WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS NAVIGATE
RAPIDLY CHANGING ADVERTISING MARKET, BUT
YET TO FULLY ADOPT AN ONLINE SALES STRATEGY
By
Alan Dean Blanchard

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Media and Information Studies – Doctor of Philosophy
2014

ABSTRACT
WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS NAVIGATE
RAPIDLY CHANGING ADVERTISING MARKET, BUT
YET TO FULLY ADOPT AN ONLINE SALES STRATEGY
By
Alan Dean Blanchard
The general population studied for this study consisted of 6,055 U.S. weekly newspapers,
with managers at 1,000 of them surveyed electronically. The survey sample was proportionate to
the number of weeklies in the 48 continental states.
This research project found that weekly newspaper publishers were retaining and
attracting advertisers and readers, even though a majority of weeklies generate very limited
revenue dollars from online media efforts.
Most of the owners responding to this survey predicted they would remain in business in
the years to come and were generally more optimistic than the conventional wisdom would
suggest regarding the future viability of print newspapers. Weekly newspapers receiving
competition from radio stations for advertising dollars was confirmed, but came as no surprise.
While the selling of online advertising occurred among some, not all, weekly newspapers, most
of the managers indicated they did not have a strategy for online ad sales.
The findings point to a need to do more investigation of the weekly newspaper industry,
which is its own unique segment, and the impact of digital distribution on the segment. It’s clear
that what may be true for daily newspapers is not always applicable to weekly newspapers. Key
recommendations would include researching to discover if newspapers are retaining certain
segments like grocers, for example, but earning fewer advertising dollars from those segments in
the process.

For years, grocers routinely bought full-page print newspaper advertisements in weeklies
and dailies, but several decades ago they shifted to newspaper circular advertisement inserts. The
inserted circular ads communicated the same sales information that in-paper ads contained, but
cost less than in-paper display advertisements.
Further research focusing on the competitive relationship between weekly newspapers
and radio stations would be helpful in better understanding the future viability of both of those
mediums in the marketplace. Finally, it would be beneficial to investigate just rural weeklies to
learn what best practices they are engaged in that are contributing their ability to keep their heads
above water and even thrive in certain communities.

Copyright by
ALAN DEAN BLANCHARD
2014

To my loving wife, Helen M. Blanchard, who encouraged, inspired, motivated
believed in me throughout my Ph.D. program. To her I owe all my appreciation, love and
thanks for her patience and support.

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge my appreciation to the chair of my dissertation
committee, Dr. Stephen Lacy, for his guidance and helpful critiques, as well as the
helpful feedback from Dr. Lucinda Davenport, Dr. Fred Fico and Dr. Nora Rifon, who
also served on both my preliminary paper and dissertation committees.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................ viii
Chapter 1 Introduction................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Purpose of the Study........................................................................................... 3
Chapter 2 Literature Review........................................................................................ 5
2.1 Distribution.......................................................................................................... 9
2.2 Ownership............................................................................................................ 11
2.3 Competition & Strategy....................................................................................... 13
2.4 Revenues.............................................................................................................. 17
2.5 Research Questions.............................................................................................. 21
2.5.1 Descriptive Research Questions............................................................ 21
2.5.2 Relational Research Questions.............................................................. 24
Chapter 3 Method..........................................................................................................
3.1 Sampling Design/Participation Selection............................................................
3.2 Survey Method....................................................................................................
3.3 Questionnaire.......................................................................................................
3.4 Validity/Reliability..............................................................................................
3.5 Statistical Analysis..............................................................................................
3.6 Dependent Variables...........................................................................................
3.7 Independent Variables.........................................................................................

26
28
29
30
30
32
33
33

Chapter 4 Results........................................................................................................... 35
4.1 Descriptive Findings............................................................................................ 35
4.2 Relational Findings.............................................................................................. 39
Chapter 5 Conclusion.................................................................................................... 44
5.1 Limitations........................................................................................................... 52
5.2 Recommendations................................................................................................ 53
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................
APPENDIX A...........................................................................................................
APPENDIX B...........................................................................................................
APPENDIX C...........................................................................................................
APPENDIX D...........................................................................................................

