Readership Institute: Getting Traction on Readership: Lessons Learned

Question: What is the most important lesson you have learned as you have worked on readership in the last few years?

Aiken Standard (SC)
Daily Circulation: 13,364
Sunday Circulation: 14,066

We need to listen to our readers and see what they want. Sometimes their idea of news and the idea of us "professionals" is not the same. In the end, if we don't pay heed to our readers, we will have no readers to be working for.

Akron Legal News (OH)
Daily Circulation: 700

Know your niche. That way, you understand your potential readers, and they are easier to find.

Altus Times (OK)
Daily Circulation: 4,749
Sunday Circulation: 4,749

The importance of good service and how it translates into more satisfied readers.

Anchorage Daily News (AK)
Daily Circulation: 69,607
Sunday Circulation: 85,944

The keys to good readership are useful and compelling content, supported by smart promotion, and good service.

Anderson Independent-Mail (SC)
Daily Circulation: 38,576
Sunday Circulation: 44,194

There is no magic pill. It takes patience, commitment and resources to gain and sustain readership.

A management culture of total involvement is an important ingredient in sustaining readership initiatives.

Atlanta Journal Constitution (GA)
Daily Circulation: 460, 672
Sunday Circulation: 620,782

Addressing readership issues is a constant need and must be a long-term commitment. To effectively address readership issues, you need good consumer research.

Austin American-Statesman (TX)
Daily Circulation: 183,288
Sunday Circulation: 233,608

Urban & Associates conducted a strategic readership study for us in the fall of 2002. What we see put simply is the decline of print readership is offset by the increase in readership of our online product, Statesman.com. Referred to as the extended reach of the American-Statesman (print plus web), we see a promising clue that we are continuing to reach readers.

From the Urban & Associates survey (Fall 2002):

Most of the AA-S website visitors also read the American-Statesman. Just 9% of the adults in the market use the AA-S websites exclusively. However, the exclusive website audience has grown substantially since 2000, when it represented just 3% of the market. The net effect of the larger AA-S web audience is that the AA-S 7-day print/online extended coverage essentially matches the mark set in 2000.

The AA-S online audience (particularly those who use the websites exclusive of the paper) skews younger, higher educated, white collar, and they're newer to the Austin area. It's a complementary audience.

The Bakersfield Californian (CA)
Daily Circulation: 71,495
Sunday Circulation: 82,718

The lesson: this is a companywide initiative that will fail unless the entire company, every employee, is fully versed in readership and embraces it. Communicating the priorities effectively and often is huge. It's an ongoing effort.

The Baytown Sun (TX)
Daily Circulation: 11,545
Sunday Circulation: 11,265

The intensity with which readers claim ownership of The Baytown Sun. Because our readers believe it is their paper, we're listening more keenly to their concerns and trying to be more reflective of their interests.

Beaver County Times (Beaver, PA)
Daily Circulation: 42,778
Sunday Circulation: 48,875

The value of knowing your market.

Brattleboro Reformer (VT)
Daily Circulation: 11,655

The demands of the readership far exceed the resources of smaller papers.

Bucks County Courier Times (Levittown, PA)
Daily Circulation: 67,094
Sunday Circulation: 73,252

That just changing the newspaper is not enough to draw additional readers or keep current readers. You also need to continually market and promote content and services.

We need to continue to do more to market the newspaper to targeted segments and areas.

The Buffalo News (NY)
Daily Circulation: 223,957
Sunday Circulation: 306,102

Implementation of ALL imperatives is critical to our overall success. Focusing on only one or two areas will not increase readership.

Burlington Free Press (VT)
Daily Circulation: 50,203
Sunday Circulation: 60,264

We have learned the importance of strong planning, establishing priorities and providing

The Capital (Annapolis, MD)
Daily Circulation: 45,538
Sunday Circulation: 48,730

That we weren't listening to readers enough. Editors thought they had a better handle on what readers wanted when, in truth, we had no clue.

Cleburne Times-Review (TX)
Daily Circulation: 7,447
Sunday Circulation: 7,447

To become as involved in the community as possible. By becoming part of the community, you instantly gain respect as a newspaper that cares. We¹ve received many accolades and story ideas from individuals just calling the office because they met one of our reporters or because they know us due to an affiliation in a community or civic organization.

