The paper had been selling about 38,000 copies on weekdays and 45,000 on Sunday, and the Cox-owned paper was losing $100,000 a year because of declining street sales.

Vivio said he decided that the front page should be dominated by an attractive display of the most compelling story of the day, no matter where that story took place.

After talking with the paper's top editors, transformation of the Tribune-Herald began, along with a rethinking of just about everything else the newspaper was doing.

The change to the front page began in September 2006. The impact was immediate. The street sale numbers almost immediately rose by 7 percent, an improvement that has continued.

Few newspapers can claim these days what the Waco Tribune-Herald can, a stabilized circulation.

The story deemed most compelling typically takes up about three-quarters of the front page, leaving room at the bottom for one or two other stories, which can be local, national or international, and an index to what lies inside along with a box or two promoting inside stories. The left column features detailed references to stories in various sections.

 The Tribune-Herald had other problems beside circulation, one of them being advertising losses. They decided to make some changes to try to increase ad revenue. A new glossy niche publication, Dwelling, was started last February and has been bringing in up to $29,000 in editions published every other month. Last July the paper began to publish a Spanish-language weekly, Frontera, to target Waco's growing Hispanic population; it's expected to generate at least $128,000 a year. An existing monthly magazine, Waco Today, was switched from newsprint to glossy paper, which immediately increased advertising by more than 40 percent.

The newspaper also decided to upgrade presence on the Web. The site now has the regular stories with slideshows and video presentations by staff photographers and freelancers of community events in addition.

Since the updates, page views on the site have more than doubled to 10.3 million a month and unique local visitors rose to 74,000 in September from the previous September's 44,000; online advertising revenue has grown 53 percent above year-earlier numbers.
   
In an industry with a grim economic outlook, the Waco Tribune-Herald has been able to find success through innovative initiatives.

Source: American Journalism Review