Volume 73, Number 9 - September 2002 - Published by Kentucky Press Association/Kentucky Press Service

‘Contest’ redesigned, re-named toemphasize what you offer - excellence

First things first. Monday,September 26, 1983 to September 26,2002. Nineteen years. Thanx to eachof you for making the past 19 yearssuch an enjoyable career experience.Just 19 more to go. At least.

* * * * *

New “contest.” New “focus.”By now, each editor should have

received the first mailing of the“Excellence in Kentucky Newspapers:Recognizing Outstanding Writing,Photography and Design - 2002.”

Long title, shortened to“Excellence in Kentucky Newspapers- 2002” but the content is familiar.

Basically, it’s our old FallNewspaper Contest with a few sprin-kles of the Better Newspaper Contest.Doing away with the SummerConvention after this year’s gatheringin Gatlinburg, meant doing awaywith one contest. The Better

Newspaper Contest had been a partof KPA history for perhaps genera-tions. It focused on the layout anddesign of the newspaper. And of thethree KPA contests, it was the small-est — in number of newspapers,number of entries, and never a profitcenter.

As we’ve traveled the country get-ting the three contests judged, I thinkKentucky remains the only state withthree newspaper contests. Some havejust one, combining editorial andadvertising into a massive package.Most have an editorial contest and anadvertising contest. None, that Irecall, have three.

This new competition brings inwriting, photography and design for26 categories. We did away with acouple of categories in the Fall

Newspaper Contest. Well, more com-bined them that did away with them.And we brought in design categoriessuch as best front page, best editorialpage, best sports page.

It’s still a contest, as such, butwe’re focusing more on the excellencethat each of you contribute to thenewspaper industry. Individualentries in each category and contestdivision will be judged one againstthe other and judges will select a first,second, third and any honorable men-tions.

Most of you have heard me sayover the years that I will putKentucky newspapers up against anystate’s newspapers, any time, anywhere. If my math is correct, over the19 years with KPA, I’ve gone throughsome 57 contest judgings by otherstates. And never once have I beenembarrassed or discouraged by thelack of quality Kentucky newspapersexhibit.

I guess when I walk around theroom and one of the judges commentson how great he/she thinks ournewspapers are, I’m like a proudpapa at a hospital nursery.

So what you exhibit truly isExcellence — in your writing, in your

On SecondThought

By David T.ThompsonKPA Executive Director

Cover photos needed for KPA directory See EXCELLENCE on Page 9

What better way to show a photog-rapher’s talent than on the front coverof the KPA Yearbook and Directory?

Each year, we select one four-colorphotograph from a photographer at amember newspaper and publish thaton the front cover of the directory withappropriate credit given inside thedirectory.

Any photograph depicting life inKentucky or a recent event in

Kentucky is considered. The photodoes not have to have been publishedin a newspaper to be used on thedirectory’s cover.

The deadline for submitting a four-color photograph for the front cover isNov. 15.

The photographer whose photo isselected will then be notified andasked to send KPA a four-color sepa-ration of the photograph by Dec. 3,

2002.Please indicate on a cover memo

that the photo is being sent for consid-eration for the front cover of the KPAYearbook and Directory, and includethe newspaper and the photographer’sname.

Please mail your 2003 Yearbookand Directory front cover photographsto: KPA, 101 Consumer Lane,Frankfort, Ky. 40601.

Nominations and letters of applica-tions are being accepted until Friday,Sept. 27 for the office of vice presidentof the Kentucky Press Association for2003.

Any KPA member may nominateany individual who meets the criteriaset forth in the KPA bylaws for thatposition. Additionally, individualsinterested in holding office in theKentucky Press Association may sub-mit a letter of application.

KPA bylaws state: “The only per-sons eligible for election to the officeof vice president are those who arecurrently serving as elected directors;those who have been elected to serveon the board, provided they have pre-viously served as either an elected orappointed director or those personswho have served three consecutiveyears as an appointed director.”

Nominations must be sent to:David T. Thompson, Kentucky PressAssociation, 101 Consumer Lane,Frankfort, KY 40601.

All nominees consenting to thenomination and agreeing to serve ifelected will be interviewed by theNominating Committee once it hasbeen determined that the nomineemeets bylaw requirements.

Following the interview process,the Nominating Committee will rec-ommend a candidate for vice presi-dent to the Kentucky PressAssociation and Kentucky PressService Board of Directors.

Following action by the board theindividual will be recommended forapproval to the full membership ofKPA during the business session ofthe 2003 Winter Convention inLouisville.

The person elected Vice Presidentduring the January business meetingwill become President-Elect ofKPA/KPS in 2004 and serve asPresident of the organization in 2005.

KPA seeksvice presidentnominations

Brandstetter hired as newmanaging editor

JeannieBrandstetter, a nativeof Salem, has beenhired to replaceDarryl K. Tabor asthe managing editorat The CrittendenPress.

Tabor left the The

Press to accepted a similar position atthe Kentucky New Era.

Brandstetter, 35, was previously themanaging editor of The MountainPress, a daily newspaper inGatlinburg, Tenn., and the surround-ing area.

Brandstetter earned a bachelor’sdegree in journalism from MurrayState in 1988. She has worked at theMurray Ledger & Times, the BentonTribune-Courier and was lifestyles edi-

tor at The Paducah Sun before han-dling public affairs for LockheedMartin Energy Systems in WestPaduach.

Tabor, 29, has served as managingeditor of The Press for the past threeyears. He has worked at The Press offand on for about eight years. He hasserved in various positions at ThePress, including advertising and edito-rial capacities.

Jackson Times welcomesStrong as new editor

The Jackson Times staff welcomedDavid W. Strong as its new editor inJuly.

Strong, 47, has many years of expe-rience in journalism and publishing,beginning in 1975 as a disc jockey andnewsman at IntermountainBroadcasting Company, Inc., WEKG-AM, in Jackson.

He left the radio station in July 1979to begin an eight-year double-hitchwith the U.S. Navy. After leaving theNavy in May 1987, Strong returned toBreathitt County and rejoined the staffat WEKG-AM/WJSN-FM in Jackson asnews director, assistant manager, on-air personality and talk show host.

He left the radio work in 1989.Strong was hired in 1992 as theBreathitt County Voice’s sports andfeatures editor and also did some gen-eral news reporting.

He left The Voice in 1999 and joinedthe staff at The Kentucky Explorerhistory magazine in 2000 as assistanteditor.

Esh is associate editor atJackson County Sun

Connie Esh was recently added tothe Jackson County Sun staff as asso-ciate editor.

Esh, who earned a degree in socialwork from Eastern KentuckyUniversity, first came to JacksonCounty 19 years ago when she marriedJohn Butwell, who was working as alocal journalist at the time. She got herstart reporting and writing for hisJackson County Panther, which onlyremained in business for two yearsdue to lack of funds. She and her hus-band also founded the CountyChronicle in Berea six years ago. It toofailed after two years, but won 60awards for journalistic excellence fromthe Kentucky Press Association.

After The Chronicle went out ofbusiness, Esh became lifestyles editorat the Corbin Times-Tribune whereshe also won state-wide press honors.

Esh returned to Madison County towork first for the Richmond Register’sBerea edition, then for the BereaCitizen.

Jackson County Sun’s new website is up-and-running

The Jackson County Sun wentglobal on Thursday, July 18 when theirweb site was up and running.

Those interested in reading The Sunon-line can do so by going towww.jacksoncountysun.com.

Readers are also be able to readother state papers and find nationalnews through links at the site and canalso send e-mails to staff members.

The page has a familiar lookbecause it is modeled off the Sun’sfront page design.

Sun Spots is the place to look forlinks to stories and pages while infor-mation currently in Sun Spots willappear on the Community news page.

All of the pictures on the homepage will be in black and white so thepage will load to computer screensquickly, but full color versions arewith the full stories that can be read byclicking on the links at the end of eachstory.

Bryan joins News-Democrat staff as reporter

Carrie Bryan is the newest memberof the The Carrollton News-Democratteam.

Bryan, of Nicholasville, graduatedin May from Asbury College withdegrees in journalism and Spanish.

She attended education classes atLa Universidad de Murcia (Universityof Murcia).

Before joining The News-Democrat,she worked for La Conexion, the firstHispanic yellow pages in Kentuckythat will be appearing in the Lexingtonand Louisville areas this summer.

Lowery joins LebanonEnterprise staff

Stevie Lowery has joined theLebanon Enterprise staff to work pri-marily as a writer and photographer.

Lowery is the daughter of formerEnterprise editor Steve Lowery.

Lowery, who was born and raisedin Marion County, is a 1997 MarionCounty High School graduate. Shegraduated from Murray StateUniversity with a bachelor’s degree inprint journalism last year and recently

Page 2 - The Kentucky Press, September 2002

The Kentucky PressThe Kentucky Press (ISSN-0023-0324) ispublished monthly by the Kentucky PressAssociation/Kentucky Press Service, Inc.Periodicals Class postage is paid atFrankfort, KY. 40601. Subscription price is$8 per year. Postmaster: Send change ofaddress to The Kentucky Press, 101Consumer Lane, Frankfort, KY. 40601, (502)223-8821.

