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Forum Communications Co. debuts video-only website InforumTV

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Robin Huebner goes through a test run of an InforumTV webcast in the video studio of The Forum building in Fargo. InforumTV launched today at InforumTV.com. Photo by J. Shane Mercer / The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

By Shane Mercer
FARGO, N.D. – The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and WDAY-TV and radio today launched the InforumTV website with three live morning news webcasts anchored by Robin Huebner.
Plans are to eventually offer top-of-the-hour updates throughout the workday.
Huebner’s webcasts will air at 9, 10 and 11 a.m. Monday through Friday on Inforumtv.com. The site will also have the capacity to deliver news live from the field.
InforumTV will be a separate site from The Forum’s Inforum.com website, and focuses strictly on video.
There are plans to develop a morning show for InforumTV, said media manager Jim Manney, who heads up the video department at The Forum.
Manney said InforumTV will also produce and webcast live talk shows in the future.
“It’s a place for us to deliver news, information and entertainment to readers, viewers and listeners,” Manney said.
He has big dreams for the site.
“I can see it becoming, at some point, a 12-hour-a-day network,” Manney said. “It’s very ambitious, I know, but it’s something that I think will definitely happen over the course of the next few years.”
In addition to the live offerings, the site will be home to “the nearly 27,000 videos that Forum Communications Co. has shot,” Manney said.

Multimedia developer Ryan Babb works behind the boards in the video studio at The Forum building. Photo by J. Shane Mercer / The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

Forum Communications is the parent company of The Forum, WDAY and other media outlets in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. New video from these various outlets will be added to InforumTV’s searchable archive as it is created.
“What we want people to do is explore; to jump on the website and search the stories that they’re interested in,” Manney said. “And we want you to kind of get lost and explore and have some fun and see what we have available.”
WDAY News Director Jeff Nelson said the site will enhance what WDAY.com is already doing.
“InforumTV is going to allow us another avenue to get those stories out to people,” said Nelson, who described it as “an opportunity for Forum Communications as a company to really go out and be everywhere with everybody.”
While The Forum has already been producing video for the Web, Forum Editor Matthew Von Pinnon believes the InforumTV venture marks a new emphasis on video newsgathering for the staff.
“If there’s a news event happening, we’ll bring it to people, and we’ll stream it, and we’ll show it,” he said. “It could be a press conference; it could be breaking news, fires, weather, whatever. We can be out in the field and sharing that information with people in real time.”

Bill Marcil Jr. publisher of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead

Forum Publisher Bill Marcil Jr. sees InforumTV as a “big part” of the company’s future.
“We will still provide the very best platform for news and advertising with Inforum, but by separating the two, we will have a better user experience for the person that just wants video,” he said.
“We will provide not only news updates but local news stories, weather and original content with the ability to go live any time of the day or night,” Marcil said.

Shane Mercer is a reporter at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, a Forum Communications Co. newspaper.

The Forum, WDAY-TV and InforumTV are all owned by Forum Communications Co. Forum Communications Co. is a multimedia information company based in Fargo. Forum Communications owns dozens of newspapers, websites and television and radio stations in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Forum Communications Co. newspapers score big in annual Minnesota Newspaper Association contest

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FARGO, N.D. - Forum Communications Co. newspapers received more than 140 awards, ranging in categories from “Best Local Breaking News Story” to “Best Website” during the 2011-2012 Better Newspaper Contest sponsored by the Minnesota Newspaper Association. The awards were bestowed during the organization’s annual awards banquet held Jan. 24 in Bloomington, Minn.

The Better Newspaper Contest is held annually to recognize the state’s newspapers’ efforts to improve their print and digital products.

Forum Communications Co. received 145 of the more than 600 awards that were bestowed, and topped its accomplishments with the Detroit Lakes (Minn.) Tribune claiming The Mills Trophy, awarded yearly to the state’s best weekly newspaper. The  Tribune received a total of 20 awards, earning 86 points in the contest to take first place. Their winning entries included first place in the “General Excellence” category for weeklies 2,501-5,000; seven additional first place awards; two-second place awards; and 10 third place awards.

The Echo Press of Alexandria, Minn., another Forum Communications Co. newspaper, took second place with 23 awards, earning 82 points. Their winning entries included first place in the Herman Roe Editorial Writing Award competition by editor Al Edenloff, six additional first place awards, six second place awards and 10 third place awards.

