Future of Newspapers ...
Paper Debate:
Why a New $95 Million Office in Naples When Newspapers are Struggling?
More than a few observers have written them off as a dying breed of journalism. Across the country, newspapers are ailing. Circulation has declined. So have advertising revenues, page counts and stock prices. Newspaper buildings – and even newspapers themselves – have closed. But in Naples, Fla., it’s a different story. (SNPA eBulletin 6-25-09 - download)
Kiss My Ink if You Think We're Dead
"I can hear folks out there now, talking of our demise," writes John Archibald, metro columnist with The Birmingham News. "Well, they can kiss my ink. For we are far from dead." (SNPA eBulletin 6-4-09 - download)
The Courier-Journal is 'Alive and Well'
In this column, Arnold Garson, president and publisher of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky., says: " Advertisers still find great value in the large and high-quality audience we provide. Readers still trust us and rely upon us for the kind of reporting that protects the public interest. And, I offer this as a promise, not a threat: The Courier-Journal will publish my obituary and yours, but not its own." (SNPA eBulletin 5-28-09 - download)
Free vs. Paid Content: The Debate
Newspapers that put their content behind a paid wall on their Web site because they see that as another revenue stream are doing so for the wrong reason – that much Walter Hussman and Mark Potts agreed on during a debate at last week's SNPA Audience Development Conference. (SNPA eBulletin 5-14-09 - download)
Commentary
Newspaper Print Edition Still Special
By Terry Connor (Community Newspaper Holdings)
There is something special about a newspaper front page that pundits who want to say goodbye to this enduring industry just don't understand – as is often said today, "they just don't get it." (SNPA eBulletin 5-14-09 - download)
Commentary
Your Adaptable Daily Press is Alive and Well
By Digby A. Solomon (Daily Press, Newport News, Va.)
Looking to the future, newspapers will thrive by focusing our print product increasingly on the needs of the specific adult audience that is most likely to read us – adults who are engaged in the community. These are the folks who vote, join the PTA, and volunteer in church or civic groups. (SNPA eBulletin 5-7-09 - download)
Moroney Testifies Before Senate Committee About Challenges Facing Industry
Congress should take several steps to help newspapers weather the "perilous economic times" they are facing and give them "the flexibility they will need to adjust their business models in response to more enduring changes in the industry," James M. Moroney III, publisher and CEO of The Dallas Morning News, testified yesterday before Congress. (SNPA eBulletin 5-7-09 - download)
Commentary
Why Newspapers are Here to Stay
By William B. Ketter (Community Newspaper Holdings)
To some critics, the print industry is going the way of the dodo bird. But, is that what's truly happening? Hard evidence tells a far different story. (SNPA eBulletin 4-30-09 - download)
From the SNPA President
Let's Set the Record Straight:
The Crisis Facing Newspapers in not an Audience Problem; It's a Revenue Problem
By Donna Barrett (Community Newspaper Holdings)
Enough already. Partial Facts and misinformation about newspapers are distorting the view for eveyone, including readers and advertisers. Let's set the record straight. (SNPA eBulletin 4-23-09 - download)
McAllen Paper Introduces 'Print Edition Exclusive' Articles on Sundays
This past Sunday, The Monitor in McAllen, Texas, announced that it will publish one or more "Print Edition Exclusive" stories in each Sunday edition of the paper. This step seeks to begin reversing the trend that has become known as 'reverse publishing,' in which content appears first on the Internet and then in print." (SNPA eBulletin 4-23-09 - download)
Commentary
Behind the Newspaper Negativists
By Randy Siegel (Parade Publications)
As many newspaper companies try to turn themselves around in a brutal economy, under huge debt loads and against a backdrop of increasingly funereal media coverage, it’s worth looking at the behavior and motives of some of the industry’s harshest critics. (SNPA eBulletin 3-26-09 - download)
Newspaper M&A Survey Indicates Buyers Moving Slowly From Sidelines
According to W.B. Grimes & Company's Annual M&A Survey, it's obvious publishers are taking an historically cautious approach to making acquisitions. Only 10 percent of publishers participating in the survey indicated they were ready to make a move (21 percent said there were more likely to be sellers). However, another 25 percent indicated as the economy and financing environment improves, they would be ready to consider acquisitions. (SNPA eBulletin 3-19-09 - download)
Commentary
Time to Stand Up for Newspapers
By Jay Smith (Cox Newspapers, retired)
Eight months ago, I retired from a 37-year newspaper career. Since then, I've watched silently at what has transpired in my old business, and my amazement has turned to horror. (SNPA eBulletin 2-5-09 - download)
New Newspaper Group 'Fights Back' in Print Ads, Web Site
By William B. Ketter (CNHI News Service)
Newspapers and their online offspring combined are more popular than ever imagined and yet media reports nearly always paint a portrait of an industry gasping for air in the digital age. This wrongheaded perception stems from the economic recession that’s affected all advertising-based businesses, and from the myth that newspapers no longer attract the public support they once enjoyed. (SNPA eBulletin 2-5-09 - download)
From the SNPA President
Don't Cut Yourself Off From Your Peers!
By Donna Barrett (Community Newspaper Holdings)
In this tough economic climate, it makes a lot of sense for newspaper managers to watch costs. But when executives cut themselves off from peers and colleagues in the industry – and try to manage through this economy on their own – the costs outweigh the savings. (SNPA eBulletin 1-22-09 - download)
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