MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR 
from the PNNA staff!

PNNA bringing ‘Newspaper Next’ to Seattle

PNNA and the University of Washington Department of Communication are bringing a Newspaper Next workshop to Seattle on Friday, Feb. 16, 2007. The program will be held at the Henry Art Gallery Auditorium, University of Washington, 15th Ave. NE and NE 41st St., Seattle. Cost for the program is $195. The American Press Institute will present the daylong program, which focuses on: A new way to see and tap the vast realms of opportunity opening around us; a clear, practical process – the N2 Innovation Method – to unlock these opportunities with new products and services while minimizing cost and risk; a strategic framework – the N2 Game Plan – outlining the four areas of opportunity your company should pursue and some of the most promising possibilities in each. Attendees should be publishers and top executives, plus anyone responsible for: A newspaper company’s P&L, the health and future of the company, strategic direction; creating new growth; developing new products and services, online or print; editors who want a new way to discover what readers and non-readers want and need and ad directors who want a new way to discover what advertisers and non-advertisers want and need. For complete program information and to register, please click here. In the box labeled “Promotional Code” near the end of the online registration form, please put “PNNA.” For more information contact Carol Ann Riordan at 703-715-3315.

Watch for classified ad network information

Packets of information describing the proposed PNNA Classified Ad program will be mailed to all PNNA publishers in early January. This program, if approved by our member newspapers, will provide funding to allow PNNA to provide the training, educational programs, dues reduction and mitigation, and greater support of the college and university evaluation and funding that the board of directors and members envision as the true role of the association. Adding value to membership in PNNA can only be achieved by a collective effort to fund the programs that will accrue to the benefit to all member newspapers throughout the Northwest. For questions or more information contact Jack Bates.

Taylor Family Award for fairness in newspapers

The Nieman Foundation encourages members of PNNA to apply for the Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers. The Taylor Award carries a $10,000 prize and was established through gifts for an endowment by members of the Taylor family, who published The Boston Globe from 1872 to 1999. The purpose of the award is to encourage fairness in news coverage by America’s daily newspapers. The award is administered by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. Nominations must be postmarked no later than Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007, for work published in a U.S. daily newspaper during the previous calendar year. Anyone may submit a nomination to: Taylor Fairness Award, Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, One Francis Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138. The nomination packet should include: five copies of the work and a letter explaining why the entry is an example of fairness in newspapers. The letter should also describe how the work was developed, reported and presented to readers in the context of fairness. For more information about the Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers and a list of winners, click here.

Landmark postal reform legislation passes, 
awaits presidential approval

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the first major legislative reform of the United States Postal Service since 1970, passed on the final day of the 109th Congress on Dec. 9. The passage capped more than a decade of work by community newspaper publishers and other major mailers. The bill contained many provisions that will help community newspapers. Among the key provisions in the new law are:
1. Price caps for Periodicals, First-Class and Standard Mail, to be set by USPS within a cost of living index.
2. New Postal Regulatory Commission powers, including a role in setting service standards, which are now only informally-recognized for
periodicals, as well as subpoena rights for USPS information. 
3. Restoration of preferred rates to Outside County mail under 5,000 – a preference that was lost in the mid-’80s.
4. Within County rates for requester publications.
5. Within County rates for wandering routes.
6. Shifting the cost of USPS military pensions back to the general federal treasury, which will trim about $78 billion from USPS costs.
A year of rulemaking and setting up of procedures will follow the president’s signature. Mailers may not see the effects of the change until 2008. New postal rates set under the old law are expected in May 2007. To read the press release by the National Newspaper Association on the reform click here.

MTV looking for high school newspaper
to cast ‘The Paper’

MTV News & Docs is casting for a new pilot called “The Paper,” which chronicles the inner workings and outside lives of a high school newspaper staff. They are looking for “an interesting, probing, inquisitive high school newspaper staff to share their lives with us ... and a proud, dedicated school that’s willing to open up their doors to our producers.” Interested parties should contact: Claresa Mandola , casting director, at (212) 654-7345.

NEWS:

Advo, Valassis settle, will merge

Mediabuyerplanner.com reports that settlement talks between Valassis, the largest provider of newspaper inserts, and direct marketer Advo were successful, and the merger of the two companies will go forward. Advo agreed Monday, Dec. 19 to drop its asking price from $37 per share to $33 per share, while Valassis agreed to acknowledge that it had found no evidence on which to base its claim of having been defrauded by Advo, writes The New York Times. Valassis reportedly has until Feb. 28 – or until two business days after Advo shareholders approve the deal – to close it. The merged company will be the largest media services provider in the U.S., serving 94 of the top 100 advertisers, and 20,000 advertisers worldwide, according to the companies.

