Ohio Newspaper Association | The trade association for more than 250 Ohio daily and weekly newspapers and more than 150 Web sites. | Page: 4

House may set sales tax direction next week

April 5, 2013 · Add Comment

By Dennis Hetzel, Executive Director

One of the major concerns we have had with Ohio’s open meetings law is that it leaves a lot of wiggle-room for public bodies to be overly vague and even evasive about the reasons why they go into executive sessions.

A modified version of Gov. John Kasich’s budget bill is expected to be introduced early next week, and all signals are that the new bill will dramatically change the plan to expand sales taxes to services such as changes will be part of it.

ONA members have done an excellent job of contacting legislators and editorializing about the impact this would have. We also thank those members who already have contributed to the legal and lobbying defense fund we have started.

Our media-based coalition has a website, www.noadtax.com, that you can consult at any time for additional information or share with others.

Here are links to several recent commentaries and articles from ONA member papers as well as past coverage on the sales tax expansion:

Now’s the time to make contact on advertising tax
State Senator Brown: Expanding sales tax a bad idea (Letter to the Editor, The Toledo Blade)
Editorial: Not at the speed of these businesses (Akron Beacon Journal)
Editorial: Budget would cost Ohio jobs (The Ironton Tribune)
Editorial: Mystery of the sales tax expansion(Akron Beacon Journal)

As always, ONA members can stay up-to-date with legislation we are tracking by consulting our Legislative Watch List.

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Plain Dealer to remain daily, but 7-day home-delivery will end

April 5, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Plain Dealer

Ohio's largest newspaper will seek to compete in the digital age as a daily, published seven days a week, but subscribers no longer will enjoy seven-day home delivery.

In a break from longstanding tradition, The Plain Dealer will be delivered to homes only three days a week beginning later this summer.

The long-awaited changes, announced to employees Thursday, will coincide with the emergence of a new company, the Northeast Ohio Media Group, which will partner with The Plain Dealer Publishing Co. to produce news and information in both print and electronic formats.

The launch of the new company and the new delivery schedule will occur later this summer. The company has said that The Plain Dealer will be home-delivered on Sunday and on two days yet to be named.

Newsroom leaders said the industry is changing rapidly, as readers and advertisers migrate to online news sources, and The Plain Dealer must adapt to survive.

"We'll still have the largest news-gathering organization in the region," Plain Dealer Editor Debra Adams Simmons told newsroom staff. "I think we're still positioned to do quality work. I think we're in a good place."

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Cincinnati Enquirer launches print edition app for Android and Kindle Fire

April 4, 2013 · Add Comment

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Letter writer says local newspapers needed

April 4, 2013 · Add Comment

Letter published by The Columbus Dispatch

As I sat down to write a letter about the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio and its board’s travel spending, I thought, “What's the use?” It appears that boards, as evidenced by this pension board and the Columbus Board of Education, pretty much can do whatever they want, no matter how many people complain about it (“Board goes ahead with Hawaii trip,” Dispatch article, last Friday).

But then I read how Mayor Michael B. Coleman is stepping up and laying down the law to the school board (“Coleman issues ultimatum,” Dispatcharticle, Tuesday). Finally, the board is being held accountable. So something is happening.

Without The Dispatch, no one would have ever heard about any of this. It could have gone on forever.

At least the newspaper is exposing how corrupt and unregulated these entities can be. The public cannot react to what it doesn't know. This is what newspapers do. Without them, we truly are left in the dark. When people ask, “How much does the public really need to know?” my answer would be, “ Let the public decide that.”

I don't think The Dispatch needs to be a tabloid, but I do think a newspaper should be seeking stories rather than being fed stories. Corruption at the local level is becoming a huge problem because there are no newspapers in many towns today to even question what is being done with public money.

Although people complained for years about the speed trap in New Rome, it took The Dispatch to shut it down.

We are lucky to still have a local newspaper, and I hope we continue to have one for years to come.

- PATRICIA M. NOLAND

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State Senator Brown: Expanding sales tax a bad idea

April 4, 2013 · Add Comment

Letter to the Editor, The Toledo Blade

Raising the sales tax on middle-class Ohioans so that millionaires can pay less income tax is a bad policy idea proposed by Gov. John Kasich (“Kasich budget stalls as key GOP allies balk; Lawmakers resist tax, Medicaid proposals,” March 24). Not only is it bad for Ohioans, it also is bad for the state’s business development.

During public hearings, Kasich administration officials have failed to answer critical questions about how the sales tax will be applied to different businesses. This already shows that the sales tax hike will be a source of confusion for the business community.

During testimony in the Ohio House, many businesses have come out against Governor Kasich’s tax plan. They warned that it would kill jobs and have a devastating effect on some small businesses.

Republican leaders in the Ohio General Assembly recently requested options to Governor Kasich’s plan. They know that it is flawed and bad for the overall economic growth of the state.

