Editor and Publisher Reports

With help from the Local Media Association (LMA), three Ohio News Publishers are uniting together in a new initiative called “Amplify Ohio” with a goal of publishing stories together that focuses on health disparities impacting the local Ohio Black and LGBTQ communities they serve. Their collaborative storytelling will use available tools such as podcasts, videos, explainers and more. On the business side, the LMA team will work with consultants to launch a community contribution portal for all three publishers: Black Girl Media, Columbus Black and the Buckeye Flame, with hopes to create a common technology stack and seamless user experience that can possibly be deployed in other local markets to help provide an innovative system for publishers to collaborate together on common topics. In this segment of E&P Reports, publisher Mike Blinder chats with Nancy Lane, CEO of The Local Media Association who is helping fund and guide the project, along with: Shana Black, founder and publisher of Black Girl Media;

There was a lot of industry buzz last month when it was announced that Editor and Publisher Magazine was supplying more than a hundred years of editions digitally for free via a partnership with The Internet Archive, one of the largest libraries in the world. Founded by Brewster Kale, a passionate advocate for public internet access and a successful entrepreneur, Kahle has spent his career intent on a singular focus: providing universal access to all knowledge. Soon after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied artificial intelligence, Kahle helped found Thinking Machines, a parallel supercomputer maker. In 1989, Kahle created the internet's first publishing system called Wide Area Information Server (WAIS), later selling the company to AOL. In 1996, Kahle co-founded Alexa Internet, which helps catalog the web, selling it to Amazon in 1999. The Internet Archive, which he founded in 1996, now preserves 20 petabytes of data—the books, web pages, music, television, and softwar

For more than 66 years, the Parker family has owned the 14 weekly newspapers of the New Jersey Hills Media Group, which serves 50 communities in north central New Jersey. With a combined circulation of just under 100,000, it is the largest weekly newspaper group in the state. When the current owners, Liz and Steve Parker, reached out to Grimes, McGovern & Associates to explore the possibility of sale, little did they know that an ensuing deal would be consummated that ended up creating a new non-profit entity that would eventually own and manage the group. With letters of intent now signed, the Corporation for NJ Local Media (CNJLM) will take over the operation and start a major fundraising initiative to achieve the goal of “building strong communities through journalism and civic engagement.” Moreover, the two leaders of CNJLM: executive director Amanda Richardson and founding chair Nic Platt met each other as opposing candidates for a local election. Learn more about how this transition took place and w

HD Media, the West Virginia-based publisher of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Charleston Gazette-Mail and the Herald-Dispatch, is making its own news with the recent announcement that they have filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Google and Facebook. The purpose is to hopefully help the entire industry receive some form of compensation from the 70%+ of local advertising revenue these tech giants make from the content they exploit. In this segment of E&P Reports, publisher Mike Blinder has an in-depth conversation with lawsuit co-council Paul T. Farrell Jr. and HD Media’s VP of news and executive editor Lee Wolverton to uncover how the lawsuit started and what they want to see happen as a result of their actions. Farrell and Wolverton also speak to how they feel about the need for local journalism and how this suit is not just about ad dollars but also the survival of the news industry as a whole. Related links: Download a copy of the class action lawsuit https://www.scribd.com/document/492607988/Compla

It wasn’t too long ago that the family-owned Silver City (N.M.) Daily Press Publishing Co. announced  that it would print its final edition. But, 24 hours later, it was still printing under new, local ownership. It was then-general manager Nickolas Siebel (now publisher) who quickly reached out to local civic leaders for help in putting together a loan to allow him to keep this hometown paper alive. Today, the Press is thriving under Siebel’s leadership, even in a COVID-19 world, with healthy subscription numbers and advertising revenue. Plus, the Press has expanded its offerings to provide varsity football broadcasts, an auction to help local businesses during the pandemic, and even publishing a special report for the local municipal league this year. In this segment of E&P Reports, E&P publisher Mike Blinder chats with Siebel on what it takes to takeover a local publication and keep it thriving even in challenging economic times.

Printing 300,000+ dailies, 160,000+ weeklies and 180,000+ shoppers, Trib Total Media (TTM) still has a strong commitment to print. But their focus on digital is just as impressive with more than 40 people employed by 535 Media, their full-service agency that works with some of Western Pennsylvania’s most prestigious businesses. And even in a COVID-19 impacted marketplace, TTM achieved close to 90 percent of last year’s revenue.   Perhaps the secret to their success is their strong commitment to staff, due to an ownership mandate to support their employees; or it could be their diversification into other industries, which help support and fund their award-winning editorial team. Maybe it’s their leadership that focuses on making sure that TTM has the staff, audience and advertising solutions it needs on an ongoing basis.  TTM CEO Jennifer (Wolfe) Bertetto is not new to the company. Starting as a sales rep in 1998, she successfully led Trib Total Media’s 200+ employees through a tumultuous year, with plans to l

