by Jock Lauterer
Director
the Carolina Community Media Project
UNC-CH

July 27, 2007

Newspapers and their online sites need to leverage their assets and quit wringing their hands over their own death notices, said industry leaders Friday in Charlotte.

Speaking to the annual summer convention of the North Carolina Press Association, a blue-ribbon panel agreed it’s high
time for papers to go on the offensive and become proactive.

About 100 NC editors and publishers attended the session, titled, “Do we have a future? The execs talk,” moderated by Tom Curley, formerly Gannett’s guru on the startup of USA Today and currently president and CEO of Associated Press.

The panel of media industry all-stars included:

Reid Ashe, exec vice-presiddent and CEO, Media General Inc.
Scott Flanders, president/CEO, Freedom Communications
Max Heath, vice-president, Landmark Community Newspapers
Mary Jacobus, president/COO, New York Times Co. Regional Media Group
Jay Smith, president, Cox Newspapers Inc.
Howard Weaver, vice-president - news, the McClatchy Co.

Tom Curley opened today’s panel with these strong words: “Whether you’re at a small paper or the largest in the country, It’s decision time…(However) The end of the world is not upon us…the market for content is growing…whether it’s for general news, sports, entertainment or finance… more people are seeking that content…But we’re doing a terrible job telling our story, because we’re not sure of what our story is.”

“Fear of change remains one of our biggest obstacles, Curley said, vowing, “We are at a new day. The biggest challenge is how we define community, whether they be print or online.”

JAY SMITH/COX: “Readers have many more choices to go get information…we have to get over that. That’s the way it is…The worst thing we can do is rock back on your heels and wait for this to pass…you need to be on the balls of your feet…ready…trying new things…We’re at the birth of a whole new (type of media)… There is an enormous appetite (for what newspapers can give readers). Don’t forget, news comes from newspapers.”

REID ASHE/MEDIA GENERAL: “This is a terrible year for newspapers…I will remind you it’s not as quite as bad as it looks. Broadcast is also having a bad year…” It’s a time for change, he said, adding, “It’s an urgent task, but it’s not a time for panic.”

HOWARD WEAVER/MCCLATCHY: Weaver identified the three big trends in our industry. First, what he called “Revenue reset…” Adusting to a smaller piece of the total pie. Secondly, an unprededented demand for news, which he called “voracious.” and third, high-tech tools for storytelling, “We’ve never had better tools to tell that news. We in the newspaper business are back in the breaking news business… So it seems to me that we need to realize…our audience is growing…and that’s just not the profile of a dying business.”

SCOTT FLANDERS/FREEDOM: “I don’t see this as the house is on fire… We are doing a better job than we are giving ourselves credit for…The wave is definitely moving away for print: we’re undercharging for print and undercharging for online…the big good news is that we have the opportunity to reach the interactive audience… and our challenge is learning how to monetize it. We have to be more like the local TV affiliates, where the TV salespeople are used to beating their heads againsttthe wall competing against other stations.

MARY JACOBUS, NEW YORK TIMES GROUP: “Our Hendersonville, N.C., paper is doing extrememly well thanks to strong leadership there. We have never had a larger audience for our content, including weeklies and niche products…What we quite haven’t figured out how to monetize (online) yet. And I think it’s just going to take some time for our advvertisers to come around and see how much it’s worth.”

MAX HEATH/ LANDMARK COMMUNITY PAPERS: “I’d like to make a case for weeklies and community dailies.. There’s a lot of life there… We think we’re still number one source for news. (Because of online ) We’re becoming the daily market of the weekly world. There’s some really good papers out there…including the Brunswick Beacon (of Shallotte, N.C.) . So we’re bullish…we’re looking to grow our online presence too.”

ON CIRCULATION AND RETAINING READERS

ASHE: “We’re in the era where people are a lot more willing to read a newspaper than they willing are to pay for a newspaper.”

SMITH: “The notion of the traditional newspaper… That sucker is dead, and it’s been dead for a long time.” Niche journalism is making it, he said. “And shame on us” if newspapers don’t figure out how to give people what they want.

CURLEY: There are 400 colleges participating in a Readership Program which has reached 3 million college-age readers a month “These are the people who aren’t supposed to be reading.” So there is cause for optimism, he said.

