June 2015 Colorado Editor

colorado Dean Lehman reflects on

career

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Official publication of the Colorado Press Association / coloradopressassociation.com / Vol. LXXXVI, No. 6 June 2015

editor

See CONTEST, Page 6

See COURT, Page 6

Colorado Supreme Court decision a ‘mixed bag’

By Jeffrey A. RobertsCFOIC Executive Director

In a ruling that could have implications for a new preemptive lawsuit filed by the state against Colorado Ethics Watch, the Colorado Supreme Court recently held that successfully challenging a denial of public records entitles you to attorney fees even if it was the records custodian who initiated the legal action.

The high court’s decision in Reno v. Marks was not all good news for records requesters, however, because it also overturned a determina-tion by the Court of Appeals that Chaffee County had improperly withheld voted ballots from the 2010 general election requested by citizen elections monitor Marilyn Marks.

“The ruling is a bit of a mixed bag,” said media-law attorney Steve Zansberg, president of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition. “On one hand, it makes clear that a citizen who succeeds in obtaining access to public records is entitled to recover attorney fees even in cases where the custodian is the first to file a legal action. On the other hand, Ms. Marks is not entitled to recover her fees in this case because the trial court found the records had been properly withheld.”

The Colorado Press Association filed an amicus brief in support of Marks.

Under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), anyone filing a public-records lawsuit in Colo-rado must give three days’ notice in order to protect his or her right to be awarded attorney fees. Records custodians sometimes deny requests and then file their own court peti-tions within that three-day period in an effort to avoid having to pay attorney fees if they lose the case.

The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) filed a preemptive lawsuit Tuesday against Colorado Ethics Watch, a nonprofit that promotes ethics and account-ability in government. Ethics Watch had requested records related to a complaint that the IEC determined to be frivolous.

After the commission denied the request, saying the records are

Annual convention to move dates, location in 2016

Several changes coming to 2016 annual contest

Staff report

Change is coming to the Colorado Press Association’s annual conven-tion, and it’s coming sooner than expected.

The annual convention will be held at a different time of year and at a new location in 2016.

The annual convention has histori-cally been held in Denver during the month of February, and was expected to remain at the Westin Hotel in downtown Denver through the 2016 and ‘17 conventions.

However, the CPA recently com-pleted an online survey in which

the majority of respondents stated they wanted the annual convention moved in both time and location.

One concern about hosting the convention in February is how it might limit attendance because of weather concerns.

Nearly 20 percent of members who registered for the 2015 convention did not attend, mostly because of a snowstorm during the convention.

Changes to the convention’s time-frame or location were not expected to be considered or moved forward on until 2018.

Staff report

The 2016 annual contest will see significant changes based on feedback from a recent online survey of Colo-rado Press Association members.

“The changes we are proposing are aimed at making the awards a little more competitive, and, therefore, more significant,” said Contest Committee Chair Lisa Schlichtman. “... Our goal is to elevate the contest and give more value to the awards that are given.”

In the online survey, 70 percent of respondents said the contest has too many categories.

The majority of those surveyed also said there were too many newspaper competition classifications; there are currently 10 newspaper classifications, with five weekly divisions, four daily divisions, and one monthly division.

See CHANGES, Page 6

QA&

2 colorado editor June 2015

Former Post editor takes COGA helm

The Associated Press recently reported that Dan Haley, a former editorial page editor for The Denver Post, has taken over as head of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.

Haley, 45, took over as president and CEO with the departure of Tisha Schuller, who stepped down after more than five years on the job.

Haley has also worked as vice president of communications, development and strategy for EIS Solutions and as director of corporate communications for CoBank.

He worked for more than 20 years in the newspaper industry, including other daily newspapers and 13 years at the Post.

His work at the Post included high-profile stories such as the Columbine High School shooting and the JonBenet Ramsey grand jury.

AP noted that Haley is now head of the “most visible oil and gas industry group,” which he acknowledged in a statement is in the midst of a difficult time, making it important to “engage fully with impacted communities to find common ground, while also working to protect all of the benefits the industry brings to our state and country.”

Post making newsroom cuts

The Denver Post is making newsroom staffing cuts to the tune of $1.5 million from the newsroom budget, reported The Denver Business Journal. In order to prevent more layoffs, the Post is offering buyouts to 20 staffers.

