the eagle - fall 2015
DESCRIPTION
Recognizing our bestTRANSCRIPT
ANNUAL SPECIAL SECTION WICK EDITORIAL AWARDS
News from Wick Communications Company Fall 2015
RECOGNIZINGOUR BEST
INSIDE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Argus Observer 4, 5
Arizona Range News 6, 7
Capital Journal 8, 9
Central Design 10, 11
The Daily Iberian 12, 13
Douglas Dispatch 14-16
Wick Digital Media 17
Green Valley News & Sahuarita Sun 18, 19
The Copper Era 20
Grand Slam Winners 21
Half Moon Bay Review 22, 23
Montrose Daily Press 24, 25
Nogales International 26, 27
Roanoke Rapids, The Daily Herald 28
Seirra Vista Herald 29
Wahpeton, Daily News 30, 31
Welcome to the fall 2015 issue of The Eagle!From President & CEO Tom Yunt
I am taking a bit of a different approach with my col-umn for the fall 2015 edition of The Eagle. As I have outlined and discussed in the two previous editions of our company newsletter, Wick senior management has been hard at work in developing the company’s long-range strategic plan. More specifically, this is a three-year strategic plan (2016-2017-2018) that was recently concluded and presented to the Wick Board of Directors and Wick Family for approval.
In my opinion, one of the most important outcomes of the overall strategic planning process was to de-fine, outline and articulate what we are calling Wick Communications’ Guiding Principles. These are the values, beliefs, rules of conduct and the mutual busi-ness, social and moral principles shared by the Wick Family and Wick Communications.
Please allow me to share the guiding principles, and share comments on each individual principle from my perspective. Our hope and intent is that our guiding principles will be more easily understood and con-veyed to our valued employees, readers and the com-munities we serve than the company mission or vision statements. Ultimately, these will be reproduced in signage to be displayed at every Wick business lo-cation and used in corporate communications and branding, as a fixed feature on the company’s web-site, and reproduced and highlighted in each edition of The Eagle.
Wick Communications Guiding PrinciplesThe Wick Family and Wick Communications are equally committed and endorse, support and es-pouse these Guiding Principles:
To remain committed to Wick Family Ownership.
The first guiding principle is direct and self-explana-tory. It is the absolute desire for the Wick Family to keep the company as a private, family-owned me-dia company. This is very important for all Wick em-ployees to know and understand. Wick Family mem-bers are proud and committed owners. The legacy Milton Wick started and continues today is at the very foundation of our company and at the absolute core of the mission and vision of the entire Wick Family now moving into their fifth generation. Private, fam-ily and local ownership is a rarity in today’s news-paper industry and that is something we all should value and hold in great esteem. We know our owners,
see our owners and have Wick Fam-ily members active-ly involved in the company, at both the operational and board levels of Wick Communications. We are not publicly traded, and as a re-sult, have the advan-tage and luxury of not being beholden to quarterly earnings reports. Nor are we at the whim of the stock market and outside and un-known investors. We have a company culture strongly rooted in family, and as a result, as a Wick employee, have the feel and support of being an extended mem-ber of the Wick Family.
industry stalwart in endorsing, supporting and pro-tecting the First Amendment.
As newspaper publishers and guardians of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, we have a duty and the honor of protecting the right of free speech and that of a free press. Please allow me to share the text of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
To create and foster a performance-based corpo-rate culture that emphasizes family and local own-ership and rewards performance, expectations and contributions, team work, cross-discipline and cross-publication cooperation, excellence, continuous improvement, innovation, reasonable and prudent “risk taking,” and entrepreneurial and “outside-the-box thinking.”
We have every intent to transform the Wick Com-munications’ corporate culture to one of a “perfor-mance-based company.” We want to excel as a com-pany, in our financial performance. We want to excel in producing award-winning newspapers, websites and magazines. We want to excel in growing readers
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and audience, all while focusing on continuous improvement, embracing innovation and fos-tering and encouraging entrepreneurial and “outside-the-box thinking.” In doing so, we want to reward our valued employees and as-sist in their professional growth and develop-ment.
To remain focused on being the primary source of local news and information while serving as the voice and steward of local markets we serve while espousing an atti-tude and mantra of “think local, shop local and act local.”
“Local, local, local” is and will continue to be the focus, expectation and mantra throughout Wick Communications. We publish local, com-munity newspapers, Web products and niche publications and we want to always strive be the leader and primary source of local news and information in ALL of our markets. We have and should continue to play an important role in all our markets -- to serve as the eyes, ears, voice and soul of our local communities and to be the ever-diligent watchman to en-sure the best interests of the local citizenry we are privileged to serve. In addition, our over-arching mantra will be, “Think local, shop lo-cal and act local!”
To create, develop and publish print and digital media products and services that exceed our customers’ expectations (both advertisers and consumers), meet the chang-ing media landscape and marketplace and position Wick Communications for contin-ued future success and diversification.
At the end of the day, we are in business to serve two very important customers: our val-ued readers (whether that be in print or online) and our valued advertisers. With that said, we want to create a corporate culture that nur-tures and supports the expectation that we value our customers, treat and look upon their businesses as if we own them ourselves and strive to continually exceed our customers’ ex-pectations. If we can accomplish this goal, we will continue to remain relevant and success-ful today, tomorrow and into the future. At the same time, we must embrace and adopt new media channels and continually position Wick Communications for long-term success.
attracting, developing, training, mentoring and re-taining a competent, creative, skilled and highly motivated workforce.
One of the most key and important assets of any organization, and in particular Wick Com-munications, is our valued employees. (The second-biggest asset is our valued customers!) This guiding principle pledges our commit-ment and a high priority to attracting, retain-ing, training and mentoring a highly skilled and motivated Wick Communications’ workforce.
focus on company-wide lead-ership and succession planning throughout the organization.
One of the major responsibilities of any compa-ny, but in particular for management, is to en-sure we are growing talent organically -- inter-nally within Wick Communications to prepare for future leadership succession. One of every manager’s key responsibilities is to groom and prepare a successor. One of my responsibilities as your president and CEO is to place a high level of importance and consciousness in pre-paring our company for planned, unplanned and eventual leadership transition and succes-sion throughout Wick Communications. De-veloping a strong team and placing a high priority and consciousness to succession planning is a significant goal in the Wick Com-munications strategic plan.
To create a safe, positive, professional, ethical, trustworthy and respectful work-place that supports a healthy work-life bal-ance, and encourages and supports individ-ual volunteerism and corporate citizenship.
Creating a safe, positive, professional, ethical, trustworthy and respectful workplace is the ul-timate goal for any organization and a signifi-cant priority and desire for Wick Communica-tions. By doing so, we will not only have the type of workplace and environment our em-ployees expect and demand, we will also be in a better position to attract and retain talent, and become a more productive, efficient and profitable organization with the ultimate goal of becoming a “preferred employer.”
To develop and maintain valued, long-term customer relationships by developing mu-tually rewarding partnerships and continually exceeding our customers’ expectations.
We want to adopt a company-wide philoso-phy and mantra that the “customers are king,” and they are the reason we are in business. In doing so, we want to develop long-term and valued relationships and “partnerships” with our customers -- readers and advertisers -- and
strive to exceed our valued customers’ expec-tations. At the end of the day, we want to treat their businesses (advertisers) as if they are our own and producing the type of professional publications and digital products we expect ourselves as consumers.
To strive to achieve company-wide stan-dardization based on industry “best practic-es” in order to improve operational efficien-cies, reduce costs and improve profitability.
We want to strive to become a company that adopts and embraces “best practices.” These may be operational efficiencies that exceed in-dustry performance standards, maximize and manage expense, and thus result in the most profitable company reasonably possible for the Wick Family. That puts us in a positon to in-vest back into the company, expand, grow and diversify our revenue streams and holdings.
To produce acceptable and targeted profit performance goals that ensure Wick Share-holders and Family Members an acceptable return on investment (ROI) and the ability for Wick Communications to invest in the com-pany and its employees in order to meet growth and capital investment requirements, and strategic goals and objectives.
Based on the Wick Family and Board of Direc-tors direction and desires, we want to be in a position to generate a reasonable and accept-able level of return on investment, while at the same time be in a financial position to invest in capital infrastructure needs and requirements and to adequately fund strategic growth and diversification goals and objectives.
To encourage growth, acquisition and di-versification opportunities that align with the approved 2016-2017-2018 Wick Com-munications Strategic Plan.
Like most traditional newspaper/media com-panies, Wick Communications has a goal and desire to grow and diversify our revenue, profit and cash flow through a combination of oper-ating the most efficient and productive portfo-lio of newspapers, Web and digital products and niche products. To do that we also must focus on diversifying the company’s holdings, products and services. Our strategic goal is to grow the company’s top line revenue to $40 million by the end of calendar year 2018 with 10-20 percent of the revenue growth coming from new, non-traditional and diversi-fied revenue streams.
