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DECEMBER 2018 WPA Bulletin 2121 Evans Avenue • Cheyenne, WY 82001 • 307/635-3905 • Fax 307/635-3912 • [email protected] • www.wyopress.org Calendar of Events JAN. 17-19, 2019 WPA Winter Convention Red Lion Hotel Cheyenne, Wyo WPA Office Holiday Closures Christmas Dec. 24 Open until noon Dec. 25 Closed New Year’s Day Closed SEE PUBLIC NOTICES PRINTED IN ALL OF WYOMING’S NEWSPAPERS Visit www.wyopublicnotices.com or www.publicnoticeads.com/wy WYOMING PRESS ASSOCIATION While we would have liked to have an- nounced a winner Nov. 30, there ended up being a 4-way tie – Sundance Times, Uinta County Herald, News Letter Journal and Thermopolis Independent Record. Each submitted ONE ad, a 2x2 for $550. Hmmm…. So yes, we are ex- tending the deadline to see if the ads reps can do better. In case you’re not sure what this contest is all about, here it is ad directors: Your ad rep could win a free trip to convention! This in- cludes full registration to all workshops, meals, receptions, AND – they also get three nights lodging for free at the convention! This is a huge opportunity to send your ad rep to train on how to increase their ad revenue by 30%, better understand their marketing audiences, improve their customer service, learn the best ways to improve their ad designs, and get ideas from their peers in the industry. Free training! Oh yeah, and your paper makes money. The first ad rep to sell $4,800 (or more) by Dec. 21 wins the contest. That means we’re asking you to sell four of the 2x4 statewide pro- gram ads. Or, feel free to sell any combination of 2x2s, 2x4s or digital ads. For questions or more information on the contest, don’t hesitate to call Darcie at the WPA o൶ce at (307) 635-3905. ATTENTION AD DIRECTORS: CONTEST DEADLINE EXTENDED! From the WPA staff (from left): Oce assistants Josie Jenkins and Julie Davis, Deputy Director Cecilia Moats and Executive Director Darcie Hoand.

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Page 1: WPA Bulletin - TownNews€¦ · Robb Hicks Buffalo Bulletin Legislative Bob Bonnar Newcastle News Letter Journal Jim Wood Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. Rob Mortimore Torrington Telegram

DECEMBER 2018

WPA Bulletin2121 Evans Avenue • Cheyenne, WY 82001 • 307/635-3905 • Fax 307/635-3912 • [email protected] • www.wyopress.org

Calendarof EventsJAN. 17-19, 2019

WPA Winter Convention

Red Lion HotelCheyenne, Wyo

WPA Offi ceHoliday Closures

ChristmasDec. 24

Open until noonDec. 25Closed

New Year’s DayClosed

SEE PUBLIC NOTICES PRINTED IN ALL OF

WYOMING’S NEWSPAPERS Visit

www.wyopublicnotices.com or

www.publicnoticeads.com/wy

WYOMING

PRESS

ASSOCIATION

While we would have liked to have an-nounced a winner Nov. 30, there ended up being a 4-way tie – Sundance Times, Uinta County Herald, News Letter Journal and Thermopolis Independent Record. Each submitted ONE ad, a 2x2 for $550. Hmmm…. So yes, we are ex-tending the deadline to see if the ads reps can do better. In case you’re not sure what this contest is all about, here it is ad directors: Your ad rep could win a free trip to convention! This in-cludes full registration to all workshops, meals, receptions, AND – they also get three nights lodging for free at the convention! This is a huge opportunity to send your ad rep to train on how to increase their ad revenue by 30%, better understand their marketing audiences, improve their customer service, learn the best ways to improve their ad designs, and get ideas from their peers in the industry. Free training! Oh yeah, and your paper makes money. The fi rst ad rep to sell $4,800 (or more)

by Dec. 21 wins the contest. That means we’re asking you to sell four of the 2x4 statewide pro-gram ads. Or, feel free to sell any combination of 2x2s, 2x4s or digital ads. For questions or more information on the contest, don’t hesitate to call Darcie at the WPA o ce at (307) 635-3905.

