Edward A. Nichols Jr., who most recently was vice president and publisher of The Daily Press of Victorville, Calif., has been named publisher of the Southwest Daily News, The Vinton (La.) News, and The Fort Polk (La.) Guardian – all published by Gatehouse Media, Inc.

Even as a rare form of untreatable cancer left her bedridden, veteran journalist Diane Glass of the Atlanta (Ga.) Journal-Constitution remained determined to inform. An article, detailing her short battle with bile duct cancer, was published Sunday, July 29, in 45 newspapers, including the AJC. She died the next morning, knowing she had fulfilled her dying goal, said her sister, Janet Glass Dekle, who assisted with the piece. Pain-relieving medication had left Glass unable to complete it alone. She was best known for her syndicated column Woman to Woman, a point/counterpoint feature that pitted her liberal views against conservative Christian author Shaunti Feldhahn. The column is in its fourth year and will continue.

Aug. 30 is Deadline to Enter Photo of the Year Contest; Grand Prize: $1,000

The SNPA Foundation invites entries in four categories in the sixth annual Photo of the Year Contest. This year’s contest includes four categories and the grand prize winner will take home $1,000 in cash.

• Spot News: For outstanding photography illustrating quality performance under deadline pressure.
• News Feature: For outstanding photography emphasizing appeal to the newspaper reader. It should illustrate a fresh view or strong human interest of an ordinary event.
• Open Feature: For outstanding photography which displays imaginative and artistic skills in illustrating daily lifestyles.
• Sports: For outstanding photography that captures the key play, dramatic moment, mood or flavor of a sporting event.

Photographers whose work has been published in an SNPA member newspaper or on the Web site of a member newspaper between Sept. 1, 2006, and Aug. 30, 2007, are eligible to enter the contest. Cash prizes will be awarded in each category.

The deadline to enter is Aug. 30. Contact Cindy Durham in the SNPA office for more information: (404) 256-0444.

• Details and an entry form

Register Today for SNPA's 104th Annual Convention
The program at the 104th SNPA Annual Convention will focus on proven strategies to strengthen and preserve the newspaper franchise, grow audience and build market share.

Confirmed topics include:

• Growing Readership, On Line and On Paper
• Capitalizing on the Saints – The Boomer Generation
• Appealing to the Savables through Easier Reads – Writing Stories that can be “Jisted” – Addressing Reader Perceptions of Time Poverty.
• Marketing to the Unconvertibles through Identifying “Newspaper Next” Jobs to be Done – and Doing them. Who’s Carrying that Ball?
• Identifying Circulation Success Stories – How did they do it?
• Radical Editorial Reinvention
• The Timeless Value of Good Journalism – What Does that Look Like in the 21st Century?
• The Financial Value of the Newspaper Franchise – What can be Learned from Recent Past Newspaper Company Deals? What is Your Newspaper Company Worth?
• Tactics to Revitalize Newspaper Advertising

In addition to the general sessions on Monday and Tuesday, the convention program also will include workshops on Sunday and Monday afternoons and early morning roundtable discussions on both Monday and Tuesday. The program begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14, and adjourns at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

In addition to networking with members at the convention, a number of additional opportunities exist for associate mebmer companies to be more visible at the Annual Convention. For a complete list of ways companies can "Be Seen!" at this year's convention, click here.

With costs starting at $200, all companies should be able to find an option that fits into their marketing budget.

Possibilities include:

• Tabletop displays at the convention. At least one company representative, who is registered for the convention, must maintain the display at the convention.
• Adding promotional items and literature into the SNPA Welcome Bag, which will be delivered to every guestroom.
• Advertising in the convention program.
• Sponsoring awards, refreshments or give-aways at sports tournaments.
• Sponsoring social events such as receptions, coffee breaks or breakfast.

If you are planning to attend the convention but haven't registered yet, don't let this month pass without registering with SNPA. Convention registration fees go up Sept. 1!

For more information about the Annual Convention and marketing opportunities, call Carole Kallansrude in the SNPA office: 404-256-0444.

• Register for the SNPA Annual Convention

TeleTraining Offers Low-Cost Opportunities for NIE Staff
SNPA and NIE consultant Vicki Whiting are offering a series of four tele-training programs for NIE staff members that can yield high value, with no need to travel or spend time away from the office.

