BJ EDITOR MICHAEL SHEARER WEIGHS IN ON CURRENT SITUATION

 

 

Michael Shearer

I realize many of you fondly recall the ABJ’s glory days. Life in a virtual 2022 newsroom is much different as we seek to preserve local journalism and build a sustainable digital subscription base. I hope everyone will support that cause one way or another.

I was asked to review some of the recent comments here and to see if I could provide some clarifications.

·         We’ve added local reporters to the newsroom in the last 3 years and have reporters in key suburbs breaking important stories. Gannett is doing its best to preserve journalists by making other difficult decisions on print and production. We’ve refined beats and are investing more time in enterprise reporting for 2022.

·         We benefit from coverage from our sister sites in the ABJ’s traditional 5-county region since the 2018 GateHouse deal. It made the ABJ and other papers better overnight.

·         Since the Gannett merger, we’re also benefitting from a strong Statehouse bureau with six employees and a statewide digital team pushing our content on all platforms. And reporters from our 21 Ohio sites collaborate daily on a wide range of important content. We also benefit from OSU sports coverage. Gannett has more Ohio journalists than any company.

·         We decide what’s on page one. Remote page design is done where the employee lives and normally works well. It’s no different than reporters working from home during the pandemic.

·         The Tuesday 1A error resulted from our request to improve an accurate headline. Somehow “quits” became “quites.”

·         The change to 6-day print is inevitable. PD has been 4 days for years. Blade now 3. Youngstown essentially closed. We’re better off at 6.

·         Yes, delivery is challenging right now and customers are very frustrated. We can’t keep carriers and 20 percent of routes are down. Delivery managers are filling routes and try to get time off when they can.

·         Premium editions are a challenging concept for many of us but they produce revenue essential to our mission.

·         Yes, the letter was hard to follow. All I can say is we do not currently plan to publish two premium editions each month. Customers may opt out of premium charges, although they will likely still receive the insert.

·         Premiums have appeared periodically for years and have included Browns preview magazines, puzzle books, and special historical inserts which generally receive positive reviews. The next premium is on Black History Month on Feb. 20.

·         TV Guides cost money that can be better spent on local journalism.

·         Yes, we’re now printed in Detroit due to the closure of the Wooster printing plan Jan. 31. They also print Columbus and others. This does mean earlier deadlines, but our primary focus is digital.

·         Digital-only subscriptions are on sale now. www.beaconjournal.com/subscribe.

Thanks for reading this and supporting local journalism. Your successors take their roles and duties of moving the ABJ forward seriously every day.

It may look different, but the fundamentals of journalism are unchanged.

 

Shearer, an Ohio journalist for more than 30 years, is editor and market leader for the Akron Beacon Journal/BeaconJournal.com and regional editor for 11 other northern Ohio newsrooms in the USA TODAY Network.