Your newspaper: finding the love again

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Newspapers, an industry observer wryly noted not long ago, used to be like Diana Ross.
“These days,” he wrote, “they’re not even one of the Supremes.”

 Using a 60s pop culture reference to riff on an industry whose best days are supposedly behind it may sound fitting as we race toward the year 2019. Back when the Supremes reigned, well, supreme (remember Motown?) and later, when Diana Ross was the world’s best-known singer (and her former groupmates relegated to relative anonymity), newspapers helped set the tone for news coverage and discussion about what was going on in the world.

Those were the days when the total number of newspapers printed in the U.S. each day outnumbered households. Today, newspaper circulation as a function of total U.S. households is down to its lowest level in two generations.

To quote the Supremes: “Where Did Our Love Go?

 In the last generation, a constantly-changing world brought major disruptors to newspapering: waves of new technology, a major recession, corporate ownership, newsroom downsizing and other pins and needles that helped poke holes in the newspaper industry’s balloon.

But while the notion of #fakenews makes headlines, there are two immutable and irrefutable truths: first, total newspaper readership for print, digital and mobile platforms, as a per capita function, has never been higher. And second, engaging and accurate news as a commodity has never mattered more.

 Which is why we believe The Chatham News and The Chatham Record, like Chatham County, have a brilliant future.

My career in newspapering covers five decades, and I’ve never stopped being a student of the business. As I sit in the publisher’s seat in our Siler City office, I look around North Carolina and elsewhere and I see newspapers seemingly embracing a race to the bottom – engaged, it appears, in a quest to self-destruct or fade into oblivion. But I see others, including those published in small markets by my friends and colleagues across this state, doing incredible journalism and serving their respective communities in innovative, engaging and important ways.

This newspaper is going to join those in the latter category.

With this edition, my partners Kirk Bradley and Chris Ehrenfeld – both of whom have strong ties to Chatham – and I are beginning the re-launching process of your newspaper. Our goals are simple: first, create a sustainable business model that features an outstanding printed news product. And second, for that product to serve the needs of all of Chatham County, particularly when it comes to areas we’re passionate about – namely, education, economic development, quality of life and a shared responsibility for our future.

We invite you to join us.

 It starts with this issue. And although it’s going to be an evolutionary process as we ramp up – meaning simply that it’s going to take time to work out some kinks – you may have noticed one major change right away: a new “nameplate” that reflects not just a new name, but our new aim. 

“Chatham News + Record” is a name, and a newspaper, that will honor the legacy of The Chatham Record, which dates to 1878, and The Chatham News, which was founded in 1924. The newspapers have operated under the ownership of the Resch family for nine decades, and last week we completed the acquisition of the properties from Mary Little Resch, the widow of former publisher and editor Alan Resch.

We’re extraordinarily grateful to Mrs. Resch and her family for the trust they’ve shown in us. She is a delightful woman who dearly loves her community. I knew Alan Resch for many years. He passed away shortly after I retired – for what I thought might be for good – from the newspaper industry. The last day of my 31-year career at The Sanford Herald in neighboring Lee County was June 3, 2016; Alan passed away in Siler City not two weeks later. 

Alan was a publisher’s publisher, a man who reminded me a lot of my grandfather, who founded The Sanford Herald in 1930. I’m not certain Alan would have liked to have seen his newspaper re-named, in a sense, and rebranded – at first. But here’s the truth: Chatham is many things; ultimately, however, it’s one county that is clearly far more than the sum of its parts – which is part of what the “+” in our name recognizes. Chatham News + Record is a single newspaper that will serve all of Chatham, all of its communities and all of its people. Chatham is not this “and” that, but this PLUS that – and with our relaunch, the staff and I promise that we’ll give you more news and information and more of what you need to know to be a part of this wonderful section of central North Carolina.

How?

We’ll be rolling out a number of changes and additions to the newspaper in the coming weeks and months, but for right now, here are some highlights:

NEW WEBSITE: At the end of this week, we’re unveiling a new website for the newspaper. You can find it at www.chathamnewsrecord.com and you can access it without a paywall. We’ll continue to refine and add features to the site in the coming weeks and months, so register there and keep going back as we add content.

A REDESIGNED NEWSPAPER: While you’ll see some minor changes in this week’s edition, and more in the weeks to come, a full redesign of the entire News + Record is in the works and will debut in early 2019. In short, we’ll present to you a clean, modern and more readable newspaper.

MORE THAN A NEWSPAPER: We’re committed to print and to utilizing digital platforms to serve readers, but our menu of products will include more than our core product and website. In this issue, you’ll see an in-house advertisement for our first special section – Chatham411, which will serve as a county-wide almanac for need-to-know information about the county. It’ll publish in early 2019. We’ll also be introducing a weekly e-newsletter to anyone who wishes to receive it beginning the week of Nov. 26. Other non-newspaper products, already in the planning stages, will be announced early in the new year. In addition to bringing more to our readers, our print and digital products will provide multiple platforms for our advertising partners to reach Chatham County and beyond.

(Speaking of which – advertisers and potential advertisers, please be on the lookout for our new advertising packages that feature frequency discounts and much more, including a Christmas and holiday-themed special.)

LEVERAGING PARTNERSHIPS: It’s our belief that there will be times when we can best serve our readership and the county by collaborating with other organizations. To that end, we have developed partnerships with a number of outstanding entities that will create all sorts of synergies. We’ll unveil more about them in the coming months, but this list includes Reese News Lab at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at UNC-Chapel Hill (see story on page 5A), Central Carolina Community College and WCHL Radio, just to name a few.

MORE EACH WEEK: Beginning this week, you’ll find more in your newspaper. As Chatham County’s newspaper of record, we’ll have a robust community calendar that will expand in the coming weeks as we develop it more fully. We’ll feature “ch@t,” a weekly on-the-record conversation with a Chatham newsmaker. In the coming weeks, we’ll add additional regular features planned that will make the News + Record an engaging, compelling read.

GETTING SOCIAL: Our Twitter feed (@chathamnr) is now live, and we’ll soon launch our Instagram page (@chathamnewsrecord) to feature our best photography and submissions from readers. We’ll be visible on other platforms (including Facebook) before too long.

 NAMES AND FACES: Chatham’s unique geography and community structure doesn’t mean we’re not all neighbors. To that end, we’ll soon unveil a standing feature in each week’s News + Record: a “Neighbors” page where we highlight news you bring us – your best pictures, your own written submissions, your children’s best artwork and much more.

IN THE MEANTIME…we’re at work on a host of other things. Some are simple – for example, we’ve added voice mail to our main telephone lines in our Siler City office, as well as created ways for customers to pay for subscriptions and advertisements with credit or debit cards. Some will take more time, such as working with local post offices to ensure faster delivery of the newspaper to subscribers. As we work to make the experience of the Chatham News + Record an overwhelmingly positive one, the staff and I ask for patience. Your newspaper has an incredible legacy, but in a sense this is a brand-new venture.

I’d like to hear from you about what you think and what you’d like to see from your newspaper. My email address is bhorner3@chathamnr.com, and my direct office line is (919) 663-3250. Don’t hesitate to write, call, or stop by. In the meantime, I’m going to be reaching out to you – community leaders, readers, advertisers, etc. – to meet you and to help me get the pulse of Chatham County.

The heartbeat here is strong. Chatham is a county on the move, and we look forward to helping to write that story. We’re glad you’re with us. And we hope you’ll discover a new love for the News + Record.

Chatham News + Record, Bill Horner III, Chris Ehrenfeld, Kirk Bradley