| May 2000 (Download Legislative Report in PDF Format) |
| The Capital to Appeal Libel Decision The Annapolis Capital plans to appeal a jury's decision in favor of an Anne Arundel County lawyer in a recent libel case. The award of $2.5 million is thought to be one of the largest such judgments in Maryland. |
| News-Post Publisher Exploring Options Nationally know newspaper brokers Dirks, Can Essen & Murray have been engaged to handle the possible sale of The Frederick News-Post. |
| Leadership Changes Occur at The Sun The Baltimore Sun has announced top-level staff changes following the Tribune Co.'s March agreement to acquire Times Mirror Co. |
| Washington Times Parent Co. Buys UPI News World Communications Inc., the parent company of The Washington Times, is purchasing United Press International, although UPI will continue to operate as an independent new organization. |
| MDDC Intern Program Enters Second Year In just its second year, the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association-sponsored Internship Program is placing five college students at members newspapers in Maryland and Delaware this summer. |
| Newspaper Readership Continues Decline Average daily newspaper readership has continue a gradual decline, according to a Newspaper Association of America (NAA) analysis of the top 50 markets. The drop from 56.9% last fall to 56.2% this spring marked the fifth consecutive dip, according to the Competitive Media Index, NAA's analysis of market data from Scarborough Research. |
| Profile: John
DiMambro Since 1999 John has been president and CEO of Thomson Chesapeake, which includes The Daily Times in Salisbury and eight nearby weeklies. He joined the group as vice president sale and marketing the year before after a 17-year career as an advertising executive with the Gannett Co. John tried freelance feature writing after graduating from college, but soon switched to advertising and began his climb at various Gannett papers from account executive to classified ad manager, to retail ad manager, to ad director. His self-description - "I have a quick wit blended with a creative opportunistic business sense" - makes his career choice seem a perfect fit. |
| MDDC Hotline Assists Cecil Whig The Cecil Whig was able to obtain information related to the firing of the Elkton police chief with the assistance of the MDDC Hotline and Attorney Alice Lucan. |
| Advertising Day Honors Best of MDDC The MDDC Press Association's largest ever Advertising Contest culminated on April 20 with the presentation of 328 awards to newspaper advertising and graphic-design representatives from throughout Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia at the annual Advertising Day. |
| Legal
The Cases of the Disapearring Court Documents In two matters, newspapers covering the Baltimore County Circuit Court have discovered efforts to hide events in civil litigation before that court. The Baltimore Business Journal unearthed a complaint filed under seal. The Baltimore Sun discovered that lawyers took back certain documents filed in the clerk's office as part of a wrongful death action, after the action was settled. |
| Law & Media Advisory Group Created A forum for discussion of issues concerning news coverage of the legal system among the judiciary, attorneys and the media has been created by organizations representing the three professions. Its purpose if to foster a dialogue among members of the three professions who interact in the legal system in order to create better understanding among them of each other's needs and concerns. |
| Dues Break Voted for Newspaper Groups in 2001 Beginning next year, companies with five or more newspapers in MDDC Press Association membership will get a reduction in annaul dues. At the same time, the dues cap for metro papers will be raised. For the remainder of the 159 papers in MDDC there will be no change in dues for 2001. |
| Washington Post Dominates Pulitzers The Washington Post claimed three Pulitzer Prizes in the areas of public service, criticism and feature photography. It was the second consecutive year thay the newspaper was awarded the public service medal for coverage of the city. |
| Legislative
ReportDelaware FOIA Bill Needs
Quick Action With barely a month to go before the current two-year Delaware General Assembly ends, newspapers were working to gain passage of legislation that would markedly improve the state's Freedom of Information Act. |
| Half-a-ray of Sunshine from Maryland Legislature As often is the case, it was compromise time in the waning hours of the Maryland General Assembly las month, and one of the compromises struck was the state's sunshine laws. |
Text Navigation Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association |