Clinton Herald (IA)
Daily Circulation: 12,254

We've been working on it for about a year, since I became editor. That work went into high gear after my first round of formal readership training in May. I have learned that it is important to get readers involved < not to just give them news you think they want. Instead of telling them, you have to get them involved so they get something out of reading your newspaper that makes their lives better.

Corsicana Daily Sun (TX)
Daily Circulation: 7,079
Sunday Circulation: 7,079

We must get our own people committed and believing in what we are trying to do before our readers will see an improvement in our product.

The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Daily Circulation: 217,396
Sunday Circulation: 282,072

It's all about relevance and execution. Readers respond to things that are relevant to their lives, but they have a high expectation for quality. They also want information quickly. They don't want to have to read deep into a story to get the gist.

Craig Daily Press (CO)
Daily Circulation: 2,817

Public perception is everything. What we think is great or bad may not be at all the way another individual perceives a situation. It is important to be cognizant of what our readers think and to adjust our processes accordingly.

The Crescent-News (Defiance, OH)
Daily Circulation: 17,615
Sunday Circulation: 18,524

Make your news staff get out of the news room to talk to people

Crossville Chronicle (TN)
Circulation: Three issues weekly: Tues: 19,000; Wed: 8,500; Fri: 8,500

That many things demanded through the readership survey we were already doing, but our presentation was lacking; our packaging needed to be retooled so that our readers could more easily recognize all that we do offer them in each issue of the Chronicle.

Cullman Times (AL)
Daily Circulation: 10,827
Sunday Circulation: 11,378

Without readers we are nothing.

Cumberland Times-News (MD)
Daily Circulation: 30,555
Sunday Circulation: 32,836

That we cannot take the reader for granted. The light reader is so important to our future. We need to try to get our light readers to become heavy readers.

Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA)
Daily Circulation: 73,209
Sunday Circulation: 71,492

No magic or silver bullet in growing circulation numbers. Still a challenge and the place where we need innovative leadership.

Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)
Daily Circulation: 33,021
Sunday Circulation: 40,834

That if you ignore the research you do so at your peril and that it's essential to make change in the context of core values.

The Daily Courier (Forest City, NC)
Daily Circulation: 9,504
Sunday Circulation: 9,504

Local, Local, Local... and with emphasis. Also more local news.

Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA)
Daily Circulation: 18,445

That every person at the paper can make a direct contribution to readership.

The Daily News (Longview, WA)
Daily Circulation: 22,350
Sunday Circulation: 21,704

Be consistent... be local... local... local... and don't be so serious about yourself.

The Daily News (Rhinelander, WI)
Daily Circulation: 5,033
Sunday Circulation: 5,557

As we continue to develop content that appeals to readers, we have learned that they enjoy local columns and first-person stories. We hope to add more of those.

Daily Press (Newport News-Hampton, VA)
Daily Circulation: 92,434
Sunday Circulation: 115,985

Every department can have a positive impact on readership
The readership initiative has been successful because it was a cross company collaboration. The input of all departments has been valuable. Employees who had never been on teams before, participated and learned and contributed.

The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, VA)
Daily Circulation: 30,281
Sunday Circulation: 34,234

Readership development is a process of continuous improvement.

Daily Sentinel (Rome, NY)
Daily Circulation: 14,810

It's everyone's responsibility

The Daily Times (Farmington, NM)
Daily Circulation: 17,738
Sunday Circulation: 19,328

The most important lesson I have learned is to throw out all my preconceptions as a journalist and listen to our readers. Also, I have found that at the department-head level people resist and often fear change, despite successful pervious changes.

Deming Headlight (NM)
Daily Circulation: 3,541

Trust your readers.

The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA)
Daily Circulation: 46,497
Sunday Circulation: 49,171

We have learned how critically important collaboration is to grow readership. Readership does not stem from the work of any single department. The news content is obviously critical, but so is the advertising content. The same can be said for the way we promote and sell the newspaper and the work culture we have fostered.

We know that the way we present information can be as important as the information we present. We know hard-hitting stories and “chicken dinner” stories are both important and both deserve a home in the newspaper.

We have also learned to be bolder and more daring. Newspapers are conservative creatures by nature. Change does not always come easily or quickly. In the various enhancements we have made, we have realized that we often need to be bolder than we first thought we could be. We have learned to take more risks.