55
56
57
58
67

WORKS CITED............................................................................................................ 68

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Auto Dealer Ad Expenditures by Media Type................................................ 19
Table 2. Percentage of Sample of Weekly Newspapers that Responded from Each State
Compared to Each State’s Percentage of the U.S. Population.......................................... 31
Table 3. Percentage of Weekly Newspapers that Responded from Each State
Shown Below as a Percentage of the Total Number of Weeklies in Each State.............. 32
Table 4. Shows What Percentage of Responding Newspaper Firms Owns What Quantity
of Free Weeklies, Paid Weeklies and Dailies.................................................................. 36
Table 5. Frequencies and Percentages for Roles at Newspaper..................................... 37
Table 6. Frequencies and Percentages for Rank of Top 3 Print Advertisers………....... 38
Table 7. ANOVA for the effect of predictor variables on weekly newspaper revenue... 40
Table 8. ANOVA for the effect of predictor variables on weekly newspaper profit....... 40
Table 9. Chi Square Analysis on Newspaper Intense Competition for Advertising (with
Radio Stations in Primary County of Business) and Weekly Newspaper Firm’s Net
Profits after Taxes in 2010 (compared with 2008)…………………………………...… 41
Table 10. Chi Square Analysis on Newspaper Intense Competition for Advertising (with
TV Stations in Primary County of Business) and Weekly Newspaper Firm’s Net Profits
after Taxes in 2010 (compared with 2008)…………………………………….............. 42
Table 11. Percentage of Completed Questionnaires for Survey Questions......................67

viii

Chapter 1
Introduction
This research project explored the nature of weekly newspapers during what, in
hindsight, turned out to be known as the Great Recession in the United States.
Much research has been published regarding daily newspapers, as well as about the
relationship between dailies and non-dailies (weeklies). However, much less research exists on
how non-dailies operate and, in particular, on how they are faring with advertising revenue and
profit, as the 21st-century U.S. media marketplace experiences significant erosions in print
advertising. One scholarly study of U.S. weekly newspapers, published in 2001, relied on data
from 1997.1
This survey research project investigated the viability of the weekly newspaper firm,
under the economic model in which the weekly paper is primarily dependent upon advertising
revenue for financial support, deriving proportionately a small percentage of income from
newspaper subscriptions or none in the case of free distribution weekly newspapers. Generalcirculation urban, suburban and outstate weekly newspaper firms, excluding niche publications,
made up this study’s focus.
It is significant to note the survey for this dissertation research project occurred in the
worst recession since the Great Depression.2 The data here provide a snapshot of how the
weeklies were doing at the worst point in the recession. And some anecdotal evidence suggests
that weekly newspapers may have suffered less than their daily newspaper counterparts.3 Further
evidence of some newspapers holding their own or experiencing increased revenues came from
some of the weekly managers who replied to this research project survey.

1

The project sought to learn, among other things: To what degree were weekly newspapers
surviving, failing or thriving? To what degree had weekly papers maintained, lost or gained print
and/or online advertising? What role did the World Wide Web play? Finally, were weekly
newspaper managers bullish or bearish on the future viability of weekly newspapers?
The answers to these questions are important to journalists, academics and society writ
large. A newspaper is unique among business firms because it fulfills two distinctive roles:
reporting information to the general public and earning enough to pay for this information to
satisfy private owners or public shareholders of a newspaper firm’s stock. The first reflects the
marketplace of ideas and the second the marketplace for goods. The former has to do with the
social needs and fabric and the latter with the economic needs of owners.
So, if it is important for weekly newspapers to continue serving communities, mostly
rural or suburban, for another 100 years and beyond, an understanding of advertising markets
that provide the largest share of their revenues is essential. If the weekly newspaper is to adapt,
survive and prosper, it must provide businesses with reasons to advertise and not just rely on
many small-town merchants’ rote habit of advertising in weekly newspapers because they’ve
always done so.
This research project sought to learn if rural and suburban weekly newspaper publishers,
especially, were retaining or losing traditional advertisers and if they were attracting new
categories of advertisers. What advertising strategies these weeklies were using, if any. If online
advertising was gaining any traction among weeklies as a segment of the print publication
industry. And, finally, if weeklies were planning to close their doors in the foreseeable future.
A plethora of new media, including citizen journalism blogs and websites, has the
potential of reaching beyond metropolitan cities to rural communities and creating the possibility

