Editor’s Notebook: Upwards and onwards

Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed a change on our masthead this week.

Eric Ginsburg will take over as managing editor of Triad City Beat, the most essential role in the editorial department, giving Senior Editor Jordan Green more leeway to spin out his brand of award-winning journalism.

Allen Broach’s title has changed to publisher emeritus, which is more befitting his stature and role here at the paper. None of this could have happened without him, and his counsel and insight are invaluable to our operation.

And I have finally accepted the fact that I have become what was once the bane of my existence: I am now officially an altweekly publisher, though I’ll remain executive editor just so I can keep my hand in the game.

One of the biggest differences is that publishers don’t use the F-word as much as editors do.

I’ve been reinventing myself these past couple of years, learning all I can about the business and marketing side of the operation, getting a handle on the digital revolution that has forever changed the industry to which I’ve devoted my career.

You’ll see, in the months to come, some of the initiatives I’m pushing, most of which are designed to move us toward the day when our digital audience is greater than our print readers.

That day is surely coming, for every publication.

Our market is a few years behind the rest of the country in terms of our digital sophistication — both a blessing and a curse — though just about all of us in the biz acknowledge the seismic changes we are experiencing.

All except one.

I noticed last week that the Rhino Times, which has never fully embraced the power of its website, has actually shut its traditional site down in favor of an e-edition — you know, a facsimile of the paper that shows up on your screen where you turn the pages with a mouse click.

An e-paper is great — every print publication has one these days as part of their digital offerings. But it’s sort of like using a television to look at photographs: It only scratches the surface of what the tech can do.

Video. Breaking news. Slideshows. Mobile optimization. Programmatic advertising. Comment threads. SEO. You can’t do any of these things with an e-paper.

It’s absolutely insane.

If I were a little more gracious, I might reach out to my fellow publisher, Roy Carroll, and show him the error of his ways.

But I’ve still got some editor in me. So F it. Let it ride.