We should not be raising taxes on small businesses and middle-class Ohioans. It is imperative that Governor Kasich listen to the thoughts of the business community and Ohioans, so that we are not taking two steps back when we try to rebuild our economy.

EDNA BROWN
Ohio Senate 11
Toledo

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Newspapers and the new digital age: study reveals top newspaper websites

April 3, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Media Audit

A new report issued by The Media Audit reveals the growing importance that daily newspaper website audiences play in today's new digital age. As more and more consumers are logging into their phones, tablets, and laptops for news and information, newspaper websites are fast becoming more relevant and the ratings are telling the story.

According to a comprehensive report which summarizes reach for daily newspapers and their websites, Ann Arbor, Michigan's Annarbor.com, reaches 54.9% of the local metro area's population in a typical 30 day period. When compared to other newspaper websites across The Media Audit's measured markets, the website ranks as the number one daily newspaper website in the country. Adding to its relevance is that the newspaper's website, when added to the reach of the printed edition, increases the newspaper's total net reach by 29%.

Topeka, Kansas's CJonline.com, the website of the Capital Journal, ranks second highest in the report, reaching 51.9% of the local area's population, followed by Syracuse, New York's Syracuse.com (50% reach), Grand Rapids, Michigan's Mlive.com (48.9% reach), and Washington, D.C.'s Washingtonpost.com with a 48.1% reach (see table).

As today's changing habits of news consumption continues to move in the direction of digital media, the data suggests that daily newspapers will likely continue to leverage the reach of their websites as an important part of an advertiser's multi-platform strategy.

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Editorial: Not at the speed of these businesses

April 3, 2013 · Add Comment

By Michael Douglas, Beacon Journal editorial page editor

Ron Amstutz said he was confused. What the Wooster Republican and chairman of the Ohio House Finance & Appropriations Committee really was doing was needling the witness, politely enough yet with a touch of the dismissive.

The message was plain: I just don’t get it. So the witness, William Ridenour, the president of Polymer TransAction Advisors, a boutique merger and acquisitions firm in the plastics and chemical industries, used the remaining moments of questions and answers to reinforce what had been plenty obvious.

Ridenour doesn’t like the way the expansion of the state sales tax, proposed by Gov. John Kasich, would affect his and many other businesses providing professional services. He drummed the word “catastrophic,” and made his point with sufficient force and clarity that Amstutz, more than likely, just didn’t care for what he was hearing.

The governor has put forward a dramatic expansion of the sales tax. The concept is sound, applying the tax to a wider array of services, reflecting the changing economy, services playing a larger role relative to goods. The governor would broaden the base, and lower the rate from 5.5 percent to 5 percent.

The lessons from elsewhere counsel care in making such a move. Ridenour exposed how the governor and his team just did not weigh fully the consequences — if they want to remain true to their mantra of improving the climate for businesses and boosting the state economy.

Ridenour explained that his company, headquartered in Geauga County, operates in a national, and even global, marketplace, clients in many states, from Texas to Massachusetts, New York to California. More telling, his competitors are located out of state. He added that virtually every job his company has won in recent years has been the result of competitive bidding, going head to head with firms outside Ohio.

Add a 5 percent sales tax (or 7 percent with the use tax), and his company would face a distinct disadvantage, with a “potential severe and catastrophic impact on my business.”

His competitors would not have to contend with such an added cost. As a result, it would be all but impossible to pass the new expense to his clients. He would lose work, competitors more easily making lower bids.

“That will destroy the business. I can flat out tell you,” Ridenour declared to the committee.

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Editorial: Budget would cost Ohio jobs

April 3, 2013 · Add Comment

By Mike Caldwell, The Ironton Tribune

Anyone who believes that politics don’t concern them, or that they don’t need to pay attention to what our government is doing, is essentially burying his or her heads in the sand — often until it is too late.

That is certainly the case with Gov. John Kasich’s proposed budget that could impact the lives of nearly every Ohioan in many ways, both positive and negative.

The governor’s plan includes an expansion of Medicaid and a reduction in some taxes but also applying sales tax to virtually every type of service-based industry, most of which have never been taxed at this stage. Industries impacted include legal and accounting services, banking, engineering and design services, finance, real estate and insurance-related industries, advertising, hair stylists, funeral services, dry cleaning, tax preparation, travel agencies and dozens of others.

This part of the governor’s proposal, which would apply a 5 percent tax overnight, would have a tremendous impact on The Tribune and the small businesses of Lawrence County, southern Ohio and the entire state.

Taxing advertising is a mistake.

No other state applies tax to advertising and the concept is flawed for many reasons including the fact it would put Ohio businesses at a disadvantage to those elsewhere, would be a bookkeeping nightmare and would ultimately kill jobs.