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If Brandon Walton looked a little harried in mid-August, there was good reason.
Walton had spent the better part of the previous two weeks tracking down high school football coaches, interviewing players and shooting practices for the Ar-gus’ annual prep football preview. With 10 high schools in the Argus’ coverage area with varying season start dates and availability, this was no easy feat.
Walton was able to talk about the up-coming season with players as well as coaches. He offered predictions on the season and gave readers an off-the-field glimpse at some of the top players with questions such as, “What are you watch-ing on Netflix right now?” and “Who’s your favorite musician?”
This might not be Texas, but Friday night lights are a big deal in the Western Treasure Valley. Teams on both sides of the state line are frequent state cham-pionship contenders; two brought home state titles last year.
Walton single-handedly compiled enough copy and photos to fill the 48-page special section. Melissa Swetland put the section together, and Tom Perry-man designed the cover.
The efforts of all three led to one of the best football previews the Argus has produced in recent memory, and it has received rave reviews from readers throughout the valley.
Hard work produces great sectionThe Argus Observer
The Argus Observer’s annual football preview has received rave reviews from readers this year.PHOTO CREDIT: THE ARGUS OBSERVER
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Argus helps other papers boost subscription retentionThe Argus Observer
That friendly voice you hear on the line? That’s an Argus Ob-server employee — but she isn’t calling about the Argus.
Instead, she’s inquiring about your subscription on behalf of one of eight other Wick newspa-pers. The Argus is now handling retention calls for The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, The Daily Iberian, The Daily Herald, the Sierra Vista Herald, Montrose Daily Press, the Capital Journal, the Williston Daily-Herald and the Daily News.
Circulation manager Bill Mc-Carver said because the Argus already has employees making retention calls daily, adding calls on behalf of other newspapers hasn’t been difficult.
“The best way to handle reten-tion calls is to make calls each day, so you’re spending minutes a day versus once a week spend-ing a few hours,” he said. “It’s easier to take small bites of a big job rather than the whole thing.”
Because the Argus already has people making daily retention calls, using those resources is a more economical resource for other newspapers, McCa-rver added. Those papers don’t have to employ someone for that purpose.
“We’re able to call for eight other papers, probably even cheaper than they were doing for themselves,” he said.
The Daily Iberian has kept Argus callers the busiest, McCarver said. Ontario is making 30 to 40 calls on that paper’s behalf every day.
The Argus recently acquired dedicated phone lines for each paper, so when caller ID flashes on a person’s phone, he sees his home newspaper rather than a strange, out-of-state number. That has given the Argus a big boost in customer service and results, McCarver said, ex-plaining that people are more likely to an-swer a call from a num-ber they recognize.
“We see an even big-ger improvement in talking to people” since getting those phone lines, he said.
“The first signs are really encouraging,” McCarver added. “We think we’ll have good impact for the other papers.”
Western Treasure Valley Magazine is back.
The lifestyle magazine highlighting art, homes and features around east-ern Oregon and western Idaho officially returned June 21 after a hiatus of several months.
The original intent was to produce and distribute the magazine separately from The Argus Observer.
“After the magazine’s launch, we found out the distribution model we set was not best for our readers and this market,” publisher John Dillon told readers in his weekly col-umn before the maga-zine’s relaunch. “Our sub-scribers felt left out of our sampling, and the cost to print and mail every copy was a bit more than we anticipated.”
The magazine has a new stitch-and-trim format and is now distributed to Argus Observer subscribers in addition to be-ing available at several locations around the valley. While its look and distribution method have changed, the magazine’s content has not. Western Treasure Valley Magazine still covers local homes, artists, recipes and other features showcasing the area.
The first magazine in the new format had a garden theme. The Go Play edition published Aug. 9. Harvest and holiday is-sues will print before the end of the year.
Pictured Above: The new Western Treasure Valley Magazine launched June 21 with a garden theme.
Pictured to the left: The Go Play edition of Western Treasure Valley Magazine went out to subscribers Aug. 9.
PHOTO CREDIT: THE ARGUS OBSERVER
Western Treasure Valley Magazine returnsThe Argus Observer
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The Arizona Range News in Will-cox joined with the Eastern Ari-zona Courier in Safford and The Copper Era in Clifton – all three in separate counties – to pool resources to increase exposure for our customers and engage the public.
On July 15, we put out our first “Eastern Arizona Power Pak” with unbeatable deals for not only our newspaper subscribers in Cochise, Gra-ham and Greenlee counties, but also for residents that receive the 12-page tabloid of ads, along with inserts, in their mailboxes or by couri-er. Circulation is at 20,000.
“This is a great way to give our advertisers more exposure to those they don’t usually reach. It’s added value to our ad-vertisers, as well as to our subscribers who get the deals in the Power Pak,” said Monica Watson, the publisher for all three newspapers.
Advertisements are sold by the newspapers’ ad representatives, who say many advertisers
who don’t often advertise in the newspa-pers are advertising in the Power Pak, so they are actually tapping into a different resource for revenue, as well as giving their regular clients and extra exposure and added value.
New in September was the Eastern Ari-zona Outdoor Magazine – a 24-page glossy magazine primarily focused on hunting and fishing in the area.
The three newspapers again participat-ed in writing editorial features and sell-ing advertisements. The magazine was distributed not only in the three news-papers, but also in hunting-heavy areas of Eastern Arizona, including the White Mountains.
The response has been quite positive, including a reader calling from Showlow, Ariz., in the White Mountains to order 10 custom-carved animal calls from a 19-year-old businessman who was fea-tured in an article, as well as a subscriber for the Range News calling to have a newspaper sent to her son because she loved the magazine!
“We are very excited about the value of the magazine. Our staff put their hearts into it and it’s very classy,” Watson said. “We are excited about its future.”
Hunting for powerful sales New products take advantage of our areaBy Ainslee S. Wittig / Arizona Range News
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One of the features in the 2015 Eastern Arizona Outdoor Magazine, written and photographed by Carol Broeder of the Range News.PHOTO CREDIT: ARIZONA RANGE NEWS
A portion of the cover of the new Eastern Arizona Power Pak.PHOTO CREDIT: ARIZONA RANGE NEWS
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Capital Journal welcomes new publisher to South Dakota
Newspaper veteran John Clark is the new publisher of the Capital Journal in Pierre, South Dakota.
The son of former state lawmaker and Illinois Attorney General William Clark – the same William Clark who later served on the Illinois Supreme Court, ending his career as chief justice – John Clark notes that some of his first expe-riences with newspapers came as a boy when he would ac-company his father on the campaign stops across Illinois.
“I used to go to county fairs and the state fair with him,” he said. “We used to give out Clark bars.”John Clark decided early on that a life in politics wasn’t for him; but he was intrigued by the possibilities of working for the press and making the world of politics and public policy visible for ordinary citizens.
John Clark later attended Loyola University on a swimming and water polo scholarship, where he met his wife, Krista. Though his first job out of college was with a steel compa-ny, Clark knew he wanted to work in newspapers. He has spent his entire career since then working for newspapers or newspaper groups in Iron River, Michigan; Manitowoc, Wisconsin; Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin; Greenville, Mississippi; Portsmouth, Ohio; La-Grange, Georgia; and Delaware, Ohio.
John and Krista Clark have two grown children, daughter Lauren, who lives in St. Louis, and son John, who lives in Chicago. They also have one grandchild, Marielle.
An avid fisherman and hunter, with some special fondness for hunting grouse and ducks, Clark is delighted to land in the state capital of South Dakota, given its reputation for walleye and salmon fishing on the Missouri River and easy access to grouse, pheasant and duck hunting.
Advertising director on board
Clark started his new duties in August. One of his steps in his first weeks on the job was to once again appoint
April Schroeder, the Capital Journal’s former advertising director, to her old position managing the advertising staff. Schroeder had left the Capital Journal for some months for another sales position in Pierre but returned at the re-quest of the Capital Journal.
Circulation blitz
Clark was already at the helm of the newspaper during Wick Communications’ corporate-wide circulation blitz in August, when Jackie Odom of the newspaper’s business office led a calling effort that managed to get 69 new paid starts, the most of any newspaper in the company. The Capital Journal also won the May 2015 circulation blitz.
10 South Dakota Newspaper Association awards
The Capital Journal won 10 awards from the latest South Dakota Newspaper Association competition, including six first-place awards – three won by the newsroom and three won by the advertising department.
The Capital Journal newsroom’s three first-place awards were for its coverage of state history, agriculture and the arts. The newsroom staff won first place in the Best Special Issue category for “South Dakota: The First 125 years,” a special publication in May 2014 to mark the state’s cel-ebration of the 125th anniversary of statehood.