2

of yet an additional competitor in the crowded media marketplace. Granted, the barriers to
launching a web publication are minimal, but the obstacles to successfully monetizing the web
loom large. While two studies suggest that citizen journalism sites failed to substitute for daily
newspapers, more research would be required to learn whether they might be possible substitutes
for weekly newspapers with or without the ability to monetize those sites.4 An important
conclusion of such research was that citizen journalism is currently a big city phenomenon. It is
not occurring pervasively in much smaller cities and towns. Concerns are also growing about
how the decline of newspapers could negatively affect civic and social life in a community.5
1.1 Purpose of the Study
This project focused on how various factors affected the weekly newspaper’s ability to
generate advertising revenues and to earn a profit. It examined traditional print and online
advertising. Income from display advertising has traditionally been critical to a firm’s
viability because it represents the bulk of both advertising revenue and total revenues for
mostly non-dailies. Online advertising is important to study, too, because so little is
known about its significance to weeklies.6
This study explored the relationships between predictor variables (distribution, ownership
types, presence of competition and market strategy) and criterion variables (advertising revenue
and profit at weekly newspapers). The study explored these overarching questions.
Have print display and online advertising revenues fallen, risen or remained the same for
weekly newspapers, in rural/suburban U.S. markets?
Have key traditional advertisers, such as car dealers and real estate firms, reduced or
stopped advertising in weekly print newspapers?
Have weekly newspaper firms viewed online advertising as an important strategy for

3

remaining economically viable in the future?
Managers from 1,000 weekly newspapers were questioned via an electronic survey to get
at answers to these and other questions. The full questionnaire appears in Appendix C. The 1,000
newspapers were selected from the general population of 6,055 weekly newspapers. The sample
surveyed was proportionate to the number of weeklies in each of the individual 48 states,
excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Definition of terms used in the survey and this dissertation appear
in Appendix A.
This study was significant because of its ability to shed light on the future viability of
weekly newspapers in a rapidly changing industry. Information about viability is of interest to
academics, who study media advertising, economics and management, as well as to weekly
newspaper professionals, who earn their livelihood managing the 6,055 weekly newspapers
(4,160 paid, 982 free and 913 combined paid and free) across the United States, reported as of
February 2009.7
While daily newspapers anticipated coming changes in their markets, they failed to
proactively and successfully prepare for the changes of the 21st century. In addition, the worst
recession since the Great Depression started in 2008 and had reduced the amount of advertising
money available in the United States. Studying weeklies’ advertising sales strategy and behavior,
will one day help academic researchers and managers of weeklies to better understand the sea
changes that have swept the newspaper industry.

4

Chapter 2
Literature Review
The literature that shaped this study is limited in part by a sparse amount of academic
research in this area. However, research on daily newspapers, the big city cousins to the weekly
newspapers, does exist more abundantly and provided some background and useful information
related to issues of distribution, ownership type, competition and strategy, revenues and
profitability.
Despite conventional wisdom that writes off traditional print weekly and daily
newspapers as an endangered species in the 21st century, the fact that newspapers remain a
relevant part of citizens’ lives is nowhere more evident than in weekly newspaper markets,
where total paid and free weekly distribution totaled 45 million.8 When that number of
households was multiplied by a 2.3 community newspaper pass-along rate, 9 then an audience of
104 million readers accounted for nearly a third of the entire population of the United States.
Unlike metropolitan daily newspapers, which continued to hemorrhage advertising
revenue losses, this research project hypothesized that weekly newspapers fared better than
metropolitan daily newspapers because of the weekly newspaper’s lower cost structures and their
ability to maintain advertising revenue levels despite a downward trend in ad spending by
traditional advertising majors such as car dealers and real estate firms. While some weeklies
were experiencing revenue declines, they were still faring better when compared to the scale of
decline among daily newspapers.10 Thad McIlroy, electronic publishing analyst, consultant and
author, reports:
The latest data I can find on these (community weekly) papers paints a much healthier
picture for circulation and ad sales than we find with the dailies. … The beta results
showed that 2007 was a growth year for the community newspaper industry with
advertising revenue up .5%, as compared to the overall industry decline of 7.9% reported
5

