Editor and Publisher Reports

Reporting on the news publishing industry’s fight for survival amid circulation and advertising revenue declines has been focusing more and more on the continuing closure of news outlets, propagating "news deserts," and the downsizing of newsrooms creating "ghost papers." However, some media companies are finding opportunities during these troubling times by exploring underserved communities' need for local journalism and utilizing current resources to enter these markets with news brands that are finding new audiences and revenues. Recently, E&P reported on the Charleston Post and Courier’s statewide expansion into new South Carolina markets, where existing newspaper newsrooms had been downsized so much that these communities welcomed and embraced the new brands. Now, similar expansion is taking place in Louisiana as Georges Media Group, the state’s largest news publisher and owners of The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com, The Advocate, Gambit and the Acadiana Advocate, have launched the Shreveport-Bossier Cit

In August of 2022, Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper chain, with more than 200 dailies, terminated 3% of its workforce (around 400 employees) after posting a loss of $54 million, on revenues of $749 million, in its second quarter. One of the layoffs included Mary Cadden, who spent 17 years as editor of the USA TODAY Best-Selling Books List, a weekly ranking of the 150 top-selling titles based on U.S. book sales. Caden started at USA TODAY in 1995 as a researcher. After the layoff was announced, Gannett issued a separate statementannouncing that the book list will be on hiatus for the remainder of the year (2022), a move that surprised many in the industry since USA Today’s list has been highly valued by authors, agents and publishers, who also look to the weekly rankings as an alternative to other popular lists citing its “length, diversity and transparency, since The New York Times breaks down its charts into various categories of 10 or more bestsellers where USA Today, combined everything into one li

In early June of 2023, The Opinions and “Next Gen" teams of The Washington Post announced that Renee Yaseen would be their newest Op-Ed columnist. But unlike some venerable, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists who publish their prose under the iconic one hundred fifty-year-old Post masthead, Yaseen is not listed as a company employee but instead uses the title in her byline: Post Grad Intern. Her twice-weekly column, Post Grad, is published as a free newsletter inviting readers to gain “tips and advice from a recent graduate who will help navigate job hunting, moving, budgeting, relationships and more.” Yaseen did graduate from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in economics and minors in theology and PPE (Philosophy, Politics & Economics). While attending classes remotely during COVID, she founded a tech startup called FriendOver, a company designed to help young children stay active and social during the pandemic. FriendOver helped thousands and won major Notre Dame awards that included the McClosk

In June of, 2021, U.S. Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Arizona, and Dan Newhouse, R-Washington, introduced H.R. 3940, the Local Journalism Sustainability Act (LJSA), a bipartisan bill designed  to help local newspapers sustain financial viability through a series of tax credits.. The LJSA was originally the brainchild of Arizona-based Francis Wick, CEO of Wick Communications and fellow news publisher Alan Fisco, President of the Seattle Times, who each, along with support from America’s Newspapers, lobbied their local congress members, to introduce the bill that was hoped to provide some needed financial assistance to help abate the widespread proliferation of newspaper shutdowns nationwide. For months the LJSA was debated and modified with hopes that its passage would become a reality. Its closest chance came In November of 2021, with the modified, stripped-down version that only offered tax credits for hiring and retaining journalists. H.R. 390 was then included in the draft text of the Biden Administra

Brock Berry has spent the last two decades as an advertising and marketing leader in the news media industry during what many call the "digital revolution." Just as more and more news consumers were accessing local content online, Berry found his comfort with digital concepts a vital asset as he became the head of the advertising sales department at the Denver Post. And when that major market newspaper underwent ownership changes, he found himself designing and leading the parent company's digital services division, Digital First Media’s AdTaxi Network. Today, Berry is the founder and CEO of AdCellerantx, a Denver-based digital advertising and technology company that partners with hundreds of media companies and agencies in markets across North America to provide a complete menu of digital solutions to tens of thousands of local businesses. Since starting AdCellerant in 2011, the company experienced over 4,000% growth — from zero to over $75 million in revenue in less than three years. Because of its success,

