Last Word

Saving Local Newspapers

Trends are emerging that could point community publications in a more financially sound direction. BY PETER CONTI

Sixty 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 II. It’s a catalyst that will precipitate significant changes in the way newspapers operate.

Traditional advertising has already been in a downward trend for many years but has now collapsed dramatically. That source of revenue is not going to bounce back when the pandemic is over. If a newspaper is going to stay afloat, it needs to change its business strategy. And fast.

COVID is forcing publishers to become more creative and innovative. Many are turning to digital subscriptions to increase revenue. And that may be a silver lining.

To fully understand how important this strategy may be, consider a few recent trends related to how people are seeking to entertain or inform themselves at home. After news of the first COVID death in the U.S., on Feb. 29, 2020, Facebook traffic roared up by 27% and Netflix by 16%, all in just one month, according to SimilarWeb and Apptopia. It would not be a shock to learn that Netflix had its most significant growth spurt ever in the first half of 2020.

At the same time, another trend related to smartphone usage has started to reverse itself. In the past, services like Facebook and Netflix found their customers increasingly shifting to their smartphones as people were more and more on the go. That was a tough situation for newspapers, because we all know that reading a newspaper on a smartphone can be excruciating, even with the best of apps.

However, data show that smartphone app usage is declining, except for the logical increase in video conferencing services, such as Zoom. People are now discovering a much richer experience using their desktop, laptop or tablet to read their local newspaper and other publications. People who were oblivious to their local newspaper are suddenly reading the local paper online to understand what is going on in their community. (Nextdoor usage has skyrocketed during the pandemic.)

So, how can newspapers leverage this shift in viewing habits? It’s now acutely obvious that paid digital subscriptions are vital in keeping a newspaper out of the red.

Since the advent of the web, newspapers have had difficulty convincing their readers to pay for their online content. But that’s changing. Newspapers with a paywall saw a tremendous surge in paid subscriptions after the pandemic began.

For the last few years, national and daily newspapers have realized a year-over-year increase in digital subscriptions. At some major newspapers, the digital subscription revenue has kept ahead of advertising and legacy subscription losses.

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 Newspapers experience are essential to the transition from print to digital. Hardly anyone will with a pay for a meager serving of local content, paywall saw digital or print. And way too many newsa tremendous surge in paid paper sites are a pain to access and navigate ... Print readers will need a nudge to switch, as newspapers simultaneously face subscriptions the necessity of capturing new audiences after the willing to pay.” pandemic began. 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.

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