Capital Journal Managing Editor Lance Nixon won first place in the Best Feature Series category for “Art of War,” a series of five articles in the paper’s Dakota Life section that dealt with South Dakota’s tradition of combat artists.
Nixon also won a first-place award in the Best Photo Series category for five photographs accompanying his story, “Waiting for the wheat to move,” about rail trans-portation issues plaguing South Dakota’s bountiful 2014 wheat harvest.
The Capital Journal took second place for Best Typogra-phy and Design. Publisher Steve Baker and Managing Edi-tor Lance Nixon took second place for Best Editorial Writ-ing for a series of editorials about climate change.
Assistant Managing Editor Nick Lowrey took second place for Best Local General Interest column for three of his reg-
Capital Journal welcomes new publisher to South DakotaFirst order of business: Advertising director, circulation blitzBy Lance Nixon
John Clark became the new publisher of the Capital Journal in Pierre, South Dakota, in August. PHOTO CREDIT: BY JOSHUA PENROD
April Schroeder, former advertising director for the Capital Journal, has been reappointed to her old posi-tion in charge of the newspaper’s advertising staff after returning to the Capital Journal from a sales position elsewhere.PHOTO CREDIT: BY PHU NGUYEN
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ular outdoors columns, “Sometimes you have to hunt alone,” “Pronghorns in the snow” and “Why I love grouse.” In addition, Lowrey was runner-up for a Best Young Journalist award given each year.
Capital Journal staffer Joel Ebert took third place for his feature story, “Luck,” about former rodeo athlete Billie Sutton, now a state lawmaker in the South Dakota Legislature. Ebert is now covering the West Virginia state capitol for a larger newspaper.
The Capital Journal’s advertising department brought home three awards, all for first place. De-signer Deanne Sanders won a first-place award for Most Original Creative Idea for a project she did for Sioux Nation; April Schroeder won a first-place award for Best Advertising Sales Tool for the 2014 bridal guide; and advertising representative Julie Furchner and designer Deanne Sanders took first place for Best Multiple Advertiser Section for an advertising piece about Fire Prevention Week.
16 Associated Press newsroom awards
The Capital Journal newsroom also won a total of 16 awards, including five for first place, dur-ing the 2015 regional Associated Press news and photo contest.
The contest judged work published in 2014. The Capital Journal swept the enterprise writing cat-egory. The newspaper’s news staff earned a first place for the enterprise news series “Degrees of change,” which took an in-depth look at the sub-ject of climate change in South Dakota. Reporter Joel Ebert won a second-place for his series, “Fly the Subsidized Skies,” about the federal Essential Air Service grant program. Ebert also shared the third place award with Managing Editor Lance Nixon for their series, “STEM bears fruit: Science, math emphasis paying off.”
Nixon also won two first-place awards. One was for his column “Looking for grass and water,” about an area rancher. His other first was for the editorial “We may be starring in another documentary we don’t want to see,” published to accompany the climate change series.
Reporter Stephen Lee and News Editor Nick Low-rey shared a first-place award in the Spot News category for their coverage of the Capitol Inn and Suites fire in early November.
Lowrey also claimed a first-place award in the feature writing category for his Dakota Life story “Hunters over the plains,” about local falcon-
ers Mike Erickson and Dr. Gonzalo Sanchez. The Capital Journal swept that entire category as Cap-ital Journal staffers took home the second- and third-place awards as well. Ebert claimed the number two spot for his Dakota Life story “Luck,” about former rodeo athlete and cur-rent Democratic State Sen. Billie Sutton. Nixon claimed third place for his Dakota Life story “String theory,” about a young woman who moved to South Dakota to form the Pierre Youth Orchestra.
Reporter David Rookhuyzen, who left the Capital Jour-nal for a position with an-other Wick Communications newspaper in his home state of Arizona, won a second-place award in the general news photo category for a photo of the Capitol’s stained glass restoration project. He also claimed third place in the general news writing category for his story, “The high cost of justice: High-profile court cases a heavy blow to county budgets.”
Lowrey claimed a second-place award in the spot news category for one of his photos of the Capitol Inn and Suites fire and he took a third place for writing the editorial “State needs to re-think Tier 1 health plan with SD geogra-phy in mind.”
Ebert took second in the gen-eral news writing category for his story, “Labor Disputes: Mothers, experts seek ways to reduce C-section rates.”
Nixon also claimed another second-place award for his col-umn “Finding genesis in the ru-ins of Pierre shale.”
Capital Jour-nal Managing Editor Lance Nixon won first place for photo series in the South Dakota News-paper Asso-ciation contest this year for this story about
the difficulty moving South Dakota’s record wheat harvest of 2014 to market. The Capital Journal won 10 awards overall in the contest, including six for first place – three won by the news-room, three won by the advertising department.PHOTO CREDIT: DESIGN BY BRADLY GILL
Capital Journal News Editor Nick Lowrey photo-graphed a late-breaking fire and Lowrey and report-er Stephen Lee collaborated on coverage of the event to win a spot news award for the Capital Journal in this year’s regional Associat-ed Press newsroom competi-tion for newspapers in South Dakota and Nebraska. The newsroom won 16 awards in the AP contest, including five for first place.PHOTO CREDIT: DESIGN BY BRADLY GILL
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Understanding NEWSPRINT Color
Newsprint color expanded
A newspaper press can be configured many different ways. Color and black ‘units’ work together within a ‘stack’ so a paper ‘web’ can be fed into each unit. Each color unit applies the percentage of color needed to make up photos, ads or text to then print a final image.
All of this happens at a very high velocity, and if the color of the design or page is too dark or saturated, then registration will become an issue.
It is to everyone’s benefit to understand that dark colors are hard to maintain on a high speed press. It is also very difficult to place white typography within a dark color space. As the amount of color that is needed to be applied to make up the dark color usually ‘bleeds’ into the white text, making the text ‘blurry’
A newspaper web is fed into color and black and white units at a very high velocity.
CMYK color ink is applied to plates, which applies the right ink percentage to make the image.
Once the newspaper web has ran through each CMYK plate and received color,
the final image is displayed.
dcCENTRAL DESIGNWICK COMMUNICATIONS
Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black (CMYK).
and is not just one color.
Think about it
why is it better to choose light/pastel colors?
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Reply By Date SPEC and LIVE ads.
 Reply by date is the ad CLEAR date.
 If corrections are placed after this date and time, Central Design must be called to get the ad back into production.
 Any word/phase in all caps FOLLOWED by a colon is an action word.
 Please do NOT use ALL CAPS IN CORRECTIONS.
 Designers are trained to see actions words and do what is followed after them. Using them cuts out the grey area of interpretation and gets to the point of what needs to be done.
 Do NOT use quotation marks in corrections. That is why there are action words. Unless you want quotations, then please, do not use them. You run the risk of them being put into the ad.
 To delete an entire line, use ellipse (...) - See example to the left in green.
 Do not copy and paste from email, as bold, italics, OR bullets will not transfer over in the corrections.
Action Words: Direct Communication Procedure
Ad Clear Date.
Corrections not using actions words, are not following procedure.
(The sentence in the ad) Two-for-one on all store items. DELETE: Two... Items
Action Words: Expanded
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The Hawg Fights are mini-bass tournaments, lasting about three hours every other Wednes-day evening beginning in April of each year and ending in August. This year’s tournament series ended Aug. 19. Fishermen who participated in at least three of the 11 tournaments qualified for the Hawg Fight Classic, which took place Aug. 30 at Myette Point Boat Landing in the Atchafalaya Basin.
The Shoopmans each garnered 792 points over the series, a slim lead over the 781 points accu-mulated by Damon Theriot of Loreauville, who fished most of the tournaments with his cousin Spencer Gondron of Loreauville, who finished with 422 points. In third place was Ricky Watkins, with 695 points, who fished with Scott Young, who accumulated 637 points. Watkins and Young, both of New Iberia, had teamed up last year to take the tournament series.
Daily Iberian Senior News Editor and Out-doors Editor Don Shoopman, left, and his
son Jacob Shoopman were overall winners of the 2015 Hawg Fight Bass Tournament, a series of mini-tournaments held every other
Wednesday from April to August in the Teche Area. Don Shoopman has worked at The Daily
Iberian for almost 40 years.
The father-and-son tandem of Don and Jacob ShoopmanCame out on top among many seasoned Teche Area bass fishermen and are champions of the 2015 Hawg Fight bass circuit.
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Don, the elder of Team Shoopman, is the senior news editor and outdoors editor for The Daily Iberian. He is quick to tell you he moved to the Sportsman’s Paradise 39 years, nine months and six days ago (an easy calculation from Jan. 1, 1976) and has been in love with the beauty of Louisiana’s outdoors ever since.
