06/25/2015

Seven questions with an ONA member: Tom Brennan

By Josh Park, Program Support Specialist

Tom Brennan started as a reporter at the Mansfield News Journal in August of 1972, following his graduation from Ohio State University with a BA in journalism. As the newspaper’s community content and engagement editor, a position he has held since 1987, Brennan is in charge of news operations.

Brennan was born in Shelby, OH, less than 20 miles outside of Mansfield. He and his wife, Joyce, have four children, all of whom live in Ohio. Brennan also serves as a member of the ONA Convention Committee.

What sparked your interest in this career?
I loved to write and enjoyed current affairs, so journalism seemed obvious. I have been fortunate to earn a living by doing things I really enjoy.

What’s the most difficult part of your job?
Being patient with myself and others is the most difficult part of the job. We have to run so fast these days, and that creates pressure to go even faster.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
It is most rewarding to see a young journalist learning and feeling proud of solid work that benefits the community.

What are the two coolest new things your newspaper is doing?
The first cool thing is not really brand new, but seems to be getting cooler. We have an assortment of web metrics, including Chartbeat, that helps reporters measure readership of their stories. It can also show them where readers stopped reading in an individual story. Reporters are spending more time with that.

Speaking of reporters, we have two new ones, which is the other cool thing. Danielle Hess joined us as a new graduate of Kent State, while Cortney Day came to us after three years at the Ashland Times-Gazette.

What’s the biggest problem and biggest opportunity in our industry that people should be talking more about?
The biggest problem in our industry is the threat to the existence of smaller newspapers located in towns that have lost much of their retail base and are now losing population. Towns without watchdog newspapers will surely deteriorate more quickly.

The biggest opportunity has been there for a while but may be more difficult to achieve with smaller newsrooms. It is to produce strong watchdog/enterprise projects that distinguish the newspaper as a leader while making a difference in the community.

If you could get an exclusive interview with one newsmaker past or present for your newspaper, who would it be and why?
For my newspaper, I would interview former president John F. Kennedy to find out how he built so much broad appeal across political parties, races, religions and about any other characteristic you can identify. We need that kind of leadership so badly today.

For myself, I would interview my father, who died in 1975. There is so much more about him that I would like to know.

What are the most important benefits you get from ONA?
ONA’s biggest benefit for me is the networking opportunities it provides. There are so many ways to interact with colleagues and learn from them and the ONA organization. A second big benefit is the work done on media-related legislation in front of the state legislature.

For upcoming issues of the Ohio Newspaper Association’s Bulletin, we want readers to get to know their fellow members, who are leaders in their organization and the newspaper industry. If you would like to participate in our Q&A, please send an email to Josh Park at jpark@ohionews.org.