How to Save Florida Newspapers: It's the Advertising, Dude

  Editor and Publisher has a pretty interesting story today on the newspaper industry in Florida and how one of the states that have historically been most hospitable to newspapers has become a much tougher environment.

It's a long piece, but it tells a simple story: Florida newspapers are getting squeezed by the implosion of the real estate market, the disintegrating classified ads business, rising newsprint prices and an audience that is aging faster than it is growing.

Besides talking about the recent reductions we've been implementing in staff and size of the paper, the piece also references cuts at Media General's Tampa news operations, especially the Tribune, and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune down south.

Newspapers' biggest problems right now are that nearly all the methods in which we have traditionally made money are under challenge. Advertising is down, classified is down, readership is flat or declining and new platforms such as the Web and TBT depend on the reporting resources of the newspaper newsroom without generating the necessary profits to help keep all the staffing.

I'm not sure anyone in the country has found a solution. I do know that, as cool as it would be to see folks in the community rally by purchasing a newspaper subscription or two, what newspapers really need is for advertisers to purchase more ads -- including those of you who might place a classified ad.

In other words, if you really believe in newspapers and want to see them continue, you might help most by turning away from Craigslist and Monster.com and paying to place your help wanted, car for sale and apartment for rent ads in your local daily.

It won't be free, or close to it. But you will help save an important informational resource.   

Comments

This is the kind of thinking that contributed to the industry's current dilemma. Why should an individual or a business forgo more effective, less expensive advertising alternatives to prop up for-profit enterprises? If newspapers are to survive, the industry must stop pining for the way things were and find a new, viable business model.

[Eric Deggans]

We are finding a new model. But unfortunately it means cutting resources in a way newspaper fans do not appreciate.

I'm suggesting that those who want to do something can help by shoring up one of the areas where newspaper are experiencing big losses. Otherwise, the cuts will come where they do and we'll all have to watch society's watchdogs hampered by cutbacks...

Cutting your way to the future only serves to dilute the product and make it less attractive to an increasingly disinterested public. If newspapers as we know them are to survive--in whatever form they ended up being delivered--investors must be willing to accept less than the 20-percent and higher margins of days gone by while the media companies figure out a sustainable business model. Cutting back does more harm than good.

[Eric Deggans]

At a newspaper like The Times, we're not trying to make 18 percent profit margins. We're owned by a non-profit -- we don't need to make that level of profit. Most newspapers seeking that level of sustained profit instituted buyouts and layoffs a long while ago...

But even with reduced expectations, we are forced to reduce costs to keep the business viable.

[Oscar]

Part of the problem I have with The Times is that I live in Polk County. I pick it up when I can at work, but it is not available for delivery here.

[Jim Johnson]

The death of newspapers is inevitable, Eric... completing the circle enabled by technology. The first newspapers were, essentially, blogs - using a printing press instead of the Internet.

In a short period of time, "The Feed" will only be available on "www.EricDeggans.com" ... of course, then you would have to not only report, but also maintain the website, sell advertising and/or subscriptions, manage the books, and market yourself to attract more readers.

But these "administrative" is really the only benefits to having newspapers.

When reporters/columnists/critics recognize this and start to strike out on their own, then the news industry can continue it's evolution.

Otherwise, newspapers are really just tilting at windmills.

[Eric Deggans]

much as i respect your opinion, Jim, i disagree.

It is obvious that newspapers will change, but I don't think they will ever go away. It's an old story: radio was supposed to kill films, TV was supposed to kill radio, Internet video and Dvds are suppsoed to kill Tv.

But somehow, ever medium remains a part of the modern media mix.

Newspapers will definitely change; they won't be the authoritative powerhouses we once knew. But I don't think every newspaper journalist will be writing a blog on their own, either.

But what they become, inpart, will be determined by how much average citizens value the information they bring - and what they're willing to do to help these businesses maintain their structure.