Also, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead finished second in the competition for The Vance Trophy, awarded to the state’s best daily newspaper each year. And The Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune, finished third. Both are Forum Communications newspapers.

In addition to numerous honors received by the newspapers, many Forum Communications employees were recognized for their own accomplishments. Reporters, photographers, editors, designers and sales representatives received some of the contest’s top awards.

Following is a list of the awards received by FCC newspapers:

Detroit Lakes (Minn.) Tribune:
- Press Photographer’s Portfolio; all weeklies; Brian Basham; first place.
- Website; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; second place.
- Institutional Advertisement; weeklies over 2,500 circulation; first place.
- Self-Promotion or House Ad; weeklies over 2,500 circulation; third place.
- Use of Color in Advertising; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Nick Omberg; first place.
- Use of Color in Advertising; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Mary Brenk, Pam Albert; third place.
- Best Advertisement; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Mary Brenk; first place.
- Best Advertisement; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Stacey Gravelle, Rachel Poser; third place.
- Arts and Entertainment Story; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Brian Wierima; third place.
- Photo Story; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Brian Basham; first place.
- Photo Story; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Brian Basham; third place.
- Portrait and Personality Photo; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Brian Basham; first place.
- Portrait and Personality Photo; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Brian Basham; third place.
- Best Magazine; all weeklies; second place.
- Best Use of Video; all weeklies; third place.
- Best Use of Multimedia; all weeklies; first place.
- Best Use of Multimedia; all weeklies; third place.
- Best Use of Social Media; all weeklies; third place.
- General Excellence; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; first place.
- Herman Roe Editorial Writing Award; all individuals; Nate Bowe; third place.

Rosemount (Minn.) Town Pages:
- Typography & Design; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; second place.
- Editorial Page as a Whole; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; third place.
- General Reporting; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; second place.
- Social Issues Story; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; Emily Zimmer; first place.

Red Wing (Minn.) Republican Eagle:
- Typography & Design; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; second place.
- Sports Reporting; weeklies over 5,000; third place.
- Sports Story; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Chris Harrell; first place.
- Local Breaking News Coverage; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Sarah Gorvin, Anne Jacobson, Danielle Nordine, Don Davis, Regan Carstensen; first place.
- Best Use of Video; all weeklies; second place.

Alexandria (Minn.) Echo Press staff

Alexandria (Minn.) Echo Press:
- Editorial Page as a Whole; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; third place.
- Sports Reporting; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; second place.
- Use of Photography as a Whole; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; second place.
- Headline Writing; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; third place.
- Classified Ad Section; weeklies over 2,500 circulation; third place.
- Website; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; third place.
- Self-Promotion or House Ad; weeklies over 2,500 circulation; first place.
- Use of Color in Advertising; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Nichole Roell, Greg Eigen; first place.
- Best Advertisement; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Mary Green, Jody Hanson; first place.
- Best Advertisement; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Kelsey Langager, Greg Eigen; second place.
- Innovative Online Advertising; all weeklies; Nichole Roell, Greg Eigen; first place.
- Innovative Online Advertising; all weeklies; Nichole Roell, Shelly Beaulieu; second place.
- Innovative Online Advertising; all weeklies; Nichole Roell, Jody Hanson; third place.
- Human Interest Story; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Amy Chaffins; first place.
- Sports Story; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Eric Morken; third place.
- Local Breaking News Coverage; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Al Edenloff, Lowell Anderson; third place.
- Columnist; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Lowell Anderson; second place.
- News Photo; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Lowell Anderson; third place.
- Feature Photo; weeklies over 5,000 circulation; Al Edenloff; third place.
- Best Magazine; all weeklies; first place.
- Best Magazine; all weeklies; third place.
- Best Use of Multimedia; all weeklies; second place.
- Herman Roe Editorial Writing Award; all individuals; Al Edenloff; first place.

Troy Becker

Marino Eccher

The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead:
- Typography & Design; dailies over 10,000 circulation; first place.
- General Reporting; dailies over 10,000 circulation; first place.
- Sports Reporting; dailies over 10,000 circulation; first place.

David Samson

Patrick Springer

- Use of Photography as a Whole; dailies over 10,000 circulation; third place.
- Advertising Excellence; dailies over 10,000 circulation; first place.
- Classified Ad Section; all dailies; second place.
- Website; dailies over 10,000 circulation; second place.

