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