Newspaper analyst advises editors to make hometown connection with young readers

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Posted 8:00AM on Thursday, April 11, 2002

WASHINGTON - Catchy mottoes and better marketing won't win the hearts of those younger, less frequent readers that newspapers are courting, an analyst told top editors. These on-the-go news consumers need something more complicated: A hometown paper they can personally connect with, Readership Institute Director John Lavine told editors of the nation's daily newspapers Wednesday. The newspaper industry is suffering from a 30-year decline in readership. To attack that trend, it is trying to convert occasional readers -- especially those between 20 and 45 years old -- into newshounds who can't get enough of the paper. The Readership Institute at Northwestern University's Media Management Center is a joint effort by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Newspaper Association of America. It first conducted a survey of who reads newspapers, as well as how much, how often and which parts. Now the institute is collecting data on specific changes papers can make to attract new customers. Light readers make up 51 percent of the market. But they tend to feel drowned in news -- "plagued" as one anonymous interviewee put it -- see newspapers as depressing and feel they already know key developments from other sources, Lavine told ASNE's annual convention. The institute's research has shown that improving customer service, adjusting content, making advertising more attractive and even overhauling corporate culture are key to changing that impression. Building "brand loyalty" to the local newspaper also is crucial -- but is lacking at most of the nation's dailies, Lavine said. To create better name identification, Lavine suggested permanent fixtures that can make the paper seem more relevant by making readers' choices of what to read easier. Those that worked with focus groups included a daily front-page guide to a consistent set of ongoing top stories; a logo to call attention to stories which debate issues rather than describe developments; and guides to events and other sources of information. "I don't think we can walk away from it," Lavine said. Earlier Wednesday, ASNE's outgoing president told fellow editors that newspapers could face extinction if executives do not stop focusing on profits at the expense of journalism's core public service mission. "The obsession with short-term profits is causing newspaper companies to lose sight of their long-term obligations and opportunities," said Tim J. McGuire, executive editor of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. "We must choose today whether we're going to take newspapers forward with a genuine sense of values and commitment or if we are going to choose the path of milking our companies of every last dime. If we do that, we will die," he said. McGuire said reductions in newspaper advertising are leading to belt-tightening in newsrooms across the country; publishers and company executives are citing market demands for ever-higher profit margins; and newspapers have been grappling with coverage of the enormous stories related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Still, a strong bottom line can coexist with great journalism, he said. McGuire, who relinquishes his post at the convention's end on Friday, proposed that the industry create a new, well-funded organization to find ways to refocus newspapers. In order for newspapers to survive, they must further expand into multimedia, serve more targeted markets and cultivate experts on complex topics, he said. "Newsrooms are going to have to grow and grow significantly," he said. McGuire urged news executives to take a new message about their companies to Wall Street. Instead of focusing solely on the organization's short-term financial goals, they should talk about how a quality news product with an important community role creates a franchise with solid long-term business prospects, he said. McGuire also asked the editors to make sure they themselves act ethically, insist on fairness and balance and consider how their decisions and mistakes affect both readers and staff. ------ On the Net: American Society of Newspaper Editors: http://www.asne.org