Bill Wambeke

- Best Advertisement; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Jamie Odum; third place.
- Human Interest Story; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Marino Eccher; first place.
- Business Story; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Dave Olson; second place.
- Local Breaking News Coverage; dailies 10,000 circulation; Mike Nowatzki; third place.
- Columnist; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Marino Eccher; third place.
- News Photo; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Carrie Snyder; third place.
- Sports Photo; dailies over 10,000 circulation; David Samson; first place.
- Sports Photo; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Dave Wallis; third place.
- Use of Information Graphics & Graphic Illustrations; all dailies; Troy Becker; first place.
- Design Portfolio; all dailies; Bill Wambeke; first place.
- Design Portfolio; all dailies; Heidi Tetzman-Roepke; second place.
- Government/Public Affairs Reporting; all dailies; Kristen M. Daum; third place.
- Category X (excellence in utilizing public records); all dailies; third place.
- General Excellence; dailies over 10,000 circulation; first place.
- Lynn Smith Community Leadership; all newspapers; first place.
- Press Photographer’s Portfolio; all dailies; David Samson; second place.

Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune:
- Typography & Design; dailies over 10,000 circulation; second place.
- Editorial Page as a Whole; dailies over 10,000 circulation; second place.
- General Reporting; dailies over 10,000 circulation; second place.
- Sports Reporting; dailies over 10,000; second place.
- Use of Photography as a Whole; dailies over 10,000 circulation; second place.
- Headline Writing; all dailies; first place.
- Website; dailies over 10,000 circulation; first place.
- Institutional Advertisement; dailies over 10,000 circulation; second place.
- Institutional Advertisement; dailies over 10,000 circulation; third place.
- Innovative Online Advertising; all dailies; Chad Curry, Mike Mazzio, Roz Randorf, Jon Godrey, Kim Quinones; third place.
- Human Interest Story; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Sam Cook; second place.
- Human Interest Story; dailies over 10,000 circulation; John Lundy; third place.
- Sports Story; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Rick Weegman; second place.
- Business Story; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Peter Passi; third place.
- Local Breaking News Coverage; dailies over 10,000 circulation; staff; first place.
- Columnist; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Chuck Frederick; first place.
- News Photo; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Bob King; first place.
- News Photo; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Bob King; second place.
- Feature Photo; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Clint Austin; third place.
- Portrait and Personality Photo; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Clint Austin; second place.
- Best Use of Multimedia; all dailies; third place.
- Best Use of Social Media; all dailies; first place.
- Government/Public Affairs Reporting; all dailies; Peter Passi; second place.
- Freedom of Information Awards; all newspapers; third place.
- Explanation of News Operations/Newspaper Ethics; all newspapers; third place.
- Category X (excellence in utilizing public records); all dailies; first place.
- Press Photographer’s Portfolio; all dailies; Clint Austin; third place.

Farmington (Minn.) Independent:
- Editorial Page as a Whole; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; first place.
- General Reporting; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; third place.
- Sports Reporting; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; third place.
- Use of Photography as a Whole; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; first place.
- Headline Writing; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; first place.
- General Excellence; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; second place.

Pine Journal (Cloquet, Minn.):
- Use of Photography as a Whole: weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; first place.
- Social Issues Story; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Jana Peterson; first place.
- Local Breaking News Coverage; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Jana Peterson; first place.
- Columnist; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Wendy Johnson; third place.

Park Rapids (Minn.) Enterprise:
- Use of Photography as a Whole; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; second place.
- Advertising Excellence; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; third place.

Hastings (Minn.) Star Gazette:
- General Reporting; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; second place.
- Use of Photography as a Whole; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; third place.
- Sports Story; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Chad Richardson; second place.
- News Photo; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Chad Richardson; second place.
- Photo Story; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Chad Richardson; second place.

South Washington County Bulletin (Cottage Grove, Minn.):
- Sports Reporting; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; first place.
- Category X (excellence in utilizing public records); all weeklies; first place.

From left, Daily Globe Publisher Joni Harms, reporter Julie Buntjer, Advertising Manager Donna Ellerbroek and Community Content Coordinator Aaron Hagen, display the Globe’s 2011-2012 MNA Better Newspaper Contest awards.

