About Community Newspapers
Stories About Community Newspapers
Beth Wenzel, granddaughter of former WNA President Elliot Zander, and a fourth-generation manager of Zander Press, Inc. recently contacted WNA with some good news to share: The Brillion News is growing.
Since 2008, the northeast Wisconsin weekly boosted its circulation from 1,430 to 1,600 (an increase of nearly 14 percent) and has hired a second full-time reporter to its staff.
From the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Bulletin, Nov. 17, 2009
While many daily newspapers are struggling to survive, a local news group feels a weekly paper will fill a needed void in Appleton.
"What can't the readers get off the internet or 24 hour television? This stuff," Times-Villager Newspaper Group General Manager Bart Landsverk said pointing to his new paper.
From Fox11Online.com, Oct. 27, 2009
While newspapers have shared the pain of an economic recession along with the rest of the country, they remain a valuable institution in Indiana communities. Newspapers provide local news like none other. Newspapers connect consumers and businesses like none other. Newspapers keep local government accountable like none other.
From the Greene County (IN) Daily World, Oct. 14, 2009
Between pleading with an advertiser, fending off a complaining reader and taking a break to watch a scorpion scuttle down the sidewalk, M. E. Sprengelmeyer gives a visitor to his office this advice: “Watch out for the hole in the floor.” He isn’t joking. Eight months ago, Mr. Sprengelmeyer, 42, worked as the sole Washington correspondent for The Rocky Mountain News, the Denver newspaper that went out of business in February, but his job these days is a far cry from the Senate press gallery. In August, he embarked on a new life in this isolated little town as owner, publisher, editor, primary writer and sometime ad salesman, photographer and deliverer of the weekly Guadalupe County Communicator, circulation about 2,000.
From the New York Times, Oct. 11, 2009
Come publication day, Jorge Moreira Nunes is used to having a knock or two at his Deerfield Beach office door. For 10 years, Nunes has published AcheiUSA — a Portuguese-language newspaper catering to South Florida's Brazilian community.
"They come here asking for help with immigration questions, or sometimes they are unsure if they should report something to the police," Nunes said.
From the Sarasota (FL) Herald-Tribune, Oct. 4, 2009
If you think your local newspaper is bad, I'm here to tell you that life without one is worse. Back in February, the chain of local weeklies that "covered" our section of New York's Dutchess County folded as its parent, Journal Register Co., tumbled into Chapter 11. Since then, we get local news the medieval way: by word of mouth.
From the Wall Street Journal, Sept. 25, 2009
It's widely reported – and has become generally accepted – that the newspaper model is either dying or already dead, when, in fact, thousands of newspapers across the country are doing quite well. Thousands of newspapers deliver for their readers and advertisers every day. Thousands of newspapers are positioned to embrace – not be destroyed by – emerging technology.
From Newspapers Watch, Sept. 10, 2009
In Thorton Wilder’s classic play, Our Town, there is a scene in which the stage manager character in the play tells the audience how a copy of the local paper will be placed into a new bank’s cornerstone to provide a record to future generations of “the way we were in the provinces north of New York at the beginning of the twentieth century, in our growing up and in our marrying, and our living and our dying.” There’s a similar time capsule at the Whitchurch-Stouffville Library; microfiche rolls of the Stouffville Tribune, dating back to the early 1900s. I often scroll through these records for research on items of personal interest.
From Stouffville Online, Sept. 2, 2009
While the nation's newspaper industry is hurting, some smaller community papers are doing very well. Pelham, AL, is getting its first newspaper in more than a century.
From NPR, Aug. 10, 2009
Newspapers are hurting all over the United States, but the pain is less severe at small publications like The Blackshear Times in Georgia. The weekly newspaper fills an information vacuum in a county of 17,000 people who live about 75 miles from the closest metropolitan market, in Jacksonville, Fla. That has made it easier for The Times to hold on to its 3,500 subscribers and keep its revenue stable in a recession that's ravaging much of the newspaper industry.