If we can give millions in tax dollars to keep a football team in town, surely we can figure out some way to keep all the nations great papers from falling off the edge of the digital world.

[Bryant McNiece]

Eric, you definitely have touched upon nearly all the problems facing traditional print journalism, including your prediction that the fate of many newspapers will ultimately be "determined by how much average citizens value the information they bring...". It is my opinion that much of the decline in readership is due to the predominately liberal bias of many major metropolitan newspapers. If you are a conservative reader, it is difficult to remain loyal to your hometown newspaper when its policy is to eradicate conservatism. And who could blame a conservative business owner for placing his advertising dollars elsewhere, especially when there is a choice that gets equal or better results. When publishers, editors, and in some cases even reporters, choose a position that is offensive to perhaps half of their readers and advertisers...well, you reap what you sow!

[Daniel]

Bryant, You make an excelent point. At least half of the readers are conservetive yet are subjected to libral bias and a liberal media in general. Fox news is one conservetive TV outlet and it gets constant criticism from the rest of the mainstream media which is not mainstream at all but libral leaning. While I don't listen to Rush or Buchanan, they do get huge ratings. I think both view points, both libral and conservetive, should be presented, maybe then advertisers would spend more money in print.

[Eric Deggans]

daniel and Bryant --

You are right, newspapers could pander to conservatives the way Fox News does. But we wouldn't be doing our jobs.

I think what's really happening is that there is less room in people's lives for the daily newspaper. they don't have the time or the inclination to sit down with a big hunk of newsprint every day.

that has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with how we live our lives.

Still, the St. Petersburg times is considered a pretty liberal newspaper by conservatives and we have seen our Sunday circulation increase a little bit in the last reporting period, and in the period before that daily and sunday circulation rose a bit.

So i'm not sure what that means for your hypothesis.

The problem with your panhandling is that classified ads don't work. Not only aren't sellers buying them, but buyers are reading them. I put a couch in the Times' classifieds for the standard three day run, not one call.

I put up a free ad on Craigslist (with the free photos) and got my first call within 20 minutes and sold it by the end of the evening.

You're trying to get me to buy a horse and buggy to save the buggywhip industry. But a bike is cheaper and works better.

It's not my job to save newspapers, it's yours. Make me want it. Make me want ads.

Here's an idea, run your own version of Craigs List: free ads, online, completely local, with free photos. Then sell ads along the side to targeted provers. On the tickets for sale page: limos and restaurants would buy ads. On the furniture for sale page: movers, storage companies, new furniture dealers buy ads.

But don't ask me to buy an inferior product to save an unrelated item.

[Daniel]

Eric, If circulation is INCREASING, why is the Times making these cost cutting moves? Earlier in this piece you said that readership is "flat or down" now you are telling us it is up. Which one is it? Is it seasonal? Increases in the winter months might be explained by the seasonal nature of the area. Is it up over the same period last year?
What those increases can also mean is that many conservetives are fully aware your paper is very liberal and gave up on it some time ago. The increases could reflect a desire to read about the Presidential election coverage, especially from Democrats, because that election has been tight. Lets see what happens AFTER the new President is elected.
We both know there are PLENTY of conservetives in the area, no one is suggesting you "pander" to anyone or turn into Fox news. Giving un-bias coverage wouldn't hurt or offend anyone, IMO it gives you more credibility to cover BOTH sides of an issue, besides, you guys might just sell more ads.

[Daniel]

Eric, to say you "wouldn't be doing your jobs" if you also presented a conservetive or non-liberal veiw point is ridiculous. Does that mean there is ONLY one valid veiwpoint for the news to cover, and that is liberal? So to cover any other point of veiw means you are not doing your job? Why even have a two party system and elections? Lets just make Ted Kennedy the King and be done with it. And please don't start one of your anti-Bush diatribes about how he destroyed our country. Bush is about as conservetive as your newspaper. His government is larger than any in recent memory, LBJ like really. He does not spend like a conservetive. Also a true conservetive is a non-interventionest and does not believe in war. The current administration is not conservetive in the least. Niether is McCain.

