“Is Newspaper a Dying Medium?”, the press release

Vice President and General Manager of The Virginian Pilot, Maurice Jones, will speak at The Hampton Roads Chapter of the American Marketing Association luncheon meeting on Thursday, January 10, 2008. Mr. Jones will discuss what has happened, is happening and may happen to the newspaper as we know it.

The Internet has enabled an unbundling of the elements of what we historically received in our newspapers – and delivered them to us faster and more colorfully. News is free everywhere now with targeted local ads online and in video online, classifieds are available on gargantuan sales sites like eBay and Craig’s List and recently news aggregators have moved into the arena as well. Now we can get our news and buy stuff anytime we want it, sorted exactly to our needs.

So why in the world would we get our news and stuff using ink-laden paper thrown at our front doors? Maurice Jones will tell us why and why not.

Virginia’s largest-circulation newspaper, The Virginian-Pilot, recently launched a major branding campaign to bring readers back to the fold (no pun intended). The ads ask provocative questions with no punch line, only serious questions and a more serious pay-off for the paper’s readers and non-readers. The campaign is a stark shift from past campaigns. According to sources in the know, there has not been another campaign like this in the newspaper industry.

Certainly, the decline of newspapers does not equate to the decline of journalism. Our appetite for news has become insatiable and broadened to include innovative new delivery methods. And, the best newspapers are planning and experiencing rebirths. Learn how The Virginian Pilot plans its rebirth.

CONTACT:
Elaine Kennedy
Hampton Roads Chapter
American Marketing Association
Vice President Public Relations
757-589-9446
elaine@rechargemarketing.com

Virginia Beach, Va., For Immediate Release