From the Associated Press, Aug. 10, 2009
Several factors hurting larger papers are not affecting local papers to nearly the same extent. The struggles of local papers are almost purely recession-related. "As the recession recedes, community papers are poised to pick up where they left off," director of the National Newspaper Association Brian L. Steffens said.
From the Lakeland Times, June 26, 2009
With publishers squeezed by declining ad revenues and frozen credit markets, many small newspapers are on the auction block for record low prices, according to Cribb, Greene & Associates, a brokerage that handles mergers and acquisitions for daily and weekly publications. What's more, many of these smaller and mid-sized newspapers may actually be viable investments. Their revenue losses have been significantly smaller, on average, than big metro dailies.
From MediaPost, June 19, 2009
"State of Play" is certainly not the most authentic movie ever made about journalism. Russell Crowe's murky ethics and action-hero antics make most journalists squirm in their seats, yearning for a dignified remake of "All the President's Men." Yet Crowe's portrayal of reporter Cal McAffrey performs a valuable service. It reminds us -- members of the reporting profession and hopefully you, our readers -- that journalism takes work: pounding the pavement, burning up phone lines, arriving early, working late, thinking fast and Googling through every last link in 32 pages of search results.
From Roanoke.com, May 24, 2009
Newspapers in the Palmetto State may be struggling with the economy, but many
are reaching out to the jobless in their
communities by posting free
job-seeking classified ads or
even video resumes on their
websites.
From the SCPA Bulletin, May 2009
After reading several articles about journalists suddenly thrown out of work, I thought maybe the way journalism can move forward is to look backward. I would suggest that out-of-work journalists look into buying or starting a small news-paper in some unserved town. With modern technology, it's not that hard, nor is it very expensive. With desktop publishing, digital cameras and a small office, anyone can start a newspaper for about $25,000 in equipment costs.
From American Journalism Review, April/May 2009
We make community news free and have watched profits soar. It's widely reported – and has become generally accepted – that the newspaper model is either dying or already dead, when, in fact, thousands of newspapers across the country are doing quite well. Thousands of newspapers deliver for their readers and advertisers every day. Thousands of newspapers are positioned to embrace – not be destroyed by – emerging technology.
From Newspaper Watch, May 8, 2009
It seems everywhere you turn you can find another mainstream media outlet claiming that the newspaper industry is either drowning in a sea of red ink or, at the very least, flailing about and grasping for a life preserver. While this sort of story makes for exciting TV, the generalizing nature of it is misleading at best, ignorant at worst.
From the Oklahoma Publisher, April 27, 2009
Enough already. Partial facts and misinformation about newspapers are distorting the view for everyone, including readers and advertisers. Let's set the record straight: Newspapers still enjoy considerable readership and deliver strong results for advertisers. More Americans read printed newspapers than watch the Super Bowl. More Americans read printed newspapers than own dogs. Newspapers and their websites reach a larger audience than ever before.
From Editor & Publisher, April 22, 2009
Nearly 90 percent of Americans continue to read and rely on their local newspaper, both in print and online, according to a new Harris Interactive survey commissioned by Parade Publications. These findings confirm that newspaper journalism has not lost its appeal to American consumers.
From Newspaperproject.org, April 16, 2009
KPTM-TV in Omaha, NE, presents a video feature about Harlan Newspapers in Harlan, IA, which prints the twice-weekly Harlan Tribune and 40 other publications. Co-publisher Alan Mores says that Harlan Newspapers' business is "steady, even and fine. It was down a little bit the last couple years, but we're having a steady growth period right now."
From KPTM-TV, Omaha, NE, March 31, 2009
The National Newspaper Association today revealed that 4th quarter results confirm that local papers in the States are faring better than regional and national news titles. The data put together by the NNA in conjunction with the Suburban Newspapers Association (SNA) showed that whilst the industry averaged a 21% fall in advertising revenues at the end of 2008 compared to the previous year, the figure was just 6.6% for community newspapers.
