March 2014 Published by Mississippi Press Services HOSEMANN ROAST RAISES OVER $26K FOR FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS SON MARK HOSEMANN: “MY DAD IS THE ORIGINAL CLARK GRISWOLD” Mississippi’s Secretary of State endured barbs from journalists, a close friend and even his own son during the annual MPA Education Foundation Celebrity Roast, which raised money for scholarships, grants and internships administered by the foundation. Page 3. Did you know 7-in-10 Mississippi adults are regular newspaper readers? powerinprint.ms McDAVID CONFERENCE MPA, AGENCY PARTNER TO TELL Overby will be guest THE TRUTH ABOUT NEWSPAPERS speaker at student MPA took the wraps off process and production of newspaper at least once a symposium of a new industry promo- the video. A St. Louis-based week,” said MPA President tional video during a special firm was engaged to create James E. Prince, III, presi- Page 8. luncheon at the Mid-Winter the visual for the project. dent of Prince Newspaper Conference. The new video is avail- Holdings. “And your board “The Truth About News- able to members for down- has invested a lot of time papers” premiered to about load and MPA representa- and resources to create a 100 newspaper publish- tives will use it to promote presentation that highlights ers, ad managers and sales the industry to current newspapers and print as representatives and seeks clients and prospects. the number one source for to dispel myths about the Publishers and MPA board news and advertising infor- READ MPA PRESIDENT popularity of the industry. members will join MPA staff mation in our state.” JIM PRINCE’S It was produced in coop- on calls this winter and The video can be viewed COLUMN ON eration with the Jackson- spring to major clients in and other material accessed PAGE 2. based GodwinGroup agency. the corporate, financial and at powerinprint.ms. Godwin Managing Partner government sectors, among “The Mississippi Press John McKie and Creative others. Association assignment was BNC AWARDS Director Tal McNeill told “Over 1.5 million Mis- very important to GodwinG- attendees about the creative sissippians read their local VIDEO >> Page 9 Who took first? Page 4. 2 >> Fourth Estate >> March 2014 PRESIDENT’S COLUMN YOU’VE HEARD THE NEWS: PRINT IS DEAD; IT’S A digital world now eventy percent of Mississippi tion of how we do business. Much adults are active newspaper soul-searching occurred last fall at Sreaders. Seventy percent! That’s our Board retreat in Biloxi. But what Fourth Estate huge! That’s 1.5 million readers. emerged was a clear vision and a plan What other medium offers such a Jim of action that led us to Godwin. The official newspaper of the broad reach in this fractured age of Prince The key component has been the Mississippi Press Association 900 cable channels to flip through 60-page Readership Survey which and 2.15 billion web pages? clearly demonstrates the superior- 371 Edgewood Terrace, Jackson, MS 39206 But, you’ve heard the news. Print ity of print. An outside national firm 601-981-3060 | Fax 601-981-3676 is dead. It’s a digital world. Our con- conducted the telephone polling. The www.mspress.org | [email protected] dolences. report we’re presenting to custom- Nothing could be further from the ers is, objectively, exactly what the View to the video MPA-MPS Staff truth! A new video professionally pro- pollster gave us. The numbers are duced for MPA by the GodwinGroup http://www.powerinprint.ms. powerful. Layne Bruce David Gillis illustrates just that in a stunning dis- For publishers, a simple market- executive director director of sales Download the video [email protected] [email protected] play that’s quickly changing percep- ing plan utilizing the video is to: 1.) tions about the newspaper industry. http://bit.ly/1cg4JqP Present the video to key customers Monica Gilmer Andrea Ross Godwin confessed after digesting prefaced with “I’m not here to sell member services media buyer Download the Readership Survey [email protected] [email protected] our Readership Survey and spending you a thing.” 2.) Leave the color print about three hours questioning the http://bit.ly/14bNkbL piece that goes with the video. Fol- Beth Boone Sue Hicks Board that prior to their engagement low with an e-mail to the digital link foundation coordinator bus. development mgr. [email protected] [email protected] with us they’d “written print off.” powerinprint.ms. 3.) Leave a copy of Wow! Newspapers had simply gone advertisers know. the MPA Readership Survey. The Fourth Estate serves as the official newspaper of the Even for the unsophisticated Mississippi Press Association, recording the history of the off of the agency radar, although they In conversation, ask your key ad- organization, its members and associates. Copies are distrib- all confessed personally to a