Change is fast and furious

by Marina Knight

By the time I finish writing this, something to do with our job as newspaper people will have changed.

Many have heard the news and seen the headlines – newspapers are suffering, readership is dwindling and publishers around the country are in a panic. Big papers like the New York Times are in turmoil – they recently closed all their suburban bureaus and now have one reporter covering all of New Jersey. They are trying to figure out how to re-capture their audience and make themselves relevant again.

I was reading a paper online recently and it referred to its print version as the “dead-wood” version.

The times are changing and changing fast. The “newspaper” or print template for feeding people information used to be effective, but the truth is that a newspaper can only provide people with a fraction of the information they need nowadays.

Simply telling people what is news is not enough and the Internet – particularly the precedent that’s been set by the speed at which people can find out information – has changed everything.
So, what we are trying to do, just like everyone else in this business, is paddle in hard to catch the wave that is cresting high overhead. If we don’t we’ll surely be smashed to the bottom and given a good tumble before we come back up sputtering for air.

Actually, the picture for us is not nearly as grim as it is for some other papers. The Stowe Reporter is doing well, we have not seen a decline in circulation and print ad revenue is healthy. Last year we started a newspaper in Waterbury, which I am sure puts us in very lonely company.

But while things are good, we recognize the change that’s upon us so we’re making a big effort to grow our online presence (www.stowetoday.com) in the community and become not just a news provider but the local information and connectivity utility.

While the majority of what we’ll continue to provide is local news coverage, news is just one the jobs we need to do now. This is a big change.

We are asking ourselves tough but tremendously exciting questions: What can we as a newspaper company become? How can we utilize the Internet to meet people’s current needs for information and connection to our community? How can we continue to remain relevant?