If you have any interest in boosting your newspaper's circulation, plan to attend the "Growing Readers, Audience & Service: Circulation Training for Today's Newspapers" workshop on Friday, Feb. 24, in St. Louis.

During this interactive session hosted by the Missouri Press Foundation and Illinois Press Foundation, Steve Wagenlander will share industry leading best practices to increase circulation revenue, grow audience and improve overall customer satisfaction with your newspaper. Wagenlander also will update the group on the latest in... continued...

"Follow the Money: Tracking Companies' Influence on Politics"

The 2012 election campaign promises to be one of the most expensive ever, with companies contributing even more because of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Citizens United case in 2010. That ruling says that government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections.

But corporate influence on politics extends beyond campaign contributions to lobbying expenditures and contributions to independent groups trying to sway elections. Then, there’s the question of how to tie it all together –... continued...

Missouri newspapers publishing the new free serial, “Patriotic Pals, Tails of the Civil War,” can now access a feature story, biography and photo of author Chris Stuckenschneider to promote the story when they download the project files at www.mo-nie.com using download code: readmo12.

This year’s Reading Across Missouri story commemorates the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War (1861-1865), highlighting pups with a purpose -- dog mascots. There are nine chapters, a companion teacher guide you may post on your website, and a promotional ad to let readers know when the story will begin in your newspaper. 

Newspapers are encouraged to begin the story in January or early February. The publication window is a bit wider this year due to a partnership with the National Newspaper Association, so be sure and read the Guidelines also posted under the download code. Contact Dawn Kitchell with questions.

The Missouri Press Association and The AP invite you to their annual Day at the Capitol in Jefferson City on Thursday, Feb. 9. You also are welcome and encouraged to attend a reception with legislators on Wednesday evening, Feb. 8, in the DoubleTree Hotel in the capital city.

This is a free program for MPA and AP members, but you must register by Feb. 3. (If you register and do not attend, your newspaper will be billed $25 per person to help cover costs of food and materials.)

  The result of several months of effort to gather thousands of details and compile them for your benefit and use is complete.  Most of this information is not compiled anywhere else, making the MPA Newspaper Directory a valuable and unique source of information.

Order your copy today, in print, on a CD or via an online database!

The entry forms and rules are available to download for the 2012 Missouri Advertising Managers' Association Contest.  Your readers have been responding to your ads all year. Enter TODAY and be RECOGNIZED by your peers.

Go to the Newspaper Contests page to download them.

The Agenda of the conference can be found here MAMA Agenda.

The contest is open to all staff members of publications holding ACTIVE membership in the Missouri Press Association. All entries must have been conceived, written, designed and sold by full or part-time employees of the newspaper.

Entries must... continued...

Happy New Year! It's January, and that means it is Reading Across Missouri time! Our serialized story, "Patriotic Pals, Tails of the Civil War," is now available for newspapers to download at www.mo-nie.com using download code: readmo12.

Using that access code, you will find Rules for Publication, a promotional ad, a teacher guide, and PDF files for the nine-chapter story. Later this week we also will post a feature story about the author, Chris Stuckenschneider, that you may use to promote the project in your newspaper.

This story is for all ages. The story's narrator, a border collie named Chuck, will draw in and engage young readers. Chuck’s humor will engage older readers. Each chapter in the story highlights a dog mascot that participated in, or witnessed, a fray or major battle in the Civil War, from St. Louis to Pennsylvania, concluding in Illinois with Fido, President Lincoln’s beloved mutt.

It's that time of year!

Use this form to order MPA Press Cards for you and your staff members. Many staff changes occur, so we do not keep a list of previous cards issued.

Please mail request to: MPA, 802 Locust, Columbia, MO 65201; or fax to 573-874-5894 or email request to kwilliams@socket.net, please include name of newspaper and address cards need to be mailed to.