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Author: Robyn Gentile

McNeely is new TPA president

Jack McNeely, publisher of the Herald-Citizen, Cookeville, and the Cleveland Daily Banner, is the new president of the Tennessee Press Association (TPA).

“I am honored to serve as the next president of the Tennessee Press Association,” McNeely said. “I cannot think of a time in our 150-plus years when our mission of helping publishers of news and information achieve greater success has been more important. I look forward to working with my peers in a collective effort to turn challenges into opportunities.” 

TPA is the trade association of the state’s daily and non-daily newspapers. It is composed of 17 daily newspapers and 116 non-daily newspapers.

McNeely succeeds Rick Thomason, publisher of the Kingsport Times-News and Johnson City Press, and president of Six Rivers Media, LLC.

Other officers elected at TPA’s Business Session during the Concurrent Board of Directors Meeting and Business Session on June 23 are Daniel Williams, general manager of The Paris Post-Intelligencer, elected first vice president; Darrell Richardson, advertising director of The Daily Times, Alcoa, elected second vice president, Chris Sherrill Vass, public editor of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, re-elected secretary; and Eric Barnes, publisher of The Daily News, Memphis, re-elected treasurer. 

Directors elected for two-year terms representing District Two are: David Plazas, editor of opinion and engagement of The Tennessean, Nashville; Dave Gould, owner of Main Street Media of Tennessee, Gallatin; and Keith Ponder, publisher of The Tullahoma News.

Rick Thomason will continue on the board for one year as immediate past president. Also continuing on the Board as directors are Calvin Anderson, publisher of The New Tri-State Defender, Memphis; E. Scott Critchlow, co-publisher of the Union City Daily Messenger; Sandy Dodson, publisher of The Bledsonian-Banner, Pikeville; Dale Gentry, publisher of The Standard Banner, Jefferson City; Paul Mauney, publisher of The Greeneville Sun; and Victor Parkins, publisher of The Mirror-Exchange, Milan.

The TPA Board of Directors elected trustees to serve on the Tennessee Press Association Foundation (TPAF) Board of Trustees for three-year terms. Daniel Richardson, Carroll County News Leader, Huntingdon, was elected and Janet Rail, The Independent Appeal, Selmer, was re-elected.

TPAF elections

TPAF officers elected at the June 16 TPAF Board of Trustees meeting are Victor Parkins, publisher of The Mirror-Exchange, Milan, re-elected president, and R. Michael Fishman, publisher of the Citizen Tribune, Morristown, re-elected vice president.

About Jack McNeely

Jack McNeely joined the board of the Tennessee Press Association in 2016 as a director. 

McNeely, 55, is a native of West Virginia. He began his newspaper career in 1986 as a sportswriter and photographer for his hometown weekly newspaper, the Coal Valley News, in Madison, West Virginia. In 1990 he accepted the sports editor position at a sister daily newspaper, the Logan Banner, in Logan, West Virginia. During the 1990s at the Banner, he worked his way up from sports editor to news editor and finally to general manager.

A U.S. Army veteran, McNeely served 14 years in the West Virginia Army National Guard (1985-99). He graduated second from his multi-services Print Journalism (71Q) course at the Defense Information School in 1986. While in Logan, his public affairs detachment was called up for an 11-month active-duty peacekeeping tour during Operation Joint Guard in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1998). As a staff sergeant, he was team leader of a mobile public affairs detachment, and earned multiple U.S. Army and NATO awards for his service.

Upon his return to Logan, he was notified that newly formed Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., had purchased the Banner and other titles from Smith Newspapers. Not long after, CNHI offered McNeely his first publisher’s role, with oversight of the Morehead (Ky.) News Group, which consisted of the twice-weekly Morehead News and weekly Grayson Journal Enquirer, Olive Hill Times, and Greenup County News.

While with CNHI, he was also publisher of the Americus (Ga.) Times-Recorder (2003-04) and Commonwealth Journal in Somerset, Kentucky (2004-12).

In 2012, McNeely joined Walls Newspapers as publisher of the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, Ala. (2012-16). He was also publisher of the Herald-Citizen in Cookeville, Tennessee (2016-21), before being named group publisher of the Cleveland (Tenn.) Daily Banner, the Herald-Citizen, the Daily Tribune News in Cartersville, Georgia, and the weekly Chatsworth (Ga.) Times. The Daily Mountain Eagle was recently added to his oversight.

While McNeely attributes much of his success to his military training, he also has a communications degree from Bluefield State College.

His community service includes being a Rotary Club member since 1995, a Paul Harris Fellow and a past president of the Somerset Rotary Club. He also served as vice president of the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce.

He is a former president of the Alabama Press Foundation.

McNeely resides in Cleveland with his wife of 34 years, Nora. They have two grown daughters.

About TPA

The TPA was founded in 1870-71 for the purpose of creating a unified voice for the newspaper industry in Tennessee. Today, TPA continues to provide assistance to its 133 member newspapers by monitoring legislative activities, providing training programs, issuing press credentials, and providing regular meetings and forums to foster the exchange of information and ideas.

The TPA presidency rotates among TPA’s three divisions of Tennessee – East (District 3), Middle (District 2) and West (District 1).

