134th year • Issue 4May 2020

ulletin134th yea

ulletinululllleletetitinin~ Representing North Dakota's newspapers since 1885 ~BuuBBuuuuBBBuuBB

North Dakota’s top newspapersby circulation class are The GrandForks Herald, The Jamestown Sun,The Walsh County Record of Grafton,The Hillsboro Banner and the WalshCounty Press of Park River.

They were the first-place winnersin the general excellence category of this year’s NDNA Better Newspaper Contest.

Judging of general excellencecovers all aspects of the newspaper, including news and photos, advertis-ing, layout and design.

The awards were announced in ear-ly May after the association’s annual convention was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Judges praised The Grand ForksHerald for its “Emphasis on local news and consistent locally-focused editorial page.” The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead was second and the Bismarck Tribune third.

For small dailies, judges called The Jamestown Sun “A good local newspa-per with emphasis on local news.” TheDickinson Press was the second place

winner and the Daily News Media in Wahpeton was third.

The Walsh County Record, tops in general excellence for large weeklies, is a “Solid newspaper overall, full of local news and local advertising.”Second place went to the McKenzie County Farmer of Watford City; thirdplace to The Journal in Crosby; and honorable mention to the BottineauCourant.

For medium sized weeklies, judgesliked the Hillsboro Banner’s use of photos in its flag. “Solid all-aroundnewspaper.” Second place went to the Leader-News of Washburn, third to The Tioga Tribune, and honorable mention to the Foster County Inde-pendent in Carrington.

Judges said the Walsh County Press is “A lively newspaper with big, boldphotos that invite the reader in.” Sec-ond place went to The Burke County Tribune in Bowbells and third to theMcClusky Gazette.

Matthew Von Pinnon, editor of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, has been elected president of the North Dakota Newspaper Associa-tion, the 127th person to lead the association in its 134-year history.

Von Pinnon was elected April 23 in a vote which, because of theCOVID-19 pandemic, was con-ducted electronically. He succeedsKaren Speidel, editor of the News Monitor in southeast ND.

Von Pinnon is excited to help lead an organization that plays an

important role in the state.

“Our profes-sion has neverfaced greater challenges, he said. “But news-papers have always rallied their communi-ties to success-fully navigate

the most pressing problems, and with ingenuity and a can-do spirit,

we can overcome our great ob-stacles, too.”

Doing so will require “bandingtogether like never before, strong-ly embracing new delivery meth-ods and boldly welcoming the future while honoring our past.”

Von Pinnon has been with The Forum since 1994 and has been editor since 2006. He graduatedfrom Moorhead High School andMSU-Moorhead.

New NDNA president says newspapers welcome the future

Matt Von Pinnon

More election results: Page 2

Judges pick best of the bestMore winners: Page 11

2 | NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 www.ndna.com

NDNA members electofficers by electronic ballot

NDNA OfficersPresidentMatthew Von PinnonThe Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

First Vice PresidentCecile Wehrman,Journal Publishing, Crosby

Second Vice PresidentAmy DalrympleThe Bismarck Tribune

Immediate Past PresidentKaren SpeidelThe News Monitor

NDNA DirectorsCole ShortHillsboro BannerAmy WobbemaThe New Rockford TranscriptLesa Van CampValley News & Views, Drayton

Allison OlimbWalsh County Press

NDNA StaffSteve AndristExecutive Director

Kelli RicheyMarketing Director/Network Coordinator

Rhonda WilliamsAccounting Coordinator

Colleen ParkAdvertising/Public Notice Coordinator& Tearsheeting

Mike CaseySales Director

Shari PetersonOffice Coordinator

Become a Facebook fan! www.facebook.com/NorthDakotaNewspaperAssoctt

Copyright © 2020, North Dakota Newspaper Association (NDNA). The NDNA Bulletin is published monthly by NDNA,1435 Interstate Loop, Bismarck, ND 58503.(701) 223-6397.

