Wanted to share this GREAT idea by the folks at the Star Democrat in Easton, Md. They are holding a photo contest and the winning photos will be used as the background image on their website.

Here is the information from a story posted at www.stardem.com:

The website edition of the Star Democrat is holding a photo contest with winners seeing their photos used as the background for Stardem.com for a week, according to Jeff Schneider, marketing director for ACM Chesapeake, the Star Democrat’s parent company.

The Coupon Queens meet to swap coupons and ideas at their last meeting in Miami, Okla.

This holiday story idea comes from the staff of the Miami (Okla.) News-Record. It centers around the coupon craze that has swept the nation, and is a great way to not only promote how shoppers can find deals with coupons, but also how many of those same coupons can be found in the local newspaper.

Here is the first three graphs of Melinda Stotts story:

Serious savings. The Coupon Queens take saving money to a whole new level. The Coupon Queen group was started after Jacque Adey began a Facebook page as a place for her to go to “like” pages relating to couponing to keep from overloading her news feed on her personal Facebook page.

“I had no idea what kind of a frenzy it would cause!”Adey said.

Adey, who works at Walmart, said she became interested in couponing in July after watching the TLC show “Extreme Couponers,” but said, “I can’t watch it any more because it’s so unrealistic.The only time you see them saving money is when they go and buy a thousand of one thing, of course you’re going to save money if something goes on sale for a dollar and you have a dollar coupon. But for me just saving money is nice.”

To read the full story from Melinda Stotts click this link:
http://www.miamiok.com/news/article_403df086-12e8-11e1-bf55-001cc4c002e0.html#.TsqObHOlc9d 

After promoting the Jackson County (Ohio) Times Journal’s use of Cover It Live to provide up-to-the-minute election results, I thought it appropriate to share these tips on how to best manage a live chat on your website.

This comes from www.poynter.org:

A live chat is a production that requires clear roles and responsibilities. The moderator role is central; he or she works behind the scenes to create a smooth experience by relying on  a strategy proven to increase participation and engagement. This strategy enables a moderator to open lines of communication between journalists and the public by fostering a meaningful discussion about the news of the day.

Drawing on my experience moderating Poynter.org chats via Cover it Live, I’ve come up with 10 tips on how to moderate a successful live chat.

Full the full story, go to this link:
http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/digital-strategies/150772/10-tips-for-moderating-a-successful-live-chat/

The front page of the Athens Messenger for Friday, Oct. 28, 2011

The Athens (Ohio) Messenger published the perfect example of how a local newspaper should treat a big-time Friday Night Football matchup in today’s edition.

The newspaper, at the urging of publisher and regional manager Monica Nieporte, pulled out all the stops in today’s edition previewing the game featuring two undefeated local high school football teams. The winner will move on in the playoffs and finish the regular season 10-0.

The Athens Messenger staff scored a touchdown with all the various  features in today’s edition. There is the page one feature and design teasers; the Facebook feedback section on page 4; the two high school spirit pages that fans can use to cheer for their teams in the stands; and the business shout-out pages.

All of that is in one edition of the printed publication. Wow!

Said, Nieporte, “Today’s paper is a great testament to the quality of people you have here in Athens and what can be accomplished on very short notice when everyone works as a team. I had a “brain child” Wednesday afternoon as I drove past Athens High School’s football field…. (Friday night) Athens and Nelsonville play each other for the the division title and both teams are 9-0. No one can remember if that has ever happened before where both teams were undefeated with the whole championship on the line when they played each other. We felt this warranted something beyond our usual Friday night football coverage.

“The editorial people got to writing, posed questions on Facebook, did an online poll, and designed a great looking paper. The sales people and graphics people sketched out a plan for ad sales and filled a double truck plus sold a strip ad at the bottom of the fan banner pages that fans can choose which team they support and take that banner to the game to wave from the stands.

“I think what the team did in less than 48 hours is pretty remarkable.”

We couldn’t agree more!

Check out the gallery of pages in today’s Athens Messenger.

Front page of the Monday, Oct. 24, Star Democrat in Easton, MD.

One of the daily practices I liked to do when serving as a publisher and editor at the various community daily and weekly newspapers that I previously worked at was to count the number of local faces we had in each edition.

During the week, our benchmark was 25-50 local faces in each Monday through Friday edition. On Sunday, our goal was 100-150 local faces.

Do you do a similar exercise? If not, try it. It is a great way to see if your newspaper is publishing enough local photos and highlighting the activities of the community and achievements of its residents.

Some of these faces would be included in grip-and-grin style photos taken by both staff and readers, and while grip-and-grin photos are a “no-no” among photojournalism purists, they are a rite of passage in community media.

A community page published by the Star-Democrat of Easton, Md., featuring nearly 100 faces on one page!

But, that’s not to say that your entire newspaper should be full of grip-and-grins, nor should they be featured on your front page.

It’s always important to make sure as many photos as possible in your newspaper have a human element in them. Don’t let your reporters and editors run a photo of empty swings with the story about the new park in town, please make sure they get a photo with children using the swings — even if it means they have to make sure and take the time to wait until there are kids at the park. And, of course, do not pose or set up photos just to get that human element.

Photojournalists are witnesses to history — not makers of it.

After doing a little research, the best example of using both staff and reader-submitted photos to add some elements to an inside page and publish nearly 100 faces on one page allow could be found in the Monday, Oct. 24, Star Democrat of Easton, Md.

A local news page in the Monday, Oct. 24, edition of the Star-Democrat of Easton, Md.

In a Monday edition, they had approximately 150-160 faces in the newspaper.

Great job!

Attached with this post is a community page with several photos and local bulletins.

Talk with your staff about making sure your newspaper has a “human element” in every edition.

Photos involving people in your community are a great way to achieve this, as well as adding more graphic elements to your inside pages, which tend to be a little gray in the majority of our newspapers.

Your readers will notice and appreciate the difference.

The E-T "Fan of the Week" feature on the sports pages of the Stephenville (Texas) Empire-Tribune.

It’s no secret that we here at ACM Newsroom love unique ideas that involve our readers.

And that’s why we love this idea — the E-T Fan of the Week — being orchestrated by the staff of the Stephenville (TX) Empire-Tribune.

Each week, the E-T staff is highlighting a “Fan of the Week,” who has his or her photo taken at a local football game. The photo is published in the newspaper, and that person receives a prize by stopping by the newspaper office.

What a simple idea, and what a way to include readers in your publication and give them a prize to brighten your day.

This promotion could be done during all sports seasons, not just football. Could you add this as a basketball, wrestling or hockey feature this winter? I bet you could!