The Reader Reinvents Itself

It’s high time we shared with you some important news. Although coming for some time--and no secret necessarily to those of us inside HPR’s circle--we are delighted to announce several changes that will positively impact the High Plains Reader, its audience, customers and general position in the broader community.

Effectively immediately, Zach Kobrinsky will take over as editor-in-chief. Along with that, other shifts are occurring internally. The end result, we anticipate, is a reinvigorated newsweekly that has more talented people on board than ever before. Our content will evolve, of course, and so will the course of the newspaper’s business side of things.

While I will continue to write anchor opinion pieces for The Reader, this page will show more diversity in messaging and authorship. You will also see occasional features and news reports from me. Page three is the forefront of HPR’s presentation to its readers and we will continue to lead the community with issues and arguments important to our readership.

My title henceforth will be director of sales. While still co-owner of HPR along with Publisher Raul Gomez, this shift of focus presents a welcome and exciting challenge personally. You may not know it, but I spent 13 years in orthopedic implant sales, and I was taught value systems and customer approaches that are solid foundations to grow any business upon.

HPR’s sales force is going through some great evolution at this moment. It will benefit all of us alike to properly shepherd those energies to the highest level of success possible. With the change in the geopolitical playing field of local media and newspapers specifically, whether you are talking Grand Forks / East Grand Forks or Fargo / West Fargo / Moorhead, the only game in town is Forum Communications and--you got i--The Little Newspaper That Could, HPR.
There is great opportunity in that.

HPR’s sales force will be integral to future growth and expansion. It will be a distinct pleasure to work with the high-caliber team we now have in place: Jay Miller, Jana Tronier (who is taking over the huge job of bookkeeping, God bless you, Jana!), Roy Raaj, Whitney Retzer, and Heather Angell, (who will be HPR’s liaison to the Greater Grand Forks region).

Advertisers and customers will see a newly coordinated sales and marketing effort for both print and web media vehicles. We’re ready to have fun and to grow this puppy.

Readers will see a reinvented content approach and presentation. The team of Raul Gomez and Zach Kobrinsky will be amazing, we predict.

All of us will be wearing hats more specific to our actual focus at the paper. The bottom line truth is we are thrilled to be able to say that we have more talented, capable people in key positions at HPR than ever before in its history.

That will be a good way to approach HPR’s 15th year in business. A year from now, we’ll have more than ever before to celebrate.

On the content side, Zach’s education and background prepare him entirely to take over the helm as editor of HPR. We have been anticipating this day for several years and cannot express adequately the satisfaction of seeing it come to fruition.

Zach is very capably backed up by Tom Bixby, who has fearlessly taken on the title of Copy Editor. We have a handful of great interns, a whole slew of incredible writers and contributors, and we have about 20,000 people a week who count on HPR to deliver good content, original and pertinent to the region and to the people.

Join us in welcoming Zach Kobrinsky to his new position as editor of the High Plains Reader. And join HPR as we enter into yet another era of reinvention and reinvigoration, as we spread our wings.