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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 2016)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2016 DAILYASTORIAN.COM FROM HOT LEAD TO HOT LINKS 20 YEARS IN THE MAKING TOP 10 STORIES FROM 1996 1996 ended much as it began, with the weather holding all the cards. In between the deluge of rain and high winds, Clatsop County came to grips with an act of terrorism in downtown Astoria, new land- lords for much of the area’s timberland, a recall election for a city councilor accused of breaking the public’s trust, the continuing saga of the Astoria Aquatics Center, the acciden- tal death of a Warrenton Po- lice reservist, closing of area hatcheries, new measures to curb downtown crime, budget fears due to Measure 47 and the departure of personnel at the National Weather Service office. http://www.dailyastorian.com/ 1. Facing the floods: The February floods hit parts of Clatsop Clounty with a ven- geance, destroying homes, killing livestock and causing landslides. 2. Bombs shatter calm: Astorian Michael Ernest Mc- Clain, 42, set off explosives at The Dutch Cup restaurant (now Stephanie’s Cabin) and the Pig ’n Pancake before fatally shooting himself in front of stunned servers and customers at the Pig ’n Pan- cake. The bombs did not fully explode and there were six minor injuries. No motive was uncovered. The Daily Astorian news crew in 1996 at Ira’s restaurant in downtown Astoria (now Drina Daisy): Seated left to right are reporter Zaz Hollander, Managing Editor Laura Sellers, reporter Marc Powell, Editor Steve Forrester, photographer Andy Dolan (front), deputy managing editor Ken O’Toole and photographer Karl Maasdam. Standing are reporters Linda Lan- ham and Andrea Kennet, editorial assistant Sue Cody, reporter Michael Fisher and Coast Weekend Editor Brian McNeill. Not pictured are reporter Cathy Peterson, sports editor Allen Messick and sports writer Paul Danzer. Daily Astorian debuted online on July 30, 1996 3. New landlords: Willamette Industries purchased a third of Clatsop County when they bought out Cavenham Forest Industries. 4. Councilor faces recall: Astoria City Councilor Jim Wilkins was arrested on drug charges but later entered a plea that had the charges dismissed. A group said that was not enough and pushed a recall. He was later recalled 5. In the swim: The Astoria Aquatics Center broke ground in December. 6. Officer down: In March, Warrenton Police reserve trainee Robert Bernard “Ber- nie” McMaster, 25, died when the patrol car he was a pas- senger in flipped upside down into the Skipanon Slough. 7. Hatcheries’ swan song: The Gnat Creek, Klaskanine and Grays River, Wash., hatcheries started running on skeleton crews. 8. Downtown crime: Astoria merchants rebelled against a dangerous image and pressured the city council to clean out drug traffickers and wandering youths downtown, In response, a community policing program was created and three taverns were closed. 9. Measure 47 looms: Measure 47, sometimes called the “cut and cap” law, reduced property taxes to the lesser of the 1994–95 tax or the 1995–96 tax minus 10 percent and limited future increases in assessed prop- erty values, except for new construction or additions, to 3 percent per year, according to Wikipedia. 10. Bye, bye weather guys: Forecasters at the Warrenton Field Office of the National Weather Service were re- placed by computers because of budget cuts. By LAURA SELLERS The Daily Astorian O n Saturday, the Astorians website, www. dailyastorian.com, turns 20. In 1996, we never imagined winding up in today’s technological vortex. Back then, this thing dubbed the internet was just a hobby more than joined at the hip. On Tuesday, July 30, 1996, we were master- ing our “Macarena” arms, eagerly awaiting “Inde- pendence Day” in the theaters, watching summer reruns of “ER” and “Seinfeld” and being spell- bound by “The Runaway Jury” by John Grisham. The top headline on the next newspaper edition was “Warrenton tackles tide gate plight.” Sound familiar? And, The Daily Astori- an’s website launched. Two days later, there was a tiny blurb at the bot- tom of the Business page announcing we were “on line” and touting the con- venience of submitting a Laura letter to the editor, sub- Sellers scribing or simply giving feedback. We promised stories, down the road, from the front page, meet- ing agendas, fair results and visitor guide informa- tion Our audience was probably in the teens. Ta-da! O n Aug. 16 of that year, Editor Steve For- rester Editor’s Notebook was headlined, “My grandfather would not recognize our industry, but he would recognize the news.” He notes that 88 years after the late E.B. Aldrich became a news- paper owner, the company faced new competitors, such as TV, radio and alternative publications, and we now offered more diverse products. He declared, “The Internet beckons us.” In fact, The Daily Astorian was the fi rst of our company’s of the publications to have a web page. He concluded with “We are dedicated to the production of quality products. That is where you have to be in the crowded information economy of 1996 and beyond.” Yep. Spot on. The 1996 Progress special section showcas- ing area businesses (2016’s edition, Who’s Who, is inserted in today’s Daily Astorian) notes that 123 years after this newspaper launched, we were delivering news via the internet. “From hot lead to hotlinks in cyberspace, we continue to give the information you need … when and where you need it. Information at your fi ngertips.” That’s still what we strive to do. B y December that year, according to the Way- back Machine, which archives news websites, our site boasted a couple of shortened stories or photos a day and links to past articles, full editori- als, sports news, a pretty robust calendar of events for that era, the Mouth of the Columbia review, MORE ONLINE National and local website timelines and an early Astorian marketing video at DailyAstorian.com or http://goo.gl/tNo501 In 2006, we launched the company’s first “community journalism” website, Seaside-Sun. com. It unplugged two years ago. a garden column, contact information and links to every Business Directory ad. Even I, who involved in this launch and development, was surprised to rediscover how far we came in 4.5 months. And it’s only sped up since then. A long the way, we’ve gone from homegrown html pages to three vendors that progressively offered more way to distribute news, information, videos, slideshows, advertising and so much more. We’ve launched community sites and pur- chased and sold newspapers. We built platforms to help our communities buy and sell items, get a job or offer a service. We’ve marketed ourselves in all mediums and venues with our fi rst marketing video in the mid-2000s. The Astorian had one of the fi rst nationally recognized “community journalism” sites with seaside-sun.com from 2006 to 2014, which encouraged locals and community fans to contribute to build a robust face of Seaside. Our coastal offerings now include Coast Weekend, Coast River Business Journal, Seaside Signal, Cannon Beach Gazette, Our Coast magazine, Coast Marketplace and Chinook Observer, in print and digital. Our combined North Coast audience in June was more than a quarter million and our page views were almost half a million, and more than half of the that traffi c is on a mobile device. Not too shabby. O ur company’s director of digital ser- vices, Crindalyn Lyster, said, “In today’s online world, it’s not head- line worthy when a website launches. That wasn’t the case 20 years ago when The Daily Astorian took a leap into the digital realm. To be this forward thinking and land itself in the company of major news orga- nizations, such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and LA Times, just starting down the same path is huge. “What was once a side project , is now front and center of what The Daily Astorian and our com- pany does today.” Lyster said. “After two decades under our belt, and a constantly evolving land- scape, we hope to continue to pave the path of innovation and provide valuable digital products and solutions for our communities.” And then … W hat about tomorrow? While our print products drive revenue and still solid, steady readership, we recognize that DailyAstorian.com in 2006. digital is inexorably the future. We now post fi rst to our website and social media, and we break news even faster: posting information as it comes in for major events. We offer e-editions so subscribers can see the print product online and are expanding our archives as far back as we are able. We have grown from a digital staff of one to fi ve, who explore new and better ways to dissemi- nate local, state, national and world news, ads and information you need to live your lives. We have a robust commenting system that is sometimes a bit of a problem child when conver- sations veer from civility, but still offers a fairly free-wheeling forum. And yes, you can still submit letters to the edi- tor, subscribe, give us feedback, but you can also see what is happening in the Columbia-Pacifi c region on any given day, watch videos, see scads of photos from sporting events and more, explore topics in-depth, advertise in a variety of atten- tion-catching formats, get an apartment or a job, fi nd a local business or just discover more about our special region. I’m proud to have been there for our hum- ble beginnings , and am grateful to Forrester and then Corporate General Manager Pat Patterson, who gave us free rein to take on this hobby turned vocation. I’m grateful I have a techie hus- band , co-worker Carl Earl, who helped us master basic html and fi gure out the then unknown shoals of URLs, licensing and online forms. All along the way, there were so many who offered innovative ideas or jumped in to try new things to push the bar. Now, grab your Kindle and reread some Grisham, after you select your Pan- dora station. Later, I suggest you download “Independence Day: Resurgence” from Netfl ix or iTunes. Laura Sellers was The Daily Astori- an’s managing editor from 1995-1999 and again since 2014. In between, she was in charge of digital for EO Media Group, the Astorian’s parent company. She stands ready to rock the next thing. STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager • CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager • DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Founded in 1873