Asbury Park Press, Neptune, N.J.

By: Shawn Moynihan One of the first things you recognize about the Asbury Park Press is its distinct sense of place. The APP reflects its community by tackling both political and recreational issues of the Jersey Shore in a way that's accessible and colorful, but far from journalism lite. What's more, the Neptune, N.J., daily is looking better than it has in years, and has rediscovered the impact of investigative journalism.

Of course, this wasn't always so. When the paper was acquired by Gannett in 1997 from the family-owned New Jersey Press, local coverage was curtailed, cutbacks were made, and it would be kind to say investigative journalism wasn't the paper's strong suit. You might say it was not born to run.

Enter William "Skip" Hidlay, who arrived in 2002 as executive editor. Just a few months after he entered the newsroom, Hidlay assembled a team that also included reporters and editors from six other Gannett dailies to deliver a series titled "Profiting from Public Service: How Many N.J. Legislators Exploit the System." Published from Sept. 21-28, 2003, it became one of the paper's most high-profile projects to date, and won 11 awards. (It's only fair to note that the series' detractors said it offered little information that was brand new.)

The APP followed up last fall with "Pay to Play: The Hidden Tax," a series about campaign contributions being traded for state contracts, and "Pension Peril," a May series examining how perks for state workers are in danger of bleeding taxpayers in the years to come.

Hidlay maintains that investigative reporting is "what newspapering is all about. Nobody's going to hand you an investigative team. You have to create one. Then shield those people, and demand results."

Yet its editorial focus on beachfront life in New Jersey is what gives the APP its personality. Its beat reporters are skilled at telling the "people stories" of the shore, although its coverage doesn't end there. Readers also get a view of the area from a thoroughly reported ecological perspective. Environmental reporters Todd Bates and Kirk Moore, Hidlay notes, "communicate what the shore is all about, and the battle between development and preservation."

And while looks aren't everything, the APP 's design has improved immeasurably in the last few years, due in no small part to having a managing editor devoted to design and photography, Harris Siegel.

In addition to adding brighter colors and improving its use of graphics on its page fronts, Hidlay notes the paper has added "a lot of action and motion to the inside pages" by employing more break-out boxes, more reverse type, and pull-quotes to catch the reader's eye. Siegel, Hidlay adds, is "constantly coming up with new ideas, and we're constantly challenging him. We're never satisfied." -- Shawn Moynihan