State's daily newspapers struggle for readers
News outlets are hoping emphasis on local content will stem the tide of circ declines
With daily newspaper circulation drastically down across the region and state, editors and publishers are working hard to keep their print products relevant to readers and advertisers.
But, at least one executive said fundamental changes in papers' editorial content – that is, extreme localization – and aggressive, targeted advertising strategies can keep the struggling industry in the black.
The numbers show the "all-local" theory might be working. Two of the state's biggest papers – Worcester's Telegram & Gazette and the Boston Herald – lost more than 10 percent of their daily readership between 2005 and 2006, while the mid-sized Berkshire Eagle of Pittsfield actually gained a handful of readers over the same period."I think the market we're in drives that," said Richard Barker, publisher of Fitchburg's Sentinel & Enterprise, which shares an owner with the Eagle. "It seems to me that the large metro papers are having a tougher time at it."
How bad is it?
Numbers released last month by the Schaumburg, Ill.-based Audit Bureau of Circulations for the six-month period ending March 31 showed Massachusetts papers' circulation falling 5.2 percent over the past year, more than double the national average of 2.1 percent.
Using ABC statistics, the Worcester Business Journal charted the circulation figures from 2000 to 2006 for 12 Massachusetts dailies, including four in the region (see chart). Only one – Hyannis' Cape Cod Times - gained readers between that period, and all but one of the others – The Republican of Springfield – saw at least a 10 percent circulation dip over the same period.
The GateHouse Media-owned MetroWest Daily News suffered the most among Central Massachusetts papers, hemorrhaging nearly 60 percent of its daily readers – from 57,399 to 22,972 – between 2000 and 2006, though a good portion of the drop can be attributed to a change in audit reporting practices.
On its own, the Milford Daily News circulation dropped almost 32 percent daily, dipping below the 10,000 mark. Meanwhile, The New York Times Co.'s T&G lost 17 percent of its daily readership, and the Sentinel & Enterprise, owned by MediaNews Group Inc., fell 15.7 percent.
The tiny, family-owned Athol Daily News reported a daily drop of less than one percent between 2005 and 2006.
Even one of the "winners," Hyannis' Times, faces questions about its future. Last week, Australian executive Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. launched a surprise, $5 billion bid for Dow Jones, which runs Ottaway Newspapers Inc., the Times' immediate corporate parent. However, the Bancroft family, which controls 64 percent of Dow Jones' voting shares, has reportedly said it will oppose the deal.
Why the drop?
Explanations for the precipitous statewide circulation drop are as different as the papers trying to ride it out, but almost all sources contacted cited the availability of free information on the Internet.
"We know readership is out there," said Brenda Reed, the executive director of the Boston-based New England Press Association. "We believe people have begun to get their news differently, but clearly, a lot of people are still counting on the print product. Other people, for a variety of reasons, are jumping online to take a quick look at what's going on when they have a moment to read whatever it is. And some are doing both."
New media
The New York Times Co., which got 19 percent of its $3.3 billion 2006 revenue from its New England holdings (including the T&G), blamed "new media formats" in its annual report.
"Our newspaper properties, and the newspaper industry as a whole, are experiencing difficulty maintaining and increasing print circulation and related revenues," the report said. "This is due to, among other factors, increased competition from new media formats and sources other than traditional newspapers (often free to users), and shifting preferences among some customers to receive all or a portion of their news other than from a newspaper."
T&G publisher Bruce Gaultney called half of his paper's daily decline and a third of the Sunday slip in the latest ABC figures predictable, claiming it stemmed from the publications decision to make its web site available for free, rather than exclusively to paid subscribers.
Amid the hard times, some have discovered new opportunity for profit. Fitchburg's Sentinel & Enterprise, according to publisher Barker, has reached out to both customers and advertisers with a near-complete emphasis on hometown coverage. It's a philosophy typical of Denver-based MediaNews Group's Massachusetts daily holdings (the S&E, the Berkshire Eagle and the Sun of Lowell, along with the North Adams Transcript), which, in general, fared better in circulation between 2005 and 2006 than the holdings of The New York Times Co. or Fairport, N.Y.-based GateHouse Media Inc.
"I think, if you look at our editorial product, we're pretty much all local," Barker said. "It bodes well for our customers in the area, since I think they appreciate it that, if you look at our front page, it's pretty much 100 percent [local]."
In its 2006 annual report, MediaNews Group touted the potential profitability of suburban newspaper holdings, contrasted with metropolitan dailies.
"Our suburban newspapers generate the majority of their revenues from local retail, classified and circulation sales, which we believe are less affected by national economic trends and therefore tend to provide a more stable base of operating cash flow," the report said.
T&G publisher Gaultney also stressed the importance of local news in his paper.
As readers migrate to the web, papers are working toward coordinating their online and print products. In Fitchburg, S&E circulation director Mike Sheehan said, that means using the web site to drive readers to the paper editions by offering free samples.
Advertising, too, is starting to see its place on papers' web site, as many offer online buys in addition to traditional print ad packages. Gaultney said potential T&G advertisers are offered combinations of both print and online displays.
Telegram.com received 514,000 unique visitors in April, and averages in the area of 31,000 visitors a day.
"With the growth in the Internet and the type of person that goes to the Internet, there's some value there," Gaultney said. However, the T&G hasn't forgotten its print product either. The paper recently underwent a redesign, which included tweaks to its name across the front page.
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