Additional quotes from Oklahoma newspaper publishers interviewed for the April 15 cover story in The Oklahoma Publisher.
Gloria Trotter, Co-publisher, The Countywide & Sun (Tecumseh, OK)
As far as the community response, many readers have been asking about
our "health," and seemed concerned for us. That's not all bad. I think
we can use that concern to help remind our readers why our newspapers
are important to them and the communities. It's kind of like the "up"
side of a "down" economy; we are all looking at our expenses and taking
steps to trim them and operate more efficiently. We should use this
new concern about the future of newspapers to re-educate our readers
about our role in the community and importance of our "watchdog"
function. And we should re-examine our products to make sure we're
relevant in the changing environment.
We do have a website; in fact, we were one of the first weeklies in the
state to begin an active website several years ago. There's no question
it has increased our readership, but unfortunately it doesn't translate
to dollars very well. Most online readers are not subscribers, and web
advertising is still not particularly appealing to most of our
customers. Web ad sales are increasing very slowly, but we are a long
way from making money on it if you count staff time as well as direct
expenses. But it's clear that a website is an essential part of the
package these days. All of us must consider how best to utilize it, and
realize that at some point we're going to have to start charging for
access to it.
Leland Gourley, Publisher, Oklahoma City Friday
We’re always trying to improve. We frown on press releases. We
appreciate getting them as a potential lead for news coverage, but we
don’t use them as news. I have fun with the New York PR people who call up and ask whether I
received their press release. I ask them if there was an advertising
insertion order included with it.
Our coverage is sort of a mixture of social coverage and local
happenings. The overwhelming majority of philanthropy in Oklahoma City
comes right from our neighborhood. The majority of the social events
here are for one charity or another or a non-profit organization is
hosting the event.
The driving generation age, 30’s and 40’s and younger don’t give a
****… a major segment of them. So news is not important to them. It
should be, but it isn’t. A friend of mine has a son who is a medical doctor who hasn’t
registered to vote, and he says, “Why should I?’ And he’s well
educated. There’s definitely, in my opinion, a growing attitude that
says, ‘if I can’t control it, why worry about it.’ That’s what’s
really hurting the major metropolitan newspapers which is a source for
news for many people.
W. David Sasser, The Perkins Journal
We have a website that works quite well for us, however, some people don't like it. The only free content visitors can access are the main news stories, "above the fold", obits, and classifieds. To access any other content you have to be a subscriber.
It really makes the generation-y'ers crazy, but I think many newspapers have lost circulation because they're giving their news away free on the Internet. Our site also allows visitors to place classified ads, purchase subscriptions, and access photo archives.
We have to focus on the positive aspects of a community newspaper and the service it provides our community.
Louise Red Corn, Publisher, The Bigheart Times (Barnsdall, OK)
Our increase in circulation is due entirely to news content and widening the geographical area it covers to include places that are unserved or under-served by newspapers.
I strive to give people news that interests them and that they cannot get anywhere else, whether that means writing in-depth profiles of people, delving into court cases, covering political issues not covered by any other media, or slogging out into a wet spring pasture to cover cowboys sorting calves. I look for stories everywhere, and for variety of tales to appeal to a wide audience.
This week, for example, we have stories about a former teacher who was frustrated by public schools and started a home schooling community that includes Latin in its curriculum, tribal political battles, the 100th anniversary of a church, a lost dog, a traveling cowboy and art galleries opening – in addition to the standard fare of high school sports, election results (with a bizarre twist), etc.
I often travel for stories. I drove six hours to northeastern Arkansas, for instance, for a story about a tribal archeologist and her work on Osage Indian ancestral burial grounds. More frequently I travel to Oklahoma City, Tulsa and more familiar spots. I always go to catch local people making news. If they can travel, so can I.
I try very hard to stay in touch with ALL segments of the community without regard to their social status or any other divide. I am fond of saying that The Bigheart Times can be very sweet or very in your face. The combination can annoy some people, but appeals to readers.