Member Services

As a trade association, Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association provides a wide variety of services for publishers and staff people at member newspapers, coordinates opportunities and services for associate members, and presents industry information to the public, all through the following array of services and offerings.

Publications, information, and resources

• Complete list of ONPA publications
• Member email bulletins for publishers containing brief notes alerting publishers to the latest Association and other developments that may affect them.
• An Annual Directory, which lists information about all ONPA General, Associate, and Collegiate member newspapers, and identifies other newspaper and press associations and allied Oregon media associations.
• Our RAMP advertising rate and data cards, updated twice a year for both print and web advertising, always available on this web site and mailed semi-annually to all agencies/advertisers who have advertised or plan to advertise with RAMP.
• Marketing kits explaining RAMP's services and information on our member newspapers.
• Legal and other resource materials including Oregon Laws of Publication, Oregon's Public Notice Law, Reporter's Summary of Oregon's Public Meetings Law, Fair Housing Manual, and Advertising Rules and Regulations handbook. See our legal page and our complete list of publications.
• Meeting space for up to 15 in the conference room at the ONPA office in Portland.

Training and Development

• Regional Meetings for member newspaper staff offer professional development through training sessions in various areas, such as online advertising, software usage, Fair Housing laws and FOI issues.
• Publishers' Convention is ONPA's annual three-day premier event, held every summer at a hotel or resort in Oregon. Official business, annual reports, installation of a new board, and industry development sessions are conducted at this meeting.
• Advertising Convention (AdCon), a sales development conference held in the fall, is designed to improve the quality of sales management and training skills at all Oregon newspapers.
• Sales Training Seminars are designed to train new advertising sales personnel at member newspapers, giving them basic skills in prospecting, making presentations, meeting objections, and closing the sale. These seminars also provide basic training in ad layout and design.
• Collegiate Day, a Spring contest and awards presentation event, brings college journalism students together for a day of training, networking, and vision for the future of the newspaper industry. Entries from all college-related newspapers recognize the best work in several categories. Click here to see the online awards presentation.

Honors and Awards

• Newspaper Hall of Fame Award is presented only on special occasions to provide appropriate recognition of Oregon newspaper people who have made (1) an outstanding contribution to Oregon newspaper journalism or (2) an extraordinary contribution to their community and region or state through newspaper journalism. See list of past winners here.
• Amos E. Voorhies Award is presented in memory of Amos Voorhies, publisher and co-publisher of the Grants Pass Courier from 1897 to 1960. The award honors outstanding journalistic achievement in the public interest, for service in the interest of the welfare and honor of the journalistic profession, or for long, useful, and honorable careers in the field of journalism. See list of past winners here.
• Better Newspaper Contest and Awards Presentation. Each year member newspapers prepare entries for a contest which recognizes the best work published that year. Awards are presented at the annual Publisher's Convention and in awards presentations on this web site.
• Best Ad Ideas Contest and Awards Presentation. This annual contest accepts entries from all General and Associate member newspapers and recognizes the best locally generated ads in Oregon. These awards are presented at the Ad Con meeting in the fall and in awards presentations on this web site.

Services and Programs

• Legislative representation. ONPA employs a lobbyist to monitor all state and federal legislation that might affect newspapers. In the event that newspapers propose a bill, or if we might be affected by a bill, our lobbyist presents testimony, informs publishers of the action being proposed, and encourages publishers and editors to respond appropriately.
• Legal Hotline. Probably the most appreciated service offered by ONPA, the legal hotline allows reporters and editors to call a telephone number and speak to an attorney without charge about an imminent problem relating to open meetings and records laws and about libel questions.
• Advertising sales and placement. ONPA's advertising division, Real Access Media Placement (RAMP), makes presentations to regional and national advertising agencies on behalf of member newspapers and processes multiple-market advertising orders as a one-order, one-bill, one-check service for advertisers.
• RAMP has low printing prices contracted with a local printer that sales staff at the member newspapers can offer to their clients at our contracted price.
• Oregon Friendship Network was formed by a group of Oregon newspapers to permit single adults to meet each other through newspaper personal ads and limited-access telephone connections.
• Oregon Classified Advertising Network (OCAN). This network allows an advertiser to place a classified line ad in nearly every Oregon daily and weekly newspaper at one low rate.
• Political advertising sales. Politicians have special needs just before elections to get their names and platforms before the public. ONPA offers personalized service to help these infrequent advertisers best utilize the newspaper medium.
• Job placement service, an online list of announcements for employment in the newspaper industry. Job openings submitted to the ONPA staff are posted, free for members, under Employment on this web site.
• Published advertising cautions. From time to time, the state consumer affairs office or some other source informs ONPA of problems with certain advertisers. ONPA will include those in our weekly e-bulletin to publishers, including a paragraph identifying these advertisers when appropriate.
• Press release service. Any person or group may use this low-cost service to send a press release by fax, mail, or email to all ONPA member newspapers and/or all TV and radio broadcasters in Oregon by sending a copy to ONPA.
• Carrier Day and National Newspaper Week. During the month of September, all newspapers across the country are encouraged to observe National Newspaper Week, which ends with Carrier Day. News stories and promotions explain the significance of newspapers in local communities.
• Oregon Newspapers Foundation sponsors projects and underwrites events to encourage the development of news and editorial personnel to better present the news, and advertising sales staff to better serve their advertisers. Several workshops and seminars are underwritten each year, and young journalists are given college scholarships to help them develop their skills and complete their educations.