Sponsors & Underwriting Invited

sponsors wanted!,
advisory boards,
about the project

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Descriptions of
linked resources
(see categories, below)

Syllabi, journals,
organizations & more

25,000 BCE to
the present!

New links,
awards & resources

Key concepts
& theorists in
media history

early media
oral & scribal culture

print media
printing & publishing, journalism, photography, advertising, comics

electric media
telegraphy, telephony, sound recording

mass & broadcast media
radio, film, television

digital media
computers
Coming Soon: satellites, digital sound, digital imaging

Award ribbon
This site has
won some awards
and has been featured
in numerous publications.

The Media History Project
Underwriting Sponsors Wanted!
Benefits of Underwriting | Affordable Advertising Options | Where's the Money Go? | Project Background

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE MEDIA HISTORY PROJECT ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF UNDERWRITING

July 8, 1996, El Paso, TX -- The nationally acclaimed Media History Project, a World Wide Web site that indexes Internet resources pertinent to every phase of media history, announced today that underwriting sponsorships are now available.

"The History Project is already the central reference site for media historians and scholars," says Kristina Ross, Director of the Project and its creator-developer. "So it is a natural online location for organizations and publishers to promote their messages about new releases or activities pertinent to the field."

Quote Box

Underwriters of the Project will receive customized, interactive advertising for their organization in all pertinent areas of the site, in return for a modest sponsorship fee. "This is an opportunity to connect with a community of consumers whose lifework or leisure activities are enriched by media-related products," says Ross. "That community is already there, just waiting to be tapped."

Good Marketing Strategy for Underwriters

Net-savvy advertisers already know the Web significantly increases the likelihood that their messages are being communicated to interested, motivated consumers. "Magnet sites like the Media History Project will become increasingly important to educators and the education industry, because they centralize resources that everyone needs," Ross says. "Yahoo's success is pretty clear evidence of that trend."

The Benefits of Underwriting

Underwriting provides organizations the ability to announce their new releases, products, special events, calls for papers, or other activities to an extremely broad range of education specialists. "Users of the Media History Project come from all subjects in the social sciences and humanities, as well as from technological fields," Ross says. The Media History Project's audience includes educators and students from:


	Advertising		American Studies
	Anthropology		Art History
	Communications		Computer Science
	Cultural Studies	Film Studies
	History			Information Sciences/MIS
	Journalism		Literature
	Mass Communication	Media Studies
	Multimedia		Popular Culture
	Radio/TV		Religious Studies
	Sociology		Speech
	Telecommunications	Women's Studies

Any print or electronic medium, website, journal, scholarly or professional organization, or vendor of media-related products is eligible for sponsorship.

"We've already seen tremendous success because we provide quality content and quality design. We're not just talking about innovating tools for tomorrow's education. We're building them."

Underwriting funds go directly to the Project's non-profit corporation and are used to maintain, promote, and further develop the site -- activities that will positively impact all sponsors. "We exist to help promote the field of media history," says Ross, "and we're here to share resources and connect people. We're trying to centralize a field that has been radically decentralized throughout its history."

The information provided directly on the site is FREE. We only ask that you don't try to re-sell it in any form without prior permissions from the pertinent contributors. This site began and will remain educational in its mission.

For more information:
contact: Kristina Ross -- email: [email protected]

Media History Project Background

The Media History Project is the most prominent and successful website devoted to media history on the planet. During its first year of operation, the Project received top website awards and substantial press coverage. It has been named a Top 5% Site by Point Communications, a Clearinghouse Guide for Subject-Oriented Research, a 3-Star Site by Magellan, and is listed in the GNN 2500 Select sites. Favorable reviews of the Project have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education� Yahoo! Unplugged, The Net, and Film and Video on the Internet: The Top 500 Sites. Prominent electronic media -- including the Discovery Channel, Mind Extension University, and the MicroSoft Network -- have also featured the site in online and televised stories.

The Media History Project has received thousands of enthusiastic emails from its users, most of whom are distinguished scholars, students, and interested lay people from around the world. Many of these "fans" are influential in media studies and media scholarship, and are successful authors, media website developers, and public intellectuals. But the Media History Project attracts a substantial lay audience, too.

"This is an exciting time to be studying media history," says Ross. "The popular appeal of the topic is obvious in the success of such magazines as Wired and The Net, both of which regularly carry features about the relation of the Internet to media's past. It's also obvious in the appeal of nostalgia among the Baby Boom and GenX-aged population. You can't talk about nostalgia today without talking about media history."

