by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
Tallahassee — Keeping the state’s attorneys informed is done by a newsroom tucked away in the back of The Florida Bar’s headquarters here. It’s where editors and reporters toil daily to produce a twice-monthly newspaper and a monthly slick magazine.
The Florida Bar News tells the current information. The Bar Journal is less news and more scholarly writing.
“Both have their role,” said the editor, Cheryle Dodd, who has been working in this building for 29 years. “I don’t think there’s another state with two publications. Most think they can get along with one.”
Florida did, too, until the early 1970s when it was decided that there was a need for both immediacy and retrospection. A newspaper can be produced quicker — in the Bar News’ case, there’s a two-week lag time between the editorial deadline and arrival of the newspaper on the attorneys’ desks — and thus can have more up-to-date news. A slick magazine takes much more time due to the quality demands, so the Bar Journal’s deadline stretches out to two months.
“It’s the best way,” said Dodd. “We get the news out quickly through the News. If we just had the Journal, it would be stale news.”
Dodd and her staff do everything in a garret of offices on the first floor of the stately building, serving as writers, editors and layout people. They compose the pages and ship them to the printer: by e-mail to the Bar News printer in Miami, by CD to the Bar Journal printer in Virginia.
“News comes from a variety of sources,” said Dodd. “Since we’re the official notice vehicle for the court system, all their information has to be printed. We also have to cover the news that’s of interest to attorneys, news such as the Article V situation.”
Article V was a voter mandate to place court funding in the hands of the state rather than counties, and judges, court administrators and attorneys fear cuts are forthcoming.
The Bar News is a flurry of headlines announcing Judicial Nominating Commission vacancies, Florida Bar board news, state Bar elections, disciplinary actions and legislative news. Almost every word is produced by Dodd and her staff.
The Journal has longer, and fewer, stories. A recent edition had eight stories, plus book reviews and a column by Bar President Ted Aronovitz, compared to 49 stories in the Bar News. It is for the erudite. Attorneys submit stories not only to inform others, but also to have on their resume. They are heavily annotated and are on subjects that certainly may not be for all, but all are carefully crafted to delve into a particular subject, whether it be mobile home law or tort reform.
Dodd reads every word that goes into the publications.
She oversees an experienced staff, most from the newspaper industry.
The Bar News editor is Mark Killian, Gary Blankenship is the senior editor and Jan Pudlow is the associate editor.
Laura Johnson is the Bar Journal’s associate editor and Daniel Straesser works on both publications.
There’s an advertising staff headed by Randy Traylor and several others work in the trenches.
The overall guidance comes from the Bar’s Editorial Board, which meets twice a year and offers broad advice. Specifics are left up to the staff with input from the Bar president and its executive director, John Harkness, who also is listed as the publisher.
“We feel we provide a service to our members,” said Dodd. “They get three publications a month . . . that’s something tangible for their dues dollars.”
All 71,000-plus Bar members get the publications and a few thousand more subscribe to either or both.
And the publications seek copy from their readers.
Routine items for the Bar News should be sent to the office in any form and will appear when space is available. Submissions can go via mail (650 Apalachee Parkway, Tallahassee 32399-2300,) fax (850-681-3859) or e-mail ([email protected].)
The Bar Journal is much more formal.
“We need the entire article submitted to us,” said Dodd. “Not an outline or a synopsis. We want the entire story. We probably get three submissions a week.”