ATTENTION AD DIRECTORS:CONTEST DEADLINE EXTENDED!

From the WPA staff (from left): O ce assistants Josie Jenkins and Julie Davis, Deputy Director Cecilia Moats and Executive Director Darcie Ho and.

Page 2: WPA Bulletin - TownNews€¦ · Robb Hicks Buffalo Bulletin Legislative Bob Bonnar Newcastle News Letter Journal Jim Wood Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. Rob Mortimore Torrington Telegram

PAGE 2 DECEMBER 2018 WPA BULLETIN

2018 WPA BOARD MEMBERS

Mark Tesoro,, PresidentKemmerer Gazette

PO Box 30 � Kemmerer, WY 83101(307) 877-3347/Fax (307) 877-3736

Email: [email protected]

Louie Mullen, Vice-presidentGreen River Star

Box 580� Green River, WY 82935(307) 875-3103/Fax (307) 875-8778

Email: [email protected]

Kristen Czaban, Sec.-TreasurerThe Sheridan Press

P.O. Box 2006 � Sheridan, WY 82801(307) 672-2431/Fax (307) 672-7950Email: [email protected]

Stephanie BonnarNewcastle News Letter JournalBox 40 � Newcastle, WY 82701

(307) 746-2777/Fax (307) 746-2660Email: [email protected]

Jen Sieve-HicksBuffalo Bulletin

P.O. Box 730 � Buffalo, WY 82834(307) 684-2223/Fax (307) 684-7431

[email protected]

Bob KennedyCody Enterprise

P.O. Box 1090 � Cody, WY 82414(307) 587-2231/Fax (307) 587-5208

[email protected]

Rob MortimoreTorrington Telegram

2025 Main � Torrington, WY 82240(307) 532-2184/Fax (307) 532-2283

Email: [email protected]

Kevin OlsonJackson Hole News&Guide

P.O. Box 7445 � Jackson, WY 83002(307) 733-2047/Fax (307) 733-2138Email: [email protected]

Rory PalmAdams Publishing Group

P.O. Box 1286 � Cheyenne, WY 82003(307) 633-3165/Fax (307) 633-3191Email: [email protected]

Jeff RobertsonLaramie Boomerang

320 Grand Ave. � Laramie, WY 82070(307) 742-2176/Fax (307) 742-2046

Email: [email protected]

Matt Adelman, NNA ChairDouglas Budget

PO Box 109 � 310 Center St.Douglas, WY 82633

Email: [email protected]

Milton Ontiveroz, Assoc. ChairUW Institutional CommunicationsDept. 3226, 1000 E. Univ. Ave.

Laramie, WY 82071(307) 766-6709/Fax (307) 766-6729

[email protected]

Cindy Price SchultzUW Dept. of Communication and Journalism

Dept. 3904, 1000 E. University Ave.Laramie, WY 82071

Email: [email protected]

Ken SmithUW Liaison Emeritus

Email: [email protected]

STAFFDarcie Hoffland, Executive Director

Cec Moats, Deputy DirectorJulie Davis, Office Assistant

We’ve fi nalized our schedule and its going to be a good one! The most recent addition to the schedule is the Shield Law Roundtable for editors and pub-lishers, moderated by Ed Otte from the Colorado chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. This year’s convention off ers a variety of topics for your professional expertise - from the multiple editorial sessions to photo editing, de-sign, hiring techniques, increasing ad revenue and much more. We’ve been sending out tons of emails to let members know what to expect, but in case you missed it, the fi nalized schedule can be down-loaded on our website at www.wyopress.org. Of course, we’ll have the regular festivities like the Early Bird welcoming reception, the

Governor’s Luncheon, Friday night entertain-ment, Hall of Fame induction, the Pacemaker Luncheon, general membership meeting – plus a new event hosted by the Associates Group. In addition, we are most pleased to welcome Uni-versity of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols this year, who will give opening remarks at the banquet Friday night. Everything kicks off Thursday, Jan. 17 at the Red Lion Hotel and Convention Center in Cheyenne. To register, visit our webpage and click on the convention logo at the top of the page. To reserve rooms at the Red Lion with the WPA rate of $89, be sure to call the hotel prior to Jan 2. Questions? Contact our o ce at (307) 635-3905 or [email protected].