Advertisers simply won’t spend as much, and won’t get as much value for their money, with a sales tax that will truly be higher once local taxes are included.

Many components go even further in hurting local businesses. Sales of advertising in print, billboards and on radio and television would potentially be taxed but national broadcast ads would remain exempt. For example, the local hardware store would have to pay sales tax on television and newspaper advertising but Lowes and Home Depot would not face those same taxes on most of their advertising.

The bottom line is the governor’s proposal, as it stands now, would likely cost thousands of Ohio jobs and penalize businesses trying to grow their base through marketing.

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Publisher G. Ogden Nutting named to Wheeling Hall of Fame

April 3, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Times Leader

G. Ogden Nutting has been elected to the Wheeling Hall of Fame in the Business, Industry and Professions category.

The Hall of Fame board announced that Nutting, Marc Harshman, Stanley Romanoski and two others will be inducted during a banquet at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling Saturday, April 20. Doors will be open for the general public at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased from Hall of Fame board members.

Nutting currently serves as publisher of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register. But the history of newspaper publishing in Wheeling far precedes his role.

The Ogden Newspapers dates to 1890 when Nutting's grandfather, H.C. Ogden, another member of the Wheeling Hall of Fame, started the Wheeling Daily News. Described as a "spirited editor and publisher who cared deeply about his community," H.C. Ogden imparted his high ideals and entrusted the future of his newspapers to his descendants.

In 1968, Nutting became the third generation of his family to direct and manage the company.

Under his leadership, the company has continued to expand to take advantage of opportunities in new markets and publishes in 12 states and also is West Virginia's largest newspaper company.

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Regina Brett: Adoptees deserve access to their birth records

April 3, 2013 · Add Comment

By Regina Brett, The Plain Dealer

The letter is ready to go. All she needs is the courage to send it.

"The mystery of who I am has always eaten away at my heart, not knowing my roots, my heritage, my health background. Only adopted people can truly understand that feeling of incompleteness. Pieces of my puzzle were missing. Growing up in a family where I looked completely different always drew attention and comments."

Carol Bailey hopes the woman receiving the letter is her mother, but she isn't sure.

Carol's adoption was final on Jan. 23, 1964, just weeks after Ohio law closed adoption records for her and about 400,000 others adopted between Jan. 1, 1964 and Sept. 18, 1996.

Carol is my husband's sister. For years, she has been trying to solve the mystery of herself. She wants to find the answer to that question she heard all through her childhood, "Where did you get your blonde hair?" She wants to have answers for all those doctors who ask, "Do you have a history of diabetes? Cancer? Heart disease?"

She can't get access to her original birth certificate, but people adopted before 1964 and after 1996 can. House Bill 61, which is before the Ohio state legislature, would change the law so those adopted between 1964 and 1996 would also have access to their records.

The legislators should approve it. Who you are shouldn't be a mystery to you your whole life. As for the birth mothers, there's no shame in giving a child the gift of life and passing that gift on to someone else. Times have changed. The law should reflect that change.

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Pocket offers publishers ‘save for later’ tools

April 2, 2013 · Add Comment

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Group criticizes Ohio’s transparency on spending

April 2, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Akron Beacon Journal

Ohio does a poor job of providing online transparency when it comes to government spending, a watchdog group says in a report released Tuesday.

The state received a “D+” — one of only 12 states to receive a “D” or “F” grade — in the annual report by the Ohio Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. Ohio’s grade improved from last year’s “D.”

“We could have done a lot better,” said Tabitha Woodruff, an advocate for the Ohio watchdog group. “There is an improvement … but it still leaves us as one of the lagging states. So, very disappointing.”

She added that Ohioans are demanding transparency, so it should be a greater priority.

The report, called Following the Money 2013: How the States Rank on Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data, reviewed the Ohio websitehttp://transparency.ohio.gov.

It says the site provides checkbook-level information on contracts, economic development tax credits and grants. But it lacks other details such as noncontract payments to vendors and spending through some agencies.

Other states provide such information, Woodruff said.

She added that both Republican and Democratic-run states fared equally well so transparency isn’t a partisan issue.

Texas received the top score. North Dakota was the worst.

“It’s tough to take too seriously concerns about transparency from a group whose donors appear to be kept secret from the public,” said Rob Nichols, a spokesman for Gov. John Kasich.

To read the full report, go to: www.ohiopirg.org.

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GateHouse seeks debt restructuring

April 1, 2013 · Add Comment

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Cameras in juvenile court present judicial balancing act

April 1, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Vindicator

Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court would have opened her courtroom to media cameras and sound recordings if she were to preside over a high-profile case such as the Steubenville rape trial or the Chardon High School shooting case.

However, Judge Dellick said she would not have allowed photographers to show the faces of the defendants, which were shown during the Steubenville trial.

