From the editor’s desk: The D.O. to cut Tuesday print paper, launch ‘Digital Night’
It’s a new era at The Daily Orange, and we couldn’t be more excited.
Earlier this month, The D.O.’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to cut Monday’s print production and, subsequently, the Tuesday edition of The D.O.
I know, that’s not just major or significant. It’s historic. And it’s important to note that this decision is not a sign of financial stress or a change that should concern you.
D.O. General Manager Mike Dooling expects that by cutting Tuesday’s paper, the organization will save roughly $30,000 in printing-related costs year over year.
By cutting a day of print, we can better support The D.O.’s digital operations as readers increasingly opt to access our award-winning sports coverage, investigations and features online.
Dailyorange.com registered just under 2.5 million pageviews and 1.6 million unique site visits last academic year, accounting for a 73 percent increase in digital traffic between 2016-17 and 2017-18.
We’re excited to build off that success. While The D.O. is cutting a day of print production, our staff will still be at 744 Ostrom Ave. on Monday nights.
Beginning Aug. 27, The D.O. will hold a “Digital Night” of production each week.
Our “Digital Night” will give editorial sections more time to launch multimedia projects, whether that be podcasts, photo stories or interactive web apps. It will allow editors to spend an entire evening refining extensive enterprise articles, and help our visuals department experiment and try out presentation-related concepts that have previously fallen by the wayside.
Thanks to our generous donors during the 2017-18 school year, The D.O. received about $3,000 earmarked for web development — so throughout the fall, I’ll be working with IT Manager Ryland Arbour to upgrade and improve dailyorange.com to best showcase our new “Digital Night” work.
Our commitment to fair and fierce coverage of Syracuse University’s people, finances, administration and sports teams will, of course, never change. But our industry has changed more in the past 10 years than perhaps ever before, and The D.O. needs to adapt.
This isn’t a bad thing. Nationally, nonprofit newsrooms are thriving. Just look at VTDigger, the Texas Tribune or the Center for Public Integrity. Those organizations are sustainable and successful compared to dozens of other U.S. newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat.
Ensuring The D.O. is ahead of the curve, like those nonprofit outlets, is incredibly important, and crucial to our long-term expansion. Mike and I, along with the rest of The D.O.’s Board of Directors, believe that cutting a day of print is a big step in the right direction as we dedicate more resources to the site, IT capabilities and online outreach.
If you have any questions or comments, email me at editor@dailyorange.com, reach out over Twitter @SamOgozalek or call (607) 386-3174. I want to know what you think about all of this.
I believe the hyperlocal, digital- and engagement-focused reporting model of nonprofit newsrooms is the future for niche media markets across the U.S., and that’s what The D.O. will prioritize, and improve upon, as we continue to serve as one of the nation’s best learning institutions for young journalists and other communicators.
This print cut is just one step forward into that future.
Sam Ogozalek is the 2018-19 editor-in-chief of The Daily Orange. He previously held the positions of news editor and assistant news editor. He can be reached at editor@dailyorange.com.
