Local publisher remains confident about newspaper's future

Local publisher remains confident about newspaper's future

Cameco staff puts decades

of printing experience to work

in publishing of weekly newspaper

as it celebrates its one-year anniversary

By GITA BALAKRISHNAN

Freelance Writer

HILLSBORO – Not everyone has given up on newspapers.

In an era in which some newspapers are seeking bankruptcy protection and others are slashing payroll, mandating furloughs and reducing

publication days, there still are an optimistic few. These optimistic few, the die-hards, if you will, refuse to envision an American future without newspapers.

Rory Ryan is one such die-hard.

Ryan, who has surpassed his 20th year in the newspaper business, with a decade of printing experience before that – including as an evening shift press operator, while at the same time working days as a survey crew field chief, one year ago this week purchased this weekly newspaper in Highland County.

While many owners were looking to sell, Ryan was looking to buy.

Why?

"I grew up with newspapers," Ryan said in the late summer of 2009. "By some standards, we didn't always have a lot of extras in our house, but we always had a newspaper. I still believe in newspapers. And, I've learned to believe in good newspaper websites. 

"But perhaps the biggest thing last year was the timing. The stars were in perfect alignment for me to have the opportunity to work again with Angie Matticks, Lisa Wharton, Stephen Forsha and Brandy Chandler, plus my mother, Rosemary Ryan, and my oldest daughter, Caitlin Ryan. I cannot thank them enough for all that

they do."

One year ago this week, Ryan, 49, purchased The Highland County Press from Mr. William Latham and the Sun Newspapers Group based in Batavia. Bill Latham is among the recipients of the First Families of Ohio Newspapers Award.

"Mr. Latham has established a fine group of community newspapers," Ryan said. "The Highland County Press had a 10-year history prior to our arrival and I was very fortunate that Mr. Latham was willing to sell the newspaper. I'm also fortunate that Mr. Latham displayed genuine concern for my business plan and relatively limited financial situation. He really cared about what I was wading into. I'll never forget that."

Ryan's plan was to maintain the majority of the community paper's local content, while adding more news of local government and much more local commentary.

"One of the problems I see with our once-noble industry is that too many daily newspapers are indistinguishable from one another," Ryan

said. "Too many dailies lack a distinctive community voice. That's due, in large part, to overworked and understaffed newspapers. The old model — where reporters reported and editors edited — worked well. Now, too many newspaper owners are demanding the impossible. The result is a higher concentration of wire copy and less, original local copy. That's not a good formula for success.

"If there's one thing I've learned in the last 20 years, it's that readers demand local content."

Former U.S. Congressman and current candidate for the U.S. Senate Rob Portman of Terrace Park noted that Ryan's longtime consideration for

community newspapers is a professional asset.

"Rory is a true professional as reporter and a columnist," Portman said. "He checks his facts, writes in a compelling way and truly cares about his community."

: hidden;"> Another southern Ohio member of Congress, Jean Schmidt of Loveland, sent Ryan a postcard which he displays on his decades' worth of assorted "wall of gratitude" material. The postcard from Congresswoman Schmidt reads: "Rory, Thank you for being a responsible journalist and a great American."

Ohio Senator John Carey also speaks well of Ryan's newspaper decisions.

"When I began serving the 17th Senate District, which includes Highland County, Rory made it clear that he had certain expectations as an editor," Carey said. "Rory has been critical at times of some of my columns. It has been on content or wording or length. I have found Rory's comments to be very helpful. I take his criticism seriously and I think that I write a better column because of it. I appreciate the fact that he is interested in what I have to say as a local legislator. He is someone whose respect that I covet and advice I value."

While publishing a newspaper consumes the majority of Ryan's waking hours, he's also found some time to donate to his community. Since 2006, Ryan has served on the Southern State Community College Board of Trustees. He was appointed to a six-year term on the non-paid position by former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft.

"With all due respect to the former governor, Bob must have had an off-day when he signed that appointment," Ryan jokes.

Former Southern State Community College President Dr. Sherry Stout isn't critical of the former governor's decision.

