NNA honors Iowa publisher with Amos Award

Oct 3, 2015

  1. CHARLES, MO—William “Bill” F. Tubbs of Eldridge, IA, was honored during the National Newspaper Association’s 129th 2015 Annual Convention & Trade Show, where he was presented with the James O. Amos Award at the association’s business meeting on Oct. 3, 2015.

 

Recognized as the highest and most dignified tributes in community journalism, the Amos and McKinney Awards are presented to a working or retired newspaperman and woman who have provided distinguished service and leadership to the community press and their community.

 

Tubbs is publisher of the North Scott Press in Eldridge, IA, and he has been publisher of the Wilton-Durant Advocate News since 1980. He is also owner of North Scott Press Inc. Before starting work at The North Scott Press, he earned a B.S. in agricultural communications from Iowa State University.

 

Tubbs’ journalism career began as an intern at the DeWitt Observer and Maquoketa Newspapers in Iowa. In 1971, he became publisher of the 3½-year-old North Scott Press in partnership with the late publisher, Robert Melvold, and his wife, Frances, of Maquoketa, and the late Robert Parrott of DeWitt. Tubbs’ wife, Linda, who is co-publisher of the North Scott Press, is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa.

 

Robert F. Sweeney, co-publisher/owner of Villager Newspapers in Greenwood Village, CO, said, “Day in and day out, Bill Tubbs advocates for the community press. Bill certainly embodies the pioneer spirit of community journalism.”

 

Linda Tubbs, co-publisher at the North Scott Press, wrote, “The website we launched in November 2011 was designed to Bill’s specifications by a former employee who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work at the New Orleans Times-Picayune during Katrina. The full content of the paper is available online, including PDFs of the core product, but just the first 200 characters of each article are free. In its first year, the site had more than 450 paid subscribers with about half of those Web only and half in combination through ‘Value Packages’ with the print product.”

 

Tubbs’ papers have won many awards in NNA’s newspaper contests, as well as in the Iowa Newspaper Association’s contests. In 1979, his publication was named Newspaper of the Year by the INA from among 330 daily and weekly newspapers, and in 1995, he received the INA’s highest award of Master Editor-Publisher.

 

“Bill Tubbs stands out, not only for the excellent newspaper he produced and his remarkable community service, but also his long-time contributions to NNA, whether on a panel or providing extra financial support, i.e. to the NNAF News Fellows program,” said Elizabeth “Liz” Parker, co-publisher at the New Jersey Hills Media Group.

 

Tubbs has been active in the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, the Iowa Newspaper Association, the Rotary Club of North Scott, Rotary International, Iowa Public TV Foundation Board, Eldridge United Methodist Church. He’s been a member of the National Newspaper Association for 40-plus years. He was named Iowa Citizen of the Year in 1993 by ISU Extension.

 

The Amos Award was established in 1938 in honor of General James O. Amos, a pioneer Ohio journalist and member of the National Editorial Association—now known as the National Newspaper Association.

 

Past and present Amos Award winners are listed at www.nnaweb.org.

 

Established in 1885, the National Newspaper Association is the voice of America’s community newspapers and the largest newspaper association in the country. The nation’s community papers inform, educate and entertain nearly 150 million readers every week.