Otterblog

I’ve had the chance to read the Times-Dispatch

in Richmond the past few days. It’s a mid-sized metro about twice the size of the Journal. We’re both owned by Media General. They have a fairly new publisher and a new executive editor, and it’s very interesting—particularly in the print edition, to see the changes both large and small that they are bringing to the paper.

Newspapers are unwieldy organizations. They’re steeped in tradition, and they are not known for the nimbleness. Change comes slowly, and it can often seem that in this time of reader inattention, stagnant circulation, this little thing called the Internet that we are simply rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Maybe. Maybe not. The T-D is arguably one of the most traditional papers in a traditional state. But it looks and feels different. Some stuff—the ads on section fronts—I don’t like. But other things I do. Most signficant is story selection and editing the paper for readers and their busy days and diverse interests. My favorite story I read the past three days was about the

in a neighborhood in Richmond. Monumental? Of course not. But it was very entertaining and very informative. And to get to that story, I found myself wondering what else quirky and interesting and relevant might be there. I found a lot. So it worked on a couple of levels.

Does a salamander turn a battleship? Nope. But newspapers can’t be just about what happened yesterday. They’ll survive by telling people what they don’t know. Whether about major issues or the dating habits of amphibians. That’s where the steering wheel is found.