Braxton Citizens' News

In this weeks edition:

Times are a changing…
I just returned from the annual WV Press Association’s annual convention. As in the past, I came back with a renewed vigor, which at my age is a rarity in itself. The event was in Charleston and was filled with fun and education regarding our industry.
While there, we attended several sessions pertaining to a number of different topics. We focused primarily on two areas. The first was a newly revised legal notice handbook that Tom Stewart, a now retired WVU professor, recently completed. The publication was an update of a handbook that is very valuable to our industry. It tells when, how often and who is responsible for legal advertisement placement required by State Code. The book hadn’t been updated for a number of years which made Tom’s work extremely valuable to every paper in the state.
We also discussed the importance of legal advertising to our readers. It is one of the few ways everyone has an opportunity to know what their responsibility and/or opportunities are. There continues to be a substantial movement to put such notices on the internet. Two problems lead to this being a very bad decision… One, too few rural West Virginians have adequate internet access. The other problem is state agencies that want to hide their activities could easily do so on some obscure website that no one can find. Not to mention the fact that such content is easily manipulated.
Journalists across our state pay attention to legal notices. When things get out of balance they often are the ones to find them and bring them to the public’s attention. Remember, it was a journalist that uncovered the lavish spending in the Supreme Court which could lead to the removal of all the Justices. Putting such information on websites that are subject to hackers and/or manipulation by those who don’t want the public to know what they are doing, is simply a bad idea. Tom’s updated handbook is another ingredient that will allow us to maintain a checks and balance.
The other area that we looked closely at was what’s going on in the world of social media as it pertains to newspapers. There were several knowledgeable presenters who provided a wealth of information… way too much for me to take in, let along digest. That’s the reason I took Janet from our office with Jeanine and I to the convention. Between the two of us… I think we discovered a number of things that will help our paper.
It was great to hear the presentations and it was equally as valuable to see how my colleagues across the state are using social media to support their publications. Plus, it was fun to see my old friends and make new ones who love this business as much as I do.
Over the next several weeks you will begin to see some of these new approaches, particularly on our website and Facebook pages. We hope you enjoy and benefit from them. As always we welcome your input and suggestions.