"Use 'said.' A news article is a record of something that has happened. Those events may be recent, but they are definitely in the past. The present tense 'says' is inappropriate."
--AP Style Tips
I think this is definitely a rule that I broke when writing my profile. I've probably been influenced by broadcast journalism, which is all very much about making it all sound like it's happening now to hold viewers' interest, like any other TV show. I felt tempted to use present tense because my article wasn't talking so much about specific events that happened in the past but about the personality of the person I was profiling, which is an ongoing thing. I wanted to make the reader feel like they were getting a snapshot of the person's life as it is right now, so I think I slipped a little bit. Although I think most of the time I stuck to past tense because it sounded more correct. I guess my instincts were on target then. I think there are probably other good ways to make an article have immediacy; it doesn't say that we're not allowed to use present tense at all, just when we use "said." If we connect what people have said with events that are currently in progress, that helps achieve the whole live broadcast news brought-to-you-as-it's-happening feel.
As for the examples from the website:
"Assistant News Editor, Anne O'Nymous read the article."
I think the comma should be removed, which would make "Assistant News Editor" a formal title. Or, you could say, "Anne O'Nymous, assistant news editor, read the article," although that sounds a bit clunkier to me.
"She was highly appreciated by Jameson for solving the problem. "I really appreciate her work ethic and problem-solving ability," said Jameson."
One of these sentences has to go; both together are redundant. Quotes are usually better than paraphrases because they show instead of tell, so I would strike the first sentence.
"Spunky Inkworthy has only written for The Setonian this year, but Obituaries Editor, Lazarus O'Mortigan, was very complimentary towards Spunky's contributions."
"The" should not be capitalized because it is not officially part of the title of the Setonian. There shouldn't be a comma after "Obituaries Editor" since it is a title, and there should not a comma after "O'Mortigan." "Towards" should be "toward." "Very" is kind of an empty modifier, so you don't really need it.
In a telephone call from Head Librarian Marian Paroo, she discussed Inkworthy's contributions.
It's better to start the sentence with a subject and verb, so you might want to say "Head Librarian Marian Paroo discussed Inkworthy's contributions in a telephone call." It's also unclear who the pronoun "she" is referring to, the way the sentence is worded right now.
"Here is a quote", said Bill Jones freshman.
The comma belongs inside of the quotes. Also, there should be a comma after "Jones."