I spent the end of last week in Tucson, Ariz., on a trip to visit some relatives and it gave me a chance to take a look at the daily newspaper in that city, The Arizona Daily Star. Like The Citizen, the Star is owned by Lee Enterprises.
With more than 50 daily papers in our chain, I don't get the chance to see the print edition of all of them, so it was nice to have a complete copy to go through when I had a few spare minutes.
I saw some strong writing and reporting, cool page designs and plenty of creative features.
Tucson is a completely different market.
The paper is roughly nine times bigger than The Citizen in circulation size, the population is much more diverse than Auburn and the climate is warm and dry all the time.
Even with those differences, though, I certainly can see us trying some of those features in The Citizen.
Even if the Star wasn't a Lee publication, I would have made it a point to buy the local newspaper to check it out and see if there's something we could implement in our print product.
That's something that all of us in the newsroom tend to do when we go out-of-town. We often have copies of other newspapers on our front counter that staffers have brought back to share with their colleagues.
But with hundreds of daily newspapers spread all over the country, and thousands throughout the world, we hardly have seen all of them.
That's where you - the readers - can come in.
I'm sure it has happened. You've been on a vacation relaxing for a few minutes with that newspaper, when you've noticed something that made you think, “That's a great idea. I wish The Citizen would do that.”
I'd love to hear from you about content you've enjoyed in local newspapers while traveling.
It could be story ideas, recurring features, page designs, contests, photos, advertising ... anything really.
And if you're just going to throw some of these papers in the recycling bin, I wouldn't mind seeing a copy or two if you have a few minutes to drop them off here at 25 Dill St. or if you have a couple of stamps to mail them to me.
A big part of what we must do as a newspaper, now more than ever, is to try new ideas and keep the content and appearance fresh.
We'd love to have your help in pursuing this goal.
Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's columns appear Tuesdays in
The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net
I saw some strong writing and reporting, cool page designs and plenty of creative features.
Tucson is a completely different market.
The paper is roughly nine times bigger than The Citizen in circulation size, the population is much more diverse than Auburn and the climate is warm and dry all the time.
Even with those differences, though, I certainly can see us trying some of those features in The Citizen.
Even if the Star wasn't a Lee publication, I would have made it a point to buy the local newspaper to check it out and see if there's something we could implement in our print product.
That's something that all of us in the newsroom tend to do when we go out-of-town. We often have copies of other newspapers on our front counter that staffers have brought back to share with their colleagues.
But with hundreds of daily newspapers spread all over the country, and thousands throughout the world, we hardly have seen all of them.
That's where you - the readers - can come in.
I'm sure it has happened. You've been on a vacation relaxing for a few minutes with that newspaper, when you've noticed something that made you think, “That's a great idea. I wish The Citizen would do that.”
I'd love to hear from you about content you've enjoyed in local newspapers while traveling.
It could be story ideas, recurring features, page designs, contests, photos, advertising ... anything really.
And if you're just going to throw some of these papers in the recycling bin, I wouldn't mind seeing a copy or two if you have a few minutes to drop them off here at 25 Dill St. or if you have a couple of stamps to mail them to me.
A big part of what we must do as a newspaper, now more than ever, is to try new ideas and keep the content and appearance fresh.
We'd love to have your help in pursuing this goal.
Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's columns appear Tuesdays in
The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net
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Post your comment - click hereThere are 2 comment(s)
Farmer's Gal wrote on Feb 15, 2009 12:55 PM:
Of course, Jeremy, you know what we want -- we want Two Cents back in the print edition of The Citizen. You probably didn't even have to ask to know that. With the proper disclaimer, and a closer attention to what is allowed and what is not, you should be safe from any accusations of libel or slander, which I have to assume is the pressure certain influential people applied to scare you into removing it in the first place. But Two Cents in print was the only real point of connection between the technology haves and have-nots in our community on a wide variety of subjects of interest. Without it, we've all lost that valuable exchange. "
brew1234 wrote on Feb 14, 2009 11:55 PM: