Published: July 25, 2009 07:45 pm      

Op-Ed: Not every paper is struggling

Oops ... did it again.

It's a sad testament when you have to quote the much-maligned and often-misguided pop singer Britney Spears.

But, yes, we did it again by publishing another story about the demise of yet another daily newspaper. We shot ourselves in the foot by publishing the reporting of the Associated Press that the Ann Arbor News, a publication in the Newhouse family's Advance Publications group, hit the streets for the last time as a result of "the struggling newspaper industry."

Yes, Britney, we did it again by lumping all newspapers into the "struggling newspaper industry." At least Britney admits she erred in her song by admitting that she repeated an error. Some in our industry are not smart enough to say enough is enough. Not "all" newspapers are struggling and the entire newspaper industry is not struggling!

The story that appeared in the July 24, 2009, edition of the Traverse City Record-Eagle went on to say that AnnArbor.com, a free Web site, was to go live Friday and will publish print editions on ad-heavy Thursdays and Sundays.

So, did they really hit the streets for the last time Thursday or is it a different model with a different delivery schedule that includes hitting the streets on Thursdays and Sundays?

What troubles me more is the aforementioned lumping of us all into the same barrel under the heading of "struggling newspaper industry." Folks, as I've said many times in prior columns, some of us are doing quite well, thank you.

And our parent company, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., is performing above most of our industry standards and doing quite well, considering all of the negativity surrounding our industry and the struggles of auto, real estate and retail, which directly impact "all" media companies.

We as an industry have to stop the negativity and guilt-by-association reporting of the struggles of newspapers. Yes, there are newspapers that have struggled or closed. Yes, there are newspapers that have changed their business models. But most of the papers that have changed have done so because there were multiple papers in single markets competing for the same advertising dollars and readers. Quite frankly, that may have worked years ago, but it doesn't play well in today's economic environment.

Let's get back to the good news about the newspaper industry. I'll start with the results of a survey conducted by MaRl Research in March/April 2009 that found newspapers to be a solid industry when it comes to readers and results. Couple the MaRl research information with a Scarborough 2008 report and you'll find that newspapers are not struggling as an industry .

Three-fourths of all adults read a newspaper in print or online in the past week. According to the information behind that number, those 170 million adults do more than read. They are actively engaged with the advertising in that paper.

Forty-one percent of U.S. adults in 2009 said newspapers are the medium used most to check out ads -- more than radio, TV, the Internet, magazines and catalogs combined. Doesn't sound like a struggling industry to me.

Eighty-two percent of U.S. adults in 2009 took some action as a result of a print newspaper ad in the past 30 days. Sixty-one percent clipped a coupon, 50 percent bought something advertised and 52 percent visited a store. I would say those are perkier numbers than a Britney Spears performance and not too shabby for a struggling industry.

Let's talk about those few adults who did not read a newspaper in the past week.

Thirty-six percent used a newspaper during that same week and the usage includes 15 percent who clipped a coupon, 14 percent who checked the weather and 10 percent who checked a movie listing. I would suggest those are pretty good numbers for folks who are non-readers of the newspaper.

In the past three months, 92 percent of newspaper readers in general took some action and 78 percent checked ads for local stores. 82 percent of U.S. adults used a pre-printed insert in the past 30 days in 2009.

I could go on and on and talk positively about our newspaper industry. You will see many of these numbers and more presented in ads in newspapers across the country during the next few weeks. If the numbers outlined above are a sign of a struggling industry, I can't wait until things turn around.

Bottom line: We are creating stronger newspapers that will compete better in the years ahead than we have in the past. And the past was pretty good. But the present is even better.

Your Traverse City Record-Eagle and most newspapers around the country will be around for years to come as we continue to fight for your community rights while driving customers to the stores in our local markets better than any medium around.

I hope the next time I have to hear the phrase "oops ... we did it again" is when the next set of numbers come out showing the strength of our newspaper industry.

Michael Casuscelli is publisher of the Traverse City Record-Eagle.