MPA/MPS e-Bulletin

The 141st Annual Summer Convention of the Mississippi Press Association will return to the Gulf Coast this June and for the first time be held at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi. Originally scheduled as the venue in 2006, the resort did not reopen until August of last year following damage from Hurricane Katrina.

Make your reservations now by calling the Beau at 1-888-383-7037 at the MPA rate of $139 for Wednesday and Thursday, June 20-21, and $179 for Friday and Saturday, June 22-23. Cutoff is May 21 for the MPA room block.

Visit the Beau Rivage Website to learn more about this world-class resort.

Newspapers will receive next week official notification from MPA regarding awards received for the 2006 Better Newspaper Contest – Editorial Division. The notices should be mailed from the MPA office by the end of the month.

As in years past, confidential letters will be sent to member publishers whose newspapers have earned awards in the contest. Only the names of winning individuals or the newspaper’s title itself will be included in the letter, as well as a designation whether any First Place awards have been won. The exact information on winning entries is kept secret until the annual Awards Luncheon June 23 at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi.

Judging this year was by members of the Arkansas Press Association.

Mississippi Press Services will host a luncheon at Char Restaurant May 8 in Jackson to present findings of the 2007 state Readership Survey to ad agency representatives, media buyers and other marketing experts.

The findings, which will be presented by researcher Barry Newton, were compiled during a two-month period last fall and first released to the membership in January. Details can be found here.

For more information on the upcoming luncheon or to make a reservation for the event, call 601-981-3060.

From Editor and Publisher via MediaWeek: According to industry sources, overall daily circulation for the six months ending March 2007 is expected to sink approximately 2.5 percent while Sunday will drop around 3 percent.

From Editor and Publisher: In this tough circulation climate, newspapers that make small gains (or remain flat for that matter) will be held up as shinning examples. One paper that keeps defying the considerable odds heaped on newspapers these days deserves extra attention. Come Monday, The Bulletin in Bend, Ore., will report its third year of circulation growth with the release of the Audit Bureau of Circulations FAS-FAX for the spring period.

From Media Life Magazine: It’s an old story that newspapers are losing classified advertising, and it’s been going on since well before the internet. What’s interesting is where that classified business is going. It’s not just to the internet but to virtually all forms of competing media, from radio to local TV stations to other print outlets and even to digital devices.

From The Associated Press: Are newspapers set to become yesterday’s news? Don’t count on it, say editors at some of Europe’s iconic publications. The pressures on the European industry are the same as in the United States: Fewer readers, less ad revenue and competition from the Internet and free papers. But European editors are optimistic they can provide the content readers need — whether it’s on newsprint, a computer screen, a smart phone or a futuristic electronic scroll.

From Media Life Magazine: In this period of turmoil, in which newspapers are being challenged daily to reinvent themselves, there’s an enduring belief that papers do best in the hands of people who love them, not those of Wall Street and corporations, with their obsession with squeezing profits.

The 141st annual MPA Summer Convention is set for June 21-23 at the Beau Rivage Casino and Resort in Biloxi. Theme for this year’s event is “Newspapers: The Next Generation.”

The 2007 Convention Committee teleconferenced last week and began preparations for this year’s event, which will include presentations by the American Press Institute and technology guru Kevin Slimp and a gubernatorial debate. Other events include the traditional golf and tennis tournaments on Friday, a recovery tour along the gulf coast and a post-convention schooner cruise.

The theme is derived from the forward-looking aspects of the agenda, including API’s “Newspaper Next” findings and Slimp’s presentation on media convergence between print and the Web.

Members of the 2007 convention committee include chairman Tom Andrews, MPA vice-president/dailies from The Picayune Item; Randy Ponder, Sea Coast Echo; Mark Thornton, The Star-Herald; Skippy Haik, The Hattiesburg American; Ralph Braseth, The Daily Mississippian; Reece Terry, The Daily Corinthian; and Patti Guider, The Bay Press.

Event chairmen include Pat Brown, The Magee Courier (golf tournament); Mark Boehler, The Daily Corinthian (photo exhibit); James Ricketts, Ocean Springs Record, and Jim Prince, Neshoba Democrat (schooner cruise); and David Hampton, The Clarion-Ledger (tennis tournament).

For continuous updates on the convention, as well as hotel and registration information as it becomes available, visit mspress.org/convention.

Technology guru Lisa Tackett Griffin of Ray Davis & Co. is returning to Mississippi in April for an extensive course on InDesign, Adobe’s desktop publishing software that is rapidly gaining popularity in the American newspaper industry. Members who have attended Lisa’s previous sessions at Mid-Winter Conference and other seminars on such topics as Quark and Photoshop know she is a terrific trainer with a personable, easy-going style.

The courses will be held over two days at Jones County Junior College in Laurel. The sessions get underway Thursday, April 19 and continue Friday, April 20. The training will run from 8 am to 5 p.m. each day. Registration is $122.50 for members and associates, or $75 for students and educators thanks to JCJC Training Funds made available for this program. The registration fee is inclusive for hands-on computer and software use, two days of lunches and breaks.

As InDesign grows in popularity, newspaper and other media professionals are coming to appreciate its versatility and value as part of the Adobe Creative Suite of software. Don’t miss this great opportunity to introduce your design staff to this product, or further the education of your team.

Click here for a registration form and additional info. Cut off is April 15.

The Mississippi Press Association Board of Directors will return to Oxford for its April meeting. The event, to be convened at the Lyceum on the campus of Ole Miss, will coincide with the April 19 presentation of Ole Miss’ Silver Em Award. Retired Neshoba Democrat publisher and editor Stanley Dearman is this year’s recipient.

Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat and Journalism Department chair Dr. Samir Husni are expected to visit with the board during the meeting and update members on various programs and journalism efforts.

This will be the board’s second consecutive April meeting to be held on the Ole Miss campus. The group attended the 2006 Silver Em Award presentation, which memorialized longtime Oxford Eagle assistant publisher and former MPA president Dan Phillips. Tickets for this year’s event are available by contacting the Ole Miss Journalism Department.

From Editor and Publisher…NYTimes.com kept its strong lead in February as the top newspaper Web site, besting competitors across the country in unique audience, page views, and time spent per person on the site, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Rounding out the top five in uniques were USATODAY.com, washingtonpost.com, LATimes.com, and WSJ.com.

From NAA: Hundreds of newspapers joined forces Monday to launch the industry’s 2007 trade campaign with simultaneous publication of print and online ads that communicate to advertisers the value of the engaged audience delivered by today’s newspapers in all their forms. With the tagline, “Newspaper: The Multi-Medium,” the campaign communicates to media planners and buyers that the brand power, content and credibility of newspaper media – from print and online to niche publications and wireless products – serve the needs of advertisers better than any other medium.

From Media Life Magazine: The Tribune Co. could look much different a year from today now that Chicago investor and billionaire Sam Zell has won the long bidding war to win controlling interest in the parent company of the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune and a string of TV stations.