The Daily Globe (Worthington, Minn.):
- Sports Reporting; dailies under 10,000 circulation; third place.
- Advertising Excellence; dailies under 10,000 circulation; third place.
- Website; dailies under 10,000 circulation; second place.
- Use of Color in Advertising; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Jennifer Spengler, Cindy Ramert; first place.
- Sports Story; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Chris Murphy; third place.
- Investigative Reporting; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Julie A. Buntjer; third place.
- Feature Photo; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Brian Korthals; third place.
- Portrait and Personality Photo; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Brian Korthals; second place.
- Special Section; all dailies; third place.

The Morris Sun Tribune received two awards in the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s 2011-2012 Better Newspaper Contest. Publisher Sue Dieter, left, accepted an award for third place in “Best Website” and Editor Kim Ukura, right, took third place in “Government and Public Affairs Reporting” for a three-part series on school assessments.

Morris (Minn.) Sun Tribune:
- Website; weeklies 1,501-2,500 circulation; third place.
- Government/Public Affairs Reporting; weeklies up to 2,500 circulation; Kim Ukura; third place.

The Osakis (Minn.) Review:
- Human Interest Story; weeklies up to 1,500 circulation; Amy Chaffins; second place.

Becker County Record (Detroit Lakes, Minn.):
- Human Interest Story; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Paula Quam; third place.

Bethany Wesley, a reporter for The Pioneer of Bemidji, Minn., holds her two awards for best “Human Interest Story” and best “Business Story” for dailies under 10,000 circulation.

The Pioneer (Bemidji, Minn.):
- Website; dailies under 10,000 circulation; first place.
- Human Interest Story; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Bethany Wesley; first place.
- Business Story; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Bethany Wesley; first place.
- Local Breaking News Coverage; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Steve Wagner; first place.
- News Photo; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Monte Draper; second place.
- Sports Photo; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Monte Draper; second place.
- Feature Photo; dailies under 10,000 circulation; Monte Draper; second place.

West Central Tribune (Willmar, Minn.):
- Social Issues Story; dailies over 10,000 circulation; Anne Polta; second place.
- Best Use of Video; all dailies; third place.

Woodbury (Minn.) Bulletin:
- News Photo; weeklies 2,501-5,000 circulation; Riham Feshir; third place.

Katie Erdman of the Hancock (Minn.) Record accepts the first place award for best “Classified Ad Section” for weeklies up to 2,500 circulation.

Hancock (Minn.) Record:
- Classified Ad Section; weeklies up to 2,500 circulation; first place.

Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune moving production to state-of-the-art press

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By Candace Renalls
Duluth News Tribune staff writer
DULUTH, Minn. – As he talked about the Duluth News Tribune’s new state-of-the art press, publisher Ken Browall’s excitement showed.
“For those of us who have been in the business, it’s like a work of art in progress,” said Browall, who started at age 10 with a newspaper route. “You stand there. You’re mesmerized by the beauty of it.”
The News Tribune is moving its production operations from the basement of its downtown Duluth building to a new 35,000-square-foot production center on Airpark Boulevard.

There, the new $2.67 million Goss offset press has been assembled and operating on a limited basis as pressmen learn the new technology. It replaces an old Goss flexo press that’s near the end of its lifespan.
Use of the new press is being phased in. The Sunday comics and Scrapbook sections started being printed there early this month, then shipped downtown and inserted in the rest of the paper. The printing of the News Tribune’s sister papers — the Pine Journal, Lake County News-Chronicle, Duluth Budgeteer News and some shoppers — has been moved there, with the Superior Telegram to follow. Like the News Tribune, all are owned by Forum Communications Co., which had earlier consolidated the area’s printing operations in Duluth.
A steady stream of papers moving from the inserter to the bundler. Photo by Steve Kuchera/Duluth News Tribune“The products we’ve done are looking great,” Browall said of the new press.
Forum Communications is not only footing the bill for the new press; it bought the former Bernick’s Beverages warehouse for $1.6 million to serve as the new production and distribution center. Add to that the costs of moving, additional equipment needed and other associated expenses, and the investment grows to about $6 million.
“Investing locally in a production facility is not what you’re seeing at large newspapers around the country,” said John Hatcher, an assistant journalism professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth. “More and more papers are getting away from daily print editions of their paper. … It’s definitely good news for us Duluthians that they are continuing to invest in this local product.”
The shift to full production of the entire News Tribune on the new press is expected in February, but could begin as early as next week.
The News Tribune’s offices, including news, advertising and circulation, will remain on the second floor of the downtown building at 424 W. First St., which it owns. But it is seeking to lease out the building’s first floor.
GETTING UP AND RUNNING
The original target date for the new press start-up was late September. But that timetable turned out to be too aggressive for all that’s involved, said production director Mike Farmer.
The new press arrived from China in June in eight large pieces. Prep work, assembly and getting it running took six months. That was complicated early on when two of its sections were damaged. Using a forklift, a hired installer was lifting a section when it slipped and hit another section, causing damage to both. The two units were shipped to a Goss facility in New Hampshire, where they were repaired and shipped back.
“Putting it together is the easy part,” Farmer said of the new press. “Then there’s a ton of things that happen that’s crucial.”
Thousands of feet of wiring must be installed. A loop plumbing system for each of the four towers of the press is needed, as well as piping to deliver the ink. Then the pressmen and assemblers need to be trained on the new systems.
The logistics of phasing in a new press in one location while continuing to use an old press in another also is challenging.

Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune Publisher Ken Browall

“It’s a long process from start to finish,” Browall said. “But to have it up and running in a year is pretty good.”
Bill Stafford, who has worked for the News Tribune for 38 years, assembling and bundling the papers after they leave the pressroom, likes the new production center.
“It’s super,” he said. “It’s cooler, it’s quieter. The technology is similar. The big thing is the noise. This machinery is much quieter than the old.”
And for Stafford and the other 40 mailers and pressmen, the investment means more job security.
“The way things are going in the newspaper business, we’re all glad to have this new facility,” he said.
COMMITMENT TO PRINT
The new press and production center is a commitment to the print newspaper in Duluth even as the paper continues to put resources into its online content, newspaper officials say.
“It ensures that the printed product will continue,” Browall said. “It’s a question we always get from readers. This is a sign we believe in the printed paper and that it will be around for years.”
For readers it will mean a paper with sharper and higher-resolution color pictures, and more of them. They’ll also see a slightly smaller page, a cost-saving move happening industry-wide.
For the News Tribune’s bottom line, it means a more efficient press that costs less to run. It’s faster. The old press can print 18,000 copies an hour; the new press can print as many as 30,000. The paper’s current circulation is 35,000 daily and 50,000 on Sundays.
With the new press, the News Tribune can print two products at the same time. A second press — a used one from another Forum newspaper — will be added in about a month, which will boost capacity even further.
“It keeps us competitive,” Browall said. “It’s an opportunity to grow business with commercial printing.”
The Duluth News Tribune already prints the Hermantown Star, UMD Statesman and school and community publications as outside jobs.
“We want more printing jobs,” Browall said. “You have to be competitive, and this one puts us in a position to be more competitive.”
Ken Doctor, a media analyst, said what the News Tribune is doing is “insourcing.” It’s the direction some newspapers are going to maintain their printing product.
“The old idea was every newspaper would have a press and would print its paper every day,” he said. “It might take in other work, it might not.”
Now, newspapers either find another company to print their paper, or they invest in their own production facility and take on additional printing jobs to grow revenue when the press is otherwise idle, he said.
“It’s either, ‘let’s get the maximum use of it or let’s have somebody else doing it,’ ” said Doctor, author of “Newsonomics: Twelve New Trends That Will Shape the News You Get.”
The investment in a new press in Duluth comes at a time when not a lot of new presses are being purchased by newspapers. And it comes when more papers are reducing the number of days of their print editions, he said.
That won’t happen in Duluth. With the new press, the print edition will continue seven days a week, Browall promised.

Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald editor to direct Forum News Service

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Mary Jo Hotzler, editor of the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, has been named the director of the Forum News Service.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Mary Jo Hotzler, editor of the Grand Forks Herald, will leave her job to become director of Forum News Service.
The current director, Mike Jacobs, will return to full-time duties as publisher of the Herald.
These changes take place Feb. 1.
Jacobs said he’ll begin a search for a new editor immediately.
Forum Communications Co., which owns the Herald, launched the news service in January 2012 to distribute content to news organizations in the Upper Midwest. Jacobs split his time between the news service and the Herald.
“We’ve built the news service to the point where it needs a full-time director,” Jacobs said. “I’m delighted that Mary Jo will carry this work forward.”
Hotzler joined the Herald in March 2012. Previously, she had been deputy editor of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. For 18 months, she’s chaired a company committee examining how Forum company properties gather and distribute news.
“Mary Jo has the background to move the news service to the level of a complete regional wire service,” Jacobs said. “As for me, I’m delighted to be back in the publisher’s chair on a full-time basis.”
Hotzler said, “I’ve been involved with the news service since its creation and look forward to the opportunity to carry it forward. At the same time, this obviously cuts short my time as editor of the Herald. I think the world of the people here who have helped make this past year a truly great one.”

