The newspaper and communications industry is a rapidly changing environment. In many ways, The Durango Herald has stepped out ahead of the curve or is adapting alongside the changing interests and practices of readers and advertisers.
During the next few days, I will try to update readers about the changes that readers of the Herald will see. We understand that you also have an investment in our future as your local news source.
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a webinar on the topic of “Transformation A&B,” which is code for rebuilding the legacy or traditional business (print) while building a new business around digital.
Ballantine Communications, publisher of the Herald, has been involved in this process for many years.
Two years ago, the board of directors broke the company into three distinct pieces. The newspaper division includes the Herald, the Cortez Journal, The Dolores Star and The Mancos Times. The directory division produces the red book under the Directory Plus banner. And the new digital division operates under the name Ballantine Digital Media. BDM includes the Buzztown operation locally.
The board has authorized extensive investment in the digital arena. In addition to Buzztown in Durango, there are Buzztown operations in Grand Junction and Farmington. Just last month, a Buzztown operation was launched in Albuquerque. By summer’s end, there will be operations in Tucson, Ariz., and El Paso, Texas. These will be followed by a robust social-media marketing organization to build upon the services (such as search-engine optimization) that Buzztown does so well.
As the company learned with its directory division many years ago, diversification of revenue operations makes for a more stable company as a whole, and it helps support journalism in Southwest Colorado. That journalism includes a digital operation – both information and revenue driven – within the newspaper operation.
But back to Transformation A&B. What we have learned is that rebuilding core business while launching new digital operations can be challenging. Successful operations have found ways to share resources during the startup phase. This might be as simple as an idea exchange, a brainstorming and sounding board structure or something more formal.
The Herald’s digital operation, which the public sees most frequently as DurangoHerald.com, is still developing and, given the digital world, likely will always be in a development posture. Readers can expect to see more video and audio content in the months ahead. Stories that appear in print may contain additional elements available only online. Video streaming, more frequent updates of the news, real-time access to river-flow information or snowpack information, more maps – all of this content will be available on DurangoHerald.com in the coming days and weeks.
Our Transformation A&B is about to unfold.
Ken Amundson is general manager of newspaper operations for Ballantine Communications. He has worked in the newspaper industry for 35 years and directed newspaper web operations since the mid-1990s.
