MPA eBulletin

MPA’s 143rd Annual Convention begins June 18th at Biloxi’s Beau Rivage Resort and Casino. Keynote speakers at this year’s event include Gov. Haley Barbour,  State Auditor Stacey Pickering, and Dr. Will Norton, the recently-named Dean of the Meek School of Journalism at Ole Miss.

Deadline for hotel reservations is Monday. Members who have not yet made arrangements with the Beau Rivage are urged to do so today. We will not be able to accommodate members at the group rate following this deadline. Click here for more information on reservations and the hotel.

We regret to announce the previously-announced return of the MPA Regatta has been canceled due to area yacht clubs being unable to accommodate the event. As an alternative, there will be a pool-side MPA cabana set up for members at the Beau Rivage Friday afternoon. If you are not participating in golf, tennis or other activities, we encourage you to stop by for refreshments.

Click here for a registration form or to register online. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on the coast.

Will Norton, dean of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism, will return to the University of Mississippi July 1 as founding dean of the new Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

Norton served 13 years as chair of UM’s Department of Journalism before becoming UNL’s journalism dean in 1990. He joined UM in 1974 as assistant professor of journalism.

“It was not an easy decision (to leave UNL) because the faculty, staff and students of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are such important parts of my life,” Norton said. “However, the timing is right.”

Design expert Ed Henninger is encouraging members who will attend his workshop next month at the MPA Convention in Biloxi to send him samples of their work. Specifically, Henninger is encouraging attendees to email two PDF page samples: One of design you liked; the other of a design you didn’t. Send the PDFs to edh@henningerconsulting.com. Please include in the subject line: “PDFs for MPA Workshop.”

Wondering how online social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and others are changing the landscape of journalism ethics in this digital age? Steve Buttry will lead a workshop on this important topic during the 143rd Annual Convention June 18-20.

The seminar zeroes in on the ethical challenges presented by such matters as social networks, blogging, user-generated content and breaking news online.

Buttry has spent 36 years in the newspaper business. He was a reporter, editor and writing coach for the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, Des Moines (Iowa) Register, Minot (N.D.) Daily News, Kansas City (Mo.) Star and Times and the Evening Sentinel in Shenandoah, Iowa. He is editor of The Gazette and GazetteOnline in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The seminar is presented in conjunction with the American Press Institute. Buttry is content coordinator for the No Train, No Gain Web site and a columnist for API’s Web site.

From The Associated Press | About two dozen newspaper industry executives huddled Thursday to explore how they might be able to boost profits from their online operations as revenue from their print editions collapses.

From Denver Westworld | As the chairman of MediaNews Group, which owns more than 100 publications and media properties across the country, including the Denver Post, Dean Singleton is a divisive figure in many quarters. But like him or loathe him, he’s a true believer in the daily newspaper, and his attempts to safeguard the form could have a profound impact on the medium as a whole. And he’s got no shortage of ideas about how to do that, as he makes clear in this Q&A.

The website for the 143rd Annual Mississippi Press Association is now live and online with details about the event, June 18-20 at Biloxi’s Beau Rivage Resort and Casino. Visit today and find out information on convention registration, hotel reservations and speakers for MPA’s annual meeting.

A few headlines from the site:

• University of Nebraska Dean of Journalism Will Norton Jr. to deliver general session keynote.
• State Auditor Stacey Pickering will take part in a Q&A session with reporters and editors.
• Agenda includes annual golf and tennis tournaments and return of the MPA regatta.
• Deadline for room reservations in the MPA block is June 1.
• Follow the MPA and the 143rd Convention on Facebook.
• Registration forms are available for download. Or full registrants may register online.

The event kicks off with a sunset reception poolside at the Beau Rivage Thursday evening. Our grand finale is once again the presentation of the Better Newspaper Contest Editorial Awards Saturday at noon. For more information, contact Kimberly Haydu.

Longtime Indianola Enterprise-Tocsin editor and publisher Jim Abbott will be inducted into the Mississippi Press Association Hall of Fame June 19 at the Beau Rivage Resort in Biloxi.

Abbott, 64, retired in 2008 after leading the newspaper for 37 years. He is a past MPA president and a native of Greenwood. He earned a degree in business and another in journalism from The University of Mississippi.

He joined the Enterprise-Tocsin after returning to the U.S. following a tour in Vietnam, becoming the youngest newspaper editor in the state at that time.

During his tenure, Abbott was awarded the Silver Em from Ole Miss in 2003. The newspaper was named Indianola’s small business of the year in 2005.

Abbott joins other recent inductees in the Hall of Fame: The late Edgar Crisler (2008), former publisher of the Port Gibson Reveille, and the late Murphy Weir (2008), publisher of the Weekly Democrat; Rubye Del Harden (2007), longtime publisher of the Itawamba County Times; the late Dan Phillips (2006), former co-publisher of The Oxford Eagle; and Stanley Dearman (2005), former publisher of The Neshoba Democrat and the late Mildred Dearman (2005), longtime executive editor of The Carthaginian.

The induction ceremony will be part of MPA’s 143rd annual convention. For additional information or to register for convention, click here.

For more information on the Hall of Fame, contact Beth Boone.

Member publishers will be notified by May 15 of any awards their newspapers have earned during the 2008 Better Newspaper Contest-Editorial. Judging for the contest cycle was recently completed by volunteers with the Arizona Newspapers Association.

Awards will be handed out June 20 during MPA’s 143rd Annual Convention at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi. Click here for more details on the event.

MPA members who are on Facebook may now follow the Assocation on the social networking site. Click here for the link and to sign up as a fan of MPA.

“Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs,” the largest and most comprehensive display of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs ever shown in the United States, opened at the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics at the University of Mississippi. The photographs are to be on display through July 3.

The exhibition features 138 images drawn from each year’s winning entries from 1941 - the first year a photograph was eligible for the prestigious award - up to and including the award-winning 2008 image of a Japanese videographer fatally wounded during a demonstration in Myanmar.

The National Newspaper Association’s annual convention will be held Sept. 24-27, 2009 at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel located in the heart of Mobile’s downtown business and entertainment district overlooking Mobile Bay.

The convention includes a large tradeshow, educational seminars, social networking opportunities and other special events. The convention is geared toward the community newspaper — weeklies and small dailies. For more information, visit the NNA convention site.

From MediaLife Magazine | The New York Times has been awarded five Pulitzer Prizes for its reporting and writing over the past year, just a year after taking home seven. Also winning multiple awards this year is the St. Petersburg Times. The Las Vegas Sun won for public service.

From NNA | The U.S. Postal Service is not yet confident it has found the bottom of the recession, Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett told the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee. Losses in February alone were $1.7 billion, with a total mail volume loss for the year of 12.1 percent.

From The Washington Post | The New York Times Co. said last night that it is notifying federal authorities of its plans to shut down the Boston Globe, raising the possibility that New England’s most storied newspaper could cease to exist within weeks.