The HSPA board of directors welcomed two new members and appointed officers for the coming year at its April meeting.

Bill Masterson Jr., publisher of The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster), joined the board to represent daily papers. Shannon Williams, president and general manager of the Indianapolis Re-corder, will represent nondailies.

Williams is dedicated to jour-nalism to ensure that the voice-less have a voice, and HSPA contributes to that mission, she said.

Williams started in marketing

and circulation at the Recorder and went on to be editor and vice president of editorial and produc-tion before her current role.

Masterson has been involved in the newspaper business most of his life and is a former president

of the South Dakota Newspaper Association.

“By getting involved with the board I hope to make a positive contribution in helping identify revenue opportunities that all HSPA-member newspapers can benefit from,” he said.

New officers installed during the meeting are President Tim Timmons, The Paper of Mont-gomery County (Crawfordsville) and The Times (Noblesville); Vice President Greg Morris, IBJ Corp., Secretary Robyn McCloskey,

By Tim Harmon South Bend Tribune

David C. Ray and the South Bend Tribune go a long way back.

Back 11 years, when he became editor and publisher.

Back 21 years, when he joined the staff after a 22-year career in the Navy. Back to high school, when he worked summers as a copy boy and in the ad department.

Back to childhood, when his mother would take him to visit The Tribune, where his grandfather, Charles Crock-ett, was business manager for about half a century and his grandfather’s cousin was longtime Publisher Freder-ick Miller. And even farther back than that: Ray’s great-grandfather, Elmer Crockett, was one of the two founders of the newspaper.

Ray’s great-great-grandfather, Benja-min Miller, is said to have set the first

David C. Ray

National data shows only one in three Americans can name all three branches of government.

A project to assess Indiana’s civic know-ledge and engagement is underway with sup-port from former U.S. Representative Lee Hamilton, the Indiana Supreme Court and HSPA Foundation.

The Indiana Civic Health Index focuses on the importance of an in-formed and engaged citizenry.

It will assess who participates in community activities such as voting and volunteerism, what resources promote civic engagement, what obstacles prevent citizens from get-ting involved in community decision-making, and knowledge of the First Amendment.

Civic engagement and newspapers are closely tied together, said John Rumbach, editor of The Herald (Jasper) and member of the HSPA Foundation board of directors.

“A citizenry that cares less and less about its government imperils free-doms, especially speech and press,” Rumbach said. “And I have no doubt that declining newspaper readership is, in part, attributable to declining inter-est in civics and politics.”

Schools and groups can sched-ule tours of the Ernie Pyle His-toric Site in Dana.

The site features the house in which the World War II cor-respondent lived and a museum dedicated to preserving his legacy.

The nonprofit Friends of Ernie Pyle is operating the site under special arrangement with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Cynthia Myers, president of the Friends of Ernie Pyle, said schools and other groups can schedule tours by calling (765) 665-3633 or (765) 665-3084 and leaving a message.

Tours are available seven days a week. Admission fees are:

• School-sponsored tour, $1 per student

• Adult groups, $3 per person

• Child groups, $1.50 per child. The Friends organization plans

to open the site to the public on Saturdays and Sundays begin-ning May 14. Saturday hours will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday

hours will be 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. All times are Eastern.

Admission will be $3.50 for adults, $3 for adults 55 and older, $2 for children 4 to 12 and free for children 3 and younger.

PublisherThe Indiana

Volume 76, Issue 9 • April 28, 2011 Published alternate Thursdays

Lee Hamilton

The HSPA board of directors met for its regular spring meeting April 15 in Indianapolis. The group installed new officers, including board Pres-

ident Tim Timmons, right. Former president Don Hurd, second from left, bid farewell to the board and has taken a job outside newspapers.

The Friends of Ernie Pyle will conduct tours of the World War II correspondent’s childhood home in Dana. The group will open the historic site on weekends beginning May 14.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

See Civic, Page 4

See Leader, Page 4

See Board, Page 4

Members jump on board

HSPA LEADERSHIPFoundation supports civic health appraisal

Retiring leader has long history with newspaper

Ernie Pyle organization offers tours

Bill Masterson Jr. Shannon Williams

Play with a purposeMark your calendar to support HSPA Foundation during the annual golf outing June 9. Look for registration information soon.