The Detroit News and Free Press (MI)
Daily Circulation: 547,506
Sunday Circulation: 738,709

In terms of building overall circulation and growing readership, we have discovered as expected, that more strategic targeting - up to the household level, and based on lifestyle, income and other data - produces the most favorable result, which to us is longer retention of subscriptions. This goes hand-in-hand with first class service and targeting – two of Circulation's top priorities.

East Valley Tribune (Mesa-Scottsdale-Tempe, AZ)
Daily Circulation: 96,221
Sunday Circulation: 80,192

The most important thing I've learned is that there is no most important thing. There is no silver bullet. So here are three important things among many.

How important it is to develop a strategy that you can win at and execute on that strategy relentlessly. (May not apply to monopoly markets.)

How important inside sections and inside pages are. One of the biggest mistakes newspapers have made in recent decades is not realizing how important properly focused lifestyle, entertainment, and business sections are. Newspapers often don't have a clear idea what they're doing with these sections and how essential they are to the local news report. Lifestyle/Accent/Tempo - you name it--sections often confuse entertainment with lifestyle and think wire fills the bill.

When you start thinking about bettering reader's lives and the communities they live in, you think about the newspaper and edit the newspaper in a different way, and that doesn't mean sacrificing the enterprise and watchdog journalism that we know our readers want from us and expect us to provide.

The Edmond Sun (OK)
Daily Circulation: 10,415
Sunday Circulation: 10,415

Don't assume you know what the readers want.

Enterprise-Journal (McComb, MS)
Daily Circulation: 11,492
Sunday Circulation: 12,083

Service, service, service. Everything from the phone and the front desk to the carriers. We must do better.

Evansville Courier & Press (IN)
Daily Circulation: 68,867
Sunday Circulation: 96,506

News is a commodity, so people need to think of the newspaper as a partner is many facets of their lives.

Gainesville Daily Register (TX)
Daily Circulation: 5,814
Sunday Circulation: 5,814

Have to keep preaching the imperatives to the entire staff for it to become habit.

The Gleaner (Henderson, KY)
Daily Circulation: 10, 452
Sunday Circulation: 11,837

The readers know a lot more about what they want than we do and are willing to pay for it.

Hannibal Courier-Post (MO)
Daily Circulation: 8,350

Listen to your market. If you don't hear anything, that is an indication that you are becoming irrelevant and unnecessary. If you don't hear anything, ASK. Then, be prepared to act on what you are told.

Herald-Banner (Greenville, TX)
Daily Circulation: 8,239
Sunday Circulation: 9,224

Too many to mention.

The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC)
Daily Circulation: 50,015
Sunday Circulation: 56,612

News: It takes a while when making changes to "retrain" readers to see and understand them, and to change the newsroom culture. The need always exists to continue the push to improve.

Circulation: Don't tighten credit policy without first improving means of acquisition.

The Houston Chronicle (TX)
Daily Circulation: 552,052
Sunday Circulation: 744,935

Readership growth is a company-wide issue and it needs the support and understanding of all departments of a newspaper not just Editorial, Marketing and Circulation.

Johnson City Press (TN)
Daily Circulation: 29,909
Sunday Circulation: 34,152

That readers don't respond as quickly as I had thought. They're creatures of habit and don't always like a lot of the changes we've thrown at them. I had thought that a more progressive approach to our whole purpose would create a much faster increase in sales.

The Journal Times (Racine, WI)
Daily Circulation: 29,216
Sunday Circulation: 31,334

Perhaps the journalist's truism applies here: The more you think you know, the more you need to know... and to be more open to change.

Kerrville Daily Times (TX)
Daily Circulation: 8,663
Sunday Circulation: 10,463

It is a never-ending fight.

Knoxville News Sentinel (TN)
Daily Circulation: 128,865
Sunday Circulation: 153,718

That readership is a moving target and that we need to move with it. We can't build a model and use it indefinitely. It must constantly change.

Always look for opportunities to get the newspaper in the hands of non-readers. We are in the audience business and our overall goal should be to build a larger audience by delivering relevant, desired content. The goal of editorial is to present the news in such a manner that both upholds journalistic integrity and is engaging to the audience, as should be the aim of the advertising department as well.

We need to eliminate the “elitist” attitude – WE know what's best for the reader. We need a business model which focuses on a more direct relationship with the reader.