“I think very highly of Rory," Dr. Stout said last summer at the time of his acquisition of The HCP. "He’s always exercised sound ethics as a person and professional...especially as being a member of this board. He’s a very highly respected person in this community. He’s been on our board since his term began in 2006.

"He came on the board when I was hired. Actually, one of his first tasks was to hire a new president, which was me. And, there’s no question about his ethics.

He’s always been very conscientious. Even when we were giving out T-shirts, he would take nothing for free. He actually paid for his.”

Another longtime SSCC fixture, professor Bill Horne, (who also writes a weekly column for The HCP) recently offered his support on the one-year-anniversary of the new HCP ownership and team members.

"Congratulations, to Rory, Angie, Lisa, Caitlin, Brandy, Stephen and Rose on your first anniversary," Horne said. "It has been a pleasure to stop by each week and watch your team work to make this endeavor a success. Everyone working together, doing multiple jobs and just making it happen. You are producing an excellent local paper with a staff that is second to none. It is an honor for me to be a very small part of this exciting venture. May the success that you have earned

this first year continue for years to come."

In addition to serving on the SSCC board, Ryan has been a member of two newspapers' Editorial Excellence committees; was a judge for the

Florida Press Club Editorial Excellence Contest; served on three separate panels of journalists for U.S. congressional debates; was the communications chairperson for the Adams County Chamber of Commerce from 1999-2002; and worked with Pat Hays of WVNU on local candidates forums in 2008 and 2009.

Prior to purchasing The Highland County Press, Ryan was the publisher and editor of a daily paper in the same city as the Press. In fact, the two newspaper offices are separated only by one city block.

Ryan said he had a good deal of apprehension about competing with his former coworkers in the same small town.

"I've hired or promoted several of their staff," Ryan said. "And I think the world of all of the quality people they have. But my desire to own my own newspaper and try things my way outweighed the numerous considerations and apprehensions I had. Thankfully, one or two people over there still speak to me!"

Ryan also has previous experience as a publisher and editor of a weekly newspaper and was the assistant managing editor of The Portsmouth Daily Times in southeast Ohio in the early 1990s.

A quick glance around Ryan's desk indicates someone who appreciates the printed word. He keeps an old Webster's Dictionary, missing its

cover; an outdated Associated Press Stylebook, also sans cover; and a Bartlett's book of quotations, with a Scotch-taped cover holding it together.

"I've used the same Stylebook since 1990," he said. "It's missing a lot of the new computer and technology terms, but it works for me. The Bartlett's was a gift, and I found the dictionary in a trash can. Its cover was missing when I found it. But it's complete from A to Z."

To be sure, there is a computer (a Mac) in Ryan's office. And the newspaper does have a very popular website, www.highlandcountypress.com, developed

in-house by Angie Matticks, with assistance by David McChesney's 1-Up team in Kokomo, Ind.

While a believer in the future of newspapers on newsprint, Ryan also acknowledges that an Internet presence is a necessity — even more so

for a weekly newspaper.

"We have changed the way we use our website," Ryan said. "Or, more accurately, Angie, our vice president and marketing director, has changed the way we use the Web. We now use the website for breaking news and much more reader interaction. There's a huge demand for a good, local, interactive website. We have filled that void and everyone knows it. When I'm on vacation at the Outer Banks or the Gulf of Mexico, I often see restaurant signs claiming to be 'where the locals eat.' Well, we are 'where the locals read' online. And the credit for this goes to young bloods, Angie, Brandy, Stephen and Caitlin.

"Let's face it, for all the gloom-and-doom reports on the status of today's newspaper, good newspapers continue to be the primary source of news and information for all other media," Ryan said. "Radio stations use our reports, television stations use us, and Internet sites use us. We have a very valuable commodity. It's time we acted like it."

With more than 45 awards for editorial excellence to his credit, including first-place awards for column writing from The Ohio Newspaper Association and the Associated Press Society of Ohio, plus the 2006 Clarence J. Brown Award, Ryan draws on his three decades of printing experience for understanding the wants and needs of local readers and advertisers.