Grand Forks Herald’s Marilyn Hagerty honored with 2012 Al Neuharth Award

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Al Neuharth and Marilyn Hagerty laugh before the start of an Oct. 4 press conference at the Al Neuharth Media Center on the University of South Dakota campus in Vermillion. Hagerty received the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media during a reception Thursday night. Photo by Chris Huber/The Daily Republic

By Tom Lawrence

Forum Communications Co.

VERMILLION, S.D. — Two old friends reunited Oct. 4 at the university where they launched their journalism careers.

USA Today founder Al Neuharth, 88, and Grand Forks Herald columnist Marilyn Hagerty, 86, shared the stage at the University of South Dakota. Both spoke at an afternoon press conference and Neuharth presented the 2012 Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media to Hagerty in an evening ceremony.

Grand Forks Herald columnist Marilyn Hagerty

 

“You just never know in this world what’s going to happen,” Hagerty said after receiving the award. “This is the frosting on the cake. It’s the greatest honor I could imagine. So I guess my cup runneth over. Thank you, thank you.”
“I’ve never been more delighted and thrilled than to welcome my former boss back to receive this tremendous award,” Neuharth said.
The award honors Hagerty for working more than 60 years in newsrooms, and also recognizes her for becoming a national figure after she wrote a restaurant review of the new Olive Garden in Grand Forks, N.D., that became an Internet sensation.
“It is just amazing,” Hagerty said at the press conference. “It’s like I am having a wild dream that doesn’t end.”
She is the 26th recipient of the award. It has been given to journalism icons like Walter Cronkite, Tim Russert, “60 Minutes” creator Don Hewitt and PBS anchor Jim Lehrer.
The Olive Garden column ran on March 7. Hagerty wrote that the “chicken Alfredo ($10.95) was warm and comforting on a cold day,” and noted the décor of the new place to eat in the small city on the prairie. She also reported that she drank water, turning down a suggested raspberry lemonade.
The next day, bloggers started commenting on her piece, and linking to it. At first, many of the comments were “snotty,” Hagerty noted, but she ignored them. Soon, the tide turned, and she gained more and more support.
“Some guy had a bee in his bonnet that day … and that set off a bunch of other people,” Hagerty said, eliciting laughter from the crowd at the press conference.
She said the restaurant’s opening was news in Grand Forks.
“We thought it was a pretty big deal,” Hagerty said. “They thought we were kind of simple-minded.”
As the column spread across the Web, she said she was more concerned about a regular social engagement she had.
“I don’t have time for all that crap,” Hagerty said she thought at the time. “I have to get to bridge club.”
But Hagerty said she knew the column had struck a chord somehow.
“Something’s going on,” she recalled thinking. “I don’t know what it is, but something’s going on.”
Hagerty said she felt people didn’t like “that little old lady in North Dakota” getting brow-beaten by snide online writers. Instead, the Web world rallied to her support and the Olive Garden column “went viral.” There was only one problem: She had no idea what that meant.
Hagerty called her son, Bob Hagerty, a Wall Street Journal staff writer, and asked him. He told her, and the meaning of it was amplified over the next few days. Bob Hagerty later wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal about his mother, which she said she greatly enjoyed.
Marilyn Hagerty was in New York days after the column was published and has appeared on CNN, “The Today Show” and “Good Morning America.” Anthony Bourdain, the famed chef and media personality, said he is a fan. Hagerty said she didn’t know who he was, but now calls him “Tony” and feels is a handsome, charming man.
“So, we’ve come a long way,” she said.
Bourdain now plans to publish a book of her restaurant reviews. She wrote one a week for 40 years — “I never missed,” Hagerty said. She has signed a contract for the book. It will be her second, after a collection of her columns was published in 1994 that is now sought by fans of her work.
Hagerty said she has saved copies of that book for all her grandchildren. This new book will probably sell more than the 1,200 that were printed of that column collection.
Hagerty admits all the attention is bit overwhelming.
“I don’t really understand what has happened to me since last March, but I know I have had a lot of fun,” she said. “I’ve heard from anyone I have ever known since I was born in Pierre, South Dakota. So it’s not real. You’re not real. I’m just dreaming this.”
