The Hennessey Clipper Thus. L. 6 2.1 41ror0.nwrgsmo 34 certla

Senator's affair was 'irrelevant' No cal min* aw Ion N. linked lo $10 million rummage for Odell" lib

d■Itswilim fie IIIy

-=+I-kv-t-s Conway enters no plea :449EATM]. at formal arraignment

on Sex-related charges '46a7flik, a a ---

,LEV2k— zzt tr..t.t. =11.—

Weekend

Herald CdEtaYi HIAL.,x•o■ Sul/ 1501

VOLUME ill, NOMEIER It THURSDAY.JANUARY6, 21H1 TWO SECTIONS

Official Newspaper

L Chieftains Hold Lead In Jenks Classic- Page 6 Sapulpa

rnapilitrscmpaiperntleaRlunrswor

Wary 4, 301: 50,0 95.,

A new year, a new owner and a new look for The Eldorado Courier. Tommy Wells recently purchased The Courier. Wells is also publisher of The Granite Enterprise. Barb Walter uses her reporting skills to bring clarity to relevant stories in The Hennessey Clipper (left). Two state newspapers sporting new flags this year are The Sapulpa Daily Herald and The Cheyenne Star (above).

10 THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, JANUARY 2011

Papers ring in new year with stories of past year

New Year. Old year. New news, old news. New faces... Look at what Tommy Wells of the The Granite -Blair Enterprise has done with the The Eldorado Cou-rier. Wow! And more new flags, including Sapulpa Daily Herald and The Cheyenne Star.

Old news. How to handle the end of the year wrap-up. The way I did it, in order to fill up space quickly and get more time off during the holidays, was to get wordy. I ran lots of words, with lots of gray space as the result, that most people probably didn't read. I still see some of that, but fortunately many of you have made this feature into reader-grabbing copy.

Several carried headlines and brief sto-ries. Cushing Citizen, "Got 'er done," over Jim Perry's story about projects com-pleted, with a briefs box summarizing the top 10. The Blanchard News, "Mission Accomplished," over Tony Strickland's story. The Carnegie Herald, "Top 10 of 2010," on Lori Cooper's story. The Boise City News, "The heroism of Sharrel Blan-kenbaker..." on C.F. David's story about a grandmother who sacrificed her life for a grandchild. Here's his lead: "It was a year of big news, but the bravery of one woman, in the defense of her granddaughter, tragi-cally and heroically rose to the top.

"Those of us who knew Sharrel Blan-kenbaker knew her by the many hats she had worn, photographer, mother, gardener, businesswoman, wife, friend, and grand-mother, and finally HERO."

My favorite has to be the terrific head, in the The Hominy News-Progress, "The Year We Were All Fooled," about a city water plant superintendent, now in jail, who embezzled thousands of dollars. That head is one of five tied for first this month.

Mustang News broke it into two issues, Carolyn Cole rating the top five for six months and headlining the top ones. Head-lines: "National Guard town," and "Growth bell rings."

Others combined photos with brief wrap ups of the top stories. Elk Cit-ian, "Time Flies." The Piedmont-Surrey Gazette, "The Year That Was." The Pur-cell Register reproduced copies of 12 front

pages on a front section page. The Cleveland American and The Sayre Record & Beckham County Democrat ran bulleted items in easy-to-read summaries.

My next candidate for the best headline — part of the five-way tie — was in The Perkins Journal: "Federal Reserve tries to steal Christmas." David Sasser reported on an attempt to remove Christmas sym-bols from a bank: "Perkins was a-buzz last week, not only with people finishing up their Christmas shopping, but with televi-sion news crews.

"Local residents had learned it wasn't the Grinch trying to steal Christmas this year, but the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City."

Got news? No excuse not to. New news. Lots of trend stories you can adapt to your readers. One of the best writers who consistently do this is Marsha Miller at The Daily Ardmoreite. This time she tackles tips on stopping stalking. Phyllis Zorn of Enid News & Eagle writes about residents having a hard time learning Eng-lish. Headline, "Habla ingles?" And Kasey Fowler wrote about the need for physicians in rural areas. Carrie Gallagher-Moore of The Konawa Leader wrote about New Year resolutions. At Stillwater NewsPress, Anita Pere reported about copper thefts increasing as did The Meeker News with thefts at the softball field. Chelcey Adami at the NewsPress wrote of an increase in uninsured people seeking help at the com-munity health center.

Muskogee Phoenix's Wendy Burton

reported on increased gasoline prices and the effects on government. Mangum Star-News focused on a story that has statewide significance, drought: "Greer just abnor-mally dry."

