Chicago Tribune Editor Gerould Kern and Detroit Free Press Publisher Paul Anger told APME members today how things are working out after they took revolutionary approaches to metro newspaper survival.
The Free Press is seeing numbers in line with anticipation - some favorably exceeded estimates - after moving to a mixture of home delivery/on line publication/electronic editions that reduced the number of days readers find the Free Press on their doorstep.
Most subscribers chose to stay with the Free Press, with a drop of 6 percent. They had anticipated 9 percent would fall away, Anger said today at APME 2009 in St. Louis.
They learned some things along the way – about readers.
“Most people don’t want the seven-day anymore,” he said.
How did reducing print/home delivery days affect ad dollars?
Ad revenue is down about the same as with other papers, not because of the plan, he said.
Lessons learned:
Ask the important questions about how and where you can cut.
Explore how the market might react.
Communicate.
After the year of change, Anger has words of advice.
“Don’t shed tears for print,” he said. “The milkman doesn’t deliver fresh anymore and doctors don’t make house calls. Readers will find great journalism that we do.
“It’s the wealth of information we gather that is our franchise," he said, "not any one delivery system.”
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In Chicago, the Tribune decided to face uncertainty with determination and reaching back to our journalistic roots. The newspaper decided to pursue meaningful journalism “no matter who owns us,” Kern said.
The Tribune’s watchdog reporting focus is building positive branding and connecting the news organization and its community.
“Watchdog reporting is at the heart of our mission and it drives everything we do,” Kern said today.
Readers are responding favorably.
“Investigative reporting is a method,” Kern said. “Watchdog journalism is a mentality … your problems are our problems.”
Specifics: the Tribune beefed up its government watchdog efforts, launched a consumer watchdog team and expanded the role of its editorial board.
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How do you manage all that change? Poynter’s Jill Geisler offered tips today.
Areas to consider: Education – train, coach, mentor; motivation; emotion; collaboration; communication. If you aren’t reading Geisler’s columns at or getting her podcasts, you should be. Her coaching style is motivating and her knowledge is extensive.
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APME can pack a lot into an afternoon. We also heard from panelists examining diversity – in the newsroom and in our communities. We all know our newsrooms and our news pages should reflect the face of our community. But do they?

And are we covering news pertinent to that reflection?
Gilbert Bailon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch points out two diversity hot topics coming next year we need to be ready to cover: the census and immigration reform.