The Friends of Ernie Pyle has taken possession of the property from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Indiana State Museum. In its first order of business as new owner, the organization renamed the site the Ernie Pyle World War II Museum.

The state operated the property in the Vermillion County town of Dana as a state historic site for more than three decades. In a cost-cutting measure, the state closed the site in the fall of 2009. 

The Friends of Ernie Pyle, a nonprofit organization, has been operating the site under special arrangement with the state since late summer of 2010 pending the property transfer.

Cynthia Myers, president of the Friends of Ernie Pyle, said the organization is happy to finally have full control of the property and plans to maintain it as a museum.

It will be open to the public for limited hours from May through Veterans Day in November, she said.

The museum will also be available for group tours year round.

Myers said renaming the site reflects the Friends of Ernie Pyle’s intent to broaden the scope of the museum and make it a place where visitors can come to learn more about World War II and the generation of American men and women who fought it.

Pyle was on assignment as a war correspondent when he died on April 18, 1945, after being struck by a Japanese machine gun bullet on Ie Shima, a small island near Okinawa in the South Pacific. He was 44 years old.

“Primarily, the museum will always exist to honor and commemorate Dana’s native son, Ernie Pyle,” Myers said. “But we also want to use this special place to honor all World War II veterans and their place in history. We think Ernie would have wanted it that way.”

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This ruling puts Indiana squarely in line with other states that have adopted heightened protection for Internet posters over the past decade.

The Hoosier State Press Association Foundation and several state media outlets urged the court to take this position in an Amicus brief.

Previously, a trial court had ordered The Indianapolis Star to turn over identifying information about a poster, “DownWithTheColts,” who commented on coverage of financial questions about the former head of the area’s Junior Achievement program.

The Star appealed on the bases that the state shield law protected the commenter’s identity.

The Amicus brief supporting The Star that urged additional protections in line with decisions from a variety of courts that have found protection under the First Amendment and state constitutional rights to anonymous speech.

In this opinion, the court rejects The Star’s position under the shield law on grounds that “DownWithTheColts” was not a “source” as defined by the statute.

The court, however, agrees with tests in New Jersey and Delaware pointed to in the Amicus brief.

Under the test Indiana adopted, to obtain identifying information about a poster, plaintiffs will now need to show:

• The poster has been notified of the subpoena and allowed time to obtain legal representation.

• The exact statements the plaintiff believes are defamatory.

• That he or she has evidence to support every element of the claim, except actual malice. The court removed actual malice from the requirements, finding that plaintiffs can’t make that kind of showing without knowing the source. That still requires that a plaintiff present evidence of falsity and damages.

• The balance of interests weighs in favor of disclosure.

The court remanded the case to the trial court to see if the plaintiff can meet this new test in The Star case.

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Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard, center, received the Frank O'Bannon Sunshine Award for his support of open government during the HSPA Legislators Luncheon on Feb. 16. He was nominated by Jon O'Bannon, right, owner of The Corydon Democrat. Judy O'Bannon, left, presented the award named for her late husband.

The Hoosier State Press Association honored Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard with a Frank O’Bannon Sunshine Award for his support of open government.

With many state legislators observing, Judy O’Bannon, the late governor’s wife, presented the clear glass award symbolizing transparency in government to Shepard during a luncheon at the HSPA Annual Meetings and Government Conference at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown on Feb. 16.

Shepard’s efforts to help citizens understand how the court system works were lauded by Judy O’Bannon, an owner of The Corydon Democrat, which nominated the jurist for the honor.

The O’Bannon Sunshine Award, first awarded in 2005, honors an individual, group or organization demonstrating outstanding effort to protect and enhance open government in Indiana.

“Some people think the press only reports the bad news – the one bad apple in a barrel of good public officials and employees,” said HSPA executive director and general counsel Stephen Key. “The Frank O’Bannon Sunshine Award honors that golden apple – those public servants or citizens who understand that our government should be transparent to the people it serves.”

Founded in 1933, HSPA represents nearly all daily and weekly paid circulation newspapers in the state.

The Corydon Democrat’s nomination, submitted by publisher Jon O’Bannon, included the following:

Chief Justice Randy Shepard has articulated the belief that newspapers and the judiciary have a symbiotic relationship. The judiciary needs the coverage of its operations and decisions to help strengthen its role as one of the three equal branches of government, each serving as a counterweight to the other two branches. The judiciary is dependent upon the opinion of the courts by the people to give it the strength to fulfill its role and the press is a key factor in giving the public information to form its opinion of the court system. Meanwhile, the press is reliant upon the judiciary to protect its newsgathering ability through First Amendment-related decisions. If the court doesn’t support the freedom of press, newspapers’ ability to serve as a government watchdog could be severely curtailed.