love for advertiser, 70 percent of anything is vertisers what they think, thank them uted at no charge to members and are available by contact- big. Digital numbers dazzle because ing the MPA office. newspapers. for their business and be on your way. The truth is, Mississippi newspa- of the specificity of who clicked on Plan a follow-up visit after they’ve di- Commentary columns published herein are the opinion of what. The immediacy is exciting, but their respective authors and not necessarily those of the pers are not only surviving, they’re gested the survey to obtain feedback. MPA, its board of directors or staff. thriving! it doesn’t necessarily translate into This strategy has already turned into We asked Godwin to take their a return on investment locally. Print dollars for us. Among other things, MPA-MPS Board of Directors newspaper conversion experience has a proven return on investment. the survey debunks radio. One of our and bring it to life in the video anima- The survey proves it and the video top advertisers was convinced. James E. Prince III Joel McNeece illustrates so. President First Vice President tion. They did! Along with the key advertiser vis- Neshoba Democrat Calhoun Co. Journal As an industry, we’re horrible mar- How we market our newspapers its, run the MPA house ads and share Philadelphia Bruce keters, although we think we know matters, but the most important thing the video and survey links on social is that content still matters most. Bad Reece Terry Don Norman advertising. After all, we sell a lot of media. How we market ourselves Second Vice President Treasurer it. Our idea of marketing is asking newspapers may survive, but they matters. Again, we must become Daily Corinthian Starkville Daily News won’t thrive. Nobody does what we Corinth Starkville Bill down at the car dealership what more aggressive in an ever-crowded he wants in his ad this week. do. Strive to do what you do better. marketplace. Don’t hesitate to call on Layne Bruce John P. “Pat” Brown In order to thrive, we must We have a connection to our commu- me if I can help you in any way. Layne Executive Director The Magee Courier nities no one else has. We are where MPA/MPS Magee become more aggressive and, as and the MPA/MPS staff stand ready as an industry, learn to think more readers turn to see who’s getting well. Kevin Cooper James Arrington Goff like a General Motors, Procter & married, who had a baby, who won Our numbers are outstanding, but The Natchez Democrat The News-Commerical the football game. Natchez Collins Gamble or Wal-Mart. We have to we’re simply not telling the story be more sophisticated. Our aim Mainly, readers trust their local as an industry. We have to change Tracie Fowler Paul Keane newspaper. In an era where ev- Hattiesburg American Wayne County News should be to serve our customers as fundamentally the way we market Hattiesburg Waynesboro trusted advertising consultants, not erybody has an opinion, the local ourselves. monotone salespeople. MPA, through newspaper is more relevant than ever The truth is, Mississippi newspa- H. Ray Mosby Jack Ryan in sorting out the truth and making Deer Creek Pilot Enterprise-Journal the video and Readership Survey, is per numbers are strong. The statis- Rolling Fork McComb giving you basic tools to develop your sense of the information overload. tics prove print’s superiority. Use own smart marketing strategy. Similarly, we’re going to have to the video, the printed video “leave Not a single publisher at Mid-Win- step up our subscription marketing behind” piece and the printed survey. ter could tell me his or her market and NIE programs. Waiting for read- Together, they illustrate powerfully penetration, although most Missis- ers to come to us is a death sentence. print’s overwhelming advantage in sippi newspapers reach close to 70 If you haven’t engaged in telemarket- reaching today’s consumers. percent of the households in their ing, start. Sharper design has even county. Market penetration is a basic translated into dollars for us. MPA President Jim Prince is president of statistic you must know to compete Your MPA Board took the market- Prince Newspaper Holdings, Inc. His email Mississippi Press Association | Established 1866 effectively. It’s the language ad agen- ing challenge seriously as we em- address is jprince@princenewspapers. Mississippi Press Services | Established 1978 barked on a top-to-bottom examina- com. MPA Education Foundation | Established 1983 cies and other more sophisticated March 2014 >> Fourth Estate >> 3 MPA FOUNDATION ROAST BYLINES Commercial Dispatch Commercial Dispatch sports staff member Scott Walters was recognized in January as the state of Mississippi’s National Sportscaster and Sportswriters (NSSA) Sportswriter of the Year. He covers the prep beat for the Columbus daily.