Of the ap-proximately 165 newsroom staff members, about 66 would be eligible for a voluntary buyout for those who have been with the newspaper for at least 10 years. The moves will mark the third downsizing in eight years.

DBJ also said Editor Greg Moore con-firmed that additional staffing reductions will be made at divisions outside the newsroom. He’s quoted as saying it’s just a matter of “looking at expenses and looking at revenue and finding ways to keep the company profit-able, healthy and … open.”

The moves come on the heels of the an-nouncement that Digital First Media had stopped talks of a potential sale of The Den-ver Post and the company’s other 74 daily newspapers.

In addition, it’s reported that DFM CEO John Paton is leaving the company as of June 30 to concentrate his efforts on IVA Ven-tures, a company that cultivates investments in digital media start-ups.

Mountain Mail adds two new reporters

The Mountain Mail in Salida has added two new re-porters to its staff: Karen Eblen and Marcus Hill.

Eblen began April 20 covering Chaffee County, the Salida school district and Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center. She moved to Colorado from Dallas-Fort Worth, and has earned four degrees, including bachelor’s degrees in English literature and multimedia, a master’s in English literature and a doctor-ate in literature.

Hill will cover business and sports. A na-tive of Colorado Springs, he was a reporter for his college newspaper, CSU-Pueblo Today, for Pueblo PULP magazine and the weekly Pueblo West View, and most recently did sports reporting for two and a half years for The Pueblo Chieftain.

Montrose Mirror online celebrates 120 issues, five years

The Montrose Mirror launched the first edition of the online news-paper in pdf form in December 2010, sent via email to 1,300 addresses. Now the small-town paper is celebrating 120 issues for a much larger audience.

Said editor and publisher Caitlin Switzer: “The Mirror’s

overall circulation has grown to nearly 10,000 since then, and the eblast has been published weekly on Mondays since the start of 2015.”

Gazette takes home 31 SPJ awards

The Gazette in Colorado Springs earned 31 awards, including 13 first-place honors, in the recent Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Top of the Rockies regional contest. Reporter Tom Roeder won a first for his pub-lic service piece, “Broken Code,” an inves-tigation into athlete misconduct at the Air Force Academy. Another first place went to a special section on the one-year anniversary of the 2013 Black Forest fire. Other first-place winners were: Carol McGraw, reporting in a series or package; Rich Laden, business re-porting; Jakob Rodgers and Monica Mendo-za, breaking news reporting; Dave Philipps, Matt Steiner, Stephen Hobbs, Kassondra Cloos, politics reporting; Bill Vogrin, news column; Paul Klee, sports column; Aimee Birtsch, feature page design; Jerilee Bennett, news photography; Michael Ciaglo, spot news photography and sports photography; and Wayne Laugesen, editorial writing.

Mobile advertising takes a hit with new Safari version

The next version of Safari will allow users to block ads on most news sites on iPhones and iPads, taking a toll on revenue from mobile advertising. NiemanLab reported this month that with a simple download from the Apple App Store, users will be able to use “adblocking” on iPhones with iOS9.

Adblocking entails running a piece of software in a web browser to prevent ads on most web pages from loading. A report in 2014 indicated that adblock usage was up 70 percent year-over-year, with more than 140 million users blocking ads worldwide. However, adblocking has been limited almost entirely to desktop, with Safari’s AdBlock.

The Colorado Editor wants to hear from you. We’re on the lookout for news about your staff, publications and businesses for our all-new columns and features in the Colorado Editor – your monthly membership newspaper from Colorado Press Association.

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10 questions with

By Cheryl GhristContributing Editor

This issue, “10 Questions” checked in with veteran newspaperman Dean Lehman as he steps down as editor and publisher of the Longmont Times-Call and Loveland Reporter-Herald.

His 35-year career with Lehman Com-munications Corp. – which also owned the Canon City Daily Record and Colorado Hometown Weekly – ended on June 2 as he transitions to publisher emeritus.

Q: So you’re moving on to publisher emeritus and work with the editorial board for the two newspapers. What do you antici-pate doing in those capacities?

A: Since I have not been away from the newspaper office very long, this is developing.I will be able to offer ideas and suggestions and occasionally submit an opinion piece. This is really what is available to all readers because they can make suggestions or send in a letter to the editor or a guest opinion, which is a longer letter.