These four programs only require one-hour of staff time and one fee covers all staff members who want to sit in on the call.

Program topics and dates will include:

• NIE 101 – Wednesday, Aug. 22 at 2 p.m. Eastern time
  All you need to know to get an NIE program up and running. The right workshop for newspapers just thinking of starting an NIE program, for new NIE staff and for veterans who want to run their programs more efficiently by getting back to basics.
• NIE Funding – Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 2 p.m. Eastern time
  Find out how to raise money for your NIE program by positioning your program powerfully, marketing it effectively, knowing who to ask for money and how to ask for it.
• Marketing Your NIE Program to Teachers – Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 2 p.m. Eastern time
  This session looks at what teachers are looking for and how your newspaper fits their needs. It also addresses how to get teachers and school district administrators to partner with you to enroll more teachers.
• Teacher Workshop Basics and Pizazz! – Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 2 p.m. Eastern time
  This session provides tips for making your teacher workshops a hit. Find out how to include teachers from different grade levels, how to address teacher questions and concerns, basic NIE lessons any teacher can use and how to build teacher customers who are also partners in literacy.

Registered participants will access the session via a toll-free telephone line. Course materials are e-mailed to individuals in advance and each session will be audio-taped.

One course is $60 (non-member rate is $75). A set of all four courses is $200 (non-member rate is $250).

For details and a registration form, click here.

Sept. 15 is Deadline for Your Chance to Win $2,000

SNPA continues to accept entries into the "Prototype Newspaper of the Future" contest. This contest is open to anyone, anywhere. It has few rules but offers an award of $2,000 to the winner. There is no entry fee.

Members are encouraged to promote this contest to their readers, and we hope you will e-mail Carole Kallansrude in the SNPA office to let us know how you are promoting the contest in your local market.

Entries must have two components: one or more page proofs or visuals of printed material, accompanied by the entry form. Other supporting multimedia applications are welcome. Judges will be looking for innovative ideas, not business plans.

The deadline for entries is Sept. 15. For contest rules and an entry form, go to www.snpa.org/contest or contact carole@snpa.org.

Workshop for Smaller Newspapers Focuses on Maximizing Revenue
Looking for revenue?  You’ll want to attend the SNPA Workshop for Smaller Newspapers, Sept. 16-18 at the Embassy Suites Hotel Buckhead in Atlanta.

Key topics on the agenda include:

• The Nuts and Bolts of Classified Growth
• Innovations in the Newsroom and on the Internet
• Strategic Cost Cutting
• The Gold Program
• Selling Small Spaces
• Maximize and Monetize: Online and On Paper
• The Comeback of Newspaper Political Advertising
• Incentive Plans that Drive Ad Sales
• Best Revenue Ideas
• Best Practices

To reserve hotel accommodations at the Embassy Suites Hotel Atlanta Buckhead, call 1-800-362-2779 or 404-261-7733. Room rates are $134, plus tax, for single or double rooms. Reserve your room by Sept. 1. Rooms may not be available after that date.

• For additional details about the program, click here.
• Registration form

Family Ownership Meeting to be Held Oct. 19-20 in Chicago
Family members from SNPA member newspapers are invited to register for the 2007 "reunion" of family owners conference at Inland Press Foundation member rates.  At this point in the year, the family meeting is the only one scheduled for North American newspapers and is co-sponsored by the Inland Press Foundation and SNPA. 

This year's "reunion" of family owners of newspaper companies will be held Oct. 19-20 at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel. The conference is for family owners of newspaper companies, including those who may not be active in day-to-day operations, and for key people in the operation who need to be attuned to the nuances of family ownership.

For details and a registration form, click here.

New Study Helps Newspapers Better Understand Teen Market
A new study from the Newspaper Association of America paints a portrait of teens (between the ages of 12 and 17) and provides newspapers with better insight on how to target them.

Did you know, for example that:

• Teens spent a record $179 billion in 2006?  
• Teens between the ages of 12-17 spend an average of $107 per week of their own and other people's money?
• Most teens (60%) receive money from their parents when they need it?
• Most teens (75%) have access to the Internet at home?
• More than half of teens (52%) are setting up or visiting personal home pages each week?
• Over half of all teens (53%) read a newspaper in the past seven days?
• More than half of teens "planning their next top purchase" read a newspaper in the past seven days?