The keynote speaker for the 120th Annual WPA Convention is Chuck Underwood. Underwood is the host of the PBS television series “America’s Generations with Chuck Under-wood.” Having researched gen-erational dynamics for more than

a quarter-century and then working side-by-side with hundreds of clients to execute a long list of generational strategies, he is considered one of the elite consultants in generational strategy. “With fi ve living generations, and soon six, newspaper personnel must develop a success-ful Generational Gearbox that enables them to understand who their audience is,” Underwood said. Readers, advertisers, legislators, employees

– they all bring powerful core generational val-ues to their interaction with newspapers. Darcie Ho and, Executive Director of the WPA said, “I was so fortunate to listen to Mr. Underwood this summer when he presented at the Annual Newspaper Association of Managers (NAM) Convention in Park City, and I am very excited about bringing him to speak to our mem-bers!” A testimonial for Underwood: “Fantastic! Chuck knows his subject fi rst-hand. He’s dedicated to what he does, and it communicates to the audience.” – The New York Press Association. Underwood’s keynote presentation will be on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 1:30 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom following the Pacemaker Awards Lunch.

AND SPEAKING OF WHICH...

120 CONVENTION!INCREASE REVENUE • CUSTOMER SERVICE • DESIGN

ChuckUnderwood

At the General Membership meeting Satur-day afternoon during convention, WPA members will be fi lling two vacancies for the board of di-rectors. These two vacancies represent the dailies and the small weekly newspapers. The dailies position is being vacated by Jeff Robertson from the Laramie Boomerang, who is leaving Wyo-ming at the end of the year. Mark Tesoro’s position representing the

small weeklies will open up as he moves to the position of past president on the board. At this time, the WPA has received one nomination for the dailies’ seat. For those who are interested or would like to nominate a person for one of the positions, please email the WPA o ce at [email protected]. Nominations can also be taken from the fl oor during the general membership meeting on Saturday, Jan. 19 at convention.

WPA BOARD HAS TWO OPENINGS

Page 3: WPA Bulletin - TownNews€¦ · Robb Hicks Buffalo Bulletin Legislative Bob Bonnar Newcastle News Letter Journal Jim Wood Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. Rob Mortimore Torrington Telegram

2018 WPA COMMITTEES

Hall of Fame

Darcie Hoffland (Chair)

Wyoming Press Association

Bob Kennedy

Cody Enterprise

Pat Schmidt

Past President

Ken Smith

UW Liaison Emeritus

NNA

Matt Adelman, Chair

Douglas Budget

Louie Mullen

Green River Star

Toby Bonner

Powell Tribune

Robb Hicks

Buffalo Bulletin

Legislative

Bob Bonnar

Newcastle News Letter Journal

Jim Wood

Wyoming Newspapers, Inc.

Rob Mortimore

Torrington Telegram

Jen Sieve-Hicks

Buffalo Bulletin

Rory Palm

Adams Publishing Group

Audience/ Marketing

Kevin Olson, Chair

Jackson Hole News&Guide

Jeff Robertson

Laramie Boomerang

Mark Tesoro

Kemmerer Gazette

Louie Mullen

Jen Sieve-Hicks

Contest

Kristen Czaban (Chair)

Sheridan Press

Stephanie Bonnar

Newcastle News Letter Journal

Rory Palm

Rob Mortimore

Convention

Stephanie Bonnar (Chair)

Ann Turner

Gillette News-Record

Mark Tesoro

Budget

Jeff Robertson (Chair)

Louie Mullen, Bob Kennedy,

Kevin Olson, Kristen Czaban

WPA BULLETIN DECEMBER 2018 PAGE 3

LEGISLATIVE UPDATECOURT JOURNALS The Joint Judiciary Interim Committee is looking at a bill that will remove the requirement for a separate written journal for judgments. The purpose of the bill draft is to clean up provisions requiring hard copies on records in anticipation of transitioning to an electronic system. The WPA o ce has heard from members who utilize these journals frequently and would like to see them re-tained. The WPA legislative committee met in mid-November and discussed whether the journals could still be done electronically. This idea was appreciated by the committee because it creates duplication of records. Gillette News-Record Pub-lisher Ann Turner, who expressed the importance of the journals, will be following the draft bill and if necessary, will compose a letter to the Joint Judi-ciary Committee with the suggestion.