The avid fisherman has participated in the Hawg Fight tournaments since they began in the late 1980s and has had many great fishing partners over the years, he said. For almost the past de-cade, however, Don, 62, has teamed up with his younger son Jacob, who would begin fishing in the tournaments with his pop each summer as soon as he would return from college at Southeast-ern Louisiana University in Hammond.
They consistently finished in or just out-side the Top 10.
“It’s been a unique and great experi-ence to do something like this with Ja-cob because we have been fishing to-gether since he was a little boy,” Don said. “… We’ve gotten into some inter-esting discussions in the boat.”
Jacob, 27, said it was awe-some to win the overall title, but equal to coming out on top was spending quality time with his dad.
“He’s been waiting to do good for a long time,” the assistant coach for Catholic High School’s girls soccer team said. “It’s good to see all that hard work pay off.”
This year, Jacob and his dad tried to prefish at least once before each Hawg Fight and on a few occasions Jacob scouted alone. Don was proud to say he let Jacob make the tournament-day decisions on where to go and when to move. That can be key to returning to
the dock to put bass on the scale or showing up with an empty livewell. The former was a particular challenge this year as nine of the mini-bass tourna-ments were held in Lake Dauterive-Lake Fausse Pointe because of high water in the Atchafalaya Basin.
“We had about three spots early in the year,” where they caught bass, said Jacob, “and fortunately they stayed in those spots most of the year.”
The shallower waters of the lakes make finding the bass more difficult as scorching summer temperatures warm the lakes’ waters, he said.
Catching bass 14 inches long and larg-er and having the heaviest three-fish limit is key, of course, though Team Shoopman never took a first-place fin-ish during the season. They did, how-ever, accumulate enough points with three second-place finishes, including one tie for second, and two third-place finishes. That had Don and Jacob cash-ing in for five of the 11 tournaments … and not scratching, meaning they never returned to the dock empty-handed.
One trip was close. Don accidently got his spinnerbait stuck in a tree branches just above the water. When they went to retrieve it, their 21-year-old alumu-num bass boat disturbed a wasp nest. Jacob couldn’t evade all of the angry insects as one stung him in the back of the head.
“It gave me a real bad headache,” Ja-cob said. “I don’t think we caught an-other fish that day.”
Fortunately, Don had snagged a keeper bass before Jacob was stung and the Shoopmans remained in the running.
Senkos and plastic frogs — such as Rib-bits and Scum Frogs — are favorites of the Shoopmans, but their overall favor-ite is the Superbait buzz bait made by
the elder Shoopman’s younger brother Bill of Kansas City, Missouri.
“He used to call them ‘Shooper-bait,’ ” Don said.
The buzz baits are their favorites “be-cause a topwater bite is always fun,” Jacob said.
As much fun as the father-and-son team had, both had glowing words for their competitors, especially Theriot and Gondron, Don said. They were tough opponents and became good friends over the tournament series, he said, and each would wish the other “good luck” before every Hawg Fight.
“They have guys (participating in the tournaments) who really know their stuff,” Jacob said, making the team beam with pride at the accomplish-ment, but respectful of the fishermen who can on any day bring back a full stringer.
And they have kind words for each oth-er. Jacob said his most memorable mo-ment over the 2015 series was watching his dad bring in a 3.92-pound “hawg” on a buzzbait May 6.
“Seeing it jump and hoping it would stay on (the line),” Jacob said, “that was at the third or fourth tournament on the lake. We won big bass and finished second with about 8 pounds.”
The younger Shoopman, though, Don said, has improved his bass fishing skills greatly.
“He’s gotten a lot better than me,” Don said.
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At the August Douglas City Council meeting, Douglas Dispatch reporter Aaliyah Montoya was called up before the council to receive a trophy from Douglas’ Mayor Pro-Tem Margaret Morales for the Dispatch’s third place finish in the Fourth of July parade.
Forty-five entries were in the parade and the Dispatch float was one of the highlights as publisher Francis Wick and fam-ily members of the Dispatch staff handed out popsicles.
The Dispatch staff is already making plans to take part in the City of Douglas Christmas Pa-rade which will take place the night of Nov. 28.
The parade will officially kick off the holiday shopping season in Douglas.
Dispatch receives trophyBy Bruce Whetten/Douglas Dispatch
Douglas Dispatch reporter Aaliyah Montoya receives the Dispatch’s third place trophy from Douglas’ Mayor Pro-Tem Margaret Morales at the August City Council meeting. The Douglas Dispatch float placed third in the Fourth of July Parade.
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Douglas’ Cub Scout Troop 430 recent-ly took a tour of the Douglas Dispatch.
Managing editor Bruce Whetten, who is finishing his 27th year with the Dis-patch and 30th year covering news in Douglas, explained to the Cub Scouts that, when he started as a sports re-porter, the paper was a six-day-a-week daily paper.
Whetten shared some stories he cov-ered early in his career including one where he spent all Christmas Eve work-ing with the Douglas Police Depart-ment after a local department store was robbed at gun point and the sus-pected robber was tracked well into Christmas morning by tracking dogs from the local Department of Correc-tions.
Whetten also provided the Cub Scouts with a tour of the Dis-patch, showing them various offices that used to be in opera-tion when the newspaper was a daily. He showed them where the presses used to be when the newspaper was printed on-site.
He explained how the economy affected the Dispatch even-tually forcing it to revert from a daily, down to a three-times a week paper before becoming a weekly in 2010.
Whetten also pulled out some of older copies of the Dispatch that were printed in the early 1920’s and 30’s pointing out some of the stories that were written about at that time.
Ironically one of the Cub Scouts saw a story that was written about his grandfather in the Dispatch.
New reporter Aaliyah Montoya also spoke with the troop about what it’s like working for a newspaper and why she chose the profession of covering news in Douglas.
Douglas Dispatch Managing Editor Bruce
Whetten shows a group of Cub Scouts
from Douglas that were visiting the Dis-
patch, the distribution room where the paper
is received every week.PHOTO CREDIT:
AALIYAH MONTOYA
Cub Scouts tour DispatchBy Staff /Douglas Dispatch
Douglas Dispatch Managing Editor Bruce Whetten goes over some old copies of the Dispatch with the Cub Scouts showing them how the paper used to look compared to the new design now days.PHOTO CREDIT: AALIYAH MONTOYA
Bruce Whetten shows the Cub Scouts the area where the paper used to be printed when the paper was printed in Douglas.PHOTO CREDIT: VAALIYAH MONTOYA
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Circulation manager by day, upcoming mu-sician by night, Francisco Barrios has worked for the Douglas Dispatch for 10 years now and this year he began balancing his work with his love of music.
Barrios first came to the Dispatch as part of its mail room team, he then spent a good amount of time in the editorial de-partment before being promoted to the circulation, which he has managed for the last three years.
Other than being that friendly guy at the Dispatch office, he is known by the com-munity for his solo performances on saxo-phone. This solo project began in 2012, says Barrios, since then he can be found around town playing gigs at weddings, spe-cial events, private parties, you name it.
Having an improved knowledge of mu-sic since the age of 14, Barrios decided to extend his talent earlier this year when he opened his own music academy in Agua Prieta, called Acustik.
Acustik is a one-stop shop for those of all ages who are interested in learning how to play guitar, bass guitar, piano, trumpet, drums, and singing.
“I have been invited to participate in several community events, and I really enjoy it,” said Barrios. “I’ve met a lot of good people that way, so it has really been a joy.” Barrios describes the work he does at Acus-tik and the Dispatch as a fulfilling, being that both are a passion of his.
“Both jobs are demanding in terms of time, but customer service is something I really enjoy,” Barrios said. “When teaching music I have to deal with everything from small kids to seniors, and the same goes for the Dispatch, it is fun and entertaining. What I like most about it is that I really learn some-thing from the people I meet.”
“I’m really grateful to the Dispatch because I have found people here who have helped me grow as a person and as a worker,” said barrios. “I’ve had great bosses, and thanks to those people I have always found a way to succeed here.”
Barrios says he feels very fortu-nate that he is able to continue doing what he loves while also contributing to the Douglas Dis-patch and the community.
Circulation manager by day, musician by nightBy Aaliyah Montoya/Douglas Dispatch
Douglas Dispatch Circulation Manager Francisco Barrios recently entertained a group of people
during a local Art Walk event in Douglas.PHOTO CREDIT: AALIYAH MONTOYA/DOUGLAS DISPATCH
Douglas Dispatch Circulation Manager Francisco Barrios on his saxophone.PHOTO CREDIT: SUBMITTED PHOTO
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Check them out:
svherald.com willistonherald.com iberianet.com rrdailyherald.com montrosepress.com argusobserver.com hmbreview.com
As we work hard to take your sites live on Flex, we want to share with you some of the amazing new features you will be able to take advantage of!