Some might say that one of the most important dates to affect the future of the North American local news media industry was June 22, 2023. On that day, Canada’s Senate passed Bill C-18, a law requiring Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news content that they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms. Many pundits are now blogging and editorializing about the upside and downside of C-18's passage and how it will likely impact pending similar legislation currently being discussed in committee in the U.S. Senate. The 2023 Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) — a law very similar to Canada's — will allow small and mid-sized news organizations to negotiate jointly for compensation from digital platforms that access their content without allowing them to profit from their journalism. The legislation (like C-18) also allows news publishers to demand arbitration if they reach an impasse in negotiations with digital platforms. And if anyone doubts how important this ruling is to Big Tech, j

Each year, Borrell Associates, an advertising and marketing research firm with customers across the U.S. and Canada, surveys local advertisers and ad agencies. Participants are invited through the active advertiser lists of various media companies nationwide. Although companies would need to purchase the local results for their individual markets, Borrell does release to the industry several insights and predictions garnered from the aggregate results. This week Borrell released the findings of the spring 2023 survey that included 1,938 respondents from more than 100 different business categories. These participating local advertisers from communities across the U.S. responded to over 35 questions concerning the types of media they purchase, plan to purchase, plan to discontinue and how they decide on and perceive the effectiveness of the many advertising solutions available in today's multimedia landscape. Most are "optimistic" and plan to increase their advertising spend.In this episode of “E&P Reports,

Danielle Coffey’s first ew weeks as the News/Media Alliance (NMA) chief executive were anything but "business as usual." After being appointed the new president and CEO of this leading trade organization, representing over 2,000 news and magazine media outlets worldwide, some of the most critical issues and advocacy concerning Western news media's future required immediate attention. That list includes Gannett’s recent stand-alone antitrust filing against Google; Canada's final passage of the Canadian Journalism Compensation Bill, which will require big-tech companies like Google & Facebook to pay news organizations for the content they monetize; and how this may impact the U.S. Congress passing laws that would offer similar compensation to American news outlets. In addition, the congressional support of the Local Journalism Sustainability Act (LJSA) has reemerged — legislation that would help fund local journalism via tax incentives to publishers for salaries, businesses who invest in advertising suppo

Gannett Co., Inc. filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Google for “monopolization of advertising technology markets and deceptive commercial practices.” According to Gannett’s press release, “The lawsuit seeks to restore competition in the digital advertising marketplace and end Google’s monopoly, which will encourage investment in newsrooms and news content throughout the country.” Others have filed similar lawsuits. A bipartisan group of 17 State Attorneys Generals filed a similar lawsuit against Google for ad-tech monopolization in December 2020. Then, the U.S. Department of Justice, joined by a bipartisan group of 17 additional states, filed an ad-tech lawsuit against Google earlier this year. Both lawsuits are ongoing. Last week, the European Union’s competition authority filed an ad-tech lawsuit against Google, citing similar circumstances. Both the DOJ and EU suits are seeking monetary damages and fines, as well as the breakup of Google’s ad-t

To say that Peter Bhatia is a successful newspaper editor would be akin to stating that Tom Brady was a good quarterback. As Bhatia reminisces during this vodcast interview with E&P Publisher Mike Blinder, when he left Stanford in 1975 to begin his journalism career, the first operation he worked at was using "hot type”  typesetting to lay out the daily edition. Since those early days, Bhatia has managed newsrooms that collectively have won 10 Pulitzer Prizes. He spent time in academia as the Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism director at Arizona State University's Cronkite School of Journalism. Bhatia was president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and received the 2020 "Benjamin Bradlee Editor of the Year Award" from the National Press Foundation. He is the first journalist of South Asian descent to lead a major daily newspaper in the U.S. And was featured on the cover of E&P Magazine as our 2008 "Editor of the Year." For the last seven years, Bhatia was part of the Gannett/

