-Isms

Since we opened the Advocate-Messenger, Scott and I have fielded several questions about the inner workings of the newspaper, so after discussion, we decided to take this opportunity to respond.

One of the first questions we were asked is if the Advocate Messenger is a legal newspaper. The answer is yes and no.

We formed a limited liability company when we created ColdType Publishing and trademarked our name, so the business, itself, is a legally-operated business according to the State of Nebraska.

Nebraska publishing laws, however, require a newspaper to be printed continuously for 52 weeks and have at least 300 paid subscribers before it can print public notices, like notice of meetings and proceedings from villages, county offices and school boards.

We can publish notices, like the notice to landowners regarding mowing that the Holt County Road Department asked us to print.

At the rate we're growing, we should be able to publish legal notices in August 2020.

We heard from a reader who asked why the paper isn't a member of the Nebraska Press Association.

To have full membership in the association, we must meet similar criteria: print for 52 weeks and have a paid-in-advance subscription list of at least 300 subscribers. We also must have a statement of ownership from the city attorney that the newspaper qualifies for use as a publication for legal notices, present a similar statement from the county attorney and file a rate card and ownership statement.

Again, our goal is to meet the criteria in August 2020.

Currently, I am an affiliate member of the NPA, which I am able to do since I was formerly employed by a Nebraska newspaper. Membership in the organization is an excellent way to network and stay atop trends in the industry and we are looking forward to taking an active role in the association.

One question fielded during our Aug. 16 open house is if we rely on news tips from community members or if our stories are the result of good old-fashioned investigative journalism.

The answer: our stories come from both.

Some article ideas develop from brainstorming to the printed Page as a result of investigation and our natural sense of curiosity. Sometimes, readers share ideas about something occurring in our communities and we follow up on those instances. And sometimes, we take a national or world event and, if possible, find a local tie.

If you have an idea for an article, give me a call at 402-851-0054 or send an email to [email protected].

An additional question relates to photography. A reader asked if we "doctor" or use a photo editing program to adjust a photo. Weekly, we use Photoshop to adjust brightness levels of photos selected for the print edition.

Manipulating a photo is not sound journalism, unless we are creating a photo illustration, which requires a heavy dose of photo editing. If we utilize a photo illustration, we will identify it as such.

We, at the Summerland Advocate Messenger, believe in the importance of telling the truth and presenting facts in articles. That goes for our photos, too.

If you follow our Instagram account, we may occasionally add a filter to a photo; however, those posts are an extension of our photographers' work, a fun way to showcase work that did not make the print edition and be of interest to followers.

We would like to thank those readers who took time to reach out and ask questions about our publication. Transparency is important to us and we will continue to explain our editorial philosophy with you.