Byline strike at York Daily Record/Sunday News
Members of the York Newspaper Guild voted July 18 to institute a byline strike to protest what it claims has been a failure by the publisher of the York Daily Record/Sunday News to bargain a new labor contract in good faith.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Monster.com @ Phila. papers
Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C. has picked the online job site Monster.com to replace CareerBuilder.com as its help-wanted ad partner for The Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com, starting in mid-August.

The Philadelphia newspapers gross more than $10 million a year from online job ads -- just 2 percent of total revenue -- but online ads have been growing by double-digit annual margins while department-store, auto and other, larger categories have fallen recently, according to Joe Natoli, publisher of the Philadelphia newspapers.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

NAA Foundation honors outstanding young reader programs
Congratulations to three Pennsylvania newspapers who earned honors for their young reader programs.

The Gettysburg Times earned second place for general excellence in daily circulation under 15,000. The Daily American, Somerset, earned third place in the same category. And the Erie Times-News earned honorable mention for general excellence, daily circulation between 50,000 and 99,999.

The awards were presented during the NAA Foundation’s Young Reader Conference in St. Louis.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Lancaster Newspaper's stake in project surprises foes
The public learned for the first time what stake each of the investors in the hotel part of the Lancaster Convention Center project holds.

According to testimony by a Penn Square Partners executive, Penn Square Limited, which is owned by Lancaster Newspapers, owns 44 percent.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

From the Hotline:
A local Magisterial District Judge has been redacting birth dates, witness names and other information from court files before providing them to us. Is that OK?

PNA's General Counsel Teri Henning answers this question.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Use this link to visit the Headlines & Deadlines page which groups and archives Teri Henning's weekly 'From the Hotline' columns. 

[HOTLINE ARCHIVE]

McHugh stepping down as Times Leader publisher; Connor to take over
Times Leader President and Publisher Patrick McHugh announced July 20 that he is stepping down. The reins of the paper will now be held by Rich Connor, a former Times Leader publisher who recently assembled investors to buy the paper.

McHugh was named publisher in March 1999, following more than a quarter century of newspaper work for various Knight Ridder properties.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

MediaNews Chief Dean Singleton becomes AP chairman-elect
William Dean Singleton, the vice chairman and CEO of MediaNews Group Inc., has been chosen by The Associated Press Board of Directors to take over as chairman when Burl Osborne, publisher emeritus of The Dallas Morning News, completes his five years as chairman of the group May 2007. Until then, Singleton will continue to serve as the board's vice chairman.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Mercury publisher, Pfeifer, steps down
Dennis Pfeiffer left The Mercury July 21 after 30 years with either The Mercury or its sister publication, The Penny Pincher.

He began at The Mercury in 1975 as an ad salesman. He rose from assistant retail manager to retail sales manager to advertising director and then, in 1988, started the Penny Pincher publications.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Public officials and press agree: No sales tax
PNA Director of Government Affairs Deborah Musselman: It’s always gratifying when decision makers, administrators – even bureaucrats! – agree with the press on matters of public policy, and that’s what we’re excited to report here today.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Henning: Update on electronic access to court records and District Judge case files
There have been a number of developments in terms of access to court records this year, including advances (and set backs) relating to electronic access. We have reason to cheer, however, about the most recent assistance provided to us from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

PNA is now accepting entries for:

Reader Initiative Award
Deadline: Aug. 18, 2006
[CLICK FOR MORE]

Circulation Excellence Awards
Deadline: Aug. 4
[CLICK FOR MORE]

Classified Advertising Tearsheet Contest
Deadline: Aug. 11
[CLICK FOR MORE]

Benjamin Franklin Award for Excellence
Deadline: Aug. 25
[CLICK FOR MORE]

Lifetime Achievement Award
Deadline: Aug. 25
[CLICK FOR MORE]

NIE supplement on financial literacy to be made available in August
The Heinz Endowments is sponsoring a NIE supplement on financial literacy for use by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association and its member newspapers.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Learn how to dress up your Web site with Soundslides
Aug. 8, 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Penn State University Campus, 006 Carnegie Building
Cost: $60 PNA members, $85 Non-members
Lunch at the Nittany Lion Inn included
Hosted by PSU College of Communications.
Space is limited in the digital lab.

This seminar will include a demonstration combining Flash and the Soundslides program to further enhance slide shows. Soundslides is a very simple audio slideshow program for the Macintosh platform that enables you to create compelling and dynamic audio slideshows for your newspaper's Web site. With an investment of about $200 (for the programs and a digital audio recorder) and what you learn in this seminar, you can be using Soundslides.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Circulation Master Strategies
Aug. 15, PNA headquarters
Cost: $75
Three national organizations are joining forces to present a unique circulation seminar that will examine circulation strategies as a composite, integrated whole, combining business, management, practical and legal components.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Leadership Development with Edward Miller
Aug. 21, PNA headquarters
Cost: $175
This workshop focuses on newsroom leadership, but anyone working at a daily or weekly newspaper would find it valuable. It's a great opportunity to build leadership skills throughout the staff. Topics addressed will include: motivating people, evaluating performance, managing goals and time, handling difficult people and working successfully with peers and bosses. This day- long workshop is being led by Edward Miller, popular coach and consultant to newspapers around the world and author of "Reflections on Leadership."

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Study: Newspapers that attract teens retain them as adults
A new study shows that teenagers who read the newspaper continue the habit as they get older -- sort of. According to the Newspaper Association of America Foundation, 75 percent of those surveyed between the ages of 18 and 24 who said they read a newspaper when they were younger (13-to-17) now read their local paper at least once a week.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

Wage survey: Low starting pay and small raises for journos
On average, cub reporters at daily newspapers make less than $30,000 their first year, according to the most comprehensive industry report on salaries and compensation.

The 2006 Newspaper Industry Compensation Survey found that the average entry-level salary last year for the 521 dailies participating in the study is up 17.3% from 2001, but is still a humble $29,048, or 558.62 a week.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

NAA to profile 20 under 40
NAA's Presstime December issue will profile 20 under 40, a group of young industry achievers from NAA-member newspapers. These people are selected from all facets of the industry and from newspapers of all sizes. Nominees must be from NAA-member newspapers.

[CLICK FOR MORE]

New study shows print media embracing online opportunities
Online news publishers are incorporating new forms of content in an effort to expand their user base and increase advertising and potential subscription revenue, research from Northwestern University suggests.

The study, which surveyed more than 150 print publications in both the U.S. and UK, suggests publishers' objectives have shifted from the original launch of their online edition, 10 years ago.

[CLICK FOR MORE]