People and Papers

UK to conduct online survey for newspapers

The University of Kentucky's Department of Community and Leadership Development and the School of Journalism and Telecommunications in conjunction with KPA will be conducting a state wide online survey of community newspaper (circulation less than 50,000) editors.

This survey will start this month (October 2007) and stay active for roughly six weeks. The purpose of this study is to examine newspaper editors' use of features on online newspapers and blogs, their perceptions about credibility, professional media and citizen journalists' role conceptions, and civic and community engagement patterns.

The organizers encourage your participation in this study as this project seeks to invigorate the bond between community newspapers and their audiences in rural Kentucky. In particular, it will shed light on how to better equip rural newspapers with tools that allow readers to expand their news consumption experience and become more active citizens.

In addition, preliminary findings will be presented at the January 2008 convention.

The same team will jointly head a statewide online survey of online community news audiences, and will be contacting you for your help in this survey. We encourage you, when contacted, to sponsor a link, and possibly a pop up invitation, that would connect the users to the actual survey that will be hosted on a server at UK.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss details, please contact either the Principal Investigator, Dr. Seungahn Nah, Department of Community and Leadership Development, (seungahn.nah@uky.edu, 859-257-1509) or the Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Deborah Chung, School of Journalism and Telecommunications (dchung@uky.edu , 859-257-3021).

Dan Sykes has been named executive vice president for Landmark Community Newspapers Inc.

He brings 19 years of experience with Landmark to the position. He began with the Virginian-Pilot in 1988 and served as distribution manager, pre-press manager, single-copy sales manager and classified ad manager.

Sykes also served as GM of The Flagship, a civilian military newspaper. He also did a stint as new ventures director for Landmark corporate and was also at Trader Publishing. He became president of Landmark Education Services in 2000.

He has an economics degree from Princeton University and a MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Cody Roberts has been named sports writer and photographer for the Jackson County Sun. He replaced Connie Esh covering sports for the paper.

Roberts is a graduate of Jackson County High School.

Peter Zubaty has joined the staff of The Kentucky Standard as sports editor.

Zubaty earned a journalism degree from Northern Kentucky University.

He has previously held positions at paper in LaGrange, Pikeville, Somerset and London.

Elizabeth Troutman is the newest member of the Oldham Era staff.

Troutman will be covering the Oldham County Fiscal Court and city government as well as writing community features.

She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a joint degree in English and journalism.

Tom Spargur has been named publisher of the Middlesboro Daily News. He will oversee the Daily News and its affiliate publications, which include The Claiborne Progress in Tazewell, Tenn., and The Cumberland Trading Post in Middlesboro.

Previously, Spargur served as publisher of five Womack Publishing Co. weeklies in North Carolina and was the corporate advertising director for Womack properties. He succeeds Gary Lawrence, who will remain chief operating officer of Heartland Publications LLC's southern division.

Michelle McGuffin has been named classified advertising/Kentucky Classified manager at the News-Enterprise in Elizabethtown.

Her career at The News-Enterprise began in 1994. She is also a contributing member of The News-Enterprise editorial board.

The Kentucky New Era has hired a copy editor and a reporter.

Dana L. Long will serve as a copy editor and page designer while Julia Hunter will work as a reporter

Long worked as a photographer at the paper form 2000 to 2005 and most recently was a reporter and photographer in Tennessee.

Hunter, a graduate of the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in print journalism and a minor in political science, will be covering crime and courts for the Hopkinsville paper.

Edna Duggins, former editor of the Grayson County News-Gazette, has joined the staff of Hospice and Palliative Care of the Ohio Valley in Owensboro.

She has taken over the role of communications director.

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