Archbishop Lori visits, tours CR Media offices

Archbishop William E. Lori greets members of the staff on a visit Aug. 28 to the offices of CR Media, of which he is chairman and publisher. (Tom McCarthy | CR staff) The new boss stopped by the office yesterday.

As archbishop of Baltimore, Archbishop William E. Lori is automatically chairman of the board of Catholic Review Media and publisher of the newspaper.

Getting this visit on the calendar was no easy task. His days are all very full, with commitments in and around the archdiocese and across the country. In June, he went to Rome to receive a special stole called a pallium from Pope Benedict XVI. And he took some vacation time in July. In the meantime, he also took part in the Knights of Columbus annual convention in California and gave a homily at the Red Mass for lawyers and legislators in Dallas.

In the diocesan publishing world, the most typical organization is for the bishop to be publisher of the newspaper, delegating day-to-day responsibility for content and business to an associate publisher or editor and professional publishing staff.

The staff of Catholic Review Media – news, advertising, graphics, business and printing – was grateful for the time the archbishop spent with us Tuesday, congratulating the staff on honors received from regional and national press associations, talking about his vision for the newspaper, how he hopes to use his column to teach and how the Catholic Review can play a role in promoting the Year of Faith and the New Evangelization.

Quite a few of our staff members have already met the archbishop while covering events he has attended, interviewing him and taking pictures of events at which he has been present. This visit gave the whole staff the opportunity to hear from him.

We talked with Archbishop Lori about the results of our strategic plan, unveiled in January with the launch of the redesign of our flagship newspaper and our completely revamped website at www.catholicreview.org. We also discussed Review in the Pew, a new biweekly newsletter that was part of our outreach plan. The newsletter debuted in April in about a dozen pilot parishes, and will roll out to the whole archdiocese next month.

Combined with our expanded e-newsletters, these diverse products give us the opportunity to reach Catholics and others who are interested in the news we offer at various times and in various situations. The Catholic Review newspaper goes right to the homes of subscribers, Review in the Pew gets in touch with people at weekend Masses, and the digital products reach people “wherever your faith takes you.”

The archbishop got a tour of the website, including the “Archbishop Lori” page under “Faith” that includes all of the stories in which Archbishop Lori is a part, and a tour of the building. He acknowledged the fine reputation the Catholic Review has among peers and across the country. The archbishop added with a smile that among the most important judges are his parents in Clarksville, Ind., especially his mother who reads the newspaper cover to cover (not just news about her son), and she thinks it’s great.

He said that upon his arrival at CR Media, he thought he was coming to a car dealership, and that was a good perception, since our historic building on Park Avenue has lived many lives over the years, including once being a car dealership. Within the stairwell, you can still see the large pulleys and gears that at one time helped transport the car elevator to bring vehicles to the second and third floors.

He marveled at the busy newsroom and was impressed by the shop of Catholic Printing Services, where presses were busy turning out brochures. A book reprint sat ready to be bound, and the next issue of Review in the Pew was on deck.

Archbishop Lori will be back in the coming months to chair CR Media board meetings. And our reporters and photographer will see him around. But in the meantime, we enjoyed the chance to welcome our new chairman and publisher, and to show him a bit of what’s going on at our place “behind the headlines.”

Catholic Review

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