Kristina Ross, Director of the Project, is a doctoral candidate in media studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Ross began the Project as a service to other media history educators and students, and for five years has assigned her students to explore the Internet for class projects. Also an author of a popular HTML reference guide, Ross is currently an assistant professor of multimedia design at the University of Texas at El Paso. She holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and earned dual bachelor degrees in general science and journalism at Purdue University.

Underwriting Options

All contributions to the Media History Project may be tax deductible and will be used entirely for the Project's further growth. "We have several tiers of underwriting partnerships available," Ross says, "designed to give organizations flexibility and choice in their promotional activities."

Special events on the Project site, such as virtual conventions and online teleconferences, are being planned now for the spring and fall of 1997. "Partners who take advantage of underwriting opportunities now will consequently be in a better position to capitalize on the press coverage these events will generate," says Ross.

Partner Level: Contributions of $2000 or more
Partners receive:: Front-page credit
Extended listing in the site's Directory of Sponsors
Four interactive display ads that can link directly to the Partner's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Quarterly reports from The Media History Project. Quarterly reports provide a summary of user access logs, press coverage of the site, and user responses to the site's content.; Extended listing in the site's Directory of Sponsors
Four interactive display ads that can link directly to the Partner's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Quarterly reports from The Media History Project. Quarterly reports provide a summary of user access logs, press coverage of the site, and user responses to the site's content.; Four interactive display ads that can link directly to the Partner's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Quarterly reports from The Media History Project. Quarterly reports provide a summary of user access logs, press coverage of the site, and user responses to the site's content.; Quarterly reports from The Media History Project. Quarterly reports provide a summary of user access logs, press coverage of the site, and user responses to the site's content.

"The contributions of Partners will be acknowledged with additional links throughout the site, which should be especially appealing to online content providers who are producing resources of interest to media historians," says Ross. "Quarterly reports will help sponsors and content providers assess what sorts of gaps exist in online resources, where the largest interests in media history are concentrated, and will provide access to key experts and rising stars in the various related fields."

Mentor Level: Contributions to $1999
Mentors receive:: Regular listing in the Directory of Sponsors
Two interactive display ads that can link directly to the Mentor's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Acknowledgement in all quarterly reports
Additional links to any Mentor-provided resources will also be provided, as appropriate

Patron Level: Contributions to $999
Patrons receive:
Regular listing in the Directory of Sponsors
One interactive display ad that can links directly to the Patrons's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Acknowledgement in all quarterly reports; Two interactive display ads that can link directly to the Mentor's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Acknowledgement in all quarterly reports
Additional links to any Mentor-provided resources will also be provided, as appropriate

Patron Level: Contributions to $999
Patrons receive:
Regular listing in the Directory of Sponsors
One interactive display ad that can links directly to the Patrons's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Acknowledgement in all quarterly reports; Acknowledgement in all quarterly reports
Additional links to any Mentor-provided resources will also be provided, as appropriate

Patron Level: Contributions to $999
Patrons receive:
Regular listing in the Directory of Sponsors
One interactive display ad that can links directly to the Patrons's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Acknowledgement in all quarterly reports; Additional links to any Mentor-provided resources will also be provided, as appropriate

Patron Level: Contributions to $999
Patrons receive:
Regular listing in the Directory of Sponsors
One interactive display ad that can links directly to the Patrons's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Acknowledgement in all quarterly reports
Patron Level: Contributions to $999
Patrons receive:: Regular listing in the Directory of Sponsors
One interactive display ad that can links directly to the Patrons's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Acknowledgement in all quarterly reports; One interactive display ad that can links directly to the Patrons's homepage during the first quarter of sponsorship
Acknowledgement in all quarterly reports; Acknowledgement in all quarterly reports

For a small fee, the ads could alternatively link to additional custom-built pages housed on the Project's site. Also, custom homepages for contributing sponsors can also be provided at extremely competitive rates for both web development and storage.

AFFORDABLE Ad Rates Effective through October 31, 1996

For $25/week your organization can sponsor an ad that takes users directly to your conference, call for papers, or new print publication announcement. Contact Kristina Ross for more details.

Custom Pages and Storage

Because the Project wants to promote the field of media history, custom web pages are available to media historians, students, organizations, journals, and small-press publications for as little as $50; monthly storage is as low as $10/month. Please contact Kristina Ross for more details.