Editor, The Plain Dealer
In 10 months on the job, Susan Goldberg has remade Cleveland’s daily paper. Like the new editor herself,The Plain Dealer is now as eager to interest and excite readers as it is to inform. You can see that in its splashy front pages, full of big pictures and graphics, and banners meant to convince Tribe, Browns, Cavs and Buckeyes fans that buying the paper is the best way to commune with their teams after a big win or loss. Goldberg has also made online news a much bigger priority: After years of simple notebook scribbling, reporters are recording audio interviews for Cleveland.com. Medical coverage, especially of the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals, is bolder and more in-depth. “Where’s the world news?” some longtime readers complain. But Goldberg — who embraced and weathered the radical changes Internet competition brought to her last paper, in San Jose —is a strong believer that newspapers have to innovate to stay strong. She’s brought a new vitality to an institution that hadn’t changed much in years.
