Community Announcements

The Readership Institute’s Impact study found that community announcements — along with stories about ordinary people and obituaries — have the highest potential of all news items to grow readership. In other words, if newspapers can do a “better” job in presenting this kind of news, they will see positive, overall readership results.

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Prototype Different approaches serve different needs. This week-at-a-glance page sorts listings by category and by day within each category. All prototypes created by Ball State University students.			Prototype This week-long guide lists events by category, and adds guidance and visual interest with “Editor’s Picks.” (Photos would be inserted in the black squares.)
Prototype For papers serving a large region, this week-long list is sorted by county and by day within each county. Note the gray screen on alternating columns, column rules and cutoff rules to add visual interest.			Prototype A one-day listing of events sorted by morning, afternoon, night and out of town, with an “Editor’s Pick.” Note on all prototypes the varying type weights, caps, screens and reverse bars to improve clarity without clutter.
Prototype This list of births, government meetings and bankruptcies brings organization and readability to an often cluttered and visually unappealing corner of the newspaper.			Prototype This shows one way to package themed listings. This example is a week of entertainment events and includes an “editor's pick.” Gray screens and a variety of type weights make it more readable than typical listings.
Prototype These school events illustrate another approach to packaging themed listings. It is crisp, readable, attractive and fits in a small space.			Prototype This prep sports listing is a vertical variation on the school announcements design preceding it. Cut-out photos add visual sparkle.
The Gleaner, Henderson, KY This small paper (ca. 11,000 circ.) produces a readable, attractive page of listings, classes, support group meetings and menus for schools and the senior center. The key to its utility is having everything in one place.			The Times of Northwest Indiana This daily full page combines event listings sorted by county, vacation bible school listings, volunteer opportunities, an ordinary person feature and reader-submitted photos from community events.
The Akron (OH) Beacon Journal Use of four-color and eye-popping graphics bring life to Akron’s full-page events calendar. Including this week and next week gives readers plenty of planning time.			The Akron (OH) Beacon Journal On the pages following the events calendar, Akron runs extensive “Get to It” listings that include government meetings, clubs, support groups, community dinners, and entertainment. The one-stop listings section is reader-friendly.

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