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By Melody Jameson
melody@observernews.net
SUN CITY CENTER – Less than two months after simmering resentments reached the resignation stage, former writers and editors of this community’s own printed news product have launched an alternative.
An internet-based newspaper titled the “SCC Free Press” debuts Thursday (July 10), according to Editor-in-Chief Karen Ryan, former managing editor of The News of Sun City Center, official publication arm of the SCC Community Association.
 |
| KAREN RYAN,
Editor and Chief |
The new source of community information will be a monthly product supplemented on a daily basis with breaking pertinent news, Ryan said. It is formatted in standard newspaper style and produced by most of the same staff which previously had created the monthly CA publication, she added.
The local “Free Press” is a result of conflicting communications philosophies regarding the “The News” which led to a parting of company in mid-May. Catalyst was a new policy adopted by the CA’s board of directors governing management and content of the printed community news product following months of disagreement between directors and editors.
The growing dissension centered on control of editorial or news content in “The News”, with CA leaders increasingly looking back to the publication’s inception nearly 20 years ago when it was viewed solely as the organization’s newsletter, financially supported by the CA and designed to keep resident members informed of community-wide events, club happenings, meeting notices, etc.
Over the years and under a succession of editors, the publication gradually evolved, becoming something closer to an independent newspaper carrying both features and hard news in its columns. Under Ryan, a former professor at Syracuse University, and with a contributing staff of 20 volunteers including several seasoned, retired professional journalists, the editorial content began to lean toward investigative journalism and highly critical letters, some of it focused on CA decisions and directors’ actions. The publication also took on advertisers, taking it closer to financial self-sufficiency.
Opposing forces came toe-to-toe on May 14. Citing potential legal liability for recently-published information as well as the costs in dollars and time involved in settling a mid-1990s lawsuit stemming from an article in “The News”, a majority of CA directors voted to establish a new publications policy. A majority of “The News” staff, objecting strenuously to several aspects of the policy and particularly incensed by required review/approval of editorial copy by a CA leader prior to publication, immediately resigned in protest.
Such review and approval control of newsletter information is common practice within private organizations issuing them but violates a basic tenet of professional journalism practice in connection with news and editorial reportage provided by autonomous newspapers.
At the time, Ryan said the policy effectively served to “squelch” efforts to protect the integrity of editorial content. Similarly, Bob Black, one of the professionally –trained journalists contributing to the publication who campaigned and was elected a CA director on the basis of his pledge to keep “The News” uncensored, called the new policy “a power grab” by board members seeking to avoid scrutiny.
CA directors moved immediately to facilitate redesign of “The News” under a new editor and since have produced June and July issues of its monthly publication purely as a newsletter. It is distributed via U.S. Mail.
Simultaneously, 17 members of the former staff set about creating the “SCC Free Press,” Ryan said this week. Lannie Cardwell, web designer who performed the same services for “The News”, established the internet domain and has designed the new product’s website with an online address of www.sccfreepress.org.
Many of the features formerly appearing in the CA publication will be continued by the same writers in the “Free Press,” Ryan added. These include general news coverage and features by Terri Houston, the golf column by Black, club overviews by Walt Cawein, and columns by Paul Courter, along with gardening features by Anne Cross and developments in pet care by Bruce Arnold. The online publication also includes sports coverage and an opinion-editorial page accepting signed, “civil” letters no longer than 300 words, the chief editor noted.
The editorial management under Ryan consists of Houston as news editor and Courter as associate editor.
The online newspaper’s three-pronged mission, according to its website statement, is distribution of accurate news dealing with safety, health, sports, entertainment and local politics, monitoring of the CA board to keep CA members informed of its actions and maintenance of an open forum for discussion of local issues.
©Melody Jameson 2008
What follows is a public comments section. This is not from the Observer News staff - it comes from other people and contains their opinions and theirs alone. The Observer News does not control the material that follows. We do, however, reserve the right to remove objectionable material at our discretion. By that we mean that we will edit or delete any content that we deem is inappropriate. By posting your comments, you are stating that you agree to these terms.
Click here to report a comment.
Comments
Karen Ryan
24 Jul 2008, 19:32
Thank you to all who have posted comments regarding sccfreepress.org We appreciate your comments and hope to have the AOL issue resolved shortly. The next 'full' issue of sccfreepress.org will appear online August 1. We have posted five, time sensitive 'breaking news' stories since our inception, and are receivign over 1,000 hits per day. We encourage you to check the site in between issues. If you have any questions, please contact me at karen_ryan@msn.com We hope you continue to visit www.sccfreepress.org Thank you!
