Here’s what editors were proud of in May. Happy reading!<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#F6871F” divider_weight=”4px” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n In Vermont, I’m proud to say the Messenger had its strongest digital month ever in May. Photo galleries of sports, the <\/span>farmers market<\/span><\/a>, a <\/span>Queen tribute concert<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>reader-submitted prom photos<\/span><\/a> contributed greatly to that success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Other stories worth reading:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n 1) Alek Fleury looked at <\/span>how a “near-net” Colchester neighborhood\u00a0 banded together<\/span><\/a> to get a line extension. These areas of poor service are not addressed by the Vermont Community Broadband Board or Communication Union Districts, leaving it up to local organizers to obtain funding and fix their broadband issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 2) This fall, a 93-mile rail trail will be completed in Vermont. <\/span>More than a quarter of the trail will pass through Franklin County<\/span><\/a>, so I asked local stakeholders what it could mean for tourism, recreation and economic development.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014Bridget Higdon, editor<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A little girl watches the Queen show on Kingman Street in St. Albans. [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#F6871F” divider_weight=”4px” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n When Cannon Falls Beacon reporter Alec Hamilton heard that a Randolph High School teacher was retiring after 40 years heading the FFA program at the school, he thought to reach out via Facebook and ask for people who had Terry for a teacher. Alec was inundated with responses. He heard from students from the 1960s and 1970s. He heard from their kids, and he heard from grandchildren of Terry’s original students. They told of how they entered school as a shy student and became leaders with Terry’s guidance.\u00a0<\/span>The result was a 2,000-word story<\/a>\u00a0about the man who is an institution in Minnesota FFA circles. Online it generated more than 2,100 page views, a high count for the Cannon Falls website.<\/span><\/p>\n Hudson Star-Observer freelance reporter Tom Lindfors learned that at the county coroner’s office there were the remains of a number of people whose bodies were unclaimed after they died. The coroner knew who they were, but no one had stepped forward to claim the remains and provide a burial for them.\u00a0The story covered why this happened<\/a>\u00a0and how the medical examiner was working to get the county to provide a burial for these people.<\/p>\n \u2014Jim Johnson, editor<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#F6871F” divider_weight=”4px” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n During\u00a0the\u00a0month of May, the Ripon Commonwealth Press ran Getting to Know features (Q&As) on long-time teachers who were retiring in\u00a0the\u00a0Ripon Area School District.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Getting to Knows, which ran in three-consecutive issues, did very well on Facebook as they reached 16,115 people and garnered\u00a0a\u00a0combined 2,484 engagements; 687 links, comments and shares; and 1,797 page clicks.<\/p>\n They also didn’t take much effort to put together as we just emailed\u00a0the\u00a0questions to\u00a0the\u00a0teachers and let them think and write out answers. Here is\u00a0the\u00a0links to\u00a0the\u00a0three that we ran (we’re also featuring\u00a0a\u00a0retiring custodian in\u00a0the\u00a0June 9 paper):<\/p>\n \u2014Jonathan Bailey, editor<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#F6871F” divider_weight=”4px” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n SHEBOYGAN<\/strong> MADISON<\/strong> \u2014Tara Jones, editor<\/em><\/p>\n Print gallery in the Oregon Observer<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#F6871F” divider_weight=”4px” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n At the Las Vegas Optic, have done an outstanding job on our front page designs\u00a0since switching\u00a0to a weekly publication midway through May. It has allowed us a little more creative freedom and we have taken full advantage, coming up with some of the best designs since I have been here thanks to our graphic designer, Maria Sanchez. Two of my favorite designs are attached down below. It has a little more of a magazine front page feel that really stands out on racks and when they get delivered to subscribers’ homes.<\/p>\n Our other impressive accomplishment comes from sports editor Gabe Myers, who has come up with several creative ways to bridge the gap in local sports over the summer and still fill the section with engaging articles for readers. One of the best ways has been a “where are they now?” series with athletes who graduated in recent years and have gone on to play collegiately somewhere in the country. The community has responded well to these and they have been turning out to be great. The sports section has been consistently strong in a time of year when historically it has been tough to fill those pages. Here are the links to the first two entries in this series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#F6871F” divider_weight=”4px” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n At QueenCreekSunTimes.com, I have a great freelancer who wrote this wonderful feature about\u00a0a former MLB player who retired and opened a baseball academy in Queen Creek.