Postmatic

Journalism Use Case: Geneva Shore Report

Journalism captures the power of a story and the printed word. So how do we do this online? The Geneva Shore Report uses Postmatic among their tools to gain subscribers and distribute content, successfully.

We recently had a chat with journalist and editor Chuck Bartok of The Geneva Shore Report. He has seen success building up a community using Postmatic, among other tools, and was willing to chat with us.

The Geneva Shore Report is a local newspaper from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, that publishes every week — in print and online. It’s on the street every Wednesday morning.

“The Geneva Shore Report came into being, and continues to exist, for the purpose of building, assisting and continuing the efforts of those living or visiting a small geographic place on the planet called Geneva Lake. A deep belief in causality, entropy and entertainment theory are at the heart of the attempt by the paper’s ownership and staff to organize and illustrate what it means to truly care about how this small lake, and the people that surround it, proceed into a blissful future.” Geneva Shore Report 

So how do they distribute online?

In addition to social media, The Geneva Shore Report Chuck uses a few tools to collect subscribers and to distribute content. He uses the free version of Sumo.me to generate signups. He has 200 subscribers with Postmatic. The publication also makes use of Aweber for a customized digest of the week’s publications.

“Our businesses have been built for 55 years with heavy customer service.” Chuck Bartok

Though Postmatic subscribers get email delivery first, Chuck uses Aweber to address those subscribers personally. They feel that maintaining both is the best for them at this time.

Why did they choose the service?

“I make choices based upon what I like,” Chuck Bartok said. “I liked that those people could get a synopsis once a week from the newspaper and take it from there.”

Commenting is open but they appreciate the distribution service rather than the commenting.

What impact does The Geneva Shore Report have?

The Geneva Shore Report has five reporters and do not sell ad space. They fell this keeps them impartial. They are quite proud of the campaign they had against the former mayor, exposing crime, and true journalistic effort.

The people who comment are a good mix of males and females generally over the age of 50. Their mission is to communicate the power of being involved locally and use reason to insight passion in one’s own community.

Publications and Postmatic

We also have a passion for publications and truth bearing in news. It warms our heart to see that we’re one of the tools Chuck has chosen for The Geneva Shore Report and hope to encourage other local papers to distribute their journalistic efforts as well.