Press Lines

Monday, April 3, 2023

Banner Mission Story March 2023

Banner showcases teacher of the year candidates

In March, Dorchester Banner published its first-ever Teacher of the Year mega-preview, offering capsules and photos of all 15 TOY nominees.

The newspaper also changed its Page 1 design for the week to provide special attention to the TOY finalists. When the winner was chosen March 29, the newspaper also provided live coverage and profiled the winner.

The effort surprised readers and school officials, who reacted with appreciation for the stepped-up coverage.

Delaware State News Mission Story for March 2023

One of the most contentious issues presently in Delaware relates to zero emission vehicles.

If a proposed mandate follows the plan, you will not be able to buy a new gas-powered car 12 years from now. The Delaware State News saw a need to give readers, particularly those unaware of this issue, an insightful look at what has been planned.

It has been just over a year since Gov. John Carney announced plans to adopt California’s zero-emission vehicle regulations in Delaware. Since his announcement last March, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has held numerous public workshops regarding the proposed changes, which would mandate a gradual push toward all new vehicles sold in the state being electric by 2035.

Should Delaware officially adopt the new standards, the initiative would take effect in 2026 for model year 2027 and require that 35% of new car sales be zero tailpipe-emission vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Following his first story on zero-emission vehicles on March 12, reporter Joe Edelen dug deeper with these stories:

And, the issue has led to some interesting commentaries on our opinion pages:

Point/Counterpoint: Electric vehicle plan: A healthy move, or a ‘forced transition’?

Commentary: Does Delaware’s electric vehicle proposal make sense?

Chinese Delegation takes interest in INI during Arizona trip

A group of six international journalists from China, along with two interpreters, visited Valley Newspapers in north Phoenix to learn about Independent Newsmedia as part of a program through Global Ties Arizona. Global Ties implements an International Visitor Leadership Program for central and northern Arizona on behalf of the U.S. Department of State.

Managing Editor Melissa Rosequist met the group and provided an overview on INI’s Arizona operations, focused on the hyperlocal approach of our variety of newspapers and website. The delegates asked a lot of great questions and were really interested in how we gain subscribers digitally and in print; how the papers make revenue; the journalists’ workloads; and how advertisers and reporting may have changed before and after the pandemic. Some of the participants explained revenue and subscriber issues are among their biggest challenges back home.

To end, the group walked through the printing press at Valley Newspapers, which everyone enjoyed and most of the group immediately pulled out their phones to start taking photos of the different machinery as a paper was being printed in front of their eyes. The group sentiment was, “This is like a movie!”

Due to security and privacy reasons, the State Department requested that visitors are not photographed and names and titles are kept confidential.