Will newspapers follow the Hula Hoop in obsolescence? South Carolina Press Assn. wrote a canned Op-Ed for its members in honor of National Newspaper Week that says "No." The late Richard Knerr, on right, and Arthur Melin, left, co-inventors of the Hula Hoop, were shown in happier times.

It was “National Newspaper Week ,” Oct. 5-11, 2008,  according to the promotional material orchestrated by the Newspaper Association of America.  South Carolina newspapers chose their theme —  “Newspapers … still going strong”  — for their statewide campaign.  Among the bromides, such as “newspapers aren’t dead yet,”  Dianne Owens, SCNow.com, website for a SC media group, wrote, “ As one S.C. newspaper consultant and co-owner said in an opinion piece about newspapers ‘Newspapers aren’t going the way of the hula hoop.’ ”

Turns out the quote was taken from a stock Op-Ed offered-up by the SC Press Assn. for its members. The canned Op-Ed was titled, ” Newspapers aren’t going the way of the hula hoop.” The unnamed “consultant” was Jerry Bellune, a past president of the SC Press Assn. and co-owner of the Lexington County Chronicle & The Dispatch News. The SC Press Assn. page instructs, ” To receive the text of the following [Op-Ed] pieces, please highlight, copy and paste the text.”   Full story