Her position on this issue is “probably the overriding philosophy of juvenile judges across the state of Ohio,” Judge Dellick said.

“Some go as far as to not let you use their names.”

In her court, “We have allowed the names [to be published or broadcast] only because they are on the police report, and that’s a public record,” Judge Dellick explained. However, Judge Dellick said she insists that only initials or a pseudonym be used for juvenile victims and juvenile witnesses.

In Columbiana County Juvenile Court, where Judge Thomas Baronzzi presides, a local rule says any request to televise, photograph or record the proceedings must be made in writing at least 24 hours in advance; the equipment must be pre-positioned and stay in one place; and no cassettes, film, magazines or lenses are to be changed while court is in session.

No victims, witnesses or jurors may be photographed or recorded without the judge’s permission. “If the subject matter of the proceeding is a child, the name or identity of any party, witness, child, parent or participant shall not be disclosed unless by specific authorization of the court,” according to the rules of practice of the Columbiana County Juvenile Court.

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Court: Hamilton County judge can’t kick reporters out without holding a hearing

April 1, 2013 · Add Comment

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Editorial: Mystery of the sales tax expansion

March 25, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Akron Beacon Journal

Whodunit? Who devised and crafted the governor’s proposal to expand the state sales tax, easily one of the most ill-conceived big ideas to appear in a proposed state budget in a long time, or maybe ever?

How did John Kasich, pal of chief executives, champion of small business, find himself pushing changes roundly rejected by his allies, his fellow Republicans in the state legislature fleeing from its presence?

The governor often admires his own smarts. Recall the unveiling of his plan to leverage the revenue stream of the Ohio Turnpike, Kasich plainly tickled to be the first. “What’s so amazing to me,” he gushed, “is that we should have done this 25 years ago.”

In his State of the State address last month, the governor talked about his visit to Davos for the World Economic Forum: “You know, they all wanted to meet with me. And you know why? Because they couldn’t figure out why we were figuring it out.”

An expansion of the sales tax has much appeal as a concept. The economy has been changing, services playing a larger role, relative to goods, rising the past four decades from one-third of household purchases to nearly one-half. It makes sense to tax more services, out of fairness and stability. Apply the tax more broadly, and the rate stays lower, while generating resources for public education, health and other priorities.

Economists ask: Why should someone who buys a book or video pay the sales tax at the store but avoid the tax when purchasing online?

The governor’s budget plan calls for expanding the sales tax to such digital services. Previous governors have moved to apply the sales tax to more services. Most states have proceeded incrementally, for instance, covering dry cleaners, then manicures, magazines or entertainment. They have been reluctant to tax business-to-business services, worried about the layering, or pyramiding, tax on tax adding complexity and cost.

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A good bill on open meetings; a bad bill on gun records

March 22, 2013 · Add Comment

By Dennis Hetzel, Executive Director

One of the major concerns we have had with Ohio’s open meetings law is that it leaves a lot of wiggle-room for public bodies to be overly vague and even evasive about the reasons why they go into executive sessions.

Sen. Shannon Jones, R-Springboro, has introduced a bill (Senate Bill 93) that would take needed steps toward fixing this problem by requiring clearer, more specific information in the motion and vote to meet in secret. The bill also requires more details in minutes kept of executive sessions and makes it a bit easier to collect attorney fees if you sue for enforcement of the law.

These are all good ideas, and we look forward to working with Sen. Jones and others to support the measure.

We also met with Sen. Joe Uecker, R-Miami Township, regarding his bill, SB 60, that would eliminate the very limited access journalists have to concealed carry permit information. These records would be completely exempt from public scrutiny. Note that the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police opposes this bill as well.

We pointed out that it would be impossible under Ohio law to publish a complete database of permit holders, something that has raised so much outcry across the country since a New York newspaper did so. We cited examples from around the country of important stories that have been made possible by access to this information. Anecdotal fears about things that might or might not happen shouldn’t trump the importance of government records being public.

I also like to suggest that gun rights groups should be suspicious and concerned about the government keeping a secret database of gun owners.

I doubt that we convinced Sen. Uecker of our position, but it was a healthy exchange of ideas. Now we will wait and see what happens with this bill.

We have updated our Legislative Watch List for ONA members to follow all the bills we are tracking. I am hoping we will not see legislation that will aid new layers of secrecy to the operations of JobsOhio. Stay tuned on that one.

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Now’s the time to make contact on advertising tax

March 22, 2013 · Add Comment

By Dennis Hetzel, Executive Director

We have taken part in about 20 meetings with members of the Ohio House and Ohio Senate in the past two weeks. We have yet to meet a legislator who thinks it’s smart to levy a sales tax on advertising.

Obviously, that is a good sign, and there is growing evidence that the idea of vastly expanding the sales tax to nearly all services in Ohio will not be in the state budget when the plan moves from the House to the Senate sometime in April.

