2006 March

UPA Sponsors Journalism Boot Camp at Weber State

(Click photo to right for photo album)

Nearly 50 enthusiastic newspaper writers, some with little previous training, came to the UPA sponsored second Journalism Boot Camp at Weber State University last Friday and Saturday. (The first was held last year at Snow College.) They left with pages of information that they had learned from professors of communication from three leading Utah universities as well as several guest newspaper professionals.

Allison Barlow-Hess from Weber State, Jay Wamsley, Utah State and Jim Fisher, University of Utah were the visiting professors. Lisa Rosetta, Salt Lake Tribune; Randy Hollis, Ogden Standard Examiner and Hilary Groutage, Salt Lake Tribune also taught classes. Guest speakers and panelists were Hilary Groutage and Angie Welling and Ben Winslow both from the Deseret News, and Linda Petersen, President of the Utah Chapter of SPJ and editor of the Valley Journals and Sallie Young, also of the Valley Journals.

Comments about the boot camp ranged from someone who had been writing as an independent contractor, “I came to numerous, significant decisions and realizations [as a result of the boot camp] about why I write for newspapers. I am convinced that I will produce better work for my editors,” to a novice who said, “I saw the inside of journalism and I know little about the profession.” Another spoke for many when he said that the presenters had great energy and are fabulous teachers.

Organizer of the boot camp, Suzanne Dean, publisher of the Sanpete Messenger, is already planning a third conference for next year. She said that there are still many writers for community newspapers throughout the state who can benefit from this program.

High School Newspaper Instructional Training & Awards Day

Deseret Morning News and UVSC
High School Newspaper Instructional Training & Awards Day
Hosted by The College Times
Friday, March 31, 2006

Registration - Student Center 206C 8:00-8:30 (donuts available)
Welcome, Tad Walch, Brent Sumner & Ryan Meeks 8:35-8:50
Opening Speaker, Dick Harmon, Deseret Morning News – (206ab) 8:50-9:20 No Charge For Attending – Lunch Provided
**Repeated Class Different Hour
Training Schedule
Sponsored by Intermountain Health Care
9:30-10:10

Opinion Writing: (SC 206hg) Lee Benson, Deseret Morning News
A veteran journalism teacher and newspaper veteran offers ways to write better columns and editorials, starting with generating subjects to the finished product.

**Basic Publication Design:(SC 213b) Vegor Pedersen, graphic designer for the Orem Owls baseball team, and past Editor-in-Chief of The College Times.
Simple ways to improve design as well as ways to “dress up” pages that don’t require a degree in graphic design. Students should bring copies of their publications for on the spot advice. Questions from students will be encouraged.

**Preparing For The Future of Journalism: (SC 214) Jingdong Liang, Roger Gunn and Paul Smith, UVSC Communications Department faculty will have an open discussion on the future of journalism and how to be ahead of the expanding technology field.

Sports: Beyond the Obvious: (SC 206ab) Dick Harmon, Deseret Morning News
Learn how to cover sports like a reporter, not a casual observer, by digging in, asking the proper questions and making key observations so you can offer insights the average fan would miss.

10:20-11:00

Newspaper Writing: (SC 206 ab) Tad Walch, Deseret Morning News
A review of basic writing skills for journalists. Taking the fluff out of your articles and getting to the important information. Writing good leads, attracting the reader and keeping your story alive.


Exchange of ideas to make a better newspaper: (SC 214) Nate Phillips, newspaper advisor at Lone Peak High School and Brent Sumner advisor at The College Times.
Advertising dollars can really help the high school newspaper budget. A good staff can make life easy for the newspaper advisor and staff. How to pick your editors. Meeting deadlines. This will be an open discussion for advisors and students to create new ideas for your newspaper staff.


**Basic Publication Design: (SC 213b) Vegor Pedersen, graphic designer for the Orem Owls baseball team, and past Editor-in-Chief of The College Times.
Simple ways to improve design as well as ways to “dress up” pages that don’t require a degree in graphic design. Students should bring copies of their publications for on the spot advice. Questions from students will be encouraged.

Life In The College Newsroom: (SC 206hg) Ryan Meeks, Editor-in-chief of The College Times, Ben Fox, Editor-in-chief of Snow Drift at Snow College.
This session will give students the opportunity to ask questions about being part of a college news team. How working on The College Times and Snow Drift helped them pay for their education.

11:10-11:50

Go Team! Coaching Your Writers: (SC 206hg) Grant Flygare, Director of The College Times
Many editors spend too much time fixing reporter copy to make it printable, Instead of “fixing,” spend time “coaching”. Learn about the process of making your staff a team and some techniques that will improve writing quality of any newspaper.

