What The Star's newsroom of the future looks like
Recently, we began to sketch out concepts for a newsroom of the future – for a new kind of Indy Star built on a great history.
As a starting point, we relied on this long-held principle at The Star: Our mission is to serve the greater good of Central Indiana. To enrich lives and help our communities succeed, to expose what's wrong and reveal what's right, to confront our failings and celebrate our triumphs, to convey a deep sense of place and understanding of Hoosiers and the place we call home.
Like any business, we must evolve to succeed. We've responded over the years to the demands inherent in the growing consumption of news on smartphones, tablets and desktops, and in social media, while continuing to deliver newspapers to loyal subscribers seven days a week. Just in the last year, you've seen the launch of our enhanced website, the continuing rollout of new apps for mobile and tablet and the addition of 70-plus pages a week to print.
But we must keep strengthening our bridge to the future. So we are taking steps to significantly recast our newsroom in coming weeks. We will expand our reporting staff, further sharpen our focus on being responsive to the interests of our readers in real time, and deepen our community connections. We are creating jobs focused on topics and issues that readers tell us are meaningful to them, and providing that information in ways they want. Our goal is to better serve our rapidly growing digital audience, and the many younger readers in that space, while enhancing the value of print.
Here's some of what you can expect to see:
• Expanded investigative reporting. We are growing our watchdog team and increasing our emphasis on consumer issues and accountability for how your tax dollars are spent. We'll also point out what works and connect you more directly with decision makers in the seats of power.
• Expanded reporting on our quality of life and things to do. A larger team of reporters will deliver unique sense-of-place news that reflects the values, activities and interests of people in our communities. Whether you live in Downtown Indianapolis or in Carmel, Greenwood or Fishers, you'll find our experts revealing what's new and what connects with your life.
• Expanded business coverage. We are increasing our coverage of the business community and the critical role employers, large to small, play in growing jobs and growing Indiana.
• Expanded digital offerings and engagement in social media. We are increasing our emphasis on offering unique content to our growing audience in digital space and devoting more resources to connecting with readers in all forms of social media.
To accomplish this, we will reduce the number of managers and streamline and reposition some jobs in our production process. That comes with pain. But it's a necessary change for the future and allows us to devote a greater number of talented journalists to providing unique local content – the stories, images and information you can't find anywhere else.
It's all about serving our mission, promoting the greater good of Central Indiana – well into the future.
As always, thank you for making us part of your life.
Contact Jeff Taylor at jeff.taylor@indystar.com or (317) 444-6160. Follow him on Twitter: @jefftayloredits.