Newspaper Advertising – Thriving or Just Surviving?

Newspaper advertising has undoubtedly changed within recent years. Hybrid cars, computer programs and cell phones have changed too. Change is inevitable and is not always as bad as it may seem.

The stories of the closures of major newspapers, like the Rocky Mountain News and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, have been widely publicized. With these stories have come the conclusions that the internet and shrinking audiences have forced newspapers out of business and will continue to do so. However, as TIME magazine reports, the fall of the Rocky Mountain News tells a much different story. The primary blame can be placed on upper-management - "the Scripps' newspaper executives whose ineptitude over the past 25 years fumbled away a prime market to a competitor they should have killed off two decades ago."

Another story that is widely told about the crisis facing newspapers is that the problem is audience based. Catchy, but not true. Newspapers still benefit from significant readership. In fact, more Americans read the printed newspaper than watch the Super Bowl each year. Donna Barrett, President and CEO of Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. is dispelling these rumors by explaining the problem with newspapers is a revenue issue and not a lack of audience. Advertising has long supported the large expense of running a newspaper; however, the recession has led to a significant decrease in ad spending. It is this and not the lack of newspaper readers that are putting the strain on newspapers. The second problem, explains Barrett, is free classified sites winning considerable classified business. Both problems do not have immediate solutions, however, resolutions are feasible nonetheless.

With smaller expenses, staffs and overhead, community newspapers have not felt quite the punch of the recession as have their larger counterparts. In August, The National Newspaper Association (NNA) reported the 2008 fourth-quarter newspaper advertising revenue of community papers at $428.7 million, only a 6.6 percent decline from the same quarter in 2007. For the overall newspaper industry, this study showed a decline in fourth-quarter advertising expenditures of over 20 percent.

80% of US newspapers reach a circulation of 15,000 or fewer. 8,000 of those newspapers are classified as community newspapers. Local advertisers have long recognized the benefits of advertising in these small but plentiful newspapers. These small to mid-sized community newspapers end up creating a monopoly over the local news that directly affects their readers' daily lives, making them an absolute staple in many communities. In a recent survey, NNA reports that 81% of those surveyed read a local paper each week. Without these papers people are left in the dark on political, social and even personal issues going on in their immediate communities, things larger media outlets rarely have the time or resources to report.

The newspaper industry will continue to change and adapt as best it can. Some problems will be resolved, others not. One thing for certain is that newspapers have been indispensable to our communities for over 300 years and they will not just go away, even in the face of adversity.