I have written articles of how local weekly newspapers do succeed because of the fact they are delivered to all the residents of the town they service and provide to their advertisers a much reduced advertising cost.
Any business that desires to reach those particular residents finds more beneficial to advertise in the weekly because they do reach all the residents in the targeted town while the dailies only reach a portion of those readers at a much higher advertising cost.
In addition to my story of the demise of the New Britain Herald an interesting story appeared in the Hartford Courant today written by David Holahan with his describing how he and his friends started a weekly newspaper called The Olde Lyme Gazette in l974 publishing 5,000 copies and during the a raging recession that occurred in the years 0f 73-74. The paper well received continued to amaze its readers with their April fools jokes that appeared each year and turned out to be a financial success that in 1979 they purchased The Compass a Mystic, Ct. Weekly making it the smallest newspaper chain throughout the area.
In 1982 both papers were sold to a chain which were sold from chain to chain operators with The Mystic papers experiencing its demise years ago with the Gazette subsequently merged with a rival company becoming the Pictorial-Gazette and was put out of its misery just a week or so by its current owners that also owns the New Britain Herald.
One such paper that I have written about that has been successful over the years is the East Hartford Gazette that is currently owned by the owners of the New Britain Herald and with its current editor, Mr. Doak, attempting to purchase this thriving weekly paper from it owners The Journal Register of Pennsylvania. Why would Mr. Doak attempt to purchase this weekly if it were not a profitable venture?
Please read my posting “The restoration of a New Britain Newspaper” and also read all the very well pointed comments that were posted by well informed individuals that do care about a continuation of a local newspaper whether it be a daily or a weekly.
Frank Smith Says
17 comments:
Maybe the solution is to let the New Britain Herald go down the crapper and let someone experiment with a start-up weekly. This way they would be free of all the financial mess the Herald is buried under.
To Anonymous:
You are correct in letting the Herald go down the tubes and maybe the Record-journal of Meriden may be interested to extend their coverage on a daily basis to include New Britain News; but they could develop a weekly coverage just as they are doing in Berlin with their Berlin Citizen weekly.
This of course, would keep what is being printing, out of the local politician's control.
The liberals are proposing that the State of Connecticut would buy the Herald. Government control of the press is one it the items directly from Karl Marx' communist manifesto!
So much for freedom of the press. It would be freedom of the press to print whatever M. Jodi Rell wants printed, and nothing else!
Courant reports month old news previously reported on Frank Smith Says NB:
Problems Sink New Britain's Free Firewood Idea
By BILL LEUKHARDT | The Hartford Courant
December 25, 2008
NEW BRITAIN — - Questions about cost and liability have sidetracked a proposal that the city collect firewood from city properties and give it away to residents.
The idea, proposed last month by Aldermen Paul Catanzaro and Larry Hermanowski, is on hold because it doesn't appear that it can be implemented without cost or potential liability.
"It's a good concept but there's issues of cost and liability," Lisa Carver, Mayor Timothy Stewart's aide, said Tuesday. "Plus we've got enough on our plate now to keep the core services going."
THE COURANT COULD HAVE SAVED A LOT OF EFFORT AND JUST READ FRANK SMITH'S BLOG, BECAUSE YOU SAW THIS STORY ON HERE FIRST:
Anonymous said...
The firewood deal sounds nice and humanitarian on the surface until someone gets hurt cutting it up on city property and the city ends up being sued for the injuries. How much damage can one person do with a chain saw? How about an axe? Does the city have insurance for such things, or will the taxpayers have to foot the bill, like usual.
November 24, 2008 4:43 PM
Perhaps a bright spot in the demise of the Herald as we know it today will be that New Britain may be free of the totally biased reporting of wacked out "reporter", Rick Guinness! Perhaps another paper taking over will then be free of Democrat Phil Sherwood's communistic control of local political newspaper reporting.
I don't think anyone will really miss the New Britain Herald. The reporting and content of the daily
had suffered for many many years.
Frank, I have posted before about the prospects of a good weekly like
the Berlin Citizen being considered
here in New Britain by the Meriden
Record Journal. The focus is on how to make a free weekly delivered to every home a profitable venture.
Newspapers run on one thing, advertising revenue. With the economy in a down hill spiral, the owners of the Meriden Record Journal would have to be willing to take a huge risk on the City of New Britain. Would we have enough
advertisers to really make a go of it? I believe New Britain would support the paper but it comes down
to advertisers getting behind the publication. You have mentioned that the rates would be substantial
because of the large city wide mailing but will advertisers afford
this? I am not at all trying to discourage a weekly from coming to the city to the contrary. We need however to understand the business plan of a profitable weekly publication working in a city the
size of New Britain. Rather than some of our representatives meeting at the State level to get some sort of an answer from the govenor, concerned leaders and citizens and business minded people should be sitting down with The Record Journal (if they are interested) or other potential prospects about how best to keep the news from going dark in our
city. How many advertising contracts need to be sold vs. how much staff, lease space, publication costs and distribution
will be required? What is the profit at the end of the day?
