Q&A with Joy Fox: Why the former Raimondo aide is becoming a newspaper publisher

It is no secret that the newspaper industry has seen better days. Every week last year, on average, 2.5 local newspapers in America were lost through closures or mergers, according to research from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Hundreds of counties across the U.S. have no local news source, and hundreds more are at risk of becoming news deserts.

Joy Fox, a communications executive and public-affairs veteran, is well aware of the current state of America’s media landscape. She has a long track record in the industry – from a newspaper delivery girl to a reporter and editor – and soon will be taking over the reins of three weekly newspapers in Rhode Island.

In the face of these challenges, she has a simple message: “It comes down to being trusted and reliable,” she said.

Fox will become the publisher of Beacon Communications, which publishes the Warwick Beacon, Cranston Herald and Johnston SunRise. She will succeed John Howell, who founded the company in 1969 and acquired the papers over the years. Howell will remain editor of the Warwick Beacon.

A Cranston native, Fox has a long, storied career in media. Her first job was delivering the Providence Sunday Journal and the Evening Bulletin. She started as an intern at the Warwick Beacon before returning to the Cranston Herald as a reporter and then editor. Her journalism career took her to the Providence Business News and NBC10 before she moved to government, where she served as a public-relations specialist for the state’s prison system and communications director for then-U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin. She joined Gina Raimondo’s staff when Raimondo was Rhode Island’s general treasurer and followed her to the governor’s office.  She is currently CEO of Clarendon Group, a strategic communications firm.

Ahead of her appointment as the publisher of Beacon Communications, The Journal spoke with Fox about her career, her vision for the three weeklies she is taking over and the challenges faced by local newspapers.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

You have quite a storied career – from your start as a local reporter to the Department of Corrections and your time with Gina Raimondo. How have these experiences prepared you to become a publisher?

My career was shaped by [John Howell], who is the retiring publisher now. I say that because he gave me my first shot in the business. I was an intern for him when I was a student at St. Mary's Academy – Bay View, which is a high school in East Providence. There was an experience called community classroom when I was a senior, [in] which basically the school encouraged you to go find an internship in a career field you may be interested in, and I have always been interested in news and journalism. So John gave me my first shot in the business, and I've been very lucky to have a career. In a sense it's come full circle.

What is your vision for the Warwick Beacon, Cranston Herald and Johnston SunRise?

To keep them strong and a thriving part of the community, and be a watchdog when it comes to government, but also reporting on everything the community organizations are doing [and] on local sports. I grew up in Cranston, I live in Warwick now, and the Warwick Beacon and the Cranston Herald were just always a part of where you went to find out what was going on in your community. So that’s why they're important to keep strong.

What are the qualities needed to succeed as a publisher in today’s media environment?

We need to do a good job of letting people know that these publications are here. So we need to actually talk about the work that we're doing a little bit more across platforms. But really it comes down to being trusted and reliable, so people know that if they want to know what's happening in Cranston, Johnston or Warwick, these publications are their first source. It's again [about being] trusted and reliable. We have to continually make that case with great reporting and storytelling, and just be out there with our ear to the ground.

What are the biggest challenges facing local papers?

People are very busy and have a lot of options for where they choose to get their news from, and it will be up us to continue to make the case to our readers [and] our advertisers that these are trusted, reliable sources to learn about their community.

How do you plan to balance your responsibilities with Beacon Communications and Clarendon Group?

The best thing is that there's a great team at the Warwick Beacon, the Cranston Herald and the Johnston SunRise. There's this great team there, and there's a great team at Clarendon Group, so that's probably the biggest reason why I am able to tackle both.

Are there any conflicts of interest you are concerned about?

No, I've talked to all of our clients. Everyone was well aware [of the change].

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Joy Fox shares vision for Warwick Beacon, Cranston Herald, Johnston SunRise