So, why aren’t we relaxing? Why am I urging ONA members to continue to make contact with legislators while they are back in their districts on recess during the next two weeks?

Put simply, the issue is not going away. Some aspects of sales tax expansion could land in the final budget. More broadly, Republican leaders in particular see expanding the base of consumption taxation (e.g., sales taxes) as a far-smarter way to spur economic development and generate revenue than through income taxes. Some would like to completely eliminate the state income tax to make Ohio more like Florida and Texas, neither of which has an income tax.

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Dispute over audit lingers even after JobsOhio gives up records, $7.5 million

March 22, 2013 · 1 Comment

From The Columbus Dispatch

The feud over Auditor Dave Yost’s authority to inspect JobsOhio’s private finances ended (March 19) with Yost getting the records he wanted. At the same time, JobsOhio announced it would repay the state the public money it already has received — at least $7.5 million.

Yesterday’s developments set up a much-larger disagreement over the auditor’s ability to review the state’s privatized development agency, with potentially greater consequences. With JobsOhio now funded by proceeds from its lease of the state’s wholesale liquor profits, those on all sides are staking out positions on whether those profits are public dollars — and thus subject to audit.

JobsOhio’s announcement that it would pay back the public money caught most people by surprise. Yost had not asked that the money be repaid; rather, he demanded access to the financial records of how the money was spent. The development agency yesterday said “there will be no more public funds in JobsOhio.”

Brian Rothenberg, head of the liberal group ProgressOhio, said the move “is likely an attempt to argue that JobsOhio no longer (has) public funds to be audited in the future.”

JobsOhio had agreements with the state for grants worth at least $6.5 million, and lawmakers appropriated $1 million in 2011 to cover the organization’s startup costs.

The agency, created by Gov. John Kasich and lawmakers in 2011 to conduct the state’s economic development privately, is now being funded from the proceeds of a $1.5 billion lease of the state’s liquor profits, expected to generate $100 million annually. JobsOhio has said it plans to use the money largely for loans and grants to businesses.

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Additional News Coverage

JobsOhio complies with Ohio Auditor Dave Yost's records subpoena but still disputes auditor's legal authority (From The Plain Dealer)
JobsOhio to refund more than $1 million to state; GOP rift continues (From The Dayton Daily News)

Editorials

JobsOhio: Where's the transparency they promised? (From The Cincinnati Enquirer)
JobsOhio must be accountable (From The Cincinnati Enquirer)
JobsOhio can't be allowed to hide from the public (From The Plain Dealer)
Demonizing Yost (From The Akron Beacon Journal)
JobsOhio needs to open books (From The Akron Beacon Journal)
State Auditor Yost is justified in targeting JobsOhio’s books (From The Vindicator)

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Speed matters: Tips to speed up your website

March 22, 2013 · Add Comment

From PBS

I present your winner (or loser?) for slowest loading feature article, the Chicago Tribune, at 16.68 seconds, almost 6 megabytes of data, and with more than 300 requests for resources to display the page in question. In fact, the Tribune was the slowest out of the 15 sites tested three out of five times.

How can this be? The Chicago Tribune, ranked as one of the most trafficked U.S. news sites, is also one of the slowest sites on the Internet (well, not quite, but in the context of these tests is really, honestly, objectively, “dog slow”). I reached out to several people at the Tribune for comment on this story, but did not hear back before publication.

At a time when even the mainstream media is reporting that “bloated web pages are costly for smartphone users” and when Google has made it clear that slow pages impact a page’s rank and that it takes speed into account in its search rankings, how is it that some of the Internet’s most-visited news sites can get away with thumbing their nose at the need for speed?

The Tribune is not alone in their sluggish response to this issue.

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Carriers will have to deliver Saturday mail, Congress says

March 22, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Columbus Dispatch

Congress foiled the financially beleaguered U.S. Postal Service’s plan to end Saturday delivery of first-class mail when it passed legislation yesterday requiring six-day delivery.

The Postal Service, which lost $16 billion last year, said last month it wanted to switch to five-day mail service to save $2 billion annually.

Congress traditionally has included a provision in legislation to fund the federal government each year that has prevented the Postal Service from reducing delivery service. The Postal Service had asked Congress not to include the provision this time around.

Despite the request, the House of Representatives yesterday gave final approval to legislation that maintains the provision, sending it to President Barack Obama to sign into law. The Senate approved the measure on Wednesday.

But some lawmakers who support the Postal Service’s plan have said there might still be some room for it to change its delivery schedule. They point out that the language requiring six-day delivery is vague and does not prohibit altering what it delivers on Saturdays.

The Postal Service has said that while it would not pick up or deliver first-class mail, magazines and direct mail, it would continue to deliver packages and medicines on Saturdays.

