Mike Cote has worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers and magazines in New Hampshire, Florida and Colorado for more than 30 years. He also taught public affairs reporting and news editing at the University of Colorado.
Mike Cote
Daily Hampshire Gazette publisher refocusing on local and launching new Holyoke beat
John Voket | eBulletin Contributor | January 13, 2020
Publisher & Chief Revenue Officer of Newspapers of New England’s Massachusetts operations.
Northampton, MA – With an inviting and evocative new masthead illustrating a couple of southern New England villages straddling a river and linked by a bridge, the Daily Hampshire Gazette has decisively executed a unique new staffing plan to better bridge its reporters into local communities the newspaper serves.
And according to Publisher Michael Moses, who spoke recently to the NENPA eBulletin, it all started with freshening up the brand.
“For the first time in our 232-year history we commissioned a local artist to design a nameplate reflective of the communities we serve,” Moses said.
But he said the Gazette’s new look also mirrors a whole new attitude at the regional news organization, a Newspapers of New England subsidiary that also publishes the Greenfield Recorder, Athol Daily News, Hampshire Life, Amherst Bulletin, and Valley Advocate, among others.
Moses said he hopes the Gazette’s expanding and refocused commitment to local readers and advertisers will “help dispel the rumors of the death of print.”
“We have been staffing up in our newsroom, we’ve reorganized our beats, and [just started] covering Holyoke as well,” he said.
Moses said one of the things that’s been keeping him up at night has been the gradual shrinking of local news agencies, not only across southern Massachusetts but across the nation. He agreed that independent journalistic oversight of local government matters is a critical public service – one he is aiming to see sustained at the Gazette for a long time.
“There’s a relationship between the wacky world we’re living in right now, and folks waking up every day and saying, ‘hang on, we need these local papers reporting out what’s going on in our community’ – probably more than ever.”
Moses said the process of redirecting the Gazette’s course started with a “visioning committee” – a group of company leaders who met for several months determining what would be most impactful to readers and advertisers, while contributing to a stable business model.
The visioning committee’s work happened to play out while Moses was conducting his ‘Coffee With The Publisher’ initiative.
“I’d hang out at one of the local coffee shops and just chat – incredibly valuable by the way – on both ends,” he said. “I gained some valuable insights that I probably wouldn’t normally get.” Moses said the series of coffee chats also acted as a “grassroots effort” that “got folks talking, and talking about how we’re present for them, and we’re listening.”
Covering The Right Things
One of the ideas Moses picked up from those reader engagement sessions that he was able to turn around quickly, was reconfiguring areas of coverage – “getting the reporters on the beats that mattered most to the communities we cover – and covering the right things.”
“We believe their passion, and getting them into the right places will translate into [improved] production and quality of writing,” Moses said of his front line reporters.
The process of initiating the Gazette’s new course commenced after just three months of vision committee deliberations, he added, and involved designing a fresh new masthead.
Moses said the newspaper commissioned local artist Bob Marstall to design the new imaging, and “magically he came back with exactly what we had in our heads – on first try he was very close to what we were looking for and after [a few] more passes, we had it.”
Then there was the prospect of reconfiguring beats.
“I’ve always felt pretty strongly about how our newsgathering is structured,” Moses said.
“When I look ahead five years from now – with the right platforms, delivery, and pricing – folks are still going to depend most on the content they are paying for to begin with.”
He said it was not about maintaining what the Gazette had done in the past, but producing more locally generated stories by journalists “out on the street reporting the news.”
By coincidence, Moses said routine staffing vacancies and other circumstances positioned the Gazette to increase those reporting positions “without adding more FTEs. It’s an evolution of our news staff with fewer editors and more reporters.”
A ‘Perfect Fit’
That staffing readjustment resulted in four additional reporters including a new Holyoke bureau staffer who Moses said is dedicated, bi-lingual, and knows the community well.
‘”It was a perfect fit for what we saw we needed in that market,” he said. “It was a really important move if we were going to serve the Holyoke community.”
He said in short order, both print and online subscriber goals were being exceeded.
“We’re on-track to have some really big success in that community. There are other players there, but the letters we’re getting, and emails I’m getting are proof we’re making an impression in that new market.”
True to his prediction, Moses said ROI from the Gazette’s staffing shift has already generated “a 20 percent boost in reporters’ story production – that’s in just about two months. And the reader response has been tremendous.”
“We brought back a cops and courts beat, which had been gone since before I came here – we reorganized our [Gazette] features department into more of a features hub that serves all our publications here, and we built that features team out around that effort,” Moses said.
And he even committed to adding back one key editor position.
“We brought back the calendar editor position after not having one for three years,” he said. “A few years ago that may have been a position that was easy to cut – but today I think it’s so critical to our readership, so we brought this position back.”
The move, Moses said, was the final and most recent piece of the current local re-engagement and refocusing effort for now at the Gazette. And he’s looking forward to studying web analytics in the coming months to validate what he believes will be a spike in online calendar views.
