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This is a link to a brief 5-question survey to register Southern Illinois newspaper readers' interests. Tell us your opinions: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SILLINOISNEWSPAPERS

Sales leader opening at GateHouse Southern Illinois

We're recruiting a sales leader for SI Trader, a shopper circulating in five states in the Midwest, as well as to lead a automotive sales team for a group of dailies, weeklies and shoppers. The successful candidate will manage a mix of inside and outside salespeople and have revenue responsibility for a highly successful paid circulation shopper product, as well as a multi-media automotive sales team selling across more than a dozen traditional print and multi-media products.




We seek a leader who can define strategic direction while actively engaging all members of the sales team in achieving goals across retail, classified, digital and niche product offerings.
Our successful candidate will have a stellar track record in identifying and executing innovative sales ideas, effectively managing performance, mentoring and motivating employees and understanding and meeting customers' needs. This is a hands-on role, that will require commitment to regularly participating in sales calls, evaluating / mentoring account executives and overseeing development of sales proposals within the team.
This position is Southern Illinois-based within GateHouse Media; this is a high profile position with considerable opportunity for advancement for a successful individual.
We offer an attractive compensation package and full benefits.

The successful candidate will have a proven track record of sales management for a minimum of three years in media, preferable in shopper and / or automobile advertising sales. Requirements include a history of driving sales results, recruiting and nurturing talent, and building and engaging a highly productive and motivated team. Strong customer orientation, exceptional written/verbal communication & presentation skills, persuasiveness, teamwork, problem solving skills, analytical ability, and interpersonal skills also essential. Digital sales mgt. experience highly preferred. A background in consumer marketing of paid shopper products would also be very helpful.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send a cover letter and resume to recruitingsalesprofessionals@gmail.com


Changes coming to classified section of Marion, West Frankfort and Benton newspapers

Beginning today, readers of the Benton Evening News, The Daily American (West Frankfort) and The Daily Republican (Marion) will note the classified section has moved to the front of the second section of the newspaper. This is one of a number of improvements coming this summer / fall to this section.


Also effective today, any ad called into any of those three newspapers will appear in all three, as well as the Web sites affiliated with each newspaper. The contents will also appear in two weeklies - The Progress (Christopher) and Free Press (West Frankfort) - and will be expanded to the weekly This Week (Marion) by year-end.


The goal is to offer classified advertisers a greater reach of local adults. Advertisers can also purchase additional reach into other regional newspapers such as Harrisburg.


In conjunction with this change, readers should notice a higher local story count in the sports section. The goal is to provide readers more coverage from Williamson and Franklin counties. In the past, sports articles that appeared in one of the three newspapers often wouldn't make it into one or both of the other two. Now local sports originating from those two counties will appear in all three editions.


More changes to the classified section will be announced in the coming weeks.

Daily Republican brings Taste of Home Cooking Show to Marion on Oct. 9

If you read it here today, you read it first. The official announcement is later this week but the Daily Republican is bringing back the ever-popular Taste of Home Cooking Show to the Marion Cultural and Civic Center on Tuesday, Oct. 9.

The Taste of Home Cooking School is America's leading cooking school program, inspiring more than 300,000 passionate consumers each year at 300 events across the country.

At the show, you'll experience a 2-hour demonstration of exciting recipes. A culinary specialist will show step-by-step instructions on how to create satisfying and flavorful dishes. Additionally, everyone will receive a gift bag and a Taste of Home cookbook. You'll also have the opportunity to register for door prizes, including the recipes created on stage that night!

Look for advertisements (such as the shown at the right) and press releases in local newspapers with further details about the show. Tickets are $10 and available at the offices of the Daily Republican (Marion), Daily Register (Harrisburg), Daily American (West Frankfort), Benton Evening News, Murphysboro American and Du Quoin Evening Call during normal business hours. 

Six Southern Illinois newsrooms win GateHouse Inner Circle Awards

GateHouse Media has award six of its Southern Illinois newspapers with the company's prestigious Inner Circle Awards for Q2:

• Daily American (West Frankfort)
• Du Quoin Evening Call

• Murphysboro American

• The Carmi Times

• The Daily Register (Harrisburg)

• The Olney Daily Mail


Inner Circle evaluations focus on prints initiatives such as reader involvement, print and online promotions and alternative story formats; and online initiatives, such as Facebook, website updates, galleries, video and community blogging. This is the most S.I. newspapers that have received this award in a quarter. 

Congrats to all the winning newsrooms.   

Benton Evening News undergoes some design changes

The print edition of the Benton Evening News underwent design changes late last week. (At right is in an image of the new design.) The layout is similar to sister GateHouse Southern Illinois papers in Marion and West Frankfort. 

There are a number of reasons for the change. Having similarly designed newspapers:

•           Allows us to more easily brand our newspapers in the region.  

•           Makes it easier to share stories and projects when there is a common

interest in the subject at one or more Southern Illinois newspapers.

•           Makes it easier to create fixed ad locations that can be delivered for advertisers across multiple newspapers.  

•           Makes it easier to share ancillary products such as news and advertising special sections. 

This is one of a number of changes coming in the next few months as we improve the quality and quantity of coverage in GateHouse Southern Illinois newspapers. 

Marion's Daily Republican earns top honors in newspaper contest

Congratulations to the staff of The Daily Republican in Marion, which brought home seven awards from the Southern Illinois Editorial Association's Best Newspaper Contest awards banquet last Friday.


The newspaper received first place in both Advertising Design and Advertising Excellence categories, and third place in the General Excellence category. A second place for Best Use of Photography and honorable mentions for Best Local News Coverage, Best Editorial Page and Best Local Sports Coverage were also awarded to the DR staff.