President, takes
notes. BOTTOM PHOTO:
Advertising presenter
Rick Farrell of Tangent
Knowledge Systems,
Chicago, presents a roleplay session to a group of
attendees including Terry
Hamberg of Northern
Kittitas County Tribune,
Cle Elum; Janet McCall
of the Northern Light,
Blaine; Robin Doggett
of Methow Valley News,
Twisp; and Doug Kimball
of Beacon Publishing.
14 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012
ANNUAL DINNER
Photos: Heather Perry/WNPA
TOP PHOTO:
Members gather in
the Garden Terrace
before the Better
Newspaper Contest
Awards Dinner.
ABOVE LEFT:
WNPA trustees Eric
LaFontaine and
Josh Johnson talk
before dinner. FAR
RIGHT: Members
make bids on WNPA
Foundation auction
items. RIGHT: Mae
Waldron of WNPA
explains to Robin
Doggett of Methow
Valley News, Twisp,
the list of items
she won in the
President’s Prize
donated by Bill and
Carol Forhan, NCW
Media, for the annual
sponsor-card drawing.
TWN
TWN
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 SPONSORS AND RECEPTION
15
Top Three Photos: Heather Perry/WNPA
TOP PHOTO: Among
the 2012 convention sponsors were
Stephanie Haase and
Bill Hart of Rotary
Offset Press, Kent.
CENTER LEFT: Linda
Rowlee of TownNews.
com, a 125th anniversary sponsor, talks
with WNPA Trustee
Imbert Matthee of
the Waitsburg Times.
ABOVE: Ed Dickman
of Yakima HeraldRepublic, a presenting
sponsor, talks with
convention attendees.
RIGHT: MediaSpan
Software’s Geoff
Kehrer poses with the
reception sponsorship
sign.
ABOVE: At the 125th Anniversary Reception at Gilbert
Cellars, from right are WNPA President John Flaherty
(1987), Andy Taylor of Sound Publishing, and WNPA
President Tom Baker (1986). RIGHT: Katelin Davidson and
Janis Rountree of the Ritzville-Adams County Journal.
16 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012
TWN
WNPA FOUNDATION AUCTION
ABOVE: Jana Stoner/Northern Kittitas County Tribune; RIGHT: Heather Perry/WNPA
ABOVE: ‘And what am I bid...?’: WNPA Foundation President and Port Townsend
Leader Publisher Scott Wilson calls for bids for a basket of items during the foundation’s live auction at the WNPA’s 125th annual convention in Yakima. Leader Marketing
Director Sara Radka holds the basket. RIGHT: WNPA Past President (2003) Scott
Hunter, publisher of the Star, Grand Coulee, writes bids on silent auction items donated to benefit the Foundation’s intern scholarship fund. See Page 1 for related story.
DONORS AND WINNING BIDDERS
M
any thanks to these
generous donors and
winning bidders in the 2012
WNPA Foundation Auction:
Paul Archipley, Beacon
Publishing
Christine Fossett, Centralia
Chronicle
Frank & Judy DeVaul,
DeVaul Publishing, Chehalis
Frank & Pat Garred, Honorary Life Members, Port
Townsend
Colleen Smith-Armstrong,
Islands’ Sounder, East-
AWARDS
sound
Greg Farrar, Issaquah Press
Debbie Berto, Issaquah
Press
Roxanne Angel, Journal
of the San Juan Islands,
Friday Harbor
Mike Lewis, Lynden Tribune
& Ferndale Record
Don Nelson, Methow Valley
News, Twisp
Polly Keary, Monroe Monitor
& Valley News
Doug Kimball, Mukilteo
Beacon
Bill & Carol Forhan, NCW
Media, Leavenworth
Keven Graves, Nisqually
Valley News, Yelm
Donna Etchey, North Kitsap
Herald (Poulsbo), Bainbridge Island Review
Jana Stoner & Terry Hamberg, Northern Kittitas
County Tribune, Cle Elum
Assunta Ng, Northwest
Asian Weekly, Seattle
Al Camp, Omak-Okanogan
County Chronicle
Roger Harnack, OmakOkanogan County
Chronicle
Eric LaFontaine, Othello
Outlook
Mike Dillon, Pacific Publishing Co., Seattle
Jerry Gay, Photojournalist,
Seattle
Danielle Lothrop, Port
Townsend Leader
Patrick & Marilou Sullivan,
Port Townsend Leader
Scott Wilson, Port
Townsend Leader
Stephen McFadden,
Ritzville-Adams County
Journal
Jean Foster, Skamania
County Pioneer, Stevenson
Gloria Fletcher, Sound
Publishing, Poulsbo
Lori Maxim, Sound Publishing, Poulsbo
Jeremiah O’Hagan, Stanwood/Camano News
David Cuillier, University
of Arizona School of
Journalism
Sue Ellen Riesau, WNPA
Past President, Sequim
Mike Shepard, WNPA Past
President, Seattle Times
Bill Will, Washington
Newspaper Publishers
Association
dedication to her community
and employees, her strength as
a manager, and her effective
service to WNPA as qualities
that brought her to mind for this
year’s award.
