In October 2005,
projo.com launched its news blog, named it "9to5" and put it at the top of the home page. We staffed it with one Web reporter and cultivated a network of early contributors from the staff of the newspaper.
We emphasized the importance of posting quick hits -- within five minutes of the time we learned of any news.
The blog was an instant hit -- traffic grew and we liked the energy it generated throughout the newsroom.
By the spring of 2006, we were convinced that the high-profile investment in breaking news was paying off, and we moved more resources to the cause: a morning producer and two reporters.
On April 3, 2006, we expanded and re-launched the news blog as "7to7."
How it Works
Our basic protocol is that the 7to7 is projo.com's first reporting channel for breaking news. The news gets to the blog staff in a variety of ways: posting, e-mail, or dictation -- whatever works well in a given circumstance. We've even set up a dedicated blog phone line and an e-mail address.
A simple view of the strategy is that it is enabling our news organization to move content to our readers in between the press runs of the newspaper.
In a typical week, the blog delivers upward of 100 news items and 20 photographs over its five-day span, and often more. We also use items from the Associated Press, including its broadcast service. As important stories develop, and more pictures arrive, they typically move to a position in the body of the home page.
The 7to7 news desk opens at 6:30 a.m. The blog goes live at 7 a.m., typically, starting with a quick weather report and downloadable front page of the newspaper.
To flesh out the blog, the news blog's morning producer, Jack Perry, news-blog reporter Kate Bramson and assistant managing editor Peter Phipps use traditional reporting tools like overnight notes from the city desk, the morning report, local and state police contacts, the daybook of events, etc..
Mike McKinney is on the blog by 11 a.m. This gives us double coverage for the busiest part of the day, as news unfolds and our Web traffic builds.
Online editor Andrea Panciera takes charge of coordinating the continuing coverage and the updating of the entire home page through the afternoon and early evening.
As the day unfolds, we're off to the races.
Some stories are written by the projo.com reporters; others are written by the staff at large. Editors or producers review all the material on the blog.
As news breaks on various beats -- police, courts, politics, sports, health, education, local news -- Journal reporters and photographers will file to the 7to7.
We have planned coverage of some events, coordinating with newspaper reporters and photographers in advance.
The features desk may contribute news about the latest act to announce a concert.
Editors who see traffic accidents on the way to work call in on the blog phone line, and dictate to Perry or one of the reporters.
The photo staff has embraced the opportunities offered by 7to7 and the Web.
Recently, Journal photographer Mary Murphy shot a dramatic water rescue; the picture went up on the blog and was followed in minutes by a slide show with many more pictures than could have made the paper.
"Spot news photography is now back on cycle; we can give our readers visual information quickly," says Michael Delaney, managing editor for photography.
While the two Web reporters certainly produce the lion's share of the 7to7 content, a good day on the blog might see reports from 15 different staff contributors.
The blog has proven effective as a device for reporting events that develop through a news cycle, such as the hours-long sentencing hearings in the infamous Station nightclub fire.
Expands our Mission
The 7to7 brand has helped us communicate projo.com's mission of urgency to our audience and our staff. During the weekday hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., the stars are best aligned for a newspaper-based Web site: the biggest audiences, the most staffing resources, and the most news. It's an aggressive and achievable proposition to offer readers: Come to us during these hours, and you will be able to take the news pulse of Rhode Island right now.
In the early discussions about the blog in the newsroom, we occasionally heard concerns that broadcast competitors who see an item on the blog during the day, pick it up at night and then scoop the morning newspaper.
In this age of information, however, we believe it is imperative that we meet the expectation of readers who come to projo.com during the day for news -- that they're going to be rewarded for their visit.
Meanwhile, staff members enjoy hearing afternoon broadcasters cite the earlier work of projo.com.
Both the publisher and the editor of the Journal have been clear in the strategic vision.
Publisher Howard G. Sutton takes this view:
Decades ago, the newspaper business abdicated the franchise for breaking news to broadcast media. With the strength of projo.com, and a newsroom at least 10 times the size of any local competitor, we are poised to take back the leadership position for breaking news. When people in our market need to find out what it is happening right now, they will turn to projo.com and The Providence Journal. We are taking back the franchise.
Editor Joel P. Rawson recently reinforced the initiative in his memo to the staff: "It is our goal to be the source for breaking news in Rhode Island, to dominate it, to own it."
A Must Read
The 7to7 has been a traffic driver for projo.com, and is also bringing readers to more pages on the site.
One of the strengths of 7to7 is its eclectic nature. We encourage short news bulletins, and we welcome longer follows when warranted. We covered a bridge implosion with haiku. We welcome feature photography that captures the day.
With many stories, our expectation is that the reporters will file fast for the blog and then write more complete stories for the main home page -- and eventually in the newspaper. Some stories -- because of their fleeting nature -- begin and end on the blog. Photos often appear first on the blog and then in the newspaper.
The one absolute for the projo.com news blog is accuracy; we have held items because we have not been able to confirm something to our satisfaction. The news blog has not had any substantial fact errors since its launch.
Michelle R. Smith, the Providence correspondent for Associated Press, said the 7to7 has become must reading for the newsmakers she covers as a journalist in Rhode Island. "They read it religiously," she said. She said she finds the 7to7 vital and interesting as a reader.
"It's like getting radio headlines, but not chained to a time slot." She enjoys the occasional "little water-cooler items" -- like the closing of a downtown restaurant -- that might never find a place in the main news columns, but are of interest to readers.
The history of the modern news media, and The Providence Journal, America's oldest daily newspaper in continuous publication, is of course still being written.
But the debut and development of the projo.com news blog will stand with significance as a moment in our news organization's shift to a Web-centric culture, an organization that delivers news and information whenever, wherever and however readers demand it.
