Rockford making great progress with web-first strategy

Part of my job is to travel around the country and visit our newsrooms, where I make a presentation about our online strategy.  The Rockford Register Star is an example of a newsroom that has totally embraced the web.  They produced the video below to incorporate into the GateHouse training program.

4 thoughts on “Rockford making great progress with web-first strategy

  1. Howard,

    Thanks for the letting us peer into one of “your” newsrooms. Love the attitude that comes through. This isn’t a complaint, but as someone who’s trying to push his own papers into a web first strategy, I have to say the video was long on feeling and short on facts – I’d love the chance to learn more about the nuts and bolts of such a transformation. Like, the heck with the newsroom – them I think we can manage – what about your circulation departments? What about your ad sales people – and your advertisers? Do they feel the paper product is being devalued or downgraded by the web first policy? Sign me: Hungry (for more info) in Hamilton…

  2. This video was actually made to supplement other training material.

    If you would like to discuss implementation strategy some time, drop me a line at howens at gatehouse media (oneword) dot com.

  3. And, feel free to contact me, too. We’ve been at this “cyber-fiber integration” thing since 1997 when we launched our first news Web site. There have been a ton of lessons learned as we assessed, adjusted and adapted to new ways of delivering news, information and advertising. We’ve got SOPs, too. Now, on to holograms.
    LGC
    Executive Editor
    Rockford Register Star

  4. No disrespect intended, but do you suppose there are many newspapers that are just now figuring out there is an Internet?

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