Ink Spots Matt Paxton
People often ask whether The News-Gazette will ever just go completely online, and I say, “Not anytime soon unless there are big reasons to do it.” But, at the same time, we know that many people, especially younger ones, get most of their news and information online. That’s why all the content from the print newspaper can be found on our website, TheNews-Gazette.com, and why we publish the electronic edition on Wednesday mornings. It’s why we make sure that TheNews-Gazette.com functions well on mobile devices and laptops.
But, we recognize that we need to be doing more in the digital realm. I’ve attended two great conferences over the past month where I heard some compelling presentations, visited with vendors and talked to other community publishers. They all say much the same thing – print is an important part of how we get out the news, but digital is where more and more people are, and we need to “up our game.”
Until just a few months ago, no one at the paper had the overall responsibility for our digital program. Our vendor, eType Services, puts all the content from each issue of the print newspaper up on the website and gets out the e-edition on Wednesday mornings. Our editors and writers upload breaking stories, obituaries and social media posts during the week, but nobody on staff has had the job of managing this and making sure things were happening.
A couple of months ago, we created a new position; that of digital content manager. Coincidentally, right about the same time, Beverly Thorman came into the office inquiring about any job openings. Normally, we have walk-in job seekers fill out an application and we tell them that if something becomes available, we’ll call. But I had had this new job in mind for a while, and I called her back that day to set up an interview. She was excited about the job, and had a lot in her resume that indicated she could be the person we were looking for.
She has jumped right in and is already making a difference. She’s doing much more posting on Facebook and Instagram, shooting videos and generally making the sites work better. She and the rest of the advertising staff, April Mikels and Gay Lea Goodbar, are learning to use a new digital ad placement system. And, Beverly has spearheaded the development of a weekly email newsletter that will begin in mid-November. Look for more on that in the paper and on the website – and sign up to receive it.
We are developing some new content streams that will be featured in the newsletter. Scotty Dransfield will be covering the local music scene; an area he knows well as a musician and former music e-zine contributor. We’re also going to being some local food and restaurant coverage. Both of these, I’m sure, will evolve as we roll them out.
Digital has the advantage of allowing us to introduce new features and delivery methods without a huge investment, and allows us to learn quickly what works and is popular, and what needs to go back to the drawing board.
The Wednesday morning print newspaper still offers a lot that digital just can’t match – a very efficient means of communicating information, the serendipitous discovery of a story that happens to be on the same page as one you’re looking for, the pleasure of reading a tangible newspaper, and the ability to clip and save articles. But digital offers the ability to publish almost immediately, at much less cost.
We’re committed to making both the print side and the digital side of the paper the best they can be, and we appreciate our readers’ continuing support.
