newsONTARIO COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION’S clipsFebruary 2006 VOL. 20, NO. 2 Editor-in-chief wins top North American award Metroland's Joanne Burghardt named SNA Editor of the Year oanne Burghardt, of the Year for non-daily news- Metroland’s Durham papers by the Suburban Region Media Group edi- Newspapers of America. SNA is a tor-in-chief, is no stranger non-profit, professional trade asso- to winning. ciation specifically serving the sub- JBurghardt, who has been at urban newspaper industry. SNA's the editorial helm of the media membership is comprised of group since 1991, has won approximately 2,000 suburban awards from the YWCA, newspapers published by the lead- Durham College, the Durham ing multi-newspaper publishing District School Board and, most companies around North America. recently, earned the 2004 Ontario "It's such a huge honour. So Community Newspapers much of it is a result of the years of Association's Mary Knowles teamwork at the paper and the Award for Community Service. things we've all done together," Now, Burghardt, 44, who cel- said Burghardt. ebrates 25 years with Metroland "Joanne leads a staff of 34, in March, has been chosen Editor Continued on page 7 Brett family celebrates 110 years of ownership By Sarah Fisher rial leadership and ownership was published until the current reached the age of 80 years last Essex Free Press Staff over the years. office on Centre Street was August I couldn't spend the he New Year The Brett family began its constructed in the mid 1940s. hours required to properly marked a notewor- involvement in the newspaper At the Centre Street loca- manage the operation," thy anniversary for business in 1896 when Ed J. tion production of the paper Kenneth E. Brett wrote in an the Brett family - Lovelace sold the business to progressed from the old-fash- announcement about the the 110th year it has W.H. Auld and R.R. Brett. The ioned letterpress ultimately to change of ownership in the Towned and operated The Essex paper had used the name The the digital format used today. Feb. 2, 1979 edition. "So, I Free Press. There is a history of Essex Free Press since 1889. Much of that transition have sold, as of Feb. 1, the newspapers in this town. The partnership between Auld occurred under the tenure of business to my nephew, Wilber According to available records, and Brett continued until 1932 Wilber Brett, who also served R. Brett, associated with a John Milne constructed a two- when Auld died. When R.R. as the town's mayor from 1977 long-time Free Press employ- storey building around 16 Brett passed away five years to 1980 and as a town council ee, Garth W. Ramsay. So the Talbot Street in 1878 where he later, his son, Kenneth E. Brett, representative from 1970 to Brett name will still be in the released the Essex Centre took over the operation. 1980 and from 1985 to 2003. ownership of the Essex Free Chronicle to area readers with In January 1943 a fire Brett and his business partner, Press." his business partner Robert destroyed the Talbot Street Garth Ramsay, bought the Ramsay sold his share in Fair. The Talbot Street office office. The letterpress survived paper together from K.E. Brett 2000. In 2003, Wilber Brett's would be the location of the the blaze and was transferred in 1979. daughter, Laurie Brett, the town's newspaper through to the backroom of the town's "Operating a weekly news- great-granddaughter of R.R. numerous changes in the edito- bowling alley where the paper paper is a full-time job and as I Continued on page 4

WHAT’S INSIDE: OCNA Employee Profile PAGE 4 Common Tech Questions Answered PAGE 6 2 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 a word from OCNA... Sobering advice for newspapers By Anne Lannan newspapers began producing Wilkinson touched on three as books, CDs, DVD, games. OCNA Member Services controlled-circulation extended areas that newspapers can build Citizen journalism- don’t istening to an indus- market coverage newspapers on to increase both readership cringe editors...your readers can try expert talk about more than 10 years ago, but this and revenues: paid promotions, help you. the state of news- was done mainly to capitalize citizen journalism, and print Multi-media - so you can papers recently was a on the flyer market. These product to multi-media brand. reach younger readers at differ- sobering experience. papers, as I’m sure the dailies OCNA will feature more infor- ent times of the day and week LSimilar to what he told us at are, have continued to struggle mation and examples of these in through various means that meet OCNA’s convention last year, with the fine line between the news clips throughout the year. their needs, eg. newspaper, web Earl Wilkinson, Executive amount and type of news and Paid promotions - sell your site, mobile. Director of the International feature coverage published in paper for more on a single day Watch for more next month. Newspaper Marketing Associ- the free product for fear of los- with the inclusion of such things ation (INMA), says this is one ing the paid subscriber mid of the most exciting times to be week. Last month, the involved in newspapers - Caledonia Grand River Sachem despite continued circulation merged its paid and free publi- News from this declines and sustained prof- cations into one controlled cir- itability without revenue culation publication. Could this growth. be the start of a new trend for side of the tar pit His discussion and statistics community papers? were mainly about daily news- Paid versus controlled is Let's hope newspapers choose wisely as papers, but we can draw some always a hot topic amongst pub- they navigate a new, sometimes scary river parallels and conclusions for lishers. Currently 54 per cent of community newspapers as well. OCNA members publish con- of information In order to revolutionize the trolled or free publications for By Jeff Mahoney industry, we must know what their first editions, and a number The Hamilton Spectator - January 24, 2006 our value is and who our readers of the paid newspapers publish y the time you read this, Canada will probably have a and advertisers are; understand secondary controlled publica- newly elected prime minister, unless the vote got can- that less is more; package our tions. celled on account of the enslavement of Halifax last brand; and promote it in differ- Big news with the dailies night by a 90-foot tall Dandie Dinmont Terrier ent mediums. worldwide in the past year or so demanding that the cast of Cheers be reassembled for His statistics show us that has been the switch from broad- Bone last season. paid circulation for daily news- sheet to tabloid. This is being You see, that's the whole problem with newspapers. I'm writing papers in established, democrat- done in an attempt to secure to you from yesterday. And today is, well, today. So. How's the ic countries is declining at an younger readers. weather? Should I buy up more Dofasco shares? And have they alarming rate. This is happening Yet for Ontario’s community figured out yet who's responsible for scooping up after a 90-foot at a time when young adults are newspapers, the switch to tall Dandie Dinmont Terrier? obtaining their information tabloids began many years ago, through a multitude of media mainly for cost-saving reasons. My deadline is 3 p.m., and