To our readers: Today Daily Herald senior management shares its message to its staff
As you know, there has been considerable controversy recently regarding a political publication that Paddock Publications' commercial printing division printed in the company's plant in Schaumburg and mailed through the U.S. Postal Service for mail box delivery.
But because we accepted the commercial work from Local Government Information Services, critics charged the Daily Herald knowingly facilitated confusion about whether the political publications were in fact newspapers.
Others accused Paddock Publications of being the publisher, when it is clear we are not. The publisher - LGIS - included a column "from the publisher" on Page 2 of the publications.
We did not foresee this attack on our reputation. We found ourselves in the eye of the political firestorm between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his Republican opponent, Darren Bailey. The Daily Herald had become the story, and that wasn't fair to Daily Herald reporters, editors and fellow staffers throughout Paddock Publications. We're sorry this has resulted in challenges to our staff's integrity.
As a result, the company will no longer accept print jobs from LGIS, but we will defend the reputation of the Daily Herald and our commitment to journalism and to the communities and readers we serve.
That said, it's important we talk about our diversification.
Paddock Publications is not Procter & Gamble, where a controversy over one of its drugs would have no perceptible impact on customer faith in its other products. But like Procter & Gamble, we are diversified. In fact, the company's successful diversification in the past decade has been a key to our success in sustaining both the business and Daily Herald journalism despite a historic downturn in the newspaper industry.
As a diversified company we have various business units, foremost among them commercial printing, digital marketing, a nationwide specialty products division producing magazines, maps and directories, Reflejos, downstate community newspapers and the Daily Herald. The events of the past several days make it clear though that because of the nature of journalism and its essential reliance on credibility, that diversification presents us with unique challenges.
We are proud of our newsroom and of its long and demonstrated record of commitment to the public good and to fair and objective journalism. Daily Herald's coverage is not always perfect, but our editors and reporters always strive to be. It's the same in every division of the company. Everyone in every division of Paddock Publications also strives for excellence, and we are proud of you all.
Paddock Publications' commitment to journalism has been a defining principle for the company for 150 years. It is a core value, for our editorial staff and for all of us.
It is our goal to learn from the controversy that surrounds us and to respond constructively to strengthen our processes and our company. We know you join senior management in that objective.
We plan to take several steps to strengthen the harmony among Paddock Publications various business objectives.
Among them:
• Formalize a screening process for commercial printing projects and sensitive advertising. We are appointing a team tasked with identifying print job proposals and advertising that may be sensitive or controversial and then reviewing those for acceptance, rejection or modification. The litmus test for these reviews will for the most part be transparency and factualness. Outside of extremism that would conflict with our values and reflect poorly on the company, the point is not to arbitrarily reject points of view. The right to free expression is a central value that our company endorses. But it is to ensure any print jobs and advertising meet certain fundamental standards. Screening team members also will familiarize themselves with ongoing products so we have enough information to challenge them when necessary or defend them when unfairly questioned.
Several members of our senior management team - most of whom have extensive experience in top levels of the editorial department - will serve as members of that committee. In addition, the team will include one ad hoc member from the editorial department and over time include other departmental representatives.
• Rebrand our commercial print division, reinforcing its separation from our newspapers. This not only will assist us in marketing our print work, but it will better establish our commercial print division as a separate business, importantly distinct from our newspapers, and reduce the confusion that any particular print product was "published by the Daily Herald."
• When necessary, develop a disclaimer to be applied to sensitive print jobs, pointing out when necessary that the print division does not edit or endorse the content of this material. This would ensure our own transparency while also helping to distinguish these projects from the journalism we do.