From EditorsWeblog.org, March 23, 2009
After the Carbondale (CO) Valley Journal closed after 34 years, the original founder Rebecca Young and six other residents started a new newspaper, the Sopris Sun, run as a nonprofit and staffed mostly by volunteers. The free weekly is named after a snow-capped peak towering over the Roaring Fork Valley.
From the Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2009
On December 25 2008, Carbondale-based newspaper the Valley Journal announced that the Christmas edition would be its last. The small Colorado town paper was unable to keep financially afloat and the decision was made to cease printing. Deprived of the town's final stand-alone newspaper, locals began to miss out on vital community information such as birth and marriage announcements as well as updates on local infrastructure developments. However, it was the belated news of a friend's death that spurred Rebecca Young, Valley Journal's original founder, to take action: "I didn't hear of his death for a couple of weeks," she said. "I was so sad I wasn't at his service."
Young decided to see who else shared her view that something needed to be done and various emails later, it became apparent that she was not alone and so it was that the Sopris Sun was born: "It just beat the dickens out of sitting around whining that our paper was dead," said Young.
From EditorsWeblog.org, March 23, 2009
We had an institutional role reversal this week at The Times Leader. Reporters came asking questions. One was from the Wall Street Journal, another from WBRE-TV, and still another from a newspaper in New England. All of them had heard that we love newspapers and still believe newspapers are a good business. Why wouldn’t we? For us, local retail advertising increased 30 percent in 2008 versus 2007 and online retail increased 164 percent. And like many newspaper owners these days we have loans but unlike several of them we are paying off those loans. We are a success story in these times and other media are interested in reporting on our good fortune and buoyant optimism.
From TimesLeader.com, March 15, 2009
Small local papers are doing surprisingly well, even in the weak economy.
From MinnPost.com, March 16, 2009
Industry insiders speak out on why community papers will remain the bright spot in the industry through 2009 and beyond.
From NNA.org, Feb. 10, 2009
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.
From Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., Feb. 2, 2009
Ed Shamy thought his career was over after he was laid off as newspaper columnist. Now, he’s writing a new chapter: Shamy, 50, has bought a small-town weekly, hoping to carve a new niche for himself in a newspaper industry struggling to cope with the exodus of readers and advertisers to Internet news sources.
From The Columbia Daily Tribune, Dec. 24, 2008
Is it just me or is there a hint of glee when TV and Internet folks tell us times are tough for newspapers? Well, whether they are happy about it or not, they’re right — at least to a degree. The printed word has seen better days. It’s just that people have more choices these days — and that’s not a bad thing. But “thud in the driveway” newspapers are not anywhere near becoming the detritus of history, and that’s especially true for community papers of the variety that are available to most people in Mississippi.
From The Vicksburg Post, Dec. 21, 2008
At the UBS Media Conference in New York, there was Gary Pruitt of McClatchy calling conditions "lousy," the New York Times saying 2009 will be "among the most challenging years we have faced" and even Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper group, bemoaning that print ad revenue is down 18 percent while digital has increased only 5 percent. But study what is going on at one Gannett mid-size newspaper, in Green Bay, WI, and one might ask, "What crisis?"
From Followthemedia.com, Dec. 11, 2008
As daily newspapers nationwide, both large and small, struggle to remain profitable, the weekly papers, for the most part, are thriving. There are far fewer clouds on the horizon of those in the weekly world.
From The Columbia Daily Tribune, Oct. 17, 2008
It's not easy to be in the newspaper business these days -- just ask the hundreds of reporters across the country who have either been laid off or accepted buyouts as big chains try to stop the financial bleeding. Here's a sampling of the newspaper industry here in Missouri: the Springfield News-Leader has had five layoffs in the past six months. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch laid off 18 employees. But the Lebanon Daily Record hasn't had to let anyone go.
