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Personal Newspaper Columns Are Successful in Dayton

Montgomery County

OSU Extension, Montgomery County, has published a weekly column in the Dayton Daily News, Neighborhood Section since April, 2006. Readership for this Thursday edition of the paper is 176,900. Montgomery County's population is just over 559,000. Prior to this time, the Agriculture Educator wrote a weekly home horticulture column.

In order to establish the new column, Co-County Director Christine Olinsky pitched the idea to the editor of the Neighborhood News section of the Dayton Daily News. After six months of negotiations and potential topics, the editor decided to give us a try. In fact, this same editor e-mails if a column has not arrived on deadline!

A rotation schedule was set-up among the educator team in the county office. Each person writes one column -- no more then 500 words -- per month. The column is headed, "OSU Extension" and includes the educator's name, title and photo. The photo is often in color, not black and white.

Articles have included:

• Food Safety -- "Have a Good Offense While Tailgating" and "Dining at Your Desk," by Ann Clutter, EFNEP Educator
• Money Management -- "Utility Bills Higher? Some Tips" and "It's Never Too Late to Start Saving for Education," by Christine Olinsky, Co-County Director and Family and Consumer Science Educator
• Home Horticulture -- "Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite" and "Protect Your Trees," by Tammy Dobbels, Agriculture, Horticulture and Natural Resources Educator
• Youth Development -- "Kids Need to Learn the Art of Making Friends" and "Who Cares? A Chance to Show Kids That You Do," by Betty Wingerter, Co-County Director and 4-H Youth Development Educator
• Youth Involvement -- "4-H Not Just for Farmers Anymore" and "Volunteering Makes for Life's Best Times," by Brian Raison, 4-H Youth Development and CD Educator

Response and reaction to the news columns has been very positive. The office receptionist has learned to be prepared for calls on Thursday and Friday related to the respective published article. Educators also receive emails and phone calls on the topic following publication. In fact, educators are also complimented on articles at church events and by the County Commissioners.

This opportunity for our weekly news column helps promote the breadth of programs available to our Montgomery County communities through our OSU Extension Office.

For more information, contact:
Betty Wingerter
Co-County Director
wingerter.1@cfaes.osu.edu

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Created: 2008-04-11, Updated: 2008-04-28