journalism - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T14:21:13Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/journalismEditor's Note: Local news coverage can be a risky businesshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/editor-s-note-local-news-coverage-can-be-a-risky-business2023-08-30T16:47:50.000Z2023-08-30T16:47:50.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p>In a Kansas town of about 1,900 people, a weekly newspaper had its publication servers, computers, cellphones and other electronics seized last month during a raid by local police. Law enforcement officers with a warrant removed electronics from the paper’s office and from the home where the editor and publisher lived with his 98-year-old mother, a co-owner of the newspaper. </p>
<p>The elderly woman later died from the stress of the raid, according to her son. </p>
<p>News of the raid has gained national attention, with the countywide newspaper receiving an outpouring of support as an investigation takes place into whether the equipment seizure was justified. In the meantime, the small staff at the 4,000 circulation newspaper worked long, difficult days to cobble together and re-create enough editorial and advertising files to publish an edition with a large headline saying, “Seized … but not silenced.”</p>
<p>Amen.</p>
<p>In <em>The Coastal Star</em>’s 15-year history, we’ve never experienced such a dramatic attempt at silencing our reporting, but we’ve had lawsuits thrown at us purely for intimidation and many, many subpoenas delivered for our photos and stories. All of them required attorney’s fees and at least once increased the annual cost of our insurance. </p>
<p>Appallingly, the objective pursued in the raid of the <em>Marion County Record</em> was for information the newspaper chose not to publish before it became public. That made this Kansas-based threat to press freedom even more disturbing. </p>
<p>There are many times our publication obtains information that we choose not to write about. Sometimes because we don’t have the resources, but most often because either the source or the nature of the allegations doesn’t meet our threshold for what is critical for the community to know. It is never because we are afraid of being sued or raided. </p>
<p>What happened in Kansas appears to be a ham-handed attempt at silencing a free press to keep salacious information from exposure. The facts will no doubt be revealed as investigations (legal and journalistic) continue. </p>
<p>In the meantime, small newspapers all over the country are closely watching this case.</p>
<p>Without confidence in their ability to publish free of fear or intimidation, many will close. Already more than 2,500 dailies and weeklies have ceased publication since 2005 — leaving behind communities with essentially no local news. </p>
<p>Cronyism, misconduct and corruption flourish without a free press. Even a small free press. Just ask that little newspaper in the rolling hills about 150 miles southwest of Kansas City. </p>
<p>Our advertising partners believe in a free press and support our publication. We hope that you’ll support them. If you would like to more directly show support for our journalism, we do accept contributions used to enhance our ability to do in-depth reporting.</p>
<p>Mail your contribution to: <em>The Coastal Star</em>, 5114 N. Ocean Blvd., Ocean Ridge, FL 33435. </p>
<p>Or send tax-deductable donations to the Florida Press Foundation, 336 E. College Ave, Suite 304, Tallahassee, FL 32301 with <em>The Coastal Star</em> in the memo field. This is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit fund. Donations made through the foundation are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law, and are subject to a 5.5% administration and processing fee. </p>
<p>Contributions made directly to <em>The Coastal Star</em> have no processing fee, but are not tax deductible.</p>
<p style="text-align:right;"><em>— Mary Kate Leming, </em><br /><em>Editor</em></p></div>Along the Coast: Judges give 16 awards to ‘Coastal Star’ contributorshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/judges-give-16-awards-to-coastal-star-contributor2020-09-02T16:24:11.000Z2020-09-02T16:24:11.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><em>The Coastal Star</em> brought home top honors in breaking news, local government reporting, sports photography and sports coverage in this year’s Weekly Newspaper Contest sponsored by the Florida Press Association.<br /> The newspaper also collected five second-place awards and seven third-place awards.<br /> First-place trophies went to the staff and Ron Hayes in the breaking news story category for Hurricane Dorian coverage; to Jane Smith and Rich Pollack in local government reporting for their work on Delray Beach city managers; to Publisher Jerry Lower in the sports photo category for a surfing image; and to Willie Howard and Brian Biggane in the sports page or section category for stories on the outdoors, a college baseball player from Ocean Ridge and tennis in Delray Beach, including teenage phenom Cori “Coco” Gauff.<br /> Coming in second place were: Tracy Allerton, page design; Rachel O’Hara, feature photo; Rich Pollack, Mary Thurwachter and Arden Moore, best obituary; Cheryl Blackerby, agricultural and environmental reporting; and Jan Engoren, arts, entertainment and review.<br /> In third place were: staff, overall graphic design; Tim Stepien, portfolio photography; Mary Hladky and Jane Smith, business reporting; Charles Elmore, roads and transportation; Gretel Sarmiento, arts, entertainment and review; Rich Pollack, in-depth reporting (non-investigative); and Executive Editor Mary Kate Leming, serious column.<br /> The Tallahassee-based press association announced the awards on July 31. <em>The Coastal Star</em> competed in Division A for the state’s largest weekly and monthly newspapers with a circulation of more than 13,000.<br /><em>— Steve Plunkett</em></p></div>Editor's Note: Arts journalism fills important nichehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/editor-s-note-arts-journalism-fills-important-niche2017-08-02T14:04:45.000Z2017-08-02T14:04:45.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p> Recent estimates suggest that as many as half of local arts journalism jobs in America have disappeared over the past decade. In South Florida I’d suggest that proportion is even higher.<br /> Yes, there are a few local bloggers who will tell you about the movies they liked (or hated), but how often do you find an informed blog discussion on a local art exhibit, dance performance or even a theater review? Not often, I’m afraid.