On the editorial end:
· All your presentation modes are now in respon-sive design.
· All the features you have now, but responsive.
· Ability to auto suggest and create keywords on every article.
· Trending stories and comments, and random most recent articles on right rails.
· Homepage headlines that link to your sections, that generate new pageviews to your section pages.
· You can now choose between Blox comments, Facebook comments, Livefyre and Disqus for your site. Livefyre and Disqus commenting tools both have social media integration such as so-cial sync and social sign-on. Email Christian to learn more!
Broadcast:
Share to both Facebook and Twitter through ar-ticle assets with a click of a button. You no longer need to take the additional step of login into your social networks to post.
This will save a lot of time for the editors/report-ers and increase your social media presence with only one click!.
Syndication:
Syndication – Share news stories and media be-tween other Wick papers. The originating publi-cation gets the SEO credit, but you can still gen-erate additional traffic from social media.
Newsletters:
· Responsive design newsletters.
· Email Reach lets you schedule them or send them out manually through. Email Christian for more information.
E-Edition improvements:
· Notify your subscribers when your E-Edition has been updated.
· The TN E-Edition is now also responsive design.
Classifieds:
Adowl and Classifieds are both now integrated into FLEX--responsive, one de-sign, one CMS, one login.
User signup benefits:
· Save items such as stories, media, classifieds to read later
· Comment on stories
· Manage their E-Newsletter subscriptions
· Manage their print, e-edition, or digital subscriptions
· Submit classified ads
· Can contribute news, media, upon approval.
Reader forums:
Check them out: www.hmbreview.com/talkabout www.iberianet.com/forum
Bookmark on home screen:
Our readers can bookmark your site to their home screen on iOS and Android devices. Looks just like an APP on your phone or tablet
Weather alerts:
Our weather widget and weather section will now have weather alerts, current, radar, and 7 day forecast.
“Christian, Alessia & James have done incredible work on this project and look forward to complet-ing the rest of our sites with you. Jim Keyes is available to help you with your digital sales strat-egy to package & present your new digital op-tions and assist in your sales efforts. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us on the digital team if you have questions.” -Cindy Hefley
Wick Digital Support Email [email protected]
Christian Ramirez | Digital Media [email protected]
Alessia Alaimo | Web [email protected]
James Werner | Web [email protected]
7 DOWN, 12 TO GO!!!
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Cross-town rivalryFall means football, and Sahuarita has quite a rivalry going between its two high schools. It’s called the Copper Cup, and with each year the prestige grows — especial-ly since one of the schools has never managed to win it. Our special section captured the drama in the stands and on the field just before the season kicked off in August.
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Judith Clark and Sarah Keith had great show-ings in the first two weeks of the Wick/AdSeller Grand Slam Sales Contest. Sarah earned Player of the Week honors in Week 1 with 181 bases and Clark was second in Week 1 with 118 bases and third in Week 2 with 121 bases. Green Val-ley/Sahuarita wants the World Series to come home to Arizona!
Green Valley News sports writer Christopher Boan jumped into the water with the Aquabelles, who are a 50-year tradition in the retirement community. The Aqua-belles, once profiled on Charles Kuralt’s “On the Road” series, put on an annual fol-lies. Christopher went to a recent practice and joined the fun in preparation for this year’s show (no, he’s not in it.)
Outta the park!
He’s lovin’ it
JUDITH CLARK & SARAH KEITH
PHOTO CREDIT: REGINA FORD
CHRISTOPHER BOAN & THE AQUABELLESPHOTO CREDIT: PHOTO BY REGINA FORD
Puttin’ on the Blitz!As seasonal visitors slowly began trick-ling back in August, the Green Valley News and Sahuarita Sun Circulation De-partment tackled the Circulation Blitz. The newspaper has minimized discount-ing on their subscriptions but used this opportunity to offer a discount to the previous year’s annual rate. Putting flyers in single copy newspapers and making calls to previous subscribers proved very successful! Green Valley landed second place in the Blitz with 52 new paid starts for the Green Valley News and eight new paid subscribers for our mostly free pub-lication, the Sahuarita Sun. BONNIE OLSEN & LAURA KURTZ
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PPER
ERA
The best part of their dayBy Ken Showers / [email protected] life of an advertising sales repre-sentative isn’t easy.
You hear “no” a great deal before someone finally says, “yes.” It’s about building a relationship with clients to get the sale at the end of the day.
Fortunately for the ad reps at the Eastern Arizona Courier/Copper Era, they’re very good at overcoming those “no” responses and like what they do.
Claudia Rios learned her trade in sales classes she took at barber school, be-fore coming to work for the Courier on Dec. 13, 1989.
“I was hired as production staff.” she said, “I transferred from production to advertising sales for the newspaper. Then I spent one year doing advertis-ing sale for the radio — at the time it was “Real Country” — located right next door. After that I came back to the Eastern Arizona Courier as a sales rep and special events coordinator. Back then Mr. Newell was still our publish-er. So, long story short, I was with the Courier for 10 years before doing sales selling cars. Now I’m back to selling ad-vertising for the newspaper again.”
When asked about the favorite part of her job, she said, “My favorite part of the day is when I come in my office in the morning and say hello to everyone here. Then just sitting down and start-ing my day.”
Ingrid Gray is very quiet and welcom-ing though, like Claudia, she too is prepped for a busy workday.
“I’ve been in radio sales, and also newspaper,” she said in reference to her experience in the industry. “We go out and meet our business clients, and
present special sections to them. Or, if they’re going to be running a regular ad in the paper.”
Her favorite part of her day?
“Going out and talking to the people, and all the business owners,” Ingrid said.
Armando Avalos is a hard man to pin down. No strang-er to hard work, he spent 20 years working for Free-port-McMoRan Copper & Gold in numerous po-sitions, including equipment op-erator, then an-other two years at DRG Impres-sive Labels as the warehouse coor-dinator. Now he’s selling for the Courier.
“It’s very busy,” he said in ref-erence to his typical workday. “Going out to see different clients, doing ad corrections, taking information and visiting poten-tial customers. (It) pretty much fills out my day.”
Armando isn’t complaining, he said loves it and that’s his favorite part of the day.
“It’s going out and meeting new customers, telling them what we have to offer them and what we can do for them. Being a silent partner, you could say, helping their business grow.”
Eastern Arizona Courier,
Arizona Range News, Copper Era
L A U N C H NEW SHOPPER
The sales team for Eastern Arizona Courier, Arizona Range News and Copper Era were joined by publisher Monica Watson and Wick President and CEO Tom Yunt for the launch of the three papers’ newest joint ven-ture — the Eastern Arizona Power-Pak. Pictured are, from left, sales as-sociate Claudia Rios, Watson, Yunt, sales associates Ingrid Gray, Steve Reno and Armando Avalos, and Cir-culation Manager James Copeland.
Claudia Rios puts together a marketing plan for a client.PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID BELL PHOTO/EASTERN ARIZONA COURIER
Ingrid Gray is all smiles after signing a new advertiser for Eastern Arizona Courier.PHOTO CREDIT: KEN SHOWERS PHOTO/EASTERN ARIZONA COURIER
Armando Avalos unloads crates of soda given away during Eastern Arizona Courier’s annual community Easter Egg hunt.PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID BELL PHOTO/EASTERN ARIZONA COURIER
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GR
AN
D SLA
Mwinners
CITY STATE SITE GROUP CREATED PRESENTED SOLD PROSPECT PASS SALES CLOSE RATIO
BARETTA - GRAND SLAM TEAMNew Iberia LA Daily Iberian 75 60 20 27 13 $ 9,864 33% Douglas AZ Douglas Dispatch 4 4 3 4 3 $ 3,702 75% Half Moon Bay CA Half Moon Bay Review 14 12 8 7 1 $ 14,815 67% Nogales AZ Nogales International/Weekly Bulletin 12 7 3 4 0 $ 43% Pierre SD The Capital Journal 41 33 7 14 12 $ 11,792 21% Roanoke Rapids NC The Daily Herald 68 56 42 17 3 $ 85,123 75% Wahpeton ND The Daily News 57 30 12 14 4 $ 22,437 0% Sierra Vista AZ The Herald 30 16 15 9 2 $ 10,677 94% TOTAL 301 218 110 96 38 $ 158,410 50%
DENNIS - GRAND SLAM TEAMAnchorage AK Anchorage Press 22 12 12 8 2 $ 28,210 100% Safford AZ Eastern Arizona Courier 30 34 25 13 4 $ 104,512 74% Green Valley AZ Green Valley News/Sahuarita Sun 189 75 24 44 7 $ 28,159 32% Wasilla AK Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman 33 38 2 34 2 $ 5,449 5% Sidney MT Sidney Herald 0 0 0 0 0 $ Ontario OR The Argus Observer 76 72 41 16 15 $ 56,380 57% Montrose CO The Montrose Daily Press 57 53 28 19 6 $ 42,121 53% Williston ND Williston Herald 49 27 10 14 3 $ 4,887 37% TOTAL 456 311 142 148 39 $ 269,718 46%
Grand Total Week 4 757 529 252 244 77 $ 428,128 48%
GRAND SLAM
winners
Congratulations
AUGUST AUGUST MONTHLY WINNERS1ST PLACE - $500
JUDITH CLARK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Green Valley News 501 POINTS
2ND PLACE - $250MARTHA NEVILLE . . . Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald
459 POINTS
3RD PLACE - $100DOUG SPENCER . . . . . . . . Ontario Argus Observer
387 POINTS
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After years of talking about it, the Review staff launched Pacifica mag-azine in late August. It is the second coastal lifestyle magazine that is now run out of the Half Moon Bay offices, and by any measure it’s a runaway success.