PUBLIC NOTICES At the May 22 Joint Corporations meeting in Lander, the WPA was once again faced with de-fending the law requiring that public notices be published in Wyoming newspapers. Fortunately, the groups proposing they be able to publish their own notices on their websites did not pursue the issue further. (For reference, please see the column in the June 2018 WPA e-bulletin by News Let-ter Journal Publisher/Editor Bob Bonnar. Bonnar wrote an article explaining the board’s strategy at the time).

PUBLIC RECORDS The WPA has been working with various groups on a transparency bill (Powder River Ba-sin Resource Council, Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts, Wyoming Association of Municipalities, Wyoming Liberty Group, Wyo-ming Tax Payers Association, Foster’s Outriders and others). The bill requires the release of public records within a specifi ed time from a designated public records person and includes penalties to en-sure accountability. “I’m really excited at the prospect of putting hard deadlines on public records requests and put-ting some teeth into the law to motivate custodi-ans of records to prioritize records requests. This legislation has been eight years in the making, and I think the bill moved forward by Corpora-tions Committee will send a clear signal that the legislature is committed to changing the culture of transparency in the state and shining more light on

the public’s business,” said Bob Bonnar, the WPA’s lobbyist. He also stated, “The way the bill is drafted, it will no longer make sense for records custodians to ignore requests or put them on the back-burner indefi nitely. The legislature is saying clearly that there is an expectation that public records will be made available for inspection upon request, and that there is no excuse for delays in meeting that request. This is a big step for the State of Wyo-ming.” The WPA board decided early in the interim they would not support any legislation that would allow only certain individuals, organizations or media outlets free access to electronic records be-cause they maintain they are acting in the public interest. The WPA’s current stance is that access to electronic public records should be the same from one person to the next — that no citizen or class of people is greater than any other when accessing public records. Ideally, the WPA would like to see the records free for everyone. However, the board current-ly feels the A&I fees represent a starting point of discussion for ultimately determining how the vast store of new records are to be distributed and kept. During a working group session for the bill, A&I told committee members a standardized ap-proach similar to other states was used to draft the rules. Under the current public records law, digital records are free up to a valued cost of $180, and testimony has been given this interim that the vast majority of requests fall below the $180 thresh-old. Additionally, governments are taking steps to make more of this information available online, and there are several private sector entities like Open the Books that are starting to compile and distribute the information.

SHIELD LAW The WPA was approached by the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters to join them in pursuit of a shield law. (See column on page 4). The WPA board voted unanimously not to join them this session and to seek membership input during the next interim year. In the meantime, the WPA board received follow-up from the broadcasters group, who de-cided to refrain from pursuing the shield law bill this session on recommendation from Sen. Dan Dockstader. (Sen. Dockstader is publisher of the Star Valley Independent and a member of See LEGISLATIVE UPDATE page 8

Page 4: WPA Bulletin - TownNews€¦ · Robb Hicks Buffalo Bulletin Legislative Bob Bonnar Newcastle News Letter Journal Jim Wood Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. Rob Mortimore Torrington Telegram

PAGE 4 DECEMBER 2018 WPA BULLETIN

By Darcie Hoffl and, WPA Executive Director At the end of October, the Wyo-ming Association of Broadcasters (WAB) reached out to the Wyoming Press Associ-ation o ce requesting a meeting with their board to discuss bringing forward a shield law during this legislative session. The WPA legislative committee, con-sisting of Rory Palm (Adams Publishing Group), Bob Bonnar (Newcastle News Letter Journal), Jim Wood and Rob Mor-timer (Wyoming Newspapers, Inc.) and Jen Sieve-Hicks (Buff alo Bulletin), were noti-fi ed and met by conference call to discuss the potential for working with the broad-casters and to provide a recommendation to the board prior to that meeting.