[Eric Deggans]

Readership is flat or down for most newspapers. But the Times is a notable exception to that trend.

Or circulation figures are among the best of any newspaper in florida. Which suggests to me that your notion of our overage being slanted to the left, and that somehow affecting our circulation, is wrong.

Newspapers' problems are much more fundamental than the perception that our coverage tilts one way or another politically. Even Fox News has had ratings challenges in the last few years and newspapers which are considered reliably conservative, such as the New York Post and Washington Times have also had circulation problems.

As I keep saying, our two biggest problems is that reader's lives don't leave room to read the newspaper anymore, and advertisers don't have the money to buy ads...Both of those conditions are very tough to handle on our end.

[dave]

The Newspaper Association of America just released an interesting overview of newspapers turning to online video to create a new space for advertising.

Google
Zooming In on Online Video

[dreaming]

"...reader's lives don't leave room to read the newspaper anymore..."

really? 2m people are not too busy to read usatoday....1.2m business people have time for the wsj

1m nyc residents are not too busy to read the nyt.

800k washingtonians have time for the washpost

yr telling me 300k old people around tampa bay are too busy playing shuffleboard to read a few pages of wire copy and some local content in the sptimes?

as for buying absurdly overpriced classifieds when they are free on craigslist, please!

your real estate classifieds cost thousands of dollars if you want to try to sell your house in this depressed market. it's no wonder people aren't buying.

if newspapers want to switch business models from for-profit to charities, then fans can 'donate' to keep them running, i guess.

[joe hillman]

dan lebatard, former miami herald columnist, has an interesting take on papers can stop their own suicide.

http://thebiglead.com/?p=5820

[Daniel]

Eric, You know as well as I that different regions in the country are either more Conservetive or more Liberal. You can't compare the NY Post to the St pete Times, NYC is full of Liberals and usually votes Democratic in elections. I just read on The Stonewall Democratic website of Pinellas that this region is considered a "swing" region. Only 1% seperates registered Republican from Democrats.
If there is an equal number of Dems to Reps in the area, how can you be so sure you do not alienate readers and advertisers?
Shouldn't you attribute your high circulation to the fact that Pinellas Co is one of the largest and most populated counties in the state bordering another large county being Hillborough?
I am not talking circulation so much as I am talking advertising. Many large companies tend to follow Conservetive and Rep views as they seem to be the party of low taxes and pro business ideals, don't you think you might be alienating them? It would be disingenuous to think not.

[Eric Deggans]

I don't know as much about advertising. But if your claims about the Times were true, then other newspapers with more conservative editorial boards and columnists would be doing better in advertising -- including the Tampa Tribune and the Florida Times Union.

The fact is, they are not. And, in fact, they are losing circulation at greater rates than we are.

I think you should accept the possiblity that your thesis is wrong. Because it almost definitely is.

[Doug]

I'm kind of curious as how classified ad revenues compare to the overall advertising revenues (at the St Pete Times, or elsewhere by comparison) and if this has changed over time.

I've been a SPT subscriber for almost ten years and I consider the classified section to be useful mainly for blotting bacon grease.

I know, this post won't show up becuase it is suspected as spam. Probably a message for me not to try and post here from work.

[Daniel]

Eric, all I am saying is that there is an equal number of Conservetives to Liberals in this area. Some of those conservetives do own businesses.
Sure I accept the fact that they may not care in the least, I also realize that it is NOT definate that they don't.
I understand you have liberal views, I read your columns enough to know this, so it is probably impossible for you to admit that having a liberal view might alienate SOME Conservetive business men.
The Times circulation has always been good, so as I stated earlier, many conservetives have probably given up on you long ago.
Again I do accept what I am saying could be wrong, I'm surprised that you don't accept on any level it could be right.

