By JOHN BEDNAROWSKI
Marietta Daily Journal

Story posted on Aug. 12, 2009

John Bednarowski

There may be nearly 11 months until the APSE convention in Salt Lake City, but it looks like the papers representing the 40,000-and-under will be doing their best to support the organization.

Only a few minutes after the decision was made in Pittsburgh to eliminate accepting sponsorship money from sports organizations, an idea was hatched with the hopes of coming through for the 2010 convention.

What if each of the news organizations under 40,000 circulation all chipped in $25?

An e-mail was sent to each of the 150-plus papers listed in the 2009 APSE directory. To date, 25 papers have responded with 12 papers agreeing to pitch in $25 to get the ball rolling. Add $100 pledged by the Marietta Daily Journal, it adds up to $400 raised in the first month. It's a great start – roughly one-third of the way to sponsoring the cost of a breakfast, for instance, at the convention.

Despite the successful beginning, the e-mails also brought a strong case of current economic reality. Of those that declined to participate, one said they would not be renewing APSE dues when they are due later this year while others said there just wasn't anything left in the budget.

Since we are all able to identify with these lean times, it makes it especially rewarding to read those responses from sports editors that were willing to help out of their own pocket if their paper couldn't.

There were also a few sports editors that, for lack of a better phrase, wanted to know what was in it for them? How could this help the smaller papers?

It is a good question.

Could the convention be more small-paper friendly? After attending my first convention this year, I think the answer could be yes. Especially since there are more small papers across the country than those six figures-plus.

It would be great to see more programs designed specifically toward prep coverage, the best way to make a county championship game look like it's the Super Bowl. Or, for a lot of the younger editors, helping them take their first steps in our shoes – better ways to manage people, critiquing a staff members' work or even a better way to build daily budgets.

Could it be better? Yes. It can always be better, but when this breakfast idea was hatched, the thought wasn't what can we get out of it. It was how can we help APSE, and our peers, in this current time of need.

Soon we will be sending e-mails again to those papers that have yet to respond.

Hopefully, that will generate more healthy discussion which will provide more good ideas for the future. And with a little luck, maybe we'll be able to talk about those ideas at the convention over a breakfast we're proud to say we are sponsoring.

John Bednarowski can be reached at jbednarowski@aol.com.

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