Attn: Phil Sherwood! What is the cost for the City of New Britain to send a Bulk Rate mailer to every household? Maybe Phil
can answer this one. That is a step towards understanding the costs of distributing a weekly newspaper.
In reply to anonymous who stated I don’t think anyone will really miss the New Britain Herald because the content has suffered for many years.
Speaking to my suggestion of the Record-Journal doing a daily or weekly coverage of the New Britain News such has they are doing with the Berlin Citizen, The North Haven Citizen, The Plainville Citizen, The Southington Citizen, and the Town Times. The dark question being suggested by the anonymous individual was the ability of the Record-Journal to attract enough advertisers to support a daily or a weekly preferring the state representatives in obtaining the required help from the Governor to get the Record Journal or other papers to keep the New Britain news alive.
I agree as long as one of my readers posted that it is not controlled by the local politicians as to what content that gets printed.
As to the ability, of the Record-Journal, with their being able to garnish advertising business to support their coming to New Britain. Well please be reminded that weeklies is their business and they would be able to get the advertisers like they have always with their other weekly papers. Also remember that they deliver to every household so their advertisers get the benefit of reaching everyone in their targeted market not like the results they get from the local papers.
Frank smith says
Attracting advertisers to support a weekly is not a "dark question" it's a serious consideration for any publisher.
I won't be sad to see the Herald go down the tubes. That's one way to get rid of wacko Rick Guinness. What will Sherwack do without a lacky like Rick publishing all of the dirt Philthy Phil tries to spread through town.
It seems like Sherwack really went hiding. He is almost non-existent in town since he got caught with his conflicting public statements (must be too embarrassed to show his face in public), and he obviously doesn't have the clout to get us the information about the unpaid car taxes, or he would have done that by now (since he promised to long ago). We need to find someone in City Hall that has the "juice" to get that info for us.
Call the tax collector's office for
the information. It's a FOI isn't it? Maybe we should consult back to Phil about FOI.
I guess we will find out how Phil's FOI ordinance doesn't work all that well, won't we????
Oh where, oh where has Filthy Phil gone, oh where oh where could he be?
Deep in hiding is he!
anonymous said.....
The New Britain Herald (newbritainherald.com), Serving New Britain, Conn., and surrounding areas
News
Commissioner: 6 potential buyers interested
Monday, December 29, 2008 10:37 PM EST
By JACKIE MAJERUS
and STEVE COLLINS
Journal register news service
HARTFORD — There are at least six potential buyers eyeing The Herald of New Britain, The Bristol Press and 11 weeklies, according to state and municipal officials who met Monday to discuss the looming closure of the newspapers.
“We are guardedly optimistic” that a deal might be struck, said state Economic Development Commissioner Joan McDonald.
Five of the six are already talking to the broker hired by the Journal Register Co. to try to sell the Central Connecticut papers slated to close in mid-January unless a new owner takes over, the officials said.
The other possible buyer, an anonymous New York newspaper veteran, met earlier in the day with the mayors of Bristol and New Britain. Both mayors expressed hope he might snatch up both dailies.
“We are pretty optimistic that this might materialize,” said Mayor Timothy Stewart of New Britain. “The prospects are pretty good that somebody will save these local papers.”
State lawmakers and economic development officials said their role in helping to land a buyer for the troubled newspaper chain is pretty much over unless someone asks for their assistance. Instead, they said, buyers and the broker hired to sell the papers are talking.
“We’re stepping back,” McDonald said.
It remains murky, though, who might be interested at a time when newspapers are taking it on the chin across much of America.
At least one is another newspaper company that responded to a letter sent out to 16 media firms by the state Department of Economic and Community Development, McDonald said. The Journal Inquirer of Manchester is also in the mix, according to Stewart.
Three of six prospects had been talking to the broker, the New Mexico-based Dirks, Van Essen & Murray. Another was put in touch with the broker through state Rep. Tim O’Brien, a New Britain Democrat. The other read about the papers’ plight and contacted the DECD, McDonald said.
The sixth prospect is the one the mayors spoke with in Stewart’s office Monday.
Both Stewart and Ward said the New York buyer is the most promising of all.
“He’s most real,” said Stewart. “I think the prospects are pretty good here. They are looking to maintain that hometown nature.”
The mayors wouldn’t name the individual from New York, but said he has many years experience as an editor, is not connected to any Connecticut paper and is not part of a newspaper chain.
“He does come from a strong background in journalism,” said Stewart. “He was very promising.”
Ward said he was “definitely, definitely interested” and has the financing in place to pull it off.
“Hopefully this will amount to something in the very near future,” Stewart said.
Neither the JRC nor the broker has ever disclosed how much money they’re seeking for the papers. Officials said they would not name any potential buyers for fear of jeopardizing negotiations.
O’Brien said that he and other lawmakers working with McDonald’s office helped generate publicity that may have spurred interest from a buyer.
“Our efforts have succeeded in getting the word out to potential buyers,” said O’Brien. “At this point, it’s in their hands.”
The five potential buyers who are speaking with the broker are “very much interested in doing something,” said state Rep. Frank Nicastro, a Bristol Democrat.
