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www.wbjournal.com August 15, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 3 With four children all aged 8 years or younger, it is difficult for me to watch any movies or television that don't start with a hopping lamp or a whistling mouse. One of the few TV programs I do make sure to watch on a weekly basis is HBO's "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver." Oliver is an alum of Comedy Central's "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and has taken that original show's formula of writing jokes around problems with politics and American life and turned it into a 30-minute rant on the same subject matter with jokes thrown in. Oliver is a compelling personality, and the show is on premium cable, so there are no commercials and lots of swearing, which always makes for captivating comedy. Oliver's rant on Aug. 7 hit particularly close to home for me. The subject was journalism and how the industry has evolved into the digital age, including how the revenue model strives for online clickbait instead of well-researched stories and meeting coverage that is important but not necessarily popular. The show even did a sketch called "Stoplight" (a spoof of "Spotlight") where a reporter was pulled off a government investigative piece in favor teaming up with another reporter to provide comprehensive coverage of a cat that looks like a raccoon. Having lived similar-yet-slightly-less-ridiculous scenarios for the first 13 years of my career, I am all too aware of the problems media organizations face. We do want stories that are well read online, and I am proud to say WBJournal.com's traffic is up 71 percent since I took over as editor in September. This is a vital part of our long-term strategy as a publication. Yet, we want to write stories important and relevant to our business-to-business audience, even if they are not popular with the digital audience. The strategy for us, then, is to always keep an eye on that audience but not selling out with clickbait content about pup- pies or celebrities. It seems like a simple strategy, but it contin- ues to yield strong results. The most-read story in the history of WBJournal.com came at the end of July when we were among the first in the nation to report how a UMass researcher made an ALS breakthrough using funds from the Ice Bucket Challenge. Our story caught fire on social media, and we received a lot of one-off traffic to our website. The point is the Ice Bucket Challenge story fell well into our typical coverage area, so we didn't need to resort to full-on clickbait. Some WBJ stories are simple and straightforward. Some are more complex, require more resources and might not garner a high-volume audience. All are important, and all will continue to be part of WBJ's editorial efforts. - Brad Kane, editor This Week In The WBJ Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is published bi-weeky, 24x per year, including 5 special issues in April, July, September, November and December, by New Engand Business Media. 172 Shrewsbury St., Worcester, MA 01604. Periodicals postage paid at Worcester, MA. Copyright 2015. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Worcester Business Journal, PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920- 9894. Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available for $54.95. For more information, please email wbjournal@cambeywest.com or contact our circulation department at 845-267-3008. Fax: 845.267.3478 Advertising: For advertising information, please call Mark Murray at 508-755-8004 ext. 227. Fax: 508-755-8860. Worcester Business Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or materials and in general does not return them to the sender. Worcester Business Journal • 172 Shrewsbury Street • Worcester, MA 01604 • 508-755-8004 tel. • 508-755-8860 fax www.wbjournal.com A division of: Chasing clicks and quality (but not raccoon-cats) NEWS & ANALYSIS DEPARTMENTS 4 Briefing 5 Real Deal 8 Ticker 16 List: Colleges and universities 17 Know How 18 Movers & Shakers 18 Accolades ISSUE HIGHLIGHT: Higher Education The healthcare industry is calling for nurses with more advanced degrees and the potential to take on leadership roles. Central Massachusetts academia is adding new programs and stronger concentrations. See page 12. Tweet of the week "WooHoo! All that hard work pays off (literally)!!" - Heather Cline (@ClineHeather), Aug. 8, on WPI being ranked second in the state for starting salaries Top social media comment "Have we looked at the business and ongoing development initiatives now ongoing so the building could become something that facilitates?" - Neil Licht, Aug. 4, on the city opening the doors of the Worcester Auditorium as it seeks developers Top comment of the issue "Historic roots and development are the pulse of a city and its heritage. Never tear down such a historical landmark. Instead, use it in the way Boston has -- redevelop it internally for alternative use." – Anonymous poll commenter, Aug. 9, on preserving the Worcester Auditorium Most read stories on WBJournal.com Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wjournal.com Digital Editor, Sam Bonacci, sbonacci@wbjournal.com (Real estate, construction, retail) Staff Writer Laura Finaldi, lfinaldi@wbjournal.com (Health care, energy, higher education, finance, nonprofits) Contributors Susan Shalhoub, sshalhoub@wbjournal.com Livia Gershon Research Director, Stephanie Meagher, smeagher@nebusinessmedia.com Research Assistant, Heide Martin, hmartin@nebusinessmedia.com Production Director, Kira Beaudoin, kbeaudoin@wbjournal.com Associate Art Director, Mitchell Hayes, mhayes@wbjournal.com Senior Accounts Manager Matt Majikas, mmajikas@wbjournal.com Custom Publishing Project Manager Christine Juetten, cjuetten@wbjournal.com Marketing & Events Manager Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com COO, Mary Rogers, mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Assistant, Valerie Clark, vclark@nebusinessmedia.com Collections Manager, Raki Zwiebel, rzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com Human Resources, Kim Vautour, kvautour@nebusinessmedia.com Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Associate Publisher, Mark Murray mmurray@wbjournal.com Group Publisher, Joseph Zwiebel jzwiebel@nebusinessmedia.com From WBJournal.com to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn, the Worcester Business Journal offers breaking news and thoughtful analysis throughout the Internet. WBJournal .com Worcester Business Journal Online 14 Scoring Worcester's economy Assumption College Professor Thomas White turned a suggestion from a provost into a quarterly update on the health of the Central Massachusetts economy. 21 Pay Equity Act Viewpoint columnist Amanda Marie Baer says the new Massachusetts law requiring equal pay for men and women is very friendly to plaintiffs if companies violate it. Top social story WPI graduates have the No. 2 starting salary in Mass. WBJ Facebook post: Mark another win for Worcester as WPI is ranked second in the state for starting salaries for its graduates, beating the likes of Harvard. • The story reached 1,951 people and had 61 reactions, comments and shares on Facebook. 19 Incorporations 19 Fresh Beginnings 20 Flash Poll 21 Editorial 21 Viewpoint 22 Photo Finish WBJ 1. UMass finds ALS gene using Ice Bucket Challenge funds 2. Bull Mansion restaurant to open in September 3. WPI grads have No. 2 starting salary in Mass. 4. Alcohol distributor spends $7.2M for Holliston HQ 5. Gardner doctor's license suspended