Daily Circulation: 17,738
Sunday Circulation: 19,328


List the major steps you have taken in the last four years to increase readership. Please organize your response under four headings: content, brand, service, culture.

Content
Focus on local news and feature style of writing. Less focus on crimes and disasters across the nation and world unless it has local impact. Finding a local angle on world and national news has been very successful. Reduced the concentration of coverage of wars, crimes, fires, etc. More straightforward, less sensationalized coverage. More people and school features, free funeral notices and daily stories about people in the community who have died recently. Obits are now categorized by community with birth and death date under the name as in a tombstone. We redesigned page one to add entry points, including above-the-flag teaser lines and photo teasers on the rail. We also launched a go-and-do feature each week in our entertainment section along with music CD reviews, etc.

Brand
We have done very poorly here, although our circulation department has done an outstanding job of making our brand known in the community. We do not promote our content in advance and continue to use “filler” house ads such as READ CLASSIFIEDS.

Service
Service still lags, but we are improving despite an antiquated phone system that makes it hard for people to communicate with us. We failed for a while to assure complaints of poor newspaper delivery were handled properly until correct training of newsroom employees solved that issue. We have cut complaints about news releases not being run in a timely manner by funneling all news releases through one editor and making one person responsible for our community bulletin board.

Culture
We have not been able to overcome our ingrained idea that we know what the reader wants — despite the reader telling us differently. But our newsroom culture is one of innovation, drive, passion and responsibility — for the most part. This shows in the content of our newspaper.



What is the most innovative, successful or noteworthy thing you have done on readership that you think other papers might learn from or want to emulate?
All our initiatives have been driven by recommendations of the Readership Institute. Nothing is particularly innovative or new. In my opinion all have been successful.



What is the most persuasive indication you have that your readership efforts are producing results?
We believe we are increasing readership because of a marked increase in letters to the editor, growing advertising revenue and a 10 percent increase in newsstand sales. I particularly attribute the jump in newsstand sales to the extra entry points on page one and page one rail teasers, large headlines and large photographs. Also, our Web site hits are up every month, meaning more and more people are reading either online or our regular newspaper.



What is the most important lesson you have learned as you have worked on readership in the last few years?
The most important lesson I have learned is to throw out all my preconceptions as a journalist and listen to our readers. Also, I have found that at the department-head level people resist and often fear change, despite successful pervious changes.



What would you like to do on readership that you have not been able to do and why haven't you been able to do it?
I have encouraged the launch of a Friday living section with art, music, travel, food, home, health and fashion pages. This has met some resistance, as has proposed changes in art and entertainment section. I also wish to establish a four-page viewpoint section and a four-page world/national news section and a color Lifestyles section each Sunday.

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