so here I am at 4:15 p.m. on Monday habits, and while multi-tasking. Today, only 23 per cent of mem- -- Oh, what are they gonna do? Fire me? -- trying to anticipate what The trend with dailies is bers (67 of our 290) remain as the world will be like when you read this, more than 12 hours with free or ‘lite’ newspapers broadsheet. Once the switch hence. popping up to grab the younger started to gain momentum, the There's a really, really good chance that Halifax did not get readers such as Metro. Although domino effect started as more enslaved last night. And even if it did, we're Canadians. We're pret- profitable, Wilkinson says it’s publishers were encouraged to ty calm. Our death-by-stampede rate is one of the lowest in the still too early to gauge their switch for efficiences for print- world. We wouldn't have had to cancel the election. We can handle overall impact. ers who were then switching roll an election Paid circulation community sizes between jobs. Continued on page 3 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 3 New media journalism Continued from page 2 One expert says that every time news- creeks that are known to be infested with and a municipal enslavement, without get- paper people do journalism the old way, piranhas? (This is something I read on the ting all harried and freaked out about it. they are an animal lurching one step clos- Internet, so it must be true.) They take But I still can't tell you the name of last er to the tar pit. their weakest animal far from the crossing night's election winner. Actually, you I don't think this was meant as a com- point and leave it bleeding in the water for could tell me. You've already read tomor- pliment. Tar pits, apparently, are places the piranhas to feast on, distracting them row's (I mean today's) front page. where animals go to quietly lie down and while the rest of the herd fords the current You watched the TV news last night or just be extinct. safely. listened to the radio or followed the results Journalism the new way seems to I think right now my bosses are in the on the Internet. process of taking The Spectator over Everyone on your side of the some kind of river. It's scary. Sometimes future/past continuum knows who won the I think they're looking at me like they election last night. But that part of myself want to take me down stream. that gets left behind in everything I write, Or point me to the tar pits. like that part of one's spirit that is suppos- During the past several years, I've had edly lost every time your photograph is to "un-learn" and relearn so much stuff taken, that yesterday me, the one who's that there's nothing left of my journalism talking to you now, will never know who training but eraser smudges. won. And, who can say? Maybe that's for It's always something. the best. After Watergate we all assumed read- If this newspaper were a television, ers wanted long, involved investigative you could be seeing and hearing me live, reports. Chains of evidence were which would probably not be good as I'm methodically pieced together to form a probably still in bed pulling the covers noose of conclusive proof. Then the over my head. director of the Chesterville Little Theatre But The Spectator is becoming, if not would resign in tearful disgrace over rev- a television, then at least a pod-caster. A elations that he once gave a part to his couple of weeks ago, The Spectator nephew without a proper audition. What scooped itself, running a story on our web- do you want? You can't bring down a site before it appeared in the morning president every day. newspaper. For a time, many editors were hot on The website now includes, or soon mean having a headset with mike and ear- "think" pieces. They wanted readers to will, video footage -- prerecorded for now, phones permanently clamped on one's smell pipe tobacco and feel the itch of but soon to be live perhaps. And voice skull and a video camera fused onto one's tweed when you sat down with the news- recordings as well. eyes like that contraption that the Levar paper's analysis articles. Then the pendu- We must come to our users from mul- Burton character wore in Star Trek: The lum swung over to celebrity-driven news. tiple platforms, whatever that means. Next Generation. It's great that we're expanding our We're evolving. This is important. The new journalist would be a kind of Internet presence. But whatever happens I Because, according to evolutionary theo- constant online, on-air, in-print, fibre optic think newspapers have to stick to what we ry, if an entity fails to evolve, to keep up media do-it-all. do best. OK, we might not get you the with the latest mutations, it is destined to The old-style journalist? Well, in a news that Stephen Harper is or isn't the get frozen out of the natural selection media consumption market every bit as new prime minister as fast as TV. process and will have to resort to unreli- vicious as a nature special, the old-style But we can tell you the next day what able online dating services. journalist would be the straggler at the it means, and go into greater detail than Newspapers have experienced declin- back of the pack. He or she would be the TV can ever give about how the new gov- ing readerships and circulations for some wounded animal in the herd. ernment plans to deal with the Dandie time. As an industry, it has been given Do you know how South American Dinmont Terrier crisis. It takes a bit of lately to a lot of hand-wringing. farmers get their cattle across rivers and time. But it's worth the wait. 4 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 OCNA employee profile OCNA’s first government relations employee By Shaba Qureshi them of what OCNA can do for them. So far News Clips Editor the response has been very positive said he government relations Cameron. position, which was created He is currently working on two electron- in the fall of 2005, is the first ic newsletters, one for the members and the of its kind at OCNA. Gordon other for an external audience. The mem- Cameron, who was the com- bers' version would illustrate the work and municationsT coordinator at OCNA since progress OCNA is achieving in regards to February 2005, is now filling these shoes. all government relations initiatives. The position entails working closely Information will also be included in week- with executive director Bill Laidlaw to ly e-clips and the monthly News Clips. The build OCNA's government relations capa- external newsletter would reach MPPs, try grow and tackle the challenges that face bilities, so the industry's issues receive the Deputy Ministers and industry associates to it," he said. "Having been in the trenches I attention they deserve from the provincial show them what is important to OCNA and know what it’s like to try and cover a large and municipal levels of government . what is being done to achieve it. area and put out a paper with a small staff "Our main goal is to make positive and Continued on page 7 and limited resources and I feel that will effective changes in laws and regulations help me to advocate for the industry." that affect our industry," said Cameron Cameron says the need to identify and Fast Facts on about his new responsibilities. "Along with decide how to tackle the industry's issues Gordon Cameron assisting members with the problems they