OfficersKentucky Press Association

President - David Eldridge, JessamineJournal

President-Elect - Sharon Tuminski,Winchester Sun

Vice President – John Nelson, DanvilleAdvocate Messenger

Treasurer - David Thornberry, SomersetCommonwealth Journal

Past President - Marty Backus,Appalachian News Express

Board of DirectorsDistrict 1 - Alice Rouse, Murray Ledger andTimes

District 2 - Jed Dillingham, DawsonSprings Progress

District 3 - Donn Wimmer, HancockClarion

District 4 - Charlie Portmann, FranklinFavorite

District 5 - Ron Filkins, Kentucky Standard

District 6 - Arthur B. Post, LouisvilleCourier-Journal

District 7 - Kelley Warnick, Gallatin CountyNews

District 8 - Ken Metz, Bath County NewsOutlook

District 9 - Jerry Pennington, Ashland DailyIndependent

District 10 - Edmund Shelby, Beattyville

Enterprise

District 11 - Glenn Gray, ManchesterEnterprise

District 12 - David Thornberry, SomersetCommonwealth Journal

District 13 - Tom Caudill, LexingtonHerald-Leader

District 14 - Teresa Scenters, Berea Citizen

State At-LargeKeith Ponder, Glasgow Daily TimesGlen Greene, Mt. Sterling AdvocateKelly Robinson, Recorder NewspapersChris Poore, Kentucky Kernel

Division ChairmanNews Editorial Division - Jeff Moreland,Richmond Register

Advertising Division - Kelly Robinson,Recorder Newspapers

Circulation Division - Kriss Johnson,Lexington Herald-Leader

Associates Division - Cliff Feltham,Kentucky Utilities

General Counsels - Jon Fleischaker, KimGreene, Dinsmore & Shohl, Louisville

Kentucky Press Association StaffDavid T. Thompson, Executive DirectorBonnie Howard, ControllerTeresa Revlett, Director of SalesDavid Greer, Member Services DirectorDana Ehlschide, News Bureau DirectorDavid Spencer, New Media DirectorBuffy Sams, Bookkeeping AssistantReba Lewis, Research/MarketingCoordinatorSue Cammack, Administrative AssistantRachel McCarty, Advertising AssistantHolly Willard, INAN Business ClerkJeff Stutesman, INAN Account ExecutiveTami Hensley, Tearsheet Clerk

Staff members, Officers and Directors maybe reached by e-mail using the individual'sfirst initial, full last name@kypress.com.There is no space or punctuation in the e-mail address.

Kentucky people, papers in the news

See PEOPLE on Page 12

It’s September. Ifyour newspaper is likemost, it means you canfinally abandon thesummer mindset of“let’s just try to get pastthe vacation season,”and begin to enjoy thenormalcy of being fullystaffed again.

That makes September an idealmonth to examine your paper andexperiment with ways to make it amore interesting read for subscribersbefore the busy holiday season begins.

I say experiment because no twocommunities and no two sets of sub-scribers are exactly alike. I’ve foundwhat works in one market might bombin another. But you’ll never know untilyou try.

As a former editor, it always painedme to admit the truth - not every wordon the front page was golden. Somereaders just scanned the front-pageheadlines without reading the stories.Some didn’t even read that much.Instead, they enjoyed other parts of thepaper. We all know what happenswhen we leave out the crossword puz-

zle or run lastweek’scomics. Thephone ringsand ringsuntil every-one’s stresslevel stretchesto the moon

and back. That’s proof positive thatsome readers simply want to be enter-tained.

Entertaining readers takes a littleimagination, some creativity, a willing-ness on the part of the paper and itsstaff to have a little fun and not be sodeadly serious all the time and maybe,just maybe spend a little money. Notmuch, just a little.

A few years ago, I found you couldstir up a great deal of reader intereston the cheap by holding a reader con-test. The sillier it was the more readersseemed to like it.

As the editor of the small daily inElizabethtown back in the early 1990s,I stole an idea for a contest from theSentinel-News in Shelbyville. Wecalled it the Ugly Tie Contest - as inugly neckties. For some reason, a cer-

tain percentage of men’s ties manufac-tured each year must be ugly. Not justa little ugly but a lot ugly, as inhideous or grotesque. It must be a lawor something.

Anyway, the Ugly Tie Contest wassimple to hold. We ran a big story onthe front of the lifestyle sectionannouncing the contest, how to submitentries, how to get your ties back (ifyou really wanted something that uglyback) and what the winners wouldreceive. Readers could mail or drop offup to three ugly ties each. They had topin their name, address and phonenumber on each tie. We hung all theentries on a big bulletin board in thenewspaper’s lobby. A panel of news-paper employees would serve asjudges and the winner got $100.Second got $50 and third $25.

We got a ton of entries. I’d neverseen so many fish ties in my life. I washalfway offended when someone sub-mitted a Star Trek tie. As a lifelongTrekker, I couldn’t imagine any sane,rational individual thinking a StarTrek tie was ugly.

We received well over 100 entriesand got a great story with photos

when we announced the winners. Bythe way, one of those hideous fish tieswon.

The Ugly Tie Contest was so popu-lar we that we continued in the samevein for the next event - the Ugly DogContest. No, we didn’t ask for ownersto bring their homely pooches down tothe paper. They just had to send us aphoto of the offending critter. We gotlots of entries. Not quite as many asthe Ugly Tie Contest but we still hadlots of interest. A similar contest todaywould be even easier because so manypeople have digital cameras and coulde-mail the photos instead of havingfilm developed. The rest of the contestwas patterned after the Ugly Tie sce-nario.

After the winner was determined,we got a story and a great photo of thewinner. The winning dog becamequite a local celebrity in time.

Sadly, the story ultimately had atragic ending. No, our winner wasn’thit by a car or whipped by a cat. Hegot too excited during a fireworks dis-

The Kentucky Press, September 2002 - Page 3

Oh, By TheWay

By David GreerKPA Member Services

Director

September’s a great time to ‘experiment’

See EXPERIMENT on Page 4

KNPA welcomes NNPA’s Flying Short Course

By DANA EHLSCHIDENews Bureau Director

In order to take advantage of theNational Newspaper PhotographersAssociation’s Flying Short Coursemaking a stop in Louisville, theKentucky Newspaper PhotographersAssociation decided to move its annu-al contest from January to Oct. 11-13 tocoincide, said KNPA President JoeImel.

The course, for student and profes-sional photographers, makes a stop inonly five cities per year, and has beencalled “the Cadillac of seminars thatset the tone for photojournalism for theyear to come.”

A diverse faculty of professionalsfrom newspaper, television, magazine,online and converging media willshare their experiences in gatheringgroundbreaking content, whether it’sfrom around the globe or found inone’s own backyard. With theLouisville stop scheduled for Oct. 13,members of KNPA decided to make aweekend of it.

“If you are registered for the FlyingShort Course on Sunday you canattend the other events for free,” Imelsaid. “It is three days for the price ofone.”

The three-day event, Vision02:Oxygen for the Mind,kicks off on Fridaywith seminars for stu-dents on topics inboth still and televi-sion photography.

The judging of thestill and video clipsentered in the KNPAphoto competitionwill also begin onFriday. Entries mustbe of photos or videoshot between Jan. 1,2002 and Sept. 30,2002. Entries are not required to havebeen published or aired, just shot dur-ing these dates.

Imel said the judging will be opento the public, and the judges will bewearing microphones so everyone canhear their critique of the entries.

The judges will be Jerry Gay, SusanGilbert and Jonathan Newton.

Gay was awarded the Pulitzer Prize

for news photography in 1975 while astaff photographer for the SeattleTimes. The winning photographdepicts firemen in a moment of reflec-tion after battling a house fire. In addi-tion, to the Pulitzer Prize, he also

received the firstEdward SteichenAward for newsphotography andwas named regionalPhotographer of theYear in 1974, 1975,1976 and 1977 by theNational PressPhotographersAssociation. Gay alsoserved on majornewspapers acrossthe country includ-ing the St. Paul

Pioneer Press, the Los Angeles Timesand New York Newsday.

Gilbert is Director of Photographyat the Charlotte Observer, which mostrecently won Staff of the Year for thefifth year in a row in the NorthCarolina Press Photographer’sAssociation, and for the fourth consec-utive year in the Southern ShortCourse in Photojournalism. They also

won Staff of the Year for 2001 at theAtlanta Photojournalism Conference.Gilbert was previously team leader atthe Star Tribune in Minneapolis andDirector of Photography at the RockyMountain News in Denver. She wasthe first woman staff photographer atthe San Francisco Chronicle, where shecovered the Patty Hearst saga, “WhiteNight” riot and was winner of numer-ous awards. At Newsday, Susan pho-tographed the first major account ofthe de-forestation of the Amazon.

Newton is an award winning pho-tographer now with the WashingtonPost. In a 14-year career with theAtlanta Journal and Constitution andSt. Petersburg Times (Fla.), Newtonearned numerous awards includingGeorgia Photographer of the Year andthe NPPA Morris Berman Award forthe advancement of photojournalism.He is also a two-time winner of theNational Baseball Hall of Fame photocontest.

Vision02 continues on Saturdaywith educational programs for profes-sionals and students in still and televi-sion photography.

Events kick off Oct.11 in Louisville

See KNPA on Page 11

Page 4 - The Kentucky Press, September 2002

Attorney general’s opinionsThe Courier-Journal/Bullitt

County Judge-ExecutiveThe attorney general’s office ruled

that the Bullitt County judge-execu-tive must comply with ToniaHolbrook’s request for records fromthe personnel file of former BullittCounty jail employee Mildred GailJones.

