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Meeting |
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December 5, 2006 |
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 ANN
CAULKINSThe Charlotte Observer By Matt Joyner "I like to think of myself as an agent of change," said Ann Caulkins, new Publisher of the Charlotte Observer when she spoke to Charlotte Rotary on December 5th. A native of Shreveport, Louisiana and graduate of Baylor University, Caulkins has seen and participated in a lot of changes in the world of print media in her 22 years in the business. Caulkins joined the Knight-Ridder chain after graduating from college and worked her way up in the Knight-Ridder system serving on the business side of papers in Texas, Kentucky and South Carolina prior to landing her position at the Observer. "A dream come true," according to Caulkins, but one that was also a dream deferred. Caulkins was serving as the Publisher of The State in Columbia, South Carolina when she was first tapped for the Charlotte position by Knight-Ridder, and before she was able to make the move from Columbia to Charlotte Knight-Ridder was sold to the McClatchey Group and Caulkins' move was put on hold. On the day of the sale however McClatchey called her to interview again for the Charlotte position, and she finally arrived in Charlotte in May, 2006. The goal of the Observer is to be its readers' "best source of news," Caulkins said. In this age of electronic media and niche marketing, fulfilling this mission has led the Observer to grow its online version and to develop and relaunch Neighbors sections for local areas. The response to the one year old relaunched Neighbors sections has been "immediate and positive" and the Observer is now pursuing even greater localization with neighborhood "Newsletters" accompanying the morning paper. The ultimate goal is a debut in 2007 of a "personal newspaper" with articles custom selected for individual subscribers based upon their personal inventory of interests. In the meantime, the Observer's online franchise has been more successful than Caulkins ever imagined. Online readership increased 21% last year and the Observer has experienced a 30% revenue increase every year for the last six years from its online division. It is now adding videographers to its staff to enhance the content of the online version. In addition to its online version the Observer has branched out into "specialty publications" - fourteen different special interest magazines for those who won't read a paper in print or online, including SouthPark magazine, a brides magazine and an auto classified ad magazine. The combination of all of the Observer's various media offerings reaches a formidable market of over 55% of all adults in the region. Responding to questions from the audience, Caulkins said this Fall's experience of a failed delivery day was due to transformer wires malfunctioning and setting off an alarm in the paper's press room after the press run had already started, resulting in a forty five minute evacuation of the plant and a near fatal heart attack on the part of an Observer press room manager. In response to Phil Van Hoy's question about whether she would consider hiring a conservative on the editorial staff of the paper, Caulkins said that was a "work in progress." She said that she was personally involved as Publisher in the editorial stance of the paper and noted that the process of determining newspaper endorsements of candidates would be receiving broader input than in the past. Caulkins said that it was important for an editorial board to not be partisan because, "if we become highly predictable, one side stops reading us completely." Head Table: Pam Daigle, Ed Wadsworth, Luther Moore, Pam Meister, Ed Kizer, Todd Stevens; Invocation: Michael Elder Visitors & Guests: George Robinette; Health & Happiness: Don Haack; Song & Piano: Thomas Moore
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Herb
Harriss and Joanna & Biff Virkler had a great time ringing the
bell. Reindeer Biff even wandered down the street to Charlie
Greer's office where he successfully collected another $300 for
the Kettle! 