Metrics. That's the buzz word at newspapers across our nation. It's the buzz word here at the News-Leader.

When you read the News-Leader digitally, we track what stories and photos you view, how long you view them, which device you're using (smart phone or desktop) and what color your hair is and what you're wearing, if anything.

Don't worry, we compile this data in the aggregate, not individually, so feel free to keep reading those Justin Bieber stories because we'll never know.

NOTE TO READER: I am a serious journalist with the highest of ethical standards and you should know that I made up that part about your hair and what you're wearing. We can't really tell that via smart phone and desktop. We hire private investigators to do that.

On the other hand, if you read the News-Leader in print only, which many of you do, we have no clue what you're up to. We don't know if you're reading the sports pages, or the bridge column, or the Amos Bridges watchdog column or if you simply take the paper and contort it to help light your coals when barbecuing. If you're reading the paper in the bathroom, we don't know about it. And we don't want to know about it.

In other words, you print-only readers are a mystery to us — other than we know that you value our product enough to pay for it, which to me, and I might be old-fashioned here, is one powerful metric.

As a result, we spend a lot of time working on how the paper looks. For example, I'm in charge of this page and this section. I'm concerned with how it looks displayed on 11 inches by 21 ½ inches. Not how it looks on a screen the size of a quarter.

Tomorrow, our new executive director for news and engagement, Paul Berry, 33, will start. He is a digital and metrics guru. That's in large part why he was hired. The News-Leader needs to get better in this area.

I, on the other hand, will soon be 61 years old. I have been a newspaper reporter for about 40 years with the singular ambition of not becoming an editor. My concern is that Paul will spot my white hair and think to himself: Pokin is going to be a problem in this digital age! And why is he sleeping under his desk?

First, I don't like to be thought of as the "old guy." I don't see myself that way. (Actually, I see myself as 35 and much taller and far more handsome than I really am.) Second, it's not like I sleep under my desk every single day!

But the point I'm making here — maybe — is that I can roll with change. For example, I love doing video, which is part of being a contemporary journalist. For a year, fellow reporter Thomas Gounley and I did our best to make a smart and funny monthly video called "Ozarks Outtakes."

Sometimes we were smart and sometimes we were funny. But the bottom line is that not enough of you were clicking on our videos for us to continue. Metrics!

In short, we need more of you to read us online. We want "clicks," as in when you click on a story or photo. The more "clicks," the more "reader engagement," which is all good. It means we're reaching you with our content.

We have a big display monitor in the newsroom and when enough of you click on a story there are flames that light up to indicate the story is "on fire."

There's isn't a newspaper reporter in America today who does not want to be "on fire." Which is funny because when I started in this business journalists actually smoked at work and some of them actually drank at work.

"On fire" back then meant that the night cops reporter had inadvertently set himself ablaze.

The trick is to aggressively chase the digital audience while still playing a vital role in improving the community and serving as government watchdog.

We need to continue to do all the good journalism but with the knowledge that readers also care about Beyonce and Jay Z and want to know when a local news anchor (did he or didn't he?) drops the F-bomb.

As for me, I want everyone to know, especially my new boss, that I'm on board with this digital push.

In fact, my wife and I recently hosted a backyard barbecue in which I tracked "audience engagement" through participation in horse shoes, croquet and, yes, how many beers each guest drank. I've reviewed the metrics and overall, I'm pleased. But numbers don't lie. Nobody danced. I need to work on that.

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