Did you see us on The Weather Channel?

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Ashley White

This week, the West Central Tribune was featured on The Weather Channel for Wednesday’s front page, with the headline “Oh, say it ain’t snow.” The front page also took a look back over the ~~miserable~~ ~~never ending~~ long winter we’ve had so far.

The front page was designed by Dan Burdett, and the weather story was developed by Carolyn Lange and Susan Lunneborg. Congrats to everyone involved. We’re famous now!

“Focus” your attention on these stories

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Ashley White

Last week, I wrote about how much work we put into our annual Focus section “Rising to the Challenge,” which came out yesterday. I hope all of you had a chance to see it in the paper! If not, it’s now online, and it’s the perfect weekend reading if you’re looking to stay inside and forget that it’s actually April, not January (because someone clearly forgot to tell Minnesota).

I’ve had a chance to read most of the Focus stories now, and I have to tell you, they are really fantastic. When we first started working on the section, I was a little nervous. It seemed like a huge topic to tackle and I had no idea how it would all work out. But once again, I’m blown away by all of our reporters and editors who put this section together. From the economic challenges of farming to homelessness in Kandiyohi County to health care partnerships in the area to the growing diversity in the Willmar School District, we looked at a lot of issues facing this area and what various groups are doing to handle them.

But it doesn’t really matter what I think. We’d love to know what you think of our Focus section this year. Did we represent the different areas of the community well? Is there a story we should have done instead, or should do in the future? Leave a comment here or shoot me an email at awhite@wctrib.com. Your opinion is the one that matters!

PS: I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a HUGE shout out to our features editor Sharon Bomstad, who oversaw the section from the beginning and designed all of the pages. She did a truly awesome job!

Things are coming into Focus

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Ashley White

It’s been a stressful few weeks for many of us here at the Tribune.

For about the last month, we’ve been working hard on our annual Focus section, which will print on April 4. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Focus, it’s a special section with a theme that changes every year. (Here’s what we did last year.) This year, we chose the theme “rising to the challenge.” We looked at different areas of the community (government, health, education, agriculture, industry, manufacturing, lifestyle, business and retail) and examined how these areas are meeting the needs of the changing demographic and economy in the west central Minnesota area.

It’s going to be a really awesome section. I haven’t read anyone else’s stories yet, but from what we discussed in our brainstorming and planning meetings, I know we’re covering a wide range of topics that have a big impact within our communities.

It was a fun project to work on, but it took a lot of work. I wrote four stories for the section. To give you a little background, for a more in-depth project like this, each story involves: finding the angle (which can be the toughest part), researching the topic, reaching out to appropriate people, scheduling interviews (sometimes lots and lots of interviews), sorting through data, interviewing everyone you contacted, reviewing your interview notes and then finally sitting down to write, trying to condense everything you now know about a subject into an appropriate length that won’t turn people off from actually reading the story that you worked so hard to finish. Then times that by four.

Whew. I think it’s safe to say that many of us now feel as tired as this little guy:

At least I do. Trying to put together an additional section as large as this one, in addition to keeping up with all of your daily responsibilities and those odd jobs that just seem to pop up every day, is tough. I also had an 8-day vacation in there somewhere, which was so worth it (I went to Hawaii!) but meant that I had to have all my stories finished a few days after I got back. I think we can all agree that an impending deadline is not exactly what you want to come back to after a vacation.

Ah, Hawaii. The land of beautiful weather and a stress-free lifestyle. I loved every minute of it!

But I know that all that extra work and stress will be worth it when the section prints next week and everyone can read all of the stories we’ve put together. I hope that you pick up a paper next Thursday and let us know what you think of this year’s Focus. It’s the second one I’ve been involved with so far, and I’m very excited to see how everything turned out.

Now in the meantime, I’m off to take a nap.

How do you handle big projects at work? Do you get stressed easily? How do you deal with stress?

Join us at the next Social Media Breakfast

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Ashley White

On Thursday morning, our advertising director, Kevin Smith, and I will be speaking at the Willmar Lakes Area Social Media Breakfast. We’d love for you to join us and hear all about what we’re doing on social media at the Tribune!

The event is free (and we’re giving you guys free breakfast, too!), but you do need to register ahead of time. You can do that here.

These breakfasts started last September, and I’ve been to every one so far. I always learn something from the businesses that present, and I hope we can be helpful as well. At the Tribune, we’ve experimented with everything from Facebook to live tweeting and blogging. We also have plans to add a few more social media networks in the future, so stay tuned…

Here’s an overview of what we’ll be talking about Thursday. If you have any questions for us beforehand, leave a comment here or shoot me an email.

In today’s ever-changing digital landscape, it’s become more important than ever for media organizations to connect with news readers on many different platforms. The West Central Tribune has used social media to interact with its readers and involve them in the news process, making them a part of the news, rather than a passive consumer of news. The Tribune’s advertising director, Kevin Smith, and community content coordinator, Ashley White, will share how they are using social media to share content and engage with readers, as well as how they measure the ROI of social media. They will cover how the Tribune uses many different social networks, ranging from Facebook and Twitter to live blogs and Storify. They will also share case studies and best practices that have worked for their social media strategy.

