11/13/2015

Convention preview: Pulitzer salute, virtual reality and more

By Dennis Hetzel, Executive Director

A multimedia salute to Ohio’s Pulitzer Prize winners. A demonstration of how virtual reality tools can create mind-blowing journalism. Take-home ideas for ad directors and editors. A state-of-the-business talk from one of our industry’s leading executives.

Circle Feb. 17-18, 2016, on your calendars now. All that and more is on tap for the 2016 Ohio Newspaper Association convention at the Hilton Columbus at Polaris. Our Convention Committee also has held registration pricing at 2015 rates and the convention hotel offers awesome access to shopping and dining options on the north side of Columbus.

We’re particularly jazzed by the Pulitzer program; our effort to mark the 100^th anniversary of the most important awards in journalism. Ohio newspapers have been at the forefront from the beginning.

Consider this partial list: The iconic photograph taken by a student journalist during the Kent State shootings in 1970. A Canton editor who lost his life for exposing political corruption in the 1920s. The powerful editorial cartoons of Mike Peters of the Dayton Daily News and Jim Borgman of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Award-winning commentary by nationally syndicated columnist Connie Schultz when she was a columnist for the Plain Dealer. The investigative journalism of the Akron Beacon Journal and Toledo Blade. And then there’s the Xenia Gazette -- one of the smallest papers ever to win a Pulitzer for the staff’s work when a tornado devastated their community.

Our program will be a powerful, uplifting reminder of the importance of local journalism and what newspapers do. Working with mentor newsrooms in Akron and Cleveland, Ohio University students are producing a “Ken Burns-style” video and Bowling Green students are building a multimedia website. We will encourage our members to take this program across the state – not only in their own offices but to service clubs and other organizations in their communities.

Following the debut showing of the video, Connie Schultz will moderate a discussion on where journalism is going in changing times with Wesley Lowrey of the Washington Post. Lowery, a Cleveland-area native who attended OU, was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team at the Boston Globe for coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing. Today he’s a national reporter for the Post on issues involving law enforcement, justice, race and politics.

Here are some other program highlights:

Virtual reality: Gannett and the New York Times are industry leaders in showing the power of virtual reality to tell stories – and the advertising opportunities could be huge as well. We’ll have a Gannett expert giving live demonstrations of “VR” during the convention and during our editors’ roundtable. (Here’s a link to a Poynter article on VR.)

View from the top: Ralph Martin, an industry veteran who was recently named CEO of Civitas Media – Ohio’s largest newspaper group in terms of number of titles – will deliver a keynote address on the state of our industry and where he sees things going.

The exemption minefield: Looming changes in the status of employees, overtime exemptions and independent contractors can have huge impact on newspapers. Camille Olson of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading experts on employment law, will offer a general session that publishers and department heads should not miss.

Roundtables for editors and ad directors: News and advertising leaders rarely have a chance to meet and exchange ideas these days. Lori Figurski, regional ad director for Ogden Newspapers, returns to moderate a forum for ad directors. This year’s forum will include a discussion on the impact of ad blocking software led by Amie Stein of the Local Media Association. Last year’s program was so well-received that we added a similar program for news executives, which will be moderated by Peter Bhatia of Enquirer Media in Cincinnati. Participants in either session are encouraged to bring “one great idea” to discuss and share. Then the floor will open to discuss any issues the group wants to tackle.

What’s your paper worth?: Sales of newspapers seem to be on the upswing. Sara April, vice president of Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, perhaps the industry’s leading merger and acquisition firm, is in the middle of many of them. She’ll provide guidance on the latest trends and what factors are most important to consider in establishing valuations.

Leveraging big data: “Big data” is more than a trendy topic. News organizations of all sizes are using it right now to substantially grow revenue and audience. Learn more from Michael Moses of The Day in New London, Conn., and Amie Stein of the Local Media Association.

New ‘tips and tricks’ for journalists: Doug Haddix, director of the Kiplinger program in public affairs journalism at Ohio State and the former training director of Investigative Reporters & Editors, returns to offer the latest tips, tricks and digital resources to help reporters do their jobs better and faster.

Election coverage that matters: Ohio will be Ground Zero of American politics again in 2016. Our program will help papers of any size offer meaningful, interesting election coverage that focuses on what your readers want and need to know instead of simply “covering the horse race” or regurgitating what the candidates are saying in their scripted speeches.

Growing digital revenue: Two industry leaders will focus on fresh ideas in digital advertising, going beyond display “banners” into areas such as creating resell programs and email database marketing services for advertisers.   The panel will include Jim Barger of Media Links Advertising and Michelle Novak of Presslaff Interactive.

The state of our sunshine laws: New challenges seem to emerge all the time to keep records and public meetings open in Ohio. Legal experts Jack Greiner and Karen Lefton will be joined by journalist Mark Naymik of Northeast Ohio Media Group to discuss what’s going on and best practices to help reporters get the access they need.

As always, we’ll have a great opening night reception, our silent auction to raise money for the Ohio Newspapers Foundation, our weekly newspaper roundtables and the Hooper and Collegiate awards program. And, there are more program announcements to come.

So, circle those dates. Or go ahead and register for the convention today.