Mo d 2.0 for poynter 10 21

MoD 2.0 at the Daily Press

Reversing the newsroom equation: Moving production to Chicago adds

up to deeper savings

The philosophy

• Shifting decision-making on non-local content allows Daily Press to focus on local content

• Non-local news, features and sports are delivered at a high quality but low cost

• Daily Press strengthens its viability as a vibrant voice and aggressive watchdog

How it works

• Media on Demand produces all non-local pages

• MoD delivers 80 percent of all pages directly to the Newport News press room

• Daily Press editors employ templates for most local content

• Fluid local pages remain in sole control of Newport News newsroom.

The content

• Local news dominates Page One and the first part of the A section

• Nation & World news expands slightly, in keeping with tested reader preferences

• Features and Sports pages become primarily non-local Monday through Thursday

• Sunday is home to intensely local Features and Sports components

Reader reaction

• Decrease in local Sports coverage felt most profoundly—and addressed

• Syndicated material—Bridge and Car Talk, e.g.,--restored to address complaints

• Complaints about minor structural changes, such as moving weather

• MoD adjusting some material, e.g., Food• No cancellations tied directly to MoD 2.0

Costs/Benefits

• Daily Press reduces copy desk, design and some supervisory resources

• Local content gathering remains strong• Some Daily Press reporting resources are

redirected to local breaking news• Chicago Tribune provides all MOD content and

production work

Current initiatives/Next steps

• Aligning MoD Business report for DP, others• Transferring all Business agate to MoD• Reshaping ad stacks where possible to create

new modular editorial shapes• Training new MoD/DP team members• Adjusting MoD report to serve DP reader

tastes

Lessons learned

• Sitting in customer’s chair gives new perspective

• Scheduling, messaging and delivery undergoing standardization, improvement

• Small changes pay big dividends• One size does not fit all … but it comes close