Page 2 April 28, 2011

Member notices

Advertising sales account rep-resentative –The Elkhart Truth is looking for a highly motivated and committed individual for the position of advertising sales ac-count representative. Must have previous sales or media experi-ence. Emphasis is on digital sales first. Full benefits package includes cell phone, digital tablet and mileage reimbursement. Send résumé with cover letter and salary expectations to: The Elkhart Truth, 421 S. Second St., Elkhart, IN 46516, Attention: Anna Silvers, Human Resources, or asilvers@federatedmedia.com. EOE (2)

Managing editor – Managing editor sought who can do it all for small but excellent daily in east

central Indiana. Must be able to report, write, take photos and paginate as well as edit and man-age staff. Send résumé and clips to ntcindypayne@comcast.net or Cindy Payne, publisher, News Gazette, 224 W. Franklin St., Winchester, IN 47394. (1)

Sports writers – The Hendricks County Flyer in Avon is looking to fill a sports editor position and a part-time sports writer position. Photography and page design skills, ability to produce copy under deadline pressure, strong knowledge of AP style and ability to enterprise is required. Send cover letter, résumé and clips to Hendricks County Flyer, Editor Kathy Linton, 8109 Kingston St., Suite 500, Avon, IN 46123 or kathy.linton@flyergroup.com. (1)

Sales manager – The Lo-gansport Pharos-Tribune, a seven-day-a-week, 10,000-cir-culation newspaper, is seeking a high-energy, experienced adver-tising professional who can lead an advertising team with energy and vision. Qualified candidate will be responsible for all adver-tising revenue for The Pharos-Tribune. The candidate must have past sales experience; man-agement experience in a sales environment is preferred. Send résumé to Beverly Joyce, c/o The Kokomo Tribune, 300 N. Union St., P.O. Box 9014, Kokomo, IN 46901 or beverly.joyce@ indianamediagroup.com. (1)

Send member notices to mtuley@hspa.com. Postings will be listed as space permits in print and in full at www.hspa.com.

Colleagues recall editor fondly

Sales employee served as umpire

JEA honors Foundation award recipient

HSPA staffSteve Key, executive director and general counsel

skey@hspa.com • (317) 624-4427

Karen T. Braeckel, HSPA Foundation directorkbraeckel@hspa.com • (317) 624-4426

Pamela Lego, MAP advertising directorplego@hspa.com • (812) 350-7711

Milissa Tuley, communications specialistmtuley@hspa.com • (317) 624-4430

Yvonne Yeadon, office manageryyeadon@hspa.com • (317) 624-4433

Shawn Goldsby, ICAN and ICAN Plus coordinatorsgoldsby@hspa.com • (317) 803-4772

The Indiana Publisher is published bi-weekly by Hoosier State Press Association,

41 E. Washington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN, 46204, (317) 803-4772. ISSN 0019-6711 USPS 058-730.

Periodicals-class postage paid at Indianapolis, Ind., and at additional mailing office.

Postmaster: Send address changes to 41 E. Washington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN, 46204,

(317) 803-4772, Fax (317) 624-4428. Website: www.hspa.com

Subscriptions $25 per year. Ad rates furnished upon request.

2011 CalendarMay 13 Deadline to register for Spot-on Video Editing workshop at Ball State University May 16 Better Newspaper Contest (Editorial) digital website opens May 19 Spot-on Video Editing workshop, Ball State University (Now accepting registration)June 9 HSPA Foundation Golf Outing, Southern Dunes Golf Course, IndianapolisJune 10 Deadline for entering advertising contestJune 16 Road Show for Reporters, BloomingtonJune 23 Road Show for Reporters, RochesterJuly 29 HSPA Foundation board of directors meeting, Eugene S. Pulliam Interns Luncheon and Better Newspaper Contest deadlineSept. 30 Advertising Conference (with INAEA), Ball State UniversityFall Circulation Conference (with ICEA) (Sept. 30 proposed) Oct. 6-7 HSPA & HSPA Foundation joint board meeting, Nashville, Ind. Dec. 3 Newsroom Seminar, Franklin College (tentative)Dec. 9 HSPA board of directors meeting

Employees sought

HSPA Board of DirectorsHSPA Officers

President: Tim Timmons, The Paper of Montgomery County (Crawfordsville), The Times (Noblesville)Vice President: Greg Morris, IBJ Corp.