From OzarksFirst.com, Sept. 22, 2008
In today’s new media age, many Americans have begun to question the relevance of newspapers. There has been concern about newspaper journalists being laid off and companies being forced to downsize because of decreased interest in the newspaper media. However, while a hundred or so large newspapers may be experiencing some issues keeping their readership constant, today’s forum assured the audience that the more than 22,000 community newspapers across America still have a very important role in this rapidly changing world.
From J-School Centennial Experience, Sept. 11, 2008
This morning, I was putting on a yellow shirt for this event, as an homage to yellow journalism, when my wife suggested: You should wear black, white and red. You know the old joke: What’s black and white and read all over? The newspaper! I didn’t have a red tie, so my hair will have to do. It used to be redder. So now the joke is: What’s black and white and not quite as read any more? Newspapers today!
From Isthmus, Sept. 4, 2008
Newspapers serving smaller suburban communities are faring much better than their counterparts in big metro areas, according to the Suburban Newspapers of America, a trade organization that released second-quarter figures. The SNA had total ad revenues for community papers at $482 million in the second quarter, a relatively modest decline of 2.4 percent from the same period last year.
From Mediapost.com, Aug. 14, 2008
Are newspapers in America dying? I keep hearing that on an almost daily basis. Newspapers are morphing. Large newspapers, particularly those owned by major newspaper chains are hurting. A few are attempting suicide.
From The Tuskegee News, Aug. 14, 2008
Suburban and community newspaper executives report optimism and growth. This is the finding of a beta report that included financial and other data from many of the largest members of the trade association Suburban Newspapers of America. The beta companies represent total circulation of 12.5 million and approximately $2 billion in annual advertising revenue. These newspapers provide much needed hyper-local news and information — typically not found anywhere else — to the communities that they serve.
From Suburban Newspapers of American, June 11, 2008
Amid all the dire talk of falling revenues at big newspaper publishers, some good news gets lost: Many smaller operations are doing quite nicely--even during an economic downturn. Above all, smaller newspapers are benefiting from their still-unchallenged ability to deliver local audiences for local advertisers.
From Media Daily News, May 9, 2008
"...Even though the news about public newspaper companies has been distressing, I’ve found the exact opposite to be true about community newspapers." -- Dave Slavin, a senior associate at media broker W.B. Grimes and Company.
From followthemedia.com, April 2, 2008
The Internet is just a medium, which means it is nothing more than a new way to distribute that highly spoil-able but innately valuable commodity: news. (The author) suggest(s) the "new" business model we should be actively encouraging is actually a rather old one. That model is that of the locally owned and operated newspaper.
From MediaShift Idea Lab, March 26, 2008
While media stories concentrate on the dismal January performances by daily metropolitan newspapers at such big chains as Gannett and McClatchy, there’s actually a section of the US newspaper industry that is continuing to do very well, thank you very much -- non-daily community newspapers.
From followthemedia.com, March 5, 2008
Welcome to the newspaper business in much of small-town America, which in 2008 can still, at times, be portrayed in the sunny style of Norman Rockwell. While Wall Street analysts predict a future for newspapers in ever more apocalyptic terms, the fact is: Many small-market papers are not just surviving, but thriving.
From Editor & Publisher, Feb. 28, 2008
News and emerging digital media platforms may be the rage on Madison Avenue and in the news media, but some highly regarded consumer research suggests they still have a long way to go before they replace traditional media as effective advertising alternatives with most consumers.
From MediaPostPublications, Aug. 23, 2007
In many cities across the country, the local paper boy’s routes are shrinking. Daily newspapers are on the decline, while weeklies are on the rise.
From The Voice-Tribune, May 30, 2007 (FREE registration required)
Little Newspapers Prosper With Narrow Focus on Very Local News.
If there's any good news about the businesses of newspapering these days, it can be found at the industry's littlest papers, which are doing well even as their bigger brothers founder.
From The Washington Post, March 8, 2007
Long overlooked, America’s weeklies are being snapped up by hungry chains. Along the way, more community voices are being lost.
From AJR, Dec. 1999
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