National Newspaper Association convention Oct. 1-3 will be online, giving more rural newspapers a chance to participate

The convention will open with this panel.

Rural newspaper journalists and publishers who rarely get a chance to attend a meeting of the National Newspaper Association, the main group for weeklies and small dailies, have a better chance Oct. 1-3, as NNA takes its convention online due to the pandemic and charges a fee of only $50. To register, click here.

The convention program is packed with knowledgeable presenters and panels on a wide range of topics, including coverage of the pandemic and the election, using the Freedom of Information Act, the future of obituaries, getting into podcasts, doing video interviews, appealing to young readers, building audience with Instagram, Facebook strategies for weeklies, managing paywalls, selling digital audience as total audience, building and retaining print circulation, getting advertisers back in the paper as the economy strengthens, starting niche publications, and turning your newspaper into a nonprofit. Steve Waldman of Report for America will explain the program that funds reporting positions at newspapers and how to apply for one, and publishers who have participated will discuss their experiences.

The convention will begin with a timely keynote panel, "The Unique Relationship of Rural America to the Mail: A View from Washington," including members of the Postal Regulatory Commission, NNA lobbyist Tonda Rush and NNA President Matt Adelman of the Douglas Budget in Wyoming, followed by an update on postal issues. It will end with presentation of awards and a final session, "The digital revolution in March 2020 and what it means for newspapers." Presenter Thad Swiderski of eType Services says "The predicted waterfall moment of readers rushing to digital formats happened in March 2020. Newspapers of all sizes are experiencing dramatic increases in traffic. This session will focus on this trend and what newspapers can do to capitalize on this trend."