“What truly matters is
someone who values their community,” he said. “She pitched in
and worked hard for WNPA, just
like she does with the Lavender
Festival and other community
events in Sequim.”
Riesau said she was humbled to
“stand with the greats, like Scott
(Wilson) and Frank (Garred) and
Debbie (Berto),” who she counted
as her mentors and thanked for all
their years of friendship.
“WNPA has been very much a
family to me,” she said.
child.
As Thompson approached the
podium, he urged Port Townsend
Leader Publisher Scott Wilson,
his friend and WNPA buddy
since their ages were in the single
digits, to join him.
He said the two met at WNPA’s
72nd association meeting at
Harrison Hot Springs, where they
were the youngest kids.
Thompson described helping
at the Cowlitz County Advocate,
his parents’ newspaper in Castle
Rock, when he was just 4 years
old, and shared other stories
about growing up at the family’s
newspaper office.
“No award that I’ve ever
gotten means more than this,”
Thompson said. “I am gobsmacked.
“Others are public servants,
activists with a noble cause.
I’m just a mean bastard with an
agenda. I work on your behalf to
get you access the records you
need to protect the communities
you serve.”
As he continued, he voiced
his concerns about the future of
WNPA.
“You can’t starve this association anymore. If you don’t have
Bill and Mae and me fighting
for you, you wouldn’t have the
access you have, essentially for
free.”
from page 1
“Relay for Life.” Second place
went to the Renton Reporter
for “Taking Care of Those who
Serve,” coverage of returning
veterans.
Cliff Rowe, retired professor
of journalism at Pacific Lutheran
University (fondly referred to
by his students as the godfather
of journalism) was named an
Honorary Life Member of
WNPA.
In addition to training scores
of young journalists to think
and reason, Bill Will said,
Rowe was active on the WNPA
Foundation board for many
years.
“I’ve been lucky to teach
great kids,” said Rowe, whose
wife Jille Rowe was in the audience. “I was also lucky to find
a woman who could tolerate
being with a journalist for 53
years.”
Rowe said when offered the
chance to start the journalism
program at PLU at the same
time he could have bought a
newspaper, he chose PLU as
the path he thought would be
easiest.
While teaching for 30
years in a rapidly changing
field presented many of its
own challenges, he returned
to teach again this fall at
PLU.
Advocate extraordinaire
Heather Perry/WNPA
Rowland Thompson, 2012 Freedom’s Light Award winner,
amid applause.
Top among publishers
Sue Ellen Riesau received the
Miles Turnbull Master Editor/
Publisher Award.
Her career at the Sequim
Gazette spanned 23 years,
including 16 years as publisher
and eight years as a WNPA
trustee.
Will described Riesau’s
Rowland Thompson, who
for decades has represented the
interests of Washington newspapers in the state legislature, received the Walter C. Woodward
Freedom’s Light Award.
Will succeeded in keeping
the award a surprise for months.
That continued until nearly the
end of the presentation, when
he talked about the newspaper
history of the honoree’s family
and the honoree’s attendance at
WNPA gatherings as a young