SNA - Foundation

SNA Foundation

The SNA Foundation is the only organization of its kind that focuses its efforts exclusively on suburban and community newspapers and supports their role as the leading local information providers, now and in the future, by providing information to help them transform in a digital world; thus helping them preserve and enhance the essential role they play in their respective communities — to serve and promote an informed and participatory local citizenship.

The SNA Foundation understands that community newspaper markets are unique and thus face different challenges and opportunities than their large metropolitan daily counterparts. That is why sponsoring specialized research and educational programs is critical in helping our segment of the industry continue to evolve as information needs and access methods change in local communities.

The Suburban Newspapers of America (SNA) Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable trust, is affiliated with Suburban Newspapers of America (SNA), the largest suburban and community newspaper trade association in North America, representing nearly 2,400 newspapers with more than 22 million in circulation.

Mission

To provide information which guides community and suburban newspaper publishers to better identify and better fulfill future communication needs in changing communities through research and education.

Research and Education

Recent initiatives sponsored by the SNA Foundation include:

Specialized Multimedia E-Learning in Partnership with The Poynter Institute’s News University
The SNA Foundation recently received a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for a new community journalism e-learning initiative to develop e-courses designed specifically to help suburban and community journalists make the transition to a multimedia publishing strategy. This specialized e-learning will help local publishers, editors and journalists learn how to extend their presence from print to multimedia, leverage their influence and serve their communities in even bigger and more relevant ways. The first of these specialized courses, Build & Engage Local Audiences Online, is now available at NewsU.org. The e-course is free, interactive, and self-paced. A second e-course, Leading an Online Newsroom: What You Need to Know, is scheduled for launch in December 2008, with a third to follow in 2009.

Insights from Social Networking Best Practices Research Project
This research, conducted with Belden Associates and released in October 2008, examines how community newspapers can best incorporate social networking into their online offerings to help them increase community engagement and traffic to their Web sites. In-depth analyses of four social networking sites (affiliated with newspapers and from outside the industry) were conducted, including extensive interviews with site executives and nearly 3,000 completed user surveys. Results identify best practices and lessons learned from the sites studied; including content, operational issues, user feedback and revenue models. Based on the combined insights from the executive interviews and the user surveys, we provide guidelines for local newspaper publishers on how they can successfully implement social networking on their Web sites. To view the results of the study, click here.

Innovation Mission to Norway & Sweden
The SNA Foundation hosted a six-day study mission in September 2008 to meet with executives from innovative Scandinavian media companies to learn about their multimedia and organizational success. The Foundation sponsored an Innovation Mission Multimedia Reporter to accompany our group and contribute articles, blogs, videos and photos about the trip and what we learned. The Foundation is making a comprehensive report, Developing the Local Media House: Lessons Learned from Norway & Sweden, available to the industry at no charge. For free download of the report, click here.

Community Web Site Research Project
This SNA Foundation/Belden Associates study, with more than 8,500 telephone interviews across 16 states, was conducted to identify what consumers want from a community Web site and also to identify best practice sites among SNA members whose markets were surveyed. This unprecedented research provides valuable benchmarks and guidance to local publishers on developing their own internet strategy. To view the study, click here.

The American Press Institute’s Newspaper Next Innovation Project
The SNA Foundation sponsored SNA member Web site www.WickedLocal.com as one of seven demonstration projects nationwide in the American Press Institute’s transformation report. Disruptive innovation education is used to challenge newspapers to develop innovative, sustainable opportunities and solutions for the future. For a copy of the first Newspaper Next report, Blueprint for Transformation, click here. Newspaper Next’s updated report, Making the Leap Beyond ‘Newspaper Companies’, can be accessed by clicking here.

Listen to Recent Conference Calls and Webinars from the SNA Foundation

2008-11-05 — Developing the Local Media House (59 MB .WMV)

2008-09-25 — Integrated Newsrooms — Best Practices, New Ideas & Addressing Concerns (14 MB .MP3)

2008-08-25 — Engage and Involve the Public with your Web (and Print) Offerings with Crowd Sourcing and Other Citizen Contributions (13 MB .MP3)

We Need Your Help

Donations to the SNA Foundation help offset the cost of research projects, analysis of best practices and development of educational materials and seminars. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. Please contact Susan Karol, SNA Foundation Executive Director, at susan.karol@suburban-news.org or 847-251-2401 for information on specific donor programs.

SNA Foundation Board of Directors

Some of the brightest minds from the community newspaper industry make up the SNA Foundation Board of Directors. There is a good mix of companies represented including large publicly-traded and smaller privately-owned. The board also represents a mix of dailies and weeklies but all are the dominant source of local, community news in the markets that they serve. The Foundation Board welcomes your comments, input and ideas for future projects.

Officers
	Chairman of the Board Jack Robb Vice President of Revenue Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. Birmingham, AL
	Vice Chairman of the Board Ben Hall Director of Online Application Development Cape May County Herald Rio Grande, NJ
	Treasurer Steve Parker Co-Publisher Recorder Community Newspapers Bernardsville, NJ
	Secretary Chris Krug General Manager & Executive Editor Northwest News Group of Greater Chicago Crystal Lake, IL
	Immediate Past Chairman of the Board Kirk Davis President and Publisher GateHouse Media New England Needham, MA
Directors
	Al Bonner General Manager Lawrence Journal-World Lawrence, KS
	Harrison Cochran Publisher Aurora Publishing Company Aurora, CO
	Betsy Wilson Publisher Montgomery Newspapers Ft Washington, PA
Staff
	SNA FOUNDATION PRESIDENT Nancy Lane President SNA Myrtle Beach, SC
	SNA FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Susan Karol Executive Director SNA Foundation Chicago, IL