Upcoming Workshops & Events
Aug. 6 | 11 a.m.
SCPA Foundation Board Meeting
Zoom
The Board of the SCPA Foundation will meet via Zoom to discuss several matters including a Financial Report, update on the selection of a Mundy Scholar, and a report on the use of Smoak Funds to underwrite training for SCPA members.
Aug. 13 | 2-3 p.m.
Webinar: Speaking Geek - Reporting Trends
Online Media Campus
Journalists are battling bots, fact-checking deep fakes, streaming video and looking for ways to manage it all. In this session we’ll explore technology and trends that will affect the way you report the news.
Please note Online Media Campus events are held 1-2 p.m. CDT so SCPA members should log in from 2-3 p.m.
Aug. 14 | 2-3 p.m.
Webinar: Best practices for public notice
Online Media Campus
Public notices have an historically important role of informing the public. They’ve also become the most important single source of classified revenue for many newspapers. But there’s no category of revenue that faces greater threats as newspapers fight literally dozens of legislative measures across the country every year to take notices out of print.
There are specific, helpful things you can do to protect and even grow this revenue. It starts with treating your notice advertisers like the important customers they are. You can arm yourself with the “talking points” you need to have at your disposal when the topic comes up with advertisers, legislators and the general public.
Our presenters will show you specifically how to do that and more. They’re two leading experts who have successfully fought for years to help newspapers keep notices in print where they belong: Richard Karpel of the Public Notice Resource Center and Dennis Hetzel, a former editor, publisher and executive director of the Ohio News Media Association.
About The Presenter:
Dennis Hetzel has been an award-winning reporter, editor and publisher at newspapers in multiple states for Lee Enterprises, Gannett and other media companies. He also taught journalism at Penn State and Temple University and retired in 2019 as executive director of the Ohio News Media Association where he gained a national reputation for his work on open government issues.
Richard Karpel is the owner of Karpel Public Affairs, an association management company based in Carson City, Nevada, that represents nonprofit organizations in the newspaper industry. He is also executive director of the Public Notice Resource Center and the Nevada Press Association, and was formerly executive director of the American Society of News Editors and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.
Cost: $35
Please note Online Media Campus events are held 1-2 p.m. CDT so SCPA members should log in from 2-3 p.m.
Aug. 19
PALMY Ad Contest Winners Announced for Proofing
August 26 is the deadline to submit corrections to your newspaper’s PALMY Ad Contest winners.
Aug. 20 | 11 a.m.
SCPA Diversity Committee Virtual Meeting
SCPA is proud to represent nearly every Black newspaper in South Carolina. We are committed to diversity and inclusion and we recognize the need for more Black journalists in South Carolina and to better support our state’s Black journalists and newspapers.
Diverse voices, backgrounds and experiences make our member news organizations and local news coverage stronger.
Take a look at the News Leaders Association’s annual diversity survey and you’ll see that we need to work harder to make our industry more diverse and inclusive.
SCPA wants to help our state’s Black journalists and Black newspapers thrive so in addition to partnering more and better promoting the efforts of diversity-dedicated organizations like National Association of Black Journalists and the National Newspaper Publishers Association, we’d like to set up a statewide task force to study diversity, especially as it relates to recruitment and coverage. Our goal would be to provide better training, communication and resources.
Over the next month, we plan to recruit a group of publishers, editors, collegiate advisers and others to join us virtually for thoughtful discussion on how we can help.
The first meeting of the committee will be Aug. 20* at 11 a.m.
(*Originally set for July 30. Moved due to scheduling conflict.)
If you’d like to participate or offer your suggestions, please contact Jen Madden.
Aug. 27 | 2-3 p.m.
LegalEase Virtual Discussion: COVID-19 & FOIA Matters
The August installment of SCPA’s popular LegalEase Web discussion series will feature discussion on open government issues we’re seeing during COVID-19. Topics will be announced soon but save the date: Thursday, August 27, at 2 p.m.
SCPA Attorneys Taylor Smith and Jay Bender, along with Executive Director Bill Rogers, will lead the discussion. During this session you’ll be able to ask questions and have them answered in real time by Bill and our attorneys.
There is no cost to participate, but you must sign up by August 24 so we can send you the Zoom instructions.
There is no charge to attend this event thanks to sponsorship from the SCPA Foundation Smoak Fund.
Sept. 7
Labor Day
SCPA & SCNN Offices will be closed on Sept. 7 in observance of Labor Day.
Sept. 18-19
SCPA Annual Meeting & Awards
The Marina Inn at Grande Dunes | Myrtle Beach, SC
Due to the ongoing threat posed by COVID-19, the 2020 SCPA Annual Meeting & Awards, set for March 20-21, has been rescheduled for Sept. 18-19. The convention will still be held at The Marina Inn at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach. Here’s info about registration, hotel reservations, awards/winners announcements and more. If you have any other questions or concerns, please reach out to us.
The deadline to register for the the 2020 Annual Meeting and Awards Presentation is Sept. 9. The Annual Meeting will feature educational sessions, networking events and more in our jam-packed schedule, plus hundreds of awards to present!
This event will feature programming for SCPA’s professional and collegiate members.
All sessions and networking events are free and open to all SCPA members. Tickets are required for meal functions.
Contests & Awards
SCPA recognizes the best in South Carolina journalism through our annual contests. Our prestigious awards programs are open to SCPA members only. Each year, nearly 4,000 entries are received in SCPA’s News, Advertising and Collegiate Contests.
- Our annual News Contest recognizes excellence in daily and weekly newspaper journalism. We also have an Associate and Individual member division, and a Collegiate Contest. The deadline for the 2019 contest has passed. Awards will be presented at the SCPA Annual Meeting on Sept. 19, 2020. The 2020 contest will open in Oct. 2020.
- The PALMY Advertising Awards recognize the Palmetto State’s best, brightest and most enterprising advertising professionals and advertisers, and the impact they have made in their communities! The deadline to enter the 2020 PALMY Ad Contest is July 10, 2020. Here’s how to enter!
Other Training Opportunities
- SCPA now offers free, individualized virtual training on legal and FOI topics for member newspapers. Learn more.
- SCPA members can attend Local Media Association webinars for $29 because our state is a Media Association Partner. Check out LMA’s webinar offerings.
- Poynter’s News University offers more than 100 interactive on-demand journalism courses. Several courses are free thanks to grant funding.