HOW IT WORKS (SOMETIMES)

While newspapers still exist, there will be something called "the hometowner," and this results in many media mentions.

How does the hometowner work? Here are a few examples:

La Salle student Maria Muscara was the first recipient of a national scholarship from the Public Relations Society of America. She lives in Wilmington, DE, so I sent info to that paper, and they published it in a column for school news, people info, etc.

English professor Stephen Smith received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching last May. He lives in Delaware County, Pa., so I sent info and a pic to "The Delaware County Daily Times" and a story about him appeared.

A hometowner is just that: news about someone who lives in the reader's hometown, or the same geographical area.

Big city newspapers, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Los Angeles Times, do not run these types of stories; their competitors in the suburbs do...Also, a small-town newspaper (such as the Salem Gazette) will publish the info. Items about La Salle students being named the top graduate in their majors appeared in the following papers:

Salisbury (MD) Daily Times; the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle; the Northeast (Philadelphia) Times; the Burlington County (NJ) Times; the (Lehighton, PA) Times-News; the Ridgewood (NY) Times Weekly; the Sewickley (PA) Herald; and the Woonsocket (RI) Call.

Sometimes the hometowner is a full article, sometimes it's a brief mention in a column; if the words "La Salle University" appear, I'm happy.

Oh, another reasong why newspapers publish student news? They know the parents will buy extra copies of the paper.