Publisher’s Porch: Apparently, They Let Me Go to Publisher Conferences Now

As many of you know, I never dreamed I would one day be a newspaper publisher. One of the things I’ve learned quickly is that some of the best ideas don’t come from a conference room. They come from conversations.

Sometimes it’s a reader who stops in to pass along a message; you should know Steff passes all of them along. Sometimes it’s an email about a story we covered — or one we missed. Sometimes it’s someone who has a very specific opinion about what we should be doing differently. (Trust me, those emails find their way to my inbox, too.)

This week, I’m headed to a publishing conference, where I’ll have the chance to spend some time with other newspaper publishers, editors, and industry leaders from around the country. I’m looking forward to hearing what’s working in other communities, what new ideas are emerging, and what we might be able to bring home and put to work here.

But before I go, I’d like to hear from you.

What do you want from your local newspaper?

Are there stories you think we should be covering more often? Features you’d like to see added? Something you love that you want to make sure we never change? Maybe you have thoughts about our print edition, our website, photography, sports coverage, community events, or something we haven’t even thought of yet.

I want to hear all of it.

Over the past year, we’ve made a lot of changes and tried plenty of new things. Some have worked better than others, and we’re certainly not finished. My goal has never been to change things simply for the sake of changing them. It’s to make sure these newspapers continue to be useful, interesting, and important parts of the communities they serve.

That’s why your feedback matters.

Send me an email at Lonnie@buriedledemedia.com. Tell me what we’re doing right, what we could do better, and what you’d like to see us try next.

I’ll head to the conference with a notebook ready for new ideas, and hopefully come home with a few worth stealing. (I believe the more professional term is “best practices.”)

Either way, I’d like some of those ideas to start with you.

My notebook of ideas, and I will see you back here on the porch next week.