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Newspaper organizations launch Coronavirus information website
Guest Column:
Survey results project advertising bust, then rebound By Earl J. Wilkinson
Arkansas Press Association
Publisher Weekly Vol. 15 | No. 13 | Thursday, March 26, 2020 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
Art and design always a passion for “Best of Show” winner Even as David Hancock graduated business school, his mind was on art and design.
choose from to announce he’d earned his accounting degree in the late 1980s. So, he took it upon himself to design his own graduation announcement using the paste-up techniques that were common at the time. As a child, one of Hancock’s pastimes was to cut artwork out of newspapers and arrange collages for himself, especially during the holidays. He’s the one creating the designs for the newspaper now, as an integrated advertising designer for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. One of Hancock’s designs earned him the “Best of Show” honor for the 2020 Arkansas Press Association Better Advertising Awards.
David Hancock
Hancock, a 30-year veteran of advertising design at newspapers in northwest Arkansas, didn’t much care for the stock graduation invitations he had to
college, but he was a victim of corporate downsizing and that led to him applying for a job at the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas in the early 1990s. He started his newspaper career doing paste-up for the classified ads section. Later, he was creative services manager. He stayed with the newspaper during its merger with the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and currently handles promotional advertisements for the newspaper. Hancock’s award-winning advertisement was in the form of a Christmas greeting to Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette readers. The full-page promotional ad appeared on the back page of the newspaper’s A Section on Christmas Day.
“I was always an artist and I should have known that I was going to do this, years ago when I was small,” Hancock said, adding the graduation announcement creation was “another instance that should have been a clue for me that I was going to be a graphic designer.”
Called, “The Gift of a Free Press” it included excerpts from a sermon delivered in November 1835 about how First Amendment freedoms of speech and of the press are fundamental principles that protect our country against political corruption and bad actors.
Hancock, corporate
Hancock was inspired to design the ad when he read a portion of the sermon in
of Springdale, worked in accounting after leaving
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APA annual convention postponed to September 24-25, 2020 The Arkansas Press Association Board of Directors this week voted to postpone the annual APA Convention scheduled for June because of ongoing concerns due to the novel coronavirus. The convention has tentatively been rescheduled for Sept. 24-25 in Little Rock. “With our medical professionals and state and federal authorities still unsure about how long this pandemic will affect
Americans, the board decided it was in the best interest of our members to postpone
ARKANSAS
press ASSOCIATION
this year’s convention,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Wimberley. “While we are disappointed we won’t be able to hold the convention as usual during
the summer, we think an early fall event will be a great opportunity to assemble, learn from experts and present our annual awards. We look forward to seeing all APA members in September.” More details about the rescheduled convention are forthcoming. As a result of the postponed convention, deadlines for entry in the APA’s annual Better Newspaper Editorial Awards contest are also being pushed back.