"It has been my experience that readers and advertisers enjoy a newspaper that is predominantly about them; that is, their neighbors, their friends and their families," Ryan said. "I don't know how many times I've heard the phrase: 'We can get national news anywhere. We want local news in our hometown paper.' Well, we're providing that local news, along with insightful local commentary, and an occasional well-placed dose of humor. We won't be afraid to laugh at ourselves

once in a while, either. Lord knows, we'll take a few missteps along the way. We'll need a good sense of humor."

When asked about the early influences in his newspaper career, Ryan starts at the beginning. Before his beginning, in fact.

"My mother was working as a proofreader in Baltimore, Md., while she was pregnant with me," Ryan said. "We figure that that early experience may have influenced my career path. Seriously, though, I'm just an average guy who grew up reading the sports pages and moved on to the opinion section and other pages.

"In our family, The Cincinnati Enquirer was the newspaper of choice back in the 1960s and '70s," Ryan said. "I read everyone from Bob Hertzel to Bob Brumfield and Brady Black. Hertzel, who's now writing in West Virginia, I think, was my favorite. He covered the Cincinnati Reds during the Big Red Machine days and he was one helluva wordsmith. Brumfield wrote on the Op/Ed pages. I remember he wrote about his cat and about 'Attila the Attack Cockroach.' He also wrote serious columns, including one from 1964 that was referenced in the Gene Hackman film 'Mississippi Burning.' Brumfield was the best."

Ryan's first full-time newspaper job came about in 1990, when he was hired by Phil Roberts as a sportswriter for The Press Gazette. Three

years later, Ryan moved on as the assistant managing editor at The Portsmouth (Ohio) Daily Times.

"Gary Abernathy and Phil Roberts had the confidence in my abilities to give me a chance," Ryan said. "I'll always be grateful to both of them.

"My real education in the newspaper business developed in Portsmouth," Ryan said. "I was so fortunate to work in a newsroom with established veterans like Gary Abernathy, Jay Brushart, Jim Joseph, Chris Chamis, Paul F. Nelson, Steve Triplett, Rick Cundiff, Susan Schwartz, the late J.S. Moses, Ted Cox and so many others. What a team we had. I've always said that that newsroom could turn goat piss into kerosene. I was just happy to be a part of it. My publishers there, Ken Parks and B.J. Riley, were good to me as well."

Ryan left The Portsmouth Daily Times in the fall of 1994 and returned to Hillsboro.

It was a good time because Ryan was about to have three children under the age of 6. His wife, Pam, a registered nurse at Highland District Hospital in Hillsboro, was pregnant with their third child, Colin, now 15. Caitlin, 21, and Meghan, 20, were born when Ryan still worked in Hillsboro. All three were born at the same hospital (HDH) where their mother has worked since 1987.

Ryan stayed in Hillsboro through the paper's transition from a twice-weekly to a daily paper, then accepted a publisher's job in his home county. After four years in West Union, Ryan returned for the third time to Hillsboro in August 2002.

"I must be the proverbial bad penny," Ryan said. "I keep turning up where I'm not wanted."

After seven years as publisher of Hillsboro's other paper, Ryan purchased a weekly competitor located one city block to the north of his former office.

"I understand how some people felt about this. They might have had mixed feelings. But in reality, I was hoping to build a better community newspaper," Ryan said. "I've watched the corporate model for almost 20 years. Many of their ideas have been downright embarrassing and more than a bit disrespectful to the local communities. They know it, too. The corporations just refuse to acknowledge it.

"I guess I'd rather explain the reasons behind my own actions instead of being left to defend someone else's," Ryan said. "Too many decisions these days are based on nothing more than the current profit margin. Profits and cash flow are essential; we all understand that. But let's be reasonable. One of my old publishers, Phil Roberts, used to say: 'Pigs eat. Hogs get slaughtered.' I'm not a hog or a pig. I'm just a newspaperman.

"I still believe in good, local newspapers. And so did our Founding Fathers. We've got one heck of a team here, too. With experienced, intelligent and customer-oriented people like Angie Matticks, Lisa Wharton, Stephen Forsha, Brandy Chandler, Caitlin Ryan, Rosemary Ryan, and a few other Ryans, I think we'll be OK.

"Just pick up a copy of The Highland County Press and give us a chance. We'd appreciate it. Thanks."

