• N.Y. Times / Intl. Herald Tribune, Thursday, February 16, 2006 10:46 AM

The newspaper and magazine industries, hit hard by aggressive, nimble competitors in broadcasting and Internet broadband, are getting up off the mat.  Again.  Groups representing both industries have prepared new ad campaigns designed to persuade advertisers that print is not dead. To the contrary, the campaigns say, print creates relationships with its audience that cannot be duplicated by other media.  Magazine Publishers of America is sponsoring the one campaign; the other comes from the Newspaper Association of America.  Although their timing is coincidental, they were not coordinated with that in mind.  Writes the Times' ad columnist, Stuart Elliott:  "Both trade organizations have recently run ad campaigns aimed at the advertising industry.  But the need for print media to make their case in a more noticeable, even intrusive, manner is growing as their share of advertising revenue shrinks." Lauren Rich, who follows the advertising industry for Merrill Lynch, is quoted by Elliott as saying, "I'm surprised they haven't tried to do something like this sooner.  There's still value in print advertising, but advertisers are assessing the return they're getting on it." Sluggish growth in newspaper advertising had sometimes been attributed in the past to economic cycles, says one industry observer, but the situation now makes clear that the problem may be systemic, requiring a more radical industry response.

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