The Webster-Kirkwood (Mo.) Times is back in print following their shutdown in March due to Covid-19. The comeback is due to donations from loyal readers and the focus and energy of managers who worked with the local business community to craft a deal to keep this paper printing. Today, the newspaper prints more than 35,000 full color copies each week to two suburban communities just southwest of St. Louis. The staff, although operating on a tight budget, boasts high ad count with tons of profitable classified ads. In this edition of E&P Reports, E&P publisher Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with two of the paper’s managers/owners: publisher Randy Drilingas and editor-in-chief Jaime Mowers, who detail their struggle to get the paper back in business and what they continue to do to keep it growing.   Related Links:   Back By Popular Demand! Webster-Kirkwood Times returns under employee ownership: https://www.timesnewspapers.com/webster-kirkwoodtimes/back-by-popular-demand/article_8b7af5ae-fe6a-11ea-a066-b7

Industry sales guru Ryan Dohrn is the creator of the 360 Ad Sales Training system and is a globally recognized media revenue consultant who has created more than 600 corporate sales strategy programs. To date, he has taught more than 20,000 business professionals how to sell better. In this segment of E&P Reports, E&P publisher Mike Blinder, who also has a sales consulting background, goes one-on -one with Dohrn to discuss what tactics he would recommend to any media sales rep in order to prosper and win in 2021. Topics discussed include: · Helping advertisers find the knowledge they lack · What should ad directors and publishers should know about selling via Zoom · ”Recommendation selling” as opposed to the dated method of lengthy needs analysis and “open ended questioning” · How to get “old sales dogs” to embrace new tricks And lots, lots more! Related links: Ryan Dohrn’s E&P Column “10 Ways to Close 2020 Media Sales Strong:” https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/10-ways-to-close-2020-medi

A recent study conducted by The Whitman Insight Strategies Initiative and Creative Circle Media Solutions takes a deep dive into how a global pandemic has affected the actual feelings and emotions of local media consumers. One of the key takeaways revealed from "The Covid-19 Societal Impact Study" is that even though half of those polled say that they lack confidence in news media, those perceptions do not extend to local community media, where those same viewers and readers state they have a much higher trust. Moreover, when asked where they go for essential information about COVID-19, local news scored much higher than cable news and social media channels. In this segment of "E&P Reports," Editor and Publisher's Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with Ostendorf to talk about the study and what local news media can do to serve our audience better.

It was just a few years ago that a group of local citizens bought the Half Moon Bay (Calif.) Review from Wick Communications, a sale that included the 122-year-old newspaper, a pair of magazines and the building they occupied. And just a few months ago, those same local entrepreneurs decided to expand their small, local media empire and purchase the Pacifica (Calif.) Tribune, which has served their neighboring county for almost 90 years. Today, these two combined publications make up the new Coastside News Group, a locally owned, for- profit media company that continues to serve these two California communities. In this segment of E&P Reports, Editor and Publisher's Mike Blinder interviews Coastside News Groups publisher Debra Hershon and editorial director Clay Lambert on how they were able to find investors to invest in local journalism and what it takes to build and maintain a local media company that is owned by local investors.

Schneps Media is Rocking New York With Hyperlocal Free Weeklies    In 1985, Victoria Schneps-Yunis began a community newspaper in her living room called the Queens Courier. Today, that one free weekly has turned into the largest local media company in New York State comprised of newspapers, magazines, websites and events. Victoria’s son, Joshua Schneps, now serves CEO and publisher of more than 70 community newspapers and magazines, in addition to community websites, email newsletters and social media channels serving all five boroughs of New York City, Long Island and Westchester and more.   In this segment of E&P Repor

John C. Tompkins left college his junior year to buy his first newspaper. Today, he is owner of News Media Corporation, a company that owns 65 different newspaper titles in eight states, serving smaller cities and towns with populations between 5,000 and 50,000.   Tompkins also boasts good cash flow from his properties, even during a pandemic, and claims that the reason his newspapers maintain profitability is because he makes sure that all of his managers follow simple rules in monitoring their productivity via a system of metrics. Tompkins is not only bullish on our industry, he thinks now is a great time for entrepreneurs to buy community newspapers. In this segment of E&P Reports, Mike Blinder, publisher of Editor and Publisher, goes one-on-one with Tompkins to learn his secrets to success.

“Vision25: Building Racial Equity in Newsrooms” is a new initiative started as a collaboration between the Online News Association, the Maynard Institute and OpenNews, with a goal to be a major catalyst creating social change within journalistic institutions that help newsrooms be anti-racist and collaborative, and where journalists of color feel like they truly belong. Vision25 is creating programs that any news organization can access, in order to effect change in leadership, workforce and partnerships that can result in building a truly anti-racists environment. In this segment of “E&P Reports,” E&P Publisher Mike Blinder speaks with Vision25 founders: Irving Washington, Executive Director/CEO Online News Association; Sisi Wei, Director of Programs OpenNews; and Martin G. Reynolds Co-Executive Director, Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, to learn why they feel there is such a need for such an initiative today, and, how news publishers can take advantage of the Vision25 resources.