by the Newspaper Association of America. First quarter 2008 results reported a decline in
advertising revenue of 2.7% -- primarily related to economic factors influencing the real
estate and automotive industries, two of the largest categories for community
newspapers. In most cases, local revenue was up for the companies represented. This
2.7% decline for the quarter compares to double digit decreases reported by most of the
publicly traded companies that are comprised of large metro daily newspapers (reported
declines ranged from 10% to 19%).11
Community newspapers reported a 2.4% decline for community newspapers compared to
a 15% industry-wide decline in second quarter 2008, followed by further erosions a year later
with 12.4% advertising revenue decline in the second quarter of 2009, less than half the national
industry average decline of 29%. These results came from newspapers that participated in a
survey conducted by Suburban Newspapers of America (SNA) and National Newspaper
Association (NNA). While survey respondents reported automotive and real estate activity
slowdowns, the majority did not lay off employees but did launch many new products. 12
For daily newspapers, losses in 2011 were 7.3% compared to 6.3% in 2010. Total ad
revenues for daily newspapers in 2011 were less than half what they were in 2006. And print
advertising revenue losses greatly exceeded online advertising income gains. Online revenues
were still growing at a fast clip in 2006 at daily newspapers, to the extent of covering about 80%
of print advertising losses. But that changed with the 2008-2009 recession when daily online ad
revenue stopped growing and began to dip, too. In 2010 and 2011, print ad revenue losses were
nowhere close to being replaced by digital ad revenue gains, according to the Pew Research
Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.13
And the downward trend improved only slightly as daily newspaper advertising revenue
dropped by 6% in 2012 compared to the 7.3% ad revenue decrease in 2011. Overall newspaper
revenue declined at a lower rate of 2% in 2012, according to the Newspaper Association of
America. This was due primarily to several other categories at daily newspapers growing by 5%

6

in 2012, including items such as digital consulting for local business and e-commerce
transactions, which now represent close to one-in-ten dollars coming into daily newspaper media
companies.14 What remained to be seen and researched was whether and to what degree weekly
newspaper companies tapped into some of these alternative revenue sources that daily
newspapers were mining.
In stark contrast, newspapers in other parts of the world performed better than those in
the United States. For example, South African weekly newspapers have experienced overall
revenue rising by 34%, or just under 7% per annum, for the five-year period from 2008 to 2012,
according to researcher Gordon Patterson, who noted that retail remains the most important
source of advertising revenue at 31% share and, across the five years, this income has increased
substantially; in fact, more than three times that of the category growth.15
The NNA reported July 3, 2013, from a survey it conducted that 20.2% of community
newspaper respondents reported that in the last five years their revenue has increased less than
5%. For the NNA, its community newspaper membership included mostly weekly newspapers,
but also about 250 small daily newspapers. Fourteen percent said their growth was between 5%
and 10%, with 11.6% of the respondents seeing a 10% to 15% gain in revenue. Slightly more
than half or 53.5% of the respondents have seen revenue gains, as opposed to those newspaper
companies that have remained the same or lost revenue. About 14% reported their revenue had
been flat since 2009. About 16% said they showed a loss of 5% to 10% and another 16% said
they lost more than 10%, during that same five-year time period.16
Respected newspaper and media analyst John Morton reported that most newspaper
managers failed to invest sufficiently in the Internet early on to successfully transfer their
business online in order to remain profitable. While percentage of growth in online ad revenues

