Texas Press Association

Friday, March 12, is the postmark deadline for TPA member newspapers to mail or ship 2010 Better Newspaper Contest entries.

Why wait until the last minute? To view the rules, please click: RULES

It takes a swap to get a contest judged. So, on Feb. 18, some 37 Texas Press Association members judged the Georgia Better Newspaper Contest in Austin at the Wyndham Garden Hotel. Another six TPA members judged editorial categories mailed to them by Georgia Press Association. The TPA members who judged in Austin scrutinized and ranked more than 4,000 entries. Their work on behalf of the entire association, and especially on behalf of newspapers that participate in the contest, is greatly appreciated. Their dedication to the task and the quality of their work enable TPA to enter judging swap agreements with other state press associations. Georgia Press members will judge the Texas Better Newspaper Contest on April 29 in Atlanta.

By Fred Anders, TPA Information Technology Director

RAW may bring to mind many things, but here the context is photography.

What is RAW?
RAW is one of the formats your camera can save on your storage chip. The RAW file is not really an image file. It is the raw (lossless) information from the image sensor in your Digital SLR camera.

Can my camera make a RAW file?
Modern DSLRs with the ability to use interchangeable lenses normally can be set to: RAW, RAW+JPEG or JPEG only, with a selection of different quality settings.

Why not stick to my JPEG files?
You'd be settling for less quality. Image quality is at its highest in the RAW format, with better highlights and shadow details but if you are a great photographer and never make exposure mistakes, your JPEG files may suit you just fine.

But we print on newsprint, so how much quality do we really need?
A few years ago, I would have agreed with you. I have taught many classes on changing a poor photo into a good black and white halftone, but then I started shooting RAW. I saw two things immediately:

First, many of my photos are "fixed" with just two clicks in the RAW window in Adobe Photoshop, and many "unusable as shot" photos become very good color shots in RAW. I save time using this format and I can "batch change" shots in the RAW window seeing the results on each in just a few seconds.

Second, I have become a better photographer at "the shoot" itself because of the understanding I have gained in the RAW window.  The dynamic range is higher in RAW but without the sharpness of a JPEG. (This can be applied in the final TIFF). Changes I make in the RAW window of Photoshop are without loss and can be reset to "as shot" with one click.

Are there disadvantages to using RAW?
The biggest negative is file size. If your camera has 10 megapixel in resolution, the file size per shot will be 10MB per photo (but also no loss in compression). RAW requires a plugin in Photoshop (CS 4 will have it built-in in most cases) and the RAW file must be converted to something else (like a TIFF, EPS or JPEG) to be used in a page layout program (i.e. InDesign or Quark).

Ultimately, you are the best judge of your workflow and photography needs. But if photo quality combined with speed are important to you, give RAW a try.

Online Media Campus, a partnership between Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and Iowa Newspaper Foundation, is now providing comprehensive training opportunities to newspaper professionals. The training is co-sponsored by Texas Press Association.

Twenty webinars are planned for 2010.

Links to the first of these excellent training opportunities: March 5 Intro to Social Networking and March 12 The Self-Starter's Toolbox: Building a Sales Approach

Jason Jarrett, Austin Community Newspapers group publisher, on Feb. 25 notified the Texas Press Association central office of a scam in the Austin area that has the potential to pop up in other markets.

What's happening, Jarrett said, is someone is using the Austin American-Statesman classified advertising section, finding a phone number in an ad, calling that phone number and then once the advertiser picks up the phone call, the scammer poses as a Statesman employee.

The scammer will then ask the advertiser, “The credit card you gave us did not go through, could you give us another one?” or, “I wrote the number down incorrectly, could you read it back to me?”

So the scammer has obtained the card number and can run up fraudulent charges.

"Make your staffs aware of this situation if it does come up," Jarrett recommended. "We will be building house ads to run in our classifieds warning folks of what is going on. These will run for a few weeks, and then we’ll create a permanent ad that will run in the paper," he added.

Austin Community Newspapers and the Austin American-Statesman are owned by Cox Enterprises.

Sign up now to attend the Society of Professional Journalists Region 8 Spring Conference, March 5-6, in Austin at the AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center on the University of Texas campus. The conference theme is "How to Save Journalism." Registration fees: Student $75, Professional $85, Non-Student/Non-Professional $95

To register, Contact: Larry Dechant This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Registration form [PDF, 56 KB] Web site

AGENDA:

The State of Texas today [Feb. 2] filed a motion to dismiss four cities from a lawsuit they and 15 individuals brought against the state on Dec. 14, asserting the Texas Open Meetings Act is unconstitutional on grounds that criminal penalties in the act violate their First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Link to Motion to Dismiss. Related story by Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: http://www.rcfp.org/newsitems/index.php?i=11251

Festivities begin Thursday evening with a reception, followed Friday with round table discussions, online challenges and the business meeting.  Friday evening is a fun-filled night with laughter and entertainment at Ester's Follies.

Saturday morning focuses on revenue-producing ideas until noon along with the induction of new board members.

Please make your reservations now, then set your sites on Austin as we all plan to make 2010 a prosperous year.  Download the Registration Form and Conference Information flyer.

Should you have any questions, please contact any one of the TNAMA officers listed on the Conference Information flyer.