There are many different reasons people read or buy the newspaper. We have to employ as many types of media promotions as possible and use each one effectively to have an impact on readership.

Lancaster New Era (PA)
Daily Circulation: 43,194
Sunday Circulation: 102,339

That advertising for the afternoon paper in the morning paper, and vice versa is not creating mass migration to the competing product.

Lincoln Journal Star (NE)
Daily Circulation: 74,586
Sunday Circulation: 83,387

The challenge of getting new readers is not easy and will always be a challenge.

The Manhattan Mercury (KS)
Daily Circulation: 10,125
Sunday Circulation: 11,450

That the war is winnable.

McAlester News-Capital & Democrat (OK)
Daily Circulation: 10,053
Sunday Circulation: 10,515

That we cannot ignore readers' concerns. That we must provide our readers with content that means something to their daily lives.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Daily Circulation: 232,652
Sunday Circulation: 434,023

Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. It takes a lot of effort to get a company educated and focused on a goal. The communication aspect is a never ending process, not a task. We strive to find new ways to keep talking about readership, to keep it top-of-mind and on the front burner.

We learned we are too modest and are becoming better at self-promotion. The market does not know what we do unless we tell them, so we strive to tell them all the things we do, i.e., break most of the news, contend for and win awards, represent our locality through reporters on assignment, have topical experts to inform and respond to questions, investigate local issues.

Monroe Evening News (MI)
Daily Circulation: 21,771
Sunday Circulation: 24,956

It'll break your heart. We have never tried so hard only to get minimal results and the feeling that it might be a losing battle.

Montgomery Advertiser (AL)
Daily Circulation: 50,763
Sunday Circulation: 62,137

Act more swiftly. Readership needs to be a company-wide focus. We're attempting to develop a culture where all associates understand their role, their department's role, the newspaper's role and understanding our readers--who they are, what they need and what they want. Utilize focus groups to guide us.

New Haven Register (CT)
Daily Circulation: 81,469
Sunday Circulation: 101,374

Consistency - can't give readers something on one day and then take it away the next.

Have to be the same product every day.

The Newport Daily News (RI)
Daily Circulation: 12,565

It is a never ending battle.

News & Record (Greensboro, NC)
Daily Circulation: 90,432
Sunday Circulation: 110,846

That you can grow it if you want to.

The News Enterprise (Elizabethtown, KY)
Daily Circulation: 16,073
Sunday Circulation: 19,483

That the effort must have a company-wide focus; it cannot be done by circulation or newsroom alone.

The Norman Transcript (OK)
Daily Circulation: 15,198
Sunday Circulation: 16,695

My leadership is critical. While I tried to back off initially, fearing my presence would stifle discussion, I find it takes my urging, encouragement and "pressure" to keep them moving forward.

North County Times (Escondido-Oceanside, CA)
Daily Circulation: 92,490
Sunday Circulation: 93,337

Newspapers are a growth industry, not a declining one. We are well positioned for growth as part of the information sector because of our local connection. We can grow profitably if we go for it and build on our competitive strengths. Don't rearrange deck chairs. Make a better, faster ship.

Norwich Bulletin (CT)
Daily Circulation: 27,916
Sunday Circulation: 32,304

Increasing readership using the RI model is a long-term effort. It resists churn-and-burn tactics for methods that develop more regular and thorough readership of our product. In the area of service, results do not come easy - readers are hesitant, and sometimes cynical, to believe we will consistently deliver on our new promises. Efforts must be constant, consistent and very focused. Any initiative that does not further these efforts must be considered very seriously, in case that might drain needed resources.

Observer-Dispatch (Utica, NY)
Daily Circulation: 45,916
Sunday Circulation: 53,629

We've learned to be more open to what our market is saying; to take ourselves less seriously, and to have more fun.

The Olathe News (KS)
Daily Circulation: 5,789

Content is king, but design and marketing of the content is queen.

The Olympian (Olympia, WA)
Daily Circulation: 37,473
Sunday Circulation: 45,336

We need research to provide an intelligent answer.

Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Daily Circulation: 256,520
Sunday Circulation: 376,878

It must be coordinated across departments and you must measure market conditions and results constantly.

Pharos-Tribune (Logansport, IN)
Daily Circulation: 10,112
Sunday Circulation: 10,806

We've learned that readership is a journey, not a destination.

Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)
Daily Circulation: 101,288
Sunday Circulation: 113,999

Circulation is not necessarily tied to readership numbers.

Potomac News & Manassas Journal Messenger (VA)
Daily Circulation: 20,983
Sunday Circulation: 20,472

That we're still figuring out who our readers are.

Poughkeepsie Journal (NY)
Daily Circulation: 39,984
Sunday Circulation: 51,067

It takes all departments at the newspaper - News, Circulation, Marketing and Advertising - working together to build readership. That means developing long-term plans together, building teams to create new products and keeping in constant communication.

Record Searchlight (Redding, CA)
Daily Circulation: 34,706
Sunday Circulation: 39,863

That we always need to keep our readers in mind and constantly check our paper to see if we are carrying stories on the readership topics.

To always keep the word "Readership" in front of us. EVERYTHING we do affects readership. We are learning to make sure everyone in the building knows how important this is to our business, as well.

The Reporter (Vacaville, CA)
Daily Circulation: 17,575
Sunday Circulation: 19,143

That readers don't think like journalists, and that if we are to be successful, we need to start thinking like readers.

Richmond Register (KY)
Daily Circulation: 7,288
Sunday Circulation: 7,704

Culture is very important. Culture is within the building and it is very important to work with each other in order to provide customers exactly what they want when dealing with our newspaper.

Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Daily Circulation: 187,409
Sunday Circulation: 228,262

Variations on "it takes a village"... It takes major work across departments. The silos have to come down.

The Roanoke Times (VA)
Daily Circulation: 100,160
Sunday Circulation: 112,397

All departments MUST be involved in all efforts (preferably in all stages, from planning to execution).

Rock Island Argus (IL)
Daily Circulation: 12,682
Sunday Circulation: 14,515

Culture and old school ways of thinking are formidable obstacles.

Rockford Register Star (IL)
Daily Circulation: 68,015
Sunday Circulation: 80,692

It's never done. The market keeps changing and you must stay with it.

Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Daily Circulation: 304,949 Mon-Fri); 621,221 (Mon-Sat)
Sunday Circulation: 789,137

Ask how you would want to get information and give it to people the way they want it, not the way we find easiest.

The Sacramento Bee (CA)
Daily Circulation: 283,194
Sunday Circulation: 343,414

Increasing readership must be a company-wide initiative. It needs to be driven from the top of the organization but also requires the integrated efforts of all divisions.

The Saginaw News (MI)
Daily Circulation: 47,100
Sunday Circulation: 57,711

We have to take chances with content presentation. We have to pull out all the stops in making the paper easy to read. That means using all our tools and matching them with the content. We should never describe geography with text, that's the jobs of a map. We should never try to deal with complex numerical relationships in text, that's the job of a graph. We should show people with our writing, not tell them. It's OK to describe a scene, but a photo quite often does it better. We have to respect our readers' time and make it easy for them to consume our paper.

Salisbury Post (NC)
Daily Circulation: 23,869
Sunday Circulation: 25,223

You have to work on building readership everyday or you lose focus.

The San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Daily Circulation: 373,344
Sunday Circulation: 438,848

Extraordinary results only come about because of an extraordinary commitment to change and improve.

Readership, at least the way we measure it, includes equal parts editorial content, advertising content, circulation and advertising customer service.

We have no mechanism to measure how we have used our online presence to increase our print readership.

On the website, while coverage of national events is a requirement, local readers are primarily interested in local news and local people.

San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Daily Circulation: 479,433
Sunday Circulation: 539,563

Stop writing what you think readers want, ask your core readers.

The Sanford Herald (NC)
Daily Circulation: 10,624
Sunday Circulation: 10,461

Readers have a lot to say about our product...

Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL)
Daily Circulation: 106,594
Sunday Circulation: 133,750

More attention must be placed on the culture. We were surprised by the amount of time it took to build interdepartmental consensus for change.

Savannah Morning News (GA)
Daily Circulation: 56,599
Sunday Circulation: 70,137

The most important lesson on readership we've learned in the last four years is how challenging it is to respond to the changing market and demands of new media. Our goal is to become more nimble in reporting for both the web and print. This will require some structural changes, as well as additional culture change.

South Bend Tribune (IN)
Daily Circulation: 72,186
Sunday Circulation: 101,204

There is not one approach that works for all portions of our circulation area.

The Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, IL)
Daily Circulation: 28,267
Sunday Circulation: 36,381

Style is never more important than substance.

The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Daily Circulation: 118,877
Sunday Circulation: 132,489

Loyalty and commitment is something fewer and fewer readers feel toward us because of the vast number of alternatives they have and their apparently ever-decreasing attention span. A national ban on remote controls and the internet might stem this urge we have to change the channel or pick up a new free publication every 10 seconds...

Stanly News & Press (Albemarle, NC)
Daily Circulation: 10,000
Sunday Circulation: 10,000

Be innovative, adjust to your local market, and use tact when persuading your editorial staff to sign on to the Readership Initiatives.

Star-Gazette (Elmira, NY)
Daily Circulation: 29,169
Sunday Circulation: 40,270

Pay attention to the readers. Give them what they want, need and expect. But give them all three.

The State (Columbia, SC)
Daily Circulation: 115,959
Sunday Circulation: 151,816

I think we're just now getting serious about it, having witnessed a decline.

The State-Journal Register (Springfield, IL)
Daily Circulation: 57,384
Sunday Circulation: 66,708

For me, personally, the most important lesson I have learned is the importance of listening to what people say in reference to the newspaper's content or our service and to react quickly in an appropriate manner. If something needs to be changed, fixed or acted upon we do it.

Statesman Journal (Salem, OR)
Daily Circulation: 55,886
Sunday Circulation: 63,255

That increasing readership is the responsibility of every department at the newspaper. Our success with the inter-departmental committee for the Real Living showed that this approach can be very successful. Also, it will take a concerted effort to get every employee to focus on readership as a measure of our success rather than to rely solely on circulation volumes.

Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Daily Circulation: 255, 216
Sunday Circulation: 354,742

Growing readership is a total team effort and requires all departments to work together to be successful. While we feel we have experienced some solid initial success with the implementation of the readership imperatives, we recognize that growing readership is a marathon, not a sprint, and is a marathon that we plan to win.

Thomasville Times-Enterprise (GA)
Daily Circulation: 9,590
Sunday Circulation: 9,459

That you have to be flexible to change... we can take risks and try various promotions... if they don't work, change and move on to another one, but always have something going. Always make employees feel a part of whatever you are doing.

Times Herald (Port Huron, MI)
Daily Circulation: 29,998
Sunday Circulation: 40,155

We must not be afraid to try to new things. Our older readers are still valuable and we don't want to offend them... but they are quite open to changes that we are making in our quest for young readers, infrequent readers and newcomers.

Times Union (Albany, NY)
Daily Circulation: 99,242
Sunday Circulation: 145,357

That repetition and constant training are needed to reinforce the underlying strategy for building readership throughout the organization.

The Titusville Herald (PA)
Daily Circulation: 4,065

More consistent delivery on pages that are geared toward young readers. Current Mini Page does well for elementary, but would like to expand that so as to reach the teen market better. Staffing is the main drawback. We are small staff as is and duties are stretched.

The suggestions do work with persistence.

The Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, PA)
Daily Circulation: 42,622
Sunday Circulation: 47,757

I was surprised that our Neighbors section was rated so highly by readers - but it's all local. It's incredibly time consuming to produce, but it was ranked highest in our studies. Instead of it being the ugly stepchild in the newsroom that no one wanted to work on, it suddenly has value.

Tri-City Herald (Pasco-Kennewick-Richland, WA)
Daily Circulation: 40,993
Sunday Circulation: 44,782

Better marketing of news content.

The Union (Grass Valley, CA)
Daily Circulation: 15,871

You don't change a newsroom culture overnight. Getting a traditional newsroom to view readers as "customers" has been quite challenging.

That growing readership MUST be a whole-newspaper effort. Newspapers that leave it just to the newsroom - who do not give new content initiatives promotional or advertising support - are just shooting in the dark. Cultural change is difficult, and is multiplied so when all departments are not involved, or do not think it is their job.

The Union-Recorder (Milledgeville, GA)
Daily Circulation: 7,439

That changing people's perception is hard work, often frustrating but always satisfying when you get that one subscriber back.

The Wichita Eagle (KS)
Daily Circulation: 92,721
Sunday Circulation: 148, 624

Steer clear of traditional thinking and ground your decisions, instead, on what works for readers.