(Michael P. Smith)

I was asked to make a presentation at the American Society of Newspaper Editors Small Newspaper breakfast. Although I have worked at several small newspapers in my career, I am not an expert in how they run and operate. You might call me an appreciative observer.

So, in order to prepare for my presentation, I called, emailed and otherwise harassed editors, publishers, journalism teachers and consultants asking them to tell me which small newspapers were doing interesting things to grow audience or increase revenue. I set a ground rule - you cannot nominate your own newspaper. I also asked for comments as to why they nominated a specific newspaper. As you might guess, most of the excitement at small newspapers is around their digital products. My informal survey surfaced some neat results.

In looking for examples, I ruled out the Bakersfield Californian's Baktopia.com and the work of the Dayton Daily News - both do excellent work but are too big to be considered "small." I also begged my nominators to think beyond the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World's Lawrence.com, which is widely admired and honored. So, here are some examples:


The most-mentioned small newspaper Web site in my survey was the RapidCity.com. They have done an excellent job of displaying a wide array of standard news coverage and multimedia reporting available in a clean and understandable format. The use of tabs and the featured video/slide shows give site users easy entrance into the content. They are embracing user contribution in a variety of ways.




Several mentioned the Daily Reflector in Greenville, North Carolina. Here is what one said: I think The Daily Reflector in North Carolina is a great little paper. They've started niche publications that have been very successful on audience and advertising ends. One is called Mixer and it's an entertainment publication directed at local college students. And unlike most, it's actually read. They also have a process that's launched several over the past years. They've killed the ones that don't work and advanced the ones that do. What makes it noteworthy is that their daily circulation is 22,000. They do stuff that newspapers 10 times their size can't pull off."

Not to be confused with North Carolina, a journalism professor recommended GreenvilleOnline.com from South Carolina for their innovative use of data to devote resources to high school football galleries. He said: "The interesting thing here is that Greenville used internet traffic data to help them set high school coverage reporting priorities. They have too many schools in the circ area to cover well, so they tracked which schools generated the most views of their online coverage, and slowly shifted their limited photography resources to those schools - and as a result increased Web traffic even more."

Another editor said: "I spent some time last week talking to Mike Shepard, publisher of the Yakima Herald-Republic. They publish a Spanish language weekly because 43 percent of their home county is Latino. Big farm workers country down there. They made money in the first year - 15,0000 copies distributed free. Their pickup rate runs 80 to 85 percent, which is darn good."

Many small newspapers are innovating in the sports area. Several people brought the Home Team from the Telegram in Worcester, Massachusetts, to my attention. Home Team is a strong new print and online product (a regularly updated Web site plus a print magazine offered six times per year). The Web site includes the print content as well as more recent sports news from local schools. It is attractively designed and offers opportunities for audience participation. And speaking of Worcester, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette built onthecommon.com to knit together the more than 70 communities of central Massachusetts it serves. Readers can submit photos, participate in message boards, share calendar and bulletin board items and read news and blogs specific to their towns and cities.

The Northwest Herald in McHenry County, Illinois, does so many things right. Here I focus on their sports site because so many people in my survey mentioned it. NWHerald.com has built a complete prep sports resource for local fans. Comprehensive coverage of local high school sports, from columns and blogs, stats and schedules to player and coach interviews in video and audio, video game highlights and live audio Web casts. Live video Web casts of football and baseball games have pulled significant traffic. Next up: Game of the Week, live in video.




The Pocono Record is no stranger to the Get Smart blog. The Record has launched a cluster of digital extensions to bring breaking news and targeted features and information to subscribers. More than 3,500 people have signed up for its 8 online newsletters, which provide headlines, news updates, education news, sports and hunting information. More than 1,900 have signed up for text alerts on a variety of topics, from headlines and breaking news to weather alerts, school closings, etc.




If you want to see a contrast between print and Web, check out InYork.com, the Daily Record Web site. Many of you have seen the results of our research on applying gaming techniques to Web sites. InYork.com uses video, quizzes, lists, message boards, blogs, etc. It is an example of a Web site that is doing remarkable things - the things that would answer the question - what catches their eye?

Knoxnews.com won Inland's general excellence Frontier Award this year. They pack a lot on the page but have done it in a way that makes the available choices accessible. A well organized tabbing system is used and key content areas are displayed for easy location and browsing. They are a quality reporting newsroom, too, and that quality is reflected in their overall Web design.




The Mason City Globe Gazette's Web site has won several well-deserved honors. In our teen Internet study, in pursuit of what catches their eye, this is it. The site is a textbook example of what a good local site can do. Excellent use of icons for identifying sections. The menu system is space efficient and very clear. Strong service features include searchable obits and tributes. Impressive use of multimedia (virtual tours). The site is very easy to navigate and they have fully embraced user engagement with the variety of interactive features.




Mount Blogmore features an impressive blend of original reporting and commentary that is regularly updated. The content includes a nice mix of national stories (the presidential campaign) and local (middle school students visit the state capitol). The authors use a fun, crisp writing style and succeed in encouraging lively community discussion and audience participation. The use of photos is clever and the links are extensive and informative.

Some of these newspapers are featured in Rich Gordon's Online Community Cookbook, which is downloadable for free from our Web site or from the NAA digital media federation. Rich is spearheading the Media Management Center's focus on new communities. He makes the argument for investing in online communities. In this initiative, smaller newspapers are clearly leading the way. His report includes the Fredericksburg, Va., Free Lance-Star Web community called FredTalk. He says that FredTalk, operated by a newspaper with a circulation of about 50,000, has 19,000 registered users. At any given time, dozens of people are typically using the site. Among the most popular topics are politics, football, health, television and recipes. While discussion boards as a standalone feature are an old technology in Internet terms, they have evolved into a new form as part of "groups" on social-network sites. At least three children have been born to parents who met one another on FredTalk. It's a place where people arrange get-togethers for coffee, exchange CD's, plan Halloween parties and seek advice.




One exemplar in motivating user participation is Bluffton Today. This is the brain child of Morris Communications. After several years, I still think it's an interesting story. Bluffton Today seems to have matured into an effective publication.

    


Common across these newspapers is that they have a real sense of mission. They are full of energy. There is a "let's try it and see if it works" spirit. They are doing things that better resourced, deeper staffed, and perhaps more able newspapers are saying can't be done. It is a mindset.


I titled my presentation "Small Newspapers Can Lead the Way." But the reality is they are already leading the way.


By Michael P. Smith (m-smith3@northwestern.edu)
Michael P. Smith is executive director of the Media Management Center.