Events/Meetings

News

Media Milestones in Pensacola: A History from the Printing Press to the PNJ 

Feb 21 11:30 am - First United Methodist Church of Pensacola, Wright Building, 6 E. Wright St., Pensacola FL 32501

Our area enjoys many different options of TV, radio, newspaper and online news. Our press releases go out to dozens of local journalists, all with different beats and specialties. But this wasn’t always the case. Starting with Pensacola’s very first paper in the early 1800s, the incomparable John Appleyard will take us on a journey of media history in the area, from small printing press newsletters to large, national television and radio stations. How has the fourth estate shaped Pensacola politics, business and PR? Appleyard will illustrate our history in the hopes of shedding light on our future, and how we as PR practitioners can better prepare for it.

John Appleyard attended Northwestern University School of Journalism, Oxford University, and the University of Delaware where he earned a Bachelor’s degree, graduating with honors in 1947. After college, he worked for Armstrong World Industries and was a partner in the public relations firm of Justin Weddell & Associates. In 1959, he and his wife Eleanor founded the John Appleyard Agency, Inc. and served as CEO until 1993 when his son, Dick, took the reins. He also served as president and CEO of Healthcare Research & Development Institute from 1967-1992, when Diane Appleyard became president. One of the region’s foremost storytellers, John Appleyard has published more than 100 books, including histories of prominent local families, novels and non-fiction works detailing the area’s rich history, and a series of more than 100 mysteries involving two 1900s-era Pensacola policemen. He has authored histories and produced films for local businesses such as Baptist Hospital, First United Methodist Church, the Medical Center Clinic, the Lewis Bear Company, the T.R. Miller Company, Pensacola Junior College, the Pensacola YMCA, the Escambia County School System and First Presbyterian Church. He also wrote the plays “The Second Great Document” and “The Third Great Document” and numerous radio enactments and plays dealing with local and regional history. He and his clients were recipients of over 100 Freedom Foundation medals and awards for patriotic presentations.