On Tuesday, December 8, 2009, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat will resume serving the metro area as an online newspaper. It was first established in 1852 and has been running for more than 134 years. With newspapers in jeopardy of being unread, local newspapers are turning to this new trend with hopes of further informing people in the St. Louis area.

“Nowadays, most newspapers are going online,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat publisher Dan Rositano said. “There’s quite an abundance of news that makes more sense when seen on the web.”

Another local newspaper, the St. Louis Beacon, depends solely on the web to spread its news across the St. Louis region. Their approach doesn’t include a print publication.

“More and more people are requiring computers, cell phones, and other gadgets, which makes getting news easier,” St. Louis Beacon contributing editor Dick Weiss said. “As opposed to putting information in a newspaper that arrives only once a day, it makes news more accessible, cheaper, and even greener and better for the environment.”

With different perspectives, both the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and the St. Louis Beacon see benefits in their approach to distributing news.

“One of the biggest benefits of the Globe-Democrat moving to the website is that we can focus solely on the Internet,” Rositano said. “We don’t have to worry about other forms of publications.”

Rositano has noticed other benefits prove to help both news consumers and the paper, as well.

“In the old days we used the printing press which cost millions of dollars. Now we’re operating with laptops,” Weiss said. “Newspaper websites are definitely easier to operate by putting information online.”

While there are some newspapers that do both a website and print, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat hopes to cover other technology platforms as well. From prior experience in the printing world, this local newspaper is making a new move.

“There’s market out there for generating revenue on the website, and that’s what we want to focus on,” Rositano said. “Our money comes right back to the site, which we then put towards the technology.”

Rositano also points out that while there are people who like to get their news via print or television, there is also a fair amount of people who turn to other technologies.

“We’re also able to send news alerts through e-mail, text messages, and even the iPhone,” Rositano said.

Whether a publication is spread through print or on the web, its viewers aren’t the only ones who are being affected. Local writers and contributors are also impacted in different ways.

“We’re putting information up almost immediately on our site, which leaves less time for reflection,” Weiss said. “Also, a lot of bad information can enter the public and writers have to be careful of that.”

Contributors to these publications also face pressures from the public.

“Reporters definitely develop a thicker skin because people are going to criticize their work,” Rositano said. “They have to be more receptive.”

Although this is true for all newspapers, Weiss claims it’s simply a different way of doing business.

“As publisher, my main goal for our site is to create the perfect balance between the best user experience and the best advertising experience,” Rositano said.

Rositano also explains the importance of ensuring that a newspaper is known for its news rather than just distracting readers from the truth. 
 Weiss says the Beacon’s slogan, “News that matters,” speaks to their philosophy.

With the Globe-Democrat’s new website launch approaching, people are excited to see where the new format will take them next.

“It was good quality journalism before and will continue to be good quality journalism,” Rositano said.

The trend of newspaper transitions from print to online has also been taken on by the CHS Globe, which developed a website new this year.

The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, in addition to their website, is also well-known on popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter. 
Furthermore, the development of online newspaper sites requires an open mind that keeps users in mind.

“Try to make it a place where people find something new everyday,” Weiss said, “It’s a good idea to mix long and short stories without having a lot of one kind.”

Weiss believes that the key is to focus on people. Although, in contrast to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the St. Louis Beacon covers major topics such as health science, politics, environmental arts, they steer away from sports and news crime stories to keep other readers interested.

“I hope people at Clayton High School will give it a look,” Weiss said, “We want to hear what you think of the stories!”