This liberal/conservative rant is absurd and obscures the real issues. This is about business, not politics. Does anyone really believe that a conservative business owner doesn't want to reach a liberal customer and vice versa. Grow up, people.

[Frank]

Actually, 4:00PM who was SCARED to leave a name, politics is business and visa-versa. I may not fully agree that business people would decide to advertise or not based on the view of the newspaper, but the business of a newspaper is to provide an unbias view of the news(outside of editorials), not serve their own political agenda.
There are mutual funds based on ethics, morality, relegion and also a green theme and people chose ALL the time to do business or invest based on those issues, so the idea that they wouldn't do business based on a political view, especially when there are so many other options, should not be so easliy dismissed.

[Mark]

Question for those who feel that newspapers' liberal bias (in general) is responsible for their decline in advertising:

Please explain the falling revenues and subsequent mass layoffs at Media General and specifically the (right-leaning) Tampa Tribune.

[Bob]

I don't know about liberal bias or not, but I can tell you that the Tampa Tribune has the WORST web navigation setup of ANY newspaper I have ever seen. I collect Classic cars and can NEVER get to the Classsic car section of the Tampa Trib's web page. Try it. I would NEVER place an ad with them if people can't get to the ad online. Most of the car ads that are shown are from dealers. The Trib just has a ROTTEN product and THAT might explain their ad revenue decline.

[joe hillman]

>>>Please explain the falling revenues and subsequent mass layoffs at Media General and specifically the (right-leaning) Tampa Tribune.<<<

you are kidding, right?

let's be honest, what is the percentage of people who purchase the times or tribune for the editorial page, 10 percent (seriously)?

one paper covers the entire area. the other covers two counties. what would you buy?

i've never been convinced that the majority of subscribers buy a paper solely for the editorial page. they buy it for the quality of content.

do some people not buy the times because of it's leftist views? of course. i also know people who don't buy the tribune because of it's supposed right-wing editorials.

i also know people who won't buy the tribune because it's "a gator paper." yet the gators are by far the most popular team in florida.

hasn't helped the tribune out very much, has it?

[joe hillman]

>>> don't know about liberal bias or not, but I can tell you that the Tampa Tribune has the WORST web navigation setup of ANY newspaper I have ever seen. I collect Classic cars and can NEVER get to the Classsic car section of the Tampa Trib's web page. Try it. I would NEVER place an ad with them if people can't get to the ad online. Most of the car ads that are shown are from dealers. The Trib just has a ROTTEN product and THAT might explain their ad revenue decline.<<<

ding... ding... ding... ding!

the only way to find a story on tbo.com you have to search for it and pray you know a name of a subject in the story or a reporter's name, otherwise you are screwed.

there are a lot of writers i enjoy with the tribune. but if i have to hunt for their stories, why waste my time? i may go there twice a week. the navigation is miserable, even with the redesign.

[Crikey]

The really sad part is that local newspapers are the only ones left sitting thru city council meetings and reading school board budgets. None of these other media(blogs, TV, radio stations) have actual reporters of any great number on the ground doing the hard work. But I think you are wrong, Eric, to say readers who care should spend $100 on a classified ad instead of a free posting on Craig's list. What you should urge is for your newspaper to so a better job of selling its online ads and pumping up its online product.
The need is still there for news and advertising, but it's online instead of in print.

[dcdave]

The real problem is that although eyeballs are moving online, advertisers have not, because most local agencies have no idea how to buy or measure online campaigns. In fact, many of them are scared, and local advertisers haven't the foggiest either.

What needs to happen is wholesale education of the market, but that's going to take time. Who will be left standing?

[Jim Johnson]

Eric, (Sorry for not replying sooner)

I wasn't inferring that all journalists would become bloggers -- which you have been ever since your first article, by the way; a newspaper is a printed blog.

But the truth is, you most of your stories are not specific to St Petersburg or the Bay Area... Thus, your potential market is far, far larger than that of the Times - why should a talented writer and journalist be anchored to a geographically centered media company?