National Newspaper Association

81% of adults (18-years-old or older) read America’s community newspapers weekly

Thumb through the stack of stories about newspapers on your desk, or type “newspaper” in the Lexis-Nexis or Google search boxes, and the resulting headlines might make you think the sky is falling on the newspaper industry.

The Audit Bureau of Circulation’s FAS-FAX reports the largest circulation decline in years for papers in the top 150 markets; the number of daily newspapers and their circulation have declined since 1970.

Read those stories carefully, however, and you’ll find that most newspaper companies are churning out profit margins in excess of 20 percent. Many newspaper companies are achieving 30 percent margins, and some individual newspapers more than 40 percent. “If the sky is falling, I’d like some of that 20, 30 and 40 percent to fall in my lap,” says Brian Steffens, executive director of the National Newspaper Association.

“Grocery stores and supermarkets have been operating on 1- or 2-percent margins for years. Traditional retailers are typically thrilled if they achieve 6- to 8-percent margin,” Steffens says. “Both of those industries have their fair share of challenges, but the constant drumbeat of doom and gloom seems peculiarly reserved for newspapers.”

“Since when is a 20 percent margin a failure?,” he asks. “Yet that is how the headlines paint our industry. Imagine how high executives at General Motors or Ford would jump for joy for half that margin.”

According to a recent NNA survey, conducted by the Center for Advanced Social Research at the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia:

· 81 percent of adults over the age of 18 read a newspaper every week
· 75 percent of those readers share their paper with friends, colleagues or family members (more than doubling the number of people who see the paper)
· On average, readers spend 38 minutes reading an issue of their paper
· One-quarter of readers keep their paper for more than six days, enabling them to revisit a story or advertisement

“I’m not immune to some very significant challenges facing the newspaper industry, but these numbers don’t quite support 'the sky is falling' mantra,” says Steffens. “Part of the problem with reporting on the health and welfare of the newspaper industry is that virtually all of the research has been focused on large daily newspapers serving the top 150 markets.”

So the NNA surveyed adults in markets of less than 100,000 population to examine the relationship between Main Street America and newspapers.

While the number of daily newspapers has shrunk from 1,700 in 1950 to fewer than 1,500 today, the number of non-daily newspapers has risen to about 7,000 community newspapers. According to NNA records, the number of people reading non-daily newspapers has more than doubled since 1965. Recognizing the health and opportunity of “weekly” papers, Hollinger Inc. and Thomson Newspapers, among several others, amassed large numbers of community newspapers in the 1980s and 1990s. Community newspapers remain the focus of several companies in the 21st Century: MediaNews Group, Rust Communications, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., Landmark Community Newspapers Inc., Brehm Communications Inc., Liberty and Ogden Newspapers Inc. among them.

So, what makes community newspapers tick?

According to the NNA survey, local community newspapers are the primary source of information for both news and advertising in local communities—by a 3-1 margin over the next most popular media.

Primary source of information about local communities:

· 50 percent: local newspaper
· 16 percent: television
· 9 percent: radio
· 2 percent: Internet

(The rest say they get their local information from friends, relatives, co-workers, “others”, or they “don’t know.”)

The findings also note:

· 95 percent of readers read local news
· 92 percent read education (school) news
· 76 percent read local sports
· 75 percent read public notices

These are the bread and butter topics of community newspapers. But how well do community newspapers perform these functions?

· 78 percent of readers believe their local news coverage is good to excellent
· 67 percent believe the accuracy of their community newspaper is good to excellent
· 64 percent believe the quality of writing in their community newspaper is good to excellent
· 58 percent believe the fairness of reporting is good to excellent

“While there is room for improvement, it should be noted that these were rated on a five-point scale, with the middle being fair or acceptable,” Steffens says. “Adding fair or acceptable to these numbers would push them up even more dramatically.”

“Media reports have painted the Internet as perhaps the chief nemesis of newspapers,” says Steffens. “Yet newspapers are responding to the Internet as an opportunity, not just a threat.”