Secretary: Robyn McCloskey, Pharos-Tribune (Logansport), Kokomo Tribune

Treasurer: Jon O’Bannon, The Corydon Democrat

HSPA Board Members

Jim Kroemer, Goshen NewsRandy List, Rust Communications

Bill Masterson Jr., The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster)Tina West, The Courier-Times (New Castle)

Dailies

NondailiesJohn Haley, Pulaski County Journal (Winamac)

Kathy Tretter, Dubois-Spencer County Publishing Co. Inc.Shannon Williams, Indianapolis Recorder

HSPA Foundation Board of DirectorsHSPA Foundation Officers

President: Mayer Maloney, Hoosier Times Inc.Vice President: Henry Bird, The Herald Bulletin (Anderson)

Secretary: John Rumbach, The Herald (Jasper)Treasurer: Jeff Rogers, Home News Enterprises

HSPA Foundation Board of DirectorsLinda Chandler, Ripley PublishingCurt Jacobs, The Madison Courier

Barbara King, North Vernon Plain Dealer & SunPat Lanman, Vevay Newspapers Inc.

Kevin Lashbrook, Landmark Community Newspapers

By the News and Tribune (Jeffersonville)

Marc Meyer, former editor of The Evening News (Jeffer-sonville), died at age 83 on Saturday, April 9, 2011.

Meyer, also a World War II Navy veteran, joined The Evening News in 1960 and retired from the paper in 2002 after 42 years.

“Marc was a real institu-tion,” said Tom Lindley, former editor and publisher of The Evening News, now called the News and Tri-bune. “He was really respect-ed in this community.”

Meyer had a reputation for fairness in his reporting and knew the community well, Lindley said.

John Gilkey, communica-tions director for the Clark-Floyd Counties Convention and Tourism Bureau and former editor at The Evening

News, echoed that senti-ment.

“He was one of those kind of people that knew a great deal of what was going on in the community ... and really cared about the community,” Gilkey said. “He knew a great deal about the commu-nity at a grassroots level.”

Meyer knew of the issues and concerns of the area’s residents and what they really cared about, so he was able to connect with them, Gilkey said.

Resoundingly described as personable, Meyer also was the consummate humanitar-ian.

“He was very devoted to the organizations that he did volunteer work for,” said Phyllis Wilkins, executive director of the Clark County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Clark Memorial Hospital, the Family Health Center, the Center for Lay Minis-tries and the Jeffersonville Housing Authority were among the organizations he volunteered with, logging as many as 33 hours per week, according to a report in The Evening News profiling Meyer when he was awarded the American Red Cross’ Bales Humanitarian Award in 2007.

Meyer also received the Ameritech’s Friend of the RSVP Award, Life Span Volunteer of the Year award, Indiana State Fair Senior Citizen of the Year award and the Martin H. Miller Volunteer of the Year award.

Meyer is survived by his wife, Patricia Meyer, his children, Catherine West and Jeffrey Meyer, and one grandchild, Patrick West.

Michael L. Boots, a for-mer employee of Crawfords-ville publications The Paper of Montgomery County and the Journal Review, died April 5, 2011, at his resi-dence in South Sioux City, Neb.

Boots, 55, formerly of Waveland, had worked in advertising and sales for The Paper of Montgomery County, the Journal Review and The Dakota County Star (South Sioux City, Neb.).

He was an umpire for soft-ball and baseball and served

as a referee for football and basketball.

He attended Sunnybrook Community Church and be-longed to Waveland Masonic Lodge No. 300 and Omadi Masonic Lodge No. 5 in South Sioux City, Neb.

He served in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Boots was a 1974 gradu-ate of Southmont High School. He attended Indi-ana State University and received an associate degree from Indiana Vocational College.

He was born May 4, 1955,

in Crawfordsville, a son of Lawrence and Stella (Bell) Boots. He married Gina Seybold on July 28, 1979, at Browns Valley Christian Church. She survives.

