Oprah Gave a Shove, Now 'Pay it Forward'

By: Mark Fitzgerald Move over, Gayle King. Shove aside, Dr. Phil. Here's a new BFF for Oprah ? the members of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. In an unusual promotion inspired by talk show host Oprah Winfrey, more than 70 PNA newspaper members participated in a month-long contest that produced heartwarming news stories while bolstering the papers' images and piquing reader interest.

"Pay It Forward" was the brainchild of PNA's vice president of marketing and communications, Jane Hungarter ? channeling Oprah. "I caught an episode of Oprah around last Labor Day," Hungarter recalls. In a twist on the periodic "Oprah's Favorite Things" episodes, when the daytime TV diva gives away pricey swag, this time Winfrey gave each person in the audience $1,000 ? with the catch that they had to spend it on someone or some charity in their local communities.

"You know, advertisers and consumers kind of believe that the newspaper industry is declining, and I thought this initiative would help elevate the image of newspapers," Hungarter adds.

PNA designed a campaign for individual newspapers that ran in March. Each paper decided how much money it would award a reader who had the best idea for using the money in the community. Some papers put the cash up themselves, and others got advertisers to sponsor the contest. Each paper assigned a reporter and photographer for stories about the "Pay It Forward" suggestions as they came into the paper.

PNA created ads and a detailed timeline for the contest, with statewide start and stop dates and the winners announced on April 15. "We wanted this program to be as absolutely turn-key as possible," Hungarter says.

In Lock Haven, a former resident immediately got into the spirit of "Pay It Forward," says Jessica Stokes, circulation promotions manager for The Express: "We didn't really know how much to give away, and eventually decided on $500. As soon as we started the promotion, we got a call from someone who used to live here who offered to match the amount. And then someone else from outside the area donated another $500." One local reader chipped in another $50.

More than 60 readers entered the contest, with proposals ranging from creating Lock Haven's first dog run to a program for teaching local kids to swim. The proposals were all so good, Stokes says, that for days the Express couldn't select just one winner. So the two out-of-town donors, Robert A. Laubscher and Scott A. Smith, contributed more money to fund three projects. A yearlong charity drive by a preschool is getting $1,000; a husband and wife are getting $500 to help a couple whose first child was born premature; and $500 is going to a woman who will make a donation to the Clinton County Women's Shelter.

At The Bucks County Courier Times in Doylestown, a matching $1,000 donation from an advertiser, Univest, allowed the paper to select two winners. The paper and its contest were promoted on Univest's Web site, and in entry boxes at the bank's 14 Bucks County branches.

Throughout the state, reader response was enthusiastic, papers reported. At The Progress in Clearfield, for instance, the first contest entry was received within an hour after the paper came off the press, Advertising Manager Jeannine Barger told PNA. The Express' Stokes adds, "I would love to do stuff like this all year 'round."