A 10-point plan for the government to shore up local newspapers (From The Seattle Times' publisher)

Seems to me that local newspapers are far enough behind that they need to be spotted more than 10 points.

 

I figured readership would be cratering in St. Louis, given Lee, and I was surprised it held as many readers. Even more so with Seattle, although I’m sure local ownership helps there.

 

Circ here has been trending down 10% a year pretty consistently for more than 10 years so I guess the slow bleed beats a plunge? Either way bad

 

I think the big plunge for those other properties hit before 2017. That said, the Gannett papers are visibly, noticeably worse after the GateHouse takeover — like, noticeable to regular readers and subscribers. My stepmom noticed that she was only seeing one byline in her local Gannett sports section on every story, and I was like, yeah, he’s the only sportswriter they have now. She and my dad dropped their subscription after the printing was moved 3 hours away.

GannettHouse wanted to push the lines to see how far they could cut print and how much the could frog-boil with the price before readers noticed. They notice now. That’s a common thread among readers, that they know they’re paying more for less.

I just can’t come up with an argument to keep print any more than Ford and GM can come up with an argument to keep making six-passenger body-on-frame rear-wheel-drive sedans. Nostalgia is not a business model.

 

I keep getting $1-for-many-months deals from the Patriot Ledger. Sometimes it’s for three months, sometimes six. Despite the promised limited time availability, they keep on being extended. They’re worse than the department stores at this point. That was once one of the best suburban papers in the country. The last 20 years have been ugly there.

 

I would guess St. Louis is helped by one of the best sports staffs around — one that still travels on its beats. Cardinals coverage in particular, with Derrick Goold and many others. And Dave Matter doing yeoman’s work on the Mizzou beat.

 

Here's what I recall reading -- I could be wrong.

At nearly every newspaper*, there is more revenue, if not far more revenue from the print edition than digital, especially advertising revenue. Ending print would mean a big revenue hit. I acknowledge there would be cost savings, probably substantial cost savings but the cost savings would not be larger than the revenue loss.

I also acknowledge there is a "your mileage may vary" factor making the situation different at different places.

*-Does not refer to the "Big Three" of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. I know The Washington Post has had troubles lately. We don't need to rediscuss that here and now.

 

I’d be surprised if that’s true about the print edition at many places anymore. Print has been so decimated in the last 15 years that you have to be an idiot, or a person with a routine that will not budge (seniors like my mom), to consider buying it. I’m not buying something that goes to press at 2 p.m. yesterday. Maybe the extra circ revenue from the exponential cover price hikes masks some of the loss.

We’re almost 30 years in with this Internet thing. The only model for text-driven, profit-seeking news organizations that has consistently proven successful is the paid subscriber model. The people have spoken. Let’s stop pretending that there’s a true second way or that print circ will magically rebound in 2031.

 

In addition to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, what U.S. news organizations are doing well in getting paid subscribers?

 

Boston Globe?

 

The Seattle Times, the Dallas Morning News, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Minneapolis Star Tribune all have done reasonably well gathering and retaining paid subscriptions. The Tampa Bay Times did for a while, but I’m wondering how well they’re doing with retention.

The Texas Tribune and Colorado Sun, digital-only news organizations, are holding their own. More locally, the Daily Citizen, a digital non-profit in Springfield, Mo., significantly exceeded its paid subscription goals in its first year. The Post and Courier is expanding throughout South Carolina in a very focused way.

The basic common thread between those with successful digital strategies: No corporate ownership.

Local doesn’t scale. And it shouldn’t.