Moses said more than anything he likes the renewed energy he’s feeling as a result of his reporters’ re-engagement in local communities.
“Without exception, it has been a 100 percent positive experience. And I don’t have to tell you, in our world, we don’t get many opportunities to share successes,” Moses said. “We’re challenged like everyone else, but we’re getting out in front of the decline [our industry] is experiencing with some important new changes. Now we’re just watching for them to take hold.”
John Voket is an Associate Editor at The Newtown Bee in Connecticut, Director of Public Affairs for Connecticut’s Connoisseur Media radio stations, and 2018-19 President of NENPA.
Objectivity: a noble idea that requires a process
Bart Pfankuch is the content director and an investigative reporter for South Dakota News Watch. Contact him at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org
As journalists, we all seek to be objective when it comes to news coverage. Producing balanced, unbiased reporting has never been more critical.
And yet, true objectivity is difficult to obtain, particularly when the best journalism is also probing, critical and focused on complex, multi-pronged problems.
Therefore, achieving objectivity takes far more energy and effort than writing opinion. The goal is to do the work up front so that readers and viewers, even in this highly charged media environment, can consume news and not feel the view of the reporter seeping through.
I faced a major challenge in this area recently when producing a package examining the rapid growth of concentrated animal feeding operations in South Dakota. For those not familiar, CAFOs are large livestock operations that breed, feed and house thousands and in some cases millions of animals in confined, mostly indoor spaces. CAFOs are the source of the vast majority of meat produced in the United States each year.
To my pleasant surprise, the package that published on our website, on social media and in newspapers across the Rushmore State drew extensive discussion and response, but not much criticism in regard to how the material was reported or presented.
Here are some tips I learned along the way that you can use to make your reporting more objective.
Thorough, balanced sourcing
This is of utmost importance. Inadequately sourced stories will be open to criticism that the writer missed a major point or position, perhaps even on purpose. To write with authority and balance on a hot topic, the reporter must gain a deep understanding of the facts, research, context, history and opinions surrounding a topic. For the CAFO package, I toured three farms, attended a public hearing on a project, met with farm neighbors at their kitchen tables, read a dozen studies on farm impacts, spoke to industry experts, examined inspection records, obtained state production data and interviewed government officials. When it came time to write, I was ready to do so with authority, clarity and balance.
Smart, careful sourcing
Who you talk to will affect what you learn when it comes to touchy subjects. On the CAFO project, it would have been easy to interview someone from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or some other like-minded group to get opinions on animal treatment. But I knew that quoting PETA, or some other group with edgy views, would damage my credibility with South Dakotans. Instead, I dove in deeper and found more academic, ground-level sources to discuss animal treatment, which is certainly a concern for some opponents.
Seek out the ‘real people’
Interviewing neighbors and meeting actual CAFO operators provided a critical, up-close perspective on the farms and their impacts. The entire second segment of the package was devoted to the stories of real farmers and details on animal treatment and waste management. Visiting the farms also allowed me to provide my own observations of odors, cleanliness and animal treatment. I noted when the air was foul and when it wasn’t, and told of how flies invaded my vehicle when parked briefly outside a huge egg-laying plant.
Frame the piece carefully
Every section of the package, and sometimes individual paragraphs, were framed to give one side of an issue and then the other. For each farmer or official who sees CAFOs as efficient economic powerhouses, I quoted a neighbor or researcher who had concerns about health or environmental outcomes. I tried to keep the opposing voices close to one another when addressing each topic. I used the same approach with data — one side and then the other.
Avoid loaded language
In nearly 8,000 words, I never used the phrases “factory farms” or “industrial livestock operation” or “mega farms.” They were only “CAFOs” or “large livestock operations.” Conversely, I did not refer to animal wastes as “nutrients” as producers wanted. Be clear and accurate and leave loaded language solely to quotations, if even then.
Use fair, straightforward headlines/cutlines
After all your efforts to be fair, don’t let a bad headline zap your objectivity. Stick to the facts and try to highlight the big picture. After much consideration, I ended up with “Expansion of large CAFO livestock operations causing division and concern across South Dakota.” Not the spiciest, but a fair overview.
Let sources know what’s coming
Throughout the project, I never let a source think I was taking sides or that I could be converted to one side or another, even though I was deeply interested in what they had to say. I frequently reminded people on both sides of the issue that I was examining all sides, including but not limited to sharing their views so no one was surprised in the end.
Do not take a side
This seems obvious, but if you get swept up and take a side, sources will know immediately in how and what you ask them and readers will dismiss your work as biased. The reporter must commit to not committing to one side or another or all may be lost.
The Herald News selling downtown Fall River building
The Herald News | January 7, 2020
The Herald News is selling it’s downtown Fall River building at the end of the month. Some staff will temporarily move to downtown New Bedford, where their sister publications are located, then eventually move key newsroom and advertising sales staff back to leased office space in Fall River.