Need for a Shield Law?

For institutional knowledge, Jim An-gell (former WPA Executive Director) was kind enough to provide comment to the legislative committee. According to Jim, the position of the WPA in the past was that there was never a need for a shield law. There has not been a situation where a re-porter has been put in jail for refusing to name a confi dential source. In the past, the board felt that asking the legislature for something that was not really needed would take attention away from stuff we really did need – changes to public document laws, etc. Bruce Moats (WPA Attorney) also provided comment prior to the legislative committee meeting. Bruce said he had spo-ken with members of the broadcaster asso-ciation and urged them not to request it this session. His opinion was that they are really at

the beginning stages of bringing it together and haven’t done enough work – essential-ly saying they are not ready and could po-tentially do more harm with eff ects being seen down the road. However, Bruce explained why he supports a shield law if done properly. He said that he has seen more subpoenas in the last fi ve years than in the previous fi fteen. He believes maybe that government and private attorneys think the press/media is weakened and are being more aggressive with subpoenas. Most subpoenas were for unpublished photos. He said, so far, he has been able to hold them off except for one. Bruce point-ed out that a shield law is a statement of being able to resist subpoenas and not al-ways about sources. He said that he has had a case that was not about the source but about revealing the tipster, and we should be wary of seeing this more often.

Timing and potential pushback

When the committee met, there were several concerns with pursuing a shield law. The biggest concern was the timing of doing it this session, and without the proper work being done. They were con-cerned about spending our political capi-tal, which is currently focused on passing a public records law that would focus on accountability in transparency. Secondly, because of the current polit-ical climate, those in opposition could po-tentially say “fake news,” because they may believe the law would give special privileg-es to reporters and anonymous sources. Bob Bonnar suggested Wyoming newspapers monitor and identify subpoe-nas of reporters for public education pur-

poses before going to the legislature for this law.

More work needed

The committee agreed on the follow-ing recommendation to the board: The WPA should urge the broadcasters association not to attempt the shield law at this time. The WPA should consider sup-porting it in a couple of years after all the work has been properly done prior to bring-ing it to the legislature. The committee also recommended to the board that they welcome the broadcast-ers to work with the WPA on transparency issues this legislative session.

49 states have a shield law The WPA board of directors met with Laura Grott, WAB executive director and board member Tregg White on Nov. 9. Ad-ditionally, they asked Sen. Dan Dockstader to attend the meeting. Sen. Dockstader is publisher of the Star Valley Independent and a member of the broadcasters associa-tion. The broadcasters told the board they are seeking an absolute shield law that not only protects journalists, but also encour-ages and pushes for more reporting from our media in Wyoming. They stated they spoke with several newspaper editors who said they are for the law and would testify in support of one. Their big argument was that the other 49 states currently have a shield law. They also stated very clearly that they wanted to do it now, and that many of the states they talked to said a shield law failed the fi rst time they tried to get one. See SHIELD LAW page 8

BROADCASTERS APPROACH WPA ON SHIELD LAW

Call the FOI Hotline for questions on open meetings or public records.

Sponsored by Wyoming Press Association

307.778.8844

Page 5: WPA Bulletin - TownNews€¦ · Robb Hicks Buffalo Bulletin Legislative Bob Bonnar Newcastle News Letter Journal Jim Wood Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. Rob Mortimore Torrington Telegram

WPA BULLETIN DECEMBER 2018 PAGE 5

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SCIENCE REPORTING AWARD DEADLINE DEC. 14 The winner of the Wyoming EPSCoR Science Reporting Award will receive $500 in cash and free registration and lodging to the 2020 WPA Annual Conven-tion. EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) is de-signed to fulfi ll the mandate of the Nation-al Science Foundation (NSF) to promote scientifi c progress nationwide. Through this program, NSF establish-es partnerships with government, higher education, and industry that are designed to aff ect sustainable improvements in a state’s research infrastructure.

