Freedom making good money in small papers
A while back, the Washington Post called Peter to talk to him about working at small newspapers. At long last, the article is online:
The combined circulation of all U.S. newspapers in the six months ended Sept. 30 was down 2.8 percent from the comparable period in 2005, according to the Newspaper Association of America. By comparison, the combined circulation in the small-newspaper group was down 2.1 percent.
If that seems like cold comfort at best, consider this: Of the 413 papers in the small-newspaper group, 105 of them — 25 percent — gained circulation over the year, faring better than any other circulation group.
Lee Enterprises, based in Davenport, Iowa, for example, owns 56 daily papers and more than 300 small weeklies and other publications. Three of its papers have a circulation of more than 100,000 — including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch — but the rest of its dailies are much smaller, averaging about 26,000 each.
Over the past five years, the circulation gains at Lee papers have outpaced the industry average; some of the gains came from acquisitions, but much came from the growth of the group’s existing papers. Over the past two decades, the company’s stock price has likewise gone in the opposite direction of large-newspaper stock, climbing steadily from less than $10 a share in 1988 to more than $30 a share today.
“We’re largely in markets . . . that have pretty good local economies, a strong sense of place and strong newspaper readership,” said Mary E. Junck, Lee’s chairman and chief executive. Another advantage: “Many of our markets are pretty homogenous and tightknit,” she said, making it easier to pin down and target readership.
The small-newspaper division of Freedom Communications generated a 30 percent profit in 2006, up 5 percent from 2005. By comparison, a very successful large newspaper typically returns about 20 percent annually.
“In many of our smaller communities, we are the only game in town if you want to reach targeted households,” said Freedom chief executive Scott N. Flanders.
No quotes from Peter, alas, but an article well worth a read despite that.
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