Ryan can be reached via e-mail at roryeryan@gmail.com.

Gita Balakrishnan is a freelance writer in Kettering, Ohio. She has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University. 

HILLSBORO – Not everyone has given up on newspapers.

In an era in which some newspapers are seeking bankruptcy protection and others are slashing payroll, mandating furloughs and reducing publication days, there still are an optimistic few. These optimistic few, the die-hards, if you will, refuse to envision an American future without newspapers.

Rory Ryan is one such die-hard.

Ryan, who has surpassed his 20th year in the newspaper business, with a decade of printing experience before that – including as an evening shift press operator, while at the same time working days as a survey crew field chief, one year ago this week formed Cameco (derived from his children's names) Communications, LLC and purchased this weekly newspaper in Highland County. 

While many owners were looking to sell, Ryan was looking to buy.

Why?

"I grew up with newspapers," Ryan said in the late summer of 2009. "By some standards, we didn't always have a lot of extras in our house, but we always had a newspaper. I still believe in newspapers. And, I've learned to believe in good newspaper websites. 

"But perhaps the biggest thing last year was the timing. The stars were in perfect alignment for me to have the opportunity to work again with Angie Matticks, Lisa Wharton, Stephen Forsha and Brandy Chandler, plus my mother, Rosemary Ryan, and my oldest daughter, Caitlin Ryan. I cannot thank them enough for all that they do."

One year ago this week, Ryan, 49, purchased The Highland County Press from Mr. William Latham and the Sun Newspapers Group based in Batavia. Bill Latham is among the recipients of the First Families of Ohio Newspapers Award.

"Mr. Latham has established a fine group of community newspapers," Ryan said. "The Highland County Press had a 10-year history prior to our arrival and I was very fortunate that Mr. Latham was willing to sell the newspaper. I'm also fortunate that Mr. Latham displayed genuine concern for my business plan and relatively limited financial situation. He really cared about what I was wading into. I'll never forget that."

Ryan's plan was to maintain the majority of the community paper's local content, while adding more news of local government and much more local commentary.

"One of the problems I see with our once-noble industry is that too many daily newspapers are indistinguishable from one another," Ryan said. "Too many dailies lack a distinctive community voice. That's due, in large part, to overworked and understaffed newspapers. The old model — where reporters reported and editors edited — worked well. Now, too many newspaper owners are demanding the impossible. The result is a higher concentration of wire copy and less, original local copy. That's not a good formula for success.

"If there's one thing I've learned in the last 20 years, it's that readers demand local content."

Former U.S. Congressman and current candidate for the U.S. Senate Rob Portman of Terrace Park noted that Ryan's longtime consideration for community newspapers is a professional asset.

"Rory is a true professional as reporter and a columnist," Portman said. "He checks his facts, writes in a compelling way and truly cares about his community."

Another southern Ohio member of Congress, Jean Schmidt of Loveland, sent Ryan a postcard which he displays on his decades' worth of assorted "wall of gratitude" material. The postcard from Congresswoman Schmidt reads: "Rory, Thank you for being a responsible journalist and a great American."

Ohio Senator John Carey also speaks well of Ryan's newspaper decisions.

"When I began serving the 17th Senate District, which includes Highland County, Rory made it clear that he had certain expectations as an editor," Carey said. "Rory has been critical at times of some of my columns. It has been on content or wording or length. I have found Rory's comments to be very helpful. I take his criticism seriously and I think that I write a better column because of it. I appreciate the fact that he is interested in what I have to say as a local legislator. He is someone whose respect that I covet and advice I value."

While publishing a newspaper consumes the majority of Ryan's waking hours, he's also found some time to donate to his community. Since 2006, Ryan has served on the Southern State Community College Board of Trustees. He was appointed to a six-year term on the non-paid position by former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft.

"With all due respect to the former governor, Bob must have had an off-day when he signed that appointment," Ryan jokes.

Former Southern State Community College President Dr. Sherry Stout isn't critical of the former governor's decision.

“I think very highly of Rory," Dr. Stout said last summer at the time of his acquisition of The HCP. "He’s always exercised sound ethics as a person and professional...especially as being a member of this board. He’s a very highly respected person in this community. He’s been on our board since his term began in 2006.