<\/a>\u00a0The story gained a lot of traction in May.<\/p>\n Then mid-May I was taking over CITYSunTimes production and decided to write a personal introduction to my Father\u2019s Day roundup list about my own father as our cover story for June, but produced in May.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#F6871F” divider_weight=”4px” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n It isn\u2019t often that our little community of Kiel (pop. 3,610) makes statewide news\u2014let alone national and even international news\u2014but such was the case over the last month.<\/p>\n What was taking place in Kiel was picked up by the New York Post, a TV station in St. Louis, a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal, and no doubt a few hundred other media outlets around the world.<\/p>\n In a nutshell, a Kiel Middle School girl wished to be referred to by the pronoun \u201cthey\u201d or \u201cthem.\u201d Three Middle School boys were violating her request, and the mother of \u201cthey\u201d complained. The School District was then obligated to conduct a Title IX investigation. The mother of one of the boys being investigated took her story to a Green Bay TV station, and it was chaos after that. That included at least one death threat against a Kiel school staff member with a man in Oceanside, California being arrested. It also included a series of about seven bomb threats against schools and other public buildings. This domestic terrorist(s) has yet to be caught.<\/p>\n Things were changing by the hour for a couple weeks and, of course, we were posting non-stop to our website and Facebook page with the great help of our new reporter, Rachael Siehs. As you can see by this post, our reach, engagement, likes and shares numbers were off the charts and continue to be so. They have increased over 300 percent in some cases. Wish it didn\u2019t have to be because of a crap show like this has been, but it\u2019s good to know people have looked to our website and social media as the source for breaking news.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#F6871F” divider_weight=”4px” _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello, and welcome to the third edition of “Newsletter from the Newsroom,” a monthly newsletter highlighting the work of O’Rourke Media Group’s\u00a0editorial teams.\u00a0 Here’s what editors were proud of in May. Happy reading!\u00a0 \u2014Bridget Higdon, Vermont managing editor\u00a0In Vermont, I’m proud to say the Messenger had its strongest digital month ever in May. Photo galleries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" In Vermont, I'm proud to say the Messenger had its strongest digital month ever in May. Photo galleries of sports, the <\/span>farmers market<\/span><\/a>, a <\/span>Queen tribute concert<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>reader-submitted prom photos<\/span><\/a> contributed greatly to that success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> Other stories worth reading:\u00a0<\/b><\/p> 1) Alek Fleury looked at <\/span>how a \"near-net\" Colchester neighborhood\u00a0 banded together<\/span><\/a> to get a line extension. These areas of poor service are not addressed by the Vermont Community Broadband Board or Communication Union Districts, leaving it up to local organizers to obtain funding and fix their broadband issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> 2) This fall, a 93-mile rail trail will be completed in Vermont. <\/span>More than a quarter of the trail will pass through Franklin County<\/span><\/a>, so I asked local stakeholders what it could mean for tourism, recreation and economic development.\u00a0<\/span><\/p> \u2014Bridget Higdon, editor<\/span><\/i><\/p> A little girl watches the Queen show on Kingman Street in St. Albans. When Cannon Falls Beacon reporter Alec Hamilton heard that a Randolph High School teacher was retiring after 40 years heading the FFA program at the school, he thought to reach out via Facebook and ask for people who had Terry for a teacher. Alec was inundated with responses. He heard from students from the 1960s and 1970s. He heard from their kids, and he heard from grandchildren of Terry's original students. They told of how they entered school as a\u00a0shy\u00a0student and became leaders with Terry's guidance.\u00a0The result was a 2,000-word story<\/a>\u00a0about the man who is an institution in Minnesota FFA circles. Online it generated more than 2,100 page views, a high count for the Cannon Falls website.<\/p> Hudson Star-Observer freelance reporter Tom Lindfors learned that at the county coroner's office there were the remains of a number of people whose bodies were unclaimed after they died. The coroner knew who they were, but no one had stepped forward to claim the remains and provide a burial for them.\u00a0The story covered why this happened<\/a>\u00a0and how the medical examiner was working to get the county to provide a burial for these people.<\/p> \u2014Jim Johnson, editor<\/em><\/p> During\u00a0the\u00a0month of May, the Ripon Commonwealth Press ran Getting to Know features (Q&As) on long-time teachers who were retiring in\u00a0the\u00a0Ripon Area School District.<\/p> The\u00a0Getting to Knows, which ran in three-consecutive issues, did very well on Facebook as they reached 16,115 people and garnered\u00a0a\u00a0combined 2,484 engagements; 687 links, comments and shares; and 1,797 page clicks.