AdNews

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ON THE INSIDE

CALENDAR

Page 3 - APA Ad Conference Daily & Weekly Winners

Page 6 - Traits of Top Performers

MARCH 31APA Better Newspaper

Editorial Contest Deadline

JUNE 27 - 30APA SuperConvention,

Inn of the Ozarks,Eureka Springs

“Keep your sales pipeline full by prospecting

continuously. Always have more people to see than

you have time to see them.” – Brian Tracy

Arkansas Press Services, Inc. is a subsidiary of Arkansas Press Association | 411 South Victory, Little Rock, AR 72201 | 501.374.1500

A Monthly Publication Supporting APA Member Advertising Professionals

ARK

ANSA

S Vol. 15 | Issue 3 | March 2018

Joe May of The Standard newspaper in Amity is a jack of all trades. And not just at the newspaper where he is publisher, editor, ad manager, circulation manager and sports editor. May is also a preacher in Waldron, builds and restores log cabins and re-enacts as an 1840s colonial woodworker. On top of all these hats that May wears during the week, he also home schools his 14-year-old daughter Shana.

May, who was born and raised outside of Arkadelphia in Clark County and graduated from Arkadelphia High School in 1992, actually started The Standard from scratch on Feb. 1, 1996.

“I left Ouachita Baptist College after four-and-one-half years as a history and communications major,” May said. “I knew what I wanted to do so I just did it. I didn’t really want to work for someone else.”

May said he had written a history column for The Daily Siftings Herald in Arkadelphia since he was 16, had worked for six months as a part-time

Joe May masters many tasks at office, homeFrom the Field Feature

The Standard Publisher Joe May cuts wood while re-enacting an 1840s colonial woodworker at the Joaquin Festival at Historic Washington State Park near Hope earlier this month.

APA Ad Conference leads to some ‘Hot Ideas’

Congrats to the winners of the 2018 Hot Ideas Contest at the APA Ad Conference. From left to right, Kelly Freudensprung of the Saline Courier in Benton (2nd Place), Daphne Morton of the Stone County Leader in Mountain View (3rd Place) and Todd Edwards of the Harrison Daily Times (1st Place). Ashley Wimberley, third from left, presented the cash prizes.

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From the fieldcontinued from page 1

The National Newspaper Association’s 132nd Annual Convention and Trade Show is scheduled for Sept. 27-29 this year at the Waterside Marriott in Norfolk, Va. The agenda will address pressing business objectives of community newspaper owners, publishers and senior staff with educational sessions and peer sharing activities.

A full registration includes four general sessions, five sets of round table discussion sessions, an exhibit hall with more than 30 exhibitors and tickets to a welcome reception, two breakfasts, two lunches and one dinner with entertainment. To register go online to nnaweb.org/convention.

In the Newsreporter and earned two bylines and had

worked a few weeks for the Clark County American.

“When I first started my newspaper, I knew I wanted to stay in Clark County. I got an Arkansas map and a coffee can. I drew a circle around Clark County, and Amity ended up in the center of the circle. So I decided to set up shop in Amity. I tried to cover five counties at first, but I had to rein it in. Right now I cover Clark County, northern Pike County and the Bismarck area of Hot Spring County. I run the largest newspaper in this area with a paid circulation of 2,000,” he said.

May normally prints 12 pages each week with special sections adding an additional eight to 12 pages when he runs them. He prints nothing but local news unless there is some local connection. He does have a few local columnists, and a local man who writes sports stories. He also has some sources who send him photos for the newspaper and a teenager who sometimes helps with layout. He has had ad reps over the years in the past, but not anymore.

“My readers have been really good to me,” May said. “The area of the state The Standard covers is not economically sound, but one thing I have done is keep ad prices the same for local ‘mom and pop’ businesses

over the years. They can’t afford to pay more. But my overhead is low which allows me to do that,” May said. “Plus, I run $15 ad promotions every week. The Standard is now the county legal newspaper, which has been a big benefit.”

Managing time is a challenge for any newspaper editor, but especially May.

“I work a lot of late nights,” he laughed. “I spend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday selling ads and laying out the paper. I deliver papers on Thursday, and I take Friday for myself. Sundays are spent preaching in Waldron.”

May’s wife, Kristie, is his bookkeeper. She also teaches school in Mt. Ida. He has a second daughter, Alex, who is married with one child living in Poyen.

May lives on several acres in Alpine, where he builds and repairs old cabins. He evens owns an 1880s Pike County jail that was torn down about 50 years ago. A Hot Springs man bought the jail at that time and moved it to Hot Springs and turned it into a safe.

“I’m probably the only person around who owns a jail,” he added. “It’s a slow process, but I hope one day to have a village on my property where I can teach kids about the past.”