<br /> I hadn’t thought much about this recently until the unexpected death of local arts writer Skip Sheffield. You may not recognize his name, but if you’ve read a theater, music or film review in a local publication these past 20 years, I suspect at least some of them were written by Skip. <br /> He believed so firmly in the importance of local arts criticism that he often worked for free — something I believe no publication should ask its contributors to do. <br /> Skip cared so much about South Florida that he did it anyway. He knew that information about the arts is important to the cultural vitality of an area. And Skip loved this area. He will be dearly missed. (See Thom Smith’s Around Town column, Page AT4.)<br /> In today’s media rush to count retweets and page views and Instagram followers, arts writers have been reduced to the status of promoters. There is no shortage of arts promotion in our area. The number of social media “arts influencers,” who usually work for tickets and access, has grown as the number of journalists has withered. <br /> There’s no fault in pushing the word about an exhibit, performance or show, but all of this social media rush and push creates a mind-spinning sense of everything, everywhere, all of the time. It takes arts journalism to help the reader understand the context of a work of art.<br /> This newspaper is proud to support art criticism with the insightful work of some of the area’s best arts writers. We do this under the editorial leadership of Greg Stepanich in <em>The ArtsPaper</em>; published online (<a href="http://www.pbartspaper.com">www.pbartspaper.com</a>) and in the pages of <em>The Coastal Star</em> each month.<br /> Without an informed guide to help understand what may have influenced an artist’s creation, or presentation, we miss a chance to discover new perspectives, sample new forms of expression and connect with creativity. We miss a chance to discuss these things with our friends after the show and roll them around in our brains as we take our morning walks or just sit and watch the ocean.<br /> We are better people for exploring art. Our cities and towns are more vital and vibrant — and economically resilient — when filled with art. And we need arts journalism to help us to better understand ourselves and our communities.<br /> <em>The Coastal Star</em> is a for-profit publication, so I am not asking for donations. But I am asking you to support the venues and art organizations that advertise in this newspaper, and to let the ones who don’t know how important art journalism is to you. Ask them to support our monthly arts section with their advertising dollars. It is critical to keeping local arts journalism alive.<br /><br /><em>— Mary Kate Leming, Editor</em></p></div>Editor's Note: Community impact can come from one or manyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/editor-s-note-community-impact-can-come-from-one-or-many2015-04-01T19:00:00.000Z2015-04-01T19:00:00.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960569889,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960569889,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960569889?profile=original" /></a><em>Editor Mary Kate Leming and Publisher Jerry Lower, were honored by the Boys and Girls Club.</em> <br /> <strong><em>Photo provided</em></strong></p>
<p>When we started <em>The Coastal Star</em> in November 2008, the last thing we anticipated was to be recognized with a community award. <br /> After many years in daily journalism, we knew the important role a newspaper can play in its community, of course. And we understood it was critical to dig into local coverage: to put pressure on government when questions of transparency and fairness arise, to let the majority know what is happening when the few try to make change happen without public debate. Hell, we learned sometimes you even have to count the votes.<br /> It’s seldom an easy job and we often get weary of the work hours, the staff management and, more recently, the legal fees. <br /> So, we were honored (and humbled) to be recognized by the Naoma Donnelley Haggin Boys & Girls Club of Delray Beach with the Forrest & Francis Lattner Community Impact Award at their March 19 “Be Great” dinner. <br /> Recognized that same evening was Kyra Dobard, 17, the 2015 Youth of the Year award winner.<a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960570455,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960570455,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="126" alt="7960570455?profile=original" /></a><br /> Kyra, too, is an important part of our community. After nine years as an active participant at the Boys & Girls Club, she’s about to head off to college to pursue a pharmacy degree. We wish her much success. <br /> We hope she’ll return to the area when she graduates. Young people like Kyra are the rock on which we build our future. Kyra makes me believe our future is solid. <br /> In our shifting media landscape, I suspect it will be a rare day when Kyra holds a print newspaper in her hand. We hope that her mobile device will deliver digital “news” where the principles of journalism have not been chipped away by corporate desires for cheap and easy niche marketing and unrealistic profit margin expectations.<br /> We are fortunate to have so many local businesses that support our journalism. We work closely with these businesses — and with our friends at the nonprofits — in many ways to strengthen the broader community. The Coastal Star is honored to be part of this ongoing relationship and grateful for this community recognition. <br /> And because we believe all of the children in our community hold the keys to our future, we ask you to join us in supporting the work of the Boys & Girls Club of Delray Beach.<br /> To support the Naoma Donnelley Haggin Boys & Girls Club of Delray Beach, call 561-683-3287 or visit bgcpbc.org.<br /> <br /> <em>— Mary Kate Leming, Editor</em></p></div>Coastal Star Award Winnershttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/coastal-star-award-winners2011-11-08T19:01:46.000Z2011-11-08T19:01:46.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><h6 class="uiStreamMessage"><span class="font-size-3">The management of The Coastal Star would like to congratulate the accomplished writers and photographers who help us produce an impressive, award-winning newspaper. Several of them were recognized at the Florida Press Club Awards in St. Petersburg this past weekend. <br /> Please congratulate the following award winners:<br /> <br /> 1st Place: Feature Photography — Tim Stepien: timstepien@earthlink.net<br /> 1st Place: ...Light Feature Writing — Ron Hayes: ronnieron50@bellsouth.net<br /> 1st Place: Minority Reporting — C.B. Hanif: cbhanif@gmail.com<br /> 2nd Place: Government News Writing — Steve Plunkett: plunk99@msn.com<br /> 2nd Place: Light Feature Writing — Emily J. Minor: emilyjminor@aol.com<br /> 2nd Place: Portrait/Personality Photography — Tim Stepien<br /> 3rd Place: General News Writing - Tim O'Meilla: timomeilia@gmail.com<br /> <br /> Congratulations!<br /> <br /> Mary Kate</span></h6></div>