A column is a wide-open area that gives tremendous latitude to attract readers

Chip Hutcheson

Mar 1, 2026

Content — the focus of this month’s Pub Aux — is a topic that cannot be exhausted. Every newspaper leader should always be on the alert for subject areas and stories that will foster public engagement and intensify the desire for readers to never miss an issue.

But in this era of shrinking newsroom staff, developing strong content is not an easy task. But that doesn’t mean it is a lost cause.

Here are some thoughts on content generation after a 41-year career as a newspaper publisher. ...

• In the March 2025 issue, much attention was devoted to locally written columns — especially by the publisher and/or editor — but extending far beyond the newspaper employees. Columns are not necessarily meant to address local issues but can be a combination of serious and humorous. Writing a column was so important to me that I never missed writing a Wednesday column for all 41 years. Most of those that garnered the greatest attention focused on people in the community, their families, their jobs — capitalizing on the age-old wisdom that “names make news.” Whenever someone knew a funny story on a person, I would often get a phone call relaying the information so the whole county would know what that person had done.

Several are memorable to me, like the downtown businessman who learned that the sheriff and county judge had to go to the courthouse roof to check out a possible leak. There was a door that had to be opened and steps climbed to get to the roof, and the businessman, who was just across the street was quick to jump into action when hearing the two officials had gone to the roof.

He ran to the courthouse and locked the door leading to the roof. That resulted in two elected county officials having to shout from the rooftop three stories high for someone to come rescue them. That was in the pre-cellphone days, so they had no other option but to let people in the downtown area know they had been tricked.

But there was payback, and that led to another humorous column. These same two elected officials snuck into the businessman’s home one evening as he was watching — in his underwear — the 10 o’clock news. They tossed him into the rear of the sheriff’s cruiser and were taking him outside of town with the intent of dropping him off so he would have to find a way back into town. But then a call came about a drunk, and when that arrest was made, the sheriff told all kinds of wild tales about the man who was going to be in the back seat with the drunk. The drunken man continually shook his fist at the businessman, agitated because this guy he was in the seat with was only wearing his underwear. A word of caution — that column, like several others, had to be delicately handled to not result in taxpayers questioning the actions of their elected officials.

Those columns could also be encouraging and heartening accounts of how someone in the community put others’ needs above their own.

Bottom line: a column is a wide-open area that gives tremendous latitude to attract readers.

Columns can address issues of significance in the community, although my goal was to always have one local editorial a week that was devoted to topics involving public policy.

It’s also helpful to be on the lookout for those people outside your newspaper who have the ability to write columns. A local historian can write a column about the past that will allow the writer to share some personal observations. 

To capture younger readers, talk with your local high school and see if one of their leaders — perhaps student government president — would consider writing a column focused on life at the high school.

The challenge with content is to find people who can contribute because of their interest in a particular area or stories which don’t require much time and manpower.

One of the most popular features we carried was started during my father’s tenure at the newspaper. It was called “Gourmet Corner” and featured a picture of a local resident who provided five or six of their favorite recipes. We would take a photo of the person at their home or business to go with the story. The person was given a form listing information about them, their family, their occupation and a space to write a few lines about how their recipes were acquired (passed along by a mother, grandmother, etc.) and why they were special to the person.

Sports is another area where content can drive circulation and advertising. I was blessed to have a superb sports editor who truly loved what he did. He was an excellent photographer and tireless worker. Whenever he asked for additional pages because of the stories and photos he had, I never turned him down. Sure, it cost a little more in newsprint from time to time, but it paid off in the long run.

Pay attention to public notices, which can be a treasure trove of impactful stories. That is especially true for notices about a change in tax rates or zoning, which may signal a new business or housing development.

Social media has been a friend or foe to newspapers in the content category. Watch social media for story ideas.

Do your best to include as many photos as possible in the paper. My wife often counseled me that “people will look at a photo more than they will read a story.” I didn’t like hearing that, but I’m convinced she is correct.

Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously said in 1905, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” For newspapers, though, remembering the past can be quite rewarding. People love seeing old photos and memories of how the community was 10 or 20 years (or more) ago. Use your newspaper archives for content — preferably photos.

I like what a few papers are doing — reprinting a front page from years ago. Since those papers had wider web widths, it requires reducing the page to fit into the standard web sizes of today. That leaves about a 2” hole across the top of the page where you can sell an ad. One caution — be alert to what is included on that page. Avoid a front page that carries a story about criminal wrongdoing of a person who, since that time, has become prominent in the town after turning their life around. You might incur a legal battle, so find another page to feature.

One of our most popular features was called “Looking Backward” and featured one or two sentences of what was going on in the community in previous decades. We even had people call us asking us to include something that involved them decades ago.

Look for segments in your society that go relatively unnoticed. Those might include stories related to churches, veterans’ organizations, civic clubs, homemaker groups and even some aspects of the education community. Seek out people in those areas who can feed you story ideas.

Years ago, we would take a local school and have a “Meet the Teacher” feature. That involved the teacher submitting a photo and answering a form providing information on what they taught, their education, their family, etc. All that was required was to have someone do a brief story from that supplied information.

Finally, take advantage of non-profit news sites, which generally are fine with you reprinting one of their stories if you will just give proper attribution and a link to their site. There are several non-profit sites in Kentucky that produce excellent content, and a few for-profit papers benefit from their work. Look to see news entities that are willing to share content with you.

It’s been said that “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Make that your motto for increasing and improving content in your newspaper.

Chip Hutcheson is the retired publisher of The Times Leader in Princeton, Kentucky. He was NNA president in 2015. He currently serves as a content strategist for Kentucky Today, the online news website of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. Email him at chiphutcheson@yahoo.com