• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 18, 2004

Local newspapers had a difficult time in 2003. With total ad spending estimated to have risen only about 2.5 percent, the newspaper business expanded at only about half the 5.2 percent Universal McCann Forecaster Bob Coen estimates the entire U.S. advertising marketplace grew last year.

But some papers - especially alternative newsweeklies - performed considerably better. According to year-end 2003 estimates released by the Alternative Weekly Network (AWN), ad spending in alternative papers rose 6 percent in 2003, beating the overall ad industry growth.

The network, which includes the major alternative newsweeklies, including The Village Voice in New York and LA Weekly in Los Angeles, showed an especially strong sales impetus toward the end of 2003.

"We've had two of our best months of the year the last two months, which is encouraging in terms of setting a strong trend and establishing some momentum going into 2004," said John Morrison, national sales director of the network. He said all traditional categories were strong, but that alcohol and tobacco continued to dominate network buys, and the fastest growing categories were financial, media and automotive.

Some of the networks members reported even stronger rates of growth. New Times' Ruxton Group, which sells national advertising for 28 alternative newsweeklies, including papers like the Chicago Reader and Phoenix New Times, grew its ad sales 17 percent in 2003.

Recently, some of the largest mainstream newspaper publishers have launched alternative papers in an effort to capture younger adult readers.