Gone are the days when a stream of resumes from journalism schools flowed in from which managers could fish out ambitious candidates willing to work hard for little money. Today, community newspapers find it daunting to compete against the paychecks and prestige offered at larger newsrooms, online publications and specialty magazines. That's the bad news. And it's probably not a surprise to most in the industry. The good news is that some enterprising editors have discovered a new place to search for talent.
Local talent takes an initial investment, but has great potential for a long-term payoff.
N.Y. The paper is located in a rural county in western New York where the median income is low and illiteracy is high. Publisher John Arden Hopkins simply doesn't have the resources or the amenities to entice eager young journalists. So he doesn't even try to recruit them. Instead, he relies on local talent. And it works.