Last year, Digital First Media challenged its newspapers to submit creative and community-focused ideas for their newsrooms. The Mercury in Pottstown generated a proposal for a public space where the Pottstown community could gather for meetings and events, have access to computers and peruse newspapers’ archives, among other activities. In May 2012, The Mercury staff learned that their project was one of ten community newsroom projects across the country selected for funding through Digital First Media. A month later, on June 20, The Mercury in Pottstown opened the doors to its Community Media Lab.

The Commonwealth Court has held that providing access to information stored in databases is not “creating a record” for purposes of section 705 of the RTKL and also ordered the production of addresses.

National Newspaper Week 2012 is October 7-13 and this year’s theme is “NEWSPAPERS – The cornerstone of your community.” Please join PNA in promoting the important role of newspapers with this annual celebration.

The Postal Regulatory Commission approved a negotiated services agreement between the U.S. Postal Service and Valassis Direct Mail on August 23, despite opposition from hundreds of newspapers, state and national press associations, its own Public Representative, and many members of Congress.

PNA members can now benefit from a unique agreement recently formed between PNA and Local Media Association (LMA). A number of products and services, including sales training, the Local Media Innovation Alliance, webinars and conferences, will be made available to PNA members (who are not already members of LMA) at reduced non-member prices.

The Patriot-News (Harrisburg), announced significant changes to its operations this morning, including the creation of PA Media Group, an increased commitment to digital news and products, and the commencement of a three-day print schedule beginning on January 1, 2013.

The Newspaper Association of America is stunned by the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision today to approve an anti-competitive and damaging negotiated services agreement (or special contract rate) between the U.S. Postal Service and Valassis Direct Mail.

Football season is set to kick off and The Associated Press is offering an easy way for member newspapers to score touchdowns with readers and advertisers through its latest ready-to-publish online packages – the College Football and NFL Head-To-Head Digital News Experiences.

As part of Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC bankruptcy proceedings, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a precedential opinion that linking to articles that contain allegedly defamatory content is not “republication” for purposes of defamation law. This holding is a significant victory for newspapers, and it is the first appellate court opinion on this issue decided in the context of Pennsylvania’s defamation statute.

Advantage Newspaper Consultants, Inc. (ANC), a newspaper industry leader in advertising sales consulting, announced the enormous success of the recent TV magazine sales campaign at The Tampa Tribune. During this campaign, the first time ANC has worked with the large, metro market in Tampa, Florida; advertising revenue of more than $401,000 exceeded the annual goal of $300,000 by 34%.

When it comes to reaching new readers, news organizations are obviously branching out beyond the traditional print product. These days, websites and social media play a crucial a role in audience engagement. A growing number of people now turn to their mobile or handheld devices for everything from the news to traffic reports. Media companies can tap into this potential audience by connecting via the device that most often attracts their attention – their smartphone.

As news organizations find more ways to engage their readers, they have a number of social media tools at their fingertips. While Facebook and Twitter already have an established place in the newsroom, media companies are starting to experiment with Internet's latest social networking platform - Pinterest.

Edward J. Lentz, Joseph A. Fitzpatrick, Jr., Joseph A. Bubba, Emil W. Kantra, and Douglas J. Smillie have once again been included in this year’s Pennsylvania Super Lawyers. Less than five percent of the lawyers in the state were selected.

News organizations can easily bolster their online ad revenue through MANSI Media’s Online Pennsylvania Network, powered by LocalYokel Media (LYM) – the Internet’s first hyperlocal ad marketplace designed to act as a premium revenue partner for publishers. Studies show that 80% of local business transactions occur within 15 miles of consumers’ homes. LocalYokel Media focuses on those 15 miles.

When the criminal charges against Jerry Sandusky were announced, people scrambled to find out when Penn State officials had learned about the monstrous acts alleged and what they had done about them. The public quickly discovered this information could be hidden forever because the state’s flagship university is exempt from Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law. Its records are completely outside the public’s reach.

Pulse Research has released the results of the just concluded Quarter 4, 2011 Pulse of America readership and consumer shopping survey with almost 6,000 sample from all 50 states.

In Easton Area School District v. Baxter, the Commonwealth Court ordered the school district to supply emails sent between individual board members and the superintendent over the course of one month in 2010. Chris Baxter, a reporter with The Morning Call (Allentown) at the time, requested access to the emails.

PNA is delighted to welcome our newest affiliate member, Local Yokel Media. Local Yokel Media is the internet's first hyperlocal online ad marketplace. Studies show that 80% of local business transactions occur within 15 miles of consumers' homes. Local Yokel Meida focuses on those 15 miles. They empower local businesses to efficiently reach audiences in their immediate service area with the proprietary platform that drives results with virtually no wasted media. At the core of the LYM marketplace are local publishers who reach into local communities. They are trusted sources for hyperlocal news and content affecting those communities. This level of granular, local targeting can dramatically increase ad receptivity and performance.

Parent company of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and philly.com select Brainworks to partner with their technology driven innovation initiatives. Sayville, NY, December 22, 2011 – Philadelphia Media Network (PMN), publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and philly.com has selected Brainworks Software to provide a fully hosted, centralized, advertising software system. PMN will implement a complete Brainworks integrated advertising system including classified, retail, preprint and online advertising, as well as classified self-service web ad order entry, advertiser web access, data mining, sales force automation, integrated marketing, sales budgeting, pagination and Morcor’s Xpanse Ad Tracking system.