by Meredith Hooker
Staff Writer
When Gazette.Net launched in 1996, few anticipated the Internet would eventually become one of the first places people would turn for information.
"I think we saw what was happening, but no one knew exactly what it would be," said Chuck Lyons, CEO of Post-Newsweek Media, The Gazette's parent. "We knew we had to get on the path and begin some experimentation."
At that time, components like classified advertising and home sales listings were, and still are, strong online revenue generators, Lyons said. And, since they were based on computer databases, they had a natural home on the Web.
But the company grappled with how editorial content repurposed on the Web would affect what went into the weekly paper, and what would make people still want to pick up that paper. So The Gazette created online-only elements to accompany stories, and began directing people back to the paper from the site, said Felix Speight, The Gazette's first director of new media, from 1996 to 2002.
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