Neuharth said the selection committee, which he serves on, takes a look every year at journalists who made an impact during the year, as well as during their career. Just as it began its work, Hagerty’s fame exploded, and Neuharth thought of his old friend and former colleague at the USD Volante, the school newspaper.
“It became so obvious then that nobody in the country was better known or more deserving of the award, so it was simple,” Neuharth said.
“This was really the most wonderful thing,” she said.
Hagerty said at first she didn’t feel she deserved it, since so many high-profile journalists have been honored. She said people may say “Marilyn Who?” when they see her name listed with the other recipients. But then she reconsidered.
“Perhaps there are a lot of people who do the kind of work I do,” she said. “To me, it’s recognition of people who work on medium-sized newspapers and do their work and enjoy it.
“I love writing columns because you have so much freedom,” Hagerty said. “You hope it’s fun for the readers or you won’t get to keep writing it.”
They worked together for almost four years at the Volante in the 1940s and have stayed in touch, he said Thursday. They teased and joked during the press conference as memories from the 1940s resurfaced.
Neuharth said he was astounded his friend was still producing five columns a week when he sometimes struggles to write one.
“Maybe my five aren’t as good as your one,” she said during the press conference.
During the awards ceremony, she had a suggestion for him when he’s stumped for a column: Go to an Olive Garden. It drew a roar from the crowd.
Several USD journalism students lined up to ask Hagerty and Neuharth questions during the press conference. They were asked to reflect on the changing world of journalism as well as other topics.
“Overall, I think it is better, but I think we have lost some of the human touch,” Hagerty said of the industry.
She said reporters and editors seem a bit quieter and better behaved today.
“We were kind of a little bit wild,” Hagerty said.
She hired Neuharth when he came to her looking for a job after losing a post as a sports play-by-play announcer. Al Neuharth Media Center President Jack Marsh, who moderated the events, said it’s interesting to speculate how that decision impacted the future of journalism.
Hagerty said she felt Neuharth, a veteran on the GI Bill looking to break into the field, should work for a newspaper and not “that crummy radio station up there.” She gave him a chance and their careers grew together. Neuharth said she was his “first boss” and taught him vital lessons and showed him the “high principles” that she still exhibits.
“There is nothing I would rather do,” she said. “It’s fun. It’s a game.”
Neuharth said there was another reason for her success and longevity.
“She’s nosy,” he said. “That’s what you have to be.”
The family interest in journalism is continuing. Her granddaughter, Carrie Sandstrom, a college freshman at the University of North Dakota, is pursuing a journalism career and took part in a discussion with Bob and Marilyn Hagerty and Neuharth after the award was presented.
“We like stories,” Hagerty said. “The conversation at the breakfast table and the supper table was always the story of the day.”
There have been some challenges. She said her husband’s mother told her she would never get rich working for newspapers but would lead an interesting life.
“That’s about the only thing my mother-in-law was right about,” Hagerty said.
She and Neuharth said while the business changes, most things stay the same.
“You have to be accurate, you have to be fair, and if you want to have a following, you have to be interesting,” he said.
Hagerty said reporters need to remember they are “doing a job” and have to pay attention and do quality work while making the stories interesting to the readers.
The veteran journalists were asked their thoughts on the new design of the USA Today. Neither offered admiration for the new look, although Neuharth said he didn’t want to make his opinion public.
“I have expressed it privately and we will see what happens,” he said.
Hagerty said she was “kind of a little bit bewildered by it” and wondered if it was necessary. She said she is a creature of habit and that includes her reading choices.
Neuharth, who writes a column every Friday for USA Today, said he plans to continue working and seeking information.
“I certainly don’t intend to quit being a nosy person reporting news,” he said.
Hagerty, two years younger than Neuharth, said that she will continue to work for quite some time.
“I enjoy what I do and will probably continue to do it, unless the Grand Forks Herald fires me or I get a better opportunity,” she said. “At the age of 86, if I’m going to be discovered, they better discover me now.”