Final thoughts on evolving principles and philosophies
Recognizing the opportunity for journalists and newspapers to have a wider impact on their community beyond just meeting their information needs is nothing new. But as local publications search for ways to find a renewed (and commercially viable) purpose, such approaches may become increasingly important.
Local journalism has the potential to be a platform for the entire community. Partnerships, engagement, and content that reappraise the role and appropriateness of advocacy and objectivity are all contributing to the reinvigoration of local journalism. And they are doing so without losing sight of journalism’s core values and purposes.
As Lauren Gustus at the Coloradoan noted:
The lens through which we view our work is: How do we contribute to making Fort Collins the place we all want to live? And that doesn’t mean we don’t get critical. We certainly do. Sometimes it’s advocacy and sometimes it’s, “We have twenty breweries in town. You should try these five this week.”
In an age of increasingly polarized and bi-partisan politics, coupled with a deep distrust in the media by some constituencies, small-market newspapers may have to double-down on their community value—going beyond simply reporting the news—to ensure that their importance and impact is understood, valued, and paid for.
This means not just reporting on the here and now, but also thinking about how newspapers can contribute to a wider societal good. It’s a role, our interviews suggest, that many local journalists are already exploring and thinking about.
Ten Key Takeaways: How Are Small-Market Newspapers Responding to Digital disruption?
Revenue
Small-market newspapers are still beholden to print, which typically accounts for seventy-five to eighty percent of revenue, but have slowly begun experimenting with a wide range of other income streams.
Alternative revenue sources include paywalls, events, media services, newsletters, and obituaries. Single-copy sales remain important for many smaller outlets.
Newspapers are also embracing opportunities to secure funding from other channels including foundations, crowdsourcing campaigns, eCommerce, and Google questionnaires. Financial success is likely to be reliant on a combination of these different revenue streams. Advertising alone is unlikely to suffice.
Digital
Small-market newspapers use social media, but there is some unease about this relationship, driven by uncertain revenue models and time constraints.
Metro and national newspapers have more runway with social and digital, due to larger reach and newsroom capacity, although they too are working with unproven business models in this space.
Video is a popular digital tool for small-market newspapers and one that journalists are keen to learn more about.
Distribution and Revenue models
The weekly publishing model allows newspapers the chance to take a step back and provide a different perspective on the news from local TV and daily newspapers. But the model faces challenges from shifting consumer behavior as news habits increasingly become 24/7 with expectations of information immediacy.
The prominence and establishment of digital tools and audiences requires even small-market newspapers, and the journalists working within them, to continually expand their skillsets.
Given these production pressures, which typically play out against a background of reduced human resources, partnerships between local news organizations and other entities (ranging from NGOs to journalism schools and community partners) are more important than ever.
Moving beyond traditional models of reader engagement can help to retain and grow audiences, as well as unlock new revenue streams. From a storytelling perspective, this can mean reporting on solutions to issues rather than just reporting on the problems. It can also mean organizing paid and unpaid events that create opportunities for face-to-face engagement, and deepen relationships and help unlock new stories and sources in the process.