Texas Press Association

Membership

Texas Press Association offers five types of membership: active, individual, associate, participating and honorary.

Any legal, paid-circulation Texas newspaper of general interest that publishes at least weekly and maintains a U.S. Postal Service Periodicals Class Permit can apply for active membership. Former newspaper publishers and their employees are eligible to apply for individual membership.

Associate membership is open to newspaper-related companies.

Participating membership is extended to certain other periodicals class newspapers that do not qualify for active membership.

Honorary membership is the highest recognition of distinguished service that TPA awards, and is granted to people who have made great contributions to the association or to Texas newspapers. Honorary members receive a lifetime individual membership.

Application for membership should be made to executive director Mike Hodges.

Publications

• TPA eBulletin — monthly e-mail newsletter with association news and events and information on advertising, postal regulations, management and more
• Texas Press Messenger —monthly tabloid-sized newspaper covering association events and news about member publications and the Texas newspaper industry; TPA’s official publication since 1926
• Texas Newspaper Directory —annual directory of all paid-circulation newspapers in Texas; identifies key managers, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, Web addresses and circulation; lists newspapers by county and group ownership
• Winners' Circle —Texas Better Newspaper Contest results tab
• State Capital Highlights — a weekly aggregation of news about state government, available by subscription for member newspapers to publish
• Law & the Media in Texas — online handbook for journalists on newsgathering, public access and ethical and legal issues by David McHam; published by TPA with co-sponsors Texas Association of Broadcasters and Texas Daily Newspaper Association
• Legal Publication Laws of Texas — an online database of public notices that governmental bodies are required to publish, pursuant to state statutes, administrative rules and rules of court
  
• 26 Newspaper Special Sections — handbook containing tips on how to produce 26 unique newspaper special sections to achieve maximum revenue with a minimum amount of work

• Public Notices — TexasLegalNotices.com online clearinghouse of public notices in newspaper Web sites around the state
• Media Buying — A complete "One Order-One Bill-One Check" advertising service covers every aspect of ad placement from space reservation and issuing insertion orders to trouble-shooting problems as they arise, gathering tearsheets and paying all newspapers in the ad schedule.
• Political Campaign Advertising Plan — Texas Newspaper Campaign Advertising Plan (CAP) statewide advertising opportunity for candidates seeking political offices. Network member newspapers keep half the revenue from ads they sell.
• Texas Statewide Classified Advertising — TexSCAN classified ad network of participating newspapers available statewide or by three geographic regions. Network members keep half the revenue from ads they sell.
• Texas 2x2 Network —Texas 2x2 statewide ad service for 2-column by 2-inch ads placed in participating newspapers available statewide or in three geographic regions. Network members keep half the revenue from ads they sell and all participants share in an annual rebate incentive program.

Education

• Mobile Lab — on-demand mobile training provides hands-on training free to member newspapers through various software programs covering Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Acrobat, QuarkXPress, and other topics.
• TPA Online Academy — free online continuing education modules for Texas journalists; classes offered through TPA as well as a partnership with the School of Journalism of the University of Texas at Austin; topics include News Writing, Headline Writing, Sports Writing and Feature Writing.
• Sales Training Kit— a set of video lessons featuring sales and marketing guru Mitch Henderson
• On-demand Training — workshop topics vary depending on the request from the newspaper
• Scholarships —scholarship matching programs for the five state regional press associations’ scholarships

Government Affairs

• Legislative Support — the Texas Daily Newspaper Association / Texas Press Association Legislative Advisory Committee meets frequently during sessions of the Texas Legislature to discuss and plan action primarily on open government legislation
• Legislative Bill Watch— an online database of legislation showing current positions the TDNA/TPA Legislative Advisory Committee has taken on individual bills, including bill status and brief analyses
  
• Grassroots Legislative Committee — publishers who are prepared to contact their state representatives and state senators quickly when notified of pending legislation that may impact freedom of the press and the public's right to know
• FOI Hotline — Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas hotline for open government and public access issues
• Libel Hotline — hotline for members with questions concerning libel issues

Contests

• Texas Better Newspaper Contest — annual contest for member newspapers awarding the best editorial and advertising content published in the previous year; winners are announced at the Summer Convention and printed in the Winner's Circle
• Lone Star Journalism Writing Awards — contest sponsored by Interscholastic League Press Conference pairing high school journalism students and local newspapers
• Directory Photo Contest — contest open to TPA members; one winning photograph is printed on the annual Texas Newspaper Directory cover
• Monson FOI Award — annual award recognizing member newspapers and staff members for their contributions to open government and First Amendment issues; cosponsored with the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas

Other Services

• TPA Newspaper Exchange — statewide peer publication swap for members available for a small annual fee; a great way to get new ideas and see what others are publishing
• List Server — e-mail member exchange network to share questions and concerns about newspaper issues
• Job Bank — the most comprehensive newspaper-specific job bank in Texas for newspapers seeking employees and journalists looking for newspaper jobs
• Buy Sell or Trade — free classifieds exchange for members to buy, sell or trade equipment or newspaper properties
• Annual Conventions — TPA sponsors two annual conventions that rotate through major cities in Texas. The Midwinter Conference and Trade Show is business oriented. The Summer Convention is more family-oriented and may include outings to entertainment venues. Board members are elected at each summer convention and winners in the Texas Better Newspaper Contest are announced.
• Golden 50 Awards — highest individual honor TPA bestows to men and women who have logged at least 50 years of service in the newspaper industry in Texas; awarded at each summer convention along with a special pamphlet describing recipients’ accomplishments and listing past recipients
  
• Lone Star News Service — statewide news release service for agencies and public relation firms to distribute news via mail and e-mail
• Profit Recovery Service — reduced-fee profit recovery service through Transworld's Green Flag recovery service; call 512-244-9400 for information