News & Announcements
April 2013
USA Today founder Neuharth dead at 89
COCOA BEACH, Fla. -- Al Neuharth changed the look of American newspapers when he founded USA Today, filling the newspaper with breezy, easy-to-comprehend articles, attention-grabbing graphics and stories that often didn't require readers to jump to a different page.
Newspapers still rated high on content, advertising
The Newspaper Association of America released the findings of a landmark study by Nielsen that compares the ability of major media, including television, radio and social media, to engage audiences. The study looks at consumer engagement with media content – and importantly, compares each medium’s ability to engage consumers with advertising. This side-by-side advertisement scoring will aid marketers and agencies in assessing media by their ability to engage consumers who seek and respond to advertising not just by audience numbers alone.
New business model emerging for newspaper industry
Painfully slowly, not all that surely, but still, a new business model for newspapers is taking shape.
K-State's Miller School names Wassmuth new director
MANHATTAN -- Birgit Wassmuth will be the next director of the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Kansas State University. She will start her new job in June.
Ruth Stauffer, wife of KPA past president, dead at 86
Ruth Stauffer, wife of Topeka media icon John Stauffer, died Sunday evening at her home. She was 86.
March 2013
KHI News Service to reach out to editors
TOPEKA – The KHI News Service has completed the first step in a process aimed at formalizing its editorial independence from the Kansas Health Institute and increasing use of its reporting by Kansas newspapers.
AP's open source tool for journalists funded again
The Associated Press’ pioneering work in data journalism is being awarded a grant from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for the second time.
AP’s “Geomancer” project will receive $28,000 from the Knight Prototype Fund to build an open-source tool to help journalists make sense of data by mashing it up with other data sets about the same geographical locations.
Emporia Gazette buys St. Marys newspaper
The Emporia Gazette has purchased the St. Marys Star from Renae Tetlow, it was announced last week.
Christopher Walker, editor and publisher of the Gazette, said the newspaper will remain committed to the community despite the change in ownership.
Reader comments reduce credibility of online stories
In the beginning, the technology gods created the Internet and saw that it was good. Here, at last, was a public sphere with unlimited potential for reasoned debate and the thoughtful exchange of ideas, an enlightening conversational bridge across the many geographic, social, cultural, ideological and economic boundaries that ordinarily separate us in life, a way to pay bills without a stamp.
Then someone invented “reader comments” and paradise was lost.
February 2013
Three legislative bills threaten KOMA, public notice
Three bills of particular interest to Kansas newspapers will survive legislative turnaround this week.