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Special section • Star Century: 100 years of The Indianapolis Star

As The Indianapolis Star heads into its second century, it's clear that the next chapter of its history will be dominated by change.

Change has been the newspaper's mantra since it was bought nearly three years ago by Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper chain.

In that short time, new management has opened a $72 million printing facility, pushed efforts to attract 18- to 34-year-old readers, revamped various sections of the paper, including Weekend, added a weekly Food & Drink section and increased suburban coverage and high school sports coverage. The new management also put more emphasis on customer service.

The results have been increased daily circulation, higher profits and fewer delivery complaints. Change has also meant the loss of several familiar bylines.

The strength of the paper's performance helped make Barbara Henry, The Star's president and publisher, manager of the year in the Gannett chain.

Under her leadership, daily circulation has increased by 8,000 subscribers, delivery and circulation complaints have dropped by half, and advertising errors are down.

Profits are up, too, though Henry won't say how much.

Increased profits have been attained in part by trimming some departments and getting more advertising salespeople on the street, Henry said.

About 150 positions have been cut at The Star since Gannett arrived, most of them in the production and human resource departments. The newspaper currently has the equivalent of nearly 1,300 full-time employees.

"Overall, I'm happy with the improvements, but we could be better," Henry said. "I'm never satisfied."

James W. Brown, associate dean of the Indiana University School of Journalism at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, bemoans the paper's loss of institutional knowledge as veteran reporters, columnists and editors leave.

"What you lose is the historic connection to a community," Brown said. "When a reporter has been around awhile, you have a perspective on how a new incident fits into a political or historic pattern. New people don't have that, and you lose some depth."

Henry said turnover in the 267-member news operation is below the national average of 15 percent a year, and she said there is a lot of institutional knowledge that remains at the paper.

Besides, turnover isn't all bad, she said.

"It comes down to this: Do we want to do things the way we did in the 1950s and have people who are resistant to change, or do we want to have people who embrace change or initiate change because they know we'll be more successful if we do?" Henry said.

Call Star reporter Gregory Weaver at 1-317-444-6415.