Nov. 26-27: NCPA offices closed for Thanksgiving

March 14-20, 2010: Sunshine Week

March 18, 2010: NCPA Winter Institute at the Dean Dome, Chapel Hill

Is your newspaper still on the list?
We are still missing front pages from 84 of our member newspapers. We need a PDF or JPG file of one of your front pages from this year to include in a couple of projects. First, we want to include all of our newspapers in the annual member montage to be shown at Winter Institute and the Best Ad Awards presentation later in the year. But we also have another reason this year. As you can see from the sample page to the right, we plan to include your front page with your listing in the 2010 Newspaper Directory. If we don’t have a page from you, there will be a blank space instead. To check whether your newspaper is on the list of pages still missing, download the updated file here.

And speaking of digital files…
Just another reminder to be saving PDF files for future advertising and news contests. We are getting closer to an agreement for an online contest service where you’ll upload your entries for everything except full-section categories. We don’t want anyone to be left out, so make sure the appropriate people in your organization are in the loop on this probable change.

Keep printing those ads
A tip of the hat to those newspapers who have been periodically running N.C. Tourism ads in their pages and online. Every time you carry those ads we are closer to our goal for obtaining funding for the North Carolina Press Foundation. For more information about the ads and instructions for downloading, click here.

Know any good defenders of the First Amendment?
Each year the North Carolina Press Association honors someone not in the newspaper industry for his or her work on behalf of openness in government, free press and the First Amendment. The William C. Lassiter First Amendment Award will be presented at the Winter Institute. But first, we need nominees. Be watching for more information about how to nominate someone. In the meantime, please put on your thinking caps and come up with potential nominees.

• Marty Petty, former publisher of the St. Petersburg Times and the Hartford Courant, was named chief executive officer of the Creative Loafing chain of alt-weeklies.
• Former ASNE Executive Director Lee Stinnett died Nov. 7 at his home in Asheville.
• John Quincy Schell Jr., 87, retired general manager of The Asheville Citizen-Times, died Nov. 5.

• Two News & Observer journalists heading to Afghanistan for McClatchy
• UNC photographers win 13 awards in the 64th College Photographer of the Year contest

• Senate committee expected to take up Shield law in today's session
• Scarborough Research: Newspaper readership among adults very healthy
• Audit Bureau of Circulation board OKs plan for lower cost audits for community newspapers
• Richard Karpel selected as the next executive director of the American Society of News Editors
• Pennsylvania newspapers worrying about legislation to regulate public notice rates
• New 'YouTube Direct' tool enables papers to solicit, show videos on their sites
• USA Today testing free e-edition at three universities
• McClatchy opens the door to charging for content

• JEAN FOLKERTS: Should university journalists be providing content for newspapers?
• REGINA McCOMBS: Don't give up on online video yet
• BILL MITCHELL: Study says newspapers need to shed their legacy costs