At the beginning of 2007, PNJ executive editor asked, “What makes a good newspaper?” This NY Times article on the St. Petersburg Times answers that question. They do it by not pushing for profit margins exceeding 20%. Instead, the paper spends money on big investigations and on innovative products that may hurt the bottom line in the short term but could pay big dividends in the long-run
Balancing Bottom Lines and Headlines
DURING the next year or so, The St. Petersburg Times plans to continue pursuing deeply reported, long-term features about such topics as Florida’s property insurance crisis, complex tax issues, public education at all levels, and wildlife and endangered species. It will balance this slate of stories against all the other bread-and-butter issues it covers everyday for its readers: politics, business, sports, community affairs, culture and more.
“We’re going to invest the time and energy and the resources in these stories because the question we’re always asking ourselves is what matters to our audience,†said Stephen Buckley, the managing editor of the newspaper. “And that’s the question that really drives our organization: Are we doing work that matters?â€
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