Any time someone goes online to discuss something involving work, there is a need to subtitle the post Shameless Self-Promotion. Here it goes.
Today we revamped our newspaper, The Vancouver Sun, to more optimally find its place in a multimedia environment. A message in the paper today from our editor-in-chief, Patricia Graham, tells the story of what we did. Some of the highlights of the strategy she's led:
1. We asked readers, lapsed readers and non-readers how newspapers fit into their lives, and don't, and why, and what it is we could do to be there for them.
2. We identified who needed what and how we might organize our resources to address those needs.
3. We found our market felt local, national and international content were all important. We moved local news to the first section of the paper and created a separate Canada & World section as the B section of the paper.
4. We found busy people wanted to read but felt time-pressed regularly and needed us to help. We created an executive summary of the paper and will generate more content to help people get things done in their lives. We are adding lifestyles content, too.
5. We were told to reflect, analyse, comment and investigate. We are valued for our depth, commitment and sense of service. We have added contextual reporting (telling people what an event means), analysis and commentary and will keep our sights set on investigative and long-form journalism.
In the last year we've brought our Web site up several notches with video, audio, blogs and user-generated content. That effort will deepen later this year, but it's also important to shift the newspaper so it emphasizes what it does best. Today is our first step.
Comments and suggestions welcome.
