Fort Myers News-Press named ‘innovator of the year’ by APME
The News-Press of Fort Myers, Fla., received the “Innovator of the Year” award Friday at the Associated Press Managing Editors annual meeting in Washington.
From the story in The News Press:
The new award is aimed at honoring news organizations that have taken bold steps toward improving and increasing their audience.
There were three finalists for the award. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Rochester (N.Y.) joined The News-Press as finalists. Conference attendees voted to determine the winner.
The News-Press has overhauled how the newspaper and its Web site collect and distribute content. One example involves collaborating with some area residents to produce reader-assisted pieces.
Rob Tricchinelli of APME reports on that organization’s web site:
The News-Press was the “head of Gannett’s Petri dish,” executive editor Kate Marymont said, by experimenting with new types of journalism.
The newspaper tried to establish a “culture of innovation,” said Cindy McCurry-Ross, senior managing editor, by making significant changes, such as using MoJos - mobile journalists who carry cameras, digital audio recorders and laptops to find stories on the road - and microsites, a variety of news sources that report at what the newspaper called a “hyper-local” or neighborhood level.
The newspaper also involves members of its community to help gather and shape the news, a process called “crowdsourcing.” It has a small band of citizen journalists, called “Team Watchdog,” who had expertise in different areas. Many team members are retired, McCurry-Ross said.
Owned by Gannett, The News Press circulates 90,000 daily and 108,000 Sunday.
Congratulations to Marymont, McCurry-Ross and their team — including our pals Javier Torres, Mike Braun and Lindi Daywalt-Feazel.
October 6th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Thanks Charles. There is sure to be more coming in this area, we’ll keep y’all (see how I’ve changed from a northern guy to a Southern man!) posted on what we’re doing.