SNA Foundation Joins API as Partner in Newspaper Next

RESTON, VA--The American Press Institute announces that the Suburban Newspapers of America Foundation has become a partner in API's Newspaper Next innovation project.

Nancy Lane, President of Suburban Newspapers of America and the SNA Foundation in Traverse City, Mich., will become a member of the Newspaper Next (N²) Task Force, and WickedLocal.com, a local community Web site in Plymouth, Mass., operated by Enterprise NewsMedia in Quincy, Mass., becomes the seventh project chosen to participate in API's Newspaper Next Disruptive Innovation Advisory Program. Over the next three years, SNA Foundation will invest $50,000 in API's N² project.

"Suburban and community newspapers are where we are seeing the most growth in this industry and we are pleased to add the expertise of SNA to the N² project and task force," said API President and Executive Director Andrew B. Davis.

"We are thrilled that the Newspaper Next project now includes a true community newspaper initiative," Lane said. "The SNA Foundation is proud to sponsor this valuable research and be a part of this exciting project. We believe this research will provide much needed guidance to the community newspaper industry and challenge them to think differently about the future communication needs in their local communities."

WickedLocal.com is a network of hyper-local Web sites that draws news content from the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass., The Enterprise in Brockton, Mass., and 23 regional weekly newspapers, offers a robust platform for citizen journalism and provides a comprehensive local search resource. The site will receive advice and consultation over a four-month period from the N² project team, which includes Stephen Gray, N² managing director and former managing publisher of The Christian Science Monitor, and Scott Anthony, a managing director at innovation consulting firm Innosight LLC and co-author of "Seeing What's Next: Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change".

For more information about N², visit www.newspapernext.org.

Media Contact:
Lisa Rabasca
American Press Institute
11690 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20191-1498
(703) 715-3322