are paramount. He is developing an Issues routinely have with governments." Born: Burlington, ON Management Program which will include Cameron feels his previous position as an advisory committee of members that Education: BA in Political Science an editor at a Community Newspaper in will shape OCNA's position and plan of and Bachelors in Journalism from Alberta and his education including degrees attack on issues facing the industry. in Political Science and Journalism give University of King’s College, Halifax, Also, OCNA has made several presen- him an edge. Nova Scotia tations to various political parties, as well "This position gives me a chance to use as to a number of industry associations. Previous positions: Communications my backgrounds in Political Science and The presentation shows how powerful Coordinator, OCNA; Editor, Community Newspapers to help the indus- Community Newspapers are and informs Redwater Tribune, AB. The Essex Free Press celebrates a milestone Continued from page 1 colour on a weekly basis, a Brett, took over as publisher. redesign of the entire paper Her family's involvement and a commitment to provid- in the paper influenced her ing consistent local news. decision to enter the busi- "We have invested a lot of ness. time and effort into ensuring "When I was young I that we are providing quality was very influenced by the news to the community," Brett newspaper," Brett said. "I said. "That has included hiring spent a great deal of time seasoned and professional pouring over archive copies journalists and putting a lot of of issues and spending time resources into improving our at the office. It was fascinat- news content. We are always ing to me." evaluating the product we are Among the information delivering to the community." discovered from past edi- According to the Ontario tions was the price of a sub- Community Newspapers scription to the Free Press. A Association, The Essex Free flyer from 1932 urges resi- Press is the third oldest fami- dents to consider paying 50 ly-owned community newspa- cents for a year's worth of Essex Free Press publisher Laurie Brett and her father and former per in the province and is papers. publisher Wilber Brett review archival materials related to the publication's among 25 community news- The Free Press has history. An enlarged photograph of Wilber working on the letterpress in the papers in Ontario that contin- changed a lot in recent years. 1960s is flanked on the left by an image of the original building following ue to be family owned and Its 7,000 readers have wit- the fire of 1943 and on the right by a photograph of R. R. Brett, the first operated by multiple genera- nessed the use of processed member of the Brett family to own the newspaper. tions. OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 5 design/production Design 'creep' - it happens to the best of us By Ed Henninger -If you don't have an ongoing staff training and evaluations. Phone: 803-327- Henninger Consulting development process, start one. And keep 3322. E-mail: [email protected]. uring a recent conversa- it going. On the web: henningerconsulting.com tion, a client publisher -When a staffer violates style, nudge used the term ‘design that person with a gentle reminder creep.’ that consistent style is important at your newspaper. Ad*Reach "Oh,D my," I thought. "What have I done -When you arrive at a consensus to upset him?" that a particular design element or The answer: nothing. His ‘creep’ was page or package needs to be 2005 was a not a person but an action. What he meant changed, follow through on that was that over time design elements tend to change by updating the style guide. metamorphose - and other elements tend to -Give someone in your news- great year creep into the design. No one seems to room the responsibility and authori- know how or when it occurred or who ini- ty to be your design watchdog. If By Sean Hind tiated the change - it just happened. there's any creep, this is the person AdReach Design creep is an ailment as universal you want to identify it and fix it. ast year has proven to be Ad*Reach's as the common cold. It's just gonna hap- -When your design watchdog most successful year ever with rev- pen. But-like the common cold-we can be sounds the alarm, give him or her the required support. enues over $12 million, which repre- -Develop an understand- sents a 41 per cent increase over ing in your newsroom that 2004. Many new Ad*Reach market- your design is as important Ling initiatives were launched last year, including as your reporting, your writ- the Community Newspaper supplement which ing and your editing. Editors was delivered through Marketing and CARD and staffers who foster good magazines, sponsorship of the national Media Over time, the original design of a standing head design will also watch for Innovation Awards, and a Lunch & Learn pre- morphs into something completely different. design creep. sentation series. Design creep often This year Ad*Reach has continued to build on our guard for it and we can protect our- begins as a small speck of snow on the strength of 2005. For the first quarter we selves from letting it develop into some- coursing slowly downhill. But if it thing worse. isn't caught and corrected, it may have had consistent increases in revenue over eventually create a design landslide. last year. The negotiations for most major con- Here are some tips: What makes a winning style tracted clients are complete. With the release of -Create a comprehensive design style guide? Want to see a sample page? the 2005 ComBase data over the next couple of guide, one that addresses all the factors that Free? Go to www.henningerconsult- weeks Ad*Reach will begin the successful affect a particular design element or specif- ing.com and leave a request with an Lunch & Learn series to again inform agencies ic page. (See "What makes…" at end of e-mail address. We'll send the page and clients on the strength and benefits of com- this column). out to you right away. munity newspapers. These presentations will be -If you don't have a design style guide, supported with advertising in Marketing, CARD create one. ED HENNINGER is an independent and Strategy magazines, sponsorship of industry -Keep your design style guide handy. newspaper consultant and the Director events, and advertising in SRDS (the US version Occasionally review it with your editors of Henninger Consulting. Offering com- of CARD). We look forward to continued growth and paginators as part of your ongoing prehensive newspaper design services staff development program. including redesigns, workshops, staff and to make 2006 another successful year. 6 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 technology Common technology questions answered Don’t miss Kevin at the OCNA Convention in April! By Kevin Slimp move up to OS X and InDesign from Institute of Newspaper OS 9 and QuarkXPress (or Technology PageMaker)? That depends on the size and makeup of t has to be some your newspaper staff. There's always kind of record. At some resistance to change. Having least it's a record worked with hundreds of newspapers for me. Over the who have made similar conversions over past week, I've the years, I've learned it can take as little Ispoken at four press as two days and as long as a few months. association conferences