Holbrook, a reporter for theCourier-Journal, requested the oppor-tunity to review and copy records inJones’ personnel file consisting of herjob application, documentation of anycomplaints filed against Jones duringher employment at the jail, documen-tation of any disciplinary action takenagainst Jones as a result and hernotice of termination.

The county judge-executivedenied the request citing provisionsin KRS 61.878(1)(a). In a response toHolbrook, Judge-Executive Robert P.Flaherty denied the request statingpursuant to KRS that the informationwas of a personal nature and thatpublic disclosure would constitute aclearly unwarranted invasion of per-sonal privacy. According to Flaherty,KRS 61.878(3) specifically recognizesthe right of an employee to haveaccess to his/her personnel informa-tion, with some exceptions. The spe-cific recognition supports the exemp-tion of such information from publicdisclosure to individuals or entitiesother than the employee. “BullittCounty Fiscal Court and the Office ofthe Judge/Executive respect the pri-vacy rights of its employees as setforth in the United States andKentucky Constitutions and applica-ble statutory and case law.

“Based on the overwhelmingweight of legal authority, we con-

clude that the requested records mustbe released,” the opinion of the attor-ney general’s office stated.

The AG’s office stated that relianceon KRS 61.878(1)(a) as a basis fordenying access to records was mis-placed, as was relying on KRS61.878(1)(a) as a basis for denyingaccess to complaints leveled against apublic employee upon which finalaction had been taken.

The opinion stated: “In view of thepublic’s interest in insuring that pub-lic agencies discharge their duty tohire individuals who qualify byvirtue of education and experiencefor the positions they hold, this officehas declared that ‘inspection of anemployment application or resumemust be permitted regarding workexperience and educational levelsattained… that are reasonable relatedto qualifying for public employment.Fundamental to this position is therecognition that one does not typical-ly work (or attend school) in secret.”

Complaints against public agencyemployees, and disciplinary recordsgenerally, have traditionally beentreated as open records, the opinionfurther stated.

Assistant Attorney General AmyeL. Bensenhaver ruled the recordsmust be disclosed.

The Kentucky Enquirer/City ofLudlow

The attorney general’s office foundthat the City of Ludlow violated theOpen Records Act when it partiallydenied Cindy Schroeder’s request toinspect and copy the personnelrecord of former LudlowAdministrator Mike Moehlman, anycomplaints lodged againstMoehlman, the final resolution to

those complaints and any investiga-tive documents related to the com-plaints.

Schroeder also requested recordsreflecting “payments made to Mr.Moehlman while he was on leavefrom his city job last year, any citylegal fees related to Mr. Moehlmanand any correspondence between thecity of Ludlow and Mr. Moehlmanand his attorney from Feb. 1999 topresent.”

She also requested access to “anycity records regarding the resolutionof Mr. Moehlman’s status with thecity.”

In a response dated Feb. 23, 2000,Ludlow city attorney Peter J. Summepartially denied Schroeder’s requestby relying on KRS 61.878(1)(a) claim-ing “Mr. Moehlman’s personnel filecontains information of a personalnature where public disclosurewould constitute a clearly unwarrant-ed invasion of personal privacy.”

Summe did furnish Schroederwith a copy of Moehlman’s employ-ment contract. He advised her that“any other public information such aspayments to Mike Moehlman shouldbe obtained form the city.”

A month later, Schroeder initiatedan appeal with the attorney general’soffice challenging the city’s refusal topermit her to inspect Moehlman’spersonnel record, including com-plaints, record documenting final res-olution of complaints, and investiga-tive documents relating to com-plaints, as well as records document-ing legal fees incurred by the city as aresult of the civil action initiated byMoehlman.

See OPINIONS on Page 9

play near his home and died of anapparent heart attack. And yes, we gota story from that too.

Wanting to give equal time to catowners, our next contest was theFattest Cat Contest. For some reason,that one didn’t go over so well. I onlygot a dozen or so mailed photo entries.I suppose cat lovers take their animalsmore seriously than do dog ownersand just refuse to acknowledge thatsome cats are just plain ugly.

At any rate, the Fattest Cat contestwas a turkey.

Fast-forward a few years to TheKentucky Standard in Bardstownwhere I was publisher. The editorpicked up a great idea from an editortip sheet to publish vacation photos ofreaders holding up their local paperwhile standing in some exotic locale. Itwasn’t a contest and didn’t have anyprizes. Instead, it was a promotion forthe paper - but readers loved it any-way. We meant it to run twice andthought that would be the end of it.

But not so - readers loved it. Thephotos kept pouring in and as long aswe continued getting them, we keptpublishing them. The promotionevolved into something we calledYour Standard Vacation. I rememberseveral issues of the paper when wepublished 20 or more photos just towhittle down the size of the backlog.Plus, it generated a great sourceof feature story ideas about local peo-ple who had visited some very exoticlands.

Our readers were traveling all overthe United States and abroad. Eachphoto had local people in it while theyheld a copy of The Standard. Theytook The Standard with them toEurope, to Australia, to Japan, to LasVegas, to Hawaii and even toMongolia. My cousin even had a copyof the paper laminated and she hadher husband take an underwaterphoto from the Bahamas.

A few other Kentucky papers arenow publishing the vacation photopromotion. I don’t know if they tookthe idea from the Bardstown paper orsomewhere else. It doesn’t matter. Itonly matters that readers in severalcommunities across Kentucky appar-ently love the concept.

September is the ideal month to getthose creative juices flowing and putsome reader fun on your paper’spages. Let me know how it goes so Ican share your success stories withothers.

EXPERIMENTContinued from page 3

INAN to begin electronic delivery of adsGetting ads through the INAN sys-

tem will become easier in the next fewweeks. Letters will be sent shortly toHSPA publishers and ad directorsdetailing how INAN placed ads willbe available via the Internet, saidHSPA executive director DavidStamps.

Working with its sales partner, theKentucky Press Service, INAN willsoon begin making ads available fromthe Web site using password protectedportals. Indiana newspapers due toreceive advertising from INAN will befaxed or e-mailed notice of the ad

along with a code number for retriev-ing the ad from a special web site.

“Electronic delivery of ads is defi-nitely an improved method,” saidDavid Thompson, Kentucky PressAssociation executive director. “We’veused this system in Kentucky for sev-eral years now with great success. Weplan to implement the same system inIndiana.”

Publishers and ad directors willsoon be receiving a technical explana-tion booklet and cover letter fromHSPA on how to utilize the new deliv-ery method, said Stamps.

“We are trying to make a goodthing even better,” said Stamps.“Electronic delivery is appreciablyfaster and less labor intensive thanmailing reflective copy of the adswhich must then be shot or scanned toprepare them for publication.

“Obviously, the big advantage isgetting individual ads to the newspa-pers on time in the first place,” he said.“The new system will eliminate themad scramble that goes on when wefind out a newspaper has not receivedcopy on time to fit its publicationschedule.”

The Kentucky Press, September 2002 - Page 5

By DANA EHLSCHIDENews Bureau Director

Chris Poore hopes to hook a fewreaders with one of the state’s newestpublications.

His bait, the Kentucky FishingJournal, hit newsstands in July and sofar readers have fallen for it hook, lineand sinker.

“We had a great, overwhelmingresponse the first month,” Poore, whoserves as editor/publisher, said. “Wehad notes and e-mails from peoplesaying this is just what the stateneeds.”

The Kentucky Fishing Journal is thestate’s only magazine, produced inKentucky, that is devoted solely tofishing in the Bluegrass State, Pooresaid.

“I was tired of going to a bookstoreor newsstand and only finding maga-zines about fishing in Canada orMichigan or some place like that,” theavid fisherman proclaimed. “There areso many great places in Kentucky togo fishing and there are stories thatcan be written about them all.”

The publication sports some of thebest outdoor writers, Poore said,including Steve Vantreese, Field andStream writer Gary Garth, as well as

several great freelancer writers. The magazine is designed to offer

fishermen everything they need toknow about Kentucky fishing. “It tellsyou where to go, what to use and howto use it,” Poore said.

It provides fishing forecasts and adifferent small lake or stream will befeatured each month.

Because timeliness is importantwhen providing information on the“fish worthiness” of a lake or stream,Poore said the publication is producedon newsprint rather than the slick-white magazine quality paper thatwould take longer to print.

“The conditions are meaningless ifthey’re not out quickly,” Poore said.

The publication, which hits news-stands the first of each month, is cur-rently sold at 180 locations and Poorehopes to reel in 20 more beforeOctober.

The September issue features KevinWirth, of Crestwood, who placedeighth in the Bass Master’sTournament, which Poore called theequivalent of the PGA Master’sTournament.

Poore hopes to lure readers notonly across the state but the country aswell. “Kentucky has so much to offer

those who love to fish.”Kentucky has more navigable

waterways than another state besidesAlaska and there is a story to be toldabout each one, Poore said.

When Poore isn’t busy fishing orwriting about fishing, he serves as themedia advisor for the Kentucky Kernelat the University of Kentucky. He is

also a former Lexington Herald-Leaderregional editor and staff writer.

For more information about theKentucky Fishing Journal or to sub-scribe, call 1-800-KYFISH2 or visitwww.kfjournal.com.

Poore invites fishermen to checkout an issue. He doesn’t think you’lltoss it back.

Kentucky’s newestpublication has‘gone fishing’

The Kentucky Fishing Journal hits the newsstands the first of each month and is cur-rently sold at 180 locations.