7

has hit double digits, Morton pointed out that online advertising totaled only about 5% of total
advertising revenues, adding, “A major reason for this small presence is that other (nonnewspaper) entrepreneurs in the early years of the Internet era did invest the money necessary to
develop online competitors that are now drawing away newspapers’ readers and business.”17
However, researcher Jennifer Wood Adams argued that most community daily and
weekly newspapers have websites and are committed, to varying degrees, to richly populating
their sites with local content. What remained to be learned was how much or what percentage of
a weekly’s total revenues came from online advertising dollars, Wood conceded, adding,
“Weekly newspapers have much to gain by producing successful online newspapers. The
management of these sites is critically important in reaching the newspaper’s readership and
revenue goals.”18
One study of 1,234 weeklies, all members of the National Association of America, found
that, after eliminating those with broken links, only 785 of the weeklies had working websites,
confirming that not all U.S. weeklies had a website.19 Another study showed that a large weekly
group had no web presence, but a small weekly group was exploring the web for revenue
potential.20
Another more recent study demonstrated that weeklies are largely failing to feature on
their websites hyperlinks, archives and interactivity. It concluded that weeklies’ potential for
thriving in the future online world will go the way of the phonograph record if weeklies don’t
embrace and robustly use their websites as another tool, on top of their print editions, to engage
and supply citizens with information they seek.21 Limited staffing resources and scarcity of new
advertising dollars may help explain weeklies’ embracing online opportunities less robustly than
dailies.

8

Meanwhile, the weekly newspaper’s commitment to local news, i.e. chicken dinner
events, cute kid photographs, Little League baseball scores, local government news and more,
may be viewed as an essential part of journalistic best practices. It’s what well-grounded
community newspapers have traditionally always done very well. But, by itself, great local
community news content is insufficient to ensure the financial success of the weekly. That local
content must be supported by advertising dollars. While it’s inevitable that some weeklies will
close and some dailies will survive in the coming years, weeklies seem to have survived and/or
prospered better overall than dailies even though no definitive data on this currently exists in the
literature.
2.1 Distribution
Today, many weekly newspapers distribute papers for free by private motor route carrier
or by the U.S. Postal Service to meet advertiser demand for total market coverage (TMC) and/or
as a defensive measure against new competitors. Other weeklies continue to sell subscriptions,
relying on a traditional paid circulation model.
Even though some paid weekly newspaper managers still view the free distribution
weekly as an inferior advertising medium, this is a viewpoint not shared by the numerous
businesses that habitually advertise in free weeklies. The lower advertising cost per thousand of
free news weeklies may also partially explain the success of the free weekly model in markets
where free and paid weeklies compete.
It is unlikely that one model, free or paid distribution, is better than the other in all
situations. The real determinant of financial success is exposure of readers to the advertisement,
and it might be that more readers are exposed to the advertisement with paid weeklies. For
example, if paid weeklies have 80 percent readership (people who actually look at the paper) and

9

free papers have 10 percent readership, then the paid model would be more efficient than the free
model, contrary to conventional wisdom and higher free weekly distribution numbers. Which
model works best depends on the attention readers give to the newspaper content.
Coulson, Lacy and Wilson said that rural weeklies depend more heavily on paid
circulation, contending that small towns cannot produce the ad revenue required to make a free
paper viable.22 In 2001, Lacy, Coulson and Cho found, in a national study of 432 weeklies, a
correlation between competition from other weeklies in a county with a lower cost-per thousand
ad rate.23 However, they found that this relationship with cost per thousand disappeared
following analysis of a subsample of 236 weeklies with intense competition.24 Their research
also showed that, when controlled for market size, paid weeklies’ and free weeklies’ ad rates did
not differ from one another.
Also, based upon display advertising cost/per inch/per 1,000 distribution, it would make
economic sense that free weekly newspapers with higher distribution and lower ad rate cost per
inch, per thousand distribution, would be more viable than the paid weekly newspapers. Put
another way, advertisers could spend fewer advertising dollars to reach 1,000 readers with the
lower-unit cost, free distribution weekly newspaper than with the higher-unit cost paid
circulation weekly. This is consistent with Coulson, Lacy and Wilson, who reported, “Although
advertisers were charged twice as much per column inch in free weeklies, free weeklies averaged
4.4 times the circulation of paid weeklies.”25 And if news content exists in both the free and paid
weekly competitors, that would be one less characteristic to distinguish the weeklies in the minds
of the advertisers.