Survivors include two daughters, Stacia Boots of Fayetteville, N.C., and Aubrie Boots of South Sioux City, Neb; his mother, Stella (Ron) Steele, of In-dianapolis; and a brother, Robert Boots, of Hartsburg, Ill.

He was preceded in death by his father, Lawrence Boots, in 1981.

Victoria Ison, a senior from Bloomington High School North, re-ceived the national Student Journalist of the Year honor from the Journal-ism Education Association.

Last month the Indiana High School Press Associa-tion named Ison Indiana’s top student journalist. All state winners are considered nationally.

Ison also received a $1,500 HSPA Foundation scholar-ship to study journalism in college.

Foundation director Karen T. Braeckel served on the selection committee for the Indiana Student Journalist of the Year award.

“The first portfolio I read during the selection process was Victoria’s,” Braeckel said. “The rest of the committee started harassing me for taking so long because I couldn’t put it down.”

The first-place vote for In-

diana Journalist of the Year was unanimous, she said.

“It’s no surprise she won the national award too,” Braeckel said. “We are thrilled to give financial sup-port to such an outstanding student.”

Ison is a four-year veteran of Bloomington High School North’s newsmagazine, Fused.

The JEA award comes with a $5,000 scholarship. She received a $500 award from the Indiana High School Press Associa-tion.

Victoria Ison

Mark Baldwin, a journal-ist who has held manage-rial positions at news-papers in Wisconsin, New York, and Kansas, has been appointed editor of The Republic (Columbus).

Baldwin, who most recent-ly served as executive editor of newspapers in Stevens Point and Wausau, Wis., re-places Bob Gustin, who will retire May 5.

Over the past 12 years, Baldwin has been an execu-tive in Gannett newspapers. He served in a dual capacity

from 2008 to 2009, man-aging both newsrooms at Stevens Point and Wausau in addition to assuming the role of general manager at the Stevens Point publica-tion.

Before his appointment as executive editor and regional executive editor at Wausau in 2000, Baldwin had been a managing editor at the Star Gazette in Elmira, N.Y.; a staff editor at the Chicago Sun Times; a night metro editor at the Wichita (Kan-sas) Eagle; a copy editor at the Milwaukee Sentinel; and a news editor at the Clear-water (Florida) Sun.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in jour-

nalism from Northwestern University.

Departing editor Gustin joined The Republic as man-aging editor in 1999. He was named editor three years ago.

He graduated from Uni-versity of Colorado’s School of Journalism and has worked as a reporter and photographer and in man-agement at the Colorado Springs Sun, the Star-Her-ald in Scottsbluff, Neb., the Evansville Courier and the Evansville Press.

Gustin began working at his hometown newspaper, the Colorado Springs Free Press, in 1969, the summer he graduated from high school.

The most prized pos-sessions of any historical society or museum are docu-ments and photographs.

A researcher can use newspa-per articles, let-ters, post cards, photographs, journals, busi-ness ledgers and court records to create a picture of what life was like at a specific point in time.

I have been working with historical societies for more than 20 years. In that time I have noticed that histori-cal documentation is declin-ing.

This started in the 1970s and has continued each year since then.

The Switzerland County Historical Society, for exam-ple, has significantly more documentation of the 1880s and 1890s than the 1980s and 1990s. Recorded his-tory of 2000-2010 is almost nonexistent.

To what do we owe this loss of recorded history? The answer is the thing that was expected to save history forever: the digital age.

Let’s take a look at what

is happening to recorded history.

Newspapers are suffering today because news is de-livered via the Internet and cell phones. This is great for instant news, but it does nothing to preserve news for historical purposes.

A newspaper has births, deaths, local news and event coverage at a level you will never find on the Internet.

If you are a regular reader of the “Reflections of The Past” section of the Vevay newspapers, you know there is more detailed information about 150 years ago than 10 years ago. If you wanted to know a list of Switzerland County businesses from 1970, where would you find this on the Internet?

Before the introduction of email, cell phones, texting, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, people wrote letters to each other.

Email and texting are the written letter of today.

Digital media provide instant communication, but they often are nearly instantly gone. (The excep-tion to that rule is when you post or send something you

regret. Then it likely will take on a life of its own.)

In the past many people kept journals documenting their days. These journals provide tremendous insight into what was going on dur-ing those periods in time. Facebook, MySpace and Twit-ter are the journals of today.

