Commentary

With Help From Web Sites, Print Newspapers Are Alive And Well


In the June 8 article, "Print Newspapers Become Endangered Species as Online Publishing Climbs Food Chain," writer Dakota Sullivan unfortunately missed the real story of today's newspapers and their online properties.

First, print newspaper readership continues to be strong in the top 50 markets, according to the most recent data released by the Newspaper Association of America's Newspaper Audience Database (NADbase) with Scarborough Research. Over the course of an average five weekdays and one Sunday, nearly eight in 10 adults (78.1 percent) in the top 50 Designated Market Areas read a newspaper. That accumulates to more than 116 million adults out of the 149 million who live in the top 50 DMA markets.

And, secondly, newspaper publishers are making strong gains in leveraging the power of their newspaper Web sites to grow audience. For example, the Hartford Courant is adding 14 percent to its total audience reach with its Web sites. (Audience reach is calculated by combining the average weekly audience for print and the net 30-day Web site audience.) The San Francisco Chronicle Web sites increase reach of households with income greater than $150,000 by 22 percent.

Based on the NADbase, Sullivan's assertion that newspapers suffer "rapidly dwindling readership" is wrong. If he had taken a minute to surf over to http://www.naa.org/nadbase/, he could have avoided this blunder.

Sullivan goes on to note that "most newspapers have tried to make the move online with some success." One visit to NewsVoyager, and it's obvious that almost all newspapers have online products. In addition, newspaper publishers are winning in their efforts to monetize their online investments, as shown by a full two years' worth of outstanding consecutive gains. For the first quarter of 2006, online advertising expenditures for newspaper Web sites increased by 35 percent to $613 million in the first quarter, versus the same period a year ago, according to NAA. Total advertising revenue for newspapers has increased from $44.3 billion in 2001 to $47.4 billion in 2005. And that does not include the $2 billion in online ad revenue in 2005.

Sullivan also shows his lack of knowledge about newspaper companies when he asserts that our largest revenue driver is from circulation. In fact, newspapers make 80 percent of their revenue from advertising. Free Web sites, then, don't have as much an impact on revenue as Sullivan would have his readers believe.

The online newspaper model is based on advertising. We agree with Sullivan when he says the answer to monetizing the online channel is by using ad networks and behavorial targeting. We would also add that direct sales is a great revenue driver for us and helps augment the relatively low CPMs we often are quoted by the ad networks.

And, he would be happy to know that many online newspapers have been using behavorial targeting with great success for many years. A nonscientific phone poll of just the members of the NAA New Media Federation Communications Committee showed 75 percent of those properties represented on the call use behavioral targeting.

To be sure, newspapers--like all media--face challenges exacerbated by today's increasingly competitive media landscape. But they have solidified their position as the leading local advertising medium in any market you choose to name, by innovating beyond the flagship print editions while also adapting, evolving and diversifying their offerings for the benefit of readers and advertisers. These innovations are delivering value to newspaper advertisers and consumers.

The assumption that the printed product will be extinct as a result of online publications is absurd and reflects a base misunderstanding of human behavior. Every person is different in his reading habits; newspaper companies recognize this and are creating an array of products on multiple media platforms to satisfy varied market segments. Newspaper companies care about fulfilling the information needs of the markets we serve, regardless of the distribution method.

And, we're fortunate in that no other media can match our news-gathering expertise at the local level. We are solely positioned for success in the very environment Sullivan says will make us extinct.

Next story loading loading..