FTC ban on recorded messages 
to consumers on hold during review

It was reported in early December that the Federal Trade Commission was receiving public comment on a proposed rule to explicitly ban recorded telemarketing messages to consumers, even to established business customers. The FTC was reportedly giving companies until Jan. 2, 2007, to comply with its existing rules. According to the National Newspaper Association, however, the commission announced on Dec. 18 that it would not begin enforcement until it had completed review of the proposed ban. No further enforcement date was announced. Recorded messages are used by some newspapers to remind customers of subscription renewal dates and of classified ad expirations. Both of those uses would be considered telemarketing under the Telephone Sales Rule of the FTC’s telemarketing rules. Newspapers also use recorded messages for other service purposes – such as to alert subscribers of late newspaper deliveries, down routes, new start verifications and other purposes that do not involve a sale.

Washington students distribute underground papers in fight against administration prior-review policy

The Herald in Everett, Wash., reports that students began distributing underground newspapers at two high schools in Everett as they carry on the fight against a district prior-review policy. The Free Stehekin is an “underground” publication by Cascade High School students, who so far this fall have published two issues outside the view of school administrators. The Independent Kodak, which published a handful of times last school year, has yet to reach student hands this fall. Former editors of the Everett High School student newspaper, The Kodak, sued the Everett School District last fall after administrators backed a principal who demanded prior review of each issue. The students refused, calling it a violation of their free speech rights and noting that there’s been no such review in more than 17 years. A trial is scheduled for May in U.S. District Court in Seattle. In the meantime, students at both Everett and Cascade high schools are creating newspapers on their own time and with their own money to avoid the district policy.

Black Press buys King County Journal,
nine other local papers

At the end of November, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the King County Journal and nine other local newspapers were bought by Black Press Ltd. of Victoria, B.C., for an undisclosed sum. The properties sold, collectively known as the King County Journal Newspapers, consist of the King County Journal, a daily and Sunday newspaper; and two weekly newspapers, the Mercer Island Reporter and the Snoqualmie Valley Record. Also sold as part of that group were seven papers distributed twice a month. The sale includes both the Kent land that is home to the company of Peter Horvitz, president and chief executive of family-owned Horvitz Newspapers Inc., at 600 Washington Ave. S., and a multimillion-dollar, four-year-old printing press. Horvitz declined to say whether Black intends to continue printing the Seattle Weekly and Investor’s Business Daily on that press. Horvitz, 52, plans to retain his titles and role, move his offices to Bellevue and continue publishing the Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles and The Daily News in Maryville, Tenn.

E&P’s Strupp names ‘Top 10 Newspaper 
Industry Stories of 2006’

Editor & Publisher’s Joe Strupp writes in his column this week that in 2006 “as always, the newspaper industry had more than its share of ups, downs and, well, more downs.” Still, the newsprint kept flowing, and websites kept growing. Jobs were cut, deals made, and some press freedoms were protected while others were lost. YouTube was the craze of the year. To read the full story, click here.

Newseum chairman, additional board members named

According to a press release, Alberto Ibarguen, president and chief executive officer of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will become chairman of the Newseum Jan. 1, 2007, and four nationally known people will join the Newseum board. The new trustees include three media executives and a former director of the National Park Service: Gary L. Ginsberg, executive vice president, corporate affairs, News Corp.; George B. Irish, president, Hearst Newspapers, and senior vice president, Hearst Corp.; Robert Stanton, former director, National Park Service; and David Westin, president, ABC News. Other Newseum trustees include educators, authors and business and civic leaders. The Freedom Forum’s largest-funded program is the Newseum, a museum of news nearing completion at Pennsylvania Avenue and 6th Street in Washington. The $435-million project is expected to open in September 2007. To read the entire press release click here.

Newspapers going the way of the PDF

An article on medialifemagazine.com says the newest format for newspapers online is the PDF. Though they’ve yet to catch on in the U.S., PDF editions are rolling out in Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere. The idea was initially developed at the Financial Times of London. The PDF is highly portable and fit for printing out on short notice, which makes it ideal for people heading into meetings, for example. And the printed version, at 8.5 by 11 inches, fits easily into briefcases for reading on the train on the way home or folders for filing. And if a printout is lost, another can be done up quickly. It also offers yet another means of reaching readers and providing advertisers exposure. At the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily, its PDF edition is called Star PM, and at the Ottawa Citizen it goes by the name of RushHour. Subscribers to these PDF editions receive them by e-mail for reading in free Acrobat Readers, either on their computer or portable devices such as a BlackBerry. For more on this new format for newspapers read the complete article here.

Newspapers are primary shopping 
medium for most Americans

According to a study released by MORI Research for the Newspaper Association of America, almost two-thirds of American adults actively check advertising at least weekly for things they might want to buy, but they are selective about when and where they check advertising. Sunday is by far the most likely day for about one half of shoppers to consult advertising, while Saturday is a distant second, noted by one-fifth of consumers. Despite readership declines, newspapers are, by a substantial margin, the leading destination for people interested in checking advertising and shopping information. To read more on the study, click here.