Tommy Wells at Granite and Eldo-rado under "Bouncing Back?" wondered if sales tax trends were showing improved economy in southwest Oklahoma. His lead: "Santa Claus, and the Oklahoma Tax Commission, gave almost every com-munity in the area a welcome gift in late December — increased sale tax revenue returns." He also reported on a good cot-ton harvest, under "King Cotton, Again." So did Weatherford Daily News, with Ryan Felder documenting the rise in cot-ton prices.

Nour Habib at Skiatook Journal report-ed on the financial crisis the state lottery is facing, with poor income. That affects everyone. Dewey County Record covered M.J. Alexander's new book about Okla-homa children, "Portrait of a Generation," by highlighting the local children featured in the book.

News for the birds. Here's a trend that should be fun to figure out and write head-lines for. McCurtain Daily Gazette told of a huge decrease in the wild turkey popula-tion. Heavener Ledger reported and pho-tographed a "feeding frenzy" of more than 100 bald eagles on some nearby private land. Head: "Eagles have landed." Mark Schlachtenhaufen of the Edmond Sun

covered the eagle watch at Lake Arcadia, headlined "Locals flock to Eagle watch." The Sentinel Leader carried several pho-tographs of the big birds, headlined "Soar-ing on Wings of Eagles."

The heart of the old and new year is still good writing. Here's a sampling of leads.

Kirk McCracken of the Mannford Eagle writes of a live nativity scene: "The week before Christmas, Mary, Joseph and Jesus made their way through Mannford."

J.D. Meisner of The Lincoln Coun-ty News, under "Blanketing the needy," writes: "Ron Gimondo spent his Christmas holiday behind the wheel of a 26-foot rent-al truck, packed to the gills with blankets, traversing Oklahoma — literally spreading warmth for the holiday season. Gimondo, the commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1719...."

Tony Downing of the McIntosh Coun-ty Democrat, on twin sisters with identi-cal ACL injuries ending their basketball careers: "The crowd fell silent as she went down."

Chris Edens of the Oologah Lake Leader, under the great headline, "Town Hall is going to church": "Sawdust is fly-ing at the old Methodist Church in down-town Oologah."

Third of five first place headlines, was in the Cherokee Messenger & Republi-can: "Qando's got nose for crime." Leslie Collins' terrific lead: "As a 3-1/2-year-old,

Continued on Page 11

Clark's Critique BY TERRY CLARK, Journalism Professor,

University of Central Oklahoma TClark@uco.edu

OPA STAFF DIRECTORY

ADMINISTRATION

MARK THOMAS, Executive Vice President mthomas@okpress.com • (405) 499-0033

ROBERT WALLAR, Accounting Manager rwallar@okpress.com • (405) 499-0027

SCOTT WILKERSON, Front Office/Building Mgr. swilkerson@okpress.com • (405) 499-0020

MEMBER SERVICES

LISA POTTS, Member Services Director Ipotts@okpress.conn • (405) 499-0026

ELI NICHOLS, Member Services Coordinator enichols@okpress.com • (405) 499-0040

ADVERTISING

CINDY SHEA, Media Manager cshea@okpress.com • (405) 499-0023

LANDON COBB, Account Executive Icobb@okpress.com • (405) 499-0022

COURTNI SPOON, Advertising Assistant & OCAN/2X2 Contact

cspoon@okpress.com • (405) 499-0035

CREATIVE SERVICES

JENNIFER GILLILAND, Creative Services Director jgilliland@okpress.com • (405) 499-0028

COMPUTER ADVICE

WILMA MELOT, Computer Consultant wmelot@okpress.com • (405) 499-0031

POSTAL ADVICE

BILL NEWELL, Postal Consultant bnewell@okpress.com • (405) 499-0020

OPEN (DIGITAL CLIPPING)

KEITH BURGIN, OPEN Manager kburgin@okpress.com • (405) 499-0024

LOUISE GARVIN Igarvin@okpress.com • (405) 499-0032

GENERAL INQUIRIES

(405) 499-0020 • Fax (405) 499-0048 Toll-Free in Oklahoma: 1-888-815-2672

NEWSPAPER & PUBLICATION BINDING Before you have your next issue bound, give us a call. We offer exceptional quality, competitive pricing and fast turnaround times. With three generations of experi-ence, we have the knowledge and skill to get your job done. Other services include Bible binding and restoration, embossing and much more.

