LAST WORD
Saving Local Newspapers
Trends are emerging that could point community publications in a more financially sound direction. BY PETER CONTI
S
ixty newspapers have closed during the pandemic, according to the Poynter Institute. And while others have managed to increase revenue – not huge numbers by any stretch, but enough to keep the presses rolling – it’s likely that more publications will fold before the current crisis ends. Local and community newspapers will bear the brunt of that. We can only speculate on the long-term effects of the pandemic on newspaper publishing. We have not faced such a dramatic sociological shift since World War That was a tough situation for newspapers, II. It’s a catalyst that will precipitate signifbecause we all know that reading a newsicant changes in the way newspapers operate. paper on a smartphone can be excruciating, Traditional advertising has already been even with the best of apps. in a downward trend for many years but However, data show that smartphone has now collapsed dramatically. app usage is declining, except That source of revenue is not for the logical increase in video Newspapers going to bounce back when the conferencing services, such as pandemic is over. If a newspaper with a Zoom. is going to stay afloat, it needs People are now discovering paywall saw to change its business strategy. a much richer experience using a tremendous their desktop, laptop or tablet And fast. surge in paid COVID is forcing publishers to read their local newspaper subscriptions and other publications. People to become more creative and innovative. Many are turning to after the who were oblivious to their local digital subscriptions to increase newspaper are suddenly reading pandemic revenue. And that may be a the local paper online to underbegan. silver lining. stand what is going on in their To fully understand how community. (Nextdoor usage important this strategy may be, consider a has skyrocketed during the pandemic.) few recent trends related to how people are So, how can newspapers leverage this seeking to entertain or inform themselves shift in viewing habits? It’s now acutely at home. After news of the first COVID obvious that paid digital subscriptions are death in the U.S., on Feb. 29, 2020, vital in keeping a newspaper out of the red. Facebook traffic roared up by 27% and Since the advent of the web, newspapers Netflix by 16%, all in just one month, have had difficulty convincing their readers according to SimilarWeb and Apptopia. It to pay for their online content. But that’s would not be a shock to learn that Netflix changing. Newspapers with a paywall saw had its most significant growth spurt ever a tremendous surge in paid subscriptions in the first half of 2020. after the pandemic began. At the same time, another trend related For the last few years, national and daily to smartphone usage has started to reverse newspapers have realized a year-over-year itself. In the past, services like Facebook increase in digital subscriptions. At some and Netflix found their customers major newspapers, the digital subscription increasingly shifting to their smartphones revenue has kept ahead of advertising and as people were more and more on the go. legacy subscription losses.
26 The Financial Manager • January/February 2021
There has to be a significant initiative for local and community newspapers to reinvent their newspaper, improve the online experience and sell paid subscriptions. Newspaper management teams must have a laser-like focus on building the digital side through paid subscriptions. Few newspapers are the size of The New York Times. Still, it is interesting to note that the paper recently announced that in third-quarter 2020 – for the first time ever – digital subscriber revenue was bigger than the revenue from the print subscriptions. That success can help smaller newspapers understand the potential of digital revenue. A Poynter report from April 14, 2020, delivers a concise declaration related to this: “A quality news report and user-friendly experience are essential to the transition from print to digital. Hardly anyone will pay for a meager serving of local content, digital or print. And way too many newspaper sites are a pain to access and navigate ... Print readers will need a nudge to switch, as newspapers simultaneously face the necessity of capturing new audiences willing to pay.” When implementing a digital subscription, a newspaper can now add extras not available to free users. They might include personalized breaking-news emails, photo galleries, local public-employee salaries and much more information that users will not find anywhere else. Now is the time for regional and community newspapers to assess what content they are providing online at no cost. Digital subscriptions may be a way to keep newspapers and local journalism alive. Peter Conti is general manager of Editor & Publisher magazine. He can be reached at peter.conti@editorandpublisher.com or editorandpublisher.com.