KNNIE offers hands-on workshop for teachersThe Kentucky Network for

Newspaper in Education is offering ahands-on teacher workshop andwould encourage central and westernKentucky newspapers that are offering“Noodles makes a Boo-boo” chapterstory this fall to help market this ele-mentary teacher workshop to yourlocal elementary schools. A Noodlesworkshop house ad is being createdbut organizers wanted to get this infoout as soon as possible so you canmarket now.

KNNIE is looking for donations ofdoor prizes, trinkets and even yourstaff to help make this workshop ablast. Contact Kriss Johnson at kjohnson@kypress.org or 800-274-7355ext. 3353 to donate or get signed up to

participate. Use the following info as a house ad

or flier to schools: Newspaper inEducation teacher workshop for allelementary level teachers in westernand central Kentucky

Teachers can sign up for one of thefollowing workshops by e-mailingkjohnson@kypress.com with theirname, school, and phone number.

Western Kentucky workshop:Tuesday, Sept. 17, 4:45 p.m.-7:45 p.m.

Location: Earlington KU OperationCenter off Pennyrile Parkway (south ofMadisonville in Hopkins County). Alight dinner will be provided.

Registration deadline Sept. 11.Central/Eastern Kentucky work-

shops: Friday, Oct. 4, 9:30 a.m. -12:30

p.m. -continental breakfast includedOR,

Monday, Oct. 7, 12:30-3:30 p.m. -lunch included

Both workshops will be held atKET, 600 Cooper Drive, Lexington

Registration deadline Sept. 26.Elementary teachers plan to learn

how to use your local newspaper toteach across the curriculum. Dailyreading and hands-on activities withthe newspaper improve students’writing skills and strengthen readingcomprehension.

While attending you’ll find out howto get your students involved in thesecond annual statewide chapter story,“Noodles makes a Boo-boo” beingoffered by 50 Kentucky newspapers.

Also plan to have fun learning withother teachers.

These workshops will be presentedby Kriss Johnson, Chairperson for theKentucky Network of Newspaper inEducation. Johnson gives NIE teacherworkshops and presentations acrossthe country and frequently writes fornational publications. Johnson worksas the Educational Outreach Managerat the Lexington Herald-Leader, servesas a Kentucky Press Association boardmember and committee chair; and is amember of the Parade MagazineAdvisory Board and the Knight RidderNIE Advisory Board. This Kentuckyliteracy project and teacher workshopsare being sponsored by LG&E EnergyFoundation and Kentucky Press

Page 6 - The Kentucky Press, September 2002

Legal notices are outlined for better understandingBy KIM GREENE KPA General CounselDinsmore & Shohl

Hotline callers occa-sionally ask about legalrequirements fornotices that publicagencies must publishin the newspaper. By law, Kentuckyrequires certain legal notices or adver-tisements be published in newspapers.The Kentucky Revised Statutes definethe qualifications of newspapers forpublication of the required notices,publication area, specifics of therequired notices (i.e., times and peri-ods for publication, contents or form ofpublication, person responsible forpublication, rates and proof of publica-tion), rates for publication, and penal-ties for failure to comply with therequirements. This column outlinesthose requirements for you.

General Times and Periods ofPublication

Generally speaking (and unless oth-erwise provided for by law), the timesand periods of required legal advertis-ing depend on whether the notice is:(1) of a completed act, (2) for the pur-pose of informing the public of animpending deadline, (3) for the pur-pose of informing the public of animpending judicial sale or of delin-quent taxes, or (4) for the purpose ofinforming the public of an upcomingelection or hearing.

(1) Completed act noticeLegal notice for the purpose of

informing the public of a completedact, such as the adoption of an ordi-nance, statement or report, must onlybe published one (1) time within thirty(30) days after completion of the act.

(2) Impending deadline noticeWhen the legal notice is to inform

the public of a deadline in which toexercise a legal right or act, such as fil-ing a petition, submitting a bid orlodging an objection, the legal adver-tisement must be published at leastonce (it may be published more thanonce). Publication must occur at leastseven (7) and no more than twenty-one(21) days before the deadline for theact or event which is the subject of thenotice.

(3) Sale of property or notice ofdelinquent taxes

If the purpose of the legal notice oradvertisement is to inform the publicof the impending sale of property or toreport delinquent taxes, Kentucky lawrequires the notice to be publishedonce a week for three (3) weeks unlessthe advertisement is for a city of thefirst class. Cities of the first class are

only required to publish the legalnotice or advertisement once precededby a one-half (1/2) page notice ofadvertisement the preceding week.

(4) Other legal noticesUnless expressly provided other-

wise by statute, all other required legalnotices, such as notice of an upcomingelection or public hearing, must bepublished at least once (they may bepublished two (2) or more times) notless than seven (7) days nor more than21 days prior to the occurrence of theact or event which is the subject of theadvertisement.

Specific Required Legal Noticesand Contents

Among the matters public agenciesare statutorily required to publish are:financial statements, county/city bud-gets, school district budgets, bids,administrative regulations, electionballots, judicial sales and hearingnotices.

Financial StatementsSchool districts, cities, counties, or

subdivisions or districts less than acounty which “collect, receive, havethe custody, control or disbursementof public funds” must prepare andpublish “an itemized, sworn statementof the funds collected, received, heldor disbursed by him during the fiscalyear just closed . . . .” KRS 424.220(1)(emphasis added).

The statement must include thetotal amount of funds collected,received, and dispersed identifying theindividual source of the funds or thepayee and the purpose for whichfunds were expended. Only totalamounts paid to individuals on salaryor commission and public utilitiesmust be shown. Salaries of non-elect-ed county employees must only beshown as a lump sum expenditure bycategory. For example, lump sumsalary expenses for the street depart-ment and jail must be listed, not sim-ply a total for all county employees.Similarly, salaries of school teachersmust simply be shown as a lump sumfor the school district, not individualteachers or schools. The school boardand fiscal court must maintain a list ofindividual salaries for employeeswhich the newspaper may choose topublish as a news item.

The financial statement must alsoinclude or have as an attachment a cer-tificate from any banks where fundshave been deposited in the past year.The certificate must show the balanceof the accounts, if any.

Financial statements must be pub-lished within sixty (60) days after theclose of the fiscal year. These districts

and agencies may elect to publishmonthly or quarterly statementsinstead of annual statements. If so,publication must occur within thirty(30) days after the end of the month orquarter.

Municipally-owned electric, gas orwater systems may elect to publish acertified audit rather than the financialstatement. Likewise, a city maychoose to publish its audit in lieu of afinancial statement.

City or County Budgets“Immediately following” the adop-

tion of an annual budget, the clerk ofthe city or county is required to pub-lish a summary of the budget or thetext of the budget ordinance.

School District BudgetsUpon filing of a school district bud-

get with the clerk of the taxing authori-ty for the district, the board of educa-tion is responsible for publishing itsbudget in the qualified newspaper forthe district.

ElectionsLegal notice for an election must be

published and should state the timeand purpose of the election.

Bids or salesAt a minimum, the general statuto-

ry chapter on legal notices requiresthat a city, county, district, board orcommission of a city or county, thesheriff or county clerk must publish anadvertisement for bids for any con-tract, lease or other agreement formaterials (except perishable meat, fish,and vegetables) with an expenditure inexcess of ten thousand dollars($10,000). Local fiscal court rules mayrequire publication of bids for expens-es under ten thousand dollars($10,000). There are several specificstatutes dealing with different types ofbids which should also be consulted.

A legal notice concerning bids or asale must describe what is to be bid orsold, the time and place of the sale,and any special terms pertinent to thesale.

Any governmental unit seeking tosell general obligation bonds or rev-enue bonds must first publish newspa-per advertisements for bids in the pub-lication area of the governmental unitand so that publication providesstatewide notice. If the bonds are inthe principle amount of $10 million ormore, there must also be an advertise-ment for bids in a publication havinggeneral circulation among bond buy-ers. This requirement is not applicableto bonds issued for the purpose ofhelping with construction, renovationor purchase of new or existing hous-ing.

Hearings, meetings or examina-tions

Notice of hearings, meetings orexaminations must state the time,place and purpose.

The statute specifically requiresnotice of hearings by the Public ServiceCommission where the hearing couldresult in a rate increase or reduction ordiscontinuance of service by a publicutility. The Public ServiceCommission establishes the regula-tions for newspaper publication in theareas that will be affected, and thepublic utility applying for the ratechange must place the ad.

Likewise, when a railroad applies tothe Railroad Commission for a rateincrease or reduction or discontinu-ance of service, the RailroadCommission must advertise notice ofthe hearing in newspapers in the areasthat will be affected. Notice of hear-ings, meetings or examinations muststate the time, place and purpose.

Government actionIf the law provides affected persons

a specified time period after action bya governmental agency and publica-tion of such rights, the legal noticemust state the time and place whenaction by the affected public membersmay be taken.

Local administrative regulationsAny regulation intended to limit

liability or impose restrictions onmembers of the general public is notvalid until publication as a legal notice.

Alternatives to publicationA public agency might attempt to

meet its duty to publish legal noticesby posting or otherwise disseminatingthe required information. For exam-ple, a public agency may attempt tofulfill its publication requirement byposting on its website or on an agencybulletin board. Such “publication,”however, does not satisfy the agency’sstatutory burden. Currently, Kentuckylaw provides that legal advertising isonly satisfied by publication in a quali-fied newspaper.

