Are Newspapers Really Dying? Not In Small Town America!
By Thomas D. Segel
April 23, 2009

Are newspapers dying in America? If just the circulation numbers of daily publications are examined, one could say a funeral dirge should be playing. In the past twenty years the population of the United States has increased by an estimated 60 million people. During the same years, daily newspaper circulation has declined from a high of about 62 million to just over 50 million today. In 1989 the nation could boast 1611 daily newspapers. Twenty years later there are only 1404 of these publications still rolling the news off their presses.

Just last month the 138 year old Tucson Citizen went on life support and started publishing day to day as new owners are attempting to purchase the publication. Once with a circulation of more than 60,000 daily copies, it has dropped to only 17,000 subscribers.

On March 16, 2009, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Washington State's 146 year old daily newspaper delivered it last edition. The PI is now alive only as an online publication. The Seattle publication along with other declining news giants such as the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle all seem to blame their poor performance on the current economic recession. However, they were in a downhill race, even during the good times.

Harlingen, Texas could be called a medium sized city, with a population of 60,000 plus people. During all of the years I have made this city my home, The Valley Morning Star was the newspaper that was opened as I sipped my first cup of coffee each morning. For most of those years I either had articles printed on a regular basis, or reached my neighbors via a standing column.

That column has not appeared in print for some time now. The managing editor for the editorial section was given his walking papers after more than 23 years of faithful service. There is no longer an editorial board. The presses have stopped and the printers no longer report to work. Even the lady handling obituaries has been retired.

Now the Valley Morning Star still exists in name, but it is a skeleton of its former self. A member of the Freedom Newspaper chain, it is being printed at a sister publication site 45 miles away. There is nobody to proof read, little meaningful local reporting, and the content is primarily cut and paste items from national news services.

In an attempt to gain new readership the VMS has dedicated an entire section to pop culture items such as teen fashion, the latest movie heroes, TV highlights and what is hot on the Web. There are food stories, diet stories and an occasional picture of some local civic event. But, all in all, not much in the way of real news, national or local finds its way onto the few pages now being printed.

Today, a friend of mine told me that the Monday morning edition is so thin that when the delivery arrives he needs to run out quickly and step on it before the wind blows it away.

Far greater minds than mine have lamented the fall of daily newspapers and attempted to rationalize why they are no longer in vogue. Most of the reasons have a solid base in fact. For example, younger people do not read newspapers. They tend to get their information from television or the Internet. Surveys have shown that the vast majority of readers are 50 years of age and older. If statistics are correct, that advanced age group totals less than 20% of the population.

But, the story of newspaper decline does not touch many small town publications. In point of fact, these local market oriented newspapers seem to be increasing across the country. There are no hard figures on the growth of small town weekly publications. However, it can be reported that in 1989 it was estimated there were about 6,500 of these newspapers serving their various communities. Today that estimated publication number has grown to more than 8,000 weekly newspapers with an average circulation of about 6,000.

One print publication where my copy still appears is the Wilson County News. For more than 25 years the WCN has published in Floresville, Texas not far from San Antonio. What started out as a Mom and Pop operation with that national average 6,000-issue circulation has grown to a newspaper that serves all of South Texas with a full time staff of 23 people and with paid subscribers in excess of 11,000. It prints important local and regional news along with a heroes section, school honor rolls, legal and public notices, classified advertising, upcoming meetings, notices of sales and business openings, and news about who just got married and who passed away. It even has a spot for bloggers. To compliment its print edition, the WCN also boasts a very extensive website.

Publisher Elaine Kolodziej says, "We choose not to participate in the ups and downs of this economic recession or global meltdown or whatever it is called. The economy seems to be much like the global warming issue -- hot one day and cold the next. We are going about our business and our lives to plan for a bright future for us in this, the greatest country in the world."

She continues saying, "Rather than laying off employees, we have just hired two additional part-timers. While we cannot know precisely what the future holds, we can and will maintain a positive attitude and do the best we can for our friends, neighbors and business associates."

Two friends of mine, Donald and Mary Beth Wright have published the La Feria News for a number of years. They felt the newspaper was doing so good that thy added a second publication in Los Fresnos, Texas and in recent months started a third newspaper in the city of Rio Hondo, Texas.

Writing for the La Feria News, Bill Keltner says about weekly newspapers, "For the most part they are doing very well for a number of reasons. It has to do with the type of news they cover.... Unlike dailies, whose editorials and news coverage includes things like the discovery of rings around an invisible star billions of light years away, or a flood in India affecting the rice crop and, of course the funnies...all of passing interest, but of no immediate consequence." Those items of importance to the community do make it into print in the small town weeklies.

Keltner goes on to explain that the weekly newspaper usually contains news about what matters to readers locally. "They can read about what is happening in their own back yard that will more directly affect themselves and their families."

It is understood that antidotal items such as these do not signify any national trend. But, from the growth reports across the country to the increased circulation figures it appears the small town publications are alive and well. Since they still print death notices, perhaps they will have room to list the big dailies that seem to be dropping like flies.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.