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Rep. Darrell Issa of California yesterday told the USPS Board of Governors to move forward with implementing the five-day delivery plan for mail.

“The Board of Governors has a fiduciary responsibility to utilize its legal authority to implement modified 6-day mail delivery as recently proposed,” the lawmakers said in their letter to the USPS board.

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How the Herald Star covered the Steubenville rape story

March 22, 2013 · Add Comment

By Jason Sanford
ONA Manager of Communications and Content

With the Steubenville rape trial having become one of the biggest Ohio news events in recent years, the ONA wanted to examine how the local newspaper—The Herald Star—covered the story.

Below are six front pages from the Herald Star, showcasing how they covered the last few days of the trial and its immediate aftermath. Kudos to everyone at the Herald Star for doing a great job covering a difficult case under trying conditions.

In addition, here's some of the more interesting coverage I've seen on the trial, including a New York Times article on how social media is a double-edged sword and a Poynter item on how CNN’s Steubenville coverage was called too sympathetic to the young men convicted in the case.

Click here to see the front pages>>

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The newspaper of tomorrow: 11 predictions from yesteryear

March 21, 2013 · 1 Comment

From Smithsonian.com

Many of us here in the 21st century like to think of the newspaper as this static institution. We imagine that the newspaper was born many generations ago and until very recently, thrived without much competition. Of course this is wildly untrue. The role of the newspaper in any given community has always been in flux. And the form that the newspaper of the future would take has often been uncertain.

In the 1920s it was radio that was supposed to kill the newspaper. Then it was TV news. Then it was the Internet. The newspaper has evolved and adapted (remember when TV news killed the evening edition newspaper?) and will continue to evolve for many decades to come.

Visions of what newspapers might look like in the future have been varied throughout the 20th century. Sometimes they’ve taken the form of a piece of paper that you print at home, delivered via satellite or radio waves. Other times it’s a multimedia product that lives on your tablet or TV. Today we’re taking a look at just a few of the newspapers from the futures that never were.

See all the predictions which didn't come true>>

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News aggregator Meltwater can’t use AP’s copyrighted articles for free, judge says

March 21, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Associated Press

A company that relays excerpts of Internet news articles to its customers violates copyright laws, a judge said Thursday in a decision that gave The Associated Press a victory in its attempts to protect its online news content.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote rejected claims by Meltwater U.S. Holdings Inc. and its Meltwater News Service that its use of Web stories plucked from a scan of 162,000 news websites from more than 190 countries is a fair use of copyright-protected material.

"Investigating and writing about newsworthy events occurring around the globe is an expensive undertaking and enforcement of the copyright laws permits AP to earn the revenue that underwrites that work," Cote wrote in a decision released Thursday. "Permitting Meltwater to take the fruit of AP's labor for its own profit, without compensating AP, injures AP's ability to perform this essential function of democracy."

In a statement, Meltwater said it was disappointed and will appeal. It called the ruling "at odds with a variety of prior decisions that have paved the way for today's Internet."

The judge noted that commercial Internet news clipping services like Meltwater perform an important function for their customers, but that "does not outweigh the strong public interest in the enforcement of the copyright laws or justify allowing Meltwater to free ride on the costly news gathering and coverage work performed by other organizations.

Moreover, permitting Meltwater to avoid paying licensing fees gives it an unwarranted advantage over its competitors who do pay licensing fees."

Meltwater is a 12-year-old electronic news clipping service that helps its clients monitor how they are covered in the press. In its lawsuit, the AP alleged that Meltwater News had been pilfering current and past material from the AP and other news providers without paying licensing fees.

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Butler judge wants Enquirer suit dismissed

March 20, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Cincinnati Enquirer

A Butler County judge wants the Ohio Supreme Court to dismiss The Enquirer's suit against him, saying he fixed his mistake in improperly sealing a case involving the Miami University rape flier and the issue is moot.

In a brief filed with the Supreme Court, part-time Judge Rob Lyons of Area I Court in Oxford also maintains The Enquirer has no right “to insert itself into judicial and prosecutorial functions that determined the outcome of the underlying criminal case.”

“Once the Respondent Judge realized that the defendant’s underlying plea agreement was being undermined, it was far more important to deal with that issue than to alter the process to cater to a newspaper looking for a story,” the brief written by Butler County Assistant Prosecutor Dan Ferguson said.

The Enquirer sued Lyons in November after he immediately sealed the conviction of the former student who posted the “Top Ten Ways to Get away with rape,” flier in a co-ed dorm. The Enquirer alleged the sealing was improper because Lyons did not hold a hearing and that Lyons had cited the wrong law on a form he signed to seal the case.

After The Enquirer filed suit and Lyons found out he had improperly sealed the case, the student was allowed to withdraw his plea and prosecutors decided not to pursue further charges. That allowed Judge Rob Lyons to correct a mistake he made sealing the case the first time. He sealed it again immediately after the plea withdrawal. Lyons said he routinely sealed cases of Miami University students.

