FACTS SHOW WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS FIND NICHE IN SUBURBS

By Ray Appen

(This column originally appeared in Appen Newspapers Inc.’s publications on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2006. It is being reprinted with the permission of the writer.)

Assaults by new technology to the contrary, we here at Appen Newspapers - like thousands of weekly newspapers in the United States - have continued to plug away in our niche successfully.

Newspapers have always had an appeal to me that no other sector of the media has been able to approach. Newspapers are colorful, you can hold it in your hands and you can cut out the relevant parts and send them to Grandma or tape them to the refrigerator door.

And there is something about reading the news in black and white that gives it not only the ring of truth but of permanency. So I was more than a little excited about a report in the National Newspaper Association’s (NNA) most recent issue.

I know, large daily newspapers such as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are having difficulties with dropping circulation, but non-daily newspapers such as the Revue & News, the Johns Creek Herald and the Forsyth Herald are thriving.

According to the NNA report, the number of daily papers in the U.S. has declined from 1,700 in 1,950 to fewer than 1,500 today. Non-daily papers, however, have increased by 7,000 and the number of people reading non-daily papers has doubled since 1965.

Potential advertisers ought to take note about the following facts gleaned from the NNA report:

· 81 percent of adults read a newspaper every week

· 75 percent of those readers share their paper with friends, family and others

· On average, readers spend 38 minutes reading an issue of their paper

· 25 percent of readers keep their paper for more than six days

The NNA and the University of Missouri School of Journalism recently conducted a survey of markets of less than 100,000 population to find out the relationship between merchants and local newspapers.

Granted, the North Fulton-Forsyth market, when combined with the metro Atlanta area, is much greater than 100,000, but there are some gems that could be gleaned from the study:

· Local community newspapers are the primary source of information, including news and advertising, for communities by a 3-1 margin.

· 95 percent of readers read local news

· 92 percent read school news

· 76 percent read sports

The survey showed most (78 percent) of the readers questioned said the overall news coverage of their local community by the newspaper was good to excellent.

On the advertising side, the NNA and University of Missouri study showed the following:

· 80 percent of community newspaper readers read the grocery or supermarket advertisements

· Half of all readers rely most on their community newspaper for grocery shopping information. That’s 10-times more than the next most relied upon source - direct mail.

· 82 percent of community newspapers read the hardware and home improvement advertisements

· Nearly one-third of all readers relay on their community newspaper for home improvement shopping information. That’s four times more than the next most relied upon source - the Internet, according to the survey.

n 80 percent of community newspaper readers read the discount store advertisements

· 78 percent of community newspaper readers read the classified advertisements

· 76 percent of community newspaper readers read the department store advertisements

· About 67 percent of all adults surveyed said they rarely or never used direct mail to make purchasing decisions; 57 percent said they rarely or never used the Yellow Pages to make purchasing decisions.

Other findings:

· 75 percent of those surveyed said they plan to purchase health or medical products or services in the next year.

· 72 percent said the plan to buy women’s clothing

· 44 percent plan to purchase lawn and garden supplies

· 35 percent planned to buy financial or insurance products and services

· 31 percent planned to buy cell phones or cell phone service

· 25 percent plan to buy furniture

· 27 percent rely most on their community newspaper for used vehicle shopping information. That’s nearly three times more than the next most relied source, the Internet.

· 20 percent relay most on their community newspaper for new vehicle shopping, compared to 14 percent who rely most on the Internet.

· 15 percent planned to buy a used vehicle in the next year

· 11 percent planned to buy a new vehicle in the next year

The newspaper industry is changing, particularly to take advantage of the Internet.

The report by Brian Steffens, the executive director of the NNA, indicated the niche of weeklies such as those in Appen Newspapers will continue to flourish as long as they adjust to the changing times.

That is good news for my children’s college funds.

* * *

(Ray Appen owns and publishes a group of weekly newspapers on the north side of Atlanta. Included in the Appen Newspapers Inc. group are the Revue & News, the Forsyth Herald, the Johns Creek Herald, and North Atlanta’s Business Post. Previously, Ray worked at the Miami Herald and the Suburban Journals in St. Louis, MO. Ray can be contacted by email at appen@northfulton.com, and his company’s website address is www.northfulton.com.)

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