Dan Hoddinott - Journalism Reading Room

Finding oneself at the helm of a community newspaper is not a right. It's a privilege. Traditionally, a particular newspaper brand owed its longevity to how well it read and respected the community in which it did business as much as how fervently that community read its stories and respected its positions. Extreme social and economic pressures, in the midst of great technological change, have pushed many publications — big-city dailies as often as small-town weeklies — to the point of extinction. Some (often suburban) community newspaper chains have physically retreated from the communities they serve, hoping to survive another day by piling everyone into lifeboats in some central location. Will it work? Who knows? Is geography the determining factor in which newspapers live and which ones die? It's a point worth considering. The stories you'll find in this Reading Room examine these scenarios and others that contribute to durability in a shaken marketplace. Whether you're a publisher, managing editor or staff reporter, you'll want to evaluate the sustainability of your product, the positioning of your brand and the impact your own decision making independent of the general state of economics.

A Mentor In the Newsroom | What Type of Journalism Do We Pursue?
This Is the Fourth Estate | Waving the Banner | Monetizing Digital Editions
In the Service of Your Brand | Centralizing Resources

Textbook, stories, poetry and music available in online store

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From the fully instructive Community Journalism In Changing Times textbook to the quiet and cerebral poetry book a thousand steps from home and the music/recitation concept album Sighs of the Times, you can bring the ideas explored on this site more fully into your living space with these excellent products. Community Journalism In Changing Times textbook — paperback, perfect bound, 8½" x 11", 174 pages: $64.95 + shipping. My latest book of poetry, a thousand steps from home — paperback, perfect bound, 5¼" x 8¼", 112 pages: $17.95 + shipping. Still available, in limited supply, is the CD Sighs of the Times for $12.95 + shipping.

NEW! Yes Boy... You Talk About! is a collection of historically true adventure stories by Ralph A. Hoddinott (my late father), edited by yours truly.

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The Reading Room

Recalibrating: It starts with self-examination

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JOURNALISM AT A CROSSROADS