The Wyoming EPSCoR received a 5-year grant in September 2017 from NFS. While science is the key focus of the Wyoming EPSCoR grant, a signifi cant amount of the grant is dedicated to broader societal impacts of the science like science journalism initiatives. Dr. Kristen Landreville, Ph.D., Uni-versity of Wyoming associate professor and the Director of Graduate Studies, se-cured the NSF grant that, along with in-ternships and speakers to the WPA con-vention, has helped with the creation of a science reporting award. Subject content of stories submitted

for the contest could include environmen-tal/outdoors reporting, agricultural re-porting, energy/technology reporting and health/medicine reporting. Entries will be judged on how well the stories educate the public, and will be judged on clarity, writing quality, accura-cy, and knowledge of subject matter. The competition is open to all WPA members and the deadline to enter is fast approach-ing! Email your entries to [email protected] by 5 p.m., Dec. 14. They may be sent as PDFs or you can send us the links to the online stories.

Hello all, I am Josie Jenkins and I’m excit-ed to be a part of the Wyoming Press Asso-ciation team.

I will be assisting in monitoring advertise-

ments, billing and handling various admin-

istrative duties part time for the WPA. I hope to serve you as well as my pre-decessor, Julie, who I know has done an amazing job the last several years. When I’m not at the o ce, I spend my time working as a contract actress. I love to perform in any form of acting, but I’m especially fond of fi lm.

I have a bachelor’s degree in market-ing and a minor in accounting. Prior to pur-suing my dreams of acting and working for the WPA, I worked with Darcie in a mar-keting and sales position. I look forward to working with all of you and I’m elated to be as helpful as pos-sible.

MEET JOSIE JENKINS- THE NEW WPA OFFICE ASSISTANT

Page 6: WPA Bulletin - TownNews€¦ · Robb Hicks Buffalo Bulletin Legislative Bob Bonnar Newcastle News Letter Journal Jim Wood Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. Rob Mortimore Torrington Telegram

PAGE 6 DECEMBER 2018 WPA BULLETIN

By Jim Angell Hopefully, all the members of the Wyo-ming News Exchange took a moment off in mid-October to cele-brate.

That was when the WPA’s statewide news service marked its fi rst birthday — sort of. The WNE was soft-launched in mid-October of 2017 to give its manag-ers — Jim and Mary Angell — a chance to work out any kinks in the system of col-lecting news from participating newspa-pers and sending stories back out to those same members. Since going into full operation in January, 32 of Wyoming’s 43 newspapers have joined the exchange, as have two as-sociate members of the WPA — the Jack-son Hole Daily and the Wyoming Business Report. The primary goal of the News Ex-change was to give newspapers access to some of the stories they may not have

received in the past — especially newspa-pers that are not members of The Associat-ed Press. A secondary goal was to provide some statewide exposure for some of the excellent stories produced by newspapers across Wyoming. According to reports, the service has been well received by both newspapers and their readers. Mark Tesoro, WPA president and pub-lisher of the Uinta County Herald in Evan-ston, said he has heard from readers who are pleased to see stories from across Wyo-ming printed in the section of the paper set aside for WNE copy. A quick check of WNE members shows that most are using at least one or two of the separate stories sent every day (an average of three to six separate stories are sent every weekday) and many are us-ing the full briefs packages that are also sent daily. Also popular has been the package of weekend stories transmitted on Thursdays, along with photos where possible. Although service has been general-

ly smooth, some questions have surfaced along the way which must be answered by the Exchange’s owners — members of the WPA. For instance, the Exchange has not sent any sports stories — unless they con-tained a news angle, such as an arrest — or any editorials from participating news-papers. Several participants have raised questions about whether both might be a valuable addition to the service. The News Exchange also has not sent any news releases, opting instead to send the information they contain out to mem-bers when those releases are turned into news stories. These are some of the issues mem-bers need to discuss at the WNE’s annual meeting, to be held in conjunction with the WPA’s winter convention in Cheyenne in January. The meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 18. We’re encouraging all editors in-volved in the Exchange to attend the meet-ing to help us plot out where the Exchange should go in the future.

