Lynne Lance on her second family

Tom Silvestri

May 16, 2022

The National Newspaper Association is known for its rally-around-the-members conventions, which in 2018 was in Norfolk, Virginia, where Lynne Lance (right) framed a picture with Linda O’Neil, then the circulation director at the Lancaster (South Carolina) News.

Lynne Lance says she dislikes talking about herself.

But she eventually agreed to participate in this month’s Relevance Project ⁠— an initiative of Newspaper Association Managers whose trade groups represent collectively more than 8,500 newspapers in North America ⁠— Executive Director Question & Answer feature because it was an opportunity to thank the members of her National Newspaper Association.

She calls the 1,698-member association her second family.

The special relationships that newspaper people cultivate over their careers are often the fuel for national advocacy and educational groups like Lance’s.

After recently reorganizing itself, NNA is still at the forefront of representing community newspapers, whether it be better postal regulations or helping the public to better understand why their support is vital to the success of Relevant local news operations.

The group’s latest readership study, for example, is loaded with facts and figures to help newspapers continue to make a convincing case in the fractured media environment.

In many ways, like the newspapers she represents, Lance is a spirited survivor.

You’ll have to read on to find out one unusual aspect of that fact.

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