One Year Later…
Hi again! It’s Greg Enslen, the owner and publisher of the paper. I love keeping the readers informed about what’s happening here at Gazette Central, but this column is a little different. Insane as it seems, but it’s been a year since I purchased the paper, and I thought I’d go over a few of the things that we’ve improved, discuss a couple of challenges, and preview some things we’re working on.
A Year Ago…
I got a call from the editor of the paper, Carla, while she was working and taking photos at the 2023 Miami County Fair. She had a question for me, one I’d been waiting to hear for years: “Hey, you mentioned you were interested in buying the Tippecanoe Gazette. Were you serious?”
Yes, I was, I told her, and that got the ball rolling. Jim Hinkle, the previous owner, was interested in exiting the business and asked Carla to seek out potential buyers. I’m happy to say the purchase went through smoothly and, less than a month later, I was the proud owner of the paper.
Roll Up those Sleeves
My first thoughts? “What’s first?” My wife Samantha and I got to work, and our first mission was to make sure there were no interruptions in service. Like they say on Broadway, the show must go on, right? Jim and I overlapped duties on the first few issues, and I remember how nervous I was when the September 20 issue hit the stands, my first official edition. Whew! I ran a column like this one, introduced myself to the readers, and thanked them for sticking with us. Over the next few months, we:
Updated our circulation lists and implemented a whole new cloud-based computer system to track our subscribers. Now, subscribers can purchase subscriptions online, renew their subscriptions, set up automatic payments, change their addresses, and even purchase gift subscriptions for others.
Completed an overhaul of our proofreading and document management systems to make sure every issue is as well-written and accurate as possible.
Hired a group of new writers to cover news in the Tipp City area and surrounding towns and increased our coverage of human interest stories, personal interviews, and sports coverage.
We expanded police, fire and other public safety news, including adding the popular “Tipp of the Week” column.
Introduced new columns for the paper, including “Person of the Week,” “What’s That?” “Pet of the Week,” “Mimi’s Corner,” “From the Publisher” and “Lunch Break.”
Created and launched a comprehensive website for the newspaper, which now receives thousands of hits and views per week. On the site, we share many of the stories that run in the print edition, along with web exclusives. The website also allows for digital submissions of obituaries, letters to the editor and other items, along with advertising placements.
Expanded our social media presence and hired a person to manage our social media pages and interactions. She tells me that we’re doing well!
Due to popular demand, we’ve partnered with SmugMug to offer a comprehensive Tipp Gazette Photography site where readers can purchase downloads or print versions of our newspaper’s extensive photography. More photos are posted every week, including photos from each issue of the paper along with exclusive photos only available online.
Of Course, there were some challenges…
A few other things happened that I wasn’t particularly happy with, including having to raise the price of the paper...
In February, I instituted a price increase to allow the paper to move in the general direction of being a for-profit company, which is always a great goal to have, right? It’s also allowed us to upgrade some of our systems, hire more writers, and pass along some much needed pay increases to our loyal employees.
We also tried out a few columns and sections that didn’t work. I’m particularly sad that the “Social Page” didn’t take off. I was hoping to create a better, more personal version of what we read on Facebook but, you know, nicer. I was hoping people would send in their birthday and graduation announcements and talk about their cousins who were in town, visiting from Chattanooga. Maybe I’ll try it again at some point!!
In the Hopper…
And what do we have coming up in the future?
Well, we’re excited to be trying out some new things. Recently we ran our first Special Edition, also known as a tab: the Fall Sports Preview. Everyone worked very hard pulling this special, full-color section together to highlight all the fall sports teams for Tipp City and New Carlisle. We also expanded, adding coverage for teams in West Milton and Vandalia! We had a couple of hiccups, but I’m happy with the results. Stay tuned for future installments!
Coming soon, we’re working on a new logo for the paper – I’ve seen some previews, and it looks awesome. We’re also starting a planned reorganization of the paper. Hopefully the readers will be able to navigate our newspaper better in the future.
All right, that’s it for now, but THANK YOU AGAIN for reading and supporting the Gazette. It might not seem like a big deal to you – “hey, I think I’ll grab a copy of the paper this week at CVS” or “oh, the paper came in the mail today.” But YOUR purchase of the paper keeps us going. In addition to buying yourself top-notch news, paying for the Tippecanoe Gazette also means you’re supporting local journalism – and supporting an independent company that’s entirely funded by customers like you. Many small towns have lost their local papers and local journalism. It all comes down to YOU and the continued and loyal support of the readers. If you’re looking for other ways to support the paper, let your friends know how great it is, purchase a gift sub for someone, or visit our website to make a donation to help the paper hire more writers.
And I want to hear suggestions for improvements. Miss an old feature? Got a good suggestion? Ideas on where we sell the paper in addition to our current retail outlets? Email me directly at publisher@tippgazette.com. Thank you and here’s to another good year—or many—of the Tippecanoe Gazette!
