Reading the paper was a win-win situation for prize recipients in HSPA’s ongoing newspaper marketing campaign.
Thirteen Hoosiers caught up on their community’s news and won tickets to a Colts game and other prizes in the News Readers Are Winners contest.
Readers logged nearly 4,000 responses in the contest, the second stage of HSPA’s marketing campaign to draw attention to the vitality of the Indiana newspaper industry.
The winning readers were announced with print and web ads in participating newspapers the week of Nov. 14.
Jean Troyer of Marion won the grand prize: four tickets to the Indianapolis Colts vs. Dallas Cowboys game on Dec. 5 and a $150 dining certificate to Weber Grill in downtown Indianapolis.
Troyer said she reads the Chronicle-Tribune (Marion) about five days a week, often online. She also buys the paper at newsstands.
“I like to stay informed,” she said. “I read it front to back.”
Local news and events listings are her favorite parts of the paper.
To enter the contest, readers visited an HSPA website and answered one-question quizzes about Indiana and famous Hoosiers. Contestants were also asked to identify the newspaper they read.
The contest allowed HSPA member newspapers to incorporate the Internet and mobile and social networking tools to reach out to readers who may not receive a print copy of their community’s newspaper.
Donna Parker of Fairmont won a getaway to St. Petersburg, Fla., for two people, including flights, a two-night stay at Tradewinds Island Grand Hotel on St. Petersburg beach and car rental.
Parker, 56, said she has been reading the Chronicle-Tribune (Marion) for at least 10 years.
“I read every night,” she said. “I’m not a subscriber, but I work at a hospital and we get it there.”
Parker especially likes to read the obituaries and the front page for information she can’t get elsewhere.
“I like to know what’s going on locally,” she said.
That’s why Connie Ker of Warsaw has subscribed to the Times-Union since 1974, she said.
As a News Readers Are Winners prize recipient, Ker will receive a weekend in downtown Indianapolis, including an overnight stay at Hilton Garden Inn, a private wine tasting at Mass Ave Wine Shoppe and tickets to “9 to 5: The Musical” and an Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra concert.
Ker, 62, and her husband use the paper to keep up with their community, she said.
“I appreciate the local (news),” Ker said. “You can get the world and national headlines on television.”
Besides the front page, Ker never misses a Dr. Gott column, the television listings or the grocery store ads in her paper.
The couple depend on the paper for information and entertainment, especially since mobility is an issue for her husband, Ker said.
“We feel very fortunate to have a daily paper,” she said. “It’s a part of our day. I would miss it terribly.”
As a child in Fort Wayne, Ker was accustomed to getting both a daily and evening newspaper delivered at home.
“I grew up with newspaper readers,” she said. “I still have a lot of respect for those in journalism. I hope we don’t lose that.”
Kathy Carli of Indianapolis is among the 10 winners of a pair of tickets to Holiday World in Santa Claus.
While she enjoys the lifestyle and entertainment sections, her family gets the paper to keep up with local news, she said.
Carli, 56, has been a subscriber to The Indianapolis Star for more than 15 years.
Other winners of tickets to Holiday World were Janelle Berryhill of Gas City, Dan Gates of South Bend, Logan Gerwe of Osgood, Diana Lynch of Princeton, Katie Miller of Marion, Brittany Nettleton of Sweetser, Rebecca Parker of Princeton, Robert Spencer of Vevay and Judi Talbert of Pine Village.
