Paywalls work for papers in small markets with little competition. Otherwise, they're a disaster

Today at our weekly meeting we were joined by Todd Seifert, Managing Editor of The Spectrum.

Todd informed us of the recent changes affecting not only The Spectrum but Newspaper Organizations and Companies all across the State and Nation.

The online paywall model has been a big issue as of late and Todd explained it, using small words so Marge could understand.

The Spectrum's parent Company has been testing the online paywall model in 3 markets for several months, resulting in the following benefits to occur in the St. George, Utah market:

• subscriber growth each week (less Labor Day weekend) and an increase in ad revenue due to lower online traffic. 
• moving to paid has enabled The Spectrum to retain print subscribers since they gain free access to the online content along with those who pay only for online, and/or the E-Edition.

One other benefit is critical, and it's one that many who dismiss the online paywall model often miss: Newspapers that charge for content online will likely be able to retain their paid subscribers longer.

More information about The Spectrum can be obtained by clicking here.

The Spectrum At A Glance

Publisher: Donnie Welch

Managing Editor: Todd Seifert

Founded: 1962

Joined Gannett: 2000

Employees: 137

Circulation: 21,807 (AM); 22,846 (S)

Milestones:

The Spectrum had its beginning in 1963 when Errol Brown started a weekly newspaper, The Tri-State News Advertiser, in Kanab, Utah. About two years after its beginning in Kanab, the newspaper was moved to Hurricane, Utah. In 1970, the Brown family sold the newspaper to Gail Stahle. The name was changed to Southern Utah Free Press. At that time circulation was 10,000, but after four years, grew to 15,000. It was under Stahle's ownership that the newspaper's office was moved to St. George, Utah. In 1976, the weekly publication became a five-day-a-week newspaper - The Daily Spectrum. Thomson Newspapers Inc. purchased The Daily Spectrum in September, 1984. On August 23, 1986, The Spectrum became a seven-day publication. In June, 1994, the name of the paper changed again to The Spectrum. In July of 1997, The Spectrum converted to morning delivery.

In addition to publishing the only daily newspaper between Provo, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada, The Spectrum produces numerous other products and provides other non-newspaper services. In December of 1995, The Spectrum acquired Preview, the leading monthly real estate publication in the Southern Utah market. In August of 1996, it acquired the Dixie Datebook. In April of 1997, thespectrum.com was launched. In 1999, weekly newspapers in Mesquite, Nev., Desert Valley Times and Desert Echo were purchased and merged into one weekly newspaper. Also in 1999, the St. George Magazine was acquired.

Dixie Care & Share

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Dixie Care & Share

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Walter Orenstein: Lessons Learned from Smallpox: When Eradication Is the Goal, One Case Is One Too Many

Walter Orenstein: Lessons Learned from Smallpox: When Eradication Is the Goal, One Case Is One Too Many

Rotary Club Events - FYI

Subject: Rotary Club Events - FYI

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Just wanted to pass this information onto you.  Draper-Riverton Club and the West Jordan Club are having events that you might want to participate in or at least be made aware of.  All of you have such wonderful projects and events.  I just wanted to share these with you so if you can/want to participate you can.  These two events are coming up real soon so I am emailing the flyers to you.  If you have events you want to share with everyone please send me the information and I will get it put on the website at www.utahrotary.org and then just let everyone know it is there and available.

Thanks for all your support.  You have welcomed me to your clubs and events with open arms and enthusiasm.  I appreciate you all so much and look forward to visiting those clubs I have not visited yet.  Please let me know if you need anything from me and I'll do my best to help in anyway I can.

Thanks again

Penny

ROTARY -- RYLA - HUGE SUCCESS

RE:  an email received 09/13/2010 from District Governor Penny Atkinson:

 

RYLA was a HUGE success thanks to Sunny Street and all her staff. 

Wow, it just BLEW ME AWAY!

 

Many changes this year made it an even more difficult task but we had a record number of kids come and the program was absolutely OUTSTANDING.

 

Thanks to those clubs that sent such FANTASTIC kids.  They were all incredible. 

Your investment will come back to you 100 fold!! 

Make sure you follow-up with them and have them report to your club about their experience.  Also, make sure they join or start an Interact Club. 

THAT WAS PART OF THE DEAL when they were chosen to go to RYLA.   They may need your help and encouragement but they were all excited about it!!

 

For those clubs who were unable, for whatever reason to send any kids, please make sure you start early next year and send kids to RYLA. 

 

Brian Gorum, MR. RYLA himself will be the RYLA Chair next year and I'm sure he will make it even better....following suit as it has gotten better every year since the beginning. 

Following Brian will be Shelly Dansie from the Cedar City Club.  When they say, Dynamite comes in small packages....she lives up to that!

 

Also, plan on being a Facilitator next year.  YOU WILL HAVE THE MOST INCREDIBLE TIME OF YOUR LIFE!  DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS OPPORTUNITY.  The facilitators this year were just amazing and we would love to have YOU be there next year!

 

THANKS TO ALL WHO MADE RYLA POSSIBLE. 

 It is a HUGE job so please Thank Sunny and all her staff for a job well done. Keep these new RYLARIANS involved with your club and the Interact.  They will just be AWESOME, I guarantee it!

 

Thanks again to everyone who made this possible.

 

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY AND THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOU DO!

 

Penny

 

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on 9/11 the American Flag is to be flown at Half-Staff

Under the direction of President Barack Obama, Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert, has authorized you to lower the Flag of the United States of America and the Flag of the State of Utah tomorrow, Saturday, September 11, 2010, from sunrise to sunset as a tribute to the heroes who came to the aid of their country.

