Posted Dec. 14, 2007

Do you have your 2008 game plan? APME News found four editors who were willing to share their strategies for success in the new year.

Cherie Speller
Associate editor for readership and community news
Greenville (N.C.) Daily Reflector
cspeller@coxnc.com

The Daily Reflector is a 22,000-circulation newspaper. Our goal for 2008 is to continue reorganizing our news resources to increase traffic to our Web site, Reflector.com. A major thrust is covering spot news with a designated Web reporter and editor updating the site throughout the day as events happen, from traffic to crime to community events.

Another goal is to gauge which Web features draw the most audience. We know slideshows are popular, but we want to determine what other features keep our audience coming back.

We also will refresh our print product to complement, not just duplicate, our Web efforts so that the newspaper and online site offer a complete package of news, information, entertainment and advertising.

A continuing goal is to increase staff quality and diversity, which is a real challenge for a newspaper our size. To meet this challenge, we're excited about an effort to "grow our own" through our first minority journalism workshop for local high school juniors and seniors this summer.

In addition to introducing our profession to the students, we aim to develop closer working relationships with schools and teachers to help identify all those with interest and potential in journalism.

Be first and best

Terry Orme
Managing editor/news and business
Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune
orme@sltrib.com

It's a cliche, but it's true: Before you look forward, you should look back.

The Salt Lake Tribune made a quantum jump in 2007 in serving our online readers. We got news up fast, commonly filing 40 online stories a day. The newsroom experienced a sea change in embracing the fact that the Web has put us back in charge of breaking news.

Now, the challenge is to build on that model, of being first and best, of telling readers what happened, and then coming back as soon as possible to say what it means. In 2008 the big goals are to use more of the storytelling tools the Internet provides and to keep broadening our definition of breaking news. If we know something, we should tell our readers by posting it online now.

We will produce more multimedia to complement our print stories, to give readers the opportunity to hear our sources firsthand, to paint more vivid and complete pictures.

We will offer readers more database opportunities to explore, even investigate, the places they live.

In print, we will continue to be mindful of readers' time, to write tight, to layer information so readers have alternatives on how deep to go into a story depending on how much time they have.

While paying attention to how we present news, and in pursuing Internet opportunities, we must recommit to the fundamentals – to our watchdog, explanatory and investigative roles. For example:

■ We choose a new president in 2008. Our readers need to understand their choices and what's at stake.

■ Health care and the cost of health insurance are hitting crisis points. We need to investigate and explain.

■ Communities in Utah remain undercovered – the five Indian tribes, our international refugees, the elderly. We need to redouble our efforts in bringing these people and issues to our front page.

Building on success

Ben Post
Managing editor
Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal
bpost@courier-journal.com

In the past year, the Louisville Courier-Journal transformed its newsroom into what is now called the Local Information Center. The transition was part of a Gannett corporate-wide initiative to more seamlessly blend print and online operations into a broader information network that would serve our audience more effectively and enhance revenue-building opportunities.

We eliminated some supervisory positions and streamlined coverage responsibilities by merging some operations under five new classifications: the First Amendment desk (Metro, Zones, business); Lifestyle (Features, including our young reader publication); Datadesk (listings, library and databases); multimedia (online, photo and online support); and the I-team or Innovation Team.

The I-team consists of an editor (creative thinker), designer (creative visuals) and system manager (online and system support). It is under the executive editor and works closely with the Operating Committee in developing new products and other content initiatives.

In the "old days," ideas flowed within a department and had to fight to get noticed outside it, but the I-team is an idea magnet that attracts suggestions from all departments within the newspaper. It works closely with advertising and marketing as well as the Info Center managers and plays an important role in developing new online initiatives.

The results of all these changes were immediate: Communication among departments improved, as did staff efficiency in production; ideas for print and online were turned into reality more quickly; strategic thinking (the mission) was shared more effectively with a better understanding of what was at stake. And, perhaps more important, understanding and recognition of commitment of a shared responsibility became apparent by some employees who always cast a cynical eye on change.

The goal for 2008 is to take what we have learned and to improve on it. We have created new products (profitable products, I might say) in print and online, and we have more ideas to develop in the new year.

The changes have been positive, but there is always the concern over the industry's financial health. The biggest challenge is to retain and find top talent at a time of uncertainty and to keep people not only engaged but fulfilled as professionals.

Improve content, services

Keith J. Allen
Managing editor
Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review in Arizona
keith.allen@svherald.com

The Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review in Sierra Vista, Ariz., is a daily newspaper with a circulation of 10,500.

In 2008, the newspaper's goals are twofold: to continue improving the content and look of our daily paper, and to improve the services and offerings on our Web site.

Content improvements will range from the writing to the packaging of stories in design and photography. We feel that focusing on the basics also is important because 2008 is an election year and the old-fashioned aspects of reporting and writing will be at the forefront of what we do.

Our Web site is a focal point in 2008. We have an online video program, and we're placing more content online. In 2008, I look for us to create more unique features that will draw new readers. We've already seen success in this through a comment section on our site.

Finally, our editorial staff continues to work with interns from the local high school to help train future journalists. We also expect to have an intern during the summer as part of a company program. We feel this is an important role that we, as a community newspaper, can play.