Hope to see you on Thursday! If you can’t make it, you can always follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #SMBWillmarArea.

Braving a snowstorm to get the story

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Ashley White

Sometimes, reporters have to go above and beyond to get the story.

Rick Reigstad, a MnDOT snow plow driver, clears snow from the mirrors of his plow Sunday morning on US Highway 12 in Kerkhoven.

For our reporter Carolyn Lange, Sunday was one of those times.

After making several attempts with MnDOT to schedule a ride along with a snow plow driver, her chance came on Sunday morning. She called in around 5 a.m., and MnDOT called back an hour later to tell her that today would be the day.

Around 7 a.m., she headed out in the cold and snow and spent the morning with plow driver Rick Reigstad, taking the route from Willmar to Kerkhoven and back again.

White knuckle driving near Willmar despite best efforts of Mndot #weather

— Carolyn Lange (@CarolynLange) February 10, 2013

Spent a couple hours riding on Mndot snow plow in west central Minnesota today. No win battle in heavy snow #weather

— Carolyn Lange (@CarolynLange) February 10, 2013

After spending the morning with MnDOT, Carolyn headed back in the early afternoon, anticipating a bad ride home. Conditions were so treacherous that she had to pull over, not knowing if she could make it back in her car. Thankfully, she found a plow to follow and made it home safe and sound.

Horrendous drive home after adventure on MnDOT snowplow in WC MN. When wind hits 40 mph it will be a nightmare. #weather

— Carolyn Lange (@CarolynLange) February 10, 2013

Despite a stressful ride home, Carolyn says her time on the plow Sunday helped her write today’s story about an advanced technology that helps MnDOT plow drivers do their jobs more effectively.

“I had heard about the technology and had seen the printouts, but I didn’t fully understand until I saw it in action,” Carolyn says. “It was different to watch every part of the process and see firsthand through the window.”

She also thinks everyone could benefit from a ride along with a snow plow driver.

“Everyone at MnDOT was so gracious. It was a bumpy ride, but they took the time to explain everything,” she says. “They face so many challenges out there. If people could take a ride with them, I think they would have much more respect for what the drivers do.”

Thank you to the snow plow drivers, everyone at MnDOT and the reporters who go above and beyond (and out in the blizzards) to keep the public informed!

Lighten up: Tips for parents with struggling readers

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Linda Vanderwerf

I’ll admit that it’s been a long time since I’ve had a struggling reader in my home. My stepdaughter Nicole, who had a brain tumor at the age of 5, is 34 now.

Brain surgery and radiation at such a young age left her with learning disabilities, leading to a delayed arrival at her love for reading.

We tried lots of things to help her at home. We even did our best to teach her phonics, since that was out of vogue in schools at the time. Eventually, she became a voracious reader. I’ve never seen anyone with as much determination as that little kid had. We encouraged her reading as much as we could. She and her brother knew that they wouldn’t necessarily get a new toy on a shopping trip with me, but if they got me into a bookstore, they had a sure thing.

The “Little House” series was a particular favorite and still is. Don’t talk to her about the people who question whether Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote those books. There’s no messing with a true Laura fan.

An article on the Education News website made me think of Nicole this week. In it, author Kumar Sathy talks about three ways to promote reading comprehension for struggling readers. He admits they may be controversial.

The first is an interesting idea that might surprise some people: Put closed captioning on the television and mute the sound. He doesn’t advocate doing this for an entire day and would never suggest it as a substitute for real books. The TV watching with captioning, which shows words at the speed of conversation, could be considered a reward, Sathy said.

Nicole was a crazed “Sound of Music” fan and had her very own copy of the movie when she was a kid. She liked to watch it often and often wanted company, usually me. With the technology of the time, closed caption probably wasn’t available, but I think it might have helped her.

His other tips revolve around what sounds like common sense to me — don’t talk about it so much. Kids need a break. Give them time to read what they want and when they want without having to answer a lot of questions about what they read or the types of sentences they read.

Finally, find ways to sneak in reading strategies during other activities. Sathy offers suggestions, depending on a child’s age. They can be as simple as looking for objects that have two syllables in their names or names with particular letters or sounds. Older kids can describe what they see in complete sentences or by using certain words.

What Sathy seems to be saying to parents and other adults is, “Lighten up,” and have some fun. There are ways to reinforce kids’ work in school without making it seem like a big effort.

I wish I’d had a few of these tips about 27 years ago. It might have saved all of us a couple years of frustration.

Maybe Sathy’s article, with its irreverence, will give ideas for someone else out there with a struggling young reader.

A life changing adventure can begin right here

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Tom Cherveny

Natalie Warren (in bow) and Ann Raiho paddled upstream on the Minnesota River in 2011 at the start of their 2,000 mile adventure to Hudson Bay.

