HCN brought home the bacon from TPA’s statewide convention

FROM MY FRONT PORCH

Sam Houston is the publisher of the Hood County News. He is also an actor, author, playwright, performer and entertainment producer/promoter.

This past weekend I attended the Texas Press Association statewide convention in San Marcos. Being relatively new to the newspaper industry, I looked forward to having the opportunity to meet with other publishers and newspaper people and discussing the industry issues of the day. There were several open forums, and it was most interesting to learn of the issues facing community newspapers from across the state and how the industry is working to reinvent itself in the technology age.

One of the speakers was the publisher of the Uvalde Leader-News, Craig Garnett. He gave an outstanding presentation on the difficulty of covering a mass shooting news event. It was heartbreaking for him to explain one of the members of his staff had a child who had died in the shooting. The employee had started at the newspaper some 10 years ago and at the time of the hire, was pregnant with the child who perished in the tragedy. The young girl was frequently in the offices of the paper to see her mother. The entire staff loved her and treated her like one of their own.

Imagine the difficulty of covering a story of such magnitude and being emotionally attached to one of the victims. My hat goes off to the great work of the Uvalde Leader-News during the crisis. True professionals in every sense of the word. I tip my hat!

CONTEST

I have exciting news to report about the Hood County News. During the convention, the TPA conducts its annual Better Newspaper Sweepstakes Contest. Newspapers from around the state submit samples of their work in categories including sports coverage, feature stories, headline writing, news writing, and sports photography, etc. The entries are then judged by newspaper executives from other states, to insure an objective and fair competition.

During the convention we learned the Hood County News won first prize in our division for General Excellence, Sports Coverage, Feature Photography, along with multiple other placings. Importantly, the HCN was announced as the overall Sweepstakes winner in our class as the best newspaper! This is a major accomplishment and something for which I am very proud.

It takes a large group of true professionals working like a team, to make an award-winning newspaper. It takes great photography, writing, editing, and layout. It also takes a great administrative staff, sales team, and pressmen to make our paper look as good as it reads. I have never in my life worked with a better group of folks than the crew at the HCN. They are dedicated to fulfilling our Mission Statement and being the best community newspaper in Texas.

We are not perfect. There are ways for us to improve. We are far from being satisfied or resting on our laurels. We are your community newspaper. We want you to be proud of the image we present about the place where we all live. Thanks for the support you give us through your subscriptions and advertising. We are the fastest growing newspaper in Texas and now we have been recognized by our peers as being the best bi-weekly newspaper in Texas. Congrats again to our ownership and to the staff.

Thought for the day: Winning an award recognizes the past; the tough part is hitching up your britches and weighing in to get even better in the future.

Until next time

sam@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 260