More than 60 percent of Main Street America now has Internet access at home, and 39 percent of those have broadband service, the NNA survey reports.

One-fifth of community newspaper readers report they have visited their local paper’s Web site in the last month. Some 87 percent of those say they visited the paper’s web site within the previous week; 13% say they visited the paper’s Web site daily.

According to the NNA survey, readers go to the local paper’s web site for news, sports and weather (33 percent); to read older, archived stories (19 percent); obituaries (10 percent); and employment or help-wanted advertisements.

This survey was conducted by the Center for Advanced Social Research (CASR), Missouri School of Journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia for the National Newspaper Association.

Established in 1885, the National Newspaper Association is the voice of America's community newspapers and the oldest and largest newspaper association in the country. The nation’s community newspapers inform, educate and entertain more than 60 million readers every week.

Founded in 1908, the Missouri School of Journalism has set the standards for journalism and strategic communication training for almost a century. The proven "Missouri Method" blends theory and practice through coursework and the university's own media, including a community newspaper, a network television station and a national public radio station.

Community Newspaper Readership Survey Highlights

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81% of adults read a newspaper at least once a week
18% do not read a newspaper

· 44% read a newspaper 4, 5, 6 or 7 days a week (daily)
· 37% read a newspaper 1-3 days a week (non-daily)
(21% read a newspaper once per week)
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75% of readers share their paper with one or more friends, colleagues or family.

· 38% share with one person
· 17% pass along the paper to two persons
· 17% pass along the paper to 3-5 persons
· 4% pass along the paper to 6 or more persons
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67% of the papers read were published daily
33% were published once or twice weekly
(23% were published weekly; almost 9% twice weekly)
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94% of readers buy their newspaper
5% of readers read a free newspaper
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46% of readers get their paper delivered by adult or youth carriers
27% of readers pick up a copy at a newsstand or store
22% receive their paper via USPS
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73% of readers say they read most or all of each newspaper
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On average, readers spend 38 minutes reading an issue of their local paper.
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25% of readers read the paper and toss it the same day
29% keep the paper 1-2 days
24% keep the paper 6 days, but fewer than 10 days
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Local newspapers are the primary source about local communities by more than a 3-1 margin. Primary source of information about local communities:
· 50% -- local newspaper
· 16% -- television
· 9% -- radio
· 2% -- Internet
(the rest get local information from friends, relatives, co-workers, “others” or “don’t know”)
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95% of readers read local news in their local newspaper
78% of readers read local news somewhat-to-very often
43% read local news very often

85% of readers read national news in their local paper
62% of readers read national news somewhat-to-very often
36% read national news very often

92% of readers read education news in their local paper
62% of readers read education news somewhat-to-very often
27% read education news very often

91% of readers read state news in their local paper
62% of readers read state news somewhat-to-very often
27% read state news very often

87% of readers read editorial or letters to the editor in their local paper
60% of readers read editorials or letters somewhat-to-very often
33% read editorials or letters very often

76% of readers read local sports in their local paper
48% of readers read local sports somewhat-to-very often
28% read local sports very often

80% of readers read world news in their local paper
55% of readers read world news somewhat-to-very often
25% read world news very often

75% of readers read public notices in their local paper
39% of readers read public notices somewhat-to-very often
16% read public notices very often

60% of readers read national sports in their local paper
34% of readers read national sports somewhat-to-very often
18% read national sports very often
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78% of readers believe local news coverage is good to excellent
71% of readers believe the photography in their local paper is good to excellent
67% of readers believe the accuracy of their local paper is good to excellent
69% of readers believe the design and layout of the local paper is good to excellent
64% of readers believe the quality of writing in their local paper is good to excellent
63% of readers believe coverage of state news is good to excellent
58% of readers believe the fairness of reporting is good to excellent
45% of readers believe coverage of national news is good to excellent