Media execs discuss investment strategies, importance of strong newsrooms
Link below includes 3-minute video clip.
The importance of the newsroom and of newspapers publishing engaging, relevant, local news was emphasized again and again by media executives on the "Investing in Newspapers" panel at the recent Key Executives Mega-Conference.
Over the last 13 years, the newspaper industry has lost more than 1,400 newspapers in the U.S. to closures, mergers and the downsizing of smaller free-standing newspapers that have become editions of larger regional ones, said Penelope Muse Abernathy, Knight Chair, Digital Media Economics, School of Media and Journalism at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
"We've lost more than 1,000 newspapers," she said, "but the decline in circulation has been even more dramatic. It's been halved. Total print circulation – that includes all weeklies and dailies – has declined from 117 million to 67 million, the biggest drop coming in dailies."
She said, "The average print circulation of a daily newspaper in 2018 is 20,000. Since 2004, more than a third of all newspapers have changed hands and about half of them have changed hands two times or more."
When calculcated based on the number of newspapers (not on the circulation of those papers), she said the top 25 companies own a third of the nation's newspapers and control about 50 percent of print circulation.
Three of those companies – Adams Publishing Group, Hearst and AIM Media Management – were among the conference panelists.
MORENew app, new strategy
Block Communications markets NewsSlide as "more than an app." Instead, it's a new way to present news and advertising combining the best of print, TV and internet with the goal of immersing the reader.
Block executives call it a game-changer.
"It starts with the content," said Lisa Hurm, vice president and general manager of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "We needed a content strategy that appeals to people who really wanted to know what the news of the day was."
MOREBroadcasting from a newspaper rack
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser was the recipient of the Mega-Innovation Award presented Tuesday afternoon at the Key Executives Mega-Conference.
MORECutting the website clutter
Here's what you won't see any longer on a Shaw Media news website: pop-ups, surveys, auto-play videos, takeovers and Taboola. Or, as Tom Shaw describes them, "all the kinds of things that our readers hate."
What you will see, once you've read three to five stories on a site, is a notice asking you to support local journalism by subscribing. The company has redesigned its news websites to be user-friendly, intending to make up in paid subscriptions was it loses in advertising.
MOREBeyond the newspaper market
Flypaper, WEHCO Media's local digital marketing agency, started out in cities and towns served by WEHCO properties, but it's not necessarily connected with newspapers. In fact, Flypaper has moved into an entirely new market in Nashville, Tenn., and the agency intends to keep growing.
MOREDestination 2020: How do we get there stronger and smarter?
Customer: It's a very simple word and one that is underused in the newspaper business, Ken Doctor told attendees at the 2018 Mega-Conference on Monday.
View a four-minute video clip on the SNPA Facebook page
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MOREPaths to subscription: Why recent subscribers chose to pay for news
At the 2018 Mega-Conference, Jeff Sonderman and Gwen Vargo of the American Press Institute, shared the results of API's just-released study on what motivates new subscribers.
In this report, API identifies nine distinct "paths to subscriptions" – the motives and conditions that together lead a person to subscribe. Some people are looking for coverage of a particular passion topic. Others have subscribed because of a change in their lifestyle. Some want coupons to save them money. Some discovered the paper through social media. Others want to support journalism as an institution. All are subscribers.
MOREAd campaign emphasizes difference made by The Post and Courier
A new branding campaign launched by The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C., emphasizes Real News. A Real Difference.
Chris Zoeller, director of strategic marketing, says: "We want our audience to know how we make a difference in small and big ways through our commitment to journalism and delivering the news our community needs."
She added, "We want anyone who is touched by this campaign to sense the pride our staff has in their job and the role the newspapers play in the community to keep them informed."
Click on link below to view the print campaign, videos and learn how you can share your marketing materials for this SNPA collection.
MOREWhat a California newspaper is learning as it experiments with podcasting
By Jennifer Nelson, Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute
A California newspaper is learning as it experiments with podcasting using its existing staff. The Q&A dives into questions like: “What goes into creating a podcast episode?” “What’s the most effective way to promote the podcast?” “What has been the biggest challenge when it came to launching the podcast or continuing to produce the segments?”
MOREClassifieds done right
Creative Circle and The Newspaper Manager have joined forces to launch an innovative and affordable classified ad production suite for print and digital media.
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We have a new website:
www.newspapers.org
America's Newspapers – the association formed from the merger of the Inland Press Association and Southern Newspaper Publishers Association – was ceremonially launched October 6 at its inaugural annual meeting in Chicago.
Dean Ridings will be its chief executive officer, effective Nov. 11.
America's Newspapers unites two of the oldest press associations to form one of the industry's largest advocates for newspapers and the many benefits to their communities, civil life, freedom of expression and democracy.
"Newspaper journalism provides a voice for the voiceless, challenges elected officials, shines a light on government, calls for change when change is needed, and exposes corruption and injustice," said Chris Reen, the president and publisher of The Gazette in Colorado Springs who will serve as the first president of America's Newspapers.
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New association launches today;
SNPA-Inland merger is complete
A new association formed by the consolidation of SNPA and the Inland Press Association was officially launched today. The name of the new association will be announced on Oct. 6 at the association's first annual meeting in Chicago.
Edward VanHorn, SNPA's executive director, said that the merger unites two of the country's oldest press associations into a progressive new organization that will use its bigger and more powerful voice to be an unapologetic advocate for newspapers.
MoreSNPA's staunchest advocate honored for 43 years of service
Edward VanHorn, who went to work for SNPA 43 years ago straight out of the University of North Carolina, will be honored at next week's SNPA-Inland Annual Meeting as this year's recipient of the Frank W. Mayborn Leadership Award. The award is named for the Texas newspaperman who helped shape SNPA in the early 1950s and served as president from 1961 to 1962.
"He's been that silent leader behind the newspaper industry and SNPA," said SNPA President PJ Browning, president and publisher of The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C. "We're honored to have the opportunity to give him this award as he's retiring. We thought it was very fitting."
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