Compared with The Daily Orange’s 112 years, three months doesn’t seem like a very long time. And I’ve discovered that June, July and August go by even faster when you’re running a student newspaper.

Still, the past three months have seen significant staff changes for the business and editorial sides of the paper, one of the most notable being the general manager position.

After more than a decade at The D.O., general manager Pete Waack stepped down in July. Considering his consistent success and reliability at the helm of The D.O.’s business operations, Pete left very large shoes to fill.

The board of directors was tasked with finding someone experienced and innovative to fill those shoes. A hiring committee, made up of a few board members, combed through the initial applications and interviewed the top candidates. Of those, the most promising were recommended to interview with the entire board.

Although the process has extended throughout the entire summer, the board of directors remained enthusiastic and committed. We were looking for someone who had strong sales and management experience, as well as the drive to diversify The D.O.’s revenue and the passion to work with students. And after a three-month search and many, many conference calls, I am thrilled that we have found all that in Chris Russo.

Most recently, Chris worked at Bentley-Hall Inc., a Syracuse-based advertising agency. He was in charge of forming and implementing the advertising business strategy for a number of clients, including two national magazines. He also worked extensively with digital advertising formats. His work at Bentley-Hall increased sales by 82 percent between 2013 and 2014 and attracted new business such as American Airlines.

Chris’ enthusiasm made it clear the position would be a good fit. I’d barely finished offering him the job when he replied with certainty: “Yes, yes, yes, absolutely yes.”

The board was drawn to Chris’ interest in working with students. He worked with Syracuse University interns at his previous job, and is looking forward to being in a student-driven environment at The D.O.

Chris will work closely with students like myself and my managing editor, Brett Samuels. Brett is a senior majoring in newspaper and online journalism, who served as news editor last semester.                

 

I’ve worked at The D.O. since my freshman year, when I joined the staff as a designer. Most recently, I led the department as presentation director. I am a junior majoring in graphic design. When I’m not at 744 Ostrom Ave., I’m usually at a nearby coffee shop – either in search of caffeine or avoiding the winter weather. As a born and bred Virginian, I’m still not used to walking through more than three inches of snow.

At the start of the summer, Brett and I knew we needed to hit the ground running for the fall semester. One of our first big projects was addressing The D.O.’s web traffic, which hasn’t grown substantially in three years, barring major national news events such as the NCAA sanctions.

We chose to tackle the stagnant traffic with a five-person web team. A web editor oversees the department, and three assistant editors are assigned to each of the sections: one to News and Opinion, another to Pulp and the third to Sports.

This structure has allowed the team to be highly collaborative with the rest of the editorial staff, even within their first three months. The multimedia director rounds out the new team to encourage production of photo stories, videos and interactive graphics.

Together, these five staffers have a specific goal: build a stronger online presence for The D.O. Their work monitoring the website, evaluating headlines and collaborating with sections to create web-friendly content has already begun to pay off. Not only has it resulted in engaging summer content, like Pulp’s “Back to School” series, but our total summer page views have increased by more than 60 percent compared with this time last year.

Of course, the increased focus on the web does not mean The D.O.’s print product will be any less valued. The print newspaper has been an exemplary model of college journalism for more than a century —  and that standard of excellence is just as relevant to our staff today.

However, our most recent readership survey — conducted in the spring — shows a drop in print readership. Faced with a changing audience, The D.O. must produce more than a quality newspaper. We must have an online presence that is equally respected and reliable.

Now, with our web team up and running and our new general manager hired, it’s time for the fall semester to begin. I’m looking forward to the stories, projects and surprises the next four months have in store for The D.O. — and I have a feeling they will fly by too quickly.  

 
Mara Corbett (’17) is the editor in chief and former presentation director of The Daily Orange. She also serves as president of the board of directors. Please feel free to contact her with advice or stories about your time at The D.O. at editor@dailyorange.com and on Twitter at @maracorbett.

Published on September 10, 2015 at 12:53 pm