Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association

Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association
Founded 1925
Founder John L. Stewart
Type trade association
Location
Website http://panewsmedia.org

The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association is a trade group serving newspapers in Pennsylvania.[1] The PNA seeks to "advance the business interests of Pennsylvania news media companies" and protect the "free and independent press."[2] It represents Pennsylvania newsmedia interests in the legislature, provides public educational services, and acts as an information clearinghouse.[1]

Background

It was founded in 1925 as the Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers Association (PNPA) by John L. Stewart, the publisher of two newspapers in Washington, Pennsylvania.[3]

The name was changed to Pennsylvania Newspaper Association (PNA) in the late 1990s to deemphasize the association's relationship with publishing management.[1] In November 2012, the name was changed to the present Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association (NPA), "to better represent our membership and reflect the media companies that many of our members have already become."[1] It is affiliated with the National Newspaper Association (NNA) and the Newspaper Association of America (NAA).

The organizational structure is threefold, with two other entities complementing the association itself. The PNA Foundation, an independent, non-profit corporation organized as a public foundation, provides PNA members with a wide range of low-cost and innovative training opportunities, typically offering as many as 40 seminars per year and training nearly 800 newspaper staffers in Harrisburg and around the state. Mid-Atlantic Newspaper Services, Inc. (MANSI), the PNA's wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary, sells classified and display advertising into PNA-member newspapers.[1]

Public advocacy

PNA is involved in promoting access to public records in Pennsylvania.[4] The PNA helped advocate for recent changes to Pennsylvania's Freedom of information legislation.[5][6]

Awards

PNA presents the "Keystone Press Awards" every year during the Keystone Awards Banquet.[7] PNA bestows annual "Newspaper of the Year" awards, among other honors.[8]

When merited, PNA presents the "Bill Northrop Award for distinguished work supporting freedom of information." In 2002, PNA honored retired Publisher Bill Northrop of the Observer Publishing Co. in Washington, Pa. by naming this freedom of information award after him.[9] The first recipients were state Representatives John Maher and Chuck McIlhinney.[10]

The annual Lifetime Achievement Award honors an individual who has "outstanding service and accomplishment spanning a career in journalism".[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "History". Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
  2. ↑ "Mission Statement". Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
  3. ↑ Text on the John L. Stewart Tower at the former McIlvane Hall at Washington & Jefferson College
  4. ↑ "Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Pushing for More Open Records". Editor and Publisher. 30 April 2007.
  5. ↑ Jackson, Peter (April 3, 2009). "Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Hits State Agency". Editor & Publisher. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association helped lead the lobbying for changes to strengthen the state's Right-to-Know Law
  6. ↑ "News Group Wants Records Unsealed". Reading Eagle. Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. 27 March 2004.
  7. ↑ "Keystone Press Awards". Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
  8. ↑ "List of PNA Contests and Awards". Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
  9. ↑ "Bill Northrop Award Description". Pa-newspaper.org. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  10. ↑ "Honoring the Leaders of Reform," Press, the official journal of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, February 2003.
  11. ↑ "Lifetime Achievement Award". Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
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