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Stop the Presses: Newspapers have a future
By Adolfo Mendez | Editor
A daily diet of negative stories about newspapers can confuse you about the facts, according to Larry Maynard, chairman of NGM Partners LLC in Oswego, Ill.
“There are a lot good things going on in newspapers today,” said Maynard, who spent 25 of his 40 years in the newspaper business working for Copley Newspapers. “Sometimes we lose sight of that.”
Maynard said the “true state of the industry” is that newspapers have “unknown strengths,” which they should be reminded of. “Each of us has many strengths, though some of us may have lost sight of them.”
That’s not to suggest today’s market isn’t very challenging. “Although we have certain challenges, we’re actually a very formidable and successful industry,” he said, adding that newspapers, for instance, didn’t try to seek billion-dollar bailouts from the federal government. “Although our industry is evolving, the foundation of our business is very strong,” he said.
So what’s there to be happy about?
In most cases, a newspaper has “one of, if not the, strongest brand equity” in its local market, Maynard said. “More often than not, nobody is more familiar with the name of any media than they are with your company.”
There are several implications of the local paper being the best-known “sales channel” for local business, he said. “You have the strongest and longest relationships with your advertisers—some of those go back 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years,” he said. “Nobody has longer advertising relationships than the newspapers do.”
Other media don’t come close, he said. “So if you’re in a multi-newspaper or competitive market, you might not carry the most advertising compared to the other newspaper, but newspapers in your market, carry the most local and regional and national advertising compared to broadcast television, cable television, radio, direct mail—whatever it is,” he said.
Newspapers “have the longest and strongest track record of proven performance for advertisers of any sales channel,” he said. The fact is, advertisers know that “if it wasn’t working, they wouldn’t do it.”
Despite the changes across the information landscape, newspapers remain the leading source of news—for other media and bloggers. “You have the most local and regional news of any information channel and frankly, the other ones that provide local news primarily get it from newspapers, and then they repurpose it,” he said.
Newspapers also have the most audited, verified audience reach of any media—another fact that is often lost in the constant negative reporting about the industry, he said.
“These are some of the points that I think are really important for us to emphasize with our employees, so that they have confidence and feel strongly about what we do provide,” he said. “There’s so much negative information about what’s going on in the newspaper industry, so it’s very important for us to focus on the reality of that.”
The external perception also needs to be addressed, he said. “Are we communicating with advertisers that we are strong, that advertisers continue to use us?” he said. “Even if your circulation is declining, there’s still 10-20-50, 100,000 people that buy your newspaper every day.”
Bad morale can sometimes be traced to newspaper managers, he said. “What is our perception of the industry? Do we tend to get caught up in that negativity? Or are we really focusing on the things we do well?”
The stakes are too high to let the negative perceptions go unchallenged, Maynard said. “The biggest bubble that needs to be burst is the imminent demise of the newspaper industry,” he said.
Historically, he noted, newspapers should have died a long time ago. The death of newspapers was first reported in the 1930s, with the advent of radio, then again in the 1950s with the arrival of television. “People said people were only going to watch television; no one was going to want to read newspapers,” he said. “Newspapers were never as popular as they were in the 1950s.”
Then in the 1980s, some pundits suggested that cable TV would kill the newspaper business, and in the 1990s the Internet was supposed to put newspapers out of business.
“Starting in 1990, all I’ve read is that newspapers are going to be out of business in five years,” he said. “Well, it’s been 20 years, and we’re doing pretty good.”
That hasn’t stopped the naysayers, however. “In the past two years, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have all evolved, and we all know there’s something new that’s in development today that’s going to make all those things obsolete.”
Despite a changing technological landscape, many newspapers continue to be successful, he said. “Although admittedly not as successfully as in recent years, there’s still things we do well for a lot of people.”
Maynard said it’s no “pie in the sky” perspective to suggest the evidence points to a bright future for newspapers. “I strongly believe our demise is not forthcoming,” he said. Here’s why:
• More than 50 million consumers make a conscious decision to purchase a newspaper every Sunday.
• Every week more than 400 million people decide to purchase a daily or weekly newspaper.
“And they do that every week, every month, every year,” he said. “And every week millions more anxiously await delivery of their free newspaper.