NDNA Board of Directors and Staff

Allison Olimb, editor of the Walsh County Press in Park River, is the newest member of the NDNA board of directors.

She and other officers wereelected in an April 23 vote which, because of the COVID-19 pandem-ic, was conducted electronically.

Cecile Wehrman of JournalPublishing in Crosby and Tioga,was elected first vice president of NDNA, and Amy Dalrymple Molter, editor of The Bismarck Tribune,was elected second vice president.

Olimb, elected to her firsttwo-year term, is originally fromCrystal, ND and graduated fromValley High School in Hoople. Shethen studied at the University of Jamestown, where she held sev-eral positions with The Collegian,including editor.

She has managed the Press inPark River since 2010.

NDNA members also elected Lesa VanCamp of the Valley News

and Views in Drayton to a full two-year term after being appointed

last year tocomplete apartial term.

Continuingon the NDNAboard are Cole Short,publisherof the Hills-boro Banner,and Amy Wobbema,publisherof the New

Rockford Transcript. Elections also were held for

three positions on the NDNA Hallof Fame Committee. Re-elected were Duane Schatz, former pub-lisher at Elgin, and Mike Jacobs,former editor and publisher of the Grand Forks Herald. Elected to her first term was Jill Friesz of GS Publishing in Elgin.

Gerald HarrisG ld H i

Allison OlimbAlli Oli b

Gerald Harris, who spent 24 years publish-ing newspapers in southeastern North Dakota,died April 28, 2020 at his home in Fargo. Hisfirst newspaper job was delivering the AberdeenAmerican News in his youth. He became a teacherand school administrator, and was superinten-dent at Kulm in 1988 when he decided to buy the Kulm Messenger and LaMoure Chronicle. Six years later he added the Enderlin Independentand Litchville Bulletin. In 2012 he sold the papersto Art and Diane Hagebock, but continued towrite a column and report on the LaMoure Coun-ty Commission until 2018.

Gerald Harris, former LaMoure publisher, passes away

Education foundation elects directorsThe NDNA Education Founda-

tion conducted its annual election at the same time as the NDNA election.

Kirsten Stromsodt, director of news operations at Forum Com-munications, was elected to a second three-year term on thefoundation board.

Elected to her first three-yearterm was Jill Friesz, president of GS Publishing, which operates weekly newspapers at Elgin, Car-son, New England and Hettinger.

With the election, long-time foundation director Mike Gackle of Garrison concluded his tenure as a member of the board.

www.ndna.com NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 | 3

Don't look now, but across the country one effect of the coro-navirus is to hasten the move of newspapers to digital and mobile.

It's happening, perhaps to alesser degree, in North Dakota, too.

Don't blame the messenger. Asthe umpire in the famous story ex-plained, "I calls 'em as I sees 'em."

When the guy who's calling'em is an old timer who grew uppitching linotype slugs into a leadbucket, what's being seen is not a pretty or welcomed picture.

Here in North Dakota, there is only one daily newspaper left that publishes a print edition seven days a week. That's the Bismarck Tribune.

While The Minot Daily News is holding firm at six, the rest of the state's dailies have cut the numberof print editions, mostly in re-sponse to the pandemic.

The state's largest newspaper,The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, isnow publishing five print editions a week.

The Valley City Times-Recordis down to four print editions aweek; Devils Lake, Wahpeton and Williston are at three; Grand Forksand Jamestown are at two; andDickinson now prints once a week.

Three of the 10 "dailies" still produce replica e-editions seven days a week. Two others do six e-editions a week, and two do five.

Long story short: the eggs are going into the digital basket.

It's happening in the Dakota tothe south, too. There, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader is the only remaining newspaper with sevenprint editions.

Since the start of the pandemic, print frequency has been reducedin newspapers in Mitchell, Yank-ton, Huron, Pierre, Brookings and Rapid City.

The reason is obvious. It's expensive to print and deliver a newspaper, and it's comparatively cheap to produce and deliver a digital edition.

I get it. But that doesn't mean I

have to like it.Traditional weeklies, of course,

can't reduce their print frequency if they want to remain qualified as legal newspapers.

