A year after changing publishing schedule,
Papers adjust to the daily show

By John Whitlock
KPA News Bureau

It is one of those events rarely seen in newspapers these days - switching to daily publication.

But two Kentucky papers, the Georgetown News-Graphic and the Appalachian News-Express in Pikeville, bucked the trend and shifted to daily publication in the past 14 months.

For each paper, the change has proven to be the right one.

With the continued growth of Scott County, Georgetown News-Graphic Publisher Mike Scogin said the move from three days a week to six days was a successful one.

"It was a perfect move," Scogin said of going daily on Aug. 15, 2006. "We went through the normal ups and downs but the community has embraced the change and soon after, the advertising community embraced us."

Scogin said the decision to move the paper from a weekly publishing schedule to a daily didn't come overnight and was the culmination of many different elements.

"Every time I spoke to a civic organization, the issue came up," Scogin said. "Around June of 2006, we were looking at the landscape of Scott County and thought maybe we were ready. I felt like it was a good time for us to make that kind of move. It was a gut feeling."

Scogin's decision has not only affected the paper's staff, readers and advertisers, the move has had a position and lasting reaction in the Scott County business community.

Scogin said he felt gratified recently when the developers of a giant regional shopping center announced one of the reasons they picked Georgetown for the new project was the fact that the community had a daily paper.

"They said one of the factors that helped them make the decision to locate here was that we had a daily newspaper," Scogin said. "When we were three days a week, the retailers might have a sale break on the days we didn't publish. This (schedule) works out for our advertising clients and us."

The switch did not go without bumps.

"As we went into this, our newsroom had been pretty stable," Scogin said. "Our concentration was on other areas. We ended up having an almost 100 percent turnover. ...we ended up losing a lot a good people."

If others were interested in the shift, Scogin would advise publishers to be aware of how much the change will affect people.

"A change like this has a lot of impact in their lives," Scogin said. "You have to look at it as a whole."

For the most part, Scogin said, the employees "embraced" the change.

"There is a learning curve," Scogin said. "You have to learn to function as a daily."

The idea of functioning as a daily was one of the biggest issues Rachel Stanley, editor of the Appalachian News-Express, said she encountered when her paper went into daily production last year.

"For us, the biggest change was adjusting to the deadlines," Stanley said. "We no longer had the luxury of being able to get a story ready in two or three days. If a reporter is at a school board meeting, they have to come right back and immediately write that."

Stanley found at least one advantage to the increased publishing schedule - more scoops.

"We're very competitive," Stanley said. "It's been good for the paper in terms of content. We cover just about everything that happens."

With the additional publishing days, Stanley said the paper took on additional staff.

"I have to hand it to our company," Stanley said of Lancaster Newspapers. "The week we changed, we had two new full-time reporters and a part-time position was changed to full time. They hired the staff we needed."

Jeff Vanderbeck, who served as general manager of the Pikeville paper at the time of its switch but is now the publisher, said despite some anger related to a price increase connected to the change, the public has adjusted to the new schedule.

"From a market and news perspective, we could handle more news and editions and put out the new papers," Vanderbeck said.

Despite the slight backlash, Vanderbeck called the shift an "overwhelming" success.

"We knew it would be a difficult transition for some people," Vanderbeck said. "That's why we decided to beef up editorial. The community wants more local and almost everything is local now."

Vanderbeck said he and former publisher Marty Backus worked together to outline the changes.

"We had a game plan," Vanderbeck said. "We have a lot of advice for anyone considering this. The main thing is to have a good plan and a lot of patience. It's take a year for everyone to understand it. It's a lot, a lot of work."

Vanderbeck said the paper's staff is also learning as they become more accustomed to the change.

"At first, we believed that it would really only affect one or two departments. We quickly learned that it affects the entire organization - from the publisher to the person who answers the phones," Vanderbeck said. "The pace is much quicker. It worked out real well."

Scogin also says the change is a successful one.

"I have to admit, I ask myself and others if it was a good move," Scogin said. "Almost everyone agrees. It was the right move for us. It was a huge decision, pretty gutsy for the market. Some people in the newspaper business are prone to feel sorry for themselves and may not see some of the opportunities."

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