Q: Your father, Ed, was publisher from 1957-2011 for Lehman Communications. You were part owner of Lehman and com-pany president from 1987-2011. You became publisher in February 2011 when Prairie Mountain Media purchased Lehman. You were also editor and general manager of the Reporter-Herald from 1981-1987. In a “dream world,” is there a point in time you would like to return to and do one of these jobs again, and why?

A: I would probably select the time at the Reporter-Herald in Loveland because it was an especially interesting experience. In look-ing back, I realize I was fairly young at 28.

I had newspaper experience but not at that management level at a daily newspaper. I had been working at the French and Stone law firm in Boulder for about a year when I moved to Loveland at the request of our fam-ily company. Loveland was then and contin-ues to be an especially active community as far as groups and interest in public issues are concerned.

There were some local controversies that we worked to address. Those were basically good years for Loveland although there was concern, as always, about times when the economy seemed slower than it might have been. Some of the challenges and goals of the community – such as an emphasis on the downtown area – that were being worked on then continue to be worked on today. Several buildings have been built in recent years and more improvements are planned.

The Reporter-Herald had then and con-tinues to have an excellent staff. The public paid very close attention to the work we were doing.

People were very enthusiastic about living in Loveland and it was not unusual for people to say that they “loved to live in Loveland.” There was a regular luncheon focus group at a bank and the president once advised guests that they didn’t need to take the time to say that because everybody there felt that way; he was interested in hearing about more difficult subjects.

When we lived in Loveland, my wife Anne and I bought our first house and our two chil-dren were born at McKee Medical Center. At the time, for work I drove a company car that was painted bright yellow with the newspa-per’s name in red letters on the sides.

The then-chamber of commerce director Dennis Anderson told me, “We can see you coming from blocks away.” The chamber, the Reporter-Herald and the main city build-ing were all located in a straight line over

about three blocks with the newspaper in the middle.

News would go back and forth among people in the three buildings to the point it became amusing. There is still the city hall, the chamber and the newspaper, but they aren’t located in a straight line and Loveland is considerably larger today.

Q: Your well-known family has been honored by the community. For example, in 2011 the Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce announced you and your father as co-winners of their annual Making A Difference award. They said they were in-spired by words they saw in your newspaper every day: “To Build A Better World, Start In Your Own Community.” How did that saying come about, and how did it translate in a print product?

A: The “To Build A Better World” theme was there before I joined the company full-time.

Based on comments from many people, we felt this theme connected in a positive way with people and we saw results in the com-munity.

Many people can become discouraged or even disheartened because of world news, but when you realize that you can help make your town or city a better place, that can be a hopeful and worthwhile thing.

As most newspaper people know, the local daily or weekly newspaper is an important, even vital component in the success of most worthwhile community projects.

Q: What community projects were your family and newspapers involved in over the years?

A: In Longmont, the Times-Call was supportive of the Longmont Council for the Arts from its beginning, the Longmont Com-munity Foundation and the YMCA.

With the Community Food Share orga-nization, we sponsored an annual food drive for over 20 years and with the city and the help of many groups, we sponsored an annual communitywide clean-up campaign.

We sponsored a candidate forum at elec-tion time and tried to work for ongoing im-provements in emergency services, and public buildings including recreational facilities and schools.

For over 20 years, the newspaper staff to-gether with volunteers conducted the annual Sunrise Stampede running race, the proceeds of which were donated to the school district for anti-drug education efforts.

There was an annual coat drive with the Longmont Rotary Club and assistance with major festivals and parades.

The Times-Call editorially supported the building of the city’s recreation center, new and expanded museum, expanded senior cen-ter and improvements to Roosevelt Park.

In Loveland, the Reporter-Herald helped with food drives and the development of the arts and sculpture emphasis that has become so popular.

The newspaper took a strong interest in the renovation of the Rialto Theatre down-town and editorially supported passage of the taxpayer-funded city recreation center, new senior center and library as well as being an active participant in the Corn Roast and the Larimer County Fair with feature stories and photos.

The newspapers were always active in cov-erage of high-school sports teams and out-standing individual performances. In Canon City, the Record published a substantial amount of coverage of the annual Fremont County Fair, the annual Blossom Festival and local sports teams.

