The election period for APSE third vice president is open. The third vice president will assume office at the closing meeting of the summer conference in June (or, in the absence of a conference, at 11 a.m. on June 27).
Only sports editors from organizations that pay dues in the D category (under-40,000 circulation) may vote.
Each eligible news organization has one vote. To vote, send your choice to billapse707@gmail.com. The deadline to vote is April 13.
Bios of the candidates – Steve Hemphill and Ed Reed – are below in alphabetical order.
STEVE HEMPHILL
Current position: Sports editor, The Roanoke (Va.) Times
Background: Since graduating with a journalism degree from Colorado State in 1989, I have been fortunate to be employed as a sports print journalist (with a few non-sport duties at times as well).
I am currently in my 11th year as sports editor and am in my 16th year overall in Roanoke – I spent the first five years as an assistant sports editor, overseeing the sports copy desk.
Before coming to Virginia, I spent more than 10 years at the Longmont (Colo.) Daily Times-Call, where I worked as a copy editor and sports writer on a four-person staff, eventually moving up to sports editor, overseeing a staff of seven reporters and copy editors (remember when we used to have to increase our workforce?).
My first daily job was at the Scottsbluff (Neb.) Star-Herald, where I spent 3 1/2 years learning the ropes of writing, design and editing.
APSE experience: I have been an APSE member since 1998 and have made sure either I or a member of my staff has been available for judging in each of the years it was my decision to make. I served as the chair of the Atlantic Coast Region for two years, ending my term in 2017. I was recently appointed to be the chair of the Futures Committee as well.
Objective: When I first arrived in Roanoke in 2004, I was joining a publication that boasted a Sunday circulation that surpassed 100,000, and was not too far behind that number in daily distribution. Obviously times have changed, and while I am still proud of what we do each day, we’re doing it as a Class D newspaper. It’s, however, something I have experienced in the past.
With Dan Spears serving in this position the past two years, APSE has reimagined what the organization should mean to shops that are often operating with just a handful of sports folks. Time for activities outside of the job is limited, as is the money to cover some of the most basic perks of being an APSE member.
When I first became an APSE member, what appealed to me was that through the newsletters, contests and conferences, there seemed to be an unlimited stream of ideas that might help you become a better editor, designer or reporter. Each experience felt like a getting a booster shot to keep you going.
In the last decade, we’ve all felt like we’ve been in a constant retreat, and small newspapers across the country have experienced this in their own unique way. These publications still need those booster shots, it just that serum is a different mixture now.
So as Class D members, we need to work harder to create opportunities that make APSE worth it to bring more small newspapers back into the organization. We need to make sure the division has contest categories that one- or two-person shops feel like they can compete. We need to provide webinars and conference calls on subjects that are useful to editors who might be writing, designing, editing and posting everything available to their readers on any given day.
Quotable: Local journalism is vital in our society, and APSE knows this. So let’s work harder to let the local journalists know we haven’t forgotten.
ED REED
Current position: Gannett Deputy Regional Sports Editor for Florida/Tennessee (But really just Florida, Tommy Deas has Tenn. covered). I oversee the sports sections, content and staffs of the six Gannett properties in Florida.
Background: A transplanted Bostonian in Florida, I have worked at The News-Press in Fort Myers for nearly 21 years. I started as a weekly sports editor (Lehigh Acres News Star) in a bureau and moved up to the show as the hockey writer for the minor-league team in town, the Florida Everblades, being the only one on staff who had covered/played hockey before. I was promoted to assistant sports editor for five years and then editor more than 12 years ago. During that time, I had additional duties on top of sports as the breaking news editor for 2 years (got to oversee coverage of 2 mass shootings) and business editor for six months. I shepherded The News-Press into increased digital and social media coverage as we moved from being print-focused to draw readers on mobile. I added Naples Daily News editor to my resume nearly 3 years ago and became Tommy’s deputy and picked up the other 4 Gannett Florida properties about a year ago. Before moving to Florida, I worked at my college’s Independent newspaper The Daily Free Press at Boston University, spent a year at the weekly Holyoke Sun in Mass. as sports editor and then 3 years at the MetroWest Daily News, where I juggled producing 3-4 weeklies along with my daily writing duties.
APSE experience: I have been to a couple of summer conferences, with my first being in Dallas. I have also been to winter judging nearly 10 times between IUPUI, Orlando and Tampa.
Objective: With more markets falling into the “small” paper category, I feel like those sites are prime to be drivers for APSE membership, as well as collaboration and innovation in our industry. Overseeing papers across a state, I have instituted a sharing and team mentality that I think works well to offset dwindling resources. I also worked with executive editors to make sure all six Florida properties became APSE members. With the addition of Gatehouse properties to Gannett in Florida I have pushed that we work together as a state network to share ideas and content and I believe we can carry that thinking nationwide to bolster coverage in our markets. Regardless of how this vote goes, I will work with the Florida Gatehouse properties to have them become APSE members this year. We are also facing challenges as far as the contest moving forward and I hope to be a voice as we adapt the smaller divisions to make the competition fair and balanced in all categories for our members.
Quotable: “Do Your Job” – Bill Belichick
Bonus Quote(s): “Stay on Target!” – Gold Five in Star Wars, A New Hope; “Never in the field of human conflict was so much fucked up for so many by so few” – Ruben L. Oppenheimer
