Wake up sunshine: stay tuned for changes to come

Too much change at once can sometimes be harder than expected. Eventually, after change, after change, after change, you begin to actually … change. Some change is good. Some change is bad. There’s always a yin and a yang factor to everything unknown. My dry wittiness is typically funny to men with the maturity of a 12-year-old. With women, it’s sometimes hit and miss.

However, in a day and age when print journalism is said to be dying, we have found success by not being complacent. “The times, they are a-changin’” applies just as much today as it did in 1964 when a young poet named Bob Dylan sought to create an anthem for change.

For those that know me, I don’t sit still for very long and typically wake up early and come charging right out of the gate. It drives my wife nuts, but then again, we are each other’s yin and yang. To slow me down, she has tried everything to wake me up a little less energized and a lot less annoying.

We first hired a neighborhood rooster, which unfortunately didn’t end well for him. Then we tried an old-school double bell clock alarm, which didn’t end well for the wall. We then went the reverse route and tried to treat the symptom with an over-the-counter sedative. This had the reverse effect and caused me to stay awake and spin old Ramones records till 3 a.m.

An early 1980s clock radio was next, but it wouldn’t stop repeating the same top-40 song over and over, so it got what it deserved. Then the iPhone. Which was great. We had several choices of alarms, but as soon as I figured out how to set the alarm to my music library, DJ Snake’s “Turn Down for What” at 5 a.m. quickly ruined that plan.

So we settled on Amazon’s Alexa. I figured technology seems to be changing for the better, so why not buckled up and enjoy the ride.

With all of these changes to my morning ritual, of course they’ve trickled over into our vision as 21st-century media company. As a matter of fact, we didn’t have a vision till I got here. And rather than force our vision from the top down, we pooled together the collective thoughts of 35-plus staff and developed a path forward as a team.

In the last year we started a new weekly print newspaper at a time when print newspapers are supposedly dying. We’ve now grown to 1,000 paid weekly readers and have also opened an office in Othello at the Port of Othello, along with a full-time staff in the community. Our websites have been updated, in addition to our circulation, editorial, composing and advertising platforms.

You’ll also notice this Friday’s TV Guide has even changed. Readers will still be able to find their favorite TV shows and sports programs with ease. However, we’ve added a little localized arts and culture. As a weekly publication, no other print product will be as relevant to our local arts and entertainment communities.

This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is also completely different from every other fourth-quarter advertising campaign over the last 10-plus years. Our vision of “connecting community and commerce through print and digital media” was the driving force behind this change.

And just because 2016 is coming to an end doesn’t mean we’re remaining complacent as we head into 2017. We’ll stop putting stickers on our magazines, including the new Adams County Magazine about to hit shelves. Our website will undergo one more amazing transition that will allow our news coverage to be more relevant. And we’re close to finishing a weekly bilingual product that will reach over 25,000 homes and businesses throughout Grant and Adams counties.

Keep reading and engaging with our community. Print news will continue to drive online news, this I assure you. The trick is finding a balance between the two and engaging the next generation of readers and consumers.

If you’re wondering what my alarm sounds like now, here’s a peak into my personal world. It goes like this … (cue Alec Baldwin’s voice) “Wake up sunshine. Let me tell you something. I’ve been up since the crack of down. If the early bird gets the worm you know what Alec Baldwin gets? The early bird.”

If you’re feeling complacent and stuck in repetition, take a leap and try something new. Keep reading and engaging and let’s go get the early bird together.