Unfortunately they are mostly available for viewing only temporarily.

The digitizing of legal documents has resulted in a tremendous loss of recorded history. The old ledgers, bills and receipts contained a wealth of handwritten in-formation above and beyond the basic data needed.

The digital age has given us amazing opportunities to document and capture our world. The problem is it is instantly captured but just as instantly gone.

Our parents and grand-parents passed their legacy to us through letters, photo-graphs, diaries and family records. What will we pass on to our children?

Dan Black is a member of the Switzerland County (Ind.) Historical Society.

April 28, 2011 Page 3

News in brief

Attend video editing seminar

Show off your best ads

Media company launches site

Ball State honors Jasper paper

Send promotions, announcements, staff changes and other corporate news to mtuley@hspa.com.

Hoosier journalists can learn the basics of putting video on the web during a seminar at Ball State Univer-sity.

Digital news specialist John Strauss will lead Spot-on Video Editing on May 19. The seminar will cover how to produce multimedia packages that complement news-papers’ print product – with little money, train-ing or time invested.

In the hands-on course, journalists will learn to log in video files, handle edits and audio transi-

tions and upload files to the Web. It also will touch on the basics of gathering photos and sound.

The seminar costs $45 and includes lunch. Registration information has been sent to member newsrooms. To download a registration form, go to hspafoundation.org/ events and click the appropriate link under “Spot-on Video Editing.”

Strauss plans to cover video-editing software programs that come standard on most com-puters – Final Cut Ex-press for Mac users and Windows Moviemaker for PC users – but will be flexible depending on the needs of the class.

Advertising depart-ments may start sub-mitting ads now for the annual advertising contest.

The HSPA Foundation and Indiana Newspaper Advertising Executives Association mailed the rules and direction bro-chures about two weeks ago.

With the exception of four mail-in categories, the contest requires digi-tal entries.

This eliminates print-ing out labels for most categories, cuts post-

age costs and saves staff time in submitting entries.

All entries must be uploaded on the contest website by 5 p.m. Friday, June 10. Mail-in entries must be received in the HSPA office at the same time.

Go to betterbnc.com and select the HSPA Foundation/INAEA Advertising Contest to submit entries.

To download a rules brochure or tally sheet, go to hspafoundation.org and click on “Contests.”

Fort Wayne Newspa-pers’ new web venture is Moms.FortWayne.com, a place for women to con-nect, communicate, learn and support one another.

Users can participate in group discussions, read local parenting blogs, take part in polls, shop and advertise in-home businesses.

“We know that build-ing strong online commu-nities and conversations and turning regular people into sources of information is a very big part of our future,” said Michael Christman, chief

executive officer of Fort Wayne Newspapers. “All of these elements and much more are included on the new Moms.Fort Wayne.com site.”

Interactive Media Director Mary Lou Brink will oversee the site’s editorial content.

The site is designed to be populated by area mothers. Women can generate discussions, upload photos and share ideas, Christman said.

“We are putting the content in local moms’ hands, where it should be,” he said.

The Herald (Jasper) re-ceived a special citation for outstanding public service from the Ball State University Depart-ment of Journalism.

The citation was pre-sented “for your long and respected history as a leader in public-service journalism in Indiana” at the department’s annual

awards program.Ball State’s journalism

department has awarded a special citation an-nually since 1968 to an individual or organiza-tion. Past recipients have included The Washing-ton Post, Gov. Frank O’Bannon and former White House spokesman Tony Snow.

Guest Voice

By Dan Black

The Republic names new editor

Recorded history declines

John Strauss

Mark Baldwin

Mobile ads: Get on boardMobile has grown faster than any other new medium over the past century. Currently, 31 per-cent of the U.S. population has smartphones, and that number is increasing. Here are some predictions that speak to the enormous growth of this medium:► Morgan Stanley analysts predict that the number of mobile Internet users around the world will surpass desktop Internet users by 2013. By the end of 2020, they believe that 10 billion mobile Internet devices will be in use, up from 2 billion today.► The Pew Research Center reports that nearly half of all American adults (47 percent) say they receive at least some of their local news on their phone or digital tablet.► Gordon Borrell says that local mobile advertising in the United States will grow from $285 million in 2009 to more than $4.7 billion by 2014.