With that view, the chief justice has taken steps to make the workings of the judiciary more transparent. Under his watch:

• Media cameras are allowed in the appellate courts, and arguments are webcast across the Internet.
• The Supreme Court has approved one pilot project allowing cameras in trial courtrooms and is considering a new project (approved since this nomination).
• The Supreme Court updated its Administrative Rule 9 to take into account issues raised by a digital environment.
• The Supreme Court issued an order reducing the incidence of trial court judges agreeing to draw a veil of secrecy around specific cases.

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Highlights in this issue include:

• Information about roadblocks that S.B. 92 is facing in the Indiana Senate. Contact your legislators in support of teeth for public access laws.
• Promotion information for a free webinar for teachers about using newspapers in the classroom.
• A column by a publisher who’s back to work as a world traveler and teacher.

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By exposing abuses, SPJ’s Freedom of Infor­ma­tion Committee seeks to educate the public about their rights and call attention to those who would interfere with openness and transpar­ency.

Deadline for nomina­tions is Monday, Feb. 21. For Black Hole Award criteria and nomination information, visit http://spj.org/blackhole.asp.

The recipient(s) will be announced during Sun­shine Week, March 11-17.

In 2011, the Black Hole Award went to the Utah legislature and Gov. Gary Herbert for passage of the most regressive freedom of information legislation in recent history.

After the award was “presented,” and a large public backlash ensued, the measure was repealed.

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Sarah Morin

The Herald-Times (Bloomington) promoted Sarah Morin to digital manager.

She had served as lead digital editor for more than a year.

Morin has a journalism degree from Indiana University and a graduate degree in journalism from New York University.

She returned to Indiana in 2001 and worked for a year for the Bloomfield Evening News before being hired by The Herald-Times in 2002.

Before moving to a digital role at The Herald-Times, she was responsible for several different beats as a reporter, including city government, public education and an experimental youth beat.

She was editor of INstride magazine, cross-trained as a copy editor and has been involved in the paper’s digital efforts for about four years.

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NIE webinar Feb. 28

Teachers can discover creative opportunities for using newspapers in the classroom through a free webinar.

“Newspapers: A Class Act!” is a Newspaper in Education Initiative that offers teachers a half-point of credit toward their professional growth plans.

Newspapers are encouraged to use the information they received by email to post a webinar flier and/or registration link on their websites and email and/or publish information for their area teachers.

Instead of the tabloid or web material HSPA Foundation presented in previous years for NIE Week, the Indiana Newspaper in Education Advisory Board and other partners opted to create a training webinar for teachers. It will cover use of both print and e-editions in the classroom.

The webinar will be conducted in two sessions Tuesday, Feb. 28.

The session for teachers of Grades 3-5 will be from 3:45-4:15 p.m. One for middle-school teachers will be from 4:45-5:15 p.m.

To register for the Grades 3-5 session, click here.

To register for the middle-school session, click here.

Presenter Kriss Johnson is the Newspaper in Education/e-edition supervisor at the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader.

Johnson is a nationally recognized authority in Newspaper in Education and recently became responsible for marketing Lexington’s e-edition.

She will show participants that even without mandates or increased funding, teachers can get students reading and engaged in ways that support their learning and community.

Log-in information for the webinar will be included in a confirmation email, and instructional objectives based on Common Core Standards for English, language arts and literacy will follow.

The webinar is a cooperative effort of the HSPA Foundation, Indiana State Reading Association, Indiana Newspaper in Education Foundation and Indiana Department of Education.

To download a flier about the event, click here or on the image above.

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Mizell Stewart III

Mizell Stewart III, who has been the editor of the Evansville Courier & Press since 2007, has been named vice president of content for the E.W. Scripps Co.

As chief content officer, Stewart will be responsible for developing content strategy and directly overseeing the creation and production of news, information and entertainment for print and digital platforms in the 13 Scripps newspaper markets. All Scripps editors will report to him.

Last month the Courier & Press was named Indiana’s best daily newspaper for 2011 by the Hoosier State Press Association, earning the Blue Ribbon Award. The Courier & Press was a finalist for the same award in 2009 and 2010.

Before coming to Scripps, he was managing editor of the Akron Beacon Journal. Stewart also held a number of newsroom management posts in Akron from 1994 to 2000.

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Fergu­son said he hopes to market the company’s print edition, online content and niche products.

He also wants to put greater focus on the newspaper’s website and build its online content.

“Print will always be king, but (online) has advantages both to readers and advertisers, and using them both just makes sense,” he said. 

Ferguson started his career in newspapers in 1981 as a sales representative in his native Keokuk, Iowa, at the Daily Gate City.

He was named the newspaper’s advertising director before leaving to accept his first position as publisher at a weekly newspaper in Carthage, Ill. After two years, he returned to the Daily Gate City to serve as publisher.

He was publisher at the Estes Park Trail Gazette in Estes Park, Colo., for the past 12 years.

“Bill has a wealth of skills that will serve the newspaper well as we continue to develop new ways to meet the needs of readers, advertisers and the community,” said Gayle R. Robbins, the paper’s editor.

– The Sun-Com­mercial

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