SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT PRSA CHAPTER TO PRESENT "HYPERLOCAL: NEWS IN MY BACK YARD."
September 24 at Quinnipiac University
HAMDEN, CT, August 4, 2009 — A panel of journalism experts will explore the burgeoning trend of hyperlocal news coverage when the Southern Connecticut Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America presents “Hyperlocal: News In My Back Yard” on Thursday, September 24, in the Mancheski Executive Room in the Lender School of Business Center at Quinnipiac University. Registration and networking start at 11:30 a.m. followed by the program from 12 to 1:30 p.m.
Hyperlocal citizen sites are diverse in every way, according to “Citizen Media: Fad or the Future of News?” a report published by the Knight Citizen News Network (KCNN), a self-help portal that guides both ordinary citizens and traditional journalists in launching and responsibly operating community news and information sites.
Some sites edit all the content that goes up, at least on the front page; some don’t touch content, except to remove offending posts, according to KCNN. Some break news; others reprint news releases. Some struggle to get enough volunteer contributors; others are awash in content and struggling to manage it.
The panelists that the Southern Connecticut Chapter of PRSA has assembled will discuss these issues and some of the challenges they’ve faced.
Duby McDowell, the principal of Duby McDowell Communications, LLC of Hartford and a former award winning political reporter at WFSB-TV, Channel 3 and WVIT-TV, Channel 30, will moderate the panel. McDowell also is editor of The Laurel, a flourishing blog that covers the media in Connecticut.
McDowell will be joined by a panel of media experts:
- Eugene Driscoll, editor of the Valley Independent Sentinel, a recently launched daily online publication that focuses exclusively on lower Naugatuck Valley news.
- Brian Farnham, editor-in-chief of Patch.com, a community-specific news and information platform dedicated to providing comprehensive local coverage for individual towns and communities.
- Rich Hanley, assistant professor of journalism and director of the graduate journalism program at Quinnipiac University, who is widely quoted about national, regional and local media issues.
- Chris Kirby, the founder of the North Haven News, a hyperlocal news broadcast that recaps the stories that are making headlines in North Haven.
- Anna Sava and Lon Seidman, founders of LocalOnlineNews.TV, a hyperlocal news content provider that features professional video journalists reporting on issues and events that impact Connecticut communities. Sava is a former award winning anchor and reporter at News Channel 8.
The fee for this program, which will include lunch, is $20 for PRSA members and $25 for non-members. Students with a valid ID from a university pay $10. To register, please contact Paula Fowler at 203.582.8652 or paula.fowler@quinnipiac.edu.
The Southern Connecticut Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America was formed to advance the public relations profession and the PR professional. More than 75 strong and growing, the chapter represents a diverse group of mid- to senior-level professionals who are committed to enhancing the practice of public relations in Southern Connecticut. Professionals in the chapter represent advertising agencies, independent consultants, business and industry, government, hospitals and health care organizations, professional associations, education and nonprofit organizations. The chapter also has an association with the Quinnipiac University Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). For more information, visit www.prsact.org or the Southern Connecticut Chapter of the Public Relations Society group on Facebook.com.
PRSA is the world’s largest organization for public relations professionals. Its nearly 20,000 members, organized into 117 chapters, represent business and industry, technology, counseling firms, government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and nonprofit organizations. Chartered in 1947, PRSA seeks to advance the standards of the public relations profession and provide members with professional development opportunities through continuing education programs, information exchange forums and, national and local research projects.
Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two hours from Boston. The university enrolls 5,600 full-time undergraduate and 1,900 graduate students in 52 undergraduate and 19 graduate programs of study in its School of Business, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, and College of Arts and Sciences. Quinnipiac consistently ranks among the top universities with master’s programs in the Northern region in U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges. The 2009 issue of U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Colleges named Quinnipiac as the top up-and-coming school with master’s programs in the North. Quinnipiac also is recognized in Princeton Review’s The Best 371 Colleges. For more information, please visit www.quinnipiac.edu.
MEDIA: Download high-resolution head shots of Duby McDowell (JPG) and Anna Sava (JPG).
Inquiries
Please direct all questions to:
John Morgan
john.morgan@quinnipiac.edu
203.582.5359
203.206.4449 (cell)