Telling stories is still the lifeblood of the newspaper business, but industry executives are worried they’re not doing a good job explaining one of the biggest stories of the day: the turmoil roiling their own industry.
In a remarkably bracing pep talk to his fellow publishers, Jay Smith, president of Cox Newspapers and outgoing chairperson of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), opened the industry’s annual meeting on Monday with a command to ”stop whining” about the woes facing the business and ”start winning”.
”The world changed a lot, and we changed a little,” Smith said in an opening address to publishers at the NAA conference. ”It’s OK to acknowledge our missteps and move on, but learn and grow as you do.”
The number two player in the industry, Knight Ridder, was forced to put itself up for sale following a shareholder revolt, and the industry is generally seen in decline as more readers and advertisers go online. Meanwhile, newspaper print operations, while still very profitable, are looking less robust amid falling circulation, sluggish advertising growth and higher costs for newsprint.
In an effort to turn around perceptions, the NAA is embarking on an advertising campaign intended to make the case for newspaper advertising as an effective way to reach people, especially as it becomes easier to skip ads in other media with devices like digital video recorders.
Publishers also heard complaints from advertisers who say it is difficult to buy newspaper advertising compared with other media, particularly when more than one newspaper is involved.
”Why can’t I buy print and online together?” asked Andrew Swinand, executive vice-president at Starcom Worldwide, a major advertising-buying agency in Chicago. Swinand, who spoke on a panel on Sunday.
Making newspaper advertising easier to buy and catering better to the evolving needs of advertisers, particularly as they boost spending online, is a topic that came up frequently in conversations with executives at the conference.
”Newspapers are holding on to their national audiences better [than other media], but the negative side is we’re more difficult to buy,” Gary Pruitt, the CEO of The McClatchy Company, said in an interview. ”The industry is aware of it.”
Pruitt declined to comment on the biggest topic of the day in the newspaper business: Who will buy the 12 Knight Ridder newspapers McClatchy plans to sell as part of its $4,5-billion deal to acquire the San Jose, California-based company. McClatchy is also assuming $2-billion in debt from Knight Ridder.
McClatchy is evaluating bids, and has said it hopes to conclude deals for the papers quickly. It plans to keep the other 20 papers in the Knight Ridder group, making it the second-largest company in the newspaper business in terms of circulation, behind Gannett. – Sapa-AP