Newspapers in the internet age

MILFORD - Tickets and reservations for a Pike County Public Library benefit featuring Jeanne Straus, President of Straus Newspapers and new owner of the Pike County Courier, are now available, Marilyn Rosenthal, fund-raising chair, has announced. “The Future of Community Newspapers in the 21st Century” will be Ms. Straus’s topic of discussion at the luncheon, December 1 at noon, at the Dimmick Inn, Milford. “In the Internet era we now live in, Jeanne Straus’ views of the future of published community news should be of great interest to our area businesses and residents,” Rosenthal said. Ticket information is available from all library branches or by calling 570-828-7890. All proceeds from the benefit luncheon and talk support the Pike County Public Library’s operational needs, Rosenthal said. Ms. Straus is publisher of nine community weekly newspapers and related community websites in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The nine newspapers have a combined circulation of 76,000. They are: The Pike County Courier, acquired last summer from founders Miriam and Arthur Siegel; The [Monroe/Central Valley] Photo News, The [Goshen/Chester] Chronicle, The Warwick Advertiser, (in New York) and The [Vernon] Advertiser-News (North), The [Hamburg] Advertiser-News (South), The Sparta Independent, The [Byram] Township Journal, and The West Milford Messenger (in New Jersey). Earlier in her career, Ms. Straus worked as a stringer for The Associated Press and as an editorial assistant for the White House News Summary. She also worked as Program Director for WMCA Radio, then an all-talk radio station in New York City. She is a graduate of The Riverdale Country School and Dartmouth College. She currently serves as treasurer of the Board of Directors of the New York Press Association and vice president of the Board of Directors of New York Cares, New York’s premier volunteer organization, of which she was a founder.