in four states. When I've been involved, it usually Speaking on the topic, New Technology for includes time to determine software and Newspapers, I noticed that the same ques- hardware needs and purchase new equip- tions resurfaced repeatedly during the Q&A ment. This is followed by installation of the Coming from a guy who spent most of his portion of the presentations: new hardware and software (one to three years on the PC side of things, I've learned days, depending on the size of the staff), the hard way that Macs have far fewer print- Is InDesign really that much better than two or three days of training in the new soft- ing issues, are faster and aren't susceptible QuarkXPress? ware, followed by transition to the new to all those viruses that plague Windows- I get this question more than any other. I'm workflow. In the best case scenario, the based machines. The idea that PCs are not on payroll of Adobe or Quark, so it entire process can happen as quickly as a cheaper than Macs is false. Similarly doesn't really matter to me which software a few days (after the equipment and software equipped machines are pretty similar in newspaper uses. But the question is asked, has been installed). In larger operations price on both platforms. Besides, most of so I acquiesce. Yes, the version (CS2) of involving a pagination workflow (similar to the money goes into software and mainte- InDesign currently available is, in my opin- Baseview or Managing Editor), additional nance, not hardware costs. ion, superior to the version of QuarkXPress time is involved for training in the workflow that is currently available (6.5). I don't have process. What's your favourite font any inside information, but I wouldn't be management utility? surprised if QuarkXPress 7.0 is on the mar- Our photos always seem to be too dark. Is It's always been a toss-up between Extensis ket by the time many of you read this. If you there something we're missing? Suitcase and Font Reserve. They've recent- want to know how QuarkXPress 7 will com- Most newspapers I visit haven't adjusted ly been combined into one utility called pare to InDesign CS2, I'll let you know after their colour settings in Photoshop to match Suitcase Fusion, so I guess that will be my I've had a chance to test the new software. their printing process. Photoshop's default new favourite. settings are created with magazines in mind. If you were spending your money, which Photos saved with these settings will pro- What are the best restaurants you've digital camera would you purchase for duce too much ink which, in turn, soaks into found in your travels? newspaper purposes? the newsprint and comes out dark and The Sunset Diner in Lebanon, Tennessee I was spending my money and I purchased muddy. To get better results, adjust the and Jersey Joe's in Tucson, Arizona. the Canon Digital Rebel XT. People who colour settings in Photoshop, especially the know a lot more than I do tell me it's the black ink limit. OK. There you have it. The most common best camera available for less than $1,500. I questions posed during my speaking took their word for it and I've been pleased Are Macs really better for newspaper engagements. That doesn't mean you should with my purchase. pagination than PCs? skip my session when I come to Ontario for Yes. I have no stock in Microsoft or Apple, the first time in April. I might find a new How hard will it be for my newspaper to so it matters not to me which you use. restaurant between now and then. OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 7 tech corner with Ian Youseman Media-Pros trial Regular basis for members OCNA currently subscribes to Media-Pros, a company that pro- vides brand management, sales and support programs for the com- maintenance plete brand cycle including supplier, retailer and media. As a media subscriber our members have access to brand infor- egularly everything from scanning and mation, advertising program details, adtracking systems, Ad Ideas, scheduled repairing directory structures, Lead-of-the-Week, Industry News, Editorial, Logos & Trademarks maintenance recovering files and folders to as helpful tools. on your Mac optimizing directories and Media-Pros provides training to assist media ad sales reps and (or any com- repairing bad blocks. What is managers with how promotional, rebate, supplier development puterR for that matter!) is more - all these utilities come funding, co-op and vendor programs operate and can be more effec- essential to ensure its opti- on a bootable disk! tively managed. mum performance and is a Micromat Tech Tool Pro As a subscriber OCNA is given access to these tools with a cer- task that should be left to the 4.1.1 - a trimmed down ver- tain number of IP addresses, should you wish to use one of the slots experts. But what happens if sion of this utility is available for a trial basis, please contact Shaba Qureshi by e-mail at you accidentally delete a file, in the box whenever you pur- [email protected] or call 905-639-8720 ext. 244. your drive dies or you need chase AppleCare for your emergency assistance, and computer. Tech Tool Pro is your IT guy is not around? also a comprehensive all-in- Having your own utilities one disk utility that allows OCNA employee profile ready at hand can be a life- you to boot directly from the saver. CD. File system and disk Continued from page 4 The favourite among Mac repair, recovery tools and Cameron feels positive about the direction OCNA is taking in users used to more. regards to government relations and as a whole. be Norton Prosoft "I know both the joys and pains of this business and am glad to Utilities from Drive Genius still be a part of it," he said. "We have a great staff and are headed Symantec - another in a right direction." Corp., but this exceptional excellent utili- utility, Drive ty does not Genius has offer support been opti- Joanne Burghardt for Mac OS X. mized for However, Mac OS X Continued from page 1 pers undertake projects as ambi- Norton Utilities and Norton Tiger. It contains comprehen- spread across five different tious as the North to Nunavut System Works are still avail- sive utilities for analyzing offices and hundreds of kilome- project." able for the PC and I would and rebuilding drives and vol- tres, in publishing more than 100 North to Nunavut project rate them as a 'must have'. umes as well as performance editions each month. Over the resulted in an educational publi- Sometimes the use of the benchmarking. One of its last 15 years she has helped to cation written for students in Disk Utility found in Utilities many features, from a tech's guide our editorial department to Grades 4-6 and distributed to within the Applications folder perspective, is resizing and a staggering 249 awards for just every elementary school in on the Hard Drive will solve moving volumes without the about every possible category. Durham Region. an immediate problem. You need to reformat. And of “Joanne's drive to make our When Burghardt, fresh out of can also access this utility by course, you can boot from the organization the best it can be is Durham College, joined Oshawa booting from the Apple CD. only equalled by her desire to This Week back in 1981, the sin- Install disc 1 and selecting it All of the above utilities give back to the community," gle edition published just once a