Online job ad revenues surpass print

MediaPost reports that employers spent more on online recruitment advertising than newspaper job ads – $5.9 billion to $5.4 billion – for the first time in 2006, according to a new study released Dec. 19. The online shift will continue over the next five years as Internet job listings hit $10 billion in 2011 – or 13.7 percent of overall recruitment dollars compared to 6.5 percent for newspaper ads, according to market research firm Borrell Associates Inc. Much of the online growth is expected to come from small and medium-size businesses posting local ads for hourly and part-time workers. Already, two-thirds of online job revenues are generated by niche boards or regional websites focusing on specific categories such as nursing, technology or food services. Rivals Monster and CareerBuilder, respectively, control 14 percent and 12 percent of the online job market, while newspapers not affiliated with either job site claim 8 percent. To read more on the results of the Borrell report, read the rest of the story here.

25 chosen for NEA Arts Journalism Institute at USC

Twenty-five arts journalists have been chosen from 21 states to participate as fellows in the third National Endowment for the Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. Through the support of the NEA, the Institute will be conducted by USC Annenberg's School of Journalism in Los Angeles from Jan. 30-Feb. 9, 2007. The NEA fellows include: Marty Hughley, theater and dance critic, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.; Richard Moeschl, arts and entertainment editor, Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.; Joseph Nickell, arts and entertainment reporter, The Missoulian, Missoula, Mont.; and Dana Oland, art and culture reporter, The Idaho Statesman, Boise, Idaho. For more information, visit http://annenberg.usc.edu/nea.

WSJ seeks to boost online community

Mark Glaser interviewed Bill Grueskin, managing editor of WallStreetJournal.com recently regarding the broad changes in the sites’ direction and what WSJ.com visitors can expect for the future. Glaser says that historically, the august Wall Street Journal’s website has been the antithesis of Web 2.0 and online innovation. But much has changed in the past year as The Journal has launched blogs, boosted its podcasts, and even dabbled in regular video reports with 50 new clips added per week. To read more about WSJ.com’s changes click here.

PEOPLE:

Cannon named editor of The Deseret Morning News

The Deseret Morning News announced that Joe Cannon will be taking over as editor of the Deseret Morning News for John Hughes, who has been editor since 1997. Hughes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who once edited the Christian Science Monitor, drew wide attention as the newspaper’s first non-Mormon editor. Cannon, 57, however, will return to the tradition as his grandfather, Joseph J. Cannon, served as the newspaper’s editor from 1931 to 1934, and his great-grandfather, George Q. Cannon, was editor for eight years between 1867 and 1879. Cannon went to law school and became heavily involved in GOP politics, including an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate and chairing the Utah Republican Party. He served in the Reagan administration as assistant administrator for air and radiation in the Environmental Protection Agency and as associate administrator for policy and resource management. Now a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of a law firm specializing in environmental and administrative law, Cannon said he’s stepping down from the law firm as well as from all boards with the possible exception of the Committee on Conscience of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Last month, he resigned as Utah GOP chairman.

Tom Larsen named production director for Wenatchee

Tom Larsen has recently joined The Wenatchee World management team as its production director. Larsen will replace Bob Koenig who is leaving after 31 years at The World. Larsen has 30 years experience in the newspaper industry, including his most recent title of operations director at the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton, Wash. for the past 11 years. Prior to the Kitsap Sun, Tom has worked for various press and production facilities in Western Washington. His experience includes, production director, press operator, assistant plant manager, and press and mailroom manager.

IN MEMORIAM:

Dave Jewett, 69

Dave Jewett died in his sleep Nov. 4 at his home in Vancouver, Wash. He was 69. Jewett began working for The Columbian in Vancouver the Monday after his graduation from Vancouver High School in 1955 and stayed at the paper in various positions until his retirement in 2000. He served in almost all areas of the newsroom at The Columbian, including reporter, columnist and editor. Jewett is survived by his wife Sally and two daughters, who live in Vancouver.

Walter C. Taylor Jr., 87

The Oregonian reports that Walter C. Taylor Jr., a former owner and co-publisher of the Gresham Outlook, the Sandy Post and other Oregon community newspapers, died Sunday, Dec. 17, in Bellevue, Wash. He was 87. Most recently, from 1981 to 1995, Taylor and his son, Thomas Taylor, owned the Peninsula Gateway weekly in Gig Harbor, Wash. Taylor, who was born in 1919 in Chicago, graduated in 1941 from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945. He moved to Oregon in 1956 when he went to work as a reporter for the Myrtle Creek Mail weekly newspaper. He relocated to Gresham in 1960 with the purchase of the Gresham Outlook, which he co-owned with his late business partner, P. Lee Irwin. Later, the operation also included the Sandy Post, the Parkrose Enterprise, the former Lincoln County Leader in Toledo and the former Lincoln County Times in Waldport. Taylor next headed to Newport in 1965, when he and Irwin purchased the Newport News Times. He and his wife, Betty, lived there until 1978, when they moved to Port Ludlow, Wash. They also maintained a residence in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, now of Issaquah, Wash.; sons, Thomas C. Taylor of Rancho Bernardo, Calif., and Andrew C. Taylor of Bellevue; daughter, Susan Taylor Wehren of Kailua-Kona; and seven grandchildren.

CALL TO READERS : Send stories to the editor Kristen Lowrey.

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