Karen Ryan
Editor-in-Chief
Ann Shepherd
22 Jul 2008, 11:53
Karen, I would love to be a subscriber to your newsletter. How else can we be in the loop to know what is really going on.
Thanks so much.
Marie K. Wood
20 Jul 2008, 17:32
I am having trouble with this e-mail but in essence I would like to have our newspaper back and would pay a subscription fee if necessary. Please work on getting AOL to cooperate. I would hate to have to change servers but can if need be.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
We an include Board members if necessary. They need to know what's happening, too.
Marie K. Wood
20 Jul 2008, 17:31
I am having trouble with this e-mail but in essence I would like to have our newspaper back and would pay a subscription fee if necessary. Please work on getting AOL to cooperate. I would hate to have to change servers but can if need be.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
We an include Board members if necessary. They need to know what's happening, too.
Marie K. Wood
20 Jul 2008, 17:31
I am having trouble with this e-mail but in essence I would like to have our newspaper back and would pay a subscription fee if necessary. Please work on getting AOL to cooperate. I would hate to have to change servers but can if need be.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
We an include Board members if necessary. They need to know what's happening, too.
Marie K. Wood
20 Jul 2008, 17:31
I am having trouble with this e-mail but in essence I would like to have our newspaper back and would pay a subscription fee if necessary. Please work on getting AOL to cooperate. I would hate to have to change servers but can if need be.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
We an include Board members if necessary. They need to know what's happening, too.
Marie K. Wood
20 Jul 2008, 17:31
I am having trouble with this e-mail but in essence I would like to have our newspaper back and would pay a subscription fee if necessary. Please work on getting AOL to cooperate. I would hate to have to change servers but can if need be.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
We an include Board members if necessary. They need to know what's happening, too.
Marie K. Wood
20 Jul 2008, 17:31
I am having trouble with this e-mail but in essence I would like to have our newspaper back and would pay a subscription fee if necessary. Please work on getting AOL to cooperate. I would hate to have to change servers but can if need be.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
We an include Board members if necessary. They need to know what's happening, too.
Marie K. Wood
20 Jul 2008, 17:31
I am having trouble with this e-mail but in essence I would like to have our newspaper back and would pay a subscription fee if necessary. Please work on getting AOL to cooperate. I would hate to have to change servers but can if need be.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
We an include Board members if necessary. They need to know what's happening, too.
Marie Wood
20 Jul 2008, 17:26
Please get AOL in line!
Marie Wood
20 Jul 2008, 17:26
Please get AOL in line!
Marie K. Wood
20 Jul 2008, 17:25
I hope your can get AOL to cooperate. I find that they sometimes are not too efficient.
I think Paul Wheat should give us back our newspaper since not everyone has a computer. If funding is a problem I think we could manage a subscriber's fee to keep the paper going.
Jim Spencer
20 Jul 2008, 16:02
Please include me in your e-mail
Jim Spencer
20 Jul 2008, 16:02
Please include me in your e-mail
Ruth Ann Mc Millen
20 Jul 2008, 13:24
Congratulations on your newspaper! I know it will be successful.
Keep up the good work.
Ruth Ann Mc millen
Ruth Ann Mc Millen
20 Jul 2008, 13:24
Congratulations on your newspaper! I know it will be successful.
Keep up the good work.
Ruth Ann Mc millen
IDALEA K. RUBIN
19 Jul 2008, 12:58
Please include me in your mailing. Thanks. GOOD LUCK!
IDALEA K. RUBIN
19 Jul 2008, 12:58
Please include me in your mailing. Thanks. GOOD LUCK!
Audrey Kartheiser
19 Jul 2008, 09:48
Please advise how and when residents
can access new website
Thank You!
Jan Glass
16 Jul 2008, 20:05
I also only found this article.
Please advise when we can access the
new website. Thank you
Melody Jameson
12 Jul 2008, 15:53
To Those Finding It Difficult to Access the SCCFreePress.Org site, it is my understanding that the problem is related to connection with AOL as the internet access path. SCCFreePress.Org staff advise me that people using any other internet connection can access the site without any difficulty. I, personally, used Internet Explorer and brought up the site without any problem. Staff states they are trying to work with AOL to resolve the access difficulty.
Beatrice Horn
10 Jul 2008, 18:47
I, too, am trying to locate the new Online News.
Sandra Scanlan
10 Jul 2008, 17:46
I attempted to locate the new SCC Free Press today and your article was the only one on the subject that came up. Please advise on when and how residents can access the new website.
Thank you.
© Copyright 2008 by The
Observer
News Publications and M&M Printing Company, Inc.
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