Instead, some have begun reducing their page counts andadding to the content they provideto online subscribers.

Back in the late 70s, as a cub reporter at The Bismarck Tribune, I recall attending a newspaper seminar in which the presenter predicted that in 10 years newspa-pers would be delivered on someas-yet-uninvented hand-held de-vice, rather than as ink on paper.

More than 40 years later, theprediction appears to be moving toward fruition.

Mario says . . .

Not that his take is the end-all,be-all, but the famed newspaperguru Mario Garcia did a webinarrecently for America's Newspa-pers.

His take, summarized by Mark Fitzgerald of America's Newspa-pers, at a minimum provides foodfor thought.

A pandemic’s upside. This is an opportunity to prove how es-sential newspapers are. No mar-keting campaign could have done more for your brand, for showingthat you provide essential infor-mation, than this pandemic.

Spreading like … too soon?The pandemic has accelerated theaudience move from getting news in print to their mobile devices. Forget “digital-first,” now it’s mobile-first.

Engaging your audience. Besure to have a robust social media presence. The best newspapersare also doing regular newsletterson COVID-19, as well as virtual events.

Dealing the cards. For digitaland mobile presentation, Ma-rio Garcia recommends “cards,” block-like graphics containinginformation such as FAQs, quick numbers, and breaking and ever-green content. These cards can beshared and carry the newspaperbrand.

Mario Garcia said it: “You have an opportunity to be essential,and stay essential, to your audi-ence. People will remember whatyou did during this (pandemic), and they will stay with you — eventhose who didn’t subscribe.”

Guardian angels: One of thenewspapers that is using mobile presentation the best is the Guard-ian in the U.K. Other terrific mo-bile publishers: The Orange Coun-ty Register, with a daily full-page graphic coronavirus tracker, andThe Miami Herald, which displaysa spadia every day urging readersto access its digital news. The Her-ald's message says that, while it is committed to print, in this crisis itmay have to go digital-only for atleast a while.

Mario Garcia also said it: “Print after the epidemic is over will havea less prominent role. The paper is not going to be the same to peo-ple, they will drift to mobile.”

Can you hear me now? Sound especially appeals to millenni-als. Use the audio capabilities of mobile publishing. You have theopportunity to interview doctors, recovered patients and more.

Coronavirus content. Remem-ber the old j-school adage: Don’t write about the army; write about one soldier. In this pandemic, don’t overly focus on the num-bers. Instead, tell the story of the ICU nurse, the obituaries of the victims, front-line responders. Connect with people beyond the numbers.

Messenger calls 'em as he sees 'em

Steve Andrist, NDNA executive director

JustJJin

JJPassingPP

4 | NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 www.ndna.com

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Critical time for change and opportunityWe can look back in history

and see defining moments for ourcountry.

War, disease, Great Depression,right to vote -- the list goes on and on.

These were and are criticaltimes for our country and theworld, and today we deal witha new defining moment in our history.

Covid 19 has changed the landscape of how we live our lives. It will allow caution and healthto be on the forefront of how weinteract going forward. September 11 changed the world landscape also, and we all made changes toprotect each other and put into place safety measures to try to combat terrorism.

The science and medicalcommunity will work to find answers and guide us into how we can live healthy lives and stillinteract with each other. One thing is certain though. Change is afoot.

This is a great time to establish yourself as a business entity,

build on the trust and reputationof who you are. Trust is of utmost importance, and helpingthe people you work with ismore important than ever. The relationships you build movingforward will multiply the success factor. The more people you can help change, give direction, and build back up, the more opportunity you will have to growalso. It is a really tough time for most companies to sell theirproducts and services.

This is an opportunity to upgrade our businesses, upgrade our standards, and upgrade our

customers. The need is thereand all we have to do is have thecourage to ask the questions tohelp solve the problems.

