Daily Circulation: 128,865
Sunday Circulation: 153,718


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
We asked our readers what they want in terms of content and changed our product extensively in response. These changes include:

Daily briefs in all sections

Daily digest of the news

Improved navigation

More legible font

Improved photo clarity

Reader-generated stories. We ask readers about their favorite foods, best memory, favorite T-shirt, etc. and then run what they say with their name.

On big breaking news stories, we ask online readers to write about their experiences. For instance, after a tornado hit here recently, we asked readers to write their stories. Kind of like letters to the editor, but with a news twist instead of opinion. We run these "vignettes" as we call them, along with our reports.

"In the Know" - although we call it "Did You Know?"

Fourfold increase in non-narrative information - bits of useful information that aren't buried in long narrative stories

"Debatables" - although we call it "Focus On."

Focus on increased minority coverage.

Expanded entertainment coverage and a redesign of our entertainment tab to address issues lighter readers have, such as navigation.

Created an outdoors section of go and do information.

Created a preps section of stats for high school sports - both online and in print. A big attraction for high school students and their families.

Increased promotion of the paper

Redesigned Classified

We developed our Web sites into some of the best in the business.

Brand
We are in the middle of a branding campaign that intends to evoke a sense of how reading the newspaper will help the reader have a fuller life.

Creating a campaign that focused on a more positive personality for the newspaper.

Working to create a culture that shares common goals.

Service
Launched a World Class Service campaign that provides incentives to carriers and co-workers for delivering superior service with carrier service awards given monthly to carriers who exceed service goals.

Ongoing customer service program/Effective Call Management is a systematic approach for ensuring customer inquiries are processed in a positive, effective manner.

Extended newspaper redelivery for home delivery customers who were missed or received an inferior copy.

Carrier service awards given monthly to carriers who exceed service goals.

Culture
Began steps to change culture, beginning with awareness and education (Human Synergistic Model).

Recognize and understand the behavior norms from our defensive culture

Created a "Readers First" committee to study various reader needs and wants.

Created cross-training opportunities for new managers and co-workers.

Developed a leadership development program for non-management co-workers.



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?
Set up a diversity task force to evaluate and monitor how we cover and serve our minority communities.

We pursued every opportunity to produce and distribute microzone copies in the communities where all types of special events take place. This builds new revenue and creates new partnerships with a multitude of retailers in the process.

Created a content sampling program targeted to non-subscribing households (exercised ABC third party rules).

More emphasis on group-thinking and universal participation with cross-functional teams.



What is the most persuasive indication you have that your readership efforts are producing results?
We met with a focus group from the community to discuss our news coverage of minority issues. This diverse group said we have improved over the past two years, although they said we must continue to improve. But it was a lesson in how efforts can pay off. Sometimes we get discouraged.

We have achieved our net paid goals for the last six months.

Readership numbers have increased.



What is the most important lesson you have learned as you have worked on readership in the last few years?
That readership is a moving target and that we need to move with it. We can't build a model and use it indefinitely. It must constantly change.

Always look for opportunities to get the newspaper in the hands of non-readers. We are in the audience business and our overall goal should be to build a larger audience by delivering relevant, desired content. The goal of editorial is to present the news in such a manner that both upholds journalistic integrity and is engaging to the audience, as should be the aim of the advertising department as well.

We need to eliminate the "elitist" attitude - WE know what's best for the reader. We need a business model which focuses on a more direct relationship with the reader.

There are many different reasons people read or buy the newspaper. We have to employ as many types of media promotions as possible and use each one effectively to have an impact on readership.



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?
Would like to provide more extensive indexing/summarizing. We do some but lack of manpower prevents doing more. Would also like to do more micronews (or chicken dinner as it as been called in the past), but again, manpower is the issue.

We should focus our energy on going after a younger audience, as it will comprise the main body of readers in ten to twenty years.

Improve and expand the community sections to offer relevant and local news coverage. Manpower has been the issue.

Getting Traction on Readership

Survey Responses by Topic & Newspaper