The teen market is thriving with diverse interests and immense buying power.  Teens now command the attention and respect of marketers.  And advertisers will continue developing campaigns focused on teens.  After all, teens (12-17) who say they will spend more money in the next 12 months greatly outpace those who say they will spend less money.

Newspapers still have an opportunity to better understand teens in hopes of increasing their readership and delivering this audience to advertisers.  The study shows teens do read newspapers.  More than half of them spent time reading a newspaper in the past week.  It remains important for newspapers to create more value for teens in their product.  Thus, it would be helpful for newspapers to gain insight into the attributes among teens that likely shape their attitudes about what they read as well as what they buy.  The more newspapers know about teens, the better prepared they will be to create content that attracts them.

The types of communities teens live in, their leisure activities, their financial status, their involvement with the Internet, their shopping habits, their fads, and even their social concerns, all offer insights on how to target them.  The information contained in this report provides an overview of these attributes.

To read the full report, click here.

Conroe Daily Scores Hit with Back-to-School Tax Tab
Reprinted from Metro Plus Business newsletter

For The Courier of Conroe, what was once a solid back-to-school section began a decline that was nearly its undoing. But when Texas joined the growing group of states that have adopted an annual three-day sales tax holiday in August, the section was given a new lease on life.

"With schools starting earlier around the state over the last several years, it was getting harder and harder to time our back-to-school section," says Karen Mauermann, retail advertising manager for The Courier. "Our section was slowly dying until the sales tax holiday was enacted here in Texas. That gave us what we needed – a focal point for the section both in terms of timing and content."

Today, the newspaper's burgeoning back-to-school issue is always timed to coincide with the state's tax-free shopping weekend. While the law applies only to clothing and footwear priced under $100, it nevertheless saves Texas shoppers – particularly parents in need of back-to-school clothes for their kids – millions of dollars in state and local sales taxes each year.

With Conroe area clothing retailers eager to capture as much of the sales tax holiday business as possible, it was not long before The Courier's back-to-school issue was back in business. These days, the 12-page broadsheet is filled with kid- and school-oriented articles, opening day information for local schools, and ads for a wide range of area retailers – both those that benefit from the sales tax holiday and those that do not – service businesses and educational organizations.

In fact, a large ad for a local Christian school shares the front page with a photo of a local elementary school principal surrounded by a group of kids – many of whom are the children of Courier employees – dressed in their new back-to-school clothes.

Notes Mauermann, "We have several things going for us that keep the section successful. We have an excellent advertorial writer who writes little blurbs about local kid-oriented businesses, which we run along with photos in the center of the section. That's very helpful. Also, we always make sure to run as many local photos as possible throughout the section."

Associate Member Spotlight: Dario Designs
By Sean Ireland
Special to the SNPA eBulletin

You’re a heart patient, 10 years removed from a heart attack and triple bypass surgery. You’re being rushed to the hospital with chest pains.

It’s 2 a.m., and the emergency room physician on duty is a young resident on his first heart assignment.

There’s little question that your family is paging the heart specialist who treated you 10 years ago, right?

Architecture offers a similar choice, less the late-night drama, says Dario DiMare, president of Dario Designs, an architectural firm that focuses on designing facilities for the newspaper industry.

“We are specialists,” DiMare said. He founded his Massachusetts-based firm after 11 years as an architect at The Austin Co., where projects early in his career for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., and Newsday of Melville, N.Y., grounded him in the basics of the newspaper industry and its specific needs.

Bristol Herald Courier, Bristol, Va.

Naples Daily News, Naples, Fla.

Opelika-Auburn News, Opelika, Ala.

His early start in the field led him to other newspaper industry projects. He added more knowledge and more experience with each project, and earned a background that today gives him the confidence that his firm can design projects with both cost-saving and revenue-enhancing features for its clients.

“When a newspaper goes to a local architect, (the newspaper has) to do most of the teaching about what things are,” DiMare said. “Newspapers can speak freely knowing we understand their language and in some occasions actually learn from us – we’re at a different newspaper every week and there’s 32 (about 100 if you include the firm’s consultants) of us that focus on the industry all of the time. We’re adding value when a local architect may actually think that FlexoMAN is a superhero. We have worked tirelessly striving to be the best at what we do.”

Dario Designs has a well-earned reputation in the newspaper industry for its projects. Its most notable has been helping The New York Times with the plant consolidation project it announced in 2006. DiMare estimates that the newspaper will save $3.5 million per month in operating costs.

It currently is working with The Dallas Morning News and the Victoria (Texas) Advocate on master plans for future growth, and with the Houston Chronicle on changes in its newsroom and its packaging area.

In Myrtle Beach, S.C., Dario Designs is doing master planning for The Sun News, a McClatchy Co.-owned newspaper, and the firm also has projects on the boards with Hearst Corp. and Advance Publications.

It has just completed plants at newspapers in Opelika (Opelika-Auburn News), Ala., and Lynchburg (The News & Advance) and Bristol (Bristol Herald Courier), Va., for Media General, and for The Shreveport Times, a Gannett Co. paper in Shreveport, La.

Two other projects designed by the firm are under construction in Florida, one for Sun Publications, in Lakeland, and a $95 million project for the Naples Daily News.

“A lot of the new work is heavily focused on strategic planning, operational efficiencies, consolidation and new technology,” DiMare said. “We have come up with innovative ways to both enhance revenues and save operating costs and this has caused an up-swell in our work load.”

The firm’s busy schedule aside, it’s not easy to convince a newspaper, especially a smaller one, to go out of town or out of state for architectural services, especially when there might be pressure to use the architects living and working in the publication’s service area.

But DiMare is adamant about the advantages a specialist in the field can provide to newspaper clients. “When was the last time a local architect saved you over $3,000,000 a year in operating costs?"

His firm offers design services for front-end operations such as newsrooms, advertising and new media, and for production operations from plate-making to press, packaging and distribution. It also offers a wide variety of consulting services from strategic planning to production equipment selection, acquisition and layout. They do front-to-back and complete ROI studies as well.

Perhaps most importantly, the firm looks at the newspaper and its needs not just now, but for the future. Any newspaper considering new construction, consolidation or renovation must make current and future needs the focus of its decision-making, DiMare said.

“Our master-planning process does that,” he said. “What the master plan asks is: 'What do you want to be when you get big? What are your long-term goals? What are your core competencies?' Then we ask where you see yourself in two, five, 10, 20 years, and then we can get you there. Once we understand their goals, the market will then define all the products that need to be produced. The products will then define the equipment and the people needed to produce it. That will then define how big the building has to be, and then the building defines the site.”

Newspaper Circulation Bootcamp
Anderson, Randles and Associates will host its 13th Newspaper Circulation Bootcamp Sept. 12-13 in Atlanta. This program is designed for circulation directors (especially new ones), mid-level/future circulation executive staff, publishers, general managers, editors and financial managers – at daily newspapers with circulation up to 100,000. For program details and registration information, click here.

Public Notices Under Fire

Sean Ireland

By Sean Ireland
Special to the SNPA eBulletin

Newspapers are under attack.

Yes, the Internet is playing a role, but this attack has opened on a new front, one that is growing wider and requires newspapers to not only defend themselves, but also stand up for the sake of the public at large.

For hundreds of years, public notices have been a fundamental part of the democratic system of government of this nation, with the founding fathers of the United States believing as an underlying principle that the nation needed an educated public to elect its representatives and then judge their performances.

And for hundreds of years, newspapers have been the best place for the public to be notified about tax votes, zoning decisions, contracts up for bid and any other manner of government action. Such public notice newspaper publication for years has been independent, reliable and inexpensive, providing citizens with the easiest way possible to find out about the decisions that affect their towns and states.

But newspapers across the U.S., and particularly in southern states, have found that the age-old practice – state laws and codes that require public notice publication in community newspapers for a set price – is under fire from both independent companies hoping to win new revenue by electronic public notice publication and from local and state governments as well.

Companies hoping to win the revenue from public notice publication are proposing to take the so-called legal advertisements from newspapers and publish them online. In several states, among them Arizona, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, GlobalNotice Inc. has hired lobbyists to begin working in state legislatures to change laws for public notices.

