By Matt Baron

Whether you’re a reporter covering the national bid for the Oval Office or a contest that’s more local, you’re bound to be scribbling a dizzying array of numbers in your notebooks.

That’s just where the fun begins, as politicians have a yen for contorting facts and figures as nimbly as a 16-year-old Chinese gymnast.

And some especially audacious politicos exhibit looseness with the truth that, metaphorically, rivals the flexibility of, oh, let’s say a 13-year-old Chinese gymnast.
With those 2008 Beijing Olympic allusions aside, here are some “Go Figure” truths to keep in mind:

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The Lexington Herald-Leader’s Kentucky.com cracked the top 30 newspaper Web sites in the United States in July, according to the latest data from Nielsen Online. Kentucky. com had 1.5 million unique users for July, placing it above the Boston Herald, the Detroit News, and The Oregonian in Portland. Nielsen did not record data for Kentucky.com in July 2007.

Appropriately at a time when Americans are consumed by the Olympics comes word that the “Mr. Dogwood Goes to Washington” chapter series, published last Fall in 88 Kentucky newspapers, has received the Grand Prize from the World Association of Newspapers. Read the rest of this entry

By KEVIN SLIMP
Institute of Newspaper Technology

As “The End of the World as We Know It,” by REM, blared out of the sound system and screenshots of newspaper pages predicting the downfall of the industry filled a screen, a group of consultants, speakers and trainers met over the weekend of Aug. 15 to discuss the future of newspapers. Meeting for more than 12 hours over two days, the group – dubbed Media Specialists Group – thrashed out ideas concerning several topics including the decline of circulation among metro papers, the relationship between legitimate concern for the community and readership, the long-term impact of outsourcing production to foreign countries and the health and future of the newspaper business. Read the rest of this entry

By John Foust
Raleigh, NC 

Sean spends a lot of time talking to his advertisers about consumer behavior. “A big part of my job is to help them manage their expectations,” he said. “I once learned that buyers generally fall into one of six distinct categories. By examining each category, my clients and I have been able to understand why an advertising tactic that works with one type of buyer will not work with another.” Read the rest of this entry

Austin Brooks, the winner of numerous Kentucky High School Journalism Association contest awards while a student at Bardstown High School, is now part of a group of Asbury College students working for NBC Sports and helping cover the Olympics in China. Brooks, according to a story published in The Kentucky Standard, is a camera assistant for track and field events. Asbury students have helped cover the Olympics for network TV for more than 20 years. Participation in KHSJA, founded 12 years ago by KPA, really can impact students’ lives. Just ask Austin and his parents, Mike and Debbie Brooks of Bardstown. Again this school year, KPA member papers will have the opportunity to sponsor local high schools in KHSJA. Last school year, 70 percent of KHSJA’s 112 member schools were sponsored by a Kentucky newspaper. Be watching for a KHSJA mailing soon!

By: by Kevin Slimp, August 2008
Hmm. QuarkXPress 8 or Acrobat Professional 9? Quark or Acrobat? Acrobat or Quark?
Oh, sorry. I’ve been in a dilemma about which application to review. I’ve had boxes sitting on my desk that contain the just released versions of both applications for the past week.
When I woke up this morning, I was sure I’d be writing a review of Acrobat Professional 9. But I just can’t help but feel there’s something calling me to try out Quark’s latest offering. OK, QuarkXPress 8 (QX8) it is.

Click here for full story at bondware.com 

Chris Ordway, publisher at the Elizabethtown News-Enterprise has been elected to the KPA/KPS Board of Directors for District 5. Chris will complete the three-year term on the Board following the death of Kentucky Standard publisher Ron Filkins. The term ends at the January, 2011, Winter Convention.

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Jamie Sizemore has been named Publisher of The Kentucky-Standard in Bardstown.

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Ben Sheroan, former publisher of the Franklin Favorite as well as daily and other weekly newspapers in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky, has been named general manager of the LaRue County Herald News in Hodgenville and The Record in Leitchfield. Read the rest of this entry