from the install menu. have strengths and weakness- says publisher Tim Whittaker. week. There are several compa- es. I like Drive Genius, but Since 1991 Joanne's newsroom "I couldn't imagine us, back nies, each having different every tech I speak to has their has won 113 OCNA editorial then, sending reporters and pho- strengths, that market disk preference. However, they all awards, 74 CCNAs and 62 tographers to Nunavut or to repair utilities for OS X but offer a handy preventative SNAs. Africa. It's hard to believe what you should choose one that and emergency utility but, of The judges commented, we've been able to do accom- has a bootable volume. That course, there is no substitute "Joanne Burghardt's achieve- plish in recent years," said way you can restart Mac from for regular preventative main- ments either in community ser- Burghardt. the disc should your primary tenance. vice or in editorial excellence The Metroland Durham boot volume fail. Ian Youseman is the would make her a strong con- Region Media Group took home Here are three of the most OCNA IT technician and tender. Together they make her a 19 awards and two honourable common: general technology assistant. clear winner as Editor of the mentions at this year's SNAs and Alsoft DiskWarrior 3.0.3 - E-mail him at Year. Her many contributions to the OCNA's recently-announced an all-in-one disk utility for [email protected]. education are especially com- Editorial Award included anoth- Mac. DiskWarrior does mendable. Few weekly newspa- er 23 for the Group. 8 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 Like a car, your web site needs a regular tune-up

Reprinted from The Globe and Mail on adding that the main challenge is to trans- analysis, updating and improvement of the February 2, 2006 with permission. late a storefront business into something site to keep it in sync with your "offline" that likewise serves customers on the business. This also helps it stay relevant to By DAN MCLEAN Internet. the search engines that potentially will ITWorldCanada.com It's a process where, among other things, direct traffic to the site and continue to be et it and forget it,’ is definitely every month you brainstorm new ideas that effective in keeping and attracting cus- not the way to think about add to and improve your site, according to tomers, Mr. Grushcow says. your business's on-line pres- Mr. Grushcow. So consider whether the web "Productive web sites are immediate. ence. site looks fresh or whether updates are Stale web sites taste like wood shavings and required. Is there new content to be added? sell about as well," says Patty Barnes, who 'SA successful commercial web site, like a Does the site function the way it should? breeds dogs as a business and routinely finely tuned engine, requires regular and A checklist for regular web site mainte- revisits the content on her on-line storefront routine maintenance to ensure continued nance includes tasks like verifying the func- -- logcabinlabradoodles.com. peak performance. And a well-maintained tion of outbound links from the site. Did Log Cabin Labradoodles breeds and on-line presence is simply too important to these change and do these continue to sells Australian Multigenerational be ignored these days. work? Is the site fast? Do images used still Labradoodles. According to Ms. Barnes, 98 Among other things, web sites are often look good or do they seem dated and old? per cent of her sales take place over the the first impression your company makes -- Someone needs to actually use the site from Internet, and sales have increased fourfold they're where many people actually discov- time to time the way a potential customer as a result of a concerted effort to regularly er your business in today's networked would, so they can make sure everything is update and maintain the site. world. And web sites are a primary way to working properly. "I add new photographs and text daily. reach out and touch customers within local Next, check the content itself. Are there Customers comment that my web site is communities and around the world. date-specific items that haven't been updat- professional, creative and current," she Whether your on-line storefront pro- ed or replaced? Does a successfully adver- says. vides the means to process sales orders or tised event lend itself to a Web follow-up Ms. Barnes does most of the web main- simply serves up electronic brochures, the treatment, like posting photographs that tenance work herself, through a set of edit- goal is ultimately to turn visitors into cus- might have been taken? Has your company ing tools. According to Mr. Grushcow, it's tomers. But a lousy web site can just turn received testimonials from your customers the sort of thing that most non-tech savvy them off. Poorly maintained and obviously or press coverage that should likewise be people should be able to do these days. ignored sites rarely get more than one pass- posted? There are many simple tools available now ing glance. Sites with rich content that are Does the web site have a professional that let people create images and content on interactive, multifunctional, current and look? Check to see that formatting is con- a Web page. In addition, tools like continually changing create a lasting impact sistent, that the site is displaying properly in Microsoft's MS FrontPage and Macrosoft and repeat visits. all standard Web browsers, and that your Media's Creator are more functional prod- The latter point might seem obvious, but company logo and general design give the ucts for the more technically astute. it is particularly important. A web site can't right impression. "But you [might] also need to be able to rest on its laurels. It must be made continu- Consider how to improve your customer pick up a phone and call an expert," he adds. ally appealing to visitors. Refreshing the service -- especially with existing cus- "If you are setting up forms to capture infor- content is critical, but it's something that tomers. Mr. Grushcow suggests creating mation, you'll probably need an expert." many businesses forget about after they get hidden pages that only certain customers The annual cost for basic web site main- a site up and running smoothly. can access. These special value-added tenance for a small business probably won't But what sort of routine maintenance is pages, set up just for them, might include amount to much more than $500 a year, required? And where to begin? items like photographs taken at a customer's according to Mr. Grushcow. That's only The first step forward is a step back, event. Sometimes you can serve current about $40 a month. says Steve Grushcow, the CEO of edit.com, customers better by creating member-only "Some sites really don't require much a web site maintenance services company or custom pages, offering surveys and doing maintenance," he says. "[But] they should based in Brooklyn, N.Y. e-mail newsletters. look at it once a month, just to rethink it. It's "Ask, 'what do I want the web site to do Have you considered better ways of cap- not that there's always something to for my business?' A lot of people don't even turing leads? Leads and sales generated improve, but you should take a look at it know," Mr. Grushcow says. "We say that through the site can be improved by enhanc- routinely. you need to home in on another step. Should ing the way a site captures information. "If a business doesn't know that [state- the site just give background information, or Look at web site statistics to discover who ment] to be true, then they're probably not should it generate leads for me? And how visits your site, where your visitors are com- doing a good job in their business." do I get leads from my site?" ing from and which search engines are Businesses need to strike a chord with directing traffic to you. Dan McLean is editor-in-chief of publisher their specific type of customer, he says, Web site maintenance means regular ITWorldCanada.com. 9 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 Newspaper industry cancer initiative to raise millions with help from the Andrew E. Shapiro Cancer Foundation

