There is still time to participate in the SNPA Salary Survey
SNPA will continue to accept questionnaires for the SNPA Salary Survey through the end of this week.
This tool for daily newspapers helps them benchmark their salaries against those of other SNPA member newspapers.
All SNPA daily newspaper members are encouraged to take part in the survey, which includes job listings and several additional introductory questions – all designed to give you better data with which to evaluate your compensation plan.
Download the survey questionnaire (Excel file)
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NLRB general counsel issues new advice memoranda
In December 2018, new NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb issued several new advice memoranda. Advice memoranda advise local NLRB offices about how to proceed with a particular unfair labor practice charge.
In one such memorandum, the employer's "Commitment to My Coworkers" policy was found to be lawful. The employer required all employees to read and sign a "Commitment to My Co-Workers" document.
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P.J. Browning elected president of SNPA for 2018-19
P.J. Browning, publisher of The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., was elected president of SNPA for 2018-19 at the News Industry Summit in Nashville.
Three additional officers and eight members of the SNPA Board of Directors also were elected.
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Trustees, Officers elected for SNPA Foundation Board of Trustees
The SNPA Board of Directors elected five trustees for the SNPA Foundation at its meeting in Nashville on Wednesday morning, Oct. 10.
The trustees, in turn, elected their officers – also on Wednesday morning.
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Meet the NEX GEN class of 2018-19
SNPA's NEX GEN mentor program helps newspaper employees with executive potential develop leadership skills and grow professionally.
NEX GEN protégés and their mentors will craft their own agenda, schedule times to talk by phone at least once a month, and set a time for a personal visit.
SNPA also arranges group video conference calls for participants about every six weeks and invites the group to participate in online networking opportunities with key industry executives.
The NEX GEN Class of 2018-19 includes:
- Mark Adams, audience acquisition and retention manager for The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C.
- Ethan Aden, digital sales manager for the Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
- Mickie Anderson, local news editor at The Gainesville Sun, Gainesville, Fla.
- Tonya Maddox, publisher of the Montrose Daily Press, Montrose, Colo.
- Cliff McCollum, managing editor of Gulf Coast Media, Foley, Ala.
- Andrea Vick, local sales manager for the Austin American-Statesman, Austin, Texas.
Read bios of 2018-19 NEX GEN participants. MORE
Cribb, Greene & Cope Annual Publisher Confidence Survey
Newspaper owners and executives are encouraged to participate in the Annual Publisher Confidence Survey.
The survey asks 11 questions that provide direct feedback from publishers on revenue, profit and other current trends in the publishing industry.
The survey takes less than two minutes to complete, and results are provided immediately so publishers can see how others are responding.
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NLRB to revisit employee use of employer email
On Aug. 1, the National Labor Relations Board invited interested parties to file briefs on whether the board should adhere to, modify or overrule Purple Communications – a case (decided by the Obama Board) that held employees who had been given access to their employer's email system for work-related purposes have a presumptive right to use that system, on non-working time, for communications protected by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (union organizing activity).
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Push for new deals
To jump-start innovation in your organization, you need to do more than talk about employees' need to be creative. Effective steps to prove that top leadership considers innovation a top priority are needed.
MORESurvey on newsprint tariffs due by July 3
SNPA needs every publisher's help with an important survey as we – and our partners with Stop Tariffs on Printers & Publishers (STOPP) – collectively fight the newsprint tariffs on Canadian newsprint.
We ask that you answer as many questions as possible by July 3. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TariffImpact2018
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Keep growing by being able to change
Every day presents a new opportunity. Oftentimes we're unable to seize the moment because we're mired in old habits, doing the same thing over and over again.
Some people believe that they can't change and say, "That's just the way I am." You can change. You can start now. It could change your life today and you don't have to wait for July 1.
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NLRB independent contractor status update
The National Labor Relations Board has held that companies do not violate the National Labor Relations Act solely by misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Bottom line: the decision to classify an individual as an independent contractor rather than an employee will not, by itself, subject an employer to liability under the National Labor Relations Act.
MoreDevelop a plan now to address Department of Labor's proposed overtime rule
The U.S. Department of Labor's rule to increase the salary threshold for the overtime exemption of executive, administrative and professional employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act has not yet been finalized.
The March 7 proposed rule was open for comments for a 60-day period. The Department of Labor received more than 116,000 public comments. The Department of Labor sent its final draft of the rule to the White House and the Office of Management and Budget on Aug. 12. The text of the final rule has not been made public.
When the final rule is published with an effective date, many expect unions and worker advocates to mount legal challenges to the rule. Even though the final rule may be challenged, it would be wise to be developing a plan now to address this huge budgetary issue.
This column focuses on the standard salary threshold, which will have the most dramatic impact on your company, and offers an action plan to address the standard salary threshold increase.
MoreSNPA / Inland Merger: Looking ahead to preserving and promoting First Amendment values
As we celebrate joining together SNPA and Inland, it is worth at least a moment to honor the first principles of the newspaper industry that gave rise to both groups. And those, without a doubt, are freedom of the press and the parallel right to know and to distribute news.
Honoring those principles requires some reflection on the industry's singular role in building America's First Amendment foundation. And it is safe to say that SNPA's and Inland's member newspapers can fairly take credit for shaping the free speech and free press tradition of the republic like no other industry and, for that matter, like no other country on earth.
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