April 7, 2008
Press on | In a slowing economy, Maine's weeklies prove not all newspapers are alike
By Samantha Depoy-warren
In late February, Sample News Group of Pennsylvania finalized its acquisition of the daily newspaper The Times Record from Brunswick Publishing LLC. Later that day, Sample pink-slipped 10 of the Brunswick paper's employees.
On March 11, the Portland Press Herald announced it would cut 27 positions. Days later, the paper's parent, The Seattle Times Co., revealed it wants to sell the Press Herald and its sister papers, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville and the Kennebec Journal in Augusta. The company attributed the layoffs to slumping ad revenue, and the paper's publisher announced in its pages that the amount of news in the paper would decrease.
With all the bad press, Jeff Inglis, managing editor of the Portland Phoenix and president of the Maine Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, admits even his own family members ask if he worries about losing his job.
"I can say no," Inglis says. "Yes, there is a lot of media attention on the struggling daily newspaper industry and that's true and appropriate. But sometimes people can think that's all newspapers, and that isn't the case. It's not a monolithic industry."
Inglis says his free alternative weekly paper's circulation is "as high as it's ever been" at 44,500, and while circulation and advertising revenue at dailies nationwide continues to drop ˆ a report released in March by the Project for Excellence in Journalism says daily circulation has dropped 8.4% since 2001 and ad revenue was down 7% in 2007 alone ˆ alternative and community weeklies seem to be for the most part hanging onto readers and advertisers here and around the country.
"These are better times for smaller papers, weeklies in particular," says Rick Edmonds, who authored the newspaper section of the PEJ report and is the media business analyst for Florida's Poynter Institute for journalists. "I think they are doing reasonably well."
Edmonds attributes weeklies' stability to a more devoted base of local advertisers and their limited reliance on classified ad revenue, which has plummeted thanks to free online sites like Craigslist.org.
While dailies scale back staff and news, Edmonds says weeklies are only "increasing their advantage as the best source for local news."
Maine's weekly editors and publishers say staying local means staying strong.
"The advertising situation is better for weeklies. When there is a bad economy, people tend to huddle at home," says Kevin Burnham, editor of the weekly Boothbay Register and president of the Maine Press Association's board of directors. "We see our advertisers at basketball games. We see them at church. We see them everywhere. And they realize that. It's a safer investment for them."
"Advertisers aren't cutting back, just rethinking their buying decisions," seconds Mike Fern, publisher of the free Bangor weekly The Maine Edge. Fern, who previously worked as circulation director for the Bangor Daily News, says his paper's circulation is up to 15,000 from its launch of 11,000 papers in December of 2006, and he has added one full-time employee and four part-timers since starting the paper. His revenue trick? Find your niche and stick to it.
Copy cats
Slowing down the deadline schedule is an angle the dailies are lately picking up on. Two of the largest daily newspapers in the state, the Sun Journal in Lewiston and the Portland Press Herald, have in recent years purchased or launched weekly newspapers. Sun Media Group, which owns the Sun Journal and the weeklies The Forecaster in Falmouth, the Advertiser-Democrat in Norway and the Rumford Falls Times, in October bought three more weeklies in Franklin County and one in Old Town. The Portland Press Herald last year launched The Maine Switch, an alternative weekly covering Greater Portland.
"The dailies are looking to find new ways of generating revenue," explains Ed Snook, treasurer of Sun Media. "Weeklies tend to be fairly productive. Yes, they struggle. But they are more adaptable. The people who work there wear many different hats, so if they need to make adjustments, they can."
But in a competitive news market like southern Maine, even weeklies feel the pressure. Westbrook-based Current Publishing produces six weeklies, three monthlies, and plans to launch a women's quarterly in May. The company's total weekly circulation is 75,000, making it the largest weekly publisher in the state. But its size isn't protecting it from the stresses of a tight economy. In September, in part to cut postage costs, publisher Lee Hews made three of her papers free. Current Publishing, which once had an office in each of the six markets the company serves, has over the past 20 months consolidated all the company's offices into one, in Westbrook, in part to cut overhead costs.
With gas prices rising, production days for some Current papers were matched to limit trips to the printer. The dismal housing market means real estate display ads are down by as much as 60% in some Current papers. Already in 2008, the company has laid off two people, both in administration, Hews says.
But Hews says week-to-week readership is increasing. All the changes, she explains, help the Current work smarter and adapt more quickly to market shifts. "There's no fat here," she says.
However weeklies weather the economy, Jeff Ham, a copy editor at the Portland Press Herald and executive director of the Maine Press Association, says dailies will tough it out too.