WYOMING NEWS EXCHANGE MARKS FIRST YEAR

Page 7: WPA Bulletin - TownNews€¦ · Robb Hicks Buffalo Bulletin Legislative Bob Bonnar Newcastle News Letter Journal Jim Wood Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. Rob Mortimore Torrington Telegram

By Milton OntiverozWPA Associates Chair With the 120th Wyo-ming Press Association Winter Convention fast approaching, I want to

report that Associate members have a great opportunity to “get to know” some of the state’s newspaper folks. For the fi rst time, the Associates Group is hosting a joint session with the WPA as part of the daylong Associates workshops Friday, Jan. 18. The event is part of the WPA’s weekend schedule, meaning that the event is open for both sides to get to know each other better. The “Newsroom Reception” is sched-uled at 4:30 p.m. that Friday, and I’m en-couraging Associate members to attend the event. And, hopefully, many of our news-paper friends will join us in the informal

gathering. The reception also will feature Univer-sity of Wyoming and community college students, which will be a bonus for newspa-pers looking to hire future reporters. Many of the students will be graduating soon, and it will be a chance for both sides to engage in mutual interests. Four Associate members -- the Univer-sity of Wyoming, the Wyoming Business Council, Warehouse Twenty One and Wy-Brand Strategies -- are sponsoring the re-ception, along with some individual news-papers. Some great snacks and beverages will be provided by the sponsors. Also on hand will be UW President Laurie Nichols, who plans to be at the reception. She will also stay for the Associates awards ceremony and the no-host cocktail hour at 6 p.m. President Nichols is scheduled to give opening remarks at the 7 p.m. ban-quet.

In my fi rst year as the Associates chair, my main goals were to gain more new members, have more participation for our daylong workshops and to seek more inter-est in the contest. I formed a sub-commit-tee with the intention of doing that. I want to thank Sara DiRienzo from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department; Kim Deti from the Wyoming Health De-partment; Ron Gullberg and Tom Dixon from the Wyoming Business Council; and from the Wyoming Secretary of State’s of-fi ce Will Dinneen, for assisting me on these goals and contributing so much for putting together workshops for the Associates. I hope to see some new friends at the Associates workshops, and I hope that we have a great turnout from both the WPA and the Associates Group at the “News-room Reception.” It’s a great chance to know your local newspaper representative and your local PR person.

WPA BULLETIN DECEMBER 2018 PAGE 7

ASSOCIATES HOST RECEPTION AT WPA CONVENTION

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PAGE 8 DECEMBER 2018 WPA BULLETIN

OBITUARY

Focus on current legislation

Sen. Dockstader said he did not think there was enough time leading up to this legislative session to get the necessary ground work done to present the bill. He noted that the current pieces of leg-islation that the WPA are working on have traction and have been a long time coming. He thought it was important not to take fo-cus away from them. He said the past sev-eral years have been di cult for the WPA legislatively, and if we do this now it will create problems down the road. Bob Bonnar told the broadcasters that with our political reality, it’s bad timing to push for the law. He pointed out that we can rely on the fi rst amendment for pro-tecting our journalists.

Discuss law with membership

The WPA board held a follow-up meet-ing where they heard from Josh Wolfson, editor of the Casper Star-Tribune. Josh told

the board about his personal experience in 2011/2012 where he was being asked to turn over all his notes and reveal his source for a story. While he ultimately did not have to reveal his source and did not have to go to jail, he did however, end up having to turn over his notes. He told the board that Wyoming is the only state without a shield law, includ-ing very red states. He told the board that keeping reporters out of jail should be the most important thing the WPA could do. He has talked to other editors who also share that sentiment. Additionally, he told the board that this issue should be brought to the general membership. Bruce reiterated ground work needed to be done outside of the session. He said it is never a good idea to take something that is done half-way to the legislature. He thinks it would be smart to fi rst mobilize public support and he believes that there is value from working with other media agencies to strengthen our position.