The company, and others, claim they can better serve the public by providing a vast clearinghouse of public notices on their own Web sites. “As municipal budgets tighten across the nation, government leaders must look for ways for public money to be spent more efficiently, while not cutting back on the level of service provided to citizens. One way to accomplish this is by encouraging state lawmakers to pass legislation allowing local units of government to publish legal and public notices on Web sites instead of newspapers,” writes Jason Christie, president of another such company, Enotices LLC, on its Web site, enotices.com.

“Several studies have been published proving more Americans view the Internet on a daily basis than read newspapers. This includes major metropolitan areas as well as rural communities,” Christie wrote, without identifying the studies.

“Newspapers have held a century-old monopoly on legal notice publishing and they’re not giving up without a fight – especially when it’s been estimated that legal notice publishing is currently an $800 million-dollar industry. While print circulation figures dwindle in every state of the union, newspaper leaders continue to claim that publishing on paper is the most responsible way of getting information to the public. In fact, in the past year, some state legislatures have actually passed legislation to allow for an increase on the cost that newspapers can charge for legal notice publishing.

“We’re not suggesting public notices be published by individual governments, we’re proposing the use of a third-party entity where notices can be found easily and efficiently, without the high-cost currently associated with publishing legal notices in newspapers.

“Enotices.com proposes a nationwide online network of legal notice publishing. One that allows citizens, companies and other entities to view notices on the Internet from anywhere they are. We also propose the use of a registration system that allows individuals to ‘sign up’ for the legal notices that interest or affect them.”

GlobalNotice also argues that Web viewing would be best for public notices.

“GlobalNotice’s mission is to create independent, highly secured, centralized Web sites for viewing, posting, searching and archiving public notices. These services are offered with unprecedented convenience to the user. GlobalNotice’s proprietary innovations benefit the public, the legal community and the court systems nationwide.”

The newspaper industry has been tracking these companies for several years in anticipation of their attempts to take over public notice publication. The industry has answered with lobbying efforts of its own through state press associations and individual publishers.

“An Internet contractor . . . is hardly the medium people are accustomed to using. It has no history of trust, and no commitment to our state,” testified Jerry Tidwell, a newspaper publisher in Texas, before a state committee considering public notice law.

Tidwell is also the president of the National Newspaper Association, and he provided a host of reasons to avoid drastic changes to public notice laws. “The Internet, though pervasive and clearly maturing, remains a notoriously unstable medium. Hackers invade it every second,” he said.

And beyond hackers, there are simple human errors that can have huge and complex consequences. Last year in Alaska, a computer technician reformatting a disk drive for the Department of Revenue accidentally deleted information about one of its accounts, and then did the same to a back-up drive. The mistake cost $600,000 and six weeks as the information was rebuilt.

If a similar error happened to a public notice database, without newspaper notifications in place, government work and decisions could have grinded to a halt.

Tidwell raised other arguments against third-party electronic publication. “The language of (the Internet’s) commerce is rewritten every few years. Can you imagine trying to read an electronic notice published 10 years ago? It would have been in MS-DOS. And 20 years ago, it would have been in Fortran. It would be delivered to you in a 5-inch floppy disk that only computer equipment hobbyists could read. What will be the language and format 10 years from now? Will it be as readable as a newspaper?” he asked.

Perhaps most important to the argument is the notion that public notices should be available to the widest section of public possible. Tidwell cited evidence that electronic publication does not provide the public with that.

“The Internet remains inaccessible to many. The Pew Center for the Internet and Public Life reported just this past March that:

• Hispanic populations in the U.S., for example, are still largely not Internet users.
• And, African-Americans are far less likely to go online and spend less time there than others.
• Pew reported last December people making less than $30,000 per year form a majority who do not use the Internet at all.
• And, more than 40 percent of the population with high school education or less are not online.”

To further battle the companies proposing electronic notice publication over newspapers, many state press associations have established their own Web sites for public notices. In Georgia in July, for the first time ever, every public notice from each of the state’s 159 counties was being posted online at www.GeorgiaPublicNotice.com by the newspapers serving as legal organs for each of the counties. Access to the Web site is free and there are no additional charges to local governments for the electronic posting – each newspaper involved was voluntarily posting the public notices running in their pages to the Web site.