"He came on the board when I was hired. Actually, one of his first tasks was to hire a new president, which was me. And, there’s no question about his ethics. He’s always been very conscientious. Even when we were giving out T-shirts, he would take nothing for free. He actually paid for his.”

Another longtime SSCC fixture, professor Bill Horne, (who also writes a weekly column for The HCP) recently offered his support on the one-year-anniversary of the new HCP ownership and team members.

"Congratulations, to Rory, Angie, Lisa, Caitlin, Brandy, Stephen and Rose on your first anniversary," Horne said. "It has been a pleasure to stop by each week and watch your team work to make this endeavor a success. Everyone working together, doing multiple jobs and just making it happen. You are producing an excellent local paper with a staff that is second to none. It is an honor for me to be a very small part of this exciting venture. May the success that you have earned this first year continue for years to come."

In addition to serving on the SSCC board, Ryan has been a member of two newspapers' Editorial Excellence committees; was a judge for the Florida Press Club Editorial Excellence Contest; served on three separate panels of journalists for U.S. congressional debates; was the communications chairperson for the Adams County Chamber of Commerce from 1999-2002; and worked with Pat Hays of WVNU on local candidates forums in 2008 and 2009.

Prior to purchasing The Highland County Press, Ryan was the publisher and editor of a daily paper in the same city as the Press. In fact, the two newspaper offices are separated only by one city block.

Ryan said he had a good deal of apprehension about competing with his former coworkers in the same small town.

"I've hired or promoted several of their staff," Ryan said. "And I think the world of all of the quality people they have. But my desire to own my own newspaper and try things my way outweighed the numerous considerations and apprehensions I had. Thankfully, one or two people over there still speak to me!"

Ryan also has previous experience as a publisher and editor of a weekly newspaper and was the assistant managing editor of The Portsmouth Daily Times in southeast Ohio in the early 1990s.

A quick glance around Ryan's desk indicates someone who appreciates the printed word. He keeps an old Webster's Dictionary, missing its cover; an outdated Associated Press Stylebook, also sans cover; and a Bartlett's book of quotations, with a Scotch-taped cover holding it together.

"I've used the same Stylebook since 1990," he said. "It's missing a lot of the new computer and technology terms, but it works for me. The Bartlett's was a gift, and I found the dictionary in a trash can. Its cover was missing when I found it. But it's complete from A to Z."

To be sure, there is a computer (a Mac) in Ryan's office. And the newspaper does have a very popular website, www.highlandcountypress.com, developed

in-house by Angie Matticks, with assistance by David McChesney's 1-Up team in Kokomo, Ind.

While a believer in the future of newspapers on newsprint, Ryan also acknowledges that an Internet presence is a necessity — even more so for a weekly newspaper.

"We have changed the way we use our website," Ryan said. "Or, more accurately, Angie, our vice president and marketing director, has changed the way we use the Web. We now use the website for breaking news and much more reader interaction. There's a huge demand for a good, local, interactive website. We have filled that void and everyone knows it. When I'm on vacation at the Outer Banks or the Gulf of Mexico, I often see restaurant signs claiming to be 'where the locals eat.' Well, we are 'where the locals read' online. And the credit for this goes to our young guns, Angie, Brandy, Stephen and Caitlin.

"Let's face it, for all the gloom-and-doom reports on the status of today's newspaper, good newspapers continue to be the primary source of news and information for all other media," Ryan said. "Radio stations use our reports, television stations use us, and Internet sites use us. We have a very valuable commodity. It's time we acted like it."

With more than 45 awards for editorial excellence to his credit, including first-place awards for column writing from The Ohio Newspaper Association and the Associated Press Society of Ohio, plus the 2006 Clarence J. Brown Award, Ryan draws on his three decades of printing experience for understanding the wants and needs of local readers and advertisers.

"It has been my experience that readers and advertisers enjoy a newspaper that is predominantly about them; that is, their neighbors, their friends and their families," Ryan said. "I don't know how many times I've heard the phrase: 'We can get national news anywhere. We want local news in our hometown paper.' Well, we're providing that local news, along with insightful local commentary, and an occasional well-placed dose of humor. We won't be afraid to laugh at ourselves

once in a while, either. Lord knows, we'll take a few missteps along the way. We'll need a good sense of humor."

