Registration opens for 2015 joint convention

Registration is now open for the 2015 LPA-MPA Joint Convention in New Orleans. The event will be held June 18-20 at the Loews New Orleans Hotel.

This is the second and final of two joint conventions between the two associations following last year’s conference in Biloxi. In addition, the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press Media Editors will also hold their annual awards reception and board meeting concurrent with the LPA-MPA Joint Convention.

Events kick off Thursday, June 18, with a grand opening reception on the plaza at the Loews Hotel. Friday sessions include a keynote address by Morley Piper, a career newspaper professional who was among the U.S. Allied force that landed at Normandy June 4, 1944. Piper’s luncheon address will precede afternoon tours available for the National World War II Museum.

Other sessions speakers include advertising pro Peter Wagner, editorial expert Robert Buckman and communications and motivational expert Jan Hargrave.

Group rate at the Loews is $149 and is available through May 28. Members should call 1-888-211-6411 and reference the “Press Association” to receive the group rate. Or you can make reservations online here.

Complete details on the agenda and reservations can be found at the convention webpage.


Public hospitals bill emerges from conference committee

Senate Bill 2407, which places publicly owned hospitals under the Mississippi Open Meetings Act, has emerged from conference committee and is expected to be ratified this week by members of the legislature before it is signed by Gov. Phil Bryant.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Brice Wiggins of Jackson County, was in response to a pension scandal at Singing River Health System in Pascagoula and a host of other issues at public hospitals in Mississippi. The bill passed the Senate unanimously before it stalled in the House, held up by its failure to earn a committee assignment until right before a key deadline.

It eventually passed the House by a large margin and was then sent to a conference committee made up legislators from both chambers.

According to the Sun Herald, House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement Friday, but the compromise exempts many types of records from public review.

READ MORE


Radionian, Reflector earn top student BNC award

The student newspapers at Jones County Junior College and Mississippi State University were recognized as the best in their classes during the Better Newspaper Contest Student Division awards handed out at March 26 at the annual O.C. McDavid Conference in Ridgeland.

The Radionian at JCJC and MSU's Reflector took top prize in the General Excellence categories. Over 70 student journalists from colleges and universities around the state took part in the event, which featured a keynote presentation on Mississippi’s Sunshine Laws by Leonard Van Slyke, attorney for the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information.

Click here to download a complete list of winners.


INNOVATE Conference is April 9 at Ole Miss

The Meek School of Journalism and New Media will be hosting the 2nd annual New Media Conference, INNOVATE 2015, on April 9th

INNOVATE 2015 will be held in Farley and Overby Center in the Meek School of Journalism and New Media on the University’s campus. The conference will start off Thursday morning with keynote speaker Lewis D’Vorkin, Chief Product Officer at Forbes Media, and Samir Husni, Professor Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

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JOHN HENEGAN/LAW BYTES
Right to be forgotten in world where everyone knows your name

The MPA Hot Line occasionally gets a call from a member paper about a request that the paper delete an old article about an arrest or an indictment that is available on the paper’s web site or shows up in response to a search engine request such a Google or Yahoo.  Sometimes the explanation why the article should be deleted is based on a misunderstanding about the criminal process and the differences between an arrest and an indictment and the difference between an indictment be nolle processed or dismissed.  Occasionally the arrest charges have been dropped or the grand jury refused to return an indictment, and regardless of whether this information has been reported, the subject of the original story doesn’t want the information available to the public any longer.

As long as the information in the original story was substantially true or was based on an official public record such as a news release from the state, county, or local law enforcement office involved the original story is non-actionable.  There is no state statute or common law principle that requires the paper to delete the article from its web site, and a state statute that compelled the paper to publish a notice or article that the prior charges has been dropped etc. would be ruled unconstitutional under the First Amendment which prohibits compelled speech.  These principles are so ingrained in our Nation’s jurisprudence that a recent decision of the European Union Court of Justice (“EUCJ”) establishing the so-called “right to be forgotten” under European law has sent media companies and search engines located in the United States whose works are available overseas roiling.

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PAPER NEWS

William Carroll has been named managing editor of the Daily Times Leader in West Point. He succeeds Mary GarrisonFred Anklam Jr., a senior editor for USA Today, will be presented the Silver Em Award from the Meek School of Journalism and New Media during a banquet April 8 at Ole Miss… Former Tallahassee Democrat publisher Gus Harwell died March 6. He was 85 and a native of Tupelo… Claude Sitton, an acclaimed correspondent who reported from Mississippi during the Civil Rights era, died March 10. He was 89.
 

CALENDAR
April 8          Silver Em Award Banquet, Ole Miss
April 9          INNOVATE 2015 New Media Conference, Meek School of Journalism, Ole Miss
April 9          Webinar – Mobile Video Editing
April 10        MPA-MPS Board Meeting, Overby Center, Ole Miss
April 17        Webinar – How to Use Data Visualization Tools
April 23        Webinar – Out-servicing the Competition: Adding Value for Your Customers
May 25         Memorial Day, MPA-MPS office closed
June 18-20  Joint LPA-MPA Convention, Loews Hotel, New Orleans
 
MEDIA HEADLINES

NAA president to leave post this summer

From Editor & Publisher

Newspaper Association of America President and CEO Caroline Little announced to the Board of Directors today that she is stepping down from her position effective August 31, 2015.

Canadian newspaper to charge per-story on the web

From The Winnipeg Free Press

The newspaper will charge 27 cents per story with a mine-back guarantee, adopting an iTunes-esque pay model that deviates from the current trend of metered paywalls.

Doctor: Newspapers should focus on apps

From Poynter.org

Leading business figures have signed up to a major show of support for the Scottish newspaper industry. Property tycoon Donald Trump and retail manager Anne Ledgerwood are among the list of 100 to recognise the sector’s continued importance. They added their names to the document celebrating the key role newspapers play as a means of communication as part of a new campaign launched by the Scottish Newspaper Society (SNS).