A limited exception to publicationin a qualified newspaper does existsfor cities. Specifically, when the cost ofpublication is greater than the cost ofpostage, supplies and reproductioncosts, a city may elect to mail a copy ofthe legal advertisement to each resi-dence within the required publicationarea.

PenaltiesKentucky law does provide for

See NOTICES on Page 7

The Kentucky Press, September 2002 - Page 7

penalties when public agencies fail tomake required publications of legalnotices. For example, any regulationor ordinance required to be published,but adopted without meeting therequirements of the publicationstatutes, may be voided by the courtsupon application by any citizen of thestate. Additionally, each violation ofthe legal notice provisions may subjectthe public agency to fines betweenfifty and five hundred dollars ($50 -$500). Finally, failure to comply withthe publication provisions can result inthe award of attorneys’ fees and coststo any citizen who successfully sues anon-compliant agency.

RatesNewspapers are entitled to charge

for publication of legal notices. Therate charged for publication cannotexceed the lowest rate per column inchthe newspaper charges advertisers forcomparable matter. The rate chargedmust be computed as, and the adver-tisement insertion no larger than, nine(9) point type on ten (10) point leading.

If a display ad is required orrequested by the governmental unit,the newspaper may charges its estab-lished display rate.

Qualifications of NewspapersA review of the opinions of the

Attorney General’s office shows thelargest area of contention with respectto legal advertising involves which

newspaper in a given area is qualifiedto publish legal notices. If publicationis legally required, it must occur in a“qualified newspaper.” To be a quali-fied newspaper, the newspaper mustbe of “regular issue,” have a “bonafide circulation” in the publicationarea, and meet news content thresh-olds.

Regular issueA newspaper is of “regular issue” if

it is published regularly (at least onceper week), for at least fifty (50) weeksduring the calendar year as prescribedby its mailing permit and has been sopublished for the immediately preced-ing two (2) year period. If the newspa-per meets all of the criteria to be “regu-lar issue” except for the two (2) yearpublication requirement, the newspa-per can still qualify if it is the onlynewspaper in the publication area andhas a paid circulation equal to at leastten percent (10%) of the population ofthe publication area.

Bona fide circulationFor purposes of the legal notice pro-

visions, bona fide circulation meansgeneral circulation of the newspaper inthe publication area, maintenance of adefinite price not less than fifty percent(50%) of its published price, and pay-ment by at least fifty (50%) of thosewho receive a copy of the newspaper.

News ContentThe newspaper must consist, at a

minimum, of four (4) pages excludingany cover and devote at least twenty-five percent (25%) of total columnspace in at least one-half (1/2) of its

issues to news content. It must be thetype of newspaper to which the gener-al public turns for current political,religious, commercial and socialevents, advertisements and othernotices.

Publication areaPublic agencies are required to pub-

lish their legal notices in appropriatepublication areas. With respect tolegal advertising, publication areameans “the city, county, district, orother local area for which an advertise-ment is required by law to be made.”A newspaper is considered publishedwithin the publication area if it main-tains “its principal office in the are forthe purpose of gathering news andsoliciting advertisements and othergeneral business of newspaper publi-cations, and has a second-class mailingpermit issued for that office.” KRS424.120(1)(a). Printing or reproductionof the newspaper outside of the publi-cation area does not render a newspa-per ineligible for complying with therequirements for legal notice publish-ing.

Multiple qualified newspapers inpublication area

If a publication area has more thanone newspaper meeting the qualifica-tion requirements, the newspaper withthe largest paid circulation average foreach issue “as shown in its publishedstatement of ownership as filed onOctober 1 for the publication area” isthe qualified newspaper. KRS424.120(1)(d). Newspapers publishedoutside of Kentucky are not eligible to

carry legal notices if there is a newspa-per published in the Kentucky countywhich is qualified.

No newspaper in countyIf no newspaper in the county or

publication area is qualified, then anyrequired legal notices must be pub-lished in the newspaper with thelargest bona fide circulation in thatcounty.

Multiple counties in publicationarea

If the publication area consists of adistrict encompassing multiple coun-ties, then publication must occur in thequalified newspaper for each separatecounty.

State agenciesLegal notices required to be pub-

lished by state agencies or officers, andintended for statewide notice, must bepublished in such newspaper or news-papers “as will provide reasonablestatewide coverage.” KRS 424.180.Determination of which newspaperswill provide for reasonable statewidecoverage are at the discretion of theFinance and Administration Cabinet.

If you ever have questions aboutpublication of legal notices, don’t hesi-tate to call your Hotline attorneys.

Jon L. Fleischaker: (502) 540-2319Kimberly K. Greene: (502)

540-2350R. Kenyon Meyer: (502) 540-2325

Cheryl R. Winn (502) 540-2334DINSMORE & SHOHL, LLPSwitchboard: (502) 540-2300

Fax: (502)

NOTICESContinued from page 6

WKPA fall convention setfor Sept. 26 in Gilbertsville

Newspaper representatives fromacross West Kentucky will gather nearKentucky Lake Sept. 27 for the WestKentucky Press Association FallConvention.

Registration for the one-day eventat the Ramada Inn in Gilbertsville willbegin at 9 a.m.

After registration, NNA postalchair, Max Heath, of LandmarkCommunity Newspapers, will updatethose in attendance on the new postalregulations that went into effectrecently. His presentation titled“MAXimize Your Postage Savings,”will offer tricks of the trade to cutcosts, improve delivery and stay out oftrouble, Dr. Bob McGaughey, execu-tive director of WKPA said.

Following a mid-morning break,WKPA President Vyron Mitchell andMcGaughey will lead a membership

panel discussion on Webpages.“We will just be discussing what

newspapers are doing and where thisis going,” McGaughey said.

The panel discussion will be fol-lowed by a buffet lunch in the hotel’sdining room. Afterwards, second dis-trict senate candidates will each speakto the members. Bob Leeper,Republican from Paducah, and LarrySanderson, Democrat from Paducah,will give a brief speech on their candi-dacy as well as take questions from theaudience.

There is no pre-registrationrequired. Those attending pay $20 atthe door, which includes buffet andcoffee/donuts during the break.

For more information contactMitchell at the Cadiz Record at (270)522-6605 or McGaughey at (270) 762-6874.

What’s happening at your newspaper?We’d love to hear about it.

Are you doing anything fun,exciting or different at your

newspaper?

Have you recently added to yourstaff?

Has someone retired?

Have you won an award?

Let us know so we can tell othersabout it!

E-mail your stories to Dana Ehlschide, KPA NewsBureau Director, at dehlschide@kypress.com by the 20th

of each month.

Page 8 - The Kentucky Press, September 2002

C-J named International Perspective Award finalist

Halfway through the year, Indianastate government’s attempts to curtailtobacco usage and to find owners ofmore than $100 million in unclaimedproperty have Indiana NewspapersAdvertising network (INAN) salesheaded for a record year.

INAN is operated by the KentuckyPress Service from KPA offices inFrankfort. It was formed in April,1998, to replace the Indiana DisplayAdvertising Service operated by theHoosier State Press Association untilthe mid-1990s. KPS contracts withHSPA to continue operation of theKPS network.

With June figures now in, HSPA’sad placement arm has sent more than$680,000 (net of agency commissions)in advertising to member papers. Withthe traditional heaviest end of theadvertising year still ahead, INAN ison a pace to break its previous bestsales year total of $1.1 million set lastyear.

Two big hitters in the INAN lineuphave provided a lot of the firepower.The Indiana Tobacco Prevention andCessation Agency has placed $111,000in advertising through INAN intoIndiana newspapers and the IndianaAttorney General’s office another$150,000.

“These are the type of sales INANwas created to handle,” said HSPAexecutive director David Stamps.“Both of these agencies wanted towork with someone who understoodthe Indiana newspaper market andhow to reach into every corner of thestate. Nobody knows Indiana newspa-pers better than HSPA and its salesarm, INAN.”

July looks to be another strongmonth with Attorney General SteveCarter’s office placing a $188,000schedule with INAN. The press associ-ation placement agency also hassecured business from the IndianaState Fair for the month which willhelp boost overall sales volume.

Although the results of anti-tobaccoefforts will be more difficult to mea-sure and quantify, the IndianaAttorney General’s office has alreadyfelt the effect of their beefed up ad pro-gram in newspapers this year.Running three year’s worth of namesand purchasing display ads instead oflegal space have made a definite dif-ference, report AG agency officials.

“Susan Nelson (director of commu-nications) said the unclaimed propertydivision had been getting a goodresponse from the lists – better thanyears past,” said INAN account execu-tive Jeff Stutesman.

When completed, newspapers willhave published 30,000 unclaimedproperties.

Government’s businessdrives INAN sales up

KPS offers candidatesnetwork of advertising

We are excitedabout enteringthe political sea-son at theKentucky PressService. Alreadywe have 70 news-papers who haveagreed to partici-pate in the 2002-2003 Campaign Advertising Plan.

The plan offers a network ofnewspapers the chance to give anindividual candidate one free ad foreach two ads purchased. The pro-gram is only offered to candidatesplacing through Kentucky PressService. We plan to use the programduring this fall’s general election andcarry it through next spring and thenoffer it again next fall.

This means the candidates get aneven better deal than the oneinvoice, one call service alreadyoffered by KPS. We plan to do thelayout and design if necessary andplace the ads in as many newspapersas available. The entire processshould be so easy for our candidatesthat they will be happy to place adsin Kentucky newspapers.

