a Changing America desk that would tackle complicated issues comprehensively rather than in traditional, truncated “beats” of politics, education, health and so on. “It changes the notion of journalism from, ‘Oh I’m just covering education stories,’ or, ‘I’m just covering health
18 Wavelength
stories,’ to ‘We’re looking at what’s changing in America.’” One of the biggest changes, of course, is the demographic one, and Paluzzi is eager to get a grip on it. The Latino community, he explains, is “underrepresented in media in general. We have a remarkable opportunity to look
at people who are bilingual, educated, aspirational, but not fully assimilated into the mainstream culture of America.” And while details about how he plans to reach that market remain fuzzy—“Whether it involves us someday acquiring another station,” he says, “whether it involves us using another form of delivery like new media, I can’t tell you right now”—Paluzzi is eager to entrench himself and his staff in the community to figure it out. Given Paluzzi’s experience in new media, it should come as no surprise that an enhanced, customizable Web site is also likely on the way, as are newmedia tools like Facebook and Twitter. He plans to use these social networking services as building blocks for creating a
community of listeners. “We need to be deeply involved in the digital arena as it helps us advance and communicate the stories that we’re using to build community,” he says. Helping to realize these changes is the new department of audience research, which analyzes listener habits and will even help determine the fate of this magazine. “We’re going to look at what the magazine is to people,” Paluzzi explains. “Do they value it? If they value it, why? If they don’t, why not?” It’s an attitude that sums up Paluzzi’s critical approach to the many arenas under his management. As Wycisk noted, Paluzzi is driven to seek improvement, and that’s one aspect of his personality that’s not likely to change any time soon.