Dean Lehman

See 10 QUESTIONS, Page 7

Dean Lehman reflects on a 35-year career

Photo by Debbie Adams Photography

Members of the Longmont Times-Call staff gather outside the 350 Terry St. build-ing this spring before the move to the newspaper’s new office at 1860 Industrial Circle in Longmont. The Times-Call had been published at the corner of 4th Avenue and Terry Street since 1964, and in the neighborhood for decades prior to that.



For reporter Jana Winter, the note-book that James Holmes mailed to his psychiatrist hours before opening fire in an Aurora movie theater on July 20, 2012, is more than a chill-ing look inside the mind of a mass killer.

It’s the reason she lived for nearly two years under the threat of being jailed in Colorado.

Winter was a New York-based reporter for Fox News sent to cover the shooting rampage. Early on, she broke one of the most important stories of the investigation – the existence of the 34-page notebook, which was made public Wednesday as a critical piece of evidence in Holmes’ trial.

Her Fox News article, which is still online, was based on infor-mation told to Winter in confidence by law enforcement sources, including that the notebook contained “drawings of what he was going to do.”

Holmes’ attorneys subpoenaed her to testify in Colorado, saying the unidenti-fied officers had violated the presiding judge’s gag order. She refused to reveal her sources and could have ended up in jail if not for New York’s shield law,

which provides journalists with absolute protection against being forced to reveal confidential sources.

The New York Court of Appeals ruled that New York’s shield law pro-tected Winter from having to name her sources. Last May, the U.S. Supreme

Court denied an appeal from Holmes’ lawyers.

“I’m grate-ful that Fox News fought for my right to publish critical newsworthy information from reliable confidential sources—and fought for two years to keep those sources confidential,” Winter said in an email to the Colorado

Freedom of Information Coalition.Winter now works as a reporter for

The Intercept, which publishes “fear-less, adversarial journalism across a wide range of issues,” notably the documents provided by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

It’s worth noting that prosecutors in the Holmes case, who introduced passages from the notebook as evidence Tuesday, once characterized Winter’s

Fox News report (and another story by NBC News) as “just another inaccurate media report floating adrift in a sea of inaccurate media reports relating to this case” and that “the media outlets report-ing the information may have just made it up.”

Said Winter: “Today’s revelations in court demonstrate without a doubt that my reporting on the contents of James Holmes’ notebook was completely ac-curate. I feel totally vindicated in that respect.”

She added, “I think it was totally wrong that the lawyers in Colorado from both sides repeatedly tried to discredit the quality of my reporting in court motions and proceedings.”

During the 2014 session of the Colorado legislature, Winter’s ordeal prompted a state senator to introduce a bill to strengthen Colorado’s journal-ist shield law, making it more like New York’s.

After the bill died in committee, Winter implored state lawmakers to reconsider the measure, speaking to the Colorado Press Association’s an-nual convention via Skype because her lawyers had advised her she might be “jeopardizing her freedom and risking imprisonment” by setting foot in Colo-rado. Winter said her lawyers still want her to stay away from Colorado until the Holmes trial is over.

“Your state really needs a better shield law. Insane that I still can’t go to the state of Colorado without risking my freedom.”

‘Your state really needs a better shield law’

Public release of theater shooter’s notebook vindicates reporter who revealed its existence

Photo by Thomas Cooper, lightboximages.com

Jana Winter presents during the 2014 Colorado Press Association Annual Convention in Denver.

“ I think it was totally wrong that the lawyers in Colorado from both sides repeatedly tried to discredit the quality of my report-ing in court motions and proceedings.”

Jana Winter


Sick-leave records do not qualify as personnel or medical information that must be withheld from the public under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), a judge ruled on June 12, dismissing a lawsuit brought by the Jefferson County teachers’ union against the Jeffco school district.

The decision by District Court Judge Christie B. Phillips won’t immediately result in the release of the names of teachers who collectively called in sick last fall to protest school board policies.

Phillips granted a 14-day stay of judgment to give the Jefferson County Education Association ( JCEA) an op-portunity to appeal.

The JCEA sought a permanent injunction to block the release of the names, which had been requested by a Golden parent who was upset that high school classes were canceled last Sept. 19 and Sept. 29 because so many teach-ers used sick leave on those days.

“I don’t want (those teachers) teaching my kids,” Kathy Littlefield told the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition in February.

