Hugh Osteen comes from a newspaper family. He was so well-acquainted with SNPA that he applied for the NEX GEN program as soon as he could – too soon, in fact.

It was suggested that Osteen get some more experience and develop his skill set before re-applying. A couple of years later he joined the 2016-17 class of the mentoring program for up-and-coming executives.

"I've been going to SNPA conferences since I was five years old," said Osteen, 28. "I am the sixth generation in our family in the newspaper business, so I kind of grew up going to all these things."

Read about his NEX GEN experience.

Tony Elkins, director of innovation for GateHouse Media, said his NEX GEN year with SNPA focused more on ideas than on personal development. He and his mentor often talked in the abstract and then focused on how to apply ideas and avoid repeating the mistakes of others.

Elkins enjoyed the NEX GEN program so much that he accepted an invitation to be a mentor to a participant in this year's class.

The year-long NEX GEN program offers newspaper professionals with executive potential the opportunity to develop their industry knowledge, analytical skills and aptitude for innovation.

Read about his NEX GEN experience.

On Nov. 8, by a vote of 49 to 46, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Trump's nomination of Peter Robb to be the next NLRB general counsel. Robb, a management labor lawyer from Vermont, replaces Richard Griffin, whose term expired on Nov. 4.

In this column, also read an update about the U.S. Department of Labor overtime rule, news about an EEOC case, plus a case regarding the ADA.

Carlene Cox says her NEX GEN experience was less structured than most because her mentor was in the same city. That made getting together easier, which became important when she changed jobs.

Cox, 34, was director of newsroom development at GateHouse Media in Austin, Texas, when she was accepted into SNPA's mentoring program. At the time, she knew a job change was possible within the GateHouse corporate structure, but the specifics were still being worked out.

Ultimately, she was named director of specialty content.

The year-long NEX GEN program offers newspaper professionals with executive potential the opportunity to develop their industry knowledge, analytical skills and aptitude for innovation.

Read about her NEX GEN experience.

GateHouse Media has launched a scholarship contest for college-bound students across the nation.

Students are asked to select either the word "impact," "trusted," "community" or "local" and submit an essay of up to 500 words explaining what the word means to them.

Florida International University is conducting a survey designed to examine the roles and status of communication professionals – the positions they hold, the role mentoring has played in their careers and their access to management opportunities.

This survey is being distributed to professionals who work for newspapers, magazines, online and broadcast journalism, advertising, and public relations.

The survey takes about 20 minutes to complete – but the results are important. We encourage your participation before the Nov. 30 deadline.

The Danish news media company Skive Folkeblad has implemented ONSET from Newscycle Solutions as part of its strategy to generate more page views and boost ad revenues.

Vic Bowers of The McClatchy Company says SNPA offered him practical application as opposed to theory during his 2016-17 NEX GEN year. "How to work in a changing environment. How to adapt. How to manage up as well as manage down."

The year-long NEX GEN program offers newspaper professionals with executive potential the opportunity to develop their industry knowledge, analytical skills and aptitude for innovation.

Bowers' assigned mentor was Nancy Solliday, vice president/advertising sales for The News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla.

Read about his NEX GEN experience.

McClatchy has announced that three newsrooms will join an innovative initiative to strengthen news literacy, credibility and public trust.

The Telegraph, in Macon, Ga., and The Modesto Bee, in central valley California, will join The Kansas City Star as part of News Co/Lab, a collaborative project developed by Arizona State University's Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and supported by the Facebook Journalism Project and the News Integrity Initiative.

The three local newsrooms will launch a variety of experiments to improve the public's ability to understand how news works, build public trust in reporting, increase transparency in how news is produced, improve community engagement with newsrooms and gather feedback. The Cronkite School will track the success of these steps and share best practices and models that work.

A newly formed affiliate of Boone Newspapers has acquired the Stanly News & Press in Albemarle, N.C., from Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., based in Montgomery, Ala.

The Stanly News & Press is published three days per week with circulation of approximately 5,000 on Tuesday and Thursday and 6,100 on Sunday.