10

2.2 Ownership
Does it make a difference to small-town firms whether the newspaper is publicly or
privately owned, or a member of a group or a single newspaper firm? Research dating to the
early 1980s has found that publicly owned dailies are more aggressive in pricing advertising. 26
The impact of ownership on newspapers has received a great deal of scholarly attention
during the last five years. However, the approach of early research was often a-theoretical,
concentrating on the decline of the independent, family owned newspapers and the growth of
newspaper groups.27 Recent, more sophisticated studies have aimed to examine differences in
performance between independent and group newspapers, although limited differences have
been found.28 Also, relationships may also play a role. For example, advertisers in smaller
communities often times have a more personal relationship with their small town or community
daily newspapers, which may help account for weeklies suffering less overall than metro dailies
in times of economic recession.29
Some have suggested that community newspaper managers are equal in stature to a
local community’s elite leaders, giving those managers a special relationship with and access to
advertising dollars from those leaders. Akhavan-Majid made a strong case for how economic
uncertainty and falling advertising revenues has motivated publishers to take on an even more
civic-centered role. This leads to interacting on a regular basis with a community’s leaders, as a
solution to declining advertising revenues and readership by becoming a change agent in the
community: sponsor workshops, host town meetings, promote get-out-vote campaigns, recruit
new industry to town. Akhavan-Majid suggests, “To many publishers, this movement toward
public journalism represents a novel approach to boosting revenues through greater visibility and
increasing relevance to the economic and political life of the community.”30

11

However, Donohue, Tichenor and Olien have argued the opposite, suggesting
community newspaper managers are not peer equals in the local community power structure due,
in part, to newspaper managers’ subservient dependence upon the local elite leaders for access
and information. If the community newspaper manager enjoys no peer status with the community
elite, it could be argued newspaper managers might be tempted to compromise their journalistic
mission out of expedience to ensure that good relations continue with civic leaders for economic
reasons, too, i.e. so that these leaders continue advertising with their newspapers. If true, then
rather than serving as a watchdog to hold those in power accountable, small community
newspapers would end up protecting the status quo and serving the interests of the local elite
power structure, Donohue, Tichenor and Olien contended.31 Concurring with their view is
Janowitz, who maintained that community newspapers are not a part of the power structure, but
only serve as a middleman of sorts between individuals and major community institutions.32
However, there may be a difference between publicly owned and family owned weekly
community newspapers. Unlike publicly owned newspapers, where managers may change out
periodically, it’s common for family owned weeklies to have multiple generations of family
members at the same newspaper living, playing and doing business with local elites. Such a
long-term relationship might suggest more of a peer, than a subservient, relationship between a
newspaper’s managers and the local elite.
Meanwhile, Lacy and Blanchard found that publicly owned daily newspapers produced
higher profit margins than did privately owned daily newspapers. Their study also suggested that
the impact of profitability and public ownership on newsroom size is not linear but grows
progressively greater as with increases in above average profits. The relationship found here
becomes much stronger for newspapers with higher than average profit margins. It remains to be

12

learned whether the same will hold true for publicly owned versus privately owned weekly
newspapers.33
On the other hand, Beam found that content was more similar than different between
publicly owned and privately owned newspapers, but his research focused upon daily, not
weekly newspapers. His research found that publicly and privately owned newspapers both
focused on producing ordinary content. However, he found that publicly owned dailies produced
more locally produced articles, as a percentage of all content units, than did privately owned
papers. This runs counter to assertions that publicly owned newspapers de-emphasize locally
produced content to cut editorial department costs. However, because his study was based upon a
small number of publications, his findings are more suggestive than definitive.34
Also, the role of the weekly newspaper in the community goes beyond the necessity of
selling enough advertising to sustain a profitable business firm. As a number of studies have
demonstrated, the weekly newspaper helps promote social cohesion, influence elections, and
form and perpetuate a community’s identity, especially in rural communities. It’s important to
study the viability of the community weekly newspaper, not only for the sake of the newspaper
industry and the owners of privately held newspapers, but also for the communities and citizens
they serve like no other media outlet can do in such an intimate and local news manner.35
2.3 Competition & Strategy
Literature has not produced definitive conclusions about whether and how weekly
newspapers differentiate themselves from their weekly competitors to attract readers and
therefore advertisers. However, conventional wisdom suggests that they probably do in some
fashion since businesses in general differentiate to some degree. If not, then people would just
flip a coin to decide between competitors. Segmenting markets by geography is a form of