We have placed inserts for twopolitical candidates so far. Theprocess was smooth and the staffhere appreciates the cooperation of

all of the newspa-pers during theseplacements. Theentire idea behindKPS is to encour-age more place-ment of newspa-per advertisingand of course, theeasier that we can

make the process on the candidates,then hopefully the more money willbe spent in Kentucky newspapers.That’s why we’re here.

One of the things that we learnedduring the placement of one of theinserts recently was that a couple ofnewspapers had changed printingplants and forgot to call us. Pleasemake sure that you do call the officewhenever you have a change inplants so that we can ship inserts tothe proper location. We don’t wantto hold up receipt of your dollars.

For anyone who hasn’t signed upfor the political campaign program,please give me a call at 502-227-7992to make sure that your newspaper isincluded.

August 2002 has been anotherrecord setting month for the staff atKPS. This program is just anotherway of trying to make placementsrise even higher for Kentucky news-papers.

AdvertisingPlus

By Teresa RevlettKPS Director of Sales

Attempts to curtail tobaccouse led to advertising dollars

The Louisville Courier-Journal isamong 10 newspapers named as final-ists in the inaugural year of theAssociated Press Managing Editorsgroup’s International PerspectiveAward.

The APME award was created inthe aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks toencourage papers across the country todevote even more attention to newsfrom abroad and to find ways to relatethat news to local communities.

The Courier-Journal was selectedfor its coverage of the aftermath of theSept. 11 terrorist attacks that sought tohelp readers understand a cultural and

religious divide widened by theattacks.

There were 56 entries in this year’scontest ranging from some of thecountry’s largest metropolitan publica-tions to small community-orienteddailies.

“It’s gratifying to see this level ofinterest in the first year of this award,”APME President Caesar Andrewsreported.

“We found that dozens of newspa-pers all over the country, large andsmall, are creatively connecting theircommunities to international affairs,”said APME Vice President Ed Jones,who directed the judging.

Winners in the competition’s twocirculation categories will beannounced at the APME annual con-ference in Baltimore Oct. 23-26.

The APME is made up of editorsand managing editors of the AP’smore than 1,500 member newspapers.

The other finalists among newspa-pers 50,000 circulation and above are:

•The Forum, Fargo, N.D., for aseries examining the impact ofSudanese refugees migrating to Fargo.

•The News and Observer, Raleigh,N.C., for stories bringing the urgencyof the Israeli-Palestinian conflict toNorth Carolina.

•The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, foran investigation into the demise of thesteel industry and the role played byforeign competitors.

•Los Angeles Times, for coverageof China’s entry into the World TradeOrganization and the economic impacton the United States and the world.

•The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,

for creation of a weekly special sectionmaking global news local.

•The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.,for coverage of local Arab and Muslimcommunities.

•The Seattle Times, for a 17-partreport of how an Algerian boy evolveda terrorist.

Finalists in the under 50,000 circula-tion category are:

•The Anniston (Ala.) Star, for an in-depth look at the flight of local jobs toMexico.

•The Greeley (Colo.) Tribune, forusing a feature approach on severalinternational entries, and particularlywork by the newspaper’s religionwriter.

The contest covers work publishedor pursued from July 1, 2001, to June30.

Newspaper is among 10nominated in award’sinaugural year

The Kentucky Press,September 2002 - Page 9

The three Martin County newspa-per employees who were found incontempt and fined $500 each forviolating an order to cease publica-tion under the name MountainCitizen, have filed a counterclaimagainst Inez businessman JohnR.Triplett.

Triplett, who incorporated theInez newspaper’s name along withother variations, has sued the paperfor using the names he claims toown.

In their counterclaim, owner LisaStayton, Publisher Roger Smith andEditor Gary Ball are asking thatTriplett’s claim to the name and allvariations be dismissed because itwas causing confusion with theirbusiness. They also claim that it istrademark infringement under theLanham Act as well as common law,and they request compensation fordamages as well as attorney’s fees.

The counterclaim states thatStayton has published a weeklynewspaper of general circulation inMartin County under the nameMartin County-Tug Valley MountainCitizen since 1990 and therefore theyhave built a trademark for the name.

In the counterclaim, Stayton statesthat Triplett is guilty of trademarkinfringement based on the informa-tion and belief that he “intends topublish a competing publication” inthe same geographic area as hernewspaper. The use of the corporate

names by Triplett, she claims, wouldcause confusion, mistake or deceivethe public as to the source or originof goods being provided. The news-paper’s officials allege in the claimthat Triplett incorporated the namesfor the sole purpose of “harassingand intimidating” the newspaper.

The counterclaim says thatTriplett was at all times aware of thecontractual relationships the news-paper had with vendors and adver-tisers and that the actions taken byhim have affected those contractualrelationships. The claim alleges thatTriplett has interfered with thosecontractual relationships and that thenewspaper was damaged in anamount to be determined by thecourt.

Stayton and her employees arerequesting that Triplett’s complaintbe dismissed; for damage awards inamounts to be determined by thecourt; an order requiring Triplett todissolve corporate letters to namesnot confusingly to the trade namesand trademark of the defendants; anaward of costs including attorney’sfees; for a trial by jury of all issuesand for anything else they may fur-ther be entitled.

Newspaper owners claim Triplettwas retaliating because they report-ed on the continuing problems withthe county’s water system. Triplettwas the chairman of the water board.

Inez newspaper files suitin legal battle over name

In a response to the appeal, Summestated the city was concerned aboutthe public disclosure of the recordsrequest as “a former employee/cityadministrator,” he noted Moehlman“was placed on paid administrativeleave by the city…” He said the filealso contained information compiledin the administrative decision to placeMoehlman on leave.

It is the opinion of the AG’s officethat the City of Ludlow violated KRS61.880(1) in failing to respond toSchroeder’s request in writing andwithin three business days, in failingto cite the specific exception authoriz-ing the withholding of each of therecords that she requested, and in fail-ing to briefly explain how the excep-

tion applies to each of the recordswithheld. They also opined that thecity improperly relied on the privacyexception in issuing a blanket denial ofMs. Schroeder’s request for specificpersonnel records. They also found thecity erred in withholding records doc-umenting legal fees incurred by thecity in defending Moehlman’s suitagainst it, and records documentingMoehlman’s final status with the city,such a as termination letter, severanceagreement, or a letter of resignation.

“We find that the city articulated nolegal basis to support its denial, andthat unless it can do so by citing one ormore of the exceptions to publicinspection codified by KRS 61.8781)(a)through (l), and explaining the excep-tion’s applications to the record with-held, it must also disclose thoserecords.”

OPINIONSContinued from page 4

photography and in your design. Andin no way would I slight the advertis-ing departments here but theExcellence in Kentucky Newspapers -2002 is news-oriented. (By the way, addepartments, comments about you allare just as abundant. I remember oneNew Mexico judge telling me this yearthat she’d love to come work for anyKentucky newspaper advertisingdepartment.)

David Spencer worked diligentlyon designing some artwork for thecompetition. I wanted this first year, atleast, to stand out so that you’d takenotice. And I imagine David Greer,Dana Ehlschide and Sue Cammackwere glad to see the first mailing com-pleted. That meant no more was Ichanging a word here or there andsending them a new file to proof, edit,correct, change, add to, delete from.

The awards will be announced andpresented Friday, Jan. 24, at the clos-ing banquet of the 2003 KPA WinterConvention (Jan. 23 and 24 at theHurstbourne Hotel and ConventionCenter.) I think there will be a newlook with the award plaques as well.We’ve asked the company that doesthe plaques to come up with four orfive new plaque designs by mid-October. Those will be shown to theKPA Board at its October Retreat anda new type plaque probably willemerge.

If by chance you’re reading this anddidn’t see the packet of information on“Excellence in Kentucky Newspapers -2002” then you can have your own.

Go to www.kypress.com/excel-lence2002 and you can download thecomplete pdf packet of information.

The competition period is for any-thing published between October 1,2001, and September 30, 2002. Andentries must be postmarked by Friday,

October 11, 2002.Best of luck!

* * * * *

Actually, the “Excellence inKentucky Newspapers” title was notmy first choice. We’d been discussingnames with the Board members and inAugust, I e-mailed several people witheight possible names and two spots forthem to submit their own title.

Mine was the one I preferred: “TheContest Formerly Known as the KPAFall Newspaper Contest and the BetterNewspaper Contest, Rolled into One.”

That didn’t go over well, though.

* * * * *

Those who got the mailing saw acolorful entry packet. And if you’vegotten anything from KPA this year,chances are you’ve received somethingin color as well.

That’s because of our color print-er....FREE color printer at that. Andyou can possibly get one, too.

We struck upon a deal last year atwww.freecolorprinters.com, offering afree Xerox printer. All it required wasfilling out an application form. Thatwas submitted to a “committee” whothen selected the recipients.

Our first application last Septemberwas turned down but 90 days later wetried again and succeeded.

Yes, the printer was free. Withsome strings attached. We have tomeet the monthly minimum numberof copies and we have to order all inksupplies through www.freecolorprint-ers.com. That’s all required for the firstthree years. After that, the printer isours to keep, no further stringsattached.

If you’re interested in a color print-er, especially one that is “free,” thengo to www.freecolorprinters.com andgive it a try.

No harm in trying.

