8:30 am - 9:30 am
Morning Keynote Address-News in the Next Millenium:
Hope or Despair?
Allen Neuharth
Founder, USA Today


Neuharth to Insurers--Get Out the Message
The insurance industry often draws less-than-sympathetic treatment in most major media because it doesn't do the legwork with the media as other major industries, USA Today founder Allen H. Neuharth told a gathering of insurers Monday.

Neuharth urged insurers and insurance industry groups to "knock on newsroom doors," to get their message out. A former editor of USA Today recently recalled meeting no insurance representatives during a six-year editing stint, Neuharth said. Other industries, such as automobile and broadcasting, were tireless in presenting their stories and industry positions to USA Today, he said.

Insurers also don't always recognize and promote their own successes, he said.

For instance, Neuharth's own father died when the would-be publisher was two years old. "My mother told me the insurance check was the only thing that kept us going," Neuharth said. "Then the bank she kept that money in went broke in the Depression."

"News has to have some sex appeal. What has sex appeal is what it means to the average person," Neuharth said. "I'm sure careful research would show that the public has a love/hate relationship with the insurance industry."

Neuharth's remarks came at, "Managing the Information Tidal Wave," A.M. Best Co.'s annual fall insurance issues and technology conference, held in Washington, D.C.

Neuharth's morning address also coincided with the 15th anniversary of the launch of USA Today. Ironically, the New York Times experienced technically difficulties in some markets on Monday morning as it attempted to convert its daily newspaper to color reproduction, he said.

"Many of those who called us McPaper have stolen our McNuggets," Neuharth said in reporting the Times' difficulties.

Neuharth also said he is leery of publishers who have jumped into the Internet with both feet. "It will not be a mass medium until or unless it becomes as portable or affordable as the newspaper," Neuharth said. "You've got to get in front of it. That's not a bore, but it's a chore."

Neuharth is the retired Chairman of Gannett Co. and the Freedom Foundation.

A.M. Best Co., based in Oldwick, N.J., is an insurance ratings and information provider.