Advertising Sales Thoughts, Tips and Suggestions

The End of the Trend.
Not the Beginning of the Death of Print.

     The news is everywhere: Hearst puts the Seattle Post-Intelligencer up for sale and promises to close it, if not sold. Detroit newspapers suspend home delivery, Denver paper threatened with closure, and a San Diego paper is up for sale with no buyers. The headlines seem to shout "Internet kills Newspapers."
     It is easy to see why reporters and editors report the news this way. News about the Internet is everywhere, along with analysis about how the Internet changes everything. But a longer view and closer analysis would lead to another conclusion: It is second-place newspapers that are dying. And this is the end of the trend that started with the advent of television. We are now seeing the end of the process of getting to one newspaper per city, not the beginning of the trend of the Internet killing print.
     Back in the day, when three network newscasts pre-empted afternoon newspapers, the trend began. Afternoon newspapers had to move to the morning or die. Many made the move. While most cities and towns had two newspapers, one (or more) was threatened by the natural monopoly dominance of the leading paper, if it was well managed. Special government policies (anti-trust exemptions) were developed to allow two competing newspapers to collude to protect competing editorial voices as this was thought to be important to the functioning of our democracy. I am sure it was at one time. But over time more and more editorial voices have grown up; weekly alternative newspapers, more TV stations, cable news channels, and most recently the Internet all delivering, or making accessible, alternative points of view.
     The Internet has created a giant sucking sound where classified advertising used to be. But number-two newspapers' days were numbered well before the Internet bloomed. The diversity of media competing for the attention of potential readers was already further weakening businesses that were being propped up by special rules. Four, then five then six local television stations, local cable news, growing local alternative newsweeklies and stronger local magazines were out there competing for the time and attention of the limited audience and the limited advertising dollars. The legal convenience allowing joint operating agreements could only slow the bleeding that was the trend. Now the combination of a severe recession and the trend of advertising dollars going to the Internet - free classifieds, very effective-national + local job boards and used auto sites - are finally deflecting the final Hail-Mary pass by number two newspapers trying to hold a place in the new media landscape.
     Is print dead? No. Will there be less newspapers? Yes. Will newspapers survive permanently? I don't know. Permanently is a very long time. But I argue that we are experiencing the end of the trend of getting to one strong newspaper (+ Internet) business in most markets. This reflects the age-old advantage of a number-one business in any industry.
     To the owners and employees, and even the readers, of the many number two newspapers in markets around the country, this sounds pretty icy. It is. But it will be more helpful to the newspaper publishing business in general to transition the conversation to how to successfully structure and manage a multi-platform local content business than to declare the death of print from faulty assumptions. Strong local enterprise reporting is important, and such businesses can be built on a Hybrid Media platform; two content delivery platforms for a single brand working separately and together.