WBJ Editor Brad Kane
Updated: 11 hours ago
From the Editor
From the Editor: Trying something new: chicken sandwiches
One of my favorite jokes to tell around the WBJ newsroom is the best headline any publication could write is simply “Restaurant closes” followed closely by its cousin “Restaurant opens.” Stories about the hospitality industry, particularly restaurant openings and closings, predictably drive high volumes of readers to WBJournal.com.
Despite these high pageviews, I’ve typically dismissed this audience interest as popcorn traffic: Readers who come to WBJ strictly for that one story and aren’t necessarily going to visit our website frequently for our business-to-business coverage of the entire Central Massachusetts economy. They certainly wouldn’t pay to subscribe to WBJ. At least, that’s what I thought.
Yet, in June when I was attending a business journalism conference in Canada, the group publisher for the large media company Crain’s detailed the types of stories that drove traffic and subscriptions to its publications in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and New York. Somewhat obviously, real estate stories are at the top. Real estate is the core beat of most business journals, including WBJ. If you know real estate, you know the economy.
Surprisingly, restaurant stories also were among the top drivers of core audience growth for Crain’s. The stories aren’t just about openings and closings either, but genuine business stories about industry trends, food costs, workforce problems, and the other challenges restaurants face. The second I heard this, I understood: Restaurants have a natural appeal for consumers, which drives traffic, but those stories told smartly through a business lens can attract the more business readers comprising the core of WBJ’s audience.
While restaurant news has always been part of WBJ’s coverage of the broader Central Massachusetts economy, this edition marks our first attempt at this more sophisticated, analytical approach to restaurant storytelling. Managing Editor Eric Casey dives into it with his “What’s with all the new fried chicken restaurants?” story.
From the moment I started as editor in 2015, I was told Worcester was known for its restaurants, particularly on Shrewsbury Street, where WBJ’s offices are. There’s plenty more to learn about this fascinating industry, and we look forward to exploring it with you.
Brad Kane is editor of the Worcester Business Journal.
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