Public Notice Week is Jan. 23-29, 2022

This year marks TPA’s 12th annual celebration of Public Notice Week. The following column by Rick Thomason, TPA President, is for any TPA member to publish during Public Notice Week.   We encourage you to write your own columns and editorials emphasizing the importance of public notice in keeping citizens informed.

Ads promoting the importance of Public Notice

By Rick Thomason. Photo of Rick Thomason
President, Tennessee Press Association
For TPA’s Public Notice Week, Jan. 23-29, 2022

This country, as well as the State of Tennessee, enjoy a long history of open government. Our Founding Fathers insisted that laws, resolutions and other such actions by the U.S. Congress be published in newspapers as public notices.

When Tennessee became a state, its first constitution also appropriately included such provisions.

More than 230 years ago legislators recognized the importance of citizens knowing how their new government was working for them. Our governments – at all levels – continue to evolve, and it is as important in 2022 as it was in 1789 that citizens remain notified of the critical maneuverings of those elected to make decisions on their behalf.

Our republic has always been grounded in the principles of democracy where citizens have the opportunity – and dare I say, obligation? – to keep an eye on government functions that impact them every day. And there has been no greater nor more important avenue for that scrutiny than public notices published in this nation’s newspapers, which provide a searchable history of notices.

But not every legislator sees the good in published public notices. In fact, over the last couple of decades some lawmakers have fought to take public notices from newspapers and move them to government-run websites. The reasons are suspect at best and the arguments are fraught with holes.

Some lawmakers argue that public notices placed only online will broaden the reach of public notices. On the surface it sounds like those individuals are looking out for the best interest of their constituents, right? Not so fast. The truth is that millions who now can see public notices in newspapers will no longer see them because they do not have, nor do they want, internet access. This is particularly true among the elderly who are largely avid newspaper readers and those who live in rural areas.

Plus, in 2013 it was made law in Tennessee that newspapers develop a statewide site to which all published public notices would be uploaded. The Tennessee Press Association created that website that is available to all citizens. So not only do newspapers in Tennessee already publish public notices in print and on their own websites, but those public notices are also posted on a statewide site, too. And again, that is by law. 

Imagine if every town, city and county had to put that technology and the manpower behind it in place.

Lawmakers will point to ‘cost savings’ if all public notices are moved online to government-run websites. Again, it sounds good in theory, but the reality is that state and local governments aren’t equipped to properly post and distribute public notices online.  

Building websites with the appropriate capabilities isn’t easy nor is it inexpensive. Maintaining them is even more expensive and, frankly, in this day and age few towns, cities and counties have the financial wherewithal to add more layers of needless work.

Under the guise of ‘broader distribution of public notices’ (when they actually want them less visible), some lawmakers will say that newspapers are no longer an effective way to distribute these important messages. Again, nice try. But again, it is an argument full of holes and misinformation.

While newspaper print distribution has shown a decline over the last couple of decades, mostly in urban areas, newspaper audiences are larger than they have ever been because of digital access. Exactly where these lawmakers say they want public notices – online. But the difference is that the online audience for newspapers is not only consistent, but it’s growing and growing consistently.

And guess where newspapers place their public notices? Yep. Online. A 2013 law mandated that we do that at no extra charge.

But wait! There’s more! (No, this isn’t an informercial.) The Tennessee Press Association already collects and aggregates public notices on one public website that was just recently updated to make it easier than ever to use. So, in this state our public notices get twice the online exposure already.

Let’s not make the public go on a hunting expedition for public notices. Newspapers already publish and distribute them even more effectively than our Founding Fathers could have imagined in their wildest dreams.

This is Public Notice Week in Tennessee. Public notices are an equal third of the triangle that make up the ideological foundation of our collaborative government. The other thirds are open meetings and access to public records. Support us in our efforts to keep public notices visible and cost effective. The old adage ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ certainly applies here.

Rick Thomason is the 2021-22 president of the Tennessee Press Association and publisher of the Kingsport Times News and Johnson City Press.

Protect Freedom of the Press

Americans are facing an unprecedented threat, and the information you provide is saving lives. That story needs to be told.

The Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University  has developed a national campaign featuring a diverse group of Americans and this message about journalism: “Reliable Information When We Need it Most.” These ads have been configured for print and online, in multiple sizes and are available for immediate download athttps://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/page/1forall-gallery.

Ken Paulson, director of The Free Speech Center has also written a companion guest column you may want to use detailing how COVID-19 is threatening the future of newsgathering. The lead: Three handy tips for coping with COVID-19: Wash your hands frequently. Wear a mask outdoors. And subscribe to a local newspaper or website. The column can be found at https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/605/covid-19-takes-its-toll-on-local-news-coverage

House ads available

64 TPA members participated in the “We Are There With You” common theme page campaign
New theme-based house ads created for member use

We thank TPA President Chris Vass and Matt McClane, presentation editor of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, for designing the “We Are There With You” common page that was used the week of March 29. Mr. McClane designed the creative. At least sixty-four TPA members used the graphics and the material was also offered to newspapers in 11 other states.

House ads available
TPA has commissioned a series of ads based on the theme for your use. The ads are in 3 x 5 and 3 x 10 formats. Please feel free to download them, alter them and use as you see fit. Ads are based on these themes:

  • together we can build a stronger community
  • together we celebrate our heroes
  • together we protect or community
  • together we count our blessings
  • together we look to the future