Stephanie Dodson, Hot Springs Village Voice (left) is presented the Best of Show award by APA Executive Director Ashley Wimberley.

Kristi Nall, Advance Monticellonian, Monticello; Samantha Walker, Advance Monticellonian, Monticello; Rusty Fraser, Stone County Leader, Mountain View; Staci Miller, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock; Kelly Freudensprung, Saline Courier, Benton.

Sweepstakes Awards Best of Show

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(Front row, left to right) Samantha Walker, Advance Monticellonian, Monticello; Kristi Nall, Advance Monticellonian, Monticello; LeAnn Brown, Sheridan Headlight; Daphne Morton, Stone County Leader, Mountain View; Brian Huntley, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Fayetteville; (back row, left to right) Stephanie Dodson, Hot Springs Village Voice; Jennifer Allen, Gatehouse Media; Shantelle Redden, The Times Dispatch, Walnut Ridge; Carrie Johnson, Pacesetting Times, Horseshoe Bend; David Hoye, Carroll County News, Berryville; Ed Coates, Stone County Leader, Mountain View; Opal Dennis, Madison County Record, Huntsville.

Daily Winners – (Front row, left to right) Debbie Melvin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock; Emily Partridge, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock; Sheri Underdown, Harrison Daily Times; Debe Johnson, The Sentinel-Record, Hot Springs; Pat Stuckey, Saline Courier, Benton; Julie Albritton, Saline Courier, Benton; (back row, left to right) Vicki Morgan, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock; LeAnne Hunter, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock; Wendy Miller, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock; Cody Graves, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock; Staci Miller, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock; Brian Huntley, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Fayetteville; Jon-Claude Whillock, Harrison Daily Times; Brandon Collins, Harrison Daily Times; Kelly Freudensprung, Saline Courier, Benton; Ronnie Bell, El Dorado News-Times.

Weekly Award Winners

Daily Award Winners

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1) Lori Freeze of the Stone County Leader in Mountain View reviews the APA Networks Program flyer. 2) Weekly newspaper representatives participate in a round table discussion, sharing successes and challenges. 3) Featured conference speaker Kelly Wirges presents to the group the necessity of keeping your sales funnel full. 4) Debe Johnson of The Sentinel-Record in Hot Springs shared a hot idea at the Friday morning breakfast. 5) Attendees from the state’s daily newspapers share ideas. 6) Shantelle Redden of The Times-Dispatch in Walnut Ridge with one of her many first place awards.

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Newspapers representatives from across the state showcase their first place awards: 1) the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette team 2) the Harrison Daily Times team 3) LeeAnn Brown with the Sheridan Headlight 4) Pat Stuckey, Kelly Freudensprung and Julie Albritton with the Saline Courier in Benton, and 5) Stephanie Dodson and Jennifer Allen with the Hot Springs Village Voice.

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Neil McConnell, APA Marketing Consultant

Being a Top Performer It was nice seeing everyone who attended this year’s APA Ad Conference at the beautiful Winthrop

Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean. If you attended this year, we hope you were inspired and motivated by our guest speaker Kelly Wirges from ProMax Training. Ashley Wimberley and I had the opportunity to sit in on one of her sessions at last year’s 2017 NAM Conference in Baltimore. At that time, we knew we had to have her at our next Ad Conference. We were thankful she was able to fit us into her busy schedule. One thing that stood out to me during our session with her this year was “Being a Top Performer.” That inspired me to list a few traits that top performers have in common.

Quality is job one. Top performers consider quality a priority over simply getting things done. They are not satisfied unless their clients and customers are singing their praises.

Always developing new skills. The best performers want to improve their skills to become even better, so they are always looking for ways to learn and grow personally and professionally.

Fearless. Natural leaders step up and make decisions when it’s necessary. They are not afraid to make a mistake in an effort to reach for innovative solutions.

Desire for input. High performers know that to improve they need to understand what’s expected and how they are doing. Regular feedback from supervisors gives them the motivation to develop new ideas and come up with ways to help the business.

Self-direction. The best employees are more likely to perform their own research and spend more time on projects than average performers. They self-motivate and self-initiate new assignments and challenges. They seek out those in the organization who have the influence and the knowledge they need to achieve their goals and progress to the next level.

Cool under pressure. Confidence gives top performers the ability to calmly analyze situations and solve problems, even when the deadline is staring them in the face. They know when to compromise and when to stand firm.

Good people skills. High performers tend to have larger professional networks than average workers. They realize that “who you know” can often help advance a career. They will call on their contacts inside and outside the company for basic insights into how to approach a problem or for general support. They don’t have to be “life of the party” extroverts but they understand the value of nurturing professional relationships.

