Save the Date: Mid-Winter is Jan. 31-Feb. 1

A program focused on the enduring strength of newspapers is planned for the annual Mid-Winter Conference, Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at the Hilton Jackson on County Line Road.

A highlight of the event will be the unveiling of a new marketing presentation designed by GodwinGroup, a Jackson-based marketing and advertising agency, and based on data mined from the 2013 Advertising and Media Use Survey commissioned by MPA.

GodwinGroup representatives and MPA committee members will make the presentation, designed to promote the strength and vitality of Mississippi newspapers, to conference attendees on Friday morning, Jan. 31.

Other program highlights include a keynote address by retail expert Margie Johnson on what local advertisers need and want from their community newspapers.

With the conference falling at the start of Super Bowl Weekend, there will fun football-themed activities through the event. A Friday evening buffet dinner and music event is also planned. The conference will conclude, as is customary, with the annual Better Newspaper Contest Advertising Division Awards Luncheon on Feb. 1.

Conference planning committee members were meeting this week to discuss other programming options.

Registration will open in early December. Watch the mail and your email for complete details soon.

Daylight Savings Time ends Sunday

Daylight Savings Time ends overnight Sunday, Nov. 3. Be sure to set your clocks back one hour before bedtime this Saturday.

Webinar to focus on sales strategies

There is still time to register for next week's webinar on "Developing a Competitive Sales Strategy."

The session will be led by popular trainer Kelly Wirges. For more than 25 years, Wirges has assisted media companies of all sizes increase sales and revenue in every facet of the business.  She has a degree in advertising and marketing and has been a partner at an advertising agency.

The webinar will cover how newspaper salespeople can effectively become the media consultant of choice in their market. It will detail how ad reps can recommend the right combination of options and solutions to clients, at the right time.

Deadline to register for the $35 fee is Monday, November 4th. A $10 late registration fee begins on Tuesday, November 5th.

Click here for more information or to register.

Legal Hotline big benefit for member papers

A newspaper member survey conducted earlier this year revealed the MPA Legal Hotline is one of the most valued benefits of an Association membership.

The Legal Hotline is a multi-prong service that focuses on matters pertaining to libel and privacy issues and freedom of information requests and government transparency.

Longtime MPA general counsel attorneys John Henegan and Donna Jacobs of Butler Snow O'Mara Stevens and Cannada in Ridgeland handle inquiries to the hotline regarding libel and pre- or post-publication story reviews.

Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information attorney Leonard Van Slyke with the firm of Brunini Grantham & Hewes in Jackson is the advisor for FOI and government access.

Members who have questions pertaining to libel, privacy, or freedom of information can send their inquiries to hotline@mspress.org. You may also email stories on which you are working – or which have already published – to this address for review by the attorneys.

Or you may call 601-981-3060 and learn more about which attorney can better help with your issue.

The costs of the Legal Hotline are underwritten by the member dues paid annually to MPA.

Want more information?

Read the latest edition of the MPA Fourth Estate newsletter. Available now online and on its way to your mailbox soon.

PAPERNEWS

Otis Raybon, formerly publisher of The Rome News-Tribune in Georgia, has been named president and publisher of The Daily Leader in Brookhaven. He succeeds Rick Reynolds. Raybon was serving as immediate past president of the Georgia Press Association at the time of his appointment in Brookhaven... Wayne and Catherine Mitchell, longtime owners and editors of the Belmont-Tishomingo Journal retired in August and have sold the newspaper to Alan Williams of Belmont... The George County Times in Lucedale recently launched its first website.


Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/08/26/4900783/ole-miss-project-wins-rfk-journalism.html#storylink=cpy

UPCOMING EVENTS

Nov. 7-8      ArkLaMiss Circulation Conference, Vicksburg, MS
Nov. 7         WEBINAR – Developing a Competitive Sales Advantage
Nov. 28-29  Thanksgiving holidays. MPA office closed.
Dec. 5         MPA-MPS Board Meeting, MPA offices, Jackson
Dec. 24-25  Christmas holidays. MPA office closed
Jan. 1          New Year's holiday. MPA office closed
Jan. 30        MPA Education Foundation Celebrity Roast
Jan. 31        MPA Mid-Winter Conference

Click here to visit the MPA Calendar

INDUSTRY HEADLINES

Why Warren Buffett didn't buy the Washington Post

From The Washington Post
Publishing the name or address of a concealed gun permit holder or applicant is set to become a crime in Louisiana, under a pair of new laws recently signed by Gov. Bobby Jindal. - See more at: http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/louisiana-criminalizes-publishing-gun-permit-information#sthash.xhejXo4V.dpuf

Investor Warren Buffett says he didn’t buy the Washington Post because he didn’t want it to be a burden on his company or family.

Why John Henry did buy the Boston Globe

From The Boston Globe
I have been asked repeatedly in recent weeks why I chose to buy the Globe. A few have posed the question in a tone of incredulity, as in, “Why would anyone purchase a newspaper these days?” But for the most part, people have offered their thanks and best wishes with a great deal of warmth. A number of civic and business leaders have also offered their help. I didn’t expect any of these reactions, but I should have.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/08/26/4902860/sun-herald-files-new-suit-against.html#storylink=cpy

Twitter, Google updates full assault on Facebook

From Wired
Facebook got attacked, hard and effectively, from two fronts. Both Twitter and Google announced new features that compete with Facebook’s killer service: photo sharing. Worse, they attacked it in the very two places it shows weakness: Twitter just made public photo sharing a cornerstone of its experience, while Google+ made sharing with small groups (like your family and select friends) both easier and more effective.