In tone and style, the new maga-zine closely mimics long-running glossy Half Moon Bay magazine. It is more like Sunset or South-ern Living than The New Yorker or Time.
“The niche we’re looking to fill is not so much a news monthly but rather a window into life on the coast,” said Editor Clay Lambert. “To qualify as a feature in either of our magazines, a story must be propelled by the art. Photos are not an afterthought.”
It was a big step heading north into Pacifica, which is the last city between Half Moon Bay and San Francisco. Since its inception, the Review staff has considered its territory to be bordered by the aptly named Devil’s Slide on the north and that has been a natural di-vider between the Half Moon Bay readership and the more
suburban Pacifica to the north. In 2013, the state opened new tun-nels through the slide, which made travel more reliable and Pacifica just seemed that much closer. The time was right to head north.
The first issue featured a portrait of Pacifica Mayor Karen Ervin on the cover. There were features on the lo-cal bowling alley (a business catego-ry that is falling like bowling pins all over the Bay Area), one on “Sam’s Castle,” which is one of the area’s landmarks, and the non-profit Paci-fica Beach Coalition. It also features departments for real estate, history, gardening and a publisher’s note.
The magazine exceeded Publisher Bill Murray’s revenue projections and praise has been poring in. A nice email from Marvin Morganti, a former assistant superintendent of Pacifica schools, was typical.
“Just picked up a copy of your magazine and I am im-pressed!” he wrote. “Lotsa good stories. Keep that good Press going – and the good pictures, also.”
New magazine conquers PacificaStaff hears praise for latest effortsBy staff reports
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The Review has always participated in a suc-cessful editorial internship program, and now the results of that program are readily apparent in every news story the Review publishes.
For the first time ever, both of the newspa-per’s news reporters are former interns at the news organization.
JULIA REIS has been with the Review for two years now. She served as a summer intern between her bachelor’s degree from the Uni-versity of California, Santa Cruz, and her mas-ter’s degree from Stanford University. CARINA WOUDENBERG served a stint as an intern sev-en years ago, while still a student at San Fran-cisco State University.
“We have been blessed with a dozen very high-quality interns in my ten-ure here at the Review,” Editor Clay Lambert said.
“The key is a good relationship with neighbor-ing colleges and universities and we’ve taken full advantage of our strategic location. We’re less than an hour’s drive to UC Santa Cruz, SFSU, Stanford, and (the University of Califor-nia,) Berkeley.”
The newspaper is particularly proud to be affili-ated with the Rebele Scholarship at Stanford. That privately funded scholarship provides a
four-figure stipend for any student who lands an internship with one of the affiliated profes-sional media organizations. The Review is on that list along with the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and other prestigious compa-nies. Both Reis and the this summer’s intern, Cyrus Ready-Campbell, were beneficiaries of the Rebele program.
“Although I had previous experience writing and reporting for school newspapers, my summer intern-ship introduced me to the rigors of writing for a newspaper full time,” Carina said.
“I found I very much enjoyed the variety of as-signments and sense of community this oppor-tunity provided.”
Carina said the fact that the Review treats in-terns as full-fledged members of the team helped her understand what was expected of a staff writer.
“Because the Half Moon Bay Review intern is expected to bring in so much more than the simple man-on-the-street interviews or crime reports, so far the leap from intern to full-time staffer hasn’t seemed as big as I thought it might,” she said.
JULIA REIS
CARINA WOUDENBERG
Interns find their success, jobs at ReviewReis, Woudenberg learned ropes while still in college
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Over the past eighteen months advertising repre-sentatives from the Montrose Daily Press have as-sisted local businesses with planning and execution of their in-store events. Event packages have ranged from placing print and digital advertising in Mon-trose Daily Press to coordinating grand prizes and securing partnerships with other local businesses. “We have the relationships in Montrose to be able to cross promote and help build partnerships that will make the events a success.” Dennis Anderson, Advertising Director.
The latest event was at Abel’s Ace Hardware in Mon-trose. “John Abel, Store Manager shared the num-bers from that day. The customer count and aver-age purchase were outstanding and John was very
happy with the results.” Abel’s Ace placed a series of advertisements in The Montrose Daily Press, The Montrose County Shopper, montrosepress.com and the Daily Press Facebook page. The Montrose Daily Press was present at the event and participated by Anderson cooking hotdogs and Circulation Direc-tor, Torrie Moore overseeing the “Nut in the Bucket” game. Over four hundred hotdogs and cups of Pepsi products was served. Customers stood about twenty feet from a game board made of ten buckets. They had three chances to throw a ¾” nut in a bucket to earn discounts on their purchase of up to 50% off. Event packages start at $1500.
The Montrose Daily Press creates success as ‘event coordinators’
Nut in a Bucket: Customers threw a 3/4 nut into a group of 2 gallon buck-
ets to receive purchase discounts.
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The Montrose Daily Press is excited to announce Torrie Moore as new Circulation Director. Torrie started with the Montrose Daily Press in September of 2013 as a Circulation Customer Service Rep-resentative. In July of 2014, Torrie was promoted to the Advertising department as an Outside Sales Representative. Torrie never left Circulation behind as she trained new employees in the depart-ment throughout the past year. “Torrie’s knowledge of circulation and boundless energy will make her a successful Circulation Man-ager,” Vincent Laboy, Publisher of the Montrose Daily Press, stated.
“I want to thank everyone at the Montrose Daily Press for all of the hard work they do to make this such an amazing team to be apart of. I got nothin’ but love!” Torrie Moore stated.
A New Circulation Director
TORRIE MOORE PHOTO CREDIT: SHAUN GIBSON
Jeana Kuban is the winner of the Lil Pig Traeger Grill given away at the Abel’s Ace Hardware 40th anniversary event.
Ace busy; The cashiers were extremely busy during Abel’s 40th anniversary sale.
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Norma Gonzalez makes trek from Texas to join NI news staff Norma Catalina Gonzalez is the new sports and general assignment reporter for the Nogales International.She was born and raised in the Rio Grande Val-ley – McAllen, Texas to be specific. The RGV is comprised of the four southernmost counties in Texas and contains a string of towns along the Mexican border so Nogales seemed like a good fit.
She had never had the need to move out from her family’s house. She commuted and received her undergraduate degree in mass communications in 2014 from the University of Texas-Pan American.
She gained an interest in journalism back in high school and turned to sports the last couple of years at UT-Pan American. She wasn’t able to join the school newspaper right away. It took her a few years, but she finally joined The Pan American as a sports photographer. Eventually, she moved up through several positions and ended her time there as the co-editor in chief.
After graduating Norma says she was desper-ately looking for a job in journalism while wait-ressing, but due to financial reasons, needed to get a job sooner rather than later. So she took a job as a college adviser, stationed at a high school in the RGV. “Although, it wasn’t jour-nalism-related, helping students on their post-secondary goals was one of the most gratifying jobs I’ve ever had,” she said. But by the time the school year ended she had the job with the NI lined up.
“Having been raised by two Mexican parents who didn’t speak English, my first language was Spanish,” Gonzalez said. “We grew up cross-ing the Rio Grande into Mexico on almost a daily basis, which dwindled down as the years passed. Although I am Texas born and raised, I consider myself raised in Mexico as well.”
“Although it’s the first time I’ve moved away from home, I think I’ll do just fine here, if not better, because I feel I am at home,” she said.
MARLON BONILLAS
new ad rep at NIMarlon Bonillas, a graduate of ITT Technical Institute in Phoenix, joined the Nogales International in late July as an ad consultant. While his lean-ings originally were in the technical field the Nogales native had a job trajectory that exposed him to sales and customer service, skills he is im-plementing to help grow the newspa-per’s advertising client list.