The Branded Content Project, an initiative by the Local Media Consortium, Local Media Association and Facebook Journalism Project, today released the results of a report on content marketing in collaboration with Borrell Associates Inc., which found that, despite the effect Covid-19 had on businesses, content marketing remained relatively steady and is projected to be more of a priority in 2021. "Sizing the Content Marketing Opportunity" measured how vast the content marketing space is, what types of media benefit most and what kind of businesses are most inclined to utilize it and at what rates. In this segment of E&P Reports, Mike Blinder speaks with Julia Campbell of the Branded Content Project and Corey Elliott of Borrell Associates about the report's findings and what local media can do to seize the opportunities of content marketing.

Aequalitas is Latin for “equality.” But there is very little equal to today’s struggling media outlets at the growing Aequalitas Media Group, who now owns eight publications targeted to the LGBTQ+ Reader in several U.S. major markets. Plus, their sought after ad network has become popular with some very large brands that want to connect to their claim being a “single point of contact to almost 100% of all LGBTQ+ print/digital media now representing 2.2-Million+ readers they deliver each month.”  Aqualitas founder and executive director DJ Doran spent 23 years as a U.S. Air Force Reserve Pilot before working as a CEO for multiple corporations across varied industries. Today, he is a publisher who still believes in print and says he can turn around a niche publication from red to black in 45 days.   In this segment of E&P Reports, E&P publisher Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with Doran to not just learn more about the LGBTQ+ reader and why it is in demand by Madison Avenue but what secrets work for him in

Dr. Samir Husni is “the country’s leading magazine expert,” according to Forbes magazine; “the nation’s leading authority on new magazines,” according to min:media industry newsletter; “a world-renowned expert on print journalism” according to CBS News Sunday Morning; and The Chicago Tribune dubbed him “the planet’s leading expert on new magazines.” It's no wonder he is better known in the industry as Mr. Magazine.  As founder and director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi’s School of Journalism and New Media, Husni decided he needed to find out how magazines, printers, designers, digital media, and other business executives were coping with COVID-19. His free new book, Publishing During a Pandemic, is online on Issuu and goes behind the scenes with the leaders of the magazine and magazine media, including Stephen Bohlinger, senior vice president group publisher of Better Homes & Gardens and Kent Johnson, CEO of Highlights for Children, recording their stories during the 2

One of the most anticipated media studies is the yearly release of the Borrell Associates’ Local Advertiser Survey where thousands of local advertisers complete more than 40 questions, yielding unique insights about current and future marketing plans.  Although the study is being fielded now to be released in November, Borrell has been issuing “snaps” of the data they are accumulating via “chart of the week” releases.   In this segment of E&P Reports, E&P publisher Mike Blinder asks Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, if he would offer an exclusive preview of what they are seeing from the thousands of datasets being garnered for the survey.  Spoiler alert: Gordon is high on local media focusing on content marketing (which he calls “storytelling”) and OTT  (Over the Top TV advertising). Plus, he also says now is the time to be 5G ready to stay competitive in your local market. 

In Memphis, Tenn., the Daily Memphian just celebrated its second anniversary. The website currently boasts more than 14,000 digital-only subscribers each paying an average of $9/month for the content created by a team of more than 45 fulltime and freelance journalists. Plus, they push 20 different email newsletters to the more than 45,000 subscribers they’ve managed to garner in this short time. But, Eric Barnes, founder and CEO, says even though they list themselves as a non-profit, the culture of this growing enterprise looks and acts just like any successful, aggressive news operation (print based or digital-only) that you would find in any city in the world. Moreover, their formula is not as innovative as you may think--it’s truly serving the community with good journalism. In this edition of E&P Reports, E&P publisher Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with Barnes to uncover what they are doing to win in a very competitive news market.

This week’s installment of E&P Reports is a recording of a live broadcast, hosted by E&P publisher Mike Blinder for the Association of Alternative Newsmedia’s AANOVATION 2020 virtual annual conference. This one-hour roundtable is a discussion on the future of news media. Topics include: Will reader revenue ever rise to a level to fund our newsrooms; how to recruit and maintain talent in turbulent times; should local media be compensated by Facebook & Google for the content these platforms monetize; how is hedge fund consolidation affecting the industry; and what does the future hold. The panel includes: * James Fallows, Atlantic national correspondent * Nancy Lane, Local Media Association CEO * Ken Doctor, Newsonomics CEO * Cheryl Thompson-Morton, Lenfest Institute of Journalism Program Manager

Many people were shocked last April when the Tampa Bay Times, the flagship newspaper of the Poynter Institute and the largest newspaper in Florida, made the decision to reduce its print frequency to only twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays. To this day, the 11th largest media market in the country has no daily print newspaper. It was reported that the reason for this decision was the effect that COVID-19 had on advertising revenue, with more than  $1 million dollars of cancelations occurring in a two week period in early March. Industry veteran Bruce Faulmann and the current VP of sales and marketing at the Tampa Bay Times was a part of the senior management team who made that decision. In this episode of E&P Reports, Bruce chats with Mike Blinder, publisher of E&P, about how the Times' digital edition, robust website and niche publications are helping them maintain a great audience and the advertising revenues necessary to keep their news operation working. He also talks about how he is leading th