Arizona, North Dakota, New Jersey and many other southern states are undertaking similar efforts, providing the widest possible public access to the information – in newspapers and online.

Outside parties are not the only ones attempting to change public notice laws. Legislators looking for convenient ways to cut costs have proposed that the government itself take over publication, making notices available on their own Web sites.

In 2004 in Georgia, for instance, legislation was introduced that would have allowed the Department of Transportation to publish its public notices on its own Web site. That effort was turned back by a statewide effort of publishers who spoke individually to DOT board members about the importance of independent public notice publication.

Newspapers have been vigilant in their efforts to protect access to public notices, but the efforts remain largely unknown to the general public. The arguments are taking place in the hallways and committee hearings of state legislatures and conference rooms and at newspapers and press associations, but they rarely make headlines.

That may be a problem – the public has little idea of the potential loss it faces with any drastic changes to public notice laws. Are newspapers doing enough to influence and win the public they are defending?

The NNA and many state press associations have designed advertisements free for usage by newspapers that educate readers about public notices and their importance. Editorials and opinion columns can also alert readers to changes that have been or may be proposed to public notice publication in their states.

In addition, the Public Notice Resource Center, a group founded in 2003 by American Court and Commercial Newspapers Inc. and dedicated to preserving the public’s right to government information, has recently issued a series of best practices that newspapers can use to ensure readers the best access, awareness and understanding of public notices.

Among them:

• Newspapers should explain to readers the importance of public notices and the newspaper’s role in publishing them on a regular basis. By running advertisements and other content, newspapers should both stress the importance of public notices and illustrate how readers can use them to their advantage and to the advantage of their community. Newspapers should never assume that readers know where to go for public notices; they should continue to remind readers that they are the best source of information.
• Newspapers should strive to be experts in public notices. By mastering the process of publishing a notice, a newspaper can cement itself in the community as the place to go for public notices.
• Newspapers should remember that while public notices remain an important part of the business of the newspaper, first and foremost it is a community service. Public notices should never be looked at as a mere source of advertising dollars.
• Newspapers should publish all government public notices on their Web sites if the newspaper operates one.
• Newspapers should make all government public notices posted on Web sites free of charge and not behind password protection.
• Newspapers should advertise the Web site address of public notice sections in the printed version of their newspapers. On the Web site, provide information on how printed archives may be accessed.
• Newspapers should highlight the public notice section of their Web sites. Public notices should be set apart from other sections so that they are easily found and viewed.
• Newspapers should make public notices prominent in their newspapers. By consistently putting public notices in a prominent position, newspapers can stress the importance of public notices, as well as making them easy to find for their readers. Public notices should never be placed haphazardly alongside other classified advertisements, where they could be overlooked.
• Newspapers should encourage reporters to use public notices as sources of news stories. Some of the best investigative reporting has started with a journalist reading a notice that went unread by others. Foreclosure and other types of notices that may look “typical” could be the start of an important local story.
• Newspapers should make all of their government public notices searchable by date, location, keyword and type of notice if they provide search engines. By offering searchable databases of public notices, citizens are better able to find important notices that matter to them.

The guidelines are available in full on PNRC’s Web site, www.pnrc.net.

Drafting A Non-Competition Agreement? Ten Things You Should Consider
After training and grooming a green employee into a highly productive and valuable member of the team, employers are frequently frustrated to learn that the employee is now their chief competitor. It's no surprise that, more and more frequently, employers are asking or requiring employees to sign non-competition agreements – employment contracts that restrict the rights of employees to set up shop across the street, or take your training with them when joining your rival. Of course, it's a free country and people are allowed to make a living any honest way they can. Balancing those two competing philosophies is what judges are often called upon to do. If you are considering establishing a non-competition agreement for your employees, here are 10 things you should think about. Read more from the law firm of Fisher & Phillips.

The Realities Our Industry Faces and Overcoming a Cataclysm
Newspaper industry leaders "must stop acting as if we are going to wake up tomorrow morning and the newspaper business will have reverted to the go-go 80s and 90s," Tim J. McGuire said in a speech to the American Association of Independent Newspaper Distributors. "It ain’t going to happen. The only way we are going to wake up to a better tomorrow is if we create that tomorrow." In his talk, the Frank Russell Chair of Journalism at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications discussed seven realities the industry faces and ways industry leaders need to react to those realities." Read the text of his remarks.