Norma Gonzalez, a native of the Rio Grande Valley, takes a break from her new sports desk duties at the Nogales International.
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NI staff says goodbye to two friends, colleaguesIt was a bittersweet event as the gang at the Nogales In-ternational gathered after work recently to bid farewell to reporter Curt Prendergast and ad consultant Valerie Hing.
Curt, who joined the staff in 2012, left his mark shortly before taking a job at the Arizona Daily Star in hometown Tucson when he was named Community Journalist of the Year for 2014 by the Arizona Press Club for his extensive coverage of border and immigration issues.
Valerie was an ad rep and manned the office at the Week-ly Bulletin in rural Sonoita, where she worked for 12 years before resigning. It was actually her second stint working for Wick as she worked as a reporter for the Nogales In-ternational in the 1980s.
The setting was the former 5,280-acre Yerba Buena Ranch or Kino Springs which was once owned by Stewart Grang-er and Jean Simmons who had frequent guests such as John Wayne and Elizabeth Taylor.
Publisher Manuel C. Coppola and longtime ad rep and former reporter Valerie Hing discuss her life after the NI.
Staff relaxes and enjoys tasty fish and chips prepared at The Grill at Kino Springs while trading stories about life working at the Nogales Inter-national and Weekly Bulletin.
Reporter Curt Prendergast reflects on his time working on border stories, which earned him the Arizona Press Club’s distinguished Community Journalist of the Year for 2014.
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The Daily Herald in late August published a new special section, “Commitment To Caring,” and recently hosted a breakfast for the entities involved.
The section saw local businesses share an advertisement in the section with a lo-cal charity of choice. A percentage of the proceeds for each ad went to the chari-ties as well. According to The Daily Her-ald Advertising Director Baretta Taylor, the section was an all-around success.
“This is the result of a few weeks of prep-aration with direct target prospecting within the community. This was a team effort from the advertising department to search the Roanoke Valley for community businesses that support local non-profit/
charities,” Taylor said. “The advertisers and charities were delighted to have the opportunity to share with the community the heartfelt services of selfless goodwill, hope and dedication that is much need-ed i n the Roanoke Valley.”
Titus Workman, publisher of The Daily Herald, said he thought the promotion did quite well and the section would con-tinue to grow in the future based on first-year response.
“Most people feel good about help-ing others in need and most just want to be appreciated. This is an emotional purchase that gives back and earns true appreciation,” Taylor said. “Not only did the charities earn the half-page color ad,
but they also received 15 percent of the advertising proceeds as well. Our pre-sentation breakfast event was well re-ceived and attended with amazing info shared during the check presentations.”
The check presentation breakfast, held Sept. 4 at Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce, was an opportunity for advertisers and charities to get to know one another. It also was a chance for ad-vertisers to discuss their motivation for sponsoring their selected charity and for all involved to discuss their respective organizations.
Herald launches ‘Commitment To Caring’By Matt Lindberg
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FALL 2015Artisan Robin Lara of Sundance Engravers in Sierra Vista created the metal
display, replicating antique type reminiscent of the days when newspapers relied on galleys of type and hand presses. The First Amendment display was commissioned as part of a front lobby remodeling project at the Herald/Review.
It’s clear from the moment you walk in the front door at the Sierra Vista Herald
We’re all about the First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or impeding the free exercise thereof, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.
As part of a lobby remodeling project at The Sierra Vista Herald in Southern Arizona, a silver and turquoise display greets visitors and employees alike with
the first principle of government tied to the U.S. Constitution.
Creating the front lobby art became more than an idea thanks to Sherie Quinn,who led the effort to get the special let-tering designed and placed, with input from Francis Wick.
A local artisan, Robin Lara of Sundance Engravers, fashioned an impressive dis-play that creates an instant association with a proud history of serving the com-munity and our nation by upholding the integrity of the First Amendment.
“Like many newspapers throughout this country we felt a prominent display of the first amendment was a key feature in updating our interior. Lara did a phe-nomenal job so any patron, or employee, is reminded what a key principle of our business is,” Wick said.
Currently the display is hidden behind a veil awaiting its formal unmasking at the Herald/Review open house on Sept. 29. The celebration has invited community members to enjoy an early evening event that will be highlighted with the presen-tation of the First Amendment.
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Daily News goes BOLD Recently the Daily News launched a new design for its front page going with a six-column photo above the fold, working the logo into the photo similar to what magazines do on front covers.
The result is a big hit in the community as we have received many good compli-ments. The change is the brainchild of managing editor, Kathleen Leinen, who spearheaded the new design. Publisher, Ken Harty, said “It was time for a change and Kathy Leinen recognized that and decided to be bold and edgy with the new design. I am very proud of our edi-torial department for putting together the new design that will now grace the front of the Daily News.”
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Gregor joins the Daily News ad staff
Karrie Gregor started as an adver-tising representative specializing in special pages and accounts outside our core market. Gregor is a native of Wahpeton and currently resides in Milnor, ND with her husband where she enjoys camping, horseback rid-ing, 4-wheeling, hunting, fishing and being with family and friends. Ad manager, Tara Klostreich, says Gregor is energetic, outgoing and she looks forward to working with her to become a successful asset to our sales team.
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR Upcoming Eagle Publications
December issue- Copy due by
December 3rd
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As a special pull-out sec-tion in this issue of The Eagle, we once again highlight and recog-nize the best editorial work from across Wick Communications in six categories: 1.) Commu-nity Pride, 2.) Breaking News, 3.) Enterprise, 4.) Feature or Sports Story, 5.) Opinion, and 6.) Online Reporting. We had a num-ber of outstanding entrees and I want to congratulate all of our winners and those who received special recognition from the selec-tion committee.
I would be remiss if I didn’t recog-nize and thank our selection com-mittee, Clay Lambert, editor of the Half Moon Bay Review and editorial director for Wick Com-munications, and Dave Lewis, who as in past years worked alongside
Clay in determining our 2014-15 Wick Edito-rial Award winners. Both Clay and Dave invested a great deal of time and thought in determin-ing this year’s winners. It is not an easy job, but as we have come to
expect, they conducted a fair and unbiased assessment of the en-trees featured in the special Eagle supplement.
In closing, for all of our valued Wick Communications employees, for your time and hard work, but bet-ter yet, your commitment and loy-alty to Wick Communications, I am greatly appreciative.
On behalf of Wick Communica-tions and the Wick family, thanks for all you do for our special, fami-ly-owned media company!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editorial Awards By Tom Yunt 2
Editorial Awards By Clay Lambert 3
Breaking News Awards 4-5
Community Pride Awards 6-7
Enterprise Awards 8-9
Features & Sports Awards 10-11
Opinion Awards 12-13
Online Awards 14-15
Back Page 16
Wick Communications’ Editorial Awards highlight our bestBy Tom Yunt
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This year, Wick newspa-pers, magazines and af-filiated websites shined light on government spending, forgotten populations, deserv-ing youth. They were on hand for calamitous train wrecks, once-in-a-lifetime flooding and routine lo-cal elections. And they helped set the agenda for communities from North Carolina to Alaska.
It is an honor to present the best of that tireless work in this year’s Wick Editorial Awards.
If there was a theme, it might be a certain institutional knowledge that provides the foundation for leadership. The Arizona Range News understands the impor-tance of the Rex Allen Museum. It doesn’t just cover an unsteady
leadership, it seeks to aid in that leadership. When New Iberia Pub-lisher Will Chapman speaks of trouble get-ting federal aid to gulf states following a devas-tating oil spill, he knows of what he speaks.
Choosing from among the dozens of entries was difficult and it was an imperfect process. For what makes one story better than an-other? Sometimes judges were swayed by the power of words alone. Other times, the layout or photos were crucial.
Hard work and diligent effort were evident in all the entries. I know I speak for fellow judge and Wick consultant David Lewis when I say we hope the awards and the pages that follow
provide inspiration. Congratula-tions to all the winners and for ev-eryone in the company who tries each and every day to put com-munity first and professionalism into everything done on behalf of Wick Communications news orga-nizations.
Editorial AwardsAwards highlight hard
work building communityWick editorial staffs shine across six categoriesBy Clay Lambert
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The Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald tracked down passengers on a derailed Amtrak train.
The staff of the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald impressed judges with its coverage of an Amtrak train crash in nearby Halifax. It earned the team FIRST PLACE in the Breaking News category.
Staff writers Jenny Gray and Erin Carson were among the first reporters on the scene, feeding information back to Managing Editor Matt Lindberg. Lindberg posted updates repeatedly on the newspaper’s website and through Twitter and Facebook.
