Texas Happenings 2007, No. 14
Week of July 9, 2007TEXAS HapPENINGS is a biweekly advisory to AP member editors on upcoming stories or projects of special interest and a source of news about other AP developments.
COVERING LADY BIRD JOHNSON
Austin Associated Press Correspondent Kelley Shannon had been preparing for months for a day that would cause Americans young and old to pause and remember a gracious woman – former first lady Lady Bird Johnson.
Within minutes of Lady Bird’s death Wednesday afternoon, Shannon had dictated a NewsAlert to deliver the first word to the world about her passing. That set in motion the flow of thousands of words, dozens of photos, video and graphics about the former first lady’s life.
While Shannon worked with Night Supervisor Linda Franklin to get the story out, AP reporters April Castro and Jim Vertuno in Austin, Suzanne Gamboa in Washington and Matt Curry in Dallas gathered quotes from those who knew Mrs. Johnson.
Ron Heflin, AP News Editor-Photos in Dallas, and photographer Tony Gutierrez along with staff in New York quickly moved photos that chronicled her life. AP Austin photographer Harry Cabluck covered developments there while AP San Antonio photographer Eric Gay went to the LBJ ranch in Stonewall.
Stories focusing on Mrs. Johnson’s passion for wildflowers, her role as a first lady, the ranch and the memorials that will take place over the next few days are planned over the next few days.
For questions about AP coverage plans for the memorial services and funeral through Sunday, please contact Texas AP News Editor Jeff Kummer at 1-800-442-7189 or 972-991-2100.
LOOKING AHEAD
Ever since her family's clunky station wagon pulled out of their upstate New York driveway when she was 4 and headed to the beaches of Atlantic City, Patricia Schultz has been hooked on travel.
Her wanderlust eventually led to the runaway hit "1,000 Places to See Before You Die," which remains on the best-seller list four years after its publication with 2.3 million copies in print.
AP Writer Jamie Stengle talks to Schultz for a story for use for weekend editions July 13-15. With Glance, AP Photos of July 10, NY388-NY389.
Also in the Texas Weekend Report:
SATURDAY-SUNDAY:
AP WEEKEND MEMBER EXCHANGE: DREAM CATCHER
TEMPLE, Texas - When 15-year-old Ebony Crichlow first mounted Aero for a ride around the arena, it was an act of courage. Her eyes were wide as saucers, her posture was stiff and she refused to take her hands off the horse's reins even to wave at friends. But by the time Ebony finished her ride it was obvious she had overcome her fear of riding a horse. Overcoming obstacles is nothing new for Ebony or most other participants of Dream Catcher, a week-long summer camp for children fighting cancer and blood disorders. By Robert Stinson, Temple Daily Telegram. Moved Thursday.
AP Photos of July 11, TXTEM101-TXTEM108.
SUNDAY
COMING HOME WOUNDED-BURN UNIT
SAN ANTONIO - Brooke Army Medical Center's burn unit has its own rhythms and rituals. In the halls and on the walls, there are constant reminders of the war - the scarred young men, the clocks set to Iraq and Afghanistan time. This is a place where the wounded celebrate small steps toward recovery, even bending a pinkie finger, and mourn the loss of the pain-free lives they once led. Where patients can spend months in intensive care and years in rehabilitation. It's a place where a groan or a clenched-teeth grimace speak more eloquently than words. 3,000 words, moving July 9 for Sunday, July 15. Another in an occasional series on Iraq war veterans' recovery from injuries. An ABRIDGED version is also moving. By National Writer Sharon Cohen.
With AP Photos of July 9: NY307-321.
With: BC-Coming Home Wounded-The Flight.
MONDAY
VAN DE PUTTE-PROFILE
AUSTIN - Boundless energy, an infectious laugh and unbridled passion for her most closely held issues have won plenty of legislative battles for Texas state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte during 17 years at the Capitol. But colleagues say her maternal instinct is what's really propelled her to leadership positions in Texas and across the country. The chairwoman of the Senate's Democratic caucus and the president of the National Conference of State Legislatures recently added another duty to her already-filled schedule, co-chairing next year's Democratic National Convention. By Liz Austin Peterson.
AP Photos of July 12, AT101-AT102.
NEWS FROM NEW YORK:
AP ELECTIONS GEARS UP FOR 2008 WHILE COVERING 2007 ELECTIONS
AP Elections will be the same reliable service our members trust but starting this summer, they'll find much more.
