There's an old saying in the newspaper business,
"Newspapers never die, they just become part of
bigger newspapers." There is some truth to that.
Around the country, major newspapers with names
like "The Sun-Times" and "The Herald-Tribune" are
actually mergers of newspapers that are bought and
sold, and combined into single publications. It is
the nature of the business that papers have to
adapt to survive.
One of these, and clearly the most important and
most respected paper on the upper shore, The
Easton Star Democrat has a very impressive
family tree, one that traces its roots back to
colonial times.
And adapting it is. Today, the Easton Star
Democrat announces the debut of its online
edition, The Star Democrat Online.
Produced and managed by staff reporter Dave
Williams, the online edition is an impressive
publication, with excellent graphics, plenty of
local and national copy, and a sense of humor, too.
The online edition has been months in the making,
and is a great example of the advantages print
publications have in the online environment.
"The soul of the web is reading", according to
internet writer Ben Campaign, and nobody knows
what readers want better than a newspaper. The
other advantage these newspapers enjoy is that
their production systems have been electronic
for years. Creating an online edition is simply
a matter of re-directing the output.
"Simply" is a word that Dave might find a little
hard to take right now, since we're sure the
transformation has been anything but simple. But
reading through the copious content one can see
that he had a lot to work with, and chose wisely.
When we met with Dave, Publisher Larry Effingham,
Executive Editor Denise Riley and the rest of the
staff there some months ago, they struck us as the
kind of folks who would get things done, once they
had made up their minds to do it.
And so they have. The web is a richer place this
morning, and we're sure the contribution of this
fine newspaper will make this a better place for
everyone.
Welcome to the web.
April 14, 1996 Charles Paparella The Shore Journal
Cards and letters always welcome...