They go above and beyond. Successful people do whatever it takes to get the job done without complaining and always with a positive attitude.

APA special award nominations open

APA editorial contest entries due this week

It’s time once again to be making nominations for the annual APA “special awards” to be presented Friday, June 29, at the annual SuperConvention at the Inn of the Ozarks in Eureka Springs.

The nomination form can be found on the APA website at this link: https://tinyurl.com/y9cmv2ya.

The special awards include: Golden 50 Service Award, Distinguished Service Award, Headliner of the Year, Journalism Educator Award and the Freedom of Information Award,

The deadline for nominations is Friday, March 30. The APA board of directors will select the honorees from the nominations submitted at their annual spring meeting on April 5.

To submit your entries, visit this link: http://www.newspapercontest.com/Contests/ArkansasPressAssociation.aspx.

Have questions? Call the APA office at (501) 374-1500.

Awards to be Presented at the APA SuperConvention: Eureka Springs | June 27 - 30, 2018

Deadline for APA Better Newspaper Editorial Contest Award Entries is

March 31

ASSOCIATION

ARKANSASPRESS

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Harrisburg newspaper looks for new owner

Heavy tariffs hit community papers hard

The Harrisburg newspaper, a family’s century-long business, is up for sale.

According to General Manager Curtis Sanders, The Modern News has been owned by the Freeman family and in business since 1888. Unfortunately, it has operated at a loss for several years.

“The Modern News has published every weekly issue for 129 years, we have never missed an issue,” Sanders said.

Sanders explained the lack of interest and involvement from the owner’s son has led to the decision to sell.

Meanwhile, residents like Edith Holcomb have been loyal readers for years. She remains hopeful someone will continue the business, others hoping this is a new beginning.

“I’d like to see it go on at least so we’ll know what’s going on around our community,” Holcomb said. “I’ve been faithful to this

paper.”“I think it’ll do the community well to have a new beginning on

it,” Jackie Sears, a Harrisburg woman said.Sanders said one media group has shown interest in purchasing

the newspaper; however, the company’s name has not been released yet.

“We hope that new owners will be able to help us continue to deliver a quality product to our patrons,”

Sanders said. “Mary Saddler, the accounts person, and I hope to be able to continue with a new company when the time comes.”

Sanders said over the years, the paper has covered numerous historical events, such as World War I and World War II. Other topics of coverage included The Great Depression, prohibition, the first cars and the first electric companies.

A second blow against community newspapers was announced the second week of March by the U. S. Department of Commerce in the form of heavy tariffs on the North American paper supply.

A preliminary decision in an anti-dumping case brought last summer by northwestern U.S. producer NORPAC came from the department on March 13. The Commerce Department said it was ordering duties up to 22.16 percent on Canadian newsprint production, to be added to the January assessments of 4.4 to 9 percent from a related case on countervailing subsidies.

National Newspaper Association (NNA) President Susan Rowell, publisher of the Lancaster (S. Ca.) News, said the announcement was an indication that the final outcomes of the trade cases could deal a debilitating blow to the newspaper industry. Paper producers have already announced significant price increases in an attempt to absorb the duties.

“This is an extremely unfortunate development, and it just demonstrates how a too-mechanical application of trade policy can be turned on its ear to damage the U.S. economy,” Rowell said. “Canadian producers supply most of the U.S. newsprint, and they will continue to do so in an industry where new newsprint mills are

highly unlikely. The Commerce Department simply misunderstands the nature of the newsprint markets today if it believes that heavy duties are going to somehow stimulate new U.S. production. Large newspapers will move more rapidly to digital and smaller newspapers will simply be unable to afford the increases.

“We are painfully aware that some newspapers will not survive this upheaval. For those that do, it will be at the expense of a diminished news mission. Our readers, customers and community will pay the price, just so NORPAC, one small mill in Washington state, can use trade laws to a very temporary advantage. Long term, we will all lose.”

Rowell said the decision arrived just as publishers from nearly 30 states were arriving in Washington, D.C., to take their complaints about the trade case to Capitol Hill.

“Congress must get this train back on the right track,” she said. “Already many in Congress have expressed their alarm, and noted the potential for major job losses as a result of these trade cases. We need our elected representatives to stand up for community journalism right away, and explain the realities of the newsprint world to the trade analysts.”

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APA's 2018 Perfect Performance List

When businesses and organizations schedule newspaper advertising through Arkansas Press Services (APS), it is important that all the ads run correctly and on time. The Arkansas Press Association Board of Directors wishes to recognize member newspapers that run ads error free. APA’s Perfect Performance Club – a listing of all member newspapers that have run every ad scheduled through APS this year with no errors – will run every month in AdNews.

At the end of the year, APS will reward a newspapers still on the list for their staffs’ hard work and dedication to perfection.

