{"id":3082,"date":"2014-04-17T08:30:45","date_gmt":"2014-04-17T13:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=3082"},"modified":"2014-04-17T10:12:52","modified_gmt":"2014-04-17T15:12:52","slug":"robust-agenda-for-suburban-websites-guest-editors-podcast-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2014\/04\/17\/robust-agenda-for-suburban-websites-guest-editors-podcast-network\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Robust agenda\u2019 for suburban websites: Guest editors, podcast network"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/HP-News.png\"><a href=\"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2014\/04\/17\/robust-agenda-for-suburban-websites-guest-editors-podcast-network\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3084\" alt=\"HP News\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/HP-News.png\" width=\"843\" height=\"558\" \/><\/a><\/a>Take a look at this week\u2019s edition of the <a href=\"http:\/\/highlandpark.suntimes.com\" target=\"_blank\">Highland Park News<\/a> and you\u2019ll see Billy Corgan on the cover: \u201cMusician, Businessman, Editor: Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan takes over his hometown paper,\u201d reads the headline.<\/p>\n<p>The entrepreneurial rocker is the first \u201cguest editor\u201d in a series of local celebrities taking on weeklong editorships at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/pioneerlocal.suntimes.com\" target=\"_blank\">Pioneer Press <\/a>publications in the coming months. Others on tap include author Scott Turow at the Evanston Review, author Elizabeth Berg at the Oak Leaves in Oak Park and chef Norman Van Aken at the Mundelein Review.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the big thing in Highland Park right now is: Why we don\u2019t see the upside from having Ravinia here in the community in terms of how it integrates back into local business? Highland Park is a little bit stuck in 1974 culturally,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/highlandpark.suntimes.com\/people\/cor_ganweb-PPN-04172014:article\" target=\"_blank\">opines Corgan, <\/a>who owns a local tea shop. \u201cMy whole rap is we should treat this like a beach town. If you know the tourists are coming in on a weekend, why don\u2019t we have free valet parking over here for nights after a Ravinia show?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to gracing the covers and celebrating their hometowns, the guest editors suggest stories to be covered. Each also champions a local charity, which gets a full-page ad in the paper. (Corgan chose PAWS, which is opening a location at the Highland Park Petco.)<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3083\" style=\"width: 244px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Robert-K.-Elder.png\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3083\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3083\" alt=\"Robert K. Elder\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Robert-K.-Elder.png\" width=\"234\" height=\"328\" srcset=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Robert-K.-Elder.png 234w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Robert-K.-Elder-214x300.png 214w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Robert-K.-Elder-150x210.png 150w, \/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Robert-K.-Elder-200x280.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 234px) 100vw, 234px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3083\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Robert K. Elder<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s all part of an effort led by Robert K. Elder, editor-in-chief of Sun-Times Media Local, to rejuvenate the 32 Pioneer Press websites and weeklies and the four suburban dailies he oversees \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/beaconnews.suntimes.com\" target=\"_blank\">Aurora Beacon-News,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/couriernews.suntimes.com\" target=\"_blank\">Elgin Courier-News,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/napervillesun.suntimes.com\" target=\"_blank\">Naperville\u00a0Sun<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/newssun.suntimes.com\" target=\"_blank\">Lake County News-Sun<\/a> in Waukegan. Though decimated by editorial cutbacks and consolidation under the ownership of Wrapports LLC (parent company of Sun-Times Media), the group is still alive and kicking. \u201cWe\u2019re bringing startup energy and innovation to all of our products,\u201d Elder said in an interview Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Elder, who joined the company in January 2013 and recently was promoted to the additional role of vice president of digital content, also is launching Sun-Times Media Local Podcast Network, a series of podcasts available on iTunes, SoundCloud and YouTube. \u201cI have a very robust agenda in pushing our digital properties,\u201d he said. \u201cI would love to find talent in the suburbs to host their podcasts on our network.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Starting Thursday, the network\u2019s initial offerings include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-big-questions-podcast\/id858818386?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\">\"The Big Questions,\u201d<\/a> billed as \u201ca show about ideas\u201d featuring interviews with authors, academics, artists and others, hosted twice a month by Elder.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/over-the-barrel\/id860159155?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\">\"Over the Barrel,\u201d<\/a> all about craft beers, microbreweries and the beer culture in the suburbs, hosted twice a month by Charles Berman, Ben Meyerson and Rich Bird.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-advice-show\/id858830891?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\">\"The Advice Show,\u201d<\/a> conversations about the best and worst advice people have been given, hosted monthly by Elder.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Also on Elder\u2019s agenda is a partnership with Chicago Public Media WBEZ FM 91.5. Sun-Times Media Local reporters will file news stories from the field, starting later this summer.<\/p>\n<p>Elder already has begun what he calls his 80-town \u201clistening tour,\u201d meeting with readers and community leaders from Aurora to Zion to hear what they want from their papers and websites. \u201cBeing on the ground and having people interact with you not only improves brand loyalty, but brings people closer to the product and makes them feel invested in it,\u201d he said. \u201cThe suburbs don\u2019t get the attention they deserve, but they have this robust, dynamic, engaged readership that\u2019s eager for more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs editors or reporters, I don\u2019t think you can sit in an ivory tower and just dictate what news is. That\u2019s part of our strategy of having reporters in the field all the time. It\u2019s a digital-first strategy, but it\u2019s also a practical one. When people are out and about talking to community leaders and readers and police chiefs and mayors \u2014 which is exactly what I\u2019m doing \u2014 it\u2019s only going to make a better product.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Take a look at this week\u2019s edition of the Highland Park News and you\u2019ll see Billy Corgan on the cover: \u201cMusician, Businessman, Editor: Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan takes over his hometown paper,\u201d reads the headline. The entrepreneurial rocker is the first \u201cguest editor\u201d in a series of local celebrities taking on weeklong editorships at... <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2014\/04\/17\/robust-agenda-for-suburban-websites-guest-editors-podcast-network\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&#8594;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3082"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3082"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3089,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3082\/revisions\/3089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}