Page 61 - Life In Naples March 2022 Flipbook

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Extra!

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A peek behind a bit of history
Today!
Today!

here has been only one of them in the O’Connor got swept up in the moment and changed his mind. Today!
T He ordered an extra -- a very special edition. As in “Extra, extra,
history of the Naples Daily News.
read all about it.”
And there will never be another one.
I had almost forgotten about the peculiar By then I was at lunch at Coastland Center Mall. Skyline Chili
bit of history until I cleaned out a closet the had a franchise there in the food court and I loved my Skyliner
other day, preparing for a document-shredding hotdogs.
security event in our neighborhood. My beeper – a primitive vibrating device that allowed brief live
There it was, hiding underneath some voice messages – summoned me back to Central Avenue.
by Jeff Lytle
magazines. My job at the time was news editor, responsible for how the
“EXTRA,” declared the top headline printed August 7, 1986. paper looked and getting it published. On this day my ability to
Below, “Benson Guilty” was shouted in even larger type. pull together a four-page special section, on the fly, would get its
Steve Benson had been on trial for one of Collier County’s baptism of fire.
most sensational crimes. He was convicted of gathering three My team and I passed the test, and the results hit the press
family members for a drive to look at real estate – and detonating within an hour, after the day’s regular press run was over. Home
a bomb while he went back inside for something at his mother’s delivery was too ambitious to even consider; convenience stores
Quail Creek home. An aerial photo showed the lovely home with a and news vending machines got the few thousand extras that were
long driveway marred by mangled car wreckage. cranked out.
His sister was badly injured but survived to testify. Her son and Thank goodness I had experience tearing apart and redoing
his mother died. Investigators said Steve was trying to get control front pages on deadline, when the news overtook what had been
of family wealth. planned. In 1980 I did it when a ship struck the Sunshine Skyway
Now-retired Daily News columnist Brent Batten was covering bridge in Tampa Bay, sending traffic into the water below. The next ffering a fresh We need your
We need your
We need your
the trial and verdict announcement in a courtroom in Fort Myers. year for the attempted or accomplished assassinations of Egypt’s ffering a fresh like-new donations!
ffering a fresh
He called the news desk in Naples – when the Daily News still Anwar Sadat, Pope John Paul II and President Ronald Reagan. In start for children of like-new donations!
like-new donations!
was headquartered on Central Avenue, where condos now rule – 1986, two years before I moved to editing the editorial page, which start for children of • Furniture (indoor & outdoor)
start for children of
after the jury issued its decision at 1:30 p.m. could have deadline drama all its own as in the 2000 presidential Immokalee, your support • Furniture (indoor & outdoor)
Immokalee, your support
• Furniture (indoor & outdoor)
Immokalee, your support
Now, here is where things got tricky. The newspaper in those election and vote count, I did a front page makeover for the space helps Guadalupe Center fulfill its • Kitchen & Dinnerware
• Small Kitchen Appliances
days was still an afternoon publication, which meant going to press shuttle Challenger explosion. • Kitchen & Dinnerware helps Guadalupe Center fulfill its • Kitchen & Dinnerware
around noon. helps Guadalupe Center fulfill its mission to break the cycle of poverty • Small Kitchen Appliances
I tell you all of this because folks tend to be quite interested in
• Small Kitchen Appliances
• Designer Clothing & Jewelry
The newsroom staff was well aware of what could happen if what that was like and how daily journalism used to work, with all mission to break the cycle of poverty
mission to break the cycle of poverty
through education.
• Designer Clothing & Jewelry
the verdict came back any time later than that. We would have to that heavy machinery and all those moving parts. • Designer Clothing & Jewelry • Home Décor & Artwork
wait a full day to report on a huge story that commanded readers’ Now most of that heavy machinery – a multi-story printing through education. • Home Décor & Artwork
through education.
attention. The Fort Myers News-Press, then a competitor but now press -- is not even in Naples anymore. • Home Décor & Artwork
a corporate partner, would have first crack at the story the next These days the equivalent of the extra edition can be achieved
morning. by pushing buttons that control a web site, with unlimited updates.
Our publisher at the time, a hard-charging, no-nonsense Anyway, deadline-sensitive afternoon papers are gone and very
Irishman named Tim O’Connor, announced in advance that our little big news breaks at midnight for morning papers to worry Resale Shop
deadline for having the verdict would be 1 o’clock. Any breaking about. (The Daily News’ current deadline woes due to being Resale Shop Free
Resale Shop
news arriving later than that would have to wait for the next day’s printed on the east coast is another matter.) Free Furniture Free
press run. Some of you may think my story makes me a dinosaur and Furniture Pickup Furniture
There would be no, he made clear, special coverage. The day’s explains today’s sad state of print journalism. Shop. Donate. Volunteer. Pickup
Actually, I think my story shows what was done by a successful
normal press run would proceed as scheduled, he directed. Shop. Donate. Volunteer. Pickup Shop. Donate. Volunteer.
We were all on the same page. newspaper that made money and spent it to serve readers. Store Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Donations Accepted: 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Until Batten called. Store Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Donations Accepted: 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
12980 Tamiami Trail N #10, Naples • 239.594.2696 • www.GuadalupeCenter.org
Store Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Donations Accepted: 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
12980 Tamiami Trail N #10, Naples • 239.594.2696 • www.GuadalupeCenter.org 12980 Tamiami Trail N #10, Naples • 239.594.2696 • www.GuadalupeCenter.org
60 Life in Naples | March 2022 Life in Naples | March 2022 61