Madison Taylor

When the subject of delivering nearby newspapers other than our own was first mentioned to me about three years ago my first response was this:

“Say what?”

Then I thought it over for a minute or two. Weighed the pros and cons and, well, history of such a thing. Then I altered my response to this:

“Huh?”

Over time, though, I’ve noticed a sea of changes in the newspaper industry. I’ve seen newspapers take over production from other newspapers. I’ve witnessed a merging and swapping of stories between once competing publications. I’ve monitored the decline of individual copydesks and editors for individual newspapers. I’ve seen the regional bureaus of larger metropolitan newspapers shut down one by one as turf once fought over with ferocity is ceded to the more local newspapers in smaller towns. I’ve seen our stories appear with our bylines in the Greensboro, Durham and Raleigh newspapers. We publish their stories the same way.

So when it came up once more last year that the Times-News might deliver the Greensboro News & Record to readers in Alamance County my response was similar to the one given by the comic actor Gene Wilder in the classic film “Young Frankenstein.”

“It . . . could . . . WORK!!!”

And so it was, that on Jan. 1 2012, carriers for the Times-News began home delivery of the Greensboro News & Record, a newspaper we battled with for years over each and every reader. When I worked here in the 1980s, the N&R had an Alamance County office. They published a special edition each week strictly for people here. They did the same in Rockingham, Randolph and other counties. They had a reporter here and sold advertising.

Long ago, they closed the Alamance bureau because the Times-News could still cover local events better simply from a manpower perspective. Other bureaus remained open but over time nearly all closed  — including the Rock Creek Record, which covered some western sections of Alamance County and eastern Guilford County.

For the N&R, the numbers simply didn’t add up. As newspaper readership declined, it wasn’t very cost effective to be a big presence in those outlying counties. Newspapers across the board decided to make sure they covered local things better and keep their core audiences satisfied.

Home delivery is in the same situation. As gasoline costs rise, it made sense for Greensboro to look for more efficient and less expensive alternatives. Paying us to deliver newspapers does that and provides money in our revenue stream here.

For our carriers, the routes are largely unchanged but the opportunities to make more money grow with an increased customer base. They just deliver the Times-News to their usual patrons and the N&R to others while driving the same neighborhoods or roads. In some cases they deliver both to the same addresses.

So far, there have been a few glitches. Greensboro is tasked to get their newspapers to Burlington at a certain time. And our carriers had to relearn their routes and new customers with very little notice. While we knew the change was coming, we didn’t get detailed information about the new customers until just before the historic starting day. Some days papers are delivered later than we would like. We’re working to correct it. Ultimately, my hope is that no one will know the difference.

Circulation director Todd Benz is confident the problems will be ironed out as carriers become more familiar with their territories. We also deliver the New York Times to a handful of customers in Alamance County and are hoping to start delivery of the Wall Street Journal very soon.

Since we started the new program, I’ve heard from a few puzzled readers wondering why in the heck the Burlington paper would be delivering the Greensboro paper. Just know that for a long time we were puzzled by it as well.

In the end, though, it’s merely another change in an industry now full of them.

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