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March 18, 2024

Jonathan Weber: On Finding the New Bay Area Voice

Jonathan Weber’s had more careers than most of us, and learned a lot along the way. L.A. Times. Industry Standard. New West. And now as editor-in-chief of the soon-to-be-born Bay Area News Project, Warren Hellman’s long-in-the-womb anti-Chronicle, he’ll be tested to use all that experience. Lots to get into here, but we’re starting off easy, with 3 quick Q’s and A’s with Weber:

  • New West has covered a group of distinct states, within a the Mountain West region. The BANP will cover a group of distinct cities, within a region. What what’s regional/what’s local learning can you apply from your New West experience?

Certainly we have found there is a lot leverage in the local & regional approach, i.e. the regional coverage helps make for a very powerful local offering. Even though the conventional wisdom says people are most interested in what’s most local, we have found that good coverage of regional issues, and especially coverage that “connects the dots” and finds the points of common interest/ impact, resonates very strongly. For hyper-local, attentive cultivation of community contributors is key.

  • You’ve got a wonderfully diverse resume, L.A. Times, Industry Standard, New West. What best lesson will draw from each of those at BANP?
LA Times: Great writing and reporting matters a lot. Industry Standard: building a great team and developing a distinctive style and voice are the critical underpinnings of a successful publication. New West: community journalism and pro-am journalism models require a lot of curation. We’re still in the very early days of understanding the intersection of news and social media. Great stories drive traffic, almost without exception.
  • What’s going to be most fun/most tricky to figure out in working with the New York Times?

The Times has tremendous talent and editorial resources, obviously, and it will be great fun to work with such top-notch writers, editors, photographers. The association will also help a lot with brand-building and reach. The trickiest part will probably be marrying the NYT voice and the Bay Area News Project voice.

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