NIE Commentary: Newspapers in the Classroom
As school resumes across the country, the Journal-Standard in Freeport, Ill., took the opportunity to remind readers – on its opinion pages – of a few good reasons schools should use newspapers in their classrooms. Read more

Reader's Corner contains, from time to time, links that require registration on another site. Registration rules and requirements are established by the host site and participation by eBulletin readers is entirely voluntary. Articles cited here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SNPA or its Board of Directors. Links refer the reader to the source material.

Little Words, Big Problems

Doug Fisher

By Doug Fisher

Maybe it's creeping "Foxification" – that staccato, drop-all-the-helping-verbs style prevalent on the cable channel. But lately it seems we're casting adrift two old friends of the language – "to" and "that."

Sentence: The prosecutor declined comment.

Q: "Sir, would you like a bit more comment?"
A: "No, I'm pretty full. Maybe just a sliver of obfuscation?"

This one seems to go in cycles, and in the latest zeal to cut words, it looks to be headed for a periodic zenith. Let's see if we can bring it back to Earth.

The correct form is declined to comment.

Declined can be a transitive or intransitive verb. When transitive, it wants an object – comment. But you aren't saying the person didn't want any more comment. You are saying, in effect, the person declined to give any comment. Think of "to" as the shortening of that gangly phrase and you'll get it right. Of course, if you'd use the more conversational "would not comment," it wouldn't be a problem.

(Dropping that "to" sends Microsoft Word's grammar checker into suggesting the nonsensical "prosecutor-declined." Word is hardly definitive, but if it's having a breakdown, it's a good bet something is wrong with your sentence.)

Sentence: Lehman says it is proud of its role in helping provide credit to consumers who might otherwise have been unable to buy a home.

Lehman can be proud of helping Jim or Jane or the Smiths get credit. But the better phrase is helping to provide credit. In addition to signaling the intransitive verb, the infinitive provides a smoother read. In this, English is a bit idiomatic; the past participle, helped, does not seem to grate on the ear without the "to" (he helped [to] raise the barn) as much as the present participle, helping, does.

While leaving to out of a sentence can leave a reader feeling that something is slightly off-kilter, forgoing that can produce momentary misunderstanding. Bryan Garner, one of the most cited observers of modern English usage, calls it a "miscue." It's seldom good because when readers pause to parse things, even momentarily, you risk losing them.

These miscues most often stem from dropping that with verbs that can be transitive or intransitive. Some of the more common ones:

• Warned
• Concluded
• Decided
• Pointed out
• Added

Warned illustrates the problem:
Sentence: The prosecutor warned the inmate was a flight risk.

Did the prosecutor say to the inmate, "Warning, you're a flight risk," or did the prosecutor turn to the judge and say, "Your honor, this person is a flight risk"?

The first one has the prosecutor warning the inmate – the momentary miscue. To get the prosecutor warning the judge, we again need a signal that the verb is intransitive, and the conjunctive that serves the purpose.

In this case, a paper got it right: The association denied that its members are engaged in a job action.

The AP Stylebook lists other verbs it says usually need the conjunctive "that":  advocate, assert, contend, declare, estimate, make clear, point out, propose and state. The key here is "usually." Many can go either way depending on meaning, function and ear. (For example: He asserted his claim to the gold/He asserted that his claim to the gold was valid.)

Estimate seems the most likely candidate to drop "that": He estimated 20,000 people were there does not seem likely to cause much confusion.

And, as I've written before, that should be used with "and" or "so" in special cases:

• Where attribution leads the sentence and controls all that follows: City leaders promised the work would be done by Monday and that everything would return to normal.
• When you have a "clause of purpose:" She saved for years so that she could buy the brass bed. (The late Wilson Follett called using that "unassailable" here, but given our propensity toward elliptic writing, we often drop it. At least don't use a comma.)

The hardest thing for some journalists, after years of being told to excise these words from copy, may be learning that these two short words are not our enemies.

Doug Fisher, a former AP news editor, teaches journalism at the University of South Carolina and can be reached at dfisher@sc.edu or 803-777-3315. Past issues of Common Sense Journalism can be found at http://www.jour.sc.edu/news/csj/index.html.

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