“There is no other consumer/provider relationship of this magnitude—for any product or service—throughout history,” he said.
Contact: Larry Maynard, lmaynard@ngmpartners.com
“There are a lot good things going on in newspapers today,” said Maynard, who spent 25 of his 40 years in the newspaper business working for Copley Newspapers. “Sometimes we lose sight of that.”
Maynard said the “true state of the industry” is that newspapers have “unknown strengths,” which they should be reminded of. “Each of us has many strengths, though some of us may have lost sight of them.”
That’s not to suggest today’s market isn’t very challenging. “Although we have certain challenges, we’re actually a very formidable and successful industry,” he said, adding that newspapers, for instance, didn’t try to seek billion-dollar bailouts from the federal government. “Although our industry is evolving, the foundation of our business is very strong,” he said.
So what’s there to be happy about?
In most cases, a newspaper has “one of, if not the, strongest brand equity” in its local market, Maynard said. “More often than not, nobody is more familiar with the name of any media than they are with your company.”
There are several implications of the local paper being the best-known “sales channel” for local business, he said. “You have the strongest and longest relationships with your advertisers—some of those go back 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years,” he said. “Nobody has longer advertising relationships than the newspapers do.”
Other media don’t come close, he said. “So if you’re in a multi-newspaper or competitive market, you might not carry the most advertising compared to the other newspaper, but newspapers in your market, carry the most local and regional and national advertising compared to broadcast television, cable television, radio, direct mail—whatever it is,” he said.
Newspapers “have the longest and strongest track record of proven performance for advertisers of any sales channel,” he said. The fact is, advertisers know that “if it wasn’t working, they wouldn’t do it.”
Despite the changes across the information landscape, newspapers remain the leading source of news—for other media and bloggers. “You have the most local and regional news of any information channel and frankly, the other ones that provide local news primarily get it from newspapers, and then they repurpose it,” he said.
Newspapers also have the most audited, verified audience reach of any media—another fact that is often lost in the constant negative reporting about the industry, he said.
“These are some of the points that I think are really important for us to emphasize with our employees, so that they have confidence and feel strongly about what we do provide,” he said. “There’s so much negative information about what’s going on in the newspaper industry, so it’s very important for us to focus on the reality of that.”
The external perception also needs to be addressed, he said. “Are we communicating with advertisers that we are strong, that advertisers continue to use us?” he said. “Even if your circulation is declining, there’s still 10-20-50, 100,000 people that buy your newspaper every day.”
Bad morale can sometimes be traced to newspaper managers, he said. “What is our perception of the industry? Do we tend to get caught up in that negativity? Or are we really focusing on the things we do well?”
The stakes are too high to let the negative perceptions go unchallenged, Maynard said. “The biggest bubble that needs to be burst is the imminent demise of the newspaper industry,” he said.
Historically, he noted, newspapers should have died a long time ago. The death of newspapers was first reported in the 1930s, with the advent of radio, then again in the 1950s with the arrival of television. “People said people were only going to watch television; no one was going to want to read newspapers,” he said. “Newspapers were never as popular as they were in the 1950s.”
Then in the 1980s, some pundits suggested that cable TV would kill the newspaper business, and in the 1990s the Internet was supposed to put newspapers out of business.
“Starting in 1990, all I’ve read is that newspapers are going to be out of business in five years,” he said. “Well, it’s been 20 years, and we’re doing pretty good.”
That hasn’t stopped the naysayers, however. “In the past two years, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have all evolved, and we all know there’s something new that’s in development today that’s going to make all those things obsolete.”
Despite a changing technological landscape, many newspapers continue to be successful, he said. “Although admittedly not as successfully as in recent years, there’s still things we do well for a lot of people.”
Maynard said it’s no “pie in the sky” perspective to suggest the evidence points to a bright future for newspapers. “I strongly believe our demise is not forthcoming,” he said. Here’s why:
• More than 50 million consumers make a conscious decision to purchase a newspaper every Sunday.
• Every week more than 400 million people decide to purchase a daily or weekly newspaper.
“And they do that every week, every month, every year,” he said. “And every week millions more anxiously await delivery of their free newspaper.
“There is no other consumer/provider relationship of this magnitude—for any product or service—throughout history,” he said.
Contact: Larry Maynard, lmaynard@ngmpartners.com
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