PUBLISHER Mark Colosimo
EDITOR John Schuler
ONLINE www.mysuburbanlife.com/berwyn
ABOUT THE ENTRY The enthusiasm and creativity of the staff at Berwyn Life jumps off the pages. Their dedication to both digital and print publications has met their objective “to provide numerous opportunities for reader interactivity, involvement and user-generated content.” A job well done – this is one team who should be very proud.
Q&A WITH THE BERWYN LIFE
What story or series were you most proud of in 2011? What gave it impact?
Matthew Degner was a mentally disabled 14-year-old boy who was found dead outside a squalid home filled with more than 200 animals and all of his family's waste. The four-part series, written by Brett Schweinberg and edited by Amber Krosel, was a prolific and detailed account of how many opportunities there had been to prevent Matthew’s death. There aren't many stories these days that give you goosebumps. But this was one of them.
What new multimedia initiative or project did you accomplish? How was it successful?
We implemented a new rapid response initiative that was focused on increasing our digital plays in the early mornings, late evenings and weekends. As weeklies in print, we wanted to make sure that we were daily online. Reallocating our resources to implement our new coverage plan, we were able to increase our web and mobile traffic during times that previously had zero content on our sites.
What tangible change did you provoke in your coverage area or newsroom?
Our newsroom was intensely focused on building our enterprise coverage. We worked to provide our audience with context and analysis in our print products, and offered the day-to-day goings-on in town on our websites. We spent a lot of time differentiating our print and digital platforms.
RUNNER UP
Nebraska City News-Press, Nebraska City, Neb.
FINALIST
Marblehead Reporter, Marblehead, Mass.
PUBLISHER Mark Colosimo
EDITOR John Schuler
ONLINE www.mysuburbanlife.com/berwyn
ABOUT THE ENTRY The enthusiasm and creativity of the staff at Berwyn Life jumps off the pages. Their dedication to both digital and print publications has met their objective “to provide numerous opportunities for reader interactivity, involvement and user-generated content.” A job well done – this is one team who should be very proud.
Q&A WITH THE BERWYN LIFE
What story or series were you most proud of in 2011? What gave it impact?
Matthew Degner was a mentally disabled 14-year-old boy who was found dead outside a squalid home filled with more than 200 animals and all of his family's waste. The four-part series, written by Brett Schweinberg and edited by Amber Krosel, was a prolific and detailed account of how many opportunities there had been to prevent Matthew’s death. There aren't many stories these days that give you goosebumps. But this was one of them.
What new multimedia initiative or project did you accomplish? How was it successful?
We implemented a new rapid response initiative that was focused on increasing our digital plays in the early mornings, late evenings and weekends. As weeklies in print, we wanted to make sure that we were daily online. Reallocating our resources to implement our new coverage plan, we were able to increase our web and mobile traffic during times that previously had zero content on our sites.
What tangible change did you provoke in your coverage area or newsroom?
Our newsroom was intensely focused on building our enterprise coverage. We worked to provide our audience with context and analysis in our print products, and offered the day-to-day goings-on in town on our websites. We spent a lot of time differentiating our print and digital platforms.
RUNNER UP
Nebraska City News-Press, Nebraska City, Neb.
FINALIST
Marblehead Reporter, Marblehead, Mass.