As E&P Reported in our February 2023 cover story, "Labor puts it all on the line,” 2022 was a very active year for union membership, walkouts and strikes. And perhaps no one knows this more than Jon Schleuss, the president of The NewsGuild - Communications Workers of America (TNG-CWA). Schleuss grew up in rural Arkansas, as he admits, in a "very republican world," where the idea of unions and strikes was far from the political discourse he and his family would ever discuss. Schleuss entered journalism at a young age at his college radio station. After graduation, he worked for Wehco Media as the online editor of their second-largest newspaper, The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Later, he joined the Los Angeles Times as a data and graphics journalist, becoming involved in organized labor by being one of a small group that helped unionize the Times in 2018. In 2019, Schleuss ran for and won the presidency of the NewsGuild, where he has led their membership of more than 25,000 workers within over 200 m

There are hundreds of Evan Brandts in our industry today, doing their jobs alone or in a greatly reduced newsroom, working the same beats covered by tens or hundreds more just a few years ago. It’s easy to cite the reasons for the growth of what many today call "ghost papers," where a community is being underserved in local news coverage. Some blame it on the unregulated "Big Tech" industry that monetizes content while also absorbing local advertising revenues that rightly belong to the news publisher. Others call it evolution, where "survival of the fittest" is tested as legacy media adapts to a multimedia culture. And many blame the corporate greed of hedge funds, which found a quick way to generate short-term profits, by buying up local newspapers and selling off their assets, with little regard for the mission to their local communities — providing that independent, constitutionally-mandated "check on power."  Before his April 2022 appearance on "60 Minutes," odds are you never even heard of Evan Brandt

In 1952, Arthur and Morley Ballantine wanted to enter the news publishing industry, and they picked southwest Colorado as the place to do it — purchasing a publication that is now the Durango Herald. Over the years, the company expanded, adding new titles, video services, digital services, and local phone directories to its publishing empire. And today, their son, Richard G. Ballentine is chairman of the board ofBallentine Communications, continuing a mission of serving the readers and businesses of the region. Recently, the company announced it was opening offices and hiring staff just 60 miles away, in Farmington, New Mexico, to start a brand new, free tabloid called the Tri-City Record that will print five days a week. Farmington has a population of 46,000+ and is the largest city in San Juan County (population 120,000). The city has been served by its newspaper of record, The Farmington Daily Times, for over 120 years. However, today that Gannett publication might be labeled by some as a “ghost paper,” ha

For over 15 years, Mickey H. Osterreicher has served as general counsel to the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), where he helps support, train and advocate for First Amendment rights. Starting his journalism career in the 1970s, Mickey was a staff photojournalist as an undergraduate for his campus newspaper at the University of Buffalo. He later became an award-winning photojournalist whose work has been published and broadcast over the years by the New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, USA Today, ABC World News Tonight, Nightline, Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News and ESPN. Mickey returned to UB to get his law degree in 1998, where he served as an adjunct professor. However, not only does Osterreicher have an extensive news media background, but he also wears a shield — serving for over 30 years as a reserve deputy for the Erie County Sheriff’s Office. He was recognized as their ‘Reserve Deputy of the Year’ in 2017. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) honored Osterreicher in

The daily Portland Press Herald and its statewide sister publication Maine Sunday Telegram were, for over a century, the leading news and information providers to residents of Maine. Based in the state's largest city of Portland, these two major newspapers were the cornerstones of Guy Gannett Communications. This Maine-based family-owned business also owned a handful of television stations. In 1998, Guy Gannett decided to sell the entire company, with the newspaper holdings eventually purchased by the owners of The Seattle Times, the fourth generation of the Blethen family. Ten years later, during the 2008 recession, these titles began a journey of cutbacks and downsizing like so many other media companies. And, citing economic concerns, the Blethens announced they were putting the Press Herald and its other Maine newspaper properties up for sale. The next seven years, the newspapers went through two controversial ownership changes — eventually finding themselves in 2015 in the hands of Maine-based publisher