13

differentiation, as is reallocating space among topics. However, it remains to be learned whether
the online piece is a part of a weekly newspaper’s strategy to try to garner as large a share of the
market as possible. And, even if it is, whether it is a successful strategy in the short or long term.
Blankenburg has written that weekly newspapers possess the potential to become
monopolists in their markets, adding, “Structurally, at least the country weekly would appear
more monopolistic – or to put it another way, have less competition for advertising – than a
daily. … market power depends on size relative to market, not on absolute size.”36 However, as
more recent research establishes, weeklies face competition and typically do not enjoy a
marketplace free of any media competition. Barriers to entry for weeklies have continued to fall
as computer technology has become less expensive.
If a monopoly firm is defined as the only seller of a good or service with no close
substitutes, most daily newspapers fit such a narrow definition since very few U.S. cities have
more than one daily. Contrast that with some counties, which have two or more close substitutes
in the form of paid and/or free weekly newspapers. Lacy and Coulson have called for more indepth analysis of competition among general circulation weeklies, which is what this research
paper attempted to do in the area of advertising, any newspaper’s critical lifeblood source.37
Meanwhile, Lacy, Coulson and Martin reported that counties, with a privately owned
daily newspaper present, averaged “one weekly newspaper less than did counties with no dailies
or publicly held dailies.” However, “this study could not identify why counties with privately
owned dailies have fewer weeklies.”38 Theory suggests that this may result from publicly owned
dailies not investing in their newsrooms, which studies found to be the case.
Two models of newspaper competition has been researched and reported on: in layers by
Rosse39 and in rings by Bridges, Litman and Bridges.40

14

Although little research exists on newspaper advertising from the rural merchant
perspective, Smith reported that a majority of 131 advertisers surveyed in the markets of six
daily newspapers “were unknowledgeable about advertising conditions in their markets and that
the majority of advertisers believed small dailies compete with other media for advertising
dollars.”41 Another Smith article examined the sophistication, or lack thereof, with which ad buy
decisions were made by local retail advertisers, most of whom cited ad cost, not return on
investment, as a crucial factor.42
Even so, it’s hard to miss the surprising vitality and competition that still exists at the
county level among two or more competing weekly newspapers. Unlike metropolitan cities that
have long ago devolved into a single daily newspaper market, rural counties provide both
advertisers/readers with a choice of weekly print advertising/news outlets.
Lacy and Picard maintained that the phenomenon of the single surviving daily newspaper
in a given metropolitan city was not due to natural monopoly power but rather a result of what
they termed “interactive monopoly power.” They said this type of monopoly had the effect of
creating long-term barriers to market entry, due to a metro daily’s worrisome degree of power,
drawn from a combination of market forces and product characteristics.43 Technology has
changed this process. The lower expense of starting a news operation means monopoly power
has declined and continues to decline. This is especially true for weekly newspapers, which,
unlike dailies, do not require ownership of a printing press.
In a University of Georgia study, the researchers reported on findings obtained from
asking via survey several questions on perceived media effectiveness and substitutability within
local advertising. One hundred and thirty local advertising decision makers’ survey responses
showed that daily newspapers and radio are the most effective media for local advertising, that

15

media interchangeability in local advertising is limited to a particular set of media options,
namely, daily newspapers and radio, and that patterns of media effectiveness and substitutability
do not vary much by either local advertiser type or the amount spent on advertising. Also, no
single medium was viewed as most effective means for advertising in a local market, according
to this study, which did not include questions on the Internet.44
Their research also found that of 14 media options, only five other media categories were
viewed as first or second place substitutes for local advertising: cable TV, magazines, weekly
newspapers, broadcast TV and direct mail. While this study did not include a large sample, its
findings may suggest that weeklies may looked to as alternative places to advertise by businesses
who normally advertise primarily in daily newspapers. And this might suggest a strategy for
weekly newspapers of successfully competing with nearby daily newspapers for advertising
dollars.
Meanwhile, Lacy and Dravis found that competition from radio stations and daily
newspapers affected the cost per thousand of weekly newspaper advertising, suggesting that
weeklies are susceptible to inter-media competition.45 In a later study, Shaver and Lacy found
that radio and television are acceptable substitutes for people and organizations seeking to
advertise in newspapers, consistent with economic theory. So, if also true for weekly
newspapers, this would suggest that weeklies are not immune either from inter-media advertising
competition.46
While degree of competition varies from market to market, rural markets with two or
more weekly newspapers may present advertisers with a choice of advertising in a paid
distribution weekly and/or in a free distribution weekly. In some markets, advertisers choose to