Basics of Photojournalism: (SC 206ab) Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News
The photo editor will talk about getting a start toward making good pictures for newspaper stories.

Feature Writing: (SC 213a) Rick Hall, Deseret Morning News
This session you will learn how to dig deeper into stories, gaining new insight and context, and developing your own valuable sources and stories.

**Preparing For The Future of Journalism: (SC 214) Jingdong Liang, Roger Gunn and Paul Smith, UVSC Communications Department faculty will have an open discussion on the future of journalism and how to be ahead of the expanding technology field.


12:00-12:50 Lunch (SC 206C), and winners announced for newspaper competition.


1:00-1:45

Headline, Cutline Writing: (SC 214) Grant Flygare, Director of The College Times
Headlines can dress up a design as well as pull readers into the story. Saying it all in just a few words takes more than just inspiration.

Interviews That Get Results: SC 206 hg) Dennis Romboy, Deseret Morning News
Most of the information your newspaper prints comes from interviews, but there is an art and a skill to obtaining information as accurately and efficiently as possible. A veteran reporter shows you what to do before, during and after the interview to get the facts and the quotes you need to write a great news story.


Wringing the Bad Writing Habits Out of Your Eager but Inexperienced Staff:
(SC 206ab)
Steve Warren, Deseret Morning News
From editorializing to wrong style to mangled attribution to sloppy grammar, the sins of news writers are many. Listen to this professional copy editor and get some tips to shape up your staff!

1:45 Training Concluded – Have A Safe Trip Home!


Awards For High Schools, Each With First, Second and Third
Winners Will Be Announced In the Deseret Morning News?

Best front-page newspaper design – single issue
Best overall newspaper design
Best column (any section, one, $500.00 scholarship)
Best feature story ( one, $500.00 scholarship)
Best photos-submit 3 ( one, $500.00 scholarship)
Best news story
Best sports picture
Best newspaper illustration/artwork

Entries must be postmarked by March 20, 2006. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd winners will receive certificates for their accomplishments and selected 1st place winners will receive a scholarship to work on The College Times newspaper staff for fall 2006.

Need an ad idea? Look for scarcity.

By John Foust, Raleigh, NC

Robert, a real estate developer, was telling me about one of his condominium projects. “Things weren’t moving like we expected,” he said. “So we included a countdown in our ads.”

A countdown?

“We decided to create some urgency, by letting people know how many units were available,” he explained. “For example, we’d say ‘only five end units left’ or ‘only 12 three-bedroom homes left.’ Sometimes we’d put a slash through the number in a headline, and put the new, lower number above it. Our traffic picked up noticeably.”

Robert’s countdown reminds me of a story my wife tells. As long as she can remember, her father’s hobby has been gemstones. He cuts stones, teaches gem identification – and has even studied abroad to become a Fellow of the Gemological Association of Great Britain.

When Suellen was in college, she often accompanied her parents to gem shows, where her dad displayed gemstones and high-end jewelry. On one occasion, she helped a lady who asked to see a particular ring in the display case.

“She tried it on and looked at it for a long time, before handing it back, ” Suellen recalled. “But instead of putting the ring back in the case, I put in on my finger. She walked away from the booth, then turned around and reached for her checkbook and said, ‘I just can’t stand to see my ring on your finger.’

“I distinctly remember that she referred to it as her ring. When she saw me wearing the ring, it suddenly became more desirable. She realized that a lot of other people would notice it as they walked by, and if she came back later, it might be gone. As a psychology major, I found that fascinating. From then on, when someone handed a ring back to me, I put it on – instead of putting it back in the display case. That simple strategy generated a lot of sales.”

That simple strategy can generate sales for your advertisers, too.

Scarcity is a powerful buying motive. Suellen’s customer understood that no two gemstones – and therefore, no two rings – are exactly alike. And Robert’s customers knew they had to move quickly in order to get their choice of condos.

We’ve all felt the magnetic tug of scarcity. The last slice of chocolate cake is more tempting than the first. The last day of a vacation is more precious than the first. And the last red convertible on the lot is somehow more appealing than one of a dozen red convertibles.

As you work with your advertisers, you’ll find that there are two primary options for scarcity – product inventory and time. There are plenty of examples in your paper’s archives: “Only three lakefront lots available”... “Limit one per customer”... “Only 14 shopping days until Christmas”... “Special gift for the first 100 people to take a test drive”... “Offer expires August 31.”

Look for scarcity – and you might come up with a gem of an idea for your next ad campaign.