Our customers need customers.We all need customers to keepour businesses moving forward. Slow or stop that customer flowand the livelihood of that businessis certainly in jeopardy. It is ourjob to first find out how eachcustomer is doing because not everyone is dealing with the same issues.

Ask the questions to find outwhere your customers have beenhurt, and then start the process of helping them build back up again. Help them build a message. Build acampaign that allows them to see hope. Each business has a vision of what they want to be. Ask the hard question of are they where they want to be. What changesdo they need to make to ensuresuccess?

This is a critical time for us all, and those who evaluate and find the opportunity to change are theones who will survive.

Mike Casey, NDNA Advertising Director

AdAAChat

Advertising / News

www.ndna.com NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 | 5

Advertising / News

Prepare a 'go-bag' for presentationsRichard is an advertiser

who has seen years of salespresentations. His pet peeveis any salesperson who shows up unprepared. “It’s a waste of valuable time to be in a meetingwhere someone is not ready for the topic at hand,” he said.

“I remember a meeting with anad manager – a manager – and heshowed up with no briefcase orfolder, no rate information, and nothing to use for note-taking. All he had was a business card. I guess he thought his presencein the room would be enough forme to decide to run ads with his company. When I mentioned that it would be helpful to see a copy of his paper, he said he wouldhave someone bring a copy later. His whole approach was arrogantand lackadaisical. It didn’t take long for me to decide that I could get along just fine without doing business with him.”

Although Richard’s example is extreme, it illustrates theimportance of preparation. There’s a lot truth in the oldsaying, “Perception is reality.”If a prospect perceives that asalesperson is unprepared, that becomes their reality – and the result is a large obstacle for the salesperson to overcome.

Consider the briefcase. In this instance, let’s call it a go-bag, a term which concept likely originated in the military, where

service men and women have to be ready at a moment’s notice. Peoplealso prepare go-bags of essential items that are needed in case of emergencies. Just pick it up and go.

Here are some basics for youradvertising go-bag:

1. Note-taking device. It’scrucial to capture the things you learn about your prospect. Whether it’s a paper notebook oran electronic device, it’s important be ready to take good notes.

2. Legal pad or sketch pad. You should always be ready to sketch ideas. Just a few shapes on the page can help an advertiser visualize an ad. “The headlinecan go here” (horizontal lines). “Aphoto of your featured product can go here” (large box). “Call-out copy blocks can go here, here andhere” (small boxes).

3. Calculator. Yes, it’s okay touse the calculator on your phone.Just make sure the phone is muted

and not distracting. 4. Ruler. This will eliminate the

need to guess the size of ads on tear sheets and other samples.

5. Rate information, ad specs,coverage map, etc. Have enough copies for anyone who may attendthe meeting.

6. Current issue of your paper, along with copies of any special sections you’re selling. You can also consider adding screen shotsof key online pages.

7. Business cards. Make surethey have sharp corners and no creases.

8. Folder of samples. It’s smartto have a folder of examples of theuse of white space, the difference between serif and sans serif type, and clean layouts.

9. Folder of ads your prospect has run, along with relevant proposals and hard copies of emails. Obviously, you’ll add these to your go-bag before eachappointment.

(c) Copyright 2020 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from in-house training.E-mail for information: john@johnfoust.com

John Foust, Raleigh, NC

AdAALibs

NDNDNDNDN.D. NewspapersN.D. Newspapers’O’OOnl ne Advertising NetworkOnline Advertisin N

Be a part of the new online newspaper network!

For information or to sign up for AdConnect ND, contact by email:kellir@ndna.com or mikec@ndna.com or by phone:

Kelli Richey or Mike Casey at 701-223-6397.

6 | NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 www.ndna.com

Generating Revenue in Times of CrisisIt’s a crazy time for all of us. I’m

not telling you anything you don’t already know. Like many of you, I’ve been working out of my home office for six weeks. Not only am I a little stir crazy from being home allthe time, I’m a little anxious aboutthe reduction in income related to COVID-19. I’d like to share a fewthings I’ve done to increase revenue during this period while buildingnew business for the post-COV-ID-19 world.

