The Post Bulletin, increasing readership with localized news

According to publisher Bob Hill and editor Jay Furst, the PB launched “a dramatically reconceived newspaper” in January 2007, which implemented findings by the Readership Institute on how to best achieve good Reader Behavior Scores (RBS).  Editors wondering how they could tailor their paper to suit the community might benefit from taking note of the PB’s changes.
   

• The nameplate includes the paper’s motto: “If it matters to you, it matters to us.”  The staff also produced video to spread the tagline in local movie theaters and on cable and network television.
• The front page features only short (no jump) local stories and any corrections. National and international stories only run if they can be localized.
• To keep readers turning the page, the punch-line of the daily joke runs on the bottom of A1 and are set up n A-2.  In addition, most jokes are now reader-submitted.
  
• Section fronts feature only local content, and again, wire or syndicated material runs only if can be made locally relevant. 
• The Sports, Lifestyle, Life, and Style sections, like the rest of the paper, emphasize the local.
• “Across the Nation” and “Across the World” are featured in two full inside pages that feature news, art, and a locator map.  
• The weekend edition includes a full-page “Week in review” summary of the major local news.

The PB pays attention to what the community is discussing and tailors its features accordingly.  Despite this heavy emphasis on local news, it is still a substantial paper with hard news and traditional beats.  Instead of simply local data, the PB provides its readers with unique, relevant content that interests its readers and makes an impact on their lives.  It is exactly this sort of attention to the reader that will be crucial for newspapers as they face the uncertainty of the next few years.

Source: The Readership Institute