By Debra Shapiro Weiss and legs, the strength he showed such as the AESC Foundation. annually to help fight cancer. The Andrew E. Shapiro standing at that podium created All donations made to AESC Participating newspapers Cancer Foundation a drive in me I had never felt will be combined into an annual will be provided with the NFC ndy Shapiro was before. It was at that moment I contribution on behalf of the logo, which can be inserted in always going knew I had to do something to newspaper industry as part of its publisher's box and/or mar- somewhere. continue his work and propel his the Foundation's Newspapers keting materials to show that During his 40-year hope that newspapers, as an Fighting Cancer (NFC) initia- they support this important career with Metro industry, would join in the fight tive. The program will bring cause. Donations by newspapers CreativeA Graphics, Inc., Shapiro against cancer. together newspapers from that are a part of the NFC initia- attended hundreds of newspaper In recent months, the across North America to pro- tive will be organized by the conventions, conferences and Foundation has been trans- mote cancer awareness and raise AESC Foundation into an annu- trade shows, made innumerable formed from an money to fight al donation to the American and presentations and met with idea into a reality. the many Canadian Cancer Societies on countless people all with one Its purpose, howev- forms of the behalf of the newspaper indus- purpose - to show how news- er, was clear from disease try. In addition to providing edi papers can increase revenue. the start, having through out- torial content for NFC news- Andy Shapiro understood the been inspired by reach to the papers, the American and power of newspapers, and he Shapiro's personal continent's Canadian Cancer Societies will challenged them to use that battle and faith in millions of team up with AESC to sponsor power in August 2005 - just two the industry: to newspaper awards to newspapers that months before his death from engage newspapers readers. The demonstrate outstanding out- non-smoking-related cancer - in driving expanded NFC initiative reach efforts during the year. when he took to the podium for cancer awareness, will, for the Newspapers can join the the last time to accept a lifetime in addition to first time in NFC coalition either by visiting achievement award from the fundraising for the history of www.andreweshapiro Newspaper Special Sections more aggressive the newspaper cancerfoundation.org, clicking Network (NSSN). cancer research, industry, bring on the home page button for During his acceptance especially the development of together newspapers - dailies, ‘Newspapers Fighting Cancer,’ speech, Shapiro called on publi- prescreening technologies to weeklies, shoppers, and both printing the participation form, cations large and small to use ensure earliest-stage diagnoses. paid - and free-circulation publi- and returning it to the their influence in the fight To achieve its goal, the cations - in the fight against can- Foundation or by emailing against cancer. Everyone in the AESC Foundation will inspire cer through fundraising efforts the Foundation at info@ audience listened closely, and and support efforts to raise con- including its annual Dollar andreweshapirocancerfounda- no one listened more intently sciousness and funds within the Drive. tion.org and requesting partici- than myself, Metro's Executive newspaper industry. Its web site, AESC will provide partici- pation materials. Vice President and Andy's www.andreweshapiro pating newspapers the informa- The Andrew E. Shapiro daughter. From my seat in the cancerfoundation.org, will fea- tion and materials they need to Cancer Foundation is based in audience that day, I was moved ture stories of successful pro- reach out to their readers during New York City, the Foundation to take up my father's call to grams, events and products sub- the year and request a $1 dona- was established in early 2006 as action - and the concept of the mitted by newspapers, along tion to the NFC initiative. The a creative, informational and Andrew E. Shapiro Cancer with access to editorial content - potential impact of this initiative fundraising resource for news- (AESC) Foundation was born. including materials developed is staggering: If each of the over papers that are committed to When my dad spoke to the by the American and Canadian 125,000,000 daily and weekly engaging the communities they NSSN audience, he exuded such Cancer Societies. Proceeds from newspapers circulated were to serve in efforts to promote can- bravery in the face of the fatal these projects will benefit news- collect just $1 from each of its cer awareness, research, pre- cancer that was ravaging his papers and their communities readers during the year, the screening, prevention and body. Knowing the numbness and can be donated either whol- newspaper industry could patient support. he was experiencing in his feet ly or in part to organizations donate at least $125,000,000 10 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 advertising Big surprises in little packages Don’t miss Chuck at the OCNA Convention in April! By Chuck Nau ket's growth. Insurance Specialists, 'We authorization form details the Murray & Nau, Inc. Let's briefly review what we Deliver!' Restaurants, Day campaign specifics - ad theme, he's too small. Their mean by cluster selling and Care) or all three may be linked insertion dates, individual costs products are really review some cluster or group (e.g. a high school Spring sports ... you and your retailer each fill unique. He provides a selling techniques to enhance package - baseball, track, golf). in a copy (duplicates of each great service, but it's your selling efforts and increase Each and every cluster page and other) sign them, and each of so specialized! She the likelihood of your success. each and every ad within the you retains one for reference. Sdraws her clientele from a very page should include a call to wide geographic area, in most - Cluster or group page pro- action ( ... stop in and ask for a - Additional considerations cases it's outside of our commu- motions consist of a number of free insurance quote and receive ... Invite each and every sales nity. smaller retailers and service a ...). rep to participate in your cluster Do those simple statements providers grouped together in or group page promotions. describe how you and your similar size spaces within a larg- - Sell a campaign, NOT an Consider offering an additional newspaper