Until six weeks ago, I earned aliving in two primary ways. I own a book publishing company which employs a few folks. We publishbooks by well-known authors. This includes everything from editing manuscripts and designing pages to marketing and promoting the books. Interestingly, most folks Ispeak with outside the book busi-ness think people are probably ordering a lot of books right now.You might be surprised to learnthat, like most other expenses, people have – for the most part –quit buying books. Our sales havedropped more than 90 percent since early March.

My other primary method of making a living is through speak-ing at conferences and leading webinars. Like many of my speak-ing friends, our schedules wentfrom quite full in the spring and summer of 2020 to nonexistent. Of a dozen or so speaking events I had scheduled, other than one, all have canceled or postponed.

I saw three choices:1. We could count on COVID-19

to pass quickly and just keep doing things like we always have.

2. We could find new ways tobring in revenue to get us throughthe COVID-19 period.

3. We could throw in the towel.I chose option 2. We began look-

ing for ways to bring in new rev-enue while our traditional methods of income are taking a hit. We cameup with several. In a strange turnof events, we had to bring in more

staff to deal with all the projectswe’ve begun. It’s very likely, whenthings get back to “normal,” we will be a much stronger company be-cause of the plans originally madeto deal with the current crisis.

So how doesthis relate to newspapers? Many of you are in thesame place. Hope-fully, my friendsat papers in theU.S. were fortunateenough to qualify for PPP loans from the Small Business Administration. Those help, butthey are a band-aid, not a perma-nent solution.

Let me suggest three ideas:1. Find ways to bring in new

revenue through your traditionalnewspaper. A publisher friend in Minnesota and I were talking in thewee hours of the morning a fewdays ago. She said, “Give me an ideato bring in revenue. I am all out of ideas.” I suggested she contact localadvertisers in her very small town and get them to go in together tosponsor two-page spreads eachweek to honor the high school graduates in the area. Combined with the feelings of regret a lot of folks are feeling for graduates missing their proms, graduations,etc., this would give area advertis-

ers a way to honor their gradu-ates all summer. And yes, it couldbring in significant revenue for thenewspaper. The conversation endedwith “You may have just saved my newspaper.”

2. Find ways to use the tools on hand to bring in new revenue. I ledtwo webinars in April related to publishing books for local authors.Afterwards, I heard from several of the attendees that they were going to begin the process of helping lo-cal authors self-publish books rightaway. Using staff, hardware andsoftware they already have, a lot of newspapers can begin spreadingthe word and authors will show up with revenue-producing work. How

could your newspaper think out of the box and offer new services thatwould benefit your community andbring in revenue at the same time?You’re already doing lots of things: designing brochures and websites; marketing on your social media pages for local restaurants who aredelivering and offering carry-out;and creating signs to congratulate the Class of 2020. What else couldyou be doing with the tools youalready have to bring in additional revenue?

3. Look for tools available, many at no cost, to help your advertisers and bring in revenue so they canstay in business and prosper. A few

Kevin Slimp, Knoxville, TN

TheTTNewspaperNNTechnologyTT

Guru

Technology

continued on next page

ProtectLocalusa.com is one example of a revenue-generating ProtectLocalusa com is one example of a revenue generatingproduct for newspapers with no expense involved.

www.ndna.com |

Technology

nights ago, I spent an hour on a vid-eo conference with Katherine Haineof City Media. I’ve run into Kather-ine at several newspaper conven-tions and always liked the way she came up with products that bene-fited her customers, newspapers, as well as her own business. Frankly,I don’t have time these days foran hour teleconference, but when Katherine told me what City Mediawas up to, I decided it might be something I’d want to share with newspapers. In a nutshell, City Media has created protectlocalusa.com and protectlocal.ca as waysfor community newspapers to of-fer online marketing - including online stores - for local businesses at, get this, no cost. No cost to thenewspaper. No cost to the business. How do they make money? When apercentage of the businesses decideto upgrade to other services offeredby City Media, they make money. I spent two hours with Katherine, making sure there wasn’t a catch. I couldn’t find one. And get this . . . newspapers get a percentage of the revenue – 20 percent – whenbusinesses in your area upgrade to other services. As far as I can tell,and I’m pretty good at telling, it’s a no-lose situation for the newspaper.You offer local businesses a freeservice that is beneficial to them, with no expenses on your part.Ever. And you get paid anytime City Media gets paid by one of the busi-nesses in your area.