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Salem News moving to Danvers
Paul Leighton | Salem News | January 7, 2020
The Salem News is moving from Beverly and heading to a new location in Danvers. The newspaper moved into its new office suite at 300 Rosewood Drive in Danvers last week, according to Karen Andreas, regional publisher of North of Boston Media Group.
The Salem News has been located at 32 Dunham Road in Beverly since merging with the former Beverly Times in 1995. The company moved its press and printing operations out of Beverly years ago and consolidated several other business functions, such as the finance and customer service departments, in the North Andover offices of its sister paper, The Eagle-Tribune.
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Get prospects involved in your presentations
John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from in-house training. E-mail him for information: john@johnfoust.com
Back in my ad agency days, I remember hearing and reading about the importance of getting prospects involved in sales presentations. At that point in my young career, I had experienced the difficulty of getting – and holding – the other person’s attention in a sales conversation. So I decided to try that strategy in an upcoming sales meeting.
The prospective client was a residential real estate development company which was considering a new logo and print brand identity. They were testing the waters to see if there were any logo ideas that were better than the design they had been using for years. I had worked with them on a few other projects, so they agreed for me to develop something.
My proposed logo featured an angled line over one of the upper-case letters in their name, with the line and the letter tailored to look like the outline of a house. Sure, it seems trite and unmemorable now, but at the time I thought it was a unique concept.
On the day of the presentation, I arrived with the finished logo, a drawing pad, and black and red markers. The finished version stayed in my briefcase, while I handed the pad and the red marker to the prospect. I provided detailed instructions on how to draw the simple letter and roof outline. Then I gave him the black marker and asked him to fill in the other letters of the company’s name. We talked for a minute or two about the simplicity of the design and how it would communicate the nature of their business at a glance.
That experience was a real wake-up call for me. From the moment I handed over the pad and the markers, he was completely involved in the process. I could tell that he had never before seen a presentation like that. By the time I pulled the completed version of the logo out of my briefcase, he understood the reasoning behind the design. After all, he had drawn it himself.
I wish I could report that my presentation convinced them to buy that new logo. But as it turned out, they kept using their old brand identity and later changed it to something which was designed by a family member. Those things happen.
Even though I lost the sale, I’ve never forgotten that day’s lesson. Those things I had heard about getting prospects involved in presentations were right. The key is to get the other person involved physically and mentally. There are a lot of possibilities. You can ask him to find his spec ad on a mocked-up newspaper page. You can ask her to look up something on her computer. Or you can ask the group at the conference table to vote on which testimonial quote to feature first.
Selling and teaching have a lot in common. It’s the old Chinese proverb in action: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
(c) Copyright 2020 by John Foust. All rights reserved.
5 Business Models for Local News to Watch in 2020
Mark Glaser | Knight Foundation | January 8, 2020
Predictions are a tricky business, but there is one sure thing for 2020: local news publishers cannot depend on the old ways of doing business. The time for chain newspapers wielding a monopoly in communities is ending, and more independent and nonprofit news organizations are taking root around the country and making sure that watchdog journalism continues to thrive.
The old business model was largely dependent on print advertising and circulation revenues, and newer digital ads have been gobbled up by the voracious tech giants, Facebook and Google. That leaves local news publishers in a tough spot, but they’re increasingly finding new ways to serve the public while diversifying revenue streams. I previously highlighted “9 Great Local News Business Ideas” to show just how ingenious these publishers have become.
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WGBH News To Open Worcester Bureau
Kaitlyn Locke | WGBH | January 7, 2020
WGBH News plans to open a news bureau in Worcester this spring, WGBH announced Tuesday.
The Worcester location will be equipped with a broadcast studio and technology to stream digital video and will create radio and digital stories for 89.7 FM and the news website.
WGBH News said it is looking to hire one full-time reporter to station at the bureau.
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Maggie Farley
Maggie Farley, Google News Lab, Teaching Fellow teaches journalists tech tools to help them thrive in the digital age. She was a foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times for 14 years based in Asia and then covered the U.N. in New York. She co-created Factitious, a digital game that playfully teaches how to discern factual news from misinformation. At American University, she was a professional fellow in an engagement design for journalism project, and taught writing. She is a fan of the Oxford comma, trapeze, and the snacks at Google.
Veteran Seven Dayzers Get 1 Percent Ownership Stake
Courtney Lamdin | Seven Days | January 6, 2020
Thirteen longtime Seven Days employees are now 1 percent owners of the Burlington-based media company.
The newspaper’s founders, Paula Routly and Pamela Polston, publicly announced the transition on Monday. The development is part of Seven Days‘ succession plan, which began in 2009 when three veteran staffers — Cathy Resmer, Don Eggert and Colby Roberts — were named junior partners. Routly and Polston founded the paper in 1995.
The 13 workers’ 1 percent holdings, combined with the three minority owners’ 12 percent, represent a 49 percent ownership stake in Seven Days, a company press release said.
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