By Ken Blum Sing along, please: There’s a time for joy A time for tears A time we’ll treasure through the years We’ll remember always Graduation Day Okay, so no you’ll never be invited to join the Four Freshmen or the Beach Boys, but I hope you’re in the spirit …
Read More »Print is the respite from digital fatigue
“Print is dead.” I heard that line in a movie I was watching last night, and it resonated more than ever. That’s because the movie was “Ghostbusters,” released in 1984, just a few years after I had embarked on my career as a journalist. The line is delivered by Harold …
Read More »If a site falls on its face, does it make a sound?
Had the numbers been for a newspaper, the critics would have been aghast. Readership fell by 50 percent from 2014. Less than 10 percent of readers from a peak in 2013. Layoffs of 16 people on a 97-person staff. “Print is dead,” they would have announced. “The future is online. …
Read More »Ben Blackstock, 1925-2016
I wanted to pass along this obituary in tribute to one of this country’s foremost leaders in championing press freedoms. By STACY RYBURN Tulsa World Staff Writer A lot happened in those after-hours nights when Ben Blackstock, executive vice president and secretary of the Oklahoma Press Association, would have drinks …
Read More »More turmoil at the RJ
It’s painful to watch, yes. But as journalists it’s impossible to look away. I’m talking about the latest turmoil at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where three-decade columnist (and multiple NPA award-winner) John L. Smith has resigned. As I said this morning on Joe Schoenmann’s show on KNPR, “I’m sure they …
Read More »Hello? An ode to reporters and their records requests
Judge gives broad definition to Nevada shield law
A recent ruling by a Clark County district judge has bolstered Nevada’s already-strong shield law. As explained in this story by Sandra Chereb for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the shield was extended to a documentary filmmaker who had interviewed a witness in a criminal trial. Lawyers for Robert Sharpe III, …
Read More »Nevada gets a ‘B’ on transparency report
Nevada should be like a kid happily skipping home to show his parents a ‘B’ on his report card. And taxpayers, reporters and other watchdogs should be like the stern parents who respond, “Yes, I’m happy too. But you know you can do better.” The ‘B’ earned by Nevada is …
Read More »Convention, awards banquet in Mesquite
We’re excited for the annual convention and awards banquet this weekend at the CasaBlanca in Mesquite. Plan to attend a Friday evening reception at the CasaBlanca. On Saturday, we will begin with the annual general membership meeting of the Nevada Press Association, followed by training sessions and workshops for members. …
Read More »Doing little (and big) things right is key to success
By Kevin Slimp The past four weeks have been a blur. I remember driving along a beach in Florida, using a snow shovel for the first time during a blizzard in Minnesota, eating pizza with old friends in Des Moines and standing in front of audiences in both Rochester and …
Read More »