The union argued that teacher-absence records are “maintained because of the employer-employee relation-ship” and therefore are protected from disclosure under CORA’s personnel file exemption.

But that phrase in the statute, Phillips noted, has been interpreted by the Colorado Court of Appeals to mean personal information of the same general nature as home addresses, telephone numbers and financial data.

“JCEA argues that sick leave records are ‘no less personal and deserving of protection from public disclosure’ than a teacher’s address, telephone number, or financial informa-tion,” the judge wrote. “The Court is not persuaded.”

The requested records do not qualify as confidential medical information under CORA because Littlefield asked only for the names of teachers who called in sick on two specific dates, not “the teachers’ reasons for doing so or for any other medical-related information,” Phillips added.

As to union’s contention that “the teachers may be compelled to reveal specific medical information to the public, should they need to defend themselves from attacks resulting from the release of the lists,” the judge found this argument to be “pure speculation and irrelevant to the issue of whether the sick leave records qualify as ‘medical’ under CORA.”

Phillips also rejected other arguments made by the JCEA, including that the records shouldn’t be considered compensation or benefits information and that the teachers’ “legitimate expectation of privacy” exempts the records from disclosure.

“A teacher’s absence from school is not private — stu-dents, parents, colleagues and supervisors will know the teacher is not present,” Phillips wrote. “Further, whether a teacher is absent from work due to an illness or otherwise does not reflect poorly upon him or her.”

The Colorado Press Association, CFOIC, Colorado Broadcasters Association, The Denver Post and the Associ-ated Press submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case.

The school district should be allowed to release the teachers’ names, the consortium contended, “because the public has a compelling interest in being able to monitor the performance (or, as here, non-performance) of public employees’ public functions and the expenditure of public funds.”

The names of some teachers who called in sick last fall already have been released.

Conifer High teachers’ names were provided in Septem-ber to parent and teacher Kyle Walpole after he submitted a CORA request.

The Jeffco school district denied Walpole’s request at first, but reversed its decision after a CFOIC volunteer attorney argued on Walpole’s behalf for the release of the records.

After Conifer High teachers called in sick, a news release posted on Facebook said they had taken collective action “to raise community awareness” of the Jeffco school board’s “unilateral decision making model,” in particular expressing concerns about proposed changes to the district’s Advanced Placement U.S. History curriculum and a teacher compen-sation proposal.

Judge: Sick-leave records do not qualify as personnel


6 things to considerWhat are auto dealers thinking?

Do you some times wonder what auto dealers are thinking when it comes to sales trends?

So did we, so we sent Luke Graham, of SYNC2 Media, to the In-novative Dealer Summit in April to hear what they had to say about digital and print sales.

Here are seven takeaways to consider.

1 Throughout the two days and multiple seminars the use of “Traditional Me-dia” was in nearly every presentation. To dealers, though, traditional media is now television and radio.

2 SEM. Every dealership does it and every business should do it. It’s vital to any marketing plan.

3 Having one platform (SEM, mobile, so-cial) won’t cut it. There are so many digital vendors now that specialized dealerships have many options.

4 Mobile, mobile, mobile. Many of the breakout sessions were about how prevalent mobile marketing is and how important it will continue to be. Soon if your website isn’t mobile friendly, Google will not recognize it in searches.

5 In several sessions the presenter asked those in attendance how much of their advertising and marketing budgets were devoted to digi-tal marketing. In every case all people said at least 50 percent. The suggestion was to soon have at least 65 percent of their marketing dollars in digital advertising.

6 Print isn’t dead. They still do inserts and have ads, but the shift to digital advertising is dramatic. Several vendors I talked to highly recommended making print ads or inserts “interactive.” Put a QR code on a newspaper ad for readers to get a free oil change. Put one on that takes them to their latest offers.


Dorothy DalquistFormer reporter, public relations

and communications worker

Dorothy C. Dalquist, a former employee of The Denver Post, died May 23, 2015. The longtime Denver resident was origi-nally from Chicago, Il., where she gradu-ated from New Trier High School in Winnetka.

She went on to earn degrees from Smith College in Northamp-ton, Mass., and Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

She moved to Denver in the early 1960s, where she began a long career in the newspaper, pub-lic relations and communications fields, including as a reporter.

