Paul Davis: Community newspapers still doing well

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Remember, operators are standing by, doing absolutely nothing. You call is very important to us, but not to them. (They are laid off hamburger flippers.)

Hi, Billy Mays here. Ever had a scratch or dent on your new car? You could spend hundreds, thousands, even Bernie Madoff’s millions to have it repaired. Well, those days are over. Sam’s Magic scratch, dent and engine overhaul kit is here. Watch while I use this 10-penny nail to destroy the beautiful surface of the hood of this 2009 Lamborghini. Now watch as I use this tiny tube of Miracle Lamborghini scratch and dent removal to make the car look like new. It is truly a miracle. But wait, order now and we’ll double your order, add a set of collapsible closet hangers, a second tube of Miracle Scratch remover, and a stick-up light for all your hard to reach or see places. And it’s all guaranteed.

Let’s hear it for television! Twenty-three of these stupid ads every hour, 10 bucks each. My bride and I watch our share of TV, sans commercials. We are TiVo aficionados. We wait until 6 to watch the NBC Nightly News which comes on at 5:30. Because it’s recorded, we can zip through 15 commercials in less than 30 seconds. We record David Letterman each night and watch it the next night, with all those horrible commercials removed.

We are told daily that some major newspapers are dying. What we are not told is that regional newspapers and community newspapers are alive and well. Huge newspapers with million-dollar columnists and heavy labor contacts in metro areas with two or more of these giants are suffering. Community newspapers have seen dips in revenue due to the tough economic times, but by and large they’re doing OK.

TV, however, is committing suicide. They’ve cut ad rates so low that they have to double or triple the number of commercials they carry just to keep revenue at somewhat respectable levels. And they’re losing that battle.

Letterman must have 20-30 commercials. Remember when Hallmark sponsored a show? They’d open with a simple tag proclaiming that the masterpiece was being sponsored by Hallmark. Then they let us watch the show, which ended with another Hallmark line thanking us for watching. How refreshing. They became the world’s greatest card seller

Local, community newspapers lose ground when they try to be like the big boys. You have the option of eliminating staff and “wiring up” the paper. That means you simply turn on the Associated Press wire and run primarily stories about earthquakes in China and wildfires in California, news that your readers saw last night between commercials on TV. Local papers are for local news – from the birth of Beth and Bob’s new baby, to the death of your neighbor, to the things going on in your city, your schools and your town council. You’ll never see that on network news.
To the extent that those of us who own, publish or write for local community papers do our jobs well, the future for our industry is extremely bright.

Paul Davis writes a Sunday column for the Opelika-Auburn News. You may contact him at paul_davis@charter.net