Newsprint tariff fly-in to DC June 13-14

Publishers and other newspaper executives know more than anyone about the impact of newsprint tariffs on your newspaper’s ability to provide news and information to your local community. You are in the best position to explain the impact on your business, employees, advertisers and readers.

MDDC will be there as well, representing our members. We are asking each member to take action. ... More

(Annapolis, MD) – Members and supporters of the Maryland | Delaware | DC Press Association came together today at a program to highlight news with integrity and excellence in journalism by recognizing the winners of the Contest, which celebrates print and online work completed in 2017. Attendees also heard from Congressman Jamie Raskin, of Maryland’s 8th district, Philip Rucker, part of the Pulitzer prize-winning team at the Washington Post, and Rebecca Frank, director of research and insights at News Media Alliance.

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Examining the public notice display in newspapers, their tombstone layout and dry legalese may not appear to be riveting journalism. But scratch beneath the surface and you may find a treasure trove of great stories.

Just ask Jim Lockwood, a reporter at the Scranton (Pa.) Times-Tribune, who has won numerous awards for stories gleaned from perusing the public notices in his own newspaper, a practice he started early in his career as a reporter in New Jersey. Public notice advertisements are Lockwood’s go-to resource for everyday reporting.

“In New Jersey, we ran the municipal and school board budgets, and they would take up an entire page,” he said in a recent phone interview. “As a young reporter, I came to rely on those budgets for story ideas, background and facts.”

That’s also when he started clipping those budgets and other notices and filing them away for easy reference.
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Among the highlights of MDDC's annual conference, News with Integrity, will be the keynote address from Philip Rucker, 2018 Pulitzer prize winner and Washington Post White House bureau chief. News with Integrity brings together over 200 journalists and media professionals from news organizations across Maryland, Delaware and DC on May 11 in Annapolis to hear from insightful speakers, discuss issues important to the industry, and celebrate award-winning work from across the region. ... More

George Washington Wilbanks III, a successful eastern Baltimore County businessman whose ventures ranged from carpet manufacturing, sales and distribution to newspaper publishing, died of kidney failure on Feb. 28. He was 85.

Mr. Wilbanks was the owner and founding publisher of the East County Times. ... More

The MDDC Board voted to accept The Town Courier to active membership. ... More