feel about some of er (full page) ad configuration ad. Whether you are pitching discount of 15 per cent (first and your smaller, non-traditional second ads are billed at normal retailers and service providers Don't forget that an rates with the third and last ad in your community? billed with a 15 per cent dis- In the past, have you and advertising campaign must consist of five count). DO NOT sell location your newspaper found it diffi- elements ... a series of ads - in a timeframe within the cluster or group page cult to develop an ongoing rela- ad, rather develop a balanced tionship with many of these - to meet an IDENTIFIED need, problem or 'spec ad' ... three horizontal unique, yet local business peo- opportunity - with an allocated budget - rows with four advertisers in ple? Various circumstances each row for a total of 12 adver- from your advertiser's perspec- with a desired outcome. tisers ... and rotate position dur- tive and from you and your ing the course of the campaign newspaper's perspective may under a common theme. Cluster stand alone clusters or theme (top row moves to the bottom, preclude the opportunity for or group pages tie into a com- linked cluster or group pages, middle row moves to top and one-on-one selling to some of munity event, a sales opportuni- sell a schedule with a MINI- bottom row moves to middle on your market's smaller, unique ty (Halloween ideas for little MUM of three insertions. This second insertion, etc.) retailers or service providers. ghosts and goblins) or to help to should be a must! Why? A cam- Helping the retailers and service Available budget, inventory build awareness to a competi- paign maximizes your advertis- providers in your community limitations or restrictions, or tive advantage or location ers opportunity for success by maintain a public awareness of seasonal variances are just some (Savings Galore in Old Towne) increasing visibility (... and who they are and what they do of the constraints some of your and allow a mutual and equal response!) through frequency or sell helps the growth of your market's retailers may face sharing of ad costs. Sense of and maximizes your selling retailer or service provider, your when planning a promotional or community, reduced ad invest- time by selling three at a time. community, your newspaper advertising campaign. ment costs, and increased Don't forget that an advertising and YOU! Overcoming these limita- awareness to who they are and campaign must consist of five Your newspaper best repre- tions and challenges and devel- what they do are the major ben- elements ... a series of ads - in a sents your community. Through oping some creative and well efits to your small retailers and timeframe - to meet an IDENTI- a local environment of news and thought out opportunities will service providers. FIED need, problem or opportu- advertising, your newspaper help these smaller, unique nity - with an allocated budget - creates the marketplace for your retailers or service providers - Each account list or territo- with a desired outcome. community. GROW. Likewise, you and your ry at your newspaper has a vari- newspaper will benefit by con- ety of cluster or group page - Utilize some special sell- Chuck Nau of © Murray & Nau, verting these smaller and unique advertising opportunities. Don't ing tools to eliminate misunder- Inc. is a Seattle area based non-newspaper advertisers into overlook a whole market cluster standings ... create a powerful publishing consultant and sales and regular, consistent albeit limited or group page opportunity, too 'spec ad' (with colour) allowing management trainer. He has been a smaller space clients. (e.g. eight non-advertising vet- you to strategize with your speaker for and conducted Clustering these potential erinary clinics are grouped into potential advertisers, to show advertising, marketing, manage- advertisers with or without tra- one community wide 'vet' refer- your newspaper's creativity, to ment and sales training workshops ditional advertisers will help ence ad). save your retailer AND you with newspapers, niche publishers, solidify you and your newspa- time and to assure BOTH you publishing groups and press associ- per's presence in the market- - Ideally, work to develop a and your retailer’s success. ations, throughout North America. place, and help your smaller MINIMUM of three clusters or Additionally, create a written E-mail: [email protected]. or retailers and service providers group pages at a time. Each of authorization form for your call (425) 603 - 0984. grow, also assuring your mar- the three may stand alone (Auto retailer and you to sign. Each 11 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 Grand River Sachem CLASSIFIEDS celebrates 150th Help Wanted an easy “plug-in” to your existing The Advertising program at newspaper layout. And at just Sheridan is hiring (again!) in $5.00 per article, they’re also an response to continued high easy “plugin” to your budget. Who student demand and program says a local weekly newspaper growth. can’t cover the cosmos? Certainly not The Backyard Astronomer. For Now hiring a Professor of samples in pdf format, contact: Advertising. Minimum qualifica- [email protected] tions would be at least five years advertising or other related Life 101 industry experience and a B.A. Guaranteed laughs mean guaran- teed readership. Give your The job posting is on Workopolis readers ANOTHER great reason now and closes in mid March. to open your paper. Life 101 Please don't send any resumes to by Mark Thrice. E-mail: the address below - it must all go jhollingsworth@bowesnet. com. online. Looking to improve Congratulations to the Caledonia Grand River Sachem for its 150th Please advise anyone you know your sales? anniversary of serving its community. They celebrated in style at an who might be interested. Have your sales fizzled? Light a Open House on February 6. Shown here, left to right, are Sales -- fire under your sales team. Representative Nancy Plank, Haldimand County Mayor Marie Ian Fisher acquireyourfire.com Trainer, Associate Publisher Neil Dring, Candonia Regional Chamber Professor, First Year Student of Commerce President Randy Peirson, and Sales Representative Jill Advisor Buying & Selling Maraszkiewcz. Advertising Program A Business Column School of Business Are you looking for punchy arti- The Sheridan College Institute of cles from an Ontario author who Technology and Advanced specializes in mergers and acqui- Learning sitions? Doug Robbins is your Water Cooler 1430 Trafalgar Road, solution. Doug writes columns to Oakville, ON L6H 2L1 Canada capture interest. Your circulation (905) 845-9430 x 2759 gleans valuable, useful tips Fax (905) 815-4010 regarding buying and selling a • Joel Hoidas stepped into the role of editor for the Fort Erie Times, Alternate fax: (905) 815-4174 business. He is a member of the effective February 6. Hoidas, who joined The Times as the paper's [email protected] editorial board of a GTA newspa- Reporter/Photographer in February 2004 will take over the reins for one http://advertising.sheridaninstitute.ca per. His fees are nominal. Call year while the paper's editor, Dianne Duckett, is on maternity leave. Joyce Hansen, Class Act • The Glencoe Transcript and Free Press was sold to Hayter-Walden Connections, 905-278-0952 today Publications Inc on