Facing the hard, cold facts about the newspaper industry; the good and the bad

I've never attended a roast, except the kind that involves a hot dog. And certainly I cannot imagine being the subject of a roast, having to sit there and listen to people say horrible things about me; even if it is good-natured ridicule.

Recently, I attended a training session that felt a little like a roast at times. Though some of the facts didn't feel very good-natured at the time. It was some hard cold facts about the newspaper business that I'd prefer to ignore if I could. But I can't, and shouldn't ignore them. Instead, as was the case at this training session those issues were turned into opportunities and ultimately a positive experience.

We asked a local advertising agency leader to come speak to our sales team as a part of an off-site training program. Before his arrival, we spoke about the basic expectations of our sales team from the number of sales calls, the use of spec ads and the importance of selling campaigns vs. ads. Audience, reach and frequency are the basics of any marketing campaign no matter the delivery mode.

Our advertising agency representative was brought in to talk about the various competition. He talked about the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor we face, along with all the changes that have taken place in all media. I think often times we in the newspaper business get all wrapped up in the fact that we've been going through seismic shifts in our industry, forgetting that the same is true with all of our competitors.

As expected, he started to talk about the negative changes in the newspaper business. Circulation has declined, both daily and Sunday. Our print audience, while getting smaller is also getting older creating long term concerns for the industry. Each fact stung as he said them, even though I'd heard every one of them countless times.

But....

Just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, he turned to the next slide to discuss all the reasons he still believed in newspapers. Just like those celebrity roasts on TV, after the hurtful comments, they always came back and talked about the traits that endeared the person to them. And so it was with newspapers for him.

With all the circulation loss, there was still not a single local competitor that could deliver a bigger audience than our Sunday newspaper. Only Facebook can reach a bigger audience in our market. I would bet that is the case in nearly every newspaper market.

That single fact made me smile, and yet he wasn't done. The core newspaper reader, baby boomers are big spenders with high levels of disposable income and the segment is growing. As every media outlet tries to adjust to the new norm, the newspaper industry has large audiences in both the traditional and digital platform. Who else can tout that?

For me, the best comment he made was his last. In this world of fake news and a general distrust of things you see and read online, it is the local newspaper that remains the trusted source. "You have the largest staff of professional journalists and reporters of any medium in the market, translating to high quality, trustworthy content." While he was speaking about my market with that comment, that is the case in nearly every market across the state and around the country.  Providing a safe, trustworthy platform for content - in print and online - is a valuable asset to offer the communities and advertisers we serve.