To be sure, newspapers will still find accurate results delivered on election nights, but now we are adding elements of our first-rate political reporting and information on candidates. The goal is to provide our members with a complete product portfolio for the 2007-2008 campaign season.
It’s not too soon to think about elections, whether it’s those happening this year or the already active presidential contest. Talk to Texas AP Bureau Chief Dale Leach at 1-800-442-7189 or 972-991-2100 for details.
AP ONLINE VIDEO OPTIONS EXPAND
We’ve added new features to AP’s Online Video Network that put even more capabilities into your hands. The focus is local — local content and local advertising.
Later this year, we’ll add syndication and user-generated content.
We’re also making continual improvements to the ways OVN can be presented on your site, so you can attract more traffic and generate more revenue than ever.
We provide you with a turn-key service that keeps your Web site’s branding. The ad-supported network means members get AP’s award-winning coverage at no out-of-pocket cost, in exchange for promoting it.
In addition to the Online Video Network, video packages are available for a cash subscription to give you more options.
For more information, contact Texas Associated Press Chief of Bureau Dale Leach at 972-991-2100 or dleach@ap.org and visit www.ap.org/ovn
WEEKLY FEATURES BECOMES AP LIFESTYLES
Over the past year, the Weekly Features staff has worked hard to transform their service into a full-service lifestyles report. In addition to the food, fashion and homes and garden coverage you've long expected, coverage now includes families and relationships, pets and holidays.
And something else: Weekly Features isn't just weekly. While the bulk of the exclusive content moves on Fridays and Mondays, members who subscribe also get digests throughout the week.
It seemed the name didn't fit anymore. So Weekly Features has become AP Lifestyles. The name suits the service much better, as it aims to cover the way people live.
In addition to the same regular fixtures you can count on every week, Lifestyles now strives for timeliness and responsiveness to the news. For example, instead of waiting a week to tell readers about the recent Food Marketing Institute show in Chicago, Lifestyles covered it live. As Queen Elizabeth II visited the U.S., Lifestyles produced a photo essay and analysis of her many outfits.
Digests throughout the week also point out stories on other AP wires that might be suitable for feature sections - health, diet, fitness and business stories, for example.
Regardless of the name, Lifestyles remains a bargain at about $20 a week.
If you want to learn more about AP Lifestyles and get its first quarterly newsletter, please contact AP Lifestyles Editor Diane Davis at ddavis@ap.org or 212-621-6927.
SPECIAL EDITIONS
The special edition package on home and garden-winter will move Aug. 7.
APPLAUSE PLEASE
ALFREDO CORCHADO of The Dallas Morning News has been awarded the 2007 Maria Moors Cabot Prize for outstanding reporting on Latin America and the Caribbean. Corchado is Mexico bureau chief for The News.
DEATHS
JAMES CHAMBLISS GRESHAM, former editor and publisher of the Killeen Daily Herald, died June 27. He was 93. Gresham served as vice president of Killeen Publishing Co. from 1954 until his retirement in 1974. He also worked for the Temple Daily Telegram, the Wichita Falls Times Record News and the Dallas Times Herald.
HAROLD EUGENE MARTIN, a retired newspaper executive who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for special reporting, died July 4 at a nursing home in Bedford. He was 83 and had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Martin won the Pulitzer Prize while publisher of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser and Alabama Journal for a series of articles that exposed drug experimentation on state prisoners. He was president of Jefferson-Pilot Publications and publisher of The Beaumont Enterprise when he retired in 1985..
INDUSTRY NEWS
The AP Industry News summary is now available on the new AP Exchange system, a free system offering you Web-based access to the AP report. On AP Exchange, media industry news items will be available immediately, rather than transmitted once a week. For more on AP Exchange you can visit www.ap.org/apexchange.
If you do not have AP Exchange access yet, please contact AP Texas Chief of Bureau Dale Leach.
An AP Exchange account will permit you to access and search industry news, along with all your AP text, photo and graphics services. Until an AP Exchange account is created for you, we can add you to an e-mail list for distribution of media industry news items as soon as they arrive. If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please send your request by e-mail to talkback@ap.org.
If you’ve got news to share for TEXAS HapPENINGS, please send the material to Linda Franklin at lfranklin@ap.org.
PREVIOUS ISSUES:
• April 16, 2007
• April 30, 2007
• May 14, 2007
• May 28, 2007
• June 11, 2007
• June 25, 2007
