Paul Maryniak, Times Media Group, on 54 Years in Newsrooms
Paul Maryniak, executive editor, Times Media Group. Beat: Phoenix East Valley news across seven weekly newspapers.
Who this is
Paul Maryniak has spent 54 years in journalism, starting as an investigative reporter at the Pittsburgh Press in 1975, becoming city editor at the Philadelphia Daily News, then moving to Arizona in 1999 for a managing editor job at the Tribune and on to The Arizona Republic, where Paul Maryniak led East Valley coverage as metro editor. Paul Maryniak is now executive editor of Times Media Group, overseeing seven weekly newspapers across the East Valley, and has launched three publications during his tenure. Paul Maryniak was also one of the people who launched The Arizona Republic’s community sections, roughly 13 publications built from scratch before the Great Recession. Paul Maryniak is 77 and plans to work another ten years.
In this Off Deadline conversation with Proof Publicity founder Melissa DiGianfilippo, Paul Maryniak describes the technique he developed on night shift at the Pittsburgh Press, sent to a family’s door hours after a 13 year old was killed in a fight. Paul Maryniak told reluctant next of kin that a story was running tomorrow either way, and asked whether they would rather readers met their loved one than a set of random facts. Paul Maryniak says it always worked, and that it carried him through years of covering criminal court and the investigative beat.
Paul Maryniak also tells the interview he still regrets: a 28 year old on trial for his fifth homicide, four committed inside jail, who summoned Paul Maryniak to the jail because he was angry about a detail in the coverage. The guard left the room and the inmate was not handcuffed. Paul Maryniak listened, stayed respectful, kept the detail in the next story, and regrets never getting inside the man’s head. And in Philadelphia City Hall, waiting on the top aide to a councilman connected to mob boss Nicky Scarfo, Paul Maryniak stood up and reached into his suit pocket for a letter requesting an interview. Both men froze, thinking he was pulling a gun. The aide still never called back.
In their words
“I told the next of kin, I’m sorry to intrude on you. There’s going to be a story about this tomorrow, and I’d like to tell readers who your lost loved one was rather than just random facts. And it always worked.”
“The guard left the room and closed the door. All I’m thinking the whole time is I’ve got to get out of here.”
“I reached into my pocket to get the letters and they stopped. They thought I was pulling a gun.”
“This is why I don’t believe in gotcha journalism.”
“I look for the most competent reporter I have, regardless of what they’re working on.”
“I intend to work for another ten more years.”
What this means if you are pitching community newspapers, Proof’s take
Three things worth taking from this. First, Paul Maryniak has six reporters covering seven weekly papers across the East Valley, so a pitch that is genuinely local and arrives ready to run has a real chance where a generic corporate announcement does not. Second, Paul Maryniak does not believe in gotcha journalism and puts his requests in writing, which means an editor at Times Media Group will tell you what the story is before it runs. Answer him. Third, weeklies in Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe and Scottsdale reach the residents and city officials that a client’s business actually depends on, and Proof Publicity treats them as a tier, not an afterthought.
Watch the full episode
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