825 N. Classen Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73106 (405) 525.8888 or Toll-Free at 1.800-525-8896

E-mail: AL@AceBookbinding.com • www.AceBookBinding.com

11 THE OKLAHOMA PUBLISHER, JANUARY 2011

Court proceedings not valid basis for libel, court rules By MICHAEL MINNIS, OPA ATTORNEY

A recent Tenth Circuit opinion reaffirmed that in Oklahoma a person cannot be sued for libel for informa-tion in documents that person files or statements that person

makes in judicial proceedings. This privilege is ancillary to the privi-

lege protecting those who report what occurs in a courtroom. Without the first privilege much newsworthy information would never be known. Without the sec-ond privilege, only those in attendance

Clark's Critique Continued from Page 10 he's the size of a middle-schooler and his personality commands attention.

"He's been described as 'hyper,"ener-getic' and 'eager to please.' His attention to detail earned him national certification Oct. 15.

"His name is Qando and he's Chero-kee's most recent addition to the police department."

Jeff Kaley of the Waurika News-Dem-ocrat writes a virtual tutorial on retirement stories, with these words about my former mailman: "When you've got a job in your hometown, walking familiar streets, serv-ing people you've known since birth and becoming a fixture in their lives, you've had a special career.

"At least, that's how it looks to Ed Trout, as he... ."

Zack Stoycoff of the Claremore Daily Progress about a vet getting ready to oper-ate on a kangaroo: "Dr. Lesleigh Casli sways the baby to sleep above a Claremore operating table.

"The pacifier was anesthesia, the dose determined... ."

There's nothing like solid reporting

Sulphur on Facebook Friends wanting to connect with the

Sulphur Times-Democrat can now find them on Facebook at facebook.com/ SulphurTimes-Democrat.

The Facebook page will become a local source for sports scores and school information, plus much more.

The Times-Democrat also has a web-site at www.sulphurtimes.com .

at judicial proceedings would know what occurred at the proceeding.

In the Tenth Circuit case, a plaintiff claimed to be libeled when a defendant filed a document with the Court. This document was a copy of the minutes of a meeting where the plaintiff was described as suffering from a bi-polar mental condi-tion.

In rejecting the defamation claim, the Tenth Circuit pointed out that the privi-lege is "absolute." The "defendant's self-interest in making this statement" — or his malice — are not relevant. The panel pointed out that the "only relevant inquiry

and clear writing on serious stories too. Barb Walter in The Hennessey Clipper: "The attorney general's office says that a $10-million a year state contract for a juvenile detention facility was properly awarded even though the winning bidder's lobbyist was having an affair with a state senator.

"Investigators stated that the extra-marital affair between Sen. Harry Coates, R-Seminole and Rite of Passage lobby-ist... ."

Gloria Trotter of The Countywide & Sun tells the story of a hometown girl. Head: "Mary Fallin's Journey." Lead: "Mary Newt Copeland used to ride her bike to Ivey's Grocery, charging her pur-chases and carrying them home in the bike basket to an unlocked house."

Likes and dislike: Congrats to The Lone Grove Ledger and Gary Hicks for starting the new year off with a full op -ed page. Bravo. The Wynnewood Gazette carried a front page box, "Facts about your homestead exemptions." Ditto bravo. Inola Independent runs a two-column front page feature, "Oklahoma News Roundup," of news from area newspapers. Hint to those

is whether the alleged defamatory com-munication is 'pertinent to the issue being tried'. . . if so, it is immune from attack as defamation."

The immunity from defamation attaches not only to the person who filed the docu-ment, but also to those who accurately and fairly report the contents of the document to third parties.

As with any other source, a report of information filed in Court should be attrib-uted, e.g., "according to court documents, the plaintiff was accused of suffering from a bi-polar condition."

of you using color ink for headlines — and you know who you are. Quit. It destroys their impact and is ugly.

Speaking of headlines. Here are the other two first place headlines this month, both in The Oklahoman. Bowl game results for OSU and OU. All caps: "11th HEAVEN, and "B-C-YES."

Other honorable mention headlines: The Vici Vision on a new ambulance in service, "Dewey 60 is 10-8"; The Valliant Leader, "Thieves play role of Scrooge over the Christmas holidays"; The Hooker Advance on a Sheila Blankenship story, "Homes sparkle with holiday joy"; Stilwell Democrat-Journal, "Everything 'Haywire' at Cookson Hills"; The Marlow Review on Jason McPherson story, "Wilco building a `what-is-it?'"; Weatherford Daily News on a retiring rodeo coach, "SWOSU coach to step out of the saddle"; Vian-Tenkill-er News, on Arnie Remer's story, "Gore finds more missing money"; The Purcell Register on a Suzie Williams-Allen story about a water main lead, "Water Under the Bridge"; The Eldorado Courier on a story about the state trap shooting champ, "Big shot."