News Industry Columns | Wisconsin Newspaper Association

11 tips to grow your agriculture coverage

Jun. 29, 2021

Despite the importance of agriculture reporting, coverage of the industry has been reduced or even eliminated by many traditional media outlets. How and where food is grown or raised, how it is processed and transported, what it costs to buy and how the industry affects the economy and the environment are important to readers, advertisers, agricultural producers and policymakers.

In his latest installment of "Better Writing with Bart," writing coach Bart Pfankuch provides some tips to start or expand your coverage of agriculture.

Celebrating the most American of freedoms

Jun. 21, 2021

On the most American of holidays, let’s be sure to celebrate the most American of freedoms. Those freedoms must never be taken for granted.

4 things bosses do that can hurt employee morale

Jun. 4, 2021

In many cases, there are lessons to be learned from negative boss-employee encounters.

In his latest "Ad-libs" column, John Foust shares four examples of things a boss can do that may ruin morale among employees.

4 common blind spots among advertisers

May. 4, 2021

When we learned how to drive, we heard about blind spots.

Blind spots also are common in the advertising business, veteran sales trainer John Foust writes. In his most recent column, Foust takes a look at some examples of blind spots in sales and how advertising professionals can handle advertisers with blind spots.

What makes a good ad headline? Try these 3 tips

Apr. 5, 2021

Pick up any newspaper — or go to any online news site — and you’ll find article headlines that reveal the subjects of those articles. Doesn’t it make sense that the same should apply to advertising headlines?

Veteran sales trainer John Foust offers three questions to ask yourself next time you're writing a headline for an ad.

8 tips to avoid credibility issues on social media

Mar. 23, 2021

The misuse of social media by reporters and editors — particularly on Twitter and Facebook — has made it easy for critics of the media to find fodder to back up claims that journalists are inherently biased. In his latest installment of Better Writing with Bart, veteran writing coach Bart Pfankuch provides some basic tips to avoid giving away your credibility by misuse of social media.

12 copywriting tips for better ads

Mar. 5, 2021

Once an ad’s graphic design attracts readers’ eyes, it has to say something of value. Otherwise, readers will skip the ad and miss the message completely.

In his latest “Ad-libs” column, veteran sales trainer John Foust offers a dozen copywriting tips to gain and hold your audience’s attention.

12 design tips to get more eyes on your ads

Feb. 10, 2021

Want to get more eyes on your advertisements? John Foust offers a quick look at 12 ad design tips to attract more attention to your ads.

12 tips for your next advertising campaign

Jan. 17, 2021

A single ad probably won’t generate much business for your clients. The real work is done in multi-ad campaigns.

Veteran sales trainer John Foust shares 12 tips for helping develop the next campaign, get advertisers on board and set yourself up for future success.

We must speak the truth, stand up for it, and have respectful dialogue

Jan. 14, 2021

Don’t let your neighbors be divorced from reality. It is the burden and the duty of leadership to tell voters the truth. And that leadership includes local journalists who are trusted members of their communities.

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