Last Updated: May 26, 1999
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State of our business: Someone else
wants it
Publishers’ message: Change or be changed
In this competitive media marketplace, editors who
take the lead in tackling their newspapers’ problems will be better off
than if they let the advertising department do it
By Pam Johnson
Editors must assume leadership in marketing their newspapers, two publishers
who built their careers in newsrooms told ASNE members in the session,
"The State of our Business: Someone Else Wants It."
Jay Harris, chairman and publisher of the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury
News, and John Oppedahl, publisher, CEO and president of The Arizona Republic,
Phoenix, said editors should want to heavily influence their company’s
strategic decisions on new products and targeted audiences. Otherwise,
they will be following someone else’s lead.
The publishers made their comments after portraits were drawn of today’s
competitive marketplace by Clark Hoyt, vice president/news for Knight-Ridder
Inc., and Jeffrey Rayport, assistant professor at the Harvard Business
School who tracks news industry developments.
Hoyt issued the challenge that a newspaper can only be secure and fulfill
its obligations — including being its community’s watchdog — if editors,
as well as publishers, and advertising, marketing and circulation departments,
work together to craft an enterprise that works for all its customers.
But it was Rayport’s numbers on newspapers and their competitors that
underscored the theme of the panel: Our competitors are snaring more audience
and growing at a quicker pace than our newspapers are mustering.
He emphasized the urgency that exists for newspapers to hone their competitiveness,
citing the continued growth of direct mail and the projections of growing
online use. The successes in both these arenas are at the expense of newspapers.
He urged newspapers to act now, pointing to industry numbers over the
past 25 years that show readers and advertisers choosing alternatives to
newspapers.
He said the newsroom can be a strong, competitive force because it knows
content, a key component that technology companies have yet to figure out.
That point by Rayport underscored Harris’ view that the newsroom is
critical to newspapers meeting their competition.
"It seems to me that on the circulation decline, a part of that is lifestyles,
a part is questions about delivery service, but, ultimately, it boils down
to a matter of whether or not we put out papers that people want to read
and subscribe to," Harris said.
"That is fundamentally a job for editors in the newsroom," he said.
"It is about being in touch with your community, about its needs and interests,
and putting out a newspaper that addresses that on a consistent basis."
Oppedahl challenged editors to take ownership of readership retention
and to be at the table or even lead the newspaper’s efforts to retain and
attract customers.
"If editors cede that definition of the market to advertising departments
or publishers, I think you’re making a big mistake," Oppedahl said, warning
that advertising "will be in the lead unless you impose yourself or are
involved in that conversation from the beginning."
Both publishers cited ways their newsrooms became involved in competitive,
market-driven education and action.
The Mercury News added staff to cover the key area of technology, expanded
its foreign coverage to the Pacific Rim and Asia, introduced a Spanish-language
publication, and added a reader-oriented feature celebrating the community.
Harris said the importance of these steps was that the newsroom led the
efforts, showing that it could embrace change.
Oppedahl cited an educational effort he undertook as the Republic’s
executive editor in which the news staff was required to attend presentations
on reader and market information. Several good signs emerged. For example,
he heard from some staff members that they never knew how valuable readers
considered zoned news sections. It gave them new respect for those important
coverage and marketing tools, and it led to staff commitment to improve
the sections.
Asked if journalism values would collide with marketing values, Oppedahl
said, "I don’t think you have to abrogate any of the journalism values
that we all share by considering that you want a larger audience. ... You’ve
got to approach it head-on, make sure the discussion is not dominated by
one side or the other."
Harris said his company is focused on growth, not cost-cutting, and
that journalism can only benefit from growth — as well as contribute to
it through good journalism.
"Everybody who wants to continue to talk only about this conflict, as
the business continues to erode, as the newshole gets smaller, and as the
news staff gets smaller," Harris said, "please go off to the side of the
room so the rest of us can start rebuilding."
Johnson is executive editor of The Arizona Republic in Phoenix.