WEAVER: “I agree that multiple (circulation/biz)models are needed. The ethnic media is a growth area. Free newspapers have made some inroads…we also know, if it’s the right newspaper…people are still quite willing to pay for that newspaper…it’s not about the price, so I don’t think we’re ever going to see a one-size-fits-all (circulation/business model).”

SMITH: “Money follows audience. We’ve got to think more like broadcast people. We’ve gotta change the way we think…is it a picture story or a print story? We’re going to be ok if we figure that out.”

WEAVER: The former weekly newspaper publisher noted with a grin: “You learn that freedom of the press is limited if you can’t pay the printer.” Newspapers need to become what he calls “mission-driven.”

CURLEY: “So Max, we’re hearing a lot about about local local local. We hear a lot about that. Or is it the same old thing just wearing a new dress?

MAX HEATH: “Those of us who have been doing (community journalism) for a long time, (know that’s) our bread and butter…a and we sorta resent the term ‘hyperlocal…’” Heath said Landmark is also investing in online and interactive media. However, Landmark has seen some loss in the community market in circulation areas, which is unusual for them. Heath blames higher gas prices. “The higher gas prices are really impacting the lives of our readers.” Heath says average readers say they just can’t afford the newspaper subscription.

FLANDERS: “In Southern California we have 23 DIFFERENT COMMUNITES THAT COMPRISE 21 MILLION PEOPLE. Our job is to brand down to those individual communities” into what he called “micro-communities.”

WEAVER: “The newspaper industry is finally getting around to coming up with a new metric to demonstrate to advertisers the value of online advertising. An increasing amount of our revenues are coming from online.”

SMITH: The competition is not other newspapers, he said. “Broadcasters have figured out too, ‘I need to get into the auto business, the employment business…’ (Newspapers) have been hurt… (but) we haven’t seen anything yet…Beware this wonderful, mixed up chaotic world caused by the Internet. Look out, it’s just going to get tougher… We need to focus on our game… The AP is the biggest damn hammer we’ve got in our toolkit.”

ASHE: “We are prisoners of everything we learned in print…We need to return to our roots… (of interactive story telling). Along the way we gave up the ability to tell the news immediately, and to tell the news with interaction.”

WEAVER:”Newspapers are learning to partner…(In the future) we’ll have more competitors but also more partners. Partnering has not been one of our strengths, historically.”

FLANDERS: “The pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change. I’m optimistic about what we have to do… It’s a great training challenge; (many newsrooms) don’t have the skillsets… and there are some (people out there) who are waiting for me to wear out… and go away.” Flanders says newspapers may need “a general leadership change…(bringing with it) new perspectives…” and that will perhaps take a “generational change.”

THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

CURLEY: “How do you motivate your team when resources are going away?”

WEAVER: “It’s as simple as staying focused on the mission. We don’t have any shortage of smart, capable young people who want to get into this business… (years ago) I wanted to have a career that had some meaning, to work around smart, articulate people.” Weaver thinks it’s just as true for today’s young professionals. As to older folks in newsroom, Weaver thinks many would rather be retrained than start over in a different profession.

JACOBUS: “(Newspapers) do a complete manufaturing cycle every day… We never had to be looking out a head of what’s coming up… (Nowadays we do) more horizon-watching…it’s a much more complex equation than it ever used to be.”

HEATH: “Most community newspapers have a lot of cross-training…anyway, (at community papers) everybody does everything anyway..I do think in the community market there is room for niche publications…” (for example, newspapers targeted to the Tennessee lake communities) “…We’re trying to niche our Web sites too…innovatting is what we’re trying to get people to do…Recruiting and retention is one of our biggest challenges. We often have to be growing our own…”

CHANGING TIMES

CURLEY: “Is our democracy threatened by the digital shift?”

WEAVER: “Through most of American history, newspapers were smaller, more idealogical and less profitable. … Now, it’s a different place. What’s the biggest change? The total erosion of the gatekeeper function…The fence is down now…and we look pretty silly standing there at the gate.” (nervous laughter from the audience.) “Fortunately, the kind of value-added journalism that we do is now more important than ever” because of the junk out there on the Internet.

SMITH: “It chaps me when some pipsqueak radio persionality challenges our manhood our womenhood. I think we need to get our backbone back. We need to distinquish ourselves from that babble that’s out there. We’ve allowed people to define us and marginilize us; that’s shameful. I’d sign up again (for the newspaper business) if I were 15…God, it’s fun…For those of us who forgets that principle, don’t call yourselves a leader.”