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What's going on in newspapers right now? -- Kevin Slimp

What's going on in newspapers right now? -- Kevin Slimp

An overview of the state of community journalism in the U.S.

Transcript

  1. View Slide

  2. Our Plan

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  3. During this hour,
    We will take a look at the results
    Of the Newspaper Institute
    Mid 2018 survey of
    North American Newspapers.
    At a later session, we will discuss
    how to use this - and additional -

    information to increase the

    readership and profitability

    of your newspaper.
    Our Plan

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  4. You will participate in an intellectual exercise

    as you attempt to guess the most common

    responses of 500 newspaper

    publishers/owners/ceo’s representing

    500 different papers/newspaper groups

    in the U.S. and Canada.
    Our Method

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  5. Your mission is to guess how these

    newspaper executives responded to

    questions concerning their newspapers,

    not to answer the questions as they
    relate to your newspaper.
    Our Method

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  6. The Survey
    The survey these newspaper 

    executives completed included 

    more than 35 questions.
    We will examine 22 of them today.

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  7. current

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  10. Make your best guess:
    What is the average 

    circulation/print run
    of a newspaper 

    in the U.S.
    1.

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  12. 2.

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  14. 3.

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  16. 4.

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  19. 5.

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  21. 6.

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  23. 7.

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  25. 8.

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  27. 9.

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  29. 10.

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  31. 11.

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  33. 12.

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  35. 13.

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  37. 14.

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  39. Focus on national / regional news
    Improve writing quality
    Focus on local content
    Better design
    Improved customer service
    Other
    15.

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  41. 16.

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  43. 17.

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  45. This does not include centralized printing

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  46. 18.

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  48. MIDWEST REGION U.S. MAN/SAS
    19.

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  49. MIDWEST REGION U.S. MAN/SAS

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  51. MIDWEST REGION U.S. MAN/SAS
    20.

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  52. MIDWEST REGION U.S. MAN/SAS

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  53. MIDWEST REGION U.S. MAN/SAS
    21.

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  54. MIDWEST REGION U.S. MAN/SAS

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  55. MIDWEST REGION U.S. MAN/SAS
    22.

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  56. MIDWEST REGION U.S. MAN/SAS

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  57. MIDWEST REGION U.S. MAN/SAS

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  60. Don't skimp on local coverage.

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  61. Don't skimp on local coverage.
    Keep fighting for what is right.

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  62. Don't skimp on local coverage.
    Keep fighting for what is right.
    Do a good job covering your community, become an active member of your community,
    become your community's go-to place for information as well as news!

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  63. Don't skimp on local coverage.
    Keep fighting for what is right.
    Do a good job covering your community, become an active member of your community,
    become your community's go-to place for information as well as news!
    Focus on local. You cannot compete with Facebook or Google.

    View Slide

  64. Don't skimp on local coverage.
    Keep fighting for what is right.
    Do a good job covering your community, become an active member of your community,
    become your community's go-to place for information as well as news!
    Focus on local. You cannot compete with Facebook or Google.
    Keep it local. You can get national news anywhere. People want to read about their 

    community and their kids.

    View Slide

  65. Don't skimp on local coverage.
    Keep fighting for what is right.
    Do a good job covering your community, become an active member of your community,
    become your community's go-to place for information as well as news!
    Focus on local. You cannot compete with Facebook or Google.
    Keep it local. You can get national news anywhere. People want to read about their 

    community and their kids.
    Try to keep your paper as local as possible, using local content at least 95 percent 

    of the time.

    View Slide

  66. Don't skimp on local coverage.
    Keep fighting for what is right.
    Do a good job covering your community, become an active member of your community,
    become your community's go-to place for information as well as news!
    Focus on local. You cannot compete with Facebook or Google.
    Keep it local. You can get national news anywhere. People want to read about their 

    community and their kids.
    Try to keep your paper as local as possible, using local content at least 95 percent 

    of the time.
    Concentrate on community and schools.

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  67. What we learned?
    • Just over half of all newspapers in the U.S.

    are locally owned and not part of a group.
    • Statistically, very few newspaper changed hands

    in the previous year. Most that did changed hands

    to similar ownership models.
    • Most newspapers report they are in good shape,

    but more report being in worse shape than reported

    being in better shape than three years ago.
    What might surprise people?

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  68. What we learned?
    • The vast majority of revenue at newspapers comes

    from print advertising.
    • 60 percent of respondents still question the benefit

    of their digital news efforts.
    • Staff size of most newspapers has remained about

    the same over the past three years, with more

    decreasing in size than increasing in size.
    • Only 15 percent of newspapers belong to a large

    regional or national group.

    What might surprise people?

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  69. Differences in 

    Dailies & Non-Dailies
    The differences arise in response to Question 11, 

    "How do you feel about the following statement: "Our business 

    would do just as well or better without a digital version."
    A whopping 59 percent of daily publishers responded, "That's
    ridiculous. We would be in worse shape without a digital/online
    edition.”
    Conversely, 68 percent of weekly publishers believe it either 

    "is" or "might be" true that their paper would do just as well 

    without a digital version. When you add in the number of folks 

    who responded "other," then wrote they didn't have a digital
    presence, you have well more than 70 percent of weekly 

    publishers wondering if there is any advantage to having 

    a digital edition of their newspapers.

    View Slide

  70. Differences in 

    Dailies & Non-Dailies
    The differences arise in response to Question 11, 

    "How do you feel about the following statement: "Our business 

    would do just as well or better without a digital version."
    A whopping 59 percent of daily publishers responded, "That's
    ridiculous. We would be in worse shape without a digital/online
    edition.”
    Conversely, 68 percent of weekly publishers believe it either 

    "is" or "might be" true that their paper would do just as well 

    without a digital version. When you add in the number of folks 

    who responded "other," then wrote they didn't have a digital
    presence, you have well more than 70 percent of weekly 

    publishers wondering if there is any advantage to having 

    a digital edition of their newspapers.

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