Tips and info for today’s advertising

ADAPT

Good idea!

ADAPT is designed to keep members updated on what’s happening in the advertising industry and HSPA’s advertising services. Please pass on information that would benefit advertising staffs by emailing advertising director Pamela Lego at plego@hspa.com.

► One particular area of interest for local advertisers is mobile couponing, and for good reason. Borrell Associates found that mobile coupons offer a greater return on investment for advertisers with redemption rates up to 10 times that of coupons distributed in print.

While newspapers duti-fully examine Internet and mobile strategies to main-tain their position as the source of local news, I hope we don’t neglect the original product.

I wince when I hear a legislator say his or her local newspaper is “just a shadow” of its old self or other comments on how a paper isn’t as good as it used to be.

It hurts because I know how hard Indiana editors are working to produce newspapers full of local content every week of the year.

Obviously, if they don’t have the same number of reporters they had five or 10 years ago, the job is more difficult.

Advertising dollars shrank during the recent economic

downturn, which forced many publishers to down-size staff.

As the economy turns with the speed of a battle-ship in heavy seas, I hope more journalist positions will be added to state news-rooms.

Why? Because content, quality and quantity, drive a newspaper’s success.

To borrow a line from “Field of Dreams,” “If you build it, he will come.”

Hoosiers still value their local newspapers and remain willing to pay the subscription cost to ensure

its delivery. Based on data available

to HSPA on 159 Indiana newspapers, circulation for those papers stands at 1.3 million at the end of the recession.

With the average news-paper read by two people, that puts the printed news-paper’s reach at 2.6 million, or 54 percent of all adult Hoosiers.

We need to remind local businesses that advertising in newspapers is a winning strategy – that their adver-tising is welcomed by read-ers and used to make buying decisions.

That’s a powerful mes-sage that publishers need to remember and advertising directors need to share.

Stephen Key is executive director and general counsel for HSPA.

Page 4 April 28, 2011

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Key Points

By Steve Key

Readers turn to print product

BoardContinued from Page 1

CivicContinued from Page 1

LeaderContinued from Page 1

These questions came from The News-Banner (Bluffton), The Courier-Times (New Castle), the Palladium-Item (Richmond), the Daily Re-porter (Greenfield) and The Mail-Journal (Milford).

The school board approved two con-struction projects. When would the records of the bids

on those projects become available for inspection and copying?

It depends on which part of the state’s purchasing statutes was used

to solicit the bids. Some pro-cesses require the bids to be opened at a public meeting, which means the documents should be available to the public immediately.

Some processes allow bids to be opened in a closed-door meeting so the governing body can negotiate a better deal with the bidders before making a selection.

In that case, the bid docu-ments may be kept confiden-tial until a decision is made about who will be awarded the contract.

Some private party citizens want to run an ad about a mayoral candi-date. What should

the “paid for by” tagline say?The tagline

saying who paid for the ad must include one of the

following, which ever ap-plies:

• Authorized by (candi-date’s name).

• Authorized by the cam-paign committee of (candi-date’s name).

• Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s campaign committee.

A reporter is hav-ing trouble getting a copy of a plea agreement filed by a prosecutor with a

court. Shouldn’t the news-paper be able to get a copy of the proposed plea deal?

Once the pros-ecutor files the agreement with the court, it should be

available for inspection and copying, unless the court ordered it sealed.

Even if that is the case, the newspaper could request the court release the docu-ment in a process outlined under Administrative Rule 9 of the Indiana Supreme Court.

An individual wants to publish a divorce petition, including a lot of personal informa-

tion. Should that be included in the public notice?

Sometimes divorce petitions must be published as an attempt to

serve notice on one of the parties that the legal action has been filed. IC 31-15-2-5

lists what must be included in the petition:

• The residence of each party and length of residence in the state and county

• The date of the marriage• The date when the par-

ties separated• The name, age and ad-

dress of children younger than 21 years old and any incapacitated child of the marriage and whether the wife is pregnant

• The grounds for dissolu-tion of the marriage

• The relief sought.

A town council plans to hold an executive session during the middle of its next regular

meeting. Is that allowed un-der the Open Door Law?

