Nevada Press Association The best in Nevada journalism since 1924
The secret is out.
The typical American newspaper is small, making money and deeply ingrained in its community.
You thought you knew that already? Well, you haven’t been listening to the morticians of print trudging across the digital expanse crying ‘Bring out your dead.’ They don’t read smalltown newspapers, probably because they’re not all that interested in what’s going on where they live.
But Media Life magazine, as part of its series on ‘Reinventing the American Newspaper,’ has a piece this week on community newspapers, and the lessons to be learned from them. The findings are in some ways reflective of Kevin Slimp’s column on his survey of newspaper executives.
You can be successful in print. And the blueprint is no secret at all, although it sometimes seems to elude the smartest of folks.
At press associations across the country, we see the people who are doing well year after year. They emphasize their strengths and keep working on their weaknesses.
It always starts with the word ‘local.’ Local news. Local ownership. Local advertisers. Local readers.
Put another way, it’s those deep roots in a community.
The community newspaper
How else are you going to know what’s important enough to put on the front page? How else are you going to get that story in the first place, with enough insight, background and context to let people know exactly how it affects them?
How else are you going to make sure your newspaper has more value each day than the price on its cover? Do you actually use the coupons at the grocery store because you shop there? Do you wave them at the manager when you’re checking out, so he sees the connection?
If you’re not invested in your newspaper’s community, why are you going to care what happens there? The quality of water in Flint, Mich., is a fascinating and tragic stor no matter where you are. If you live there, though, it’s a matter of life and death.
You’ll read a school-bond story a whole lot closer when you have kids in the schools. You’ll know whether the story answers your questions or not, like how much money is going to spruce up the gym and how much is going to library books.
If you want their advertising dollars, you better know exactly who is making the decisions for local businesses. You probably should know who holds their bank loan and who is their landlord, too.
If you want people to read your newspaper, go where they go and do what they do. That’s the basics. But if you want to go beyond, you have to find the fascinating people who are doing remarkable things — they are out there, in your community.
I could go on, but I shouldn’t need to. These aren’t secrets at all. They have always been the keys to success.
And they remain the advantages that community-minded newspapers have over all their competitors.