MPA/MPS e-Bulletin

MPA will host its first Internet Conference for Community Newspapers Thursday, October 9, from 9am-3pm at the Jackson Hilton Hotel. Keynote speaker for the event is Gary Sosniecki, a former newspaper publisher who launched a successful community newspaper Website in 2004.

Sosniecki’s presentation will be on the top recommendations for delivering quality content and selling your Website to your community advertisers.

Afternoon sessions will focus on member roundtables and a “Best Practices” panel of Mississippi newspapers who have enjoyed successes in both content and revenue generation from their Websites.

Tuition fee for the conference is $45, which includes the cost of lunch and refreshments. Registration materials will be mailed to members the first week of August, or can be downloaded here. Deadline to register is September 26.

For more information, email Beth Boone, or call 601-981-3060.

An online survey is posted and ready for input from MPA members on the annual Better Newspaper Contest – Advertising Division. The survey will remain open through Monday, Aug. 4 and seeks feedback from publishers, ad directors and others interested in the contest.

Specifically, the survey is intended to gauge member opinions on the categories as they current exist in the contest, as well as suggestions for new categories and the clarity and ease of use for entry preparation materials and criteria. Advertising committee members will use the feedback to make any recommended changes for the upcoming contest, the criteria for which will be posted by the end of August.

The contest deadlines October 7 at 5pm for material published from Sept. 1, 2007-Aug. 31, 2008. Awards will be presented during MPA’s annual Mid-Winter Conference, Jan. 31, 2009 at the Jackson Marriott Downtown.

Take the survey.

The University of South Dakota’s 2008 Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media will celebrate the NEWSEUM, the world’s most interactive museum, with a music and multimedia performance honoring the person most responsible for creating the $450 million facility, which opened in April.

The public event will be 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9, at the USD in Vermillion.

Former Mississippi journalist and Clarion-Ledger editor Charles Overby, chief executive officer of the NEWSEUM and the Freedom Forum, will be the 22nd person to receive the Neuharth Award since USD began the program in 1989.

The award is named for USA TODAY and Freedom Forum founder Al Neuharth, a South Dakota native and 1950 USD graduate.

The program will start with recognition of Overby and a discussion with the audience. The evening then will shift to the Freedom Forum’s 12-piece Nashville-based band in “Hits and Headlines,” a special one-time show that uses music to relive the stories of our lives as told in the NEWSEUM.

The free show will be the final event held in Slagle Auditorium, built in 1925, before it closes for complete renovation.

Tickets information is available by calling 605-677-5477.

The program will be televised by South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

– South Dakota Newspaper Association

From the Sacramento Bee: Last month, the World Association of Newspapers, which represents 18,000 papers across the globe, released its little-noticed annual report at its meeting in Goteborg, Sweden.

Its conclusion, which sounds like heresy around these parts, is that “newspapers are a growth business,” with worldwide circulation growing by almost 3 percent last year, while at the same time significantly expanding their online audience.

Variety columnist Brian Lowry: “Let’s face it: TV and radio stations rely on the local newspaper for most of their news. So what happens to those ‘rip and read’ broadcasters as print staffs shrivel amid the draconian layoffs strafing the newspaper industry?”

Here’s what: Shrinking print coverage threatens to trigger a ‘domino effect’ as news operations downsize, feeding the strange Internet age conundrum where there’s more information — courtesy of blogs and the Web — but less real news, especially as it pertains to backyard issues.”

From Advertising Age: How fast, and how treacherous, are the currents sweeping over The New York Times? This September, its home page — some of the most valuable real estate on the web — will start automatically displaying links to competitors’ takes on big news. That’s not your traditional paper of record.