A story like that doesn’t end with one news cycle. The staff met the following day to plan stories with particu-lar appeal to local readers even as the national press descended on Halifax. The Daily Herald continued to distinguish itself with an exclusive interview with a pas-senger on the derailed train, video from the crash itself and a report on that dangerous intersection.
Roanoke Rapids brings home breaking national storyNogales, Montrose win with splashy deadline coverage
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SECOND PLACE goes to the Nogales Inter-national, for a story and terrific photos from a
rain-driven flood that toppled part of the wall between the Mexican and U.S. borders. The
report was augmented with more than a dozen telling photos, all posted online.
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The Nogales International served readers with more than a dozen photos from a local flood.
The Montrose Daily Press earned THIRD PLACE in the category. The newspaper went big with a story and photos of a man holding law enforcement at bay. It dominated the front page and the news site’s social media that day.
HonorableM E N T I O N
The Half Moon Bay Review gets HONORABLE MENTION for exceptional election-night coverage that included deadline production of graphics, photos, stories and an editorial.
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The Nogales International collected features about local neighborhoods into an attractive Web presentation.
The Nogales International wins FIRST PRIZE for Community Pride for a series of articles bringing read-ers into local neighborhoods.
Each article features several photos and the stories are displayed beauti-fully using state-of-the-art Web pub-lishing tools. They stories are put together as a collection in the BLOX system and highlight just what the platform can do to bring attention to a series like this.
Often these stories begin with a name, and they introduce readers not only to the places but the people who call these places home. They also tell little-known facts about plac-es that locals may pass every day. Here’s an example from Curt Prend-ergast’s story of Nogalitos:
Now, about 100 homes line Per-kins Street and its offshoots, many of which are named after past U.S. presidents, as well as one labeled by Google Maps as “North Que Honda Way,” a play on the Spanish expres-sion “¿Que onda, guey?” or “What’s up, dude?”
Nogales International takes readers into neighborhoodsGreen Valley, Montrose highlight history, students
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SECOND PRIZE goes to the Green Valley News, for its cov-erage of the 50th anniversary of the town. That coverage
included regular “look back” stories in news and sports and the publication of a commemorative book.
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The Montrose Daily Press took THIRD PLACE. The newspaper gave appropriate space to teens who had top grade-point averages and accompanied expanded features with beautiful portraits.
The Green Valley News commemorated 50 years of incorporation with regular looks at news through the years.
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The Arizona Range News in Willcox earned HONORABLE MENTION in the category by championing the resurgence of a local theater that is integral to the town. The newspaper took the extraordinary step of joining the organization in order to gain entry into meetings.
RANGE NEWSA R I Z O N A
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The front-page treatment for the first in a series of stories in the Sierra Vista Herald.
TOP PRIZE in the Enterprise category goes to the Sierra Vista Herald, for it’s eye-opening, provocative, and humane series on homelessness in the community.
The series opens with a six-column photo of Tom and photojournalist Jacob Petersen’s outline of the dozen or so camps where people, for one reason
or another, live outdoors in the community. The photos are truly worth a thousand words throughout the series.
The Sunday series includes stories on what is being done to aid people who may need help, and the law enforce-ment response. Staff writer Derek Jor-dan provides a nuanced story explain-ing how and why police respond to this often-forgotten community and the challenges of serving it.
Sierra Vista shines light on homelessWillcox, Montrose expose local governance
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The Arizona Range News in Willcox deserves SECOND PLACE in the category for stories highlighting tensions over wa-ter rights in the area. Importantly, the news site’s story on the need for residents to complete a state survey brought much-needed data to the question.
The Montrose Daily Press goes big with its series on public salaries.
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HonorableM E N T I O N
HONORABLE MENTION goes to the Pierre Capital Journal, for its stories on how climate change is playing out in the region. The package included a survey of state lawmakers.
The voice of central South Dakota since 1881C
RANGE NEWSA R I Z O N A
The Montrose Daily Press wins THIRD PLACE for its series on the compensation given to govern-ment employees in the region. The stories were more than a simple recitation of numbers and included winning front-page layouts.
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Murphy Woodhouse’s black and white photos were slam dunk winners.
Nogales takes readers on long road to professional sportsNew Iberia, Pierre reveal untold stories in community
Jeremy Green picked a bad year to enter the NBA draft.
So begins a WINNING SPORTS FEATURE written by Nogales Inter-national staff writer Murphy Wood-house. The feature, about a little-known Mexican basketball league
for former college standouts still harboring professional basketball dreams, ticks all the boxes for a great newspaper feature. It tells a largely unknown story. It reveals the humanity of its subjects. And the writing sings.
Importantly, the story also comes surrounded by fine photography, which Woodhouse shot himself. The black-and-white positions actually do the story justice, contributing to the gritty story of young men holding on for a dream.
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Neal McClelland tells readers how local kids grew into gridiron stars.
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Daily Iberian writer Neal McClelland takes SECOND PLACE for his story of five New Iberia kids who played on the same youth foot-ball team as 9-year-old boys and grew up to earn college scholar-ships through the game. His story would not be possible without a strong institutional knowledge of the community he covers.
Quoting high school boys can be hit or miss, but Neal’s rapport with the players is evident in quotes from the players, who largely tell the story themselves.
HonorableM E N T I O N
The Half Moon Bay Review gets HONORABLE MENTION for a unique Valentine’s Day feature by Julia Reis that asked readers on Facebook to contribute stories of how they met their sweethearts.
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Lance Nixon, at the Capital Journal in Pierre, took THIRD PLACE for his feature about a legendary turkey hunter
named Wicker Bill. He hooked readers with this opening sentence: “A thunderous gobble rang in their ears.”
The voice of central South Dakota since 1881C
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This year, the TOP PRIZE for opinion pages goes to one of Wick Communica-tion’s newest publications, the Sahuarita Sun. The Arizona newspaper consistent-ly challenges readers with thought-pro-voking questions about local gover-nance, and sometimes the Sun surprises as well.
In October, the Sun commemorated Breast Cancer Awareness Month by mim-icking the well-known NFL practice of
outfitting players in pink for one game. The Sun used pink headlines, then ex-plained why on one of two staff-written opinion pieces in that newspaper.
The Sun takes its role as the commu-nity’s agenda-setter seriously, draw-ing enough letters and longer opinion pieces to fill two pages with all-local thought. The Sun is also commended for clearly listing its letters policy and staff contacts on the opinion pages.
Sahuarita Sun captures attention with editorialsNew Iberia, Montrose lead on opinion pages
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SECOND PLACE goes to the Daily Iberian in New Iberia. Publisher Will Chapman never shrinks
from expressing difficult opinions in his signed editorials. The Daily Iberian offers a consistent, attractive page that
often draws opinion from across the community.
The Daily Iberian’s opinion pieces reveal a depth of local knowledge and a willingness to lead the discussion.
HonorableM E N T I O N
The Half Moon Bay Review receives an HONORABLE MENTION for opinion pages that are always local, right down to the cartoon.
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The Montrose Daily Press earns THIRD PLACE this year. Among the reasons: A strongly worded editorial chastising a pair of school superinten-dent candidates who submitted cover letters that made use of the same template.
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The Half Moon Bay Review took THE HONORS in the Online category, with reporting on public access to a favorite local beach.
Noted venture capitalist and billionaire Vinod Khosla purchased land between the state highway and Martin’s Beach several years ago and, over time, barred access. By law, California beach-es are open to all, but private landown-ers sometimes try to make access diffi-cult and effectively privatize that public space. In this instance, surfers, coastal natives – even a former congressman – joined the fight to maintain access to a local gem.
And the Review was on hand for every bit of that battle. There have been 41 stories on the battle post-ed online, and the Review has kept on-line readers abreast through frequent Twitter and Facebook posts. Readers have used several threads on the news site’s popular Talkabout online forum to make the case for access.
How successful was the coverage? The county district attorney announced it would not prosecute visitors for tres-passing, and a federal court judge ruled the wealthy landowner could not close the road to the beach.
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Regular Facebook posts were one way the Review kept readers informed of changes at Martin’s Beach.
Half Moon Bay shines onlineGreen Valley highlights Super Bowl, Capital Journal looks at test scores
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The Green Valley News collected interesting stories in advance of the Super Bowl in Arizona.
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SECOND PLACE goes to the Green Valley News for an in-genious collection of stories, photos and facts in advance of Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona. The list included a story from Editor Dan Shearer looking back at nearly a half-cen-tury of Super Bowl halftime shows. The first one included the University of Arizona symphonic band.
HonorableM E N T I O N
The Lake Havasu News-Herald earned HONORABLE MENTION for it’s coverage of a tragic shooting at a local gun range.
The voice of central South Dakota since 1881C
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The Capital Journal in Pierre earned THIRD PLACE for an interactive map and accompanying story that analyzed ACT exams for high school kids in doz-ens of South Dakota districts.