She worked for The Denver Post, The United Fund (now United Way), the City of Engle-wood and the Colorado Depart-ment of Revenue, where she was Chief Information Officer until her retirement.

Dalquist also earned additional education through the Denver University Osher Lifelong Learn-ing Institute (OLLI), participating as both a student and teacher.

She married Carl R. “Rolly” Dalquist in 1963, raising three children, Maria, Christopher and Karen, and later enjoying their seven grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her brother, William E. Kress, Jr., and her husband.

Gayle DiscoeLongtime Denver Post employee

Gayle Discoe, a former long-time Denver Post employee, died May 28, 2015. She was a member of the Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade Commit-tee, Past Madame President of the Au-rora Eagles #3224, and a member of both the Colorado Emerald Society and Colorado Parrot Head Club.

She is survived by her husband, Jack Harris; a brother, Terry Dis-coe; and a nephew, Tim Larson.

DORTHY DALQUIST

obituaries

GAYLE DISCOE

confidential under the Colorado Constitution, Ethics Watch notified the IEC last week that it intended to seek a court order to make the records public.

The IEC went to court first, now claiming that it is “unable, in good faith” to determine if disclosure of the records is prohibited.

The IEC, which investigates ethics com-plaints against state and local public officials, met behind closed doors three times to review the complaint in question and then voted 3-2 on May 11 to dismiss the case as frivolous, ac-cording to the lawsuit.

Ethics Watch Director Luis Toro said the state constitution provides only that “the complaint” itself be kept confidential. “It does

not give the IEC authority to conduct a secret investigation, determine on the basis of that in-vestigation that a complaint not frivolous on its face is somehow frivolous, and then hide from the public the reasons it chose to exonerate the public official,” Toro added.

In asking the Denver District Court to decide the matter, the IEC says that releasing the pre-liminary investigation “would disclose the name of the complainant, the name of the respondent and the alleged misconduct even though the IEC ruled that the complaint was frivolous.”

Because of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the IEC cannot avoid paying attorney fees simply because it filed a lawsuit before Ethics Watch was allowed to file.

Still, for Ethics Watch to recover its attorneys fees and court courts, it must be shown that the IEC’s records were improperly withheld.

Marilyn Marks is not entitled to recover attorney fees in Reno v. Marks, the Supreme

Court ruled, because the Chaffee County clerk did not improperly withhold the voted ballots Marks requested before the clerk ultimately turning over one anonymous ballot.

That release occurred after the passage of HB 12-1036, which set guidelines for making voted ballots public under CORA.

Robert McGuire, Marks’ attorney, said he is disappointed in the Supreme Court’s legal reasoning and is worried that it may foster more preemptive litigation by records custodians.

By validating the trial court’s finding that the county clerk’s preemptive suit against Marks was “reasonable and necessary,” McGuire said, the Supreme Court may have provided records custodians with an incentive to sue records requesters, rather than to avoid litigation.

“That is bad news for people of ordinary means who hope to make use of CORA,” he said.

COURT

Continued from page 1

The CPA has two more years remaining on its contract with the Westin. However, construction at the Westin scheduled for Febru-ary 2016 made hosting the convention at the downtown Denver location impossible.

The construction problem broke the contract with the Westin for 2016 but not 2017. The Westin agreed that if the CPA signed a new contract with one of its sister hotels for the next two years, it would relinquish the 2017 contract.

By signing a new contract with a sister hotel, it gives the CPA the flexibility to not only change location but also the time of year — and that’s what the majority of membership said they wanted.

More than 60 percent of those who took the survey said they wanted the time of year the convention was

held changed, signifying that April or May would be the top choices. At its June board meeting, the CPA Board of Directors voted to move the convention to ei-ther late April or early May in 2016 and moving forward.

There was some concern about how this would affect the annual meeting, which has historically been held with the annual convention; however, the CPA bylaws state that the Board of Di-rectors can move the annual meeting at its discretion.

CPA staff is looking into locations and their availabili-ty during the stated time-frame. A decision is expected to be within the next 30 to 45 days.

And while the CPA staff is looking at locations in Denver for the next two years, that doesn’t mean it will remain in Denver in the future, as 60 percent of those surveyed said they would like the convention to move around the state.

The CPA Board of Directors voted to give

the convention committee the ability to do just that, though the preference is that the convention be held in Denver every other year, and travel to other cities in the state during the alternate years.