EXCELLENCEContinued from page 1

FOR SALE3 unit, quarter fold, News King press

All electrical units with hoist. Will sell as whole, in units or for parts.

Make offer Call Patsy Judd at 270-864-5689

or Dave Davenport at 270-866-3191.

BY DANA EHLSCHIDENews Bureau Director

The recent “graduates” atGeorgetown College weren’t wearinggowns and mortarboards, but theywere wearing smiles as they complet-ed their three-week journalism train-ing course. There were 21 students,who completed the entire course, par-ticipating in the graduation luncheonceremonies Aug. 2.

Students, who ranged in age fromlate teens to mid-60s, traveled fromfive different states to attend the bootcamp taught by Indiana UniversitySoutheast journalism professor Jim St.Clair.

St. Clair’s teaching techniquesreceived positive feedback from theattendees. “Mr. St. Clair’s teachingstyle is excellent, very easy going andreinforcing, at a good pace for eachstudent,” one student wrote in a sur-vey given at the end of boot camp.

During the three-week period St.Clair moves through his curriculum ata fast, intense pace teaching thecampers how to sharpen their writingas well as better techniques to use inwriting, constructing leads and inter-viewing.

“The ‘throwing us in the water’approach to writing was very usefuland will help me throughout,” anotherstudent said of St. Clair’s teachingstyle.

St. Clair said he values the experi-ences at boot camp. “Teaching the bootcamp was a great experience for me. Itwas a real pleasure working a group ofsuch eager and dedicated learners.They worked hard and it’s clearlyreflected in the volume and quality ofthe work they produced in the threeweeks.”

David Greer, KPA member servicesdirector, said this year’s camp fol-lowed in the successful footsteps oflast year’s.

“I was very pleased with this year’sboot camp. The students were eagerand enthusiastic. Jim St. Clair, ourteacher, was great again — just as hewas last year. And the facilities atGeorgetown College were excellent,”Greer said.

The students wrote a profile of afellow classmate and attended a ScottCounty Fiscal Court meeting, whichthey were required to turn into a story.They were also told to go out and seekat least one topic for a feature story.Some of those stories along with the

profiles and candid photos from theboot camp have been compiled into a14-page newspaper, the PeriwinklePicayune, included with this month’sPress.

Upon completion of boot camp, thestudents, who weren’t alreadyemployed by a newspaper, left feelingmore encouraged about their ability toland a job in the industry.

“Yes, I feel confident that my writ-ing is acceptable for any medium afterthis experience,” one camper wrote.

Students who were already work-ing at a newspaper said they also tookhome valuable experience.

“In both boot camps, we were ableto give some valuable training to peo-ple who were already working at KPAmember papers. They were already onthe job but didn’t have much formaljournalism training,” Greer said.“Those folks felt they learned a lotfrom their boot camp experience. Oneeven remarked that he learned more inthe first two days of boot camp than hedid in his first several months on thejob.”

Just weeks after the boot campended, there have already been successstories.

Greg Gapsis, a boot camp graduatefrom Indiana, has landed a job as ageneral assignment reporter at TheJeffersonville (Ind.) Evening News.During his first week on staff, Gapsis’swork made the front-page. His firstassignment, on the first day of work,was to cover a city council budgetmeeting.

Campers Gloria Conly, Jay Cason

and Brian Black have been doing free-lance writing.

Conly, of Cynthiana, has had threefreelance pieces published in three dif-ferent counties and will be doing free-lance work for the Bourbon Times inthe near future, but said she is stilllooking for “the” job.

“I’ve started to develop a columnfor Times, and will do features forthem,” Conly said. “One is in theworks.”

Cason has been working on somefreelance stories for The AndersonNews. He has completed four articles,

two on civic meetings, a commentary,on the U.S. 127 yard sale and anotherfeature, which is a reworked storyfrom boot camp about theAppalachian Trail.

Greer said that nearly half of thecampers from last year began workingin journalism within a few months ofthe camp’s conclusion. Greer is pleasethat four 2002 campers have alreadyhad their work published and said intime he is sure there will be severalothers accepting newspaper jobsand/or improving their free-lancecareers within the next few months.

Page 10 - The Kentucky Press, September 2002

First time position offered in 40 years!Editor Search beginning for candidates to succeed highly regarded 40-year veteran

editor (moving to 12 month emeritus assignment scheduled for 1/03) at award winningsouthern Kentucky daily.

We are a respected community newspaper serving a progressive market within 90miles of Nashville and Louisville. Our penetration in the core market approaches 70%;our brand is strong and respected in our community and we are committed to applyingprinciples of the Readership Initiative to our newspaper.

We seek another leader who shares not only our vision of the role and responsibilityof serving our readers but also can match the work ethic and energy level of our organi-zation. We require significant, relevant experience demonstrated by growth into leader-ship roles within daily newspapers.

Ideal candidate will have at least three years experience as the top news executive ofa daily newspaper. A B.A. or a B. S. degree is required. Our company offers competi-tive salary, bonus package and great benefits--including outstanding professional devel-opment opportunities and relocation package for the successful candidate. Most of allwe offer the opportunity to work and live in a remarkable community that appreciatesit's newspaper.

Send your resume and a copy of the paper you currently edit to:Keith W. Ponder, Publisher

Glasgow Daily TimesP.O. Box 1179

Glasgow KY 42141Or send your resume electronically to kwponder@cnhi.com and follow up with your

current edition by mail.

St. Clair, Ensor Library a hit with boot campers

The 2002 KPA boot camp graduates, along with instructor Jim St. Clair (front row, third from right), stand outside Ensor Library onthe Georgetown College Campus where all of their classes were held July 15 - Aug. 2.

Graduates havealready landed jobs

The Kentucky Press, September 2002 - Page 11

By DANA EHLSCHIDENews Bureau Director

With a nation still at war and stillrecovering from the events thatunfolded the morning of Sept. 11,2001, newspaper editors across thecountry are struggling with the taskof deciding how to approach the one-year mark.

While it is nothing unusual forKentucky dailies to report news fromacross the country and world, week-lies tend to focus on the headlinesconcerning their coverage area. Thatchanged on Sept. 11 as weekliesacross the state searched for a localconnection or way to report on theevents in New York, WashingtonD.C. and Pennsylvania. Now, a yearlater, Kentucky newspapers are onceagain focusing much of their newspa-pers toward those events.

Special sections seem to be theapproach editors are using toacknowledge the Sept. 11 date.

The Messenger in Madisonvillewill publish a special eight-page sec-tion on Sept. 11 without advertising.It will reflect on how the world haschanged in the paper’s circulationarea in the past year as a result of thetragic events, said Tom Clinton, exec-utive editor.

“There will be no pictures of thefalling towers,” Clinton said. “We donot plan to revisit the tragedy, butrather we want to look at whatimpact it has had on the lives ourreaders.”

The front page will also featurestories and related photos on the ter-ror attacks with references to the spe-cial section.

“We are making a special effort tomake sure readers don’t presume we

are trying to profit from this horribletragedy beyond the normal sale ofour newspaper and regular ROPadvertising,” Clinton said.

Editor Ron Jenkins said TheGleaner in Henderson is also plan-ning to devote eight pages to thetopic. The Gleaner is planning topublish a special eight-page wrap-around on Sept. 11 without anyadvertising in that section, Jenkinssaid.

“It will, of course, be heavily local,as was the eight-page special wrapwe published on Sept. 12, 2001,” hesaid.

The regular edition of the paperon Sept. 11 will also feature relatedstories and Jenkins said he is certainthey will also carry lead-up stories tothe date as well as some follow-upstories afterwards.

“We do not intend to peddleadvertising space on that day in con-nection with the eight-page specialwrap or the regular section,” Jenkinssaid.

The Kentucky New Era inHopkinsville will be including alocally produced 20-page section inits Sept. 11 edition entitled “9/11plus one, A Different World.”

“The proximity of our neighborsat Fort Campbell, and their criticalrole in Operation Enduring Freedom,most notably in Afghanistan, makesthis a particularly compelling specialproject for our communities,” saidEditor David Riley.

Riley said local advertisers havenot hesitated in being a part of thespecial section, although the sectionis positioned as an editorial product,with advertising geared towarddefraying production costs.

Special sections are also plannedin weeklies throughout the state.

The Central Kentucky News-Journal in Campbellsville, whichpublishes on Mondays andThursdays, is doing a special sectionthat will be published on Monday,Sept. 9 and Wednesday, Sept. 11.

The section will include a salute tolocal law enforcement and a salute tolocal military personnel.

“We have asked for readers’ sub-missions, their thoughts and feelingsabout 9/11 and we’ve asked childrento submit drawings that reflect theirfeelings about the day,” said EditorBeth Foster.

The deadline for turning in thoseitems was Aug. 26, which gave thenewspaper’s employees time to gothrough the numerous submissions.

“The News-Journal publishes aspecial B-section once a month called‘Focus.’ The section takes on a differ-ent theme each month,” Foster said.“The special 9/11 section is theSeptember ‘Focus.’ We are calling it‘Focus on 9/11.’ ”

Besides using the pages of theirnewspaper as a way of honoring theevents of last September, the News-Journal along with a local radio sta-tion is sponsoring a community can-dlelight vigil complete with localmarching bands and fireworks. Theevent, held at the city park, will endwith the lighting of candles and theplaying of the National Anthem.