The Enquirer filed a second suit in the Ohio Supreme Court after Lyons admitted in a deposition that he had sealed convictions for several years using the same form citing the wrong law. The Enquirer has asked the state’s highest court to force Lyons to open the records. Both cases are pending.

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Editorial: Order of transparency

March 20, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Akron Beacon Journal

It is almost three years now since the governing boards of 10 charter schools in Akron and Cleveland filed suit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas trying to get White Hat Management to show them how it used operating funds for the schools. They notched another victory last week that should get them closer to the goal.

The boards had contracts that required them to turn over 96 percent of their state funding to White Hat to operate the schools. The boards, which are accountable to the state, argued reasonably that they have a responsibility to oversee the use of public funds flowing through the schools to the for-profit education management company owned by Akron businessman David Brennan.

White Hat refused to provide the requested records. It said the records were proprietary and confidential and that the law only required it to provide summary information. It argued also that public funds cease to be public once they pass through a private company to pay for services.

The trial court disagreed. In decisions in 2011 and in 2012, it sided with the schools and ordered White Hat to open its books, concluding that charter schools are public entities and the funds that a management company receives remain public funds. White Hat appealed the order. Last week, the 10th District Court of Appeals in Columbus in turn rejected the company’s claim of confidential and proprietary records. It affirmed the lower court’s order to release detailed financial information to the boards. With an option to appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, White Hat could evade essential transparency for a long while yet.

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Colleges rarely publicize names of those banned from campus

March 19, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Columbus Dispatch

Many central Ohio colleges ban people from campus for being disruptive, disobeying rules or breaking laws, including burglary, domestic violence and even deer poaching.

Oberlin College in northeastern Ohio made national headlines last month when an activist group complained that the school’s no-trespass list is so secret that some people don’t know they’re on it or how they got there.

Nine local schools contacted by The Dispatch said people barred from their campuses shouldn’t be surprised; they’re notified in person or sent a certified or hand-delivered letter.

However, that doesn’t mean that the public can see all of the names on the lists.

Oberlin refused to share its list, but a nearby newspaper got the names of 323 people banned from the school from records at the Oberlin Police Department.

Of all of the schools contacted by The Dispatch, only Columbus State Community College provided the names of students who have been banned. Others said they were involved in disciplinary hearings that are protected by federal privacy laws.

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Mobile expanding news audiences, not profits

March 19, 2013 · Add Comment

From Media Post

The digital landscape is as unsettled as ever for traditional news organizations, with the mobile era adding a new level of upheaval. While digital and mobile platforms are expanding the news audience, revenue streams from newer formats remain small.

On the audience side, the share of people getting news online or from a mobile device “yesterday” reached 39% -- up from 34% in 2010, when the Pew Research survey was last conducted. Mobile is playing a key role in that growth, with 45% of U.S. adults now owning a smartphone and 31%, a tablet computer. And they are avid news consumers.

Fully 64% of tablet owners say they get news on their devices weekly, and 37% daily, with nearly identical figures for smartphone users. Moreover, 31% of tablet news users said they spend more time with news since getting their device. Another 43% said the tablet is adding to the amount of news they consume.

Even as readers migrate online, they still look mainly to established news brands. The sites of newspapers, cable and network news account for 20 of the top 25 most popular news sites. Yahoo News remained No. 1 in 2012, enjoying a traffic boost driven in part by its content partnership with ABC News.

Facebook and other social sites continued to drive traffic to those sites and expand their role in the news ecosystem. Nearly a fifth (19%) of Americans saw news or news headlines on a social network last year, up from 9% in 2010. That figure rises to 34% among those ages 18-24. Mobile is playing a key role here too, with 47% of smartphone users saying they got news via a social network “sometimes” or “regularly.”

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Ohioans wary of plan for sales tax expansion

March 19, 2013 · Add Comment

From The Toledo Blade

A woman spending $125 for a hair coloring, cut, and style may have to add $6.25 more to the bill before tip.

A $1,500 retainer to a lawyer to handle a divorce with child-custody issues may get $75 larger.

A proposal to extend Ohio’s sales-tax umbrella to cover a broad array of professional services could add to the cost of newly built homes as architects, engineers, and interior designers all find themselves collecting and remitting sales taxes for the first time in Ohio.

It will even cost more in taxes to pay your taxes.

While Gov. John Kasich argues that his plan more accurately reflects an economy that is increasingly service-based, targets of the tax counter that it will make some services less affordable for lower-income Ohioans and could work against the governor’s goal of adding small-business jobs to the economy.