But if the rates in Denver are exceedingly high, this gives the convention com-mittee the ability to take the convention where the rates will be reasonable and attendance is expected to be high.

The late April, early May timeframe also opens up some of the ski towns for better rates as it is their “mud season.”

A downfall of not hosting the convention in Febru-ary is the impact it could have on legislature outreach, and hosting events like the Legislative Luncheon or last year’s cocktail hour.

The CPA as looking at some options in February, such as a legislature day or a different type of training that would allow for that contact to continue.

At its June meeting, the CPA Board of Directors approved the following:

• Only having first and second place honors awarded. This will eliminate third-place awards, which accounted for nearly 300 awards handed out for the 2014 contest.

• Changing the number of newspaper classifica-tions from 10 to 8, with four weekly classifications, three daily classifications and one monthly clas-sification.

• Whittling down some of the categories in the contest.

“This is not easy as it might sound,” said Jerry Raehal, CEO of the CPA. “As we’ve looked through what people enter, we have found that dailies and weeklies enter vastly different categories, so we need to look at how to lower the number of categories but also make it relevant to all our members.”

• Looking at options for how to deal with catego-ries that receive few entries. Last year, nearly 100 people won awards simply by entering the contest.

The recent announcement of the timeframe and location change of annual convention will impact the contest this year. The timeframe of when articles can be submitted for the 2015 contest will be expanded to account for the convention’s change in dates.

“We will provide those details as soon as we have them,” Raehal said.

CHANGES


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CO2015

The National Newspaper Association’s 129th Annual Convention & Trade Show, Oct. 1-3, 2015, will be at the Embassy Suites Hotel in St. Charles, MO, just eight miles from the St. Louis Airport (STL).

The room rate is $139 plus tax per night, and the hotel is located adjacent to the St. Charles Convention Center, where all the meetings will take place.

www.HistoricStCharles.com

Check out the three-day program at http://nnaweb.org/convention

Th e newspaper took an interest in the expansion of the community college and the development of the prison museum as well as activi-ties of local businesses, schools and government.

One of the most enjoyable projects we worked on was the Colorado Community Partnership program, which was an in-state, sister-city program.

Towns and cities of all sizes who wanted to participate were paired by random selection with another town or city regardless of size. Th e idea was to promote good will, knowledge and better understanding within the state. Th e main sponsors were the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, Public Service Company, Coors and the offi ce of former Lt. Gov. Mike Callihan.

Q: Was the digital age of the industry a fast or methodical process at your company?

A: Like many newspapers, the entry into the digital world was probably slower than many wished largely because so much of it was new. But over the years, there has been a building of momentum and today the digital part of the business is more prominent than ever on the Internet and various other forms of electronic commu-nication. Th e printed products still retain their popularity and are very important to the company and to many readers and advertisers.

Q: During your 35 years with the company, are there a few notable employees or co-workers you’d like to acknowledge?

A: Th ere were many great staff members at all of the newspapers and in all departments. We had a large number of people who had worked in the company for 10 or more years. While a person doesn’t have to stay 10 years to do a good job, it did indicate a certain stability in the company. At one time, our company employed close to 500 people. Many of those were part-time. It’s probably best not to list

individual staff members because some might be left out.

Q: Of all the people you’ve worked with, are there some men-tors you’d like to point out?

A: Th is would be a long list, starting with my parents, Ed and Ruth Lehman, and my wife Anne. Just a few of the many people we relied on were Bob Rummel, Ken Amundson, Linda Story, Curt Anderson, John Vahlenkamp, Mike Gugliotto, Don Heath, Ray Carlsen, Ken Bronson, Deanna Riley, Jim Mitton. Suzanne Barrett, Jeff Stahla, Maurice Elhart and Bob Cook. Serving on the Colo-rado Press Association board and the Inland Press board were also ways to meet people from other newspapers.

Q: Do you actively read news online, and do you recommend any particular site?

A: On-line sites I look at include CNN, Th e Denver Post, Denver television, Pueblo Chief-tain, Durango Herald, Politico, Drudge Report, New York Post, New York Daily News, Canon City Record, Reporter-Herald, Times-Call and Colorado Hometown Weekly.

Q: Will your schedule allow you more family time in the near future, and how might you spend it?