“It appears that negotiations are getting serious,” Nicastro said. “It’s important that we move forward.”
The mayors of New Britain and Bristol said they each spoke with some of the same prospective buyers, but that each of them had been contacted by other potential buyers who were interested in just one of the papers.
Stewart said he spoke with someone from the Journal Inquirer, but Ward said he had not. Stewart said the Manchester paper was interested in both the Press and the Herald and that it was still in the running as a buyer.
Nicastro said citizens need their newspapers. He said he’s heard from many constituents about his work to help save the papers.
“The vast majority of the phone calls are saying, ‘Do what you can do to save the newspaper,’” said Nicastro. He said if people didn’t like it, he would hear from them.
Even if, in the end, no buyer comes through, at least they tried, Nicastro said.
“This can’t hurt,” Nicastro said. “This can only help the citizens of Connecticut.”
Selling the papers, though, has not proven an easy process.
Stewart said the records kept by the JRC that are being shown to prospective buyers are turning some of them away.
“The books aren’t the greatest,” said Stewart. “That’s part of the issue.”
Some of the concern, said Stewart, is whether the paper is viable. But he said a major stumbling block is that there just isn’t enough information in the books to make a reasonable judgment about the business.
Former Bristol mayoral contender Ken Johnson, who was part of a group that considered buying The Press, said that “the lack of information from the seller has been a primary impediment to submitting any purchase offer.”
Johnson said the broker “actually felt compelled to apologize for the lack of information.”
Another complication, said Stewart, is that the Journal Register Co. papers are so intertwined that it is complicated to sort out the truth about any particular newspaper.
Since the JRC notified employees in Bristol and New Britain on Nov. 11 that it intended to close the papers in 60 days, it has shuttered many weekly papers in southern Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The company is heavily in debt and its stock is worth less than a penny a share.
The newspaper industry as a whole is reeling, with many papers struggling to remain afloat in the face of shrinking circulations and declining advertising. People are shifting their attention online, where newspapers frequently have as many readers as ever, but profits are elusive.
“It’s a challenging time” for newspapers, McDonald said.
What time isn't a challenging time for any business? When things are going well that the future is the most clouded. When times are toughest, good business people can see much more clearly what their options really are.
As the editor of the East Hartford Gazette, there isn't a single business in East Hartford that would tell you they are doing well right now. Everyone is worried about the state of the economy, both locally and globally. They now realize, more than ever in our history, that what happens in Iceland or Shanghai affects them- affects us all.
Yes, it will be a challenge to operate any newspaper; an impossible challenge without the advertising support of the businesses int he community the newspaper serves. Sadly, many businesses are torn between traditional advertising such as radio, TV and newspaper, and what the internet offers. Whatever the choice, the only bad decision is not to advertise at all. And for whatever route any business or professional chooses, the only true measure than means anything is having the phone ring, getting an e-mail, or having a customer through the front door.
I happen to believe that a combination of print and internet is the best option. If I am successful in acquiring the East Hartford Gazette, that is what we will offer to anyone interested in reaching our town's 50,010 residents.
I also believe the employees of the Herald and the Bristol Press - as well as those who are editors of the other weekly newspapers which are being offered for sale - should make a united offer to purchase their newspapers. If the state is concerned enough to provide assistance to an out-of-state buyer - with no assurance anything might substantially be changed in the newspaper operations or job security pledged - certainly I have to believe the DECD would look much more favorably on extending more concrete financial assistance to an employee purchase plan. And if the employees owned their own newspaper, that might also result in a better product - with profits remaining right in New Britain or Bristol as the case may be.
The best bailout - and really the only one any true business deserves - is customers. A commitment to place an ad, on a regular basis, is the best bailout plan a newspaper could ask for.
So it really is no surprise that, yes, certainly I also believe every town of any size deserves a weekly newspaper. For a major city of New Britain's size to be without a newspaper to call its own reflects poorly on the city as a whole, and on the overall health of the local economy. Not a good message.
But, before everyone goes jumping the gun, that hasn't happened. And, if it does, I am very sure someone of the likes of Chamber of Commerce director Bill Millerick and other civic leaders will join forces to see to it that a weekly newspaper starts up.
Even with the economy being as down as it is, subsidizing a weekly newspaper is far less expensive than, say, hiring an office worker. And a good weekly would be a terrific ambassador to help promote all that is happening Downtown, particularly with the arts scene.
In the end, a good weekly can be both responsible in reporting developments, politics and crime as it impacts neighborhoods, but also should provide a needed forum for the community to express their views.
As communication tools and forms of expression change, we news folks also must be willing to express what we do in all the various forms of media. Finding the one place to do that might not work anymore, but there is still a need to maintain a sense of community. That is the 'cheese' of it, to borrow from the book "Somebody Moved My Cheese."
I happened before. It will happen again. Right now, it is up to us in the newspaper business to relocate our cheese. Then we can all get back to doing what it is we do best. That might not be quite the form our founding fathers intended, but that is indeed what our democracy is all about.
Not much left to the imagination from "As the Editor of the East Hartford Gazette"
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