"When I was in journalism school in the 80s, people said it was a dying industry. But I don't think the need for information is going to go away," he says. "In these times, it's very easy to be shaken and distracted. I think that's the worst thing you can do. You have to make sure you stay focused on getting a quality product out there. I still have this dumb faith a good product will bring people to you."
On March 11, the Portland Press Herald announced it would cut 27 positions. Days later, the paper's parent, The Seattle Times Co., revealed it wants to sell the Press Herald and its sister papers, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville and the Kennebec Journal in Augusta. The company attributed the layoffs to slumping ad revenue, and the paper's publisher announced in its pages that the amount of news in the paper would decrease.
With all the bad press, Jeff Inglis, managing editor of the Portland Phoenix and president of the Maine Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, admits even his own family members ask if he worries about losing his job.
"I can say no," Inglis says. "Yes, there is a lot of media attention on the struggling daily newspaper industry and that's true and appropriate. But sometimes people can think that's all newspapers, and that isn't the case. It's not a monolithic industry."
Inglis says his free alternative weekly paper's circulation is "as high as it's ever been" at 44,500, and while circulation and advertising revenue at dailies nationwide continues to drop ˆ a report released in March by the Project for Excellence in Journalism says daily circulation has dropped 8.4% since 2001 and ad revenue was down 7% in 2007 alone ˆ alternative and community weeklies seem to be for the most part hanging onto readers and advertisers here and around the country.
"These are better times for smaller papers, weeklies in particular," says Rick Edmonds, who authored the newspaper section of the PEJ report and is the media business analyst for Florida's Poynter Institute for journalists. "I think they are doing reasonably well."
Edmonds attributes weeklies' stability to a more devoted base of local advertisers and their limited reliance on classified ad revenue, which has plummeted thanks to free online sites like Craigslist.org.
While dailies scale back staff and news, Edmonds says weeklies are only "increasing their advantage as the best source for local news."
Maine's weekly editors and publishers say staying local means staying strong.
"The advertising situation is better for weeklies. When there is a bad economy, people tend to huddle at home," says Kevin Burnham, editor of the weekly Boothbay Register and president of the Maine Press Association's board of directors. "We see our advertisers at basketball games. We see them at church. We see them everywhere. And they realize that. It's a safer investment for them."
"Advertisers aren't cutting back, just rethinking their buying decisions," seconds Mike Fern, publisher of the free Bangor weekly The Maine Edge. Fern, who previously worked as circulation director for the Bangor Daily News, says his paper's circulation is up to 15,000 from its launch of 11,000 papers in December of 2006, and he has added one full-time employee and four part-timers since starting the paper. His revenue trick? Find your niche and stick to it.
Copy cats
Slowing down the deadline schedule is an angle the dailies are lately picking up on. Two of the largest daily newspapers in the state, the Sun Journal in Lewiston and the Portland Press Herald, have in recent years purchased or launched weekly newspapers. Sun Media Group, which owns the Sun Journal and the weeklies The Forecaster in Falmouth, the Advertiser-Democrat in Norway and the Rumford Falls Times, in October bought three more weeklies in Franklin County and one in Old Town. The Portland Press Herald last year launched The Maine Switch, an alternative weekly covering Greater Portland.
"The dailies are looking to find new ways of generating revenue," explains Ed Snook, treasurer of Sun Media. "Weeklies tend to be fairly productive. Yes, they struggle. But they are more adaptable. The people who work there wear many different hats, so if they need to make adjustments, they can."
But in a competitive news market like southern Maine, even weeklies feel the pressure. Westbrook-based Current Publishing produces six weeklies, three monthlies, and plans to launch a women's quarterly in May. The company's total weekly circulation is 75,000, making it the largest weekly publisher in the state. But its size isn't protecting it from the stresses of a tight economy. In September, in part to cut postage costs, publisher Lee Hews made three of her papers free. Current Publishing, which once had an office in each of the six markets the company serves, has over the past 20 months consolidated all the company's offices into one, in Westbrook, in part to cut overhead costs.
With gas prices rising, production days for some Current papers were matched to limit trips to the printer. The dismal housing market means real estate display ads are down by as much as 60% in some Current papers. Already in 2008, the company has laid off two people, both in administration, Hews says.
But Hews says week-to-week readership is increasing. All the changes, she explains, help the Current work smarter and adapt more quickly to market shifts. "There's no fat here," she says.
However weeklies weather the economy, Jeff Ham, a copy editor at the Portland Press Herald and executive director of the Maine Press Association, says dailies will tough it out too.
"When I was in journalism school in the 80s, people said it was a dying industry. But I don't think the need for information is going to go away," he says. "In these times, it's very easy to be shaken and distracted. I think that's the worst thing you can do. You have to make sure you stay focused on getting a quality product out there. I still have this dumb faith a good product will bring people to you."
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