| May 25, 2007 | |||
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Florida Today recently completed its second annual Brevard Idol competition, playing off the popular Fox TV talent search. This year's contest scored 800,000-plus page views and more than 200,000 votes during the four weeks of competition. Features editor Suzy Fleming Leonard describes how it worked:  "We ran print, online and radio notices asking readers to come down to our office and tape a 30-second chorus from their favorite song. "We divided the contestants (61 this year ranging in age from 6 to 82) into four voting groups, and put each group online for a day of voting. Online visitors were allowed to vote every 5 minutes. "The Top 5 from each group went onto the next round, then the Top 10 from that round went onto the semi-final round, and then three finalists were chosen. "The contest ended with the three finalists joining a local rock band on stage at the annual Melbourne Art Festival to each sing a song before a crowd of about 300. Following their performances, our publisher announced the winner. "Throughout the contest, we ran stories in print about the contestants, the competition and last year's winner. We also ran multiple photo galleries and videos online. "It was a great collaboration between departments. Features writer Breuse Hickman wrote the stories, shot and edited the video; Peg Hinely from our marketing department handled publicity and helped schedule auditions; Ryan Tallmadge from our media technology department created our Web pages and set up the voting mechanism." You can find the videos at: Florida Today's features section was recently named one of the Top 20 in the country by The American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors. Thanks to Suzy Fleming Leonard for sharing a sample of the paper's work. And get ready to share your own best ideas with editors around the country. APME will soon solicit entries for its annual "Great Ideas" book. REGISTER BEFORE JUNE 1 FOR THE APME CONFERENCE AND SAVE Join print, online and photo editors from around the country for the annual conference of the Associated Press Managing Editors and AP Photo Managers Oct. 3-6 in Washington, D.C. Engaging discussions on reaching new audiences, retaining journalists of color, Great Ideas you can take back to your newsroom and a visit to the Freedom Forum's brand new Newseum will highlight APME's first conference ever to be held in the nation's capital. You can't afford to miss this meeting. Sign up now and save $50 on your conference registration. To register for the conference, go to: Or to learn more, go to: To take advantage of APME's discounted rate of $235 a night at the JW Marriott, go to: BREAKING NEWS: THIS JUST IN ... Tune in to CBS Sunday Morning this weekend for a look at a new book on AP's history, "Breaking News: How the Associated Press Has Covered War, Peace, and Everything Else." The tentative lineup has the segment coming towards the end of the 90-minute show, which airs from 9-10:30 a.m. EDT. From the cbsnews.com Web site: "For more than 160 years, photographers and reporters for the Associated Press have been breaking news and recording history. How the AP became what it is, a vital force in the history of our times, recently hit home with the unexpected discovery of a long-forgotten archive. This Sunday Morning, Charles Osgood takes us deep into the Manhattan bedrock, well below the AP building in New York, to see some of that history, firsthand." If the segment does not air Sunday CBS has advised that it will move next week, June 3. We will be featuring the book during the APME conference in Washington. For information on the book, click here: Also: To receive e-mail notification of new APME Updates, write to APME@ap.org |
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• • • To receive APME Update by e-mail notify apme@ap.org. APME is a newspaper editors association founded in 1933 to provide input on the services of The Associated Press and to help newsroom managers become better leaders. A business league under section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code, APME is funded through registrations and sponsorships at the annual conference, APME Supporting Memberships and in-kind support. The Associated Press Managing Editors Association Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, supports educational programming. Membership in APME is open to senior print and online editors at AP member newspapers in the United States and Canadian Press publications in Canada. APME Supporting Memberships are $100 a year. Mailing address: Associated Press Managing Editors Association, The Associated Press, 19 Commerce Court West, Cranbury, N.J. 08512-2416. Phone: (609) 860-7384. Fax: (212) 506-6102. E-mail: apme@ap.org. Web: www.apme.com. |
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