Last summer, at this time, we had just introduced our new larger format that made The Laker/Lutz News the same size as most daily newspapers.
Going bigger was a leap of faith because most newspapers in Florida, and just about everywhere else, were shrinking in size and reducing staff.
We decided to buck this trend.
Instead, we invested in our newspapers by giving readers more stories and photos about their community.
We did this by making the size of our pages 30 percent larger. We also expanded our news coverage with more in-depth stories and colorful photos of local people and community events.
It’s been a year since we launched our new format, and my staff and I are often asked how we’re doing.
I’m proud to say we’re doing great!
One way to measure our success is by the recognition we receive from peers in the newspaper industry.
The most important and prestigious recognition comes from The Florida Press Association and its annual Florida Better Weekly Newspaper Awards competition.
We learned in late July that The Laker and the Lutz News received 11 awards from Florida Press for stories and photos published in 2014.
This includes top honors in two categories for our editor, B.C. Manion, and first place honors in three categories for photographer Fred Bellet.
Our entries were among 1,600 total entries. A third of our entries received awards. That’s an accomplishment that makes me very proud, and it serves as testimony to the outstanding work produced by our editorial team every week.
To put these awards in perspective, the entries for The Laker competed against the largest weekly newspapers in Florida, which often have more resources than we have.
By contrast, our company is a small business independently owned by me.
Twelve of us work together to produce your paper every week — doing everything from writing stories and taking photos, to selling advertisements and creating artwork, to designing and putting our pages together. On top of all that, there’s the business side of the newspaper, which involves invoicing, statements, collections and cash flow.
My staff does everything connected with the newspaper except for printing it and throwing it in your driveway — both services that are contracted to outside companies.
When I tell people the size of our company, many marvel that such a small staff can produce one of the best community newspapers in Florida.
Besides our writing and photography awards, another way to measure our success is by the recognition we receive from local business groups.
We received word earlier this summer that our company was nominated in the service/distribution category of the Pasco Economic Development Council’s Industry of the Year Awards.
Earlier this summer we also were nominated as the small business of the year in the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards competition. And, just last week we learned that we are up for an award in the same category in the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards.
We will find out in September whether we received an award from the Pasco EDC or the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce. And we send our congratulations to A.L. Saland Insurance Solutions for being named the small business of the year for the Central Pasco Chamber.
Truly, it doesn’t matter if The Laker/Lutz News “wins” in award competitions.
What matters is that the business community, our newspaper industry and our readers recognize and value the work we do, and understand the contributions that we make to local businesses and to the community we serve.
Like the hundreds of businesses who advertise in our pages, we experience the same joys and challenges of working for, or owning, a small business. And like all successful businesses, we take incredible pride in the work that we do and are exuberant when our work receives recognition.
Published August 5, 2015
