October 19, 2007

Becawz Thay Dont Caar if There Fyucher Reeders (an Riters) Kin Spel?

Some sad news from Kay Brooks' corner of the Interweb: There won't be a Middle Tennessee Regional Spelling Bee this year, unless somebody steps up - fast - and makes it happen.

Update: I didn't explain the story because I thought Kay Brooks linked to a news story about it, but turns out there hasn't been a news story about it yet - just an email announcement. The story is this: The Tennessean, which has sponsored the Middle Tennessee Regional Spelling Bee for more than a decade, is dropping its sponsorship this year because, the paper says, a competition designed to encourage kids to be better spellers doesn't fit with the paper's core mission.

Which means that, as of now, there's not going to be a Middle Tennessee Regional Spelling Bee this year. Which means no kids from Middle Tennessee will have a chance to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May 2008.

I don't have any more details. I don't know when the Middle Tennessee Regional Spelling Bee was to be held. I don't know what it costs to sponsor it. I don't even know who are the organizers of the regional bee are, to ask those questions.

But as I see it, though, two things need to happen: First, the Nashville media need to report on the demise of the Middle Tennessee Regional Spelling Bee. Second, some organization or group of organizations should step up and pony up the money to have the Spelling Bee this year - and be the heroes that saved the Bee.

Update #2: The Scripps National Spelling Bee website, SpellingBee.com, says:

Sponsorship is available on a limited basis to daily and weekly newspapers serving English-speaking populations around the world. Each sponsor organizes a spelling bee program in its community with the cooperation of area school officials: public, private, parochial, charter, virtual, and home schools.

What about The City Paper or the Nashville Scene?

According to a USA Today story published several months ago, it doesn't cost all that much to sponsor the regional bee:

Newspapers have slashed costs as they have lost advertisers and readers to new media, including the Internet. Money from newspapers, which once covered almost all of the national bee's $2 million annual cost, now covers only 35%, says Paige Kimble, director of the national organization.

In December, The Providence Journal dropped its bee sponsorship, on which it spent more than $5,000 a year, after more than 20 years. "You have to focus on the core business," says Barbara Nauman, senior director of promotions for the Journal. "I would have to say it's not sponsoring spelling bees."

ABC televised last year's National Spelling Bee - and drew 14 million viewers. Thanks in part to the excellent movie Akeelah and the Bee (starring Lawrence Fishburne, Angela Bassett and newcomer Keke Palmer - rent it today!), the Spelling Bee is pop culture now.

And it costs only $900 to be sponsor of the regional bee, the rest of that $5,000 that the Rhode Island paper spent obviously was for organizational and promotional costs, which I'd think a savvy media sponsor could recoup through creative programming and smart marketing tie-ins. Maybe even stage the event at the Sommet Center or the new symphony hall, toss in some entertainment around the edges, and charge a small admission fee.

Update: At least one local non-blog media outlet is covering the story for the evening news. If I ran a local daily that wanted to score some easy PR points, I'd announce - tomorrow - that my paper was going to save the Bee.

Late Friday Update: The Bee is being saved