Alma JournalAmity – The StandardArkadelphia – The Daily Siftings

HeraldAshdown – Little River NewsBatesville – Arkansas WeeklyBatesville Daily GuardBella Vista – The Weekly VistaBerryville – Carroll County News

MidweekBerryville – Carroll County News

Weekend EditionBlytheville – Courier NewsBooneville DemocratCalico Rock – White River CurrentCamden NewsCharleston ExpressCherokee Village – Villager JournalClarksville – Johnson County GraphicClinton – Van Buren County DemocratConway – Log Cabin DemocratCorning – Clay County Courier Crossett – The Ashley News ObserverDanville – Yell County RecordDardanelle – Post-DispatchDe Queen BeeDeWitt Era-EnterpriseDumas ClarionEl Dorado News-TimesEngland DemocratEudora EnterpriseEureka Springs – Lovely County

CitizenFairfield Bay – Lake Area WeeklyFarmington – Washington County

Enterprise-LeaderFayetteville – Northwest Arkansas

Democrat-Gazette Flippin – The Mountaineer EchoFordyce News-AdvocateForrest City – Times-HeraldFort Smith – Times RecordGlenwood Herald

Gravette – Westside Eagle ObserverGreenwood DemocratGurdon TimesHamburg – Ashley County LedgerHampton – South Arkansas SunHardy – Spring River ChronicleHarrisburg – The Modern NewsHarrison Daily TimesHazen – Grand Prairie HeraldHeber Springs – Sun-TimesThe Hope StarHorseshoe Bend – Pacesetting TimesHot Springs – The Sentinel-RecordHot Springs Village VoiceHuntsville – Madison County RecordImboden – The Ozark JournalJacksonville – The LeaderJasper – Newton County TimesJonesboro – The SunLake Village – Chicot County

SpectatorLittle Rock – Arkansas BusinessLittle Rock – Arkansas Democrat-

GazetteLittle Rock – Arkansas TimesLittle Rock – The Daily RecordLonoke DemocratMagnolia – Banner-NewsMalvern Daily RecordManila – The Town CrierMansfield – The CitizenMarianna – Courier-IndexMarshall Mountain WaveMcCrory – Woodruff County Monitor-

Leader-AdvocateMcGehee-Dermott Times-NewsThe Melbourne TimesThe Mena StarMonticello – Advance MonticellonianMorrilton – Conway County Petit Jean

Country HeadlightMount Ida – Montgomery County

News

Mountain Home – The Baxter Bulletin

Mountain View – Stone County LeaderMurfreesboro DiamondNashville News-LeaderNewport IndependentThe Osceola TimesOzark SpectatorParagould Daily PressParis ExpressPea Ridge – The TimesPerryville – Perry County Petit Jean

Country HeadlightPiggott/Rector – Clay County Times-

DemocratPrescott – Nevada County PicayuneRison – Cleveland County HeraldRussellville – The CourierSalem – The News/Areawide MediaSearcy – The Daily CitizenThe Sheridan HeadlightSiloam Springs – Herald-LeaderStamps – Lafayette County PressStar City – Lincoln AmericanStar City – Lincoln LedgerTexarkana GazetteTrumann – Poinsett County Democrat

TribuneVan Buren – Press Argus-CourierWaldron NewsWalnut Ridge – The Times DispatchWarren – Eagle DemocratWest Memphis – TimesWhite Hall JournalWynne Progress

106Papers Remain in “Perfect” Standing

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April is...National Decorating Month, National Garden Month and National Lawn Care Month. Call on home improvement stores, farmer’s markets (often have plants and seedlings for sale), décor shops, florists, garden shops, lawn service companies, landscape designers, interior design firms, antique dealers, home-party salespeople (such as Southern Living at Home, PartyLite candles, Pampered Chef, etc), fabric shops, custom drape and blind shops, wallpaper and paint stores, home staging companies, handymen for hire, cleaning services.

National Card and Letter Writing Month and National Poetry Month. Call on card shops, custom printing firms (for personalized stationery), scrapbooking shops, new and used book stores (focus on collected letters, published diaries, books of verse), art supply shops (for blank books, colored pens, embellishments).

Stress Awareness Month, National Minority Health Awareness Month, and Physical Wellness Month. Call on day spas, hot tub and pool retailers, health food stores, doctor’s offices (any sort, for checkups), gyms, sporting goods retailers, shoe stores, diet centers, yoga studios, chiropractors, hypnotherapists, martial-arts studios, kitchen stores (for healthy cooking supplies), bookstores, consumer electronics stores (for exercise DVDs, MP3 players).

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Call List

April Monthly Sales Planner

April Fool's Day

Easter

Tax Day

Earth Day

Passover Begins

Administrative Professionals

Day

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