It is, indeed, a crazy time. Like many of you, I’ve never workedharder. And like many of you, I’m making less money. To me, howev-er, it seems you have three choices.I’ve been working with community papers for more than half my life. I haven’t run into many publish-ers who give up easily, so I wouldsuggest you give serious consider-ation to option 2. If your business is anything like mine, it could begin to pay dividends in the short term,and in the long term that follows.

| NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 | 7Support trusted journalism -- subscribe to your local newspaper. NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 |

North DakotaNewspaperNewspaperAssociation

NEWSPAPERS: Yesterday, today & tomorrowwww.ndna.com

We need it before, during and especiallyp y after a pandemic.y

The NDNA Education Foundation is a charitable non-profit that advocatesover the long haul for journalism, literacy and the First Amendment.

Why?Because we know what happens when journalism declines:

Fewer local voters* Fewer local candidates**More government corruption* More citizen engagement*More government costs*** Less community cohesiveness*More polarization* Less health and safety****

Support local journalism, support your local newspaper,

support the foundation that supports them both.

* Nieman Foundation, 2019** Rubado & Jennings, 2019*** Gao, Lee & Murphy, 2018**** Abernathy, U of NC, 2018

Slimp: Generating Revenue (cont.)

8 | NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 www.ndna.com

Business Directory

PO Box 123

Menoken, ND 58558

www.I-BAND.org

email: independent.beef.ff assoc.nd@gmail.com

Facebook:

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Advertise in North Dakota’s best-read publication.

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For more great advertising opportunities contact:Duane Crabbe | 701-667-6436

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www.ndna.com NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 | 9

Business Directory

10 | NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 www.ndna.com

Want Ads

Bulletin Want Ads must be of interest to the newspaper industry. Cost: Free to NDNA newspaper members; non-members: $.10/word; $10 minimum.

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT/SPORTS REPORTER: The NewsMonitor is seeking an enthusiastic full-time News/Sports Journalist to contribute in the publication of timely andaccurate news. The successful candidate will be a skilled writer with a passion for the job capable of both inform-ing and entertaining our readers. This person would be responsible for reporting and writing about community events, church news, school events, feature stories andcovering an array of sports for four communities in south-eastern North Dakota. Knowledge of photography would be helpful. Responsibilities include assignments and/orinvestigating news leads and tips, writing and delivering news stories, staying up-to-date with the latest currenthappenings and events in Richland County, always pur-suing the lead for a great story. Working experience as areporter preferred. Requirements include excellent com-munication and active listening skills. Daily responsibili-ties include receiving assignments for stories, evaluating leads and pitching compelling story ideas to editors, revis-ing and editing work for editorial approval, and collabo-rating with other reporters, editors, and production staff; gathering information for newsworthy stories through ob-servation, interviews, investigation and research; building a network of sources for interviews and develop relation-ships within the community; traveling to various locationsto find current, relevant details about newsworthy eventsin real-time and after the fact; attending and reporting on community events, social functions as well as sportingevents; being on the scene for breaking news includinghuman interest stories, crimes and natural disasters; tak-ing photographs, video, or audio recordings to documentevents and facts; and writing/reporting stories and up-dates for use online and in print. Send resume to: tarak@wahpetondailynews.com

NEWS/SPORTS REPORTER: Full or part-time news/sportsreporter position to investigate and write the creative“scoop” for the Times-Record newspaper. Responsibili-ties include: - Receiving assignments and/or investigating news leads and tips - Writing and delivering news stories with the reader’s perspective in mind - Staying up-to-datewith the latest current happenings and events in Barnes

