A new captain at the helm of The Enterprise

Just over a month ago, the front page of our newspaper included the announcement that John E. Newhouse II has been named as the new publisher of The Enterprise.

He replaces Aubrey Webb, who will become publisher emeritus and continue to work on special projects for Hearst Corp., which owns The Enterprise.

Readers may wonder why that is front page news and just what it means to them.

It is front page news because the publisher of any community’s newspaper generally steps into a role as a community leader. Just as bank officers, refinery managers, and business owners play a leadership role, so too does the person at the helm of the town’s newspaper.

As to what it means to readers: It means there will probably be some changes. When a new leader joins a company, new eyes and new ideas bring about new ways of doing things, and sometimes even new products. A newspaper is no different.

That doesn’t mean readers should expect anything drastic. We aren’t going to print in smaller (or larger) type; we aren’t making the paper bigger (or smaller) and we won’t be changing to purple (or red, or blue) ink.

The changes the public might notice will come, but they will, most likely be fairly gradual. Those changes might not even be fairly credited to (or blamed on) the new publisher. Newspapers, like any successful business, change and adjust on a regular basis in an effort to continue to appeal to their ever-changing audience.

The bigger changes are more likely to happen within The Enterprise building, as our new leader learns more about our community and our newspaper and as it becomes his community and his newspaper.

In the meantime, watch and wait. Sometimes change is a good thing.

Sometimes good news doesn't make the cut

One of the frequent criticisms of media outlets in general, print or electronic, is that there is too much emphasis on bad news.

People want to read good news . . . happy stories about positive things.

We, at The Enterprise, are keenly aware of that and make a real effort to cover positive news, which frequently is featured on the front page of our paper. But the reality is, while people like good news, they expect, even demand, the bad news.

A newspaper has a responsibility to report on public issues, controversies and government actions. Not to do so would be a failure to fulfill the obligation that goes along with the rights of a free press. In addition, quite frankly, we get calls and e-mails reminding us of that obligation and responsibility. People want to know the outcome of arrests and trials; who voted for (or against) what; and if it was construction or a car wreck that created the traffic jam that made them late to work.

Sometimes there simply isn’t enough time, talent, or space to include all that must be included in your newspaper and all that we’d like to include. That is one of the best things about the Internet and BeaumontEnterprise.com Though our time and energy might still be limited, the space is limitless, offering our on-line readers information and images they likely might not see in the printed version of our product.

So, for those of you who would like one more positive, happy story in your day, here you have it. It is with great regret that I say, we couldn’t squeeze it into the printed version of our newspaper, but it is certainly something worth sharing.

Enjoy!

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18119094&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512551&rfi=6