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AOL, Patch declare war on newspapers in California

March 19, 2013 · 1 Comment

From Hews Media Group

American On-Line, the owner of the controversial local internet websites known as “The Patch” have declared an all-out assault on print newspapers in California by sponsoring legislation that would threaten the system of printed public notices of meetings at city halls, school districts, water districts, county halls of administration and other public agencies.

The legislation is also being championed by Lakewood Assemblyman Anthony Rendon.

Assembly Bill 642 would allow internet only entities to become a “newspaper of general circulation” and publish public notices, and it could come before Sacramento lawmakers as early as March 23.

“The criteria used to establish an internet-only entity to be the official newspaper for a community is so weak it would allow any blogger or hobbyist with a laptop, tablet or smart phone to qualify,” said Brian Hews, Publisher and Owner of Los Cerritos Community Newspaper and the La Mirada Lamplighter.

“AB 642 requires no brick-and-mortar presence, no business office, and therefore, likely no local publisher, editors, reporters, local ad staff, production and circulation staff. A single regional editor aggregating content from the worldwide web and rewriting news credited at great expense by real newspapers would qualify,” Hews said.

Hews has been a newspaper publisher since 1994 and has been in the business more than 30 years.

“AB 642 would allow the adjudication of a petri dish,” Hews said. “This will kill some great local newspapers.”

“Deflecting rumors American On-Line was going to pull the plug on The Patch or at least recreate it to operate without humans, they have admitted it continues to be experimental with local Patch sites,” Hews said.

An AOL spokesman recently admitted that “we test different models in an effort to best serve our existing communities and our future ones.”

Locally published Patch websites in Cerritos and several other surrounding communities throughout Southern California are considered by many in the newspaper publishing profession to be “heavily influenced by local elected politicians and government officials who are in search of fluffy, nonobjective content,” Hews said.

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Nearly one-third of U.S. adults have abandoned a news outlet due to dissatisfaction

March 19, 2013 · Add Comment

Readers, viewers and listeners may not have followed the contraction of the news business closely, but they’re beginning to notice the effects of five dismal years for many publishers. That’s one of the key findings of this year’s State of the News Media report from Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

“Nearly a third of U.S. adults, 31%, have stopped turning to a news outlet because it no longer provided them with the news they were accustomed to getting,” the report says.

With reporting resources cut to the bone and fewer specialized beats, journalists’ level of expertise in any one area and the ability to go deep into a story are compromised. Indeed, when people who had heard something about the financial struggles were asked which effect they noticed more, stories that were less complete or fewer stories over all, 48% named less complete stories while 31% mostly noticed fewer stories. Overall, awareness of the industry’s financial struggles is limited. Only 39% have heard a lot or some. But those with greater awareness are also more likely to be the ones who have abandoned a news outlet.

The report is a rich document that requires a lot more attention than one blog post can give it. But here are some other takeaways of immediate interest.

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Phillip Morris of The Plain Dealer wins ASNE Distinguished Writing Award

March 15, 2013 · Add Comment

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A public-records primer: How to make a request

March 15, 2013 · 2 Comments

By Randy Ludlow, The Columbus Dispatch

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. -- James Madison

In celebration of Sunshine Week, here’s a primer on making public-records requests in Ohio. It’s your government, your money, your records. Government merely is the custodian of the people’s records -- not the owner.

Know the law because an alarming number of government officials and employees don’t. Download a copy of the newly updated “Yellow Book”manual of Ohio Sunshine laws and familiarize yourself with the law. It can be complex.

It’s generally best to request routine records verbally. Written requests can be seen as adversarial and drag in the lawyers to delay and complicate your request. However, if your request is complex or could generate push-back, file a written request to bring clarity to the matter and document your request should trouble ensue.

Here’s a fill-in-the-blanks form letter you can download to request public records.

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Carolyn Pione Micheli selected as new Scripps vice president of corporate communications

March 14, 2013 · Add Comment

From Net News Check

Carolyn Pione Micheli will join The E.W. Scripps Co. as vice president of corporate communications and investor relations, effective March 25.

“At Scripps we put a high value on effectively communicating our story with shareholders, employees and the great communities where we do business across the country,” said Rich Boehne, Scripps president-CEO. “Carolyn’s extensive experience with the news industry and with investors has prepared her well to be a strong contributor here at Scripps as we build new businesses for digital media consumers. She’s also one of us, a dedicated journalist motivated by a commitment to serve audiences and businesses in local communities across the country.”

For the past four years, she has been communications director for CincyTech, a public-private seed-stage investor focused on startup technology companies in Southwest Ohio. She developed the strategy for telling the CincyTech story to private investors and portfolio companies and a wide variety of other constituencies in the entrepreneurial economy.

In 2006, after serving as a deputy business editor and writer, she became business editor for the Cincinnati Enquirer, directing coverage of breaking and enterprise business news in the Greater Cincinnati area. Her work concentrated on the local market but also extended into the national economy with the financial crisis on Wall Street.

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