ISWNE, COMJIG partner to host screening of "The Sun Never Sets"

To celebrate the end of our programming at this year's AEJMC convention, we will host the screening of a new documentary that tells the story of a feisty, independent newspaper in Española, New Mexico.
The movie will start at 8 p.m. immediately following the COMJIG business meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10.
We invite you to bring a guest and beverages and snacks of your choosing. The complete COMJIG schedule can be found here. Earlier in the day, the film will also be screened at the Newseum.
Below is the trailer of the film, followed by a press release that gives an overview of the project.
The event is being co-hosted by the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. In the audience will be the director of the documentary, Ben Daitz; the paper's publisher and founder, Robert E. Trapp; and the paper's managing editor Bob B. Trapp.

The SUN Never Sets, a documentary film
about a small-town newspaper

Written, produced, and directed by Ben Daitz
Narrated by Bob Edwards

Smithsonian Magazine once asked the rhetorical question, “Can a weekly paper in rural New Mexico raise enough hell to keep its readers hungry for more, week after week?”

The Rio Grande Sun, published in Española, New Mexico, is considered one of the best weekly newspapers in the country. Bob Trapp, the Sun's founder, editor, and publisher, is the quintessential newspaperman—the last of a vanishing breed—a scrupulously honest, fearless, independent journalist, and a mentor to generations of young reporters.

The Sun is known for investigative reporting. The paper broke the story that its own rural community had the highest per capita heroin overdose rate in the country. It has led the fight for open records and open meetings in a county where political shenanigans are the rule.

The film follows the Sun’s
reporters and editors as they write about the
 news, the sports, the arts, and the cultures of a 
large, rural county.  John Burnett, National Public Radio correspondent, reports on the Sun's Police Blotter—“the 
best in the country.” The Sun's
 journalists investigate the largest 
embezzlement in the state's history, and the
 widespread use of tranquilizers in the county jail. The film tags along with the sports reporter, the obit writer, and the “arts guy.”

Tony Hillerman, the celebrated author and newspaper editor, speaks eloquently in the film about the role of community newspapers, as does Jock Lauterer, who teaches journalism at the University of North Carolina, directs the Carolina Media Project, and is the author of a textbook on small-town papers. In the age of digital media and the 24- hour news cycle, this is the story of a small town paper that causes traffic jams when it's sold on the street. It's a story about community journalism on the “blue highways.”

“The Sun Never Sets” is narrated by Bob Edwards, National Radio Hall of Fame and Peabody award-winning news anchor and radio host. It is an official selection of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, the Ojai Film Festival, and the Albuquerque Film & media Festival.  The film will be screened on August 10, 2013 at the Newseum in Washington, DC.

Edited by Dale Kruzic
Original music by Ben Daitz, Jimmy Abraham, and Sid Fendley  

Ben Daitz is a physician, writer, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. His work has been shown and honored by PBS, American Public Television, multiple film festivals, and Emmy nominations. Ben is a contributing writer for the New York Times. His novel, Delivery, is published by the University of New Mexico Press.

“The Sun Never Sets”, 55 minutes, is distributed by New Deal Films, Inc., www.newdealfilms.com
There’s a trailer on facebook: facebook.com/riosunmovie
and on Vimeo: https://www.vimeo.com/51021301