Managing Editor, Delmarva Group
The Sussex Post has been sporting a new flag and a new attitude.
Earlier this year, the Sussex Post’s News Plan was re-written, better defining the newspaper’s unique position as the only weekly in a crowded market to serve all of the Indian River School District.
The goal was to position the 20,000 circulation newspaper and its online services as the must-reads in central Sussex County, focusing heavily on news from the Indian River School District and the communities within its boundaries.
The Sussex Post is uniquely positioned as the only paper with distribution throughout the Indian River School District. Its neighboring competitors have limited coverage areas, with one concentrating on news in Georgetown and others concentrating on news from the Quiet Resorts in the southeastern portion of the county.
It’s no small undertaking for the news, advertising and delivery teams.
The Indian River School District covers 360 square miles and its population continues to grow. The district’s student population stands at more than 7,600 students, up nearly 15 percent over the past decade.
“All feedback has been positive,” said Sussex Post News Editor James Diehl.
James, who lives in Seaford, joined the Sussex Post in January after returning to the area from Indiana. His previous experience with one of the Post’s competitors allowed him to hit the ground running. He made visiting the schools’ leaders and other community leaders a top priority, asking for their ideas and contributions.
Sussex Post staff includes ad services staffers Nancy Niblett and Jenny Keim, news editor James Diehl and sports writer Jeff Mitchell (standing from left) and News Services writer Kitt Parker (seated).
The key to our success has been finding stories of interest to everyone in the readership area, particularly students and parents in the school district.
“We strive to have two or three school district stories in each edition,” James said.
The Sussex Post newspaper and its supplementary online services at newszap.com appeal to the large majority of readers throughout the district each week, striving to have great lead stories on development, growth, schools, business, agriculture and community affairs. The area, once predominantly farmland, has been experiencing a huge housing boom as people flock to Sussex to enjoy low property taxes and life along the river.
The newspaper staff has increased coverage in the communities within the district, not only with staff-generated material but also with a greater amount of submitted news, including news gathered from community blogs and links.
To draw readers into the Sussex Post, a flag change was in order. Webmaster and volunteer graphic artist Linda Snyder stepped in to help. She came up with several scenarios and one, the playful mallard, was a surprise choice that really spoke volumes about the area the paper serves. So many people are drawn to Sussex County for its rural setting and scenic beauty along the banks of the Indian River.
Kitt Parker, a native Sussex Countian, has been the News Services arm of the Sussex Post and The Leader & State Register since January. More and more people are filling the sussexpost@newszap.com e-mail in-box with submissions.
“There’s a lot more than when we started,” said Kitt.
The weekly newspaper is the only source for a complete Indian River schools calendar. Getting one started required calls and reminders to key contacts at each school. Now, we’re getting lots of submissions.
Sports, too, saw a huge increase in content.
Jeff Mitchell, another Sussex County native and graduate of Delaware Technical and Community College-Owens Campus in Georgetown (right in the heart of the Sussex Post territory), joined the staff part-time in the summer.
His mission is to cover scholastic and community sports in the area. The Sussex Post’s coverage area is home to a 600-plus member youth soccer program (River Soccer Club), three Little Leagues (Georgetown, Millsboro and Roxana), two Pop Warner football programs (Georgetown and Lower Sussex) and three high schools (Indian River, Sussex Central and Sussex Tech).
“The sports content adds to the legitimacy of the paper now,” said James.
With increased news and advertising content, the Sussex Post has been averaging 20 pages per edition, up from 12 and 14 pages from last year. The percentage of space has been about 40 percent editorial.
Doris Shenton and Joyce Ramsey are advertising managers for the paper. Nancy Niblett and Jenny Keim serve on the advertising services side.
“The advertisers are pleased with circulation, readership and most importantly the news content which is always up to date and has the local flavor which all the Sussex Countians love to read,” said Doris, who has been selling advertising for the Sussex Post for about eight years.
Doris Shenton
“The Post prides itself on news content and making the readers aware of the sports and local activities in the area,” said Doris. “Just recently the Post went to being paid on the newsstand which is giving proven readership thought out the communities.”
Joyce Ramsey
In April, the Sussex Post discontinued the practice of bulk drops at retail locations in favor of selling the newspaper for 50 cents per copy at newsstands and vending machines. However, delivery continues to be free to thousands of homes in Georgetown, Millsboro, Selbyville, Milville, Clarksville and Dagsboro.
”We purchased 35 used vending machines, had them repainted and the Sussex Post Logo put on them,” said Don Clendaniel, distribution manager. “Locations had to be found for the 35 vending machines and 21 more stores to handle the Sussex Post. We are currently putting an average of nine papers in each store location and 92 papers in each vending machine. There is a total of 16,320 free home delivered, giving us a total of 20,000 Sussex Post delivered each week.
“This was a major project which involved the setup of the vending machines, mapping the home delivery routes, finding locations for the vending machines and stores,” Don said.. “Zed Postles and Bill Dodd played a major part in getting this project up and running.”
The synergy created with improvements to news, advertising and delivery has been very positive.
“Over the years, I can only say that I have seen this area grow and the Sussex Post has really handled the growth and the future of the area,” said Doris. “The Sussex Post is the BEST newspaper in Sussex County.”
