The GI Independent's Merging Online/News

My newspaper is going to give this merging thing a go. I'm 90% excited, 10% nervous I think. I decided to blog the experience at stephanieromanski.com, mostly for my own benefit, but maybe there's something in my blathering that others might find useful.

Here's an excerpt of the first post about it:

...When GateHouse took over my paper, the newsroom took control over site content. We’d hoped that this would lead to a more frequently updated site, but we’ve realized that piling that work onto our print editors was not the right way to go. So my new responsibilities now include: updating the site throughout the day, using a combination of our stuff and wire stuff depending on the timing; working with reporters on updates to post (meaning I can ask them to write a couple paragraphs for the web on any story they are working on - in other words I will be their newest annoyance.)

It just seems to make better sense (and a big ‘Duh’) to have a specific person be in charge of harnessing content for the web rather than putting on those in charge of harnessing it for print; I will also continue to explore, employ methods and train everyone on social media techniques, keep abreast of the latest trends and basically do what I do when it comes to this Twitter stuff.

Part of the change is that I now report to the presentation editor instead of my Online Director (though I’m still getting paid out of that budget). This, along with the move, I think, are the biggest changes that will require me to adapt. I’m excited about my new responsibilities but I’m nervous as well. I hope my reporter friends are willing to give this a try and I will try not to be too much of a pest. But my ass is on the line if we do not have a fresh, updated website throughout the day, and well, when my ass is affected, I tend to get a little whip-cracky. Or panicky - whichever...