(c) Copyright 2006 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

John Foust conducts on-site and video training for newspaper advertising departments. His three new video programs are designed to help ad managers conduct in-house training for their sales teams. For information, contact: John Foust, PO Box 97606, Raleigh, NC 27624 USA, E-mail: jfoust@mindspring.com, Phone 919-848-2401.

Staff Morale Needs Shot in Arm

by Randy Hines

Newspaper employees across Utah have reasons to be concerned. From Knight-Ridder sale talks in Detroit to ad revenue declines to Internet growth, doom and gloom is being forecast for the print industry.

Cutbacks at many chains have raised the anxiety level of those who write stories, layout pages and sell ads. The news industry has started its own national public relations campaign to promote the value of the print medium. Those efforts, of course, are aimed primarily at the business community, to instill confidence in corporations to keep their ad dollars in newspapers.

But perhaps a campaign is also needed to bolster the confidence and ease the apprehension of the workforce.

Can employees believe management during these stressful times? Not necessarily, according to a recently released study by Towers Perrin, a national human resources company.

Only 44 percent of workers (earning less than $50,000) believe their company tells the truth in its employee communications. Almost the same amount (42 percent) won’t buy the company song and dance about its business strategy.

These are just a few of the findings from Is It Time to Take the “Spin” Out of Employee Communications?, as highlighted in the February 2006 edition of SPIN, published by the League of American Communications Professionals.

A mere 7 percent of the employees said they would turn first to their company’s internal communications publication (6 percent for intranet) to obtain trustworthy information about the corporation.

I’m not sure how Utah newspaper workers would compare with these respondents. Since the written word has special significance to those employed in that profession, one might think there would be higher credibility attached to it. Have you ever conducted evaluations of your internal newsletter or e-newsletter? How much of it is read? What parts are favored and what sections should be changed or eliminated?

Where do advertising and editorial personnel receive news about their employer? The LACP study found that almost half consider information from their supervisor to be more credible than from their CEO. A little over one-fourth disagreed.

If your staff seems down in the dumps, does your paper recognize it and try to do anything about it? A 2005 investigation by PR News and Delahaye found that fewer than half of the respondents said their organizations conduct annual employee surveys. When it comes to measuring employee morale, on a department basis, 42 percent said it never happens and 29 percent said it occurs annually.

“Employee surveys…consistently reveal that employees prefer more interpersonal and less controlled forms of ‘dialogue’ rather than formal, highly controlled forms of ‘monologue,’ such as newsletters and Intranets,” says Mark Weiner, Delahaye president, confirming findings from the recent LACP survey.

If you’re not sure what your employees think of internal company communication, why not measure it? A simple communications audit can reveal strengths and weaknesses. But don’t ask human resources staff members to do it. They may be great with governmental forms and insurance red tape. Their strength is not in communications, however, for the most part. Instead, hire an experienced outsider to conduct your audit. Perhaps a college communications professor or a public relations practitioner could fill the bill.

One primary task is to look at your internal newsletters for an objective opinion. Does the newsletter solicit feedback or is it merely a one-way tool? Does it provide phone numbers and e-mail contact information if one wanted more details about an item? What subjects of interest are not being covered? Be cautious of long-standing acronyms in your publication. Old-timers may know all the secret codes, but newcomers may feel in the dark. Remember, the newsletter’s task is to communicate effectively.

What about other communication vehicles in the newspaper facility? Are departmental bulletin boards readable, up to date, neat and inviting? Are memos sent regularly—either on paper or electronically? How clear are they in meaning? Be careful of airing too much dirty laundry with internal e-mails. Courts have used them in several lawsuits against companies.

Employees, nervous as they might be in these uncertain times, can still be your greatest ally in enhancing the news profession and fending off the competition.


Dr. Randy Hines teaches in the Department of Communications at Susquehanna University. His address is 514 University Ave., Selinsgrove PA 17870. He can be reached at randyhinesapr@yahoo.com.

Winter Convention to focus on Advertising Sales and Circulation retention

Next week we will see you in the sunshine at the St. George Holiday Inn. Plans are in place for our newly designed Meet & Greet Social on Thursday evening at 7 PM. Bingo is planned to keep the young families entertained while the rest enjoys drinks and snacks that same evening.

The training this year will focus on new sales techniques taught by John Faust nationally renown and popular sales trainer. Circulation building and retention is to be taught by Bob Bobber . These are topics on all of our minds and the exact items we will address. Cal Sitka will be showing us the techniques you need to understand to create a strong internet subscription program for your newspaper. It is available through Newsearch the UPA program that digitizes UPA member newspapers for research, tearsheets and verification.

Foundations for Success is the topic of this years convention. We will not only provide you with opportunities to learn but to build the foundation that will create success.