County - Always pursuing the lead for a great story. Re-quirements: - Excellent communication - Active listening skills - Working experience as a reporter or intern pre-ferred, but we will train the right individual. Position offers opportunity for advancement. Please email your resumeto Tina Olson, Valley City Times-Record General Manager, at trpub@times-online.com and provide an email or hardcopy examples of your work, promoting your ability togather information and write a compelling story.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER: As a graphic designer at Transcript Publishing you will design a variety of media from print advertisements and travel guides to custom printed prod-ucts and apparel items. Recent graduates with a degreein graphic design and/or working experience in Adobe Creative Suite, particularly Photoshop, Illustrator and In-Design are the perfect fit for this position. This is a full time role in our New Rockford office. Vacation time, paid holidays, AFLAC Insurance and a fun working atmosphereare among the perks. If you are a creative person, explorethis opportunity to do what you love and work with greatpeople when you join our successful team. This is a great way for a new graduate to gain experience to take along to your next position, and is also a good career opportunity for someone who wants to make a small N.D. community home! To apply, send your resume and design samplesby email to Publisher Amy Wobbema at amywobbema@gmail.com. Transcript Publishing is located at 6 Eighth Street North, New Rockford, ND. Call (701) 947-2417 withquestions.

LOOKING TO BUY/SELL: NEW TO MARKET! Pair of twoweekly newspapers in North Dakota. NEW TO MARKET! Group of 5 strong legacy weeklies in eastern South Da-kota. Revenues near $600,00 with nice cash flow. Owner is ready to retire. Are you considering a sale? We have several buyers looking for strong community newspapers in the Midwest! Let's discuss what your newspaper may be worth! Please give us a call for a free market appraisal with no obligation. Contact Julie Bergman (218) 230-8943 McGovern, Grimes & Associates, jbergman@mediamerg-ers.com

www.ndna.com NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 | 11

COVID causes delays for internship programLike many other programs, NDNA internships

have been delayed by the pandemic.As a result, applications are still being accepted

from NDNA member newspapers interested in host-ing summer reporting interns.

The NDNA Education Foundation is providing

12 stipends of $2,500 to newspapers with collegestudent interns and two of $200 for high school student interns. Only five applications have been received.

Application forms are available at www.ndna.com. The new deadline is May 22.

Cole Short of the Hillsboro Banner won "Photo of the Year" for weeklynewspapers with his photo of a boy being hit with a water blaster duringa community celebration in Buxton.

Mike McCleary of The Bismarck Tribune won "Photo of the Year" fordaily newspapers with his photo of the full moon descending behindstreet lamps that illuminated fog.

Awards recognize sterling newspaper work

~~ Photos of the year ~~

Cole Short of the Hillsboro Banner and Mike McCleary of theBismarck Tribune won the Photo of the Year awards in the 2019-20NDNA Better Newspaper Contest.

The awards, and a host of oth-ers were announced in early May after the association’s annual con-vention was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Short’s winning photo was inthe weekly newspaper division. Judges said, "When this youngster was smacked in the kisser by a water blaster the resulting splash was stopped in mid air. Crisp fo-cus, great cropping, great work.”

McCleary won in competitionfor dailies. Judges called his win-ning photo a “A hauntingly artisticimage created by street lampsreflecting off fog and the crystalclear full moon descending."

Also announced were the Sweepstakes Awards, which went

to the newspapers in each catego-ry that received the most awards in the Better Newspaper Contest.

Winning sweepstakes awards were The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead; The Daily News Media of Wahpeton; The Walsh County Record of Grafton; The Hillsboro Banner; and News Moni-tor Media, which covers rural com-munities near Wahpeton.

