Editor and Publisher Reports

In his byline, Lansing’s City Pulse Managing Editor Kyle Kaminski proudly states he is “a cannabis enthusiast who has been smoking marijuana just about every day for the last decade.” So, it is no wonder that this alternative weekly in Michigan’s state capitol has become, arguably, the state’s authority on everything you need to know about cannabis. The April 14 issue features images of pot on the cover, back, and 10 inside pages of the 32 total in this latest edition. And many of those images are on the tons of ads they get each week from the local “Provisionaries,” legal since December 2019 to dispense recreational marijuana to residents over the age of 21. In this edition of “E&P REPORTS,” Publisher Mike Blinder chats with City Pulse’s Owner and Publisher Berl Schwartz and Managing Editor Kyle Kaminski about how cannabis has built an audience and needed revenue for their media company. Plus, they’ll share their views on covering Michigan state politics as Governor Gretchen Whitmer gains national attent

Paul Glader is an award-winning journalist, who spent 10 years as a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal with bylines for numerous publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post,TheNewYorker.com, The Indianapolis Star, The Associated Press, Der Spiegel Online, FastCompany.com, USA Today and ESPN.com. Today, Glader is an associate professor at The King's College in New York City; director of The McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute; executive director of The Media Project, a global non-profit journalism training organization; and executive editor of its award-winning, nonprofit news outlet ReligionUnplugged.com. He is also founder of Vett Incorporated, a Knight Foundation-funded start-up. Vett Inc. has built a new tool called VettNews Cx that is “reimagining how modern newsrooms handle corrections.” It is now gaining a lot of traction with key industry partners including more than a dozen news organizations, Poynter.org, and the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). In this

With a world permanently changed from a global pandemic, what is in store for the news publishers, and how should we best meet the challenges ahead. E&P assembled four industry leaders to offer their thoughts on: The value of media companies today and what will we be worth as we put COVID-19 behind us Are Philanthropic revenue opportunities or non-profit models a realistic way to help offset content creation costs? What is the future of maximizing consumer revenue for the news we produce, and can we expect it to grow in the months to come Should we look at partnerships with tech media like Facebook and Google or continue to fight for compensation for the news they monetize How do we find new talent and build critical diversity in our industry, and what priority should we place on having our newsrooms reflect the communities we serve?   In this segment of "E&P REPORTS," Publisher Mike Blinder poses these questions and more to- Dave Chavern President and CEO at New Media Alliance Nancy Lane CEO at Loc

Shaw Media claims to be  “the third oldest, continuously owned and operated family newspaper in the nation.” Today, Shaw Media has more than 300 employees working at 53 newspapers and magazines across Illinois and Iowa.   Tom Shaw, who has worked at various levels within the company, currently holds the position of vice president and chief product officer. He recently led the launch of a news consolidation model called Shaw Local,  designed to better their communities that contributed to their yearly double-digit growth in reader revenues. In this segment of “E&P Reports,” publisher Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with Shaw to learn more about how news consolidation models may not just benefit their company, but the industry as a whole. Plus, we learn Shaw's thoughts about the industry’s relationship and future with Google and Facebook, growing advertising revenue, building diversity in our newsrooms, and Shaw Media’s plans for growth in the future. Related Links: Shaw Local, Shaw Media’s new consolidated ne

Talking Glass Media (TGM) recently celebrated 6 million page views on its flagship “good news” website SignalsAZ.com, launched in March 2018 by Brad Fain, CEO of its parent company: Fain Signature Group, a multi-generational land holdings and real estate group based in Prescott Valley, Ariz.  Today, TGM publishes two regional magazines, the area’s premiere recreational guide, broadcasts podcasts and videos, and offers outdoor digital display marketing along with a complete suite of digital services for local businesses. TGM’s executive editor Guy Roginson’s background is not from the legacy media side of the business. He was brought in from an advertising agency to build TGM by “bringing together highly motivated professionals, dynamic content, the latest technologies and regional assets to deliver essential information, events, entertainment and news to a place once aptly named Lonesome Valley,” as stated on their website. In this edition of “E&P Reports,” publisher Mike Blinder discusses with Roginson a

It’s true that over the years we have seen the Borrell Associates’ Advertiser Research Studies show a downward trend in local advertiser spending for printed newspapers. But today, Borrell Associates CEO Gordon Borrell feels that those same newspaper companies are now in the right position to gain larger shares of local digital dollars as those advertisers look to shift their expenditures to those companies with the right solutions. According to Borrell’s latest newspaper study, most local ad directors feel they are poised for significant growth over the next year. It’s all part of a new study being performed by Borrell Associates and America’s Newspapers to help the industry find the best opportunities for growth in 2021. In this segment of E&P Reports, publisher Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with Borrell on initial findings and what opportunities are available now for garnering new ad dollars. Related links: More information about participating in the Borrell/America’s Newspapers Study: https://newspaper

Damian Radcliffe is the Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism at University of Oregon and also a fellow of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. However, most of us know Professor Radcliffe as the author of numerous studies that provide insight into the global journalism ecosystem. His latest study on the impact of COVID-19 on journalism was just released in conjunction with The Thomson Reuters Foundation. It reveals the pandemic’s impact on the personal safety and welfare of journalists,  the structure of newsrooms and disruption to business models and the proliferation of fake news, and surging threats to media freedom. The study also identifies best practice and innovative approaches that have been developed as a response to the challenges of COVID-19. In this segment of E&P Reports, publisher Mike Blinder chats with Radcliffe about his current findings from this study and what trends he is seeing in the other research projects he is currently working on. Related links: Mo

Many know newspaper industry veteran John Kelly, who has spent over 30-years in sales leadership positions for Cox, Gannett and others. John is still consulting today and publishing a daily newsletter as well as speaking his mind when it comes to the state of the industry today and what he sees as our biggest challenges when it comes to ad sales. Mike Blinder, Publisher of E&P Magazine has known John for most of the 25-years he has spent providing media ad sales training and revenue generation services to hundreds of newspapers worldwide. Join Mike & John, as these two old sales “war horses” talk about their views on what it takes to succeed in ad sales as well as the challenges we face in a world of pandemics and corporate takeovers.  

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.