January 12, 2006. Walter VanderKwaak will stay on The Backyard Astronomer to book Doug. for a few months during the transition. Hayter-Walden also publishes Brings The Stars Down the Parkhill Gazette, Forest Standard, and Watford Guide Advocate. To Earth Spaghetti for Breakfast • The Osprey Media Income Fund has acquired the 1000 Islands Written for anyone with a sense by Catherine Cunningham is an Publishers Ltd in Gananoque, which runs a commercial printing busi- of curiosity, The Backyard award-winning humour column ness and operates the Gananoque Reporter, a paid circulation week- Astronomer, will turn on the light loved by readers of all ages is ly. bulb inside your head and put a available for syndication at only • Jim Blake, publisher of the Chatham Daily News, has assumed the smile on your face. Author and $7.00 per column.To receive a responsibility of publisher of the North Kent Leader group of publica- amateur astronomer, John promotional package call tions in Dresden, Ontario. Blake will also be responsible for the Farm Crossen, brings a lively and infor- 705-440-6771 or e-mail publication Voice of The Farmer, also produced in Dresden. mative writing style to a subject spaghettiforbreakfast • Robert Heath former owner of Weyburn This Week of Saskatchewan which he enjoys passionately. And @rogers.com Previously pub- has accepted the duties of editor at the local Dresden weekly newspa- his enthusiasm shows in an lished columns can be viewed on- per. Heath, a former SWNA/CCNA board of director member, sold his intriguing array of articles that line at http://www.simcoe.com/sc/ newspapers and moved back to Ontario. entertain readers and score big as alliston/ column/v-scv2/ • Former Leader publisher Denise Thibeault has accepted the position the universe on the “wow-meter.” Laughter is now on the menu. of specialty publications manager at Osprey's Sarnia Observer news- Updated weekly, they are avail- Order your weekly serving of paper. able in halfpage or quarter-page Spaghetti for Breakfast today! • Elliot Tremblay has joined Metroland’s Runge Newspaper Group as sizes. The handy PDF formats are distribution manager. • Ellwood Shreve, a reporter for the Chatham Daily News has been nominated for an Ontario Newspaper Award (ONA) for his coverage of municipal affairs in 2005. 12 OCNA’S NEWSCLIPS • FEBRUARY 2006 Community Newspaper photography seminar By Marianne Helm available to continue learning the Western Canadian News for more details). Western Canadian News about news photography Photographers Association We have some great speak- Photographers Association ·How your digital camera Photographer of the Year award ers already confirmed*: Jim thinks and tips to overcome the for work in 2001. He’s also Gehrz, the NPPA Newspaper n behalf of the inherent limitations of digital worked on several book projects Photographer of the Year from Western Canadian point-and-shoot cameras including ‘A Day in the Life of the Minneapolis Star Tribune; News ·Also, a chance to meet Canada’, ‘Share the Flame’and Farah Nosh, a Western Photographers with camera company ‘A Day in the Life of the NHL’. Academy of Photography grad Association, I am representatives at the who was recently named to the Owriting to encourage you to trade show who can Photo District News ‘30’ - the come and check out a fantastic help you with specific 30 emerging photographers in opportunity during the camera questions. the world to watch for; Andrew Photojournalism 2006 Stawicki, co-founder of Conference that will be held in Grant Black, 48, PhotoSensitive who will speak Winnipeg, Manitoba, on May joined the Calgary about long-term projects and the 12, 13 and 14th. Herald in April 2000. sensitivities of documenting Grant Black, senior photog- Born in Deloraine, social issues; and Warren Toda, rapher at the Calgary Herald, is Manitoba, a freelancer who is Canada’s holding a Friday afternoon he grew up in foremost voice on the business workshop specifically geared Yorkton, of photography. (once more towards community newspa- Saskatchewan, and speakers are confirmed they pers. For an incredibly reason- worked as a photogra- will be announced at able rate of $40, Grant is invit- pher for Yorkton This www.wcnpa.ca/pj2006.htm) ing community newspaper pho- Week before joining (*speaker list subject to change) tographers, reporter/photogra- The Windsor Star, You can get your phers, editors and publishers to where he was a pho- registration form at: attend this three-hour work- tographer and photo http://www.wcnpa.ca/ shop, designed to help commu- editor. He was a staff grantworkshop.htm nity newspapers take and pub- member of the If you have any questions lish better photos, and will Loyalist Photography about the seminar, contact cover topics like: Workshop, which offered a His photographs have been pub- Grant Black directly at ·Picture thinking and four-day photography workshop lished in many Canadian news- [email protected]. I planning for community newspaper papers, and in Macleans, would also be happy to answer ·Bright ideas for routine reporters for over ten years. Canadian Geographic and any questions you may have assignments we all shoot He’s given workshops at Newsweek. about the conference. Feel free ·Eleven techniques to help the Ontario Community Should you or your employ- to contact me in Winnipeg at you take pictures with impact Newspapers Association con- ees decide to stay for the rest of 204-231-4782 or by e-mail at ·Captions and archiving vention, the Alberta Weekly the weekend for the WCNPA [email protected]. ·Photo editing and designing Newspapers Association con- Photojournalism 2006 confer- picture pages for impact vention and at the Caribou Press ence, the $40 workshop fee Marianne Helm is the ·A quick look at PhotoShop conference in BC. will be deducted from WCNPA Photojournalism 2006 and digital workflow He covered the Salt Lake the weekend fee (see Conference Chair. ·Overview of resources City Olympics in 2002 and won www.wcnpa.ca/pj2006.htm

OCNA TEAM OCNA OFFICERS Bill Laidlaw, Executive Director; Anne Lannan, Dave Armstrong, President, New Liskeard Temiskaming Member Services Manager; Todd Frees, Controller; Speaker; Mike Williscraft, First Vice-President, Niagara This Published monthly by the Lucia Shepherd, Accounting/CNRIE; Karen Shardlow, Week; Rick Shaver, Second Vice-President, Cornwall Seaway Ontario Community Accounting; Nancy Burman, Newsprint; Lynn Fenton, News; Marie David, Secretary/Treasurer, South Grey/Bruce, Newspapers Association Carolyn Press, Minna Schmidt, Sean Hind, AdReach; The Post; Cam McKnight, Past President, Sun Media. OCNA DIRECTORS 3050 Harvester Rd. Ste 103 Carol Lebert, Sales Coordinator; Ian Youseman, Burlington, Ontario, IT Technician; Gordon Cameron, Government J.T. Grossmith, Alexandria Glengarry News; L7N 3J1 Relations Associate; Shaba Qureshi, Communications Abbas Homayed, Sudbury Northern Life; Linda Plumridge, Tel: (905) 639-8720 Coordinator; Wendi Krulicki, Human Resources Fort Frances Times; Keith Roulston; Blyth/Brussels Citizen; Fax: (905) 639-6962 Associate; Shari Willerton, New Business Development Dave Sykes, Goderich Signal-Star; Doreen Sykes, http://www.ocna.org Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin; Peter Winkler, E-mail to: NewsClips Editor: Shaba Qureshi [email protected] Metroland Southwest Division