National Newspaper Association 126th Annual Convention & Trade Show

Oct 3, 2012 - Oct 7, 2012

National Newspaper Association 126^th Annual Convention & Trade Show at Embassy Suites Airport Convention Center, Charleston, SC.

Convention Sponsors: Say thank you to NNA's Convention Sponsors. Go here and click through to their websites.

• Attendee Information: To see the convention program, click here. To register online for the convention, click here. See who will be exhibiting at the Trade Show here.
• Exhibitor Information: Download the Exhibitor prospectus here. Get a copy of the Exhibitor contract here. See who else will be exhibiting at the Trade Show here.
• Hotel & Travel: To reserve a room at the Embassy Suites Airport Convention Center, click here.
  For travel arrangements, go to NNA's travel partner here.
• Press Information: Stories about what to expect at the convention are available here.

Exhibitors may also contact Cindy Joy-Rodgers directly at cindy@nna.org or at 540-891-5171.

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Presentation by Dink NeSmith at the 126th NNA Convention

 

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Community Building Symposium Papers presented at convention

Reporting Health: Rural Newspaper Coverage of Health in Kentucky

By Al Cross and Sarah Vos
The prevalence of health reporting in larger newspapers is well established, but little research has been dedicated to rural newspapers. However, rural newspapers may be more influential than their urban counterparts and may be able to play a key role in improving health literacy among a demographic that often suffers from low health literacy levels. While the relationship between media coverage of health issues and health literacy has not been clearly defined, research suggests that media coverage does play some role in health literacy and may be a contributing factor in higher health literacy levels. In order to understand how reporting in rural Kentucky newspapers could play a role in improving health literacy, this study analyzed health news coverage in rural newspapers in Kentucky, a state with general low health status.

 

Before Bloggers There Were Ploggers (Print Loggers): Community Journalism Correspondents

By Beth H. Garfrerick
Much like today’s bloggers, these early bloggers, or “ploggers” (print loggers) wrote about issues that mirrored the lives of “average folk.” A “names make news” approach was popular in determining newsworthy local articles.

 

Mr. and Mrs. John Doe announce the engagement of….
A study of the decline in reader-submitted content in four Eastern Kentucky community newspapers

By Deborah T. Givens
A content analysis of four community newspapers in Eastern Kentucky tracked over a 10-year period from 2000 to 2010 reader-submitted content in a variety of categories including wedding, anniversary, and birth announcements, “thank you” and “in memory” notices, letters to the editor, and community event invitations. (Included with this paper are attachments AB & CD.)

 

Community Crisis and Community Newspapers: A Case Study of The Licking Valley Courier

By Elizabeth K. Hansen and Gary L. Hansen
Earl Kinner, whose wife had died in the summer of 2011, was tracking the storms. Just after 6 p.m. he heard the meteorologist say the most damaging tornadic activity in the United States that day was in the Morgan County area. Kinner headed for the basement door. Just as he reached it, an EF3 tornado demolished his house, trapping him in the rubble. His son’s home next door was damaged beyond repair. The Courier building was destroyed along with most of downtown West Liberty.

 

Toto, I Don’t Think We’re (just) in Kansas Anymore
How U.S. Community Newspapers are Serving as a Model for China

By Jock Lauterer
Can you imagine a nation without community newspapers? Welcome to China. But that is changing, and we are the catalyst.

 

The effect of community structure on newspapers' coverage of issues involving conflict vs. consensus in the community

By Marshel D. Rossow
In the usually serene setting of lakes and forests and granite outcroppings of northern Wisconsin in the mid 1980s, two issues erupted. Both involved use (or as many perceived it, abuse) of the environment. Both involved what many residents saw as external threats to their power to control events affecting their community.

 

Using Social Media to Report the News: the good, the bad and the ugly

By Maria Raicheva-Stover and Robert Burkett
Social media have changed profoundly the way in which news is distributed and consumed. Time and time again this has been seen in the way news organizations have used new media tools to advance stories and convey information through platforms like Twitter, Facebook, blogs and such video sharing services as YouTube. While the effects of social media have been explored to some extent in Europe (Erdal, 2011) and South Africa (Stassen, 2010), there has not been a great deal of academic research on this topic in the United States.

National Newspaper Association 126th Annual Convention & Trade Show at Embassy Suites Airport Convention Center, Charleston, SC. Convention Sponsors: Say thank you to NNA's Convention Sponsors. Go here and click through to their websites. Attendee Information: To see the convention program, click here. To register online for the convention, click here. See who will be exhibiting at the Trade ...