SNA President Nancy Lane, left, and Margaretha Engstrom, Swedish publisher and creator of the layout driven editing practice, at the SNA Spring Publishers' Conference earlier this year.

Changing copy editing practices in your newsroom can get you additional reporters on the street, drive more productive involvement from all newsroom staffers and boost efficiency.

By Deb Shaw

Every editor and publisher who is reading this should spend 30 minutes to hear what Margaretha Engstrom has to say about the topic of Layout Driven Editing. Thanks to the SNA Foundation, you can do so for free by clicking through to the latest in a series of e-learning modules professionally produced by the NewsU division of Poynter Institute. This one is found at www.newsu.org/layoutdrivenediting.

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Every Sunday during the promotion The Daily Journal touted the value of the in-paper coupons for that day. This element has continued since the promotion ended.

Promotion stressed value during tough economy

By Deb Shaw

What a hoot to watch the difference between a senior citizen and a Gen Y’er make a 90 second dash for free groceries around their local supermarket. Gloria Toledo sauntered along very politely, taking only what she could really use and even declined any more items although she had a few more seconds on her timer. Justin Morrison, on the other hand, raced through the aisles making a beeline for — you guessed it — meat, meat and more meat. He made a quick stop for frozen shrimp and chicken nuggets, probably to pacify wife and little one waiting nearby, before the timer halted his grab of $590 worth of groceries.

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Community newspapers reported an average 12.4% advertising revenue decline in the second quarter of 2009, compared to a more than double national industry average decline of 29% for the same period.

Thirty-two community newspaper organizations with a total circulation of 12.55 million took part in the second quarter survey conducted by Suburban Newspapers of America (SNA) and National Newspaper Association (NNA). The national advertising expenditure figure was reported by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA).

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The house ad that the Fergus-Elora News Express used to generate interest in their "Bears That Care" charity event.

Read through for a Halloween idea, too!

By Deb Shaw

Is there a new holiday shopping promotion in a news release?

I regularly receive briefings from the Center for Media Research that, to put it politely, are a little dry. Sure the info these briefings contain is useful to understanding current dynamics about important issues like Teen Health Perceptions and Health Care Reform but for the most part, they’re not the most exciting read of the day.

In today’s inbox, however, I learned that holiday shoppers, according to new research from Information Resources, will take a “more strategic approach to holiday shopping this year and are heading into stores with shopping lists and a budget in mind.”

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A screenshot of the redesigned home page of ledgernews.com.

By Deb Shaw

Convergence. We’ve heard the term a lot lately, especially as it applies to print and web publishing but this time it’s about a 19 year old, non-newspaper computer guy and an old model newspaper website that was screaming for an overhaul. Converge the two is what publisher Dave Caughman did in Cherokee County, Georgia and the upshot is...well, see for yourself at www.ledgernews.com.

The twist in the story comes early — the teen-aged computer guy is also the publisher’s son.

“Nick is a nineteen year old who has excelled in computer skills since a very young age. He has built many computers and then started learning about web design. He is self taught at every level,” boasts Dad, err Publisher Caughman. Interestingly, Nick’s view of his dad’s old website and most newspaper sites in general was that most were less than praiseworthy and, given the chance, he wanted to put a GenY spin on ledgernews.com.

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