When asked about the early influences in his newspaper career, Ryan starts at the beginning. Before his beginning, in fact.

"My mother was working as a proofreader in Baltimore, Md., while she was pregnant with me," Ryan said. "We figure that that early experience may have influenced my career path. Seriously, though, I'm just an average guy who grew up reading the sports pages and moved on to the opinion section and other pages.

"In our family, The Cincinnati Enquirer was the newspaper of choice back in the 1960s and '70s," Ryan said. "I read everyone from Bob Hertzel to Bob Brumfield and Brady Black. Hertzel, who's now writing in West Virginia, I think, was my favorite. He covered the Cincinnati Reds during the Big Red Machine days and he was one helluva wordsmith. Brumfield wrote on the Op/Ed pages. I remember he wrote about his cat and about 'Attila the Attack Cockroach.' He also wrote serious columns, including one from 1964 that was referenced in the Gene Hackman film 'Mississippi Burning.' Brumfield was the best."

Ryan's first full-time newspaper job came about in 1990, when he was hired by Phil Roberts as a sportswriter for The Press Gazette. Three years later, Ryan moved on as the assistant managing editor at The Portsmouth (Ohio) Daily Times.

"Gary Abernathy and Phil Roberts had the confidence in my abilities to give me a chance," Ryan said. "I'll always be grateful to both of them.

"My real education in the newspaper business developed in Portsmouth," Ryan said. "I was so fortunate to work in a newsroom with established veterans like Gary Abernathy, Jay Brushart, Jim Joseph, Chris Chamis, Paul F. Nelson, Steve Triplett, Rick Cundiff, Susan Schwartz, the late J.S. Moses, Ted Cox and so many others. What a team we had. I've always said that that newsroom could turn goat piss into kerosene. I was just happy to be a part of it. My publishers there, Ken Parks and B.J. Riley, were good to me as well."

Ryan left The Portsmouth Daily Times in the fall of 1994 and returned to Hillsboro.

It was a good time because Ryan was about to have three children under the age of 6. His wife, Pam, a registered nurse at Highland District Hospital in Hillsboro, was pregnant with their third child, Colin, now 15. Caitlin, 21, and Meghan, 20, were born when Ryan still worked in Hillsboro. All three were born at the same hospital (HDH) where their mother has worked since 1987.

Ryan stayed in Hillsboro through the paper's transition from a twice-weekly to a daily paper, then accepted a publisher's job in his home county. After four years in West Union, Ryan returned for the third time to Hillsboro in August 2002.

"I must be the proverbial bad penny," Ryan said. "I keep turning up where I'm not wanted."

After seven years as publisher of Hillsboro's other paper, Ryan purchased a weekly competitor located one city block to the north of his former office.

"I understand how some people felt about this. They might have had mixed feelings. But in reality, I was hoping to build a better community newspaper," Ryan said. "I've watched the corporate model for almost 20 years. Many of their ideas have been downright embarrassing and more than a bit disrespectful to the local communities. They know it, too. The corporations just refuse to acknowledge it.

"I guess I'd rather explain the reasons behind my own actions instead of being left to defend someone else's," Ryan said. "Too many decisions these days are based on nothing more than the current profit margin. Profits and cash flow are essential; we all understand that. But let's be reasonable. One of my former publishers, Phil Roberts, used to say: 'Pigs eat. Hogs get slaughtered.' I'm not a hog or a pig. I'm just a newspaperman.

"I still believe in good, local newspapers. And so did our Founding Fathers. We've got one heck of a team here, too. With experienced, intelligent and customer-oriented people like Angie Matticks, Lisa Wharton, Stephen Forsha, Brandy Chandler, Caitlin Ryan, Rosemary Ryan, and a few other Ryans, I think we'll be OK.

"Just pick up a copy of The Highland County Press and give us a chance. We'd appreciate it. Thanks."

Ryan can be reached via e-mail at roryeryan@gmail.com.