Texas Press Association

The TPA 131^st Summer Convention in San Antonio included a golf tournament, great session speakers, wonderful food and a special dinner at the 750-foot-tall Tower of the Americas overlooking the historic Alamo City. See photos on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=695460060#!/TexasPress?ref=ts.

Texas Press Association is proud to announce the members of the 2010-11 TPA Board of Directors.

Bob Brincefield was elected president of the board on July 19, 2010, at the 131^st Summer Convention in San Antonio. Brincefield succeeds Terry Collier, publisher of the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, who became chairman of the board. Brincefield is vice president and regional manager of American Consolidated Media, vice president of Brownwood Newspapers, Inc. and publisher of the Brownwood Bulletin.

Other officers include: Chad Ferguson, The Banner Press Newspaper, first vice president; Russel Skiles, Lamesa Press Reporter, second vice president; and Greg Shrader, Lufkin Daily News, treasurer.

The TPA membership also elected two three-year board terms: Donnis Baggett, Waco Tribune-Herald, and Brandi Guy, Thorndale Champion. Continuing their terms as elected directors are: Jim Bardwell, The Gladewater Mirror; Rochelle Stidham, Stephenville Empire Tribune; and Sue Elizondo, Pleasanton Express.

The winners in the TPA 2010 Better Newspaper Contest were announced June 19 during the 131^st Annual Summer Convention in San Antonio. The results are available online at http://texaspress.com/index.php/services/2010-better-newspaper-contest. The annual publication, Winner’s Circle, was available at the convention and will be arriving by mail at all member newspaper offices.

Contest deadline Oct. 15

The annual contest to find a perfect cover for the TPA 2011 Texas Newspaper Directory has begun and the deadline, Oct. 15, is fast approaching. The contest is open to all Texas Press Association members and can include published or non-published photograghs.

Scenes have depicted Texas in various ways since the contest began in 1999. Three covers featured cowboys – including one with a herd of longhorns on a dusty trail. Two covers pictured famous landmarks, the San Jacinto monument and the State Capitol. Others have featured Texas landscapes including a beach, a lake, a grassy meadow and barn, a windmill in the sunset and beautiful bluebonnets.

Photos are judged in Austin by TPA staff. Multiple entries from photographers are allowed and all original prints will be returned. Digital files are accepted with a preferred file size of 170 ppi resolution, 8-1/2 x 11", and saved as a high-quality JPG. Send your entry to Michael Hodges, TPA executive director, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Texas Newspaper Foundation is seeking nominations for the 2011 class of honorees to be inducted into the TNF Hall of Fame. You can download a nomination form at http://www.tnf.net/images/stories/halloffame/TNFnomination10_11.pdf.

Previous nominations are considered each year along with new submissions. The nominations are reviewed by a panel of past TPA presidents and current TNF board members.

The Hall of Fame seeks to recognize newspaper men and women who have made an outstanding contribution to Texas journalism; have made extraordinary contributions to their local communities, regions or state of Texas; have advanced the legacy of a free and responsible press; and have inspired others to improve the quality of the profession of journalism.

Texas Press Association offers free continuing education webinars for journalists through the University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism. Recently David K. Harmon, assistant metro editor at the Austin American-Statesman, hosted the webinar, "Narrative Writing on Deadline."

The presentation covered narrative structure and the use of fiction-writing techniques in non-fiction. Harmon used examples from the Statesman to illustrate the importance of "spotting potential storytelling gold" in journalism.

TPA is co-sponsoring the following webinars in July:

7/15/10: Free Webinar by Borrell Associates
The Best Mobile Marketing Campaigns: Today and Tomorrow

7/22/10: Free Webinar by Borrell Associates
Mobile Marketing: Benefits of Mobile Apps and Sites

7/23/10: Online Media Campus webinar ($35)
Advertising Sales 301 Become the Agency: Providing a Needs Analysis for Your Client

7/28/10: Online Media Campus webinar ($35)
Healthcare Reform: What Employers Need to Know

Early registration is recommended. See the Calendar of Events for a full schedule.

By Joel Allis, TPA Postal Consultant

The program for the Summer Convention in San Antonio included a panel of postal managers for a Q-and-A session with TPA members. The Rio Grande postal district provided four managers from Austin and San Antonio for the one-hour Saturday morning session.

The postal panel included Austin Postmaster Fina Morales, District Marketing Manager Robert Jenkins, Senior Plant Manager Bruno Tristan and Austin Mailing Requirements Clerk John Matzen. Collectively, this group had over 110 years of postal experience including customer service, mail processing and business mail entry and requirements. This was a unique opportunity for members to ask questions and share their concerns with postal managers and receive direct feedback.

Q: I received a letter to the editor about a big, regional water project that if approved would include our local water district. The writer questions the ethics of our water district board, insinuates that there is under-the-table dealing going on and says the board means to sell out the county's water interests. I don't feel comfortable about publishing the letter because it contains information that can't be verified. Plus, I'm on deadline. What should I do?

A: The First Amendment and a preponderance of court decisions give citizens wide latitude in criticizing public servants' official actions. They also give the press wide latitude in publishing those criticisms. It's not a good idea to publish a statement that has not been checked for veracity. If you can't find your way into the comfort zone with this letter, it's better not to publish it. Use the letter to line up sources and develop questions. See if what you learn shapes into a story.

Texas shield law protects anonymous commenters

By Ed Sterling, TPA Member Services Director

Let’s go back 15 years or so and recall the print-only era, when plain, authoritative, unconditional policies worked just fine. A newspaper’s trusty letters-to-the-editor policy could simply read, “This Newspaper Will Not Print Unsigned Letters to the Editor.”

In those days, publishers indoctrinated staff with helpful pronouncements such as: “If a letter writer doesn’t have the conviction to sign their name, the letter isn’t worth printing and we will not print it.” Common protocols were followed: destroy unsigned letters or file them along with other letters deemed crude, erroneous, false, irrational, irrelevant, malicious, misdirected, misleading, non-local, obscene, rude, slanderous, unintelligible or containing information purported as fact but impossible to verify.

Applications are being accepted for the Newspaper Purchasing Management Association's Richard N. Miller Scholarship Program. Scholarships will be awarded in amounts up to $5,000 to a maximum of five eligible enrolled college students. Eligible students must be enrolled in an accredited college or university as of fall 2010. The applicant must be a child, stepchild or legally adopted child of a full-time employee in the newspaper industry. Applications must be completed and postmarked no later than July 30, 2010.

NPMA's scholarship program was renamed in 1991, in honor of Richard N. Miller, a purchasing and facilities management executive with the San Diego Union - Tribune Publishing Company. Miller joined NPMA in 1968 and later became a director and officer of the Association, including serving as its president from 1979-80. Miller was also instrumental in establishing the NPMA scholarship program.

NPMA, which is in the process of dissolving, has selected the Media Fianancial Management Association to manage its final year of scholarship awards. A copy of the application form may be found on MFM's website at http://www.mediafinance.org/docs/NPMA%20SCHOLARSHIP%20APPLICATION%202010.pdf.