March Recap  
A Mantra for Success

A professional writer has good ideas, writes a polished piece, and meets deadlines. But all the professionalism in the world counts for naught if you don’t know, and write to, your audience. At the March meeting, three panelists addressed this topic.

The newspapers of Pioneer Press serve the suburban communities. In the past, according to Kathy Catrambone, editor and northwest suburban chief, this has meant a readership of higher-income, more highly educated, and mostly white families. But this is changing. For one thing, more and more Hispanics are moving to suburban towns and buying homes, following the American dream. Another example of change is seen in Arlington Heights, where increasing numbers of empty nesters are moving into a large downtown development. In both cases, the changing demographics present challenges as to what kinds of stories to do.

Because each of the 48 newspapers published by Pioneer Press serves a particular suburb, these papers call for stories with a local tie-in. Suburbanites want to read about the people of their town and what they are doing. New community members bring a wealth of new experiences and new interests. A highly desirable story in this type of market might be one about holidays celebrated by the new population, holidays previously unknown to that community. Four key words to remember when writing for these papers, Kathy said, are fresh and local, local, local.

Denise Joyce, editor of the Health & Family section of the Chicago Tribune, said right off that her paper, by necessity, took more of a shotgun approach. The Tribune tries to capture the interest of as many readers as possible, both city and suburban. So a story intended for the Trib should have a broader reach.

Having said this, however, Denise went on to echo Kathy’s call: Although the story should ideally be of national interest, the Tribune, like Pioneer Press, is always looking for the Chicago hook. For example, you might use quotes from an expert who is in or from Chicago . . .

This article appeared in Stet, the newsletter of the Independent Writers of Chicago.
Used with permission