Several special awards were also announced:Andy Tsubasa Field of The

Bismarck Tribune was namedrookie reporter of the year. Judges said the competition in this cat-egory was strong, “but Tsubasa Field rises to the top largely for his detailed work on the refugee issue, from personal stories to

data reports. His ‘fact check’ re-port particularly stands out.” The award for Community

Service Journalism went to thestaff of The Forum for its “amaz-ingly comprehensive” look at theissue of suicide in the community,“including emotionally-chargedstories of personal and family tragedy, a detailed look at data,and many suggestions for solu-tions.” The First Amendment Award

went to The Grand Forks Heraldfor its continuing coverage of open government violations by city officials in Roosevelt, Minn., and their mistreatment of a localreporter. The award for Public Notice

Journalism went to The Leader-News of Washburn, which brokea story about the sale of a local bank after being tipped off by apublic notice.

For a full list of winners, browse to

ndna.com/contest-winners-2020

Member News

12 | NDNA Bulletin | May 2020 www.ndna.com

Industry News

NDNA Calendar 2020 NDNA Associate Members

Thank you for supporting the newspapers of North Dakota!

GOLD ASSOCIATE MEMBERSAARP North DakotaBEK Communications CoopBCBS of NDI-BAND MDU Resources Group, Inc.NARO-NDND Farm BureauND Living MagazineTR Medora FoundationUSDA NRCS ND

SILVER ASSOCIATE MEMBERSAgency Mabu BNC National Bank Consensus Council, Inc.Dakota Carrier Network, LLC DirxionFARRMSFirstLink

Flint GroupGreater NW PublishingImpact Dakota LSA Creative OutletMetro Creative Graphics, Inc.North Dakota Association of Counties North Dakota Farmers Union North Dakota Game & Fish Department North Dakota Grocers Association North Dakota Insurance Reserve FundNorth Dakota League of CitiesND Rural Water Systems AssociationNorth Dakota Soybean CouncilOdney Inc.Office of ND State Treasurer Praxis Strategy Group Protection & Advocacy ProjectState Bar Association of NDVeterans Honor Flight of ND/MNWheeler Wolf Law Firm

Witham SymposiumNov. 5-7, 2020

Radisson Hotel Bismarck

NDNA-SDNA Joint ConventionMay 6-9, 2021

The Lodge • Deadwood, S.D.

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ONLINE MEDIA CAMPUS WEBINARSSee page 4 for

webinar dates and times. gp g

FREE registrationfor NDNA members!

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Register at onlinemediacampus.com.Call NDNA for password before registering.

Projects provide content for ND newspapersNDNA is helping sponsor two projects that will

provide special content that will be available later this year to NDNA members only.

One involves a commemoration of the 100th an-

niversary of Woman's Suffrage. The other is a detailedlook-back at North Dakota's voting history and the fac-tors that have changed the state's political landscape over the past 150 years.

Woman's Suffrage turns 100Members of the North Dakota Woman's Suffrage

Centennial Committee are preparing 20 essays about the movement in North Dakota and many of those who

were involoved in it.The stories and related

artwork will be distributed inlate June to NDNA membernewspapers for use leading upto the Aug. 26 centennial of theratification of the 19th Amend-ment.

The project mirrors an effortundertaken two years ago to

provide materials related to the World War I Centennial.Newspapers may use the stories as they wish, includ-

ing creating special sections supported by local adver-tising.

There also will be reference materials that may pro-vide background useful in helping newspapers developtheir own local stories related to the Woman's Suffrageamendment.

An ever-evolving political landscapeNorth Dakota has a long, rich history that makes it

something of a political cipher: it has a state bank and astate mill, but a deep-red Legislature. It has a 150-year history with farm-ing, but is stepping into the futurewith one foot planted firmly in the oil sector.

Forum News Service is partner-ing with the NDNA on on a series of stories exploring that rich history andhow it's shaped our political moment today.

The series will be available latesummer for publication by NDNA

member newspapers. Freelance journalist Sam Easter,a former Grand Forks Herald reporter, will write the series, exploring North Dakota's socialist history, its poor farmers' plight through the Great Depression, its front-line deployments during the Cold War and the slow-motion conservative revolution that still shapes itsmost powerful offices.

Sam Easter