MONTEVIDEO — Natalie Warren and Ann Raiho celebrated their graduation from St. Olaf in 2011 by setting out on a 2,000 mile adventure.
They became the first women to follow Eric Sevareid’s route from “Canoeing With the Cree’’ and paddle from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay.
Neither left their studies at St. Olaf behind them thinking that their educations were only to begin, but that proved to be the case. Every day on the Minnesota River provided lessons on the state’s history and cultural heritage, thanks to the people they met and the places they saw. And every day, they learned about and witnessed the many water quality and land-use issues that are central to our discussions today.
Ann Raiho had grown up in Minnesota, but was surprised every day by all that she learned on the 330 miles of upstream paddling on the river, said Warren.
Now Warren, originally of Miami, Florida, and two partners are planning to make the Minnesota River a summer classroom for other young people.
Warren, Nick Ryan and Anna Johnson have created Wild River Academy. The three met in Washington D.C., but are opening their venture in Minnesota with plans to lead high school age students on trips on the Minnesota River. Lessons on science and history will be woven into the trips. They will have a focus on agriculture.
Warren said they hope to visit farms along the way to educate young people about the importance and challenges of agriculture.
Since the 2011 trip, Warren has been (and continues) to offer presentations on the adventure. Her story inspires people of all ages to explore and enjoy our outdoors.
There is no matching the real thing. Warren said the “experiential learning’’ opportunities possible on the Minnesota River can be life changing.
Warren and her partners were in Montevideo on Thursday to start laying the groundwork for their summer plans. They are especially interested in contacting teachers and others throughout the region interested in helping young people experience the outdoors.
They are looking for people who can help them introduce young people to the science, history and cultural heritage that can be learned along the way. They also welcome sponsors and other support.
To learn about the Wild River Academy, or contact Warren for a presentation, check out the website: www.wildriveracademy.com

- Tom Cherveny

This year, I’m keeping my New Year’s resolutions

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Ashley White

Like many people, I have a love-hate relationship with New Year’s resolutions. I always make at least a few, but I can’t remember a year when I ever actually followed through on any of them (past February, anyway).

Maybe I set too many goals, or too ambitious goals, or maybe I just lack the willpower to see them through. But this year, I thought I’d try something different: Instead of setting goals for my personal life,* I’m going to make a set of professional resolutions – goals I’d like to accomplish in my career in the coming year.

It was difficult to narrow down my list of resolutions, because journalism changes every day. The tools I choose to learn this week may not be applicable at this time next year. Still, there are some things that I know I need to be learning or doing better that will help me in both the short- and long-term.

Here are my 2013 journalism resolutions:

1) Learn to code. This is my number one resolution for 2013, and I’ve already started on it with the help of tools like this online class from edX (it’s free!), and Codecademy. I don’t expect to learn how to build in-depth, fancy websites, but I’d like to learn enough to have a basic understanding. Knowing how to code will be an essential skill as media, including the Tribune, continue to focus on digital efforts. At the Tribune, I hope to use this skill to encourage more interaction and engagement with the community on our website.

2) Build on my video skills. I know enough about video to shoot something quick on my iPhone and edit it easily enough (at the Tribune, we use Windows Live Movie Maker), but I’d really like to improve my skills. I know I could be using better angles and thinking more about lighting when I shoot. I’d also like to learn one or two additional video editing programs (probably iMovie and Adobe Premiere Elements, which was actually a Christmas gift from my awesome parents). Like coding, it’s become almost essential for every journalist to have a basic (if not more-than-basic) understanding of video.

3) Start a blog. This is a resolution I really should have completed in 2012, but in honor of the New Year, I’m going to forgive myself and look forward. A big part of my job involves working with other people to start their blogs and giving them tips to make the most use of it. It’s time to take my own advice and start blogging. I’m excited and have a ton of ideas, but I also know that it will be a lot of work. I don’t want to start a blog and then have it disappear after a month or two. I’ve made it a resolution, but I’m going to hold off on it for at least a few months into 2013 so that when I start, I have a clear direction of where I want to go with it.

4) Think about the bigger picture. At a daily newspaper, it’s sometimes difficult to see past your 5 p.m. deadline. Though I don’t write stories for the paper every day, I do have plenty of “daily” responsibilities (updating Twitter, responding to Areavoices questions from bloggers, finding new bloggers to recruit, updating the Live it! social media accounts, etc.) that too often keep me from thinking about the future. In 2013, I’d like to devote some time every week to “big picture” issues: How can we be using social media most effectively? How can our bloggers better help contribute to our overall coverage? What new digital tools should we be using to create community engagement and interaction?

Unlike my personal resolutions, I have high hopes that I will see these ones through to 2014 (mostly because unlike “losing weight” or “organizing my apartment,” I have an actual passion for my work). Still, I know it won’t be easy. I guess that’s why they call them “resolutions.”

Happy New Year, everyone! See you in 2013!

What are your New Year’s resolutions this year? How many resolutions do you usually make? Do you ever manage to keep them past February?

*Okay, I confess: Yes, I did still set personal resolutions this year. Those are to 1) drink more water (I make this one every year), 2) read at least two books a month and 3) save more money. Wish me luck!