After hearing from Josh, the board de-cided the following: The WPA will not pursue joining the broadcasters on a shield law bill for this legislative session. In the interim, the WPA will survey its members and determine its future position on shield law legislation. Bob Bonnar, who lobbies for the WPA, said, “I have always felt blessed as a journalist to have the protection of the First Amendment. No other business enjoys that level of protection in our country, and I’ve never understood why we need shield laws or any protection beyond that. “In the era of ‘fake news’ accusations, I think it would be particularly harmful for an industry of journalists to ask for an additional right to protect sources beyond what we already enjoy under the Constitu-tion. “Without a doubt, opponents of me-dia - and there are many - would use it to further attack our credibility, and I believe public opinion could be easily confused.”

Dorothy Grace Milek, 83, passed away November 29, 2018, in Thermopolis. She was born in Thermopolis on Nov. 14, 1935, to Samuel Reese and Grace Ann (Skelton) Buchanan. She attended schools at the Sunnyside School and high school at Hot Springs County High School, grad-uating in 1953. She studied home eco-nomics at the University of Wyoming and

Logan, Utah. She married Bob Milek on Aug. 29, 1954. They made their home and raised 5 children in Thermopolis. While raising her children, she worked many jobs around Thermopolis, including reporter and various other positions with the Thermopolis Independent Record, in-dependent feature writing for the Billings

Gazette, Northern Wyoming Daily News and Casper Star Tribune, among other jobs. She is survived by her children, Bar-bara Love, Bob (Deb) Milek and Becky (Rooster) Kersten of Thermopolis and Margy (Dudley) Irvine; daughter-in-law Helen Milek of Lander; nine grandchil-dren, 13 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

the broadcasters association). The broadcasters may try to go for-ward with the bill during the budget session if all goes well with their interim work. A roundtable discussion on the shield law is scheduled on Saturday, Jan. 18 at the WPA convention.

CAMERAS ON SCHOOL BUSES Most recently it came to the notice of the WPA that a draft bill is currently being discussed by the Joint Education Commit-tee regarding cameras on school buses that catch motorists driving past when red lights are fl ashing.

The bill makes the videos available in criminal cases, but expressly provides that the video is not a public record. The WPA legislative committee is cur-rently discussing this bill and has yet to dis-cover why the Joint Education Committee is seeking to exempt this information.

SHIELD LAW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

Dorothy Grace Milek

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WPA BULLETIN DECEMBER 2018 PAGE 9

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BUSINESS COUNCIL

FWPA

FOUNDATION

The WPA would like to thank the many sponsors

that have helped to ensure the 120th convention

is a success.

CLASSIFIED Want to join a winning team and have opportunity for ad-vancement? Located near Yellowstone National Park, the Powell Tribune in Powell, Wyoming, has an immediate opening for a dedicated general news reporter to join its staff of award-winning writers. The Tribune is a family-owned semi-weekly newspaper known for quality journalism. This position also includes the op-portunity for advancement to a news leadership role. Preferred candidates must have a strong desire to report the news important

to readers of a community newspaper, ranging from city council meetings to multicultural showcases at Northwest College. Report-ers on a community newspaper staff are asked to juggle multiple beats and to assist with editing copy from staff and other sources. A knowledge of AP style would be helpful and photography skills are also preferred. Beginning salary range — $28K to $30K d.o.e. Health and retirement benefi ts package included. Send resume, clippings and photo portfolio to General Man-ager Toby Bonner at [email protected].

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Page 10: WPA Bulletin - TownNews€¦ · Robb Hicks Buffalo Bulletin Legislative Bob Bonnar Newcastle News Letter Journal Jim Wood Wyoming Newspapers, Inc. Rob Mortimore Torrington Telegram

Milton Ontiveroz

Chad Baldwin

Jennifer Petty

Keith Guille

Jim Angell

Th e World

needs more Cowboys

Open Meetings

& Records

Media Panel

Discussion

Tech Talk

AwardsReception

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PAGE 12 DECEMBER 2018 WPA BULLETIN

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WPA BULLETIN DECEMBER 2018 PAGE 13