<i>SJR</i> marks successful 2010, looks to busy ‘11

DUST IN THE WIND
It seems that every time I interact with the media, I hear about the demise of the newspaper industry. Readership is down, advertising is flat, the sky is falling.
To be sure, daily newspapers face an uncertain future. However, community newspapers are alive and kicking.
Thousands of weekly community newspapers are going strong in the current economy and most are thriving.
For the past four years, the University of Missouri School of Journalism has been conducting a study of community newspaper markets. Some of the findings:
• 81 percent of adults surveyed read a local newspaper each week.
• 40 percent keep the newspaper all week.
• 73 percent read practically the whole issue.
• Of those who read the news online, 63 percent go to a website provided by a local newspaper.
We are doing well at the San Juan Record. In fact, readership has never been larger.
We combine the 6,000 weekly readers of our print edition with an equivalent number of weekly hits on our website, at sjrnews.com. In addition, hundreds of friends on Facebook receive breaking news updates.
The San Juan Record office is a beehive of activity.
Over the past three years, we have completed a remodel of the San Juan Record office and a restructure of the entire business, including a new website, a new layout and design (complete with full color on every page), a successful 10K race, a thriving bookstore, a popular calendar, a new travel business and growing social media efforts.
These changes have been the result of the hard work of the entire SJR crew. This place is hopping and we are in need of some help.
Office manager Melissa Shakespeare is leaving for a job with San Juan County, while sales manger Scott Burton is leaving for a job with the San Juan School District.
Scott and Melissa have been valued employees of the San Juan Record for more than three years. While losing two employees doubles our headaches in the short run, it also gives us a chance to restructure our work flow to meet the skill sets of our employees. As a result, we are seeking resumes from people with a wide variety of skills.
If you have an interest in writing, sales, bookkeeping, customer relations, inventory mangement or information management, call us at 435-587-2277, send a resume to PO Box 879, Monticello, UT 84535 or email sjrnews@frontiernet.net.