A: I am hoping to have more time with both family and friends. Anne and I have traveled a fair amount in the United States and visited Italy, Spain, France and, briefl y, London. I also visited Cuba with an Inland Press group in 2009.

Q: Do you have a current personal or professional goal in mind?

A: I am hoping to be active and to make a positive contribution, but I don’t know exactly what form that will take.

10 QUESTIONS


Courtesy photo

Anne and Dean Lehman in Savannah, summer of 2013.


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MANAGING EDITOR WANTEDMANAGING EDITOR for small daily

on High Plains, on I-70. Are you ready to step up?

This person will lead a full-time staff of three, plus part-timers, plan and track news coverage, coordinate photo and stories, design and lay out pages, cover some meetings and write some stories, deal with public and online/Facebook pages, generally run the newsroom.

Journalism degree preferred, at least two years' newspaper experience. This is a good paper, hoping to get better.

Apply to Sharon Friedlander, publish-er, [email protected], and Steve Haynes [email protected]. Colby Free Press/Nor'West Newspapers, Colby, Kan. (785) 462-3963. EOE m/f/h/v

REPORTER/NEWS EDITOR WANTEDREPORTER/NEWS EDITOR for

award-winning weekly on High Plains. Are you up to the challenge of con-tinuing a strong tradition? Can you do it all? Do you want to learn the news business?

This person will plan news cover-age, coordinate the work of part-time staff, cover stories and features, take photos, design and lay out pages, post to web pages and Facebook. Journalism degree or some newspaper experience preferred. Will consider

two years-plus experience. Pay com-mensurate with ability and experience. Competitive pay, benefits, location in Northwest Kansas.

Apply to [email protected] and [email protected]. The Norton Telegram/Nor'West News-papers, Oberlin, Kan. (785) 475-2206. EOE m/f/h/v

REPORTER/ PHOTOGRAPHER WANTED

The Brush News-Tribune, a weekly newspaper in Brush, Colorado, seeks a full-time, general assignments re-porter/photographer to handle editorial duties including, but not limited to, City Council, sports, feature stories, police beat and school board.

The successful candidate will be proficient with social media as duties include posting to the website and Facebook on a daily basis.

If you are someone who takes initia-tive, learns quickly and is comfortable with the evolving world of digital news, this may be the perfect fit for you.

A Bachelor's Degree in Journalism or related field is preferred. Although previous experience in the field is a plus, this is a perfect place to begin your journalism career if you are just graduating with your degree.

Advancement within the Prairie Mountain Media organization is pos-sible.

We offer a competitive wage and ex-cellent benefits, including a choice of medical plans, dental and vision insur-ance, life/AD&D, short- and long-term disability, a 401(k) investment savings plan and immediate eligibility for paid time off.

Interested applicants may apply by emailing a resume to [email protected].

NEWSPAPER FOR SALEIn beautiful SW Colorado, small town

newspaper. Legal paper for Dolores County and Town of Dove Creek, and only newspaper in the county.

If you are ready to be part of a small town, where everyone knows your name, email us for details – [email protected]. Look at us at www.dovecreekpress.com.

SALES LEADER WANTEDSYNC2 Media is looking for an indi-

vidual who can both lead our advertis-ing staff and also lead by example in the field.

What you'll be doing• Drive revenue through both per-

sonal sales as well as team sales• Utilize your thorough knowledge of

our products, both print and digital, to find solutions for clients.

• Help improve our current products

and work with vendors on new offer-ings

• Look at ways to grow our product portfolio, revenue and sales team

• Develop team strategies and pipe-lines for self and staffQualifications• Self-starter• Minimum of two years media sales

experience; experience with national accounts and ad agencies preferred

• Minimum of two years in a leader-ship role

• Track record of increasing revenue• Able to present and negotiate with

clients• Work with direct clients as well as

ad agencies; also must enhance rela-tionships with newspaper clients

• Background in print and digital products preferred

• Strong work ethic and good sense of humor

• Must have a valid drivers license and vehicle to conduct client visits

About SYNC2 Media SYNC2 Media is a media-buy-

ing company, and the for-profit affiliate of the Colorado Press Association. We are growing and looking for someone to help grow with us.

To apply Send a resume, cover letter and 3 references to [email protected]. Please list salary requirements.

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June 2015 Colorado Editor

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Transcript of June 2015 Colorado Editor