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April 17, 2008
Local Newspapers Reboot
I spent an hour yesterday morning with Brian Tierney, former PR man, now publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. Earlier this week, at an Edelman University class, I moderated a discussion with three senior journalists, John Fund of the Wall Street Journal (a national paper), Ellis Henican of Newsday and Robert George of the NY Post. Here are a few of the most important trends:
1) Newspapers remain “the best way to get ideas across,” according to Henican. Most bloggers are linking to stories that originate in mainstream media, he added. But Henican acknowledged that “newspapers are no longer a sufficient platform for journalists who want a voice in the public conversation.” He appears on Fox (as George does on CNN and Fund on Sunday morning public affairs TV) because “people think I am a better writer when they see me on TV battling Bill O’Reilly (a conservative anchorman on Fox) “You cannot have a career on the talent side of idea-driven media without being on multiple platforms.” Fund especially likes going on radio because “you have to listen to the content; people are more likely to retain the key facts.”
2) Newspapers see themselves as offering news analysis. Fund noted that, “In almost every story that has a headline, the facts are already known. We add the interpretation. We are no longer in the Olympian objective authority role.” Mr. George suggested that this trend was “back to the future” in that 19th century American journalism was highly opinionated. “Hearst even got America into the Spanish American War,” he noted.
3) Newspapers are finding new ways to make money on the advertising side, to fill the large hole left by the demise of classified employment ads. An example is the sponsorship of the PhillyInc column, a gossipy take on business, by Citizens Bank or the Inquirer Express back page summary of the news sponsored by Commerce Bank. In both cases, these were new editorial products.
4) Publishers are following the example of their magazine brethren in developing campaigns for advertisers. An example is an upcoming promotion for Miller Beer in which the Inquirer Media Lab did the creative work, Tierney said. Advertising revenue from auto dealers, retailers, real estate and cinema is somewhat diminished from peak levels of year 2000 but not significantly so.
5) There is still large pass-along readership so that the true numbers for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News total audience is 1.2 million (about 2.5 multiple on the 370,000 Inquirer circulation and 3 multiple on the 150,000 Daily News circulation). One important statistic to remember: 52% of Americans pick up a newspaper every day, about 70% of those over age 18, even more on Sunday (Inquirer circulation is twice as large on Sunday)
6) Within 18 months, there will be printers on the market that will allow a bound personal version of a newspaper, according to Mr. Fund. “People love the idea of choice; your newspaper, with the stories you want at the length you want them.”
7) The web versions of local newspapers are seeking to create micro-communities (Tierney is particularly excited by the potential of Philly.com, which offers content from both of his papers but also consumer generated content) around music, food and health.
This emphasizes to me that media plans should be anchored by local media. My father, Dan Edelman, recognized the power of local media by creating the media tour in the early 50s, taking the show “on the road” by booking spokespeople in markets around the US. In fact, many of the local columnists are seeking stories that are national in importance but have a local angle (note my interview with Cheryl Hall of the Dallas Morning News on the Edelman Trust Barometer from earlier this week). I would appreciate your comments as always.
Posted by Edelman at April 17, 2008 10:39 AM
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Comments
Richard - this post is phenomenal. My hope is that newspapers continue to try meeting social media "in the middle" because things such as blogs ARE important, but not the "be all end all" that some PR professionals want them to be.
Great stuff.
Posted by: Justin P at April 18, 2008 9:22 AM
I believe that newspapers are doing the right thing by changing with the times. If they want to retain readers and make any sort of profit, they are going to have to respond to what their readers want.
I particularly like the idea of printers that will be able to print personal versions of the newspaper. If you’re supplying the reader with exactly what they want, then they’ll read your paper and not have to scan through other stories to find the one they’re looking for.
Posted by: Rachel Koontz at April 29, 2008 11:56 AM
The US and Eurpoean circulation of daily Newspapers has dropped significantly over the last years. It's vital that the news papers change with the times, but will they ever have the capacity to keep up with the fast growing online ressources or other technologies? When forecasting the future of news papers, many people are skeptic. In a couple of years, with the growing number of free news papers and online media, information might become free. With a online network that comprises more already 100 millions of bloggers, plus wikis etc, what will happen to journalists? If information becomes free, where will the revenues come from?
Thank you for a wonderful blog. As a PR-student I take a lot of interest in your publications online.
Posted by: Maria at May 3, 2008 7:23 AM