Concluding Remarks
Digital disruption has transformed the media landscape over the past decade. As a result, the business models for most newspapers are very different than they were ten years ago. And if they’re not, they will soon need to be.
Trends such as decreasing revenues from display sales, and an increasing proportion of revenue stemming from digital and emerging areas such as events, will continue. Moreover, the disruption we have seen will not cease; it will be a constant theme across the media landscape as new technologies such as augmented reality (AR), machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and analytics become more prominent and commonplace.181 182 183
Alongside these technological challenges and the continued disruption of the traditional business model for local newspapers, media outlets are competing for attention as never before. News, information, and entertainment sources are no longer scarce commodities. Again, this clock cannot be turned back.
As a result, if local media outlets want to reverse the revenue declines and declining (paying) audiences that many of them are experiencing, it is incumbent on them to work even harder to diversify their revenue base, and to find new ways to tell stories and engage communities. The future of small-market newspapers will depend on making the right strategic bets, and being open to the new content and revenue opportunities which may present themselves. We are optimistic about this, although we also recognize that there will continue to be pain and further adjustment as small-market newspapers continue find their way in this brave new digital world.
The prosperity of local journalism is likely to be reliant upon a broad, diverse revenue base, incorporating a mixture of traditional advertising (print/digital); physical sales and subscriptions; alternative income sources from new activity such as crowdfunding and membership schemes; and support from funders such as community foundations, NGOs, and statutory agencies.
It will also require small-market local newspapers, often the only source of original reporting in a community, to double down on offering unique content: news and information which is not replicated by other digital and traditional sources. In doing this, these outlets can offer distinctive content that some audiences, at least, will continue to pay for.
Small-market newspapers—by being bold, engaging, and offering content and information of value to their communities—can continue to be a monument to the past, present, and future of the areas they serve.
Their future is not certain, and the road ahead will continue to be rocky and unpredictable. But the foundations of small-market newspapers are more solid than some people, including local journalists and local audiences, may realize. If all news is local, then this sector will continue to matter for a long time to come.
This is a story we need to tell better. Alongside communicating more effectively to audiences (a group which includes readers, funders, and policymakers), the local newspaper sector also needs to tell its own story better to its peers. Our interviewees were consistently curious to hear about case studies and examples from other outlets across the country, suggesting a paucity of such content. We hope this study helps to plug some of that gap.
We share the cautious optimism about the future for small-market newspapers expressed by many of our interviewees.
We hope you do, too.