A recent Gallup/Knight Foundation study revealed, "Only 26% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the news media, the lowest level since Gallup and Knight began tracking in 2017.”  But this study also suggests: "Many Americans are not solely skeptical of news today — they feel distrust on an emotional level, believing news organizations intend to mislead them and are indifferent to the social and political impact of their reporting.” The main takeaway from the study may be that it states: “Emotional trust is more deeply rooted and is especially important to understand in the context of the news media. This study shows that emotional trust has a strong relationship to perceptions and behaviors that could harm the critical, mutually beneficial relationship between the health of the press and the health of U.S. democracy. The more emotional trust Americans have in the news, the more likely they are to say news organizations balance staying in business and serving the public well.” These findings, published by

To those media executives that attend major conferences or keep their "ears to the ground" through industry news blogs and sites, Guy Tasaka is already well known as an expert and resource that many have followed to stay on top of technology and navigate the turbulent waters of the ever-changing media landscape. Guy's innovative career spans decades as senior director of product management at WideOrbit, general manager of mobile at GateHouse Media, vice president and chief digital officer at Calkins Media, a sales and strategic leader at The New York Times, and most recently, the founding manager of the Google News Initiative (GNI) funded Local Media Association Technology Resource Center. Beginning this month, Guy has added another position to his LinkedIn profile: Technology Columnist for Editor & Publisher Magazine (E&P). Guy's first assignment for E&P was to cover the world’s largest gathering (65,000+) of electronic media professionals and innovators — the 2023 National Association of Broadc

According to a recent report from the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy, total giving from all sources in the U.S. rose from $124.31 billion in 1993 to just over $360 billion last year (2022). However, the report cites that the total giving figure has continued to track closely with the size of the U.S. economy, where the overall "giving " figure remained at roughly 2% of the national GDP over those 20 years. What the report does show as a major shift is a change from total giving coming from individuals versus foundations, the giving coming from foundations rising significantly, from less than 7% in 1992 to nearly 19% of all giving today. As more and more news publishers seek innovative sustainable new revenue models to offset the cost of their newsrooms, more and more money is becoming available to support local journalism through philanthropic entities. In this episode of E&P Reports, we explore "The Chronicle of Philanthropy" (CoP), a monthly magazine that covers the nonprofit world and is r

Imagine you are managing a downsized, metro, state capital newsroom. Within four weeks, your newsroom covers once-in-a-generation tornado devastation, a school shooting that takes the lives of six individuals, a legislature that expels two minority members erupting into a globally watched real-time protest, the crash of two Black Hawk helicopters that took nine lives at nearby Fort Campbell and the passage of several local and statewide anti-LBGTQ bills, one that bans the performance of drag shows. Additionally, you are assigning reporters, shooters, and editors while operating on a hybrid schedule where not all in your newsroom work within a single location. Finally, add to that the fact that your newsroom not only has to feed multi-platform, real-time content to your statewide audience, but you are also under a mandate to act as the regional hub for a national network with all their readers turning their attention to the community you report on. Well, you don’t have to imagine what that single month of jour

On April 5, 2019, Alec Johnson, the editor & publisher of The Waterville Times, the flagship publication of the Johnson Newspaper Corporation, of which he is also president, penned an editorial entitled “Readers think newspapers are doing fine: here’s the truth.”  Within the article, one can almost feel his frustrations, citing a Pew Research survey that stated 71% of Americans believed that local news media organizations were doing well financially, while just 14 percent said they have directly paid for "local news services.” Perhaps that article was intended as a “warning shot” to the readers within the communities his newspapers served; like many publishers, Johnson Newspapers could not continue financing his newsrooms at the same pace in a culture of declining circulation and advertising revenues. In less than 60 days, on June 14, 2019, Johnson announced they were shutting down the only four newspapers that served the 100,000+ residents of St. Lawrence County, New York, which included the 100+-year-o