Smaller is beautiful for NAA and ASNE

By: Jennifer Saba

With the Cheeseburger Bill wending its way through Congress, this year shapes up to be all about portion ? the smaller the better. Fitting this proper-sizing trend, the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Newspaper Association of America in April are installing lead officers from smaller newspapers.

The new ASNE president, Karla Garrett Harshaw, edits the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, with a circulation of 28,955 according to the latest FAS-FAX. Gregg Jones, co-publisher of The Greenville (Tenn.) Sun, circ of 14,684, steps in as chairman of the NAA.

Harshaw, 49, who is ASNE's first woman minority president, started writing for the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News when she was in high school. In 1990, she left the Daily News and joined the News-Sun as editor.

As the incoming president, Harshaw wants to focus on the changing community. "With so many minorities increasing at a significant rate, I wonder if we are really in touch with people," says Harshaw, who is also senior editor for Cox Community Newspapers. "I want to know whether or not we're reflecting that growth in the newsrooms, making

sure that we have people who understand those communities."

With the Jayson Blair and Jack Kelley scandals still open wounds, one of the major challenges facing newsrooms, Harshaw says, is credibility. "We need to make readers feel that we are accessible and that we do want to hear what they have to say. And if we're wrong we're willing to accept that and do something about it," she says.

The other challenge is protecting freedom of information. She cites recent health information guidelines that limit access to medical records. "I don't think any of us want to say you have no privacy whatsoever," she says, "but I think it's being stretched."

Over at NAA, Jones, 54, comes from a family steeped in the newspaper business since 1916. His father, John M. Jones, serves as publisher of the paper and his brother, John M. Jones Jr., is the editor. His other brother, Alex S. Jones, formerly of The New York Times, is a noted writer on the media.

Jones plans to tout the NAA as a resource. "There's so much talent and creativity in this business," Jones says. "You can never adequately tap into that if your view to the world stops at your office door. My newspapers have benefited from the NAA. I think it's the single best tool to make the industry stronger and better."

Indeed, the bulk of NAA's membership comes from smaller-sized papers, 85 percent with circulations under 35,000. Even so, Jones is the first chairman since 1945 to come from a small paper ? and, he proudly points out, only the second from Tennessee. "I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would be chairman of the NAA," Jones says. "It's a great honor for me and for my family."

Jones wants to do a better job creating awareness by going on the road and telling papers about his personal experience with NAA. "So many people have predicted the demise of the newspaper industry. Even with the advent of new technology, that just hasn't been the case," Jones says. "We're the most adaptive industry and have done some pretty amazing things in recent years." Yet Jones knows that image trumps reality: "The overriding challenge is to change the perception that newspapers are yesterday's media."