<\/p> They also didn't take much effort to put together as we just emailed\u00a0the\u00a0questions to\u00a0the\u00a0teachers and let them think and write out answers. Here is\u00a0the\u00a0links to\u00a0the\u00a0three that we ran (we're also featuring\u00a0a\u00a0retiring custodian in\u00a0the\u00a0June 9 paper):<\/p> \u2014Jonathan Bailey, editor<\/em><\/p> SHEBOYGAN<\/strong> MADISON<\/strong> \u2014Tara Jones, editor<\/em><\/p> Print gallery in the Oregon Observer<\/p> At the Las Vegas Optic, have done an outstanding job on our front page designs\u00a0since switching\u00a0to a weekly publication midway through May. It has allowed us a little more creative freedom and we have taken full advantage, coming up with some of the best designs since I have been here thanks to our graphic designer, Maria Sanchez. Two of my favorite designs are attached down below. It has a little more of a magazine front page feel that really stands out on racks and when they get delivered to subscribers' homes.<\/p> Our other impressive accomplishment comes from sports editor Gabe Myers, who has come up with several creative ways to bridge the gap in local sports over the summer and still fill the section with engaging articles for readers. One of the best ways has been a \"where are they now?\" series with athletes who graduated in recent years and have gone on to play collegiately somewhere in the country. The community has responded well to these and they have been turning out to be great. The sports section has been consistently strong in a time of year when historically it has been tough to fill those pages. Here are the links to the first two entries in this series.<\/p><\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/devsiteomg.com\/omgsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/queen.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Photo credit: Josh Ellerbrock<\/p>\n\n
The\u00a0local brewery, 3 Sheeps Brewing, celebrated its 10 year anniversary in May. For\u00a0the\u00a0celebration our reporter, Chad Held, was able to get some behind-the-scenes access and wrote about\u00a0the\u00a0brewery’s history\u00a0a\u00a0bit. He was able to put together\u00a0a\u00a0really nice story and some great photo galleries that combined to create one of our most dynamic multimedia stories for\u00a0the\u00a0Sun in\u00a0a\u00a0while. You can find\u00a0the\u00a0story on\u00a0the\u00a0Sheboygan Sun’s website\u00a0HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n
In Stoughton, we saw\u00a0the\u00a0return of Syttende Mai,\u00a0a\u00a0Norwegian heritage festival, for\u00a0the\u00a0first time in-person in two years due to\u00a0the pandemic. Stoughton certainly showed out for its most popular event all year, and we really did\u00a0the\u00a0same for\u00a0the\u00a0Stoughton Courier Hub. Every year,\u00a0the\u00a0Hub does\u00a0a\u00a0special edition previewing Syttende Mai (find\u00a0the\u00a0e-edition\u00a0HERE<\/a>) full of stories about\u00a0the\u00a0event royalty, highlighting several events and providing all of your “If You Go” information. But what may have been even more impressive was our next edition (e-edition\u00a0HERE<\/a>) of\u00a0the\u00a0Hub recapping Syttende Mai in photos with\u00a0the\u00a0help of our freelance photographer. It was one of my favorite editions of\u00a0the\u00a0Hub that we’ve done, and it will definitely be one Stoughton residents will hold on to for\u00a0a\u00a0while. See below for PDFs of our\u00a0center\u00a0spread that week.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/devsiteomg.com\/omgsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OO-gallery-1024x718.png\")
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<\/div>\nThanks for reading! We’ll see you in the beginning of July.<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/orourkemediagroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/unnamed-1024x473.jpg\")
<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/orourkemediagroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/queen.jpg\")
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Photo credit: Josh Ellerbrock<\/p>
The\u00a0local brewery, 3 Sheeps Brewing, celebrated its 10 year anniversary in May. For\u00a0the\u00a0celebration our reporter, Chad Held, was able to get some behind-the-scenes access and wrote about\u00a0the\u00a0brewery's history\u00a0a\u00a0bit. He was able to put together\u00a0a\u00a0really nice story and some great photo galleries that combined to create one of our most dynamic multimedia stories for\u00a0the\u00a0Sun in\u00a0a\u00a0while. You can find\u00a0the\u00a0story on\u00a0the\u00a0Sheboygan Sun's website\u00a0HERE<\/a>.<\/p>
In Stoughton, we saw\u00a0the\u00a0return of Syttende Mai,\u00a0a\u00a0Norwegian heritage festival, for\u00a0the\u00a0first time in-person in two years due to\u00a0the pandemic. Stoughton certainly showed out for its most popular event all year, and we really did\u00a0the\u00a0same for\u00a0the\u00a0Stoughton Courier Hub. Every year,\u00a0the\u00a0Hub does\u00a0a\u00a0special edition previewing Syttende Mai (find\u00a0the\u00a0e-edition\u00a0HERE<\/a>) full of stories about\u00a0the\u00a0event royalty, highlighting several events and providing all of your \"If You Go\" information. But what may have been even more impressive was our next edition (e-edition\u00a0HERE<\/a>) of\u00a0the\u00a0Hub recapping Syttende Mai in photos with\u00a0the\u00a0help of our freelance photographer. It was one of my favorite editions of\u00a0the\u00a0Hub that we've done, and it will definitely be one Stoughton residents will hold on to for\u00a0a\u00a0while. See below for PDFs of our\u00a0center\u00a0spread that week.<\/p>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/orourkemediagroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/OO-gallery-1024x718.png\")
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