The Meade County Messenger isplanning a dedicated page with noadvertisements, said Editor PatBowen. They are soliciting citizeninput in the form of stories, poemsand remembrances. The paper willhit the stands Wednesday, Sept. 11.

Kentucky dailies, weekliesplan special Sept. 11 editions

The awards will be presented dur-ing Saturday’s luncheon. During thattime the Kentucky photographer of theyear, the videographer of the year, thestudent photographer of the year andthe sports photographer of the yearwill be named.

Sam Abell, renowned veteranNational Geographic Society photog-rapher will be the featured speaker.Abell received formalized training at

the University of Kentucky, graduat-ing in 1969. He even did a newspaperinternship in Louisville at Courier-Journal. Following his graduation,Abell began doing freelance photo-graphic stories for The NationalGeographic Society. He joined the staffin 1993.

“This is a big coo for us to get him,”Imel said. “He is a very renownedphotographer with deep roots inKentucky.”

Local vendors will be on hand allday Saturday for those in attendanceto browse through.

On Sunday the Flying Short Coursewill begin. You must be registered toattend the Flying Short Course toattend Friday and Saturday’s events.

“This is a huge weekend for us,”Imel said. “We encourage anyone withan interest in photography to comeout. There will be a wealth of greatphotographers, videographers andpeople who make up photojournalismin attendance.”

To find out more information aboutany of the events visit www.knpa.orgor call Imel at 1-800-599-6397 ext. 348.

KNPAContinued from page 3

KWC offersjournalismdegree

In the next three to four years, edi-tors and publishers will begin seeingthe name Kentucky Wesleyan Collegebeside the phrase “JournalismDegree” on resumes from potentialemployees.

That is due to the new degree ofstudy offered by the Owensboro col-lege beginning this semester.

Michael Fagan, academic dean, saidKentucky Wesleyan hopes to see thefirst graduates of the program in 2006or 2007.

KWC hired Dr. Momo Rogers, orig-inaly from West Africa and who mostrecently spent time at SoutheasternIllinois University, to teach the jour-nalism courses.

Only one class in journalism isbeing offered this semester, Fagansaid, but that number will grow asmore students begin enrolling in theprogram.

“We want to create a journalismprogram well integrated in liberalarts,” Fagan said.

He said it is their goal for studentsto have the necessary courses in jour-nalism to be professionally competent,but also have more courses outside thefield of journalism.

He said KWC will produce journal-ists with interests in internationalissues.

Fagan said the college has conduct-ed a “fair amount of research andplanning” before implementing theprogram.

“There has been a steady streamyear after year of kids coming in want-ing to major in journalism,” he said.

There is a strong communicationsdepartment and English departmentalready in place at KWC, Fagan said,and the journalism classes will be anice fit to those departments whichalready offer degrees in related fieldssuch as public relations and broadcast-ing.

“This just seemed like the naturalthing to add,” Fagan said. “It will alsohelp us enroll a few more students.”

In the next four years, Fagan hopesthe total number of journalism majorsat KWC will reach between 25 and 30.

The school already has a newspa-per, The Panagram, and journalismmajors will be able to get hands onexperience there. He also hopes stu-dents will be able to seek internshipswith surrounding newspapers.

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Page 12 - The Kentucky Press, September 2002

completed her master’s degree in masscommunications.

Backus named to vacancyat Paintsville newspaper

Marty Backus Sr., publisher of TheAppalachian News-Express, wasrecently named as publisher of ThePaintsville Herald.

Backus will serve as publisher forboth publications. He becomes thefourth publisher of the Paintsvillepaper in 18 months and replacesRobert Neeley, who resigned.

The Pikeville and Paintsville papersare both owned by LancasterNewspapers of Gadsden, Ala.

C-J religion reporter winswriting award

Peter Smith, who covers religion forthe Courier-Journal, has won an awardfrom the American Academy ofReligion for in-depth reporting on reli-gion.

Five examples of work submittedfor the contest included Smith’s serieson Islam in Kentucky and stories about

military ethics, religious organizationsapologizing for historical wrongs, thebicentennial of the Cane Ridge Revivaland the establishment of a museumabout creationism.

Hayes joins The LaRueCounty Herald News staff

Monica Hayes joined the staff ofThe LaRue County Herald News inJuly as a graphic designer and pagina-tor. She replaces Stephanie Hornbackwho transferred to Elizabethtown.

Hadden promoted to GMat McLean County

Clint Hadden was recently promot-ed from reporter to general manager atthe McLean County News in Calhoun.

Hadden, who worked in the specialpublications department at theMessenger-Inquirer in Owensborobefore taking the job in Calhoun,replaces Greg Abney who left his posi-tion for a teaching job at McLeanCounty High School.

E-town launches newhome page

The News-Enterprise inElizabethtown went live with its new

home page on July 1 after more thantwo months of planning.

The News-Enterprise signed anagreement with Townnews.com inApril and began designing the site.

The new site offers additional fea-tures such as the archive access, onlinedisplay ads and time-controlled pub-lishing.

Michelle McGuffin, marketing man-ager, led the redesign team which wasoriginally comprised of Jim Keyser,Katherine Pearl and Donna Walkerfrom news.

The team was later joined by LydiaLeasor, inside classified team leader,who developed the classified pages,Angie Rutledge, newspaper sales teamleader, who helped develop the sub-scription pages, Bill Mathers, graphicsartist, who is responsible for creatingbanners and other advertising content,and Todd Garvin, copy desk teammember, who played a key role incompleting the home page set up.

Cheryl Molstad of the tech supportteam has been trained to be the prima-ry backup for both advertising andnews.

Bradley McCrobie, a part-timeemployee in news, was instrumentalwith his web design expertise. Heexplained the terminology and

processes to the team members whichin turn enabled them to maximize thebenefits of the web technology.

Steve Wheatley, advertising manag-er, and Richard Price, sales teamleader, assisted McGuffin to ensure asmooth, transition from the previousvendors, including Infinet and TheWeb Guys, to the new partner,TownNews.com.

The new website can be found atwww.thenewsenterprise.com.

Bowen leaves SpringfieldSun for Anderson News

Editor/General Manager JanieBowen left The Springfield Sun earlierthis month to return to The AndersonNews in Lawrencebrug.

Aug. 9 was Bowen’s last day inSpringfield. She has been at The Sunsince 1999.

Bowen got her start at TheAnderson News and worked there forthe first 24 years of her newspapercareer. She is now part of their graphicdesign team.

Staff writer James Roberts is han-dling the majority of the news cover-age in Bowen’s absence. He workedjust Mondays and Tuesday, but will befull-time until a new manager is hired.

PEOPLEContinued from page 1

Three state papers win NNA honorsThree Kentucky newspapers were

recently notified that they were win-ners in the National NewspapersAssociation’s 2002 Better NewspaperContest.

The Appalachian News-Expresswas the winner of two awards in thecontest. They placed second in theBest Editorial Page competition fornon-dailies with a circulation of 6,000or more. The entry consisted of itsMay 28 and May 30, 2001 opinionpages.

Highlights of those pages includeeditorials and local cartoons aboutGov. Paul Patton’s lack of involve-ment in a gas well dispute at BreaksInterstate Park, Pike County’s popu-lation decline, the local court sys-tem’s leniency toward traffic viola-tions in wake of an accident thatclaimed the life of a local pregnantwoman, and letters to the editor on avariety of subjects.

The News-Express placed behindThe Peninsula Gateway of GigHarbor, Wash.

The paper also picked up thirdplace for Best Breaking News Story inits division for a Nov. 14, 2001 storyby former News Editor MichaelCornett about a house fire that killed

a family of five.The Villager of New York City and

The State Port Pilot of Southport,N.C. placed ahead of the News-Express.

It is believed to be the first time inthe Appalachian News-Express’ 89-year history that it has been awardeda national award.

Randy Patrick, editor of TheJessamine Journal, was awarded firstplace in the Best Serious Column fornon-daily papers with circulation of6,000 to 9,999. His winning piece,titled, “Schools: ‘Let them eat peanutbutter,’” was prompted by a MadisonCounty school official’s letter to par-ents warning them that their childrenwould be fed peanut butter instead ofthe regular school lunch if they failedto bring their lunch money withthem. Patrick argued that childrenare not responsible for their povertyand should not be punished for it.

Journal staff writer ZoyaTereshkova received honorable men-tion in the Best Agriculture Story cat-egory in the paper’s division for thefeature she wrote about life on aJessamine County tobacco farm. Thestory profiled J.F. Hall and his familyand told of their struggles to main-

tain their rural lifestyle during anuncertain time for Bluegrass burleygrowers.

The newspaper’s staff earned hon-orable mention in the Best FamilyLife section in its division for theNeighbors section of the April 12,2001 issue. The issue featured a coverstory, “Write & Wrong: Prof. Takes aNurturing Approach to Teaching,”by Tereshkova, who also took thephotographs for the feature. WendyAbbott was the graphic artist whodesigned the pages for the section.

This is the second consecutive yearthe Journal has won awards in theNational Newspaper Association’sannual contest.

The Times Leader in Princetonreceived honorable mention for BestSports Story in the non-daily divisionof papers with less than 6,000 circula-tion. The story was written by ToddGriffin.

The awards will be presentedSept. 13 in Portland, Ore. as part ofNNA’s annual convention.

This year’s contest included morethan 3,000 entries in 129 categories bynewspapers from more than 40 states.Contest entries were from calendaryear 2001.

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