See President Obama's statement below:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2009, as Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance. I call upon all departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States to display the flag of the United States at half-staff on Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance in honor of the individuals who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks against the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001. I invite the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and interested organizations and individuals to join in this observance. I call upon the people of the United States to participate in community service in honor of those our Nation lost, to observe this day with other ceremonies and activities, including remembrance services, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. eastern daylight time to honor the innocent victims who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
BARACK OBAMA




Andrea Street
Assistant to the Chief of Staff, Jason P. Perry
Office of the Governor
Utah State Capitol
350 North State Street, Ste 200
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
p: 801-538-1000 f: 801-538-1344
astreet@utah.gov
www.governor.utah.gov

-M Heiner


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DocUtah - Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival

On the 703rd All Time meeting and the 10th of the 2010-2011 year of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise we were pleased to have Mr. Phil Tuckett and Mrs. Lani Pururi of DocUtah join us.


What is DocUtah?

(taken from DocUtah.com) Have you ever seen a film that made you laugh? Cry? Taught you something about yourself? Or about the world around you? Documentary films play an important part in the way we communicate with one another. DOCUTAH Festival Director, Phil Tuckett, understands this perhaps as well as anyone.

For many years Phil, the mastermind behind DOCUTAH, worked as a producer, director, writer, editor, and cameraman for NFL Films and in 1982 was named Vice President of Special Projects. During his tenure, he won 30 Emmy Awards for shows like "Football America", "The 100 Yard Universe", "Autumn Ritual", and "Lost Treasures of NFL Films". He also produced non-sports related programming like "Blood from a Stone" for the History Channel, "Faces of Evil" for TNT, and music videos for a wide variety of artists including B.B. King, Santana, Def Leppard, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. In addition, Phil and his wife Judy have started their own production company, Bristlecone Films.

Before his career at NFL films, Phil attended Dixie College where he played football and majored in English. He finished his BA at Weber State and played one season for the San Diego Chargers before embarking on a 38-year career at NFL films.

Phil has returned to St. George as an associate professor of digital film and executive director of the Dick Nourse Center for Media Innovation at Dixie State College of Utah. During the past year, CMI has grown from a gleam in the eye of Dr. Randal Chase, chair of the communication department, to a full blown multi-media production unit. All projects in the CMI are student driven with faculty oversight and represent a wonderful blend of academics and real world practical application.

With a film background this rich and his roots going deep into the Southern Utah soil, it was only logical for Phil to want to create a documentary film festival in the canyonlands that he loves. Thus, DOCUTAH was born.

One of the important aspects of DOCUTAH is having an academic component. Dixie State College will play a significant part in this area of the Festival. Being one of the few college-based festivals will provide an established infrastructure to DOCUTAH. A festival committee of industry professionals who have relocated to Southern Utah from around the world lends even more credibility to our endeavor.

Another aspect of the festival is the fine art vision for DOCUTAH. Artist Jeff Ham has created the festival artwork for our inaugural poster. His iconic images will brand DOCUTAH as a festival worth considering both now and in the future.

The final elements of our vision relate to providing more than just a place to watch films. We will provide master class seminars as part of the festival for students and attendees alike, as well as a distributor marketplace.

By blending the attractions of breathtaking Southern Utah with a love of documentaries, we hope that many professional and student film makers embrace what DOCUTAH has to offer. Brace yourselves because DOCUTAH has arrived—now and for the future; 2010 is just the beginning.

Mr. Tuckett gave us a preview of one of many films to be screened at DocUtah which truly was an inspiring story involving our Armed Forces and those involved in the Vietnam War.

The festival will be September 16-25, 2010 - the DocUtah website has all the information you need to identify which films or all films you choose to watch during the festival.

Next week Mr. Ruben Garcia, XO of the Dixie Care and Share will join us.

Until then,

Yours in Rotary,

-Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (this is my SAG name)

"Dad, I think I snagged a rock."

The adventures of Rotarian Dr. Paul Gooch and his family are too good not to share.

By reeling in this monster I'd say if we didn't have an angler for life, we do now.

Well done young man!!  What a catch!!

-Mark

(Johnson, this was the fish we spoke of the other day, I'm sure you picked up on that, but I just want to make sure.)

USU Extension Services in Washington County

On the 26th of August, 2010 we were pleased to have Carolyn Washburn of Utah State University Extension join us and provide insight and information on the services USU Extension offers here in Washington County.

This was the All Time 702nd meeting and the 9th of the 2010-2011 year of the Rotary Club of Dixie Sunrise.  Special thanks to Darrin, Greg W, and Chantra for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance, 4-Way Test, and Blessing.

I think most of us were impressed and I dare say amazed by the unique and specialized services offered to Washington County residents by and through USU's Extension Office.

USU's Extension Office has many focuses, mainly:  4-H & Youth, Agriculture, Diversity & Civil Rights, Emergency Preparedness, Energy, Families and Communities, Finance & Economics, Food & Nutrition, Horticulture, Natural Resources, and Yard & Garden.

Carolyn's emphasis and presentation revolved around strengthening marriage and the marriage survival course offered by USU Extension (free of charge) on Monday evenings at the Extension Offices.  Contact Carolyn for exact details at 435-634-5706.  She also brought information related to nutrition and quizzed our knowledge regarding canning procedures and which foods provide our bodies with the most nutrients.

For more information about the services offered by USU Extension check their webpage, and become their fan on Facebook.

More about Carolyn Washburn:


BS of Elementary Education at USU 1972, MS SUU 1999. Elementary Teacher @ Ashman, Richfield, Utah 15 years. Alternative High School Richfield, Utah 8 years. Sevier School District Board of Education 10 years. American Legion Auxiliary Utah Girl's State 30 Years.


Our next program will be Mr. Phil Tuckett presenting about DocUtah


Yours in Rotary,


-Mark

2010 Quepos Library Fundraiser at Karolas