• by Michael Shields , June 11, 2004

While magazine publishers struck a note of harsh self-criticism, their newspaper counterparts came across as cocky and self-assured about the state of the newspaper industry Thursday during the ANA's Print Advertising Forum in New York. The group was questioned on the various threats facing the medium's vitality, including declining circulation numbers, the Internet, and the newspaper-avoidant younger generation.

While acknowledging the long-term trend toward smaller circulations, panelists defended the strength of the newspaper audience. "No one likes to lose a customer," said David Murphy, president, Tribune Media Net. "But advertising is a bundle of value. Audience size is one part of that."

Janet Robinson, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the New York Times Company, agreed, emphasizing that newspapers deliver a relationship with readers that is sometimes overlooked. "Don't just look at quantity, look at quality," she said. "Newspapers do a good job of retention."

Added Murphy: "We are retaining audience better than most mass media. That is a story we aren't telling well enough."

John Miller, managing partner, director of out of home and newspaper communications at the Mediaedge: cia, contended that newspaper circulation means a lot more to local retailers when buying advertising than it does to national advertisers. "Circulation isn't a decision maker (for national advertisers)," he said.

The panelists also brushed aside criticism that the medium has not adapted to the new media world, where many gather news online or from cable TV sound bites. Robinson mentioned newspapers' ability to leverage databases, direct mail, and the Internet, among other things. "Newspapers are not just newspaper companies," she said. "Anyone who looks at newspaper as pure newspaper is missing something."

Murphy saw the business going through an evolution, for the better. "There is a generational turn occurring at the editor level, the writer level...We are starting to see consumers in a different way," he said. As for the younger reader, whom newspapers are courting with free, bare-bones dailies in many markets, the panel generally expressed a belief that these readers had a place in newspapers.

"We need to trust our readers a lot more," said Miller. "We need to trust young people's intelligence."

Miller said that he thought the addition of special sections in many papers as a tactic to draw in a younger audience was a strong move. When that subject was raised, Scott Harding, chairman and CEO of the Newspaper Services of America, drew brief applause when he took a shot at research limits on readership. "We need readership by section," he said.

Murphy took that thought even further, saying that newspapers should price advertising differently by section, comparing the medium to cable television.

The panel session closed with each member being asked a series of rapid-fire questions for which they were permitted to supply just one of two answers: agree or disagree.

All four panelists disagreed with a statement that implied that newspaper research was okay as is. Predictably, when the group was asked whether tabloid-style papers will replace broadsheet, two members agreed, while the Times' Robinson and the Tribune's Murphy did not.