No. Going into a closed-door session during the middle of a public meeting

is prohibited, unless a situa-tion is specifically permitted by law. See IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(e).

This prevents a govern-ing body from going behind closed doors until the public gives up and goes home and then coming back into a public meeting to vote on a controversial proposal.

The restriction protects the public’s right to know.

Contact Steve Key, HSPA executive director and gen-eral counsel, with media law questions at skey@hspa.com or (317) 624-4427.

HSPA Hotline

With the ceremonial passing of the gavel, Tim Timmons, right, assumes the position of president of the HSPA board of directors. Don Hurd, left, is the past president.

Many Americans don’t understand their govern-ment, said Hamilton, who is director of the Center on Congress at Indiana Univer-sity.

The index will help the state focus on what must be done to improve people’s civic knowledge and skills, he said.

“Our nation’s success depends on citizens’ ability and willingness to partici-pate constructively in the dialogue of democracy,” Hamilton said.

The National Conference on Citizenship will perform the analysis, which will be released in the fall.

The conference, founded in 1946 and chartered by Con-gress in 1953, tracks and promotes civic and political participation, encourages community and national service, and supports his-tory and civics education.

The HSPA Foundation encourages increased educa-

tion on government and the First Amendment in Indiana schools, Foundation director Karen T. Braeckel said.

“Having data to back up the plea for more civic edu-cation will help our cause of fostering public understand-ing of individual rights,” she said. “The Foundation’s sup-port also ensures the survey will include questions on the First Amendment.”

Newspapers invest a large portion of editorial budgets in covering government and politics, yet fewer and fewer people are interested in those stories, Rumbach said.

“This index, and the ensuing discussion of what it means and what should be done, is of keen interest to newspapers throughout the state and well worth our support,” he said.

The Indiana Bar Founda-tion, the National Confer-ence on Citizenship and Indiana University North-west are also partners in the creation of the state index.

line of type in the first edi-tion of The Tribune in 1872.

Fast-forward more than 100 years.

At the end of this week, a few days after his 65th birthday, David Ray plans to retire.

His ties to The Tribune and its parent company, Schurz Communications

Inc., will remain strong. (SCI is in the process of hir-ing a replacement for Ray.)

He will continue to serve as a member of the SCI board of directors, a position he’s held since 1992.

Born in South Bend, Ray went to Redford High School in Detroit and graduated from Harvard College.

He joined the Navy, where he spent 15 years in its nuclear program.

He joined The Tribune

when he retired from the Navy in 1990.

His first role was a daunt-ing one: project manager for construction of a new mail-room building, a new press building and the installation of a new printing press.

In 1995, Ray was named a vice president and, later that year, general manager. His next major task was huge by a different measure: He coordinated the newspaper’s change to an all-morning

newspaper after 124 years of predominantly afternoon publication.

Ray became publisher in 2000. Under his leadership, the newspaper underwent several changes in zoning and configuration. It added niche products and saw enormous growth in its In-ternet audience. The paper was named Blue Ribbon Daily by the Hoosier State Press Association in 2006.

Ray has seen his newspa-

per ride ever-faster waves of changing technology.

“I think that technology changes have allowed us to reduce our costs and to do our work faster, and to provide information in the form of pictures and graph-ics that we never were able to do before.

“But while technology is completely changed, it doesn’t change the fundamental job of journalists – or of an advertising department, for that matter.”

Pharos-Tribune (Logansport) and Kokomo Tribune; and Treasurer Jon O’Bannon, The Corydon Democrat.

Former board President Don Hurd presided over his final HSPA meeting. Hurd accepted a position with a media marketing operation. He had been president and group publisher of Kankakee Valley Publishing since 2005 and a member of the HSPA board since 2007.

The board’s biggest objec-tive this year will be to ask questions and listen, Tim-mons said.

“We’d like to hear from newspapers about how HSPA can help papers even more,” he said. “How can we add value to conferences and other services and events? Are there revenue ideas out there we can pursue?”

The new board configura-tion comes as HSPA is expe-riencing a gradual rebound in its advertising programs, which struggled during the economic downturn, said Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel.

“I look forward to working with the board to strengthen HSPA’s value as a partner to Indiana newspapers’ efforts to successfully serve their communities,” Key said.