Newspapers haven’t had an easy time for well over a decade.
It’s been a long hard road at least since the Great Recession.
Multiple big dailies have cut the number of publishing days, including the Kansas City Star, the Wichita Eagle and Omaha World Herald.
Some newspapers reduced their frequency to weekly, while still others locked their doors.
In fact, a recent study showed that more than 10 newspapers ceased operations every month in 2023.
Back in June, Main Street Media made the difficult decision to shutter seven newspapers and two shoppers which had fallen on terrible financial times.
As the CEO of Main Street Media, I can attest to the fact that this was not an easy decision. MSM has a long-standing commitment to keeping newspapers alive in small towns. In fact, that is our primary mission.
Our founder, Jack Krier, often said that, when towns lose their newspaper, it usually isn’t long before they aren’t really a town anymore.
In this instance, events swiveled to end on an almost entirely positive note. Two area publishers stepped forward to pick up the banners of all but one of the newspapers. We thank Trevor Vernon and James Mahlon White for stepping forward to take the financial risk, and increase their own workloads, but continue serving those communities.
After this reorganization, Main Street Media continues to operate 27 newspapers located in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
But that doesn’t mean everything is all sunshine and roses. The threat of the red ink which forced our hand on those seven Missouri newspapers is an ever growing possibility for the ones which remain.
To understand how America’s newspapers got in the position they’re in requires a bit of history.
Not all that long ago, newspapers were the go-to source for local news and advertising. They were the main way to reach the communities in which they operated.
Radio and television came along, and could get news out faster, but couldn’t provide depth of coverage.
With the widespread adoption of the internet, things began to change, and in a hurry.
Not guessing the end result, the big newspapers decided to dump all their news content online for free. Soon, many smaller publishers did the same.
Then, something happened which shouldn’t’ have been unexpected. Subscribers began to realize they could get the same stories more quickly on the newspaper’s website without paying for it with a subscription. Subscriber numbers fell of a cliff, and advertising revenue followed.
Since advertising is the only thing which keeps newspapers in operation, things got tight. For the bigger operations, that usually resulted in cuts to the news staff, followed by lopping off days of the week until we reached the point we’re at today.
It has been much the same for the publishers of smaller newspapers, like those at Main Street Media. They have been faced with an additional problem in most cases. The merchants in the towns where they do business have faced a similar hit from competition with big box stores and online retailers. As a result the business districts have seen a serious decline.
Newspapers have worked long and hard to educate the public about the importance of shopping at home. They remind readers how it’s the local merchant whose tax dollars support the community, and whose donations back the local civic organizations.
Newspapers haven’t worked as hard to educate the public that the same thing goes for themselves.
Facebook doesn’t send a reporter to the city council or school board meeting. You may find comments there or on some other platforms, but you have no way of knowing whose axe is being ground, and it’s often just a venue for argument and name calling.
The old relationship between advertisers, newspapers, and the community has nearly been demolished. Although still the best way to reach local shoppers, we are frequently confronted with something along the lines of “Please run this news release about our big event/grand opening/promotion/etc.” Too often, that is followed by “No, we don’t need an ad. We can put in online for free.”
Maybe so, but you can’t expect to be provided one without the other for very long.
The clearest example is classified advertising. This was long a staple of the newspaper business mode. Then, a Craiglist and Facebook Marketplace and countless others obliterated the classified page. Billions of dollars in newspaper revenue just vanished.
Other threats abound. In Kansas, a concerted effort is underway to get cities to move their legal notices to their own websites via an ancient loophole. In most other states, the idea of doing away with legals gets floated nearly every legislative term.
Ignore for a moment that the best way to hide anything from public view is to dump it on a municipal website. The cold, hard fact is: If these efforts are successful, hundreds more newspapers will lock their doors shortly after.
We don’t have room here to detail the damage being done to newspapers by the decision makers at the USPS with their continual rate hikes and deteriorating service. It’s ridiculous.
So, here is the plea. In the same way you are asked to make a conscious effort to support your local retail merchants, do the same with your local newspaper.
Buy a classified to advertise the garage sale. Get a subscription instead of reading it occasionally from the newstand. Buy an ad to publicize your event, or sale, or just to remind customers what a good job your business or service does.
That plea doesn’t just go for our newspapers, but for the ones in any other community where you’re involved.
Sure, there’s an expense, but the alternative is the expansion of what the experts call “news deserts.”
Tribune Publishers note: Frank Mercer, CEO of Main Street Media, is a guest columnist this week. He owns some of the weekly papers in the Golden Belt, including the Hoisington Dispatch, Ellinwood Leader and the Larned Tiller and Toiler.
