Take a look at your paper’s most recent edition. What do you see?

I’m guessing there are stories about:

• Events going on in your readership area.
• Issues under discussion by the powers that be.
• Stories about the special people who make up your community.

Real news.

Real news that readers aren’t likely to find anywhere else, especially with the depth of coverage that we typically provide in our publications.

Somewhere between the news that "newspapers are dead" and that we are the "enemy of the people" we have lost our identity.

It’s time to remind our readers old and new, young and old, that we are not a tweet or Facebook post, but their most reliable source about the world they care about.

The Illinois Press Association, in collaboration with one of our members, has designed a Real News campaign, unlike any other campaign you’ve received from us before.
First of all, there are two ad sizes. We will all go big if we have the space to spare, but if we don’t, there’s a 2 column by 5-inch option most of us can squeeze in.

There are three themes: Real People. Real Events. Real Issues.

The ads created with the help of the staff at the Quincy Herald-Whig are modular. You can change the headline; change the photo; change the ad copy; and of course, insert your logo. Web versions are also available.

I especially wanted us to be able to change the photos so that we could take photos from our own files that our readers would recognize instantly. That’s an excellent way to boost readership on these ads for maximum effect.

We are all unique publications with our own individual philosophies driving us. That’s why it was also important to design these so that publishers and editors can insert their own words, if they choose.

We also have a sample editorial (read on facing page) and sample news story to inspire further conversation, if you are so inclined.

The ads and editorial content can be downloaded from the Illinois Press Association website at illinoispress.org/Services/RealNews.aspx.

Unlike Sunshine Week and National Newspaper Week, this campaign is designed to be long running. It is time for us to beat the drum and repeat as often as necessary to remind our readers we are their most comprehensive, reliable and trusted news source.

I hope you will take advantage of this campaign to help promote the value of newspapers in general and your newspaper in particular.

Please take a look at the ads and let us know what you think.

You can email me at democratnewspaper@gmail.com or Sam Fisher at sfisher@illinoispress.org.