16

advertise in the paid weekly newspaper even when the free circulation weekly has a greater
newspaper distribution. Several reasons may help explain this.
1. Many paid weeklies have an advantage of a long-established community identity over
that enjoyed by free weeklies, typically in existence many fewer years or decades.
2. The unique revenue advantage paid weeklies have with circulation income that free
papers do not enjoy.
3. Some advertiser bias against free weeklies and preference for weeklies with paid
circulation, even when dwarfed by the superior distribution numbers offered by free
weeklies.
4. Practice of paid and free weeklies successfully venturing into adjoining counties to
find new sources of advertising revenues to help replace shrinking ad dollars from incounty auto dealers and real estate firms that buy less print.
5. The fact that many firms advertise in weeklies out of habit and fail to hold weeklies
accountable for producing advertising that delivers results.
2.4 Revenues
Daily newspaper managers have seen their overall advertising linage and revenue decline
in recent years. Even Google has found it tough to generate revenues through online advertising
in partnership with newspapers. Google ended its newspaper print ad business at the end of
February 2009, underscoring the industry’s problems. The company had started the service in
2006, and more than 800 U.S. newspapers had used it. The news came against the backdrop of
declining newspaper revenues; although online newspaper revenues are still growing, that is not
nearly enough to offset losses on the print side.

17

Martin Langeveld highlighted a 40 percent-plus decline in daily newspaper advertising
revenue, between 2005’s record-setting $49.4 billion and 2009’s meager $24.5 billion.47 During
this time period, daily newspaper print ad revenues fell more than 9.4% in 2007 and 17.4% in
2008, 48 with the freefall continuing by a decline of still 6% even in 2012.49 Combined
newspaper print and online advertising revenue totaled only $22.3 billion in 2012, down 51.6%
from $46.1 billion in 2003.50
While online advertising had been showing gains at some papers for a while, it was not
growing fast enough to replace the print display and classified advertising lost to a variety of
conditions, not the least of which has been the reduction overall of new car and real estate
advertising. Online advertising for weekly newspapers has not kept pace with that at larger daily
newspapers and had not changed much since 1996, according to researcher Donica Mensing’s
2007 study published in Newspaper Research Journal. 51 And the fact that consumer/reader use
of newspaper websites is lagging behind the use of print editions has ramifications for advertisers
and newspapers, especially weekly newspapers, from viewing newspapers’ online websites as an
attractive advertising medium.52 And that’s not for a lack of adoption of websites on the part of
weekly newspaper firms, most of which have some kind of a website nowadays.53
Presstime reported in 2007 that sagging sales of new vehicles was torpedoing print media
advertising goals: “For newspapers, which historically have benefited greatly from automakers’
and franchise dealers’ ad dollars, this new reality has suddenly left gaping holes in their revenue
streams. Now, 20 percent, 30 percent and even 50 percent and higher drops in year-over-year
auto advertising revenue are the norm.”54
However, things have changed in the ensuing five years, with U.S. auto sales for 2012
reported as the best since 2007, and more than 1.5 million units higher than 2011.55 But that may

18

not be translating into more print advertising dollars for newspapers, as dealers have been paying
Google significantly more in July 2013 than they were in January of 2013 to reach prospective
customers via their smartphones. An Oakhurst, N.J., Cadillac dealership, for example, from
March through June 2013, paid Google an average of $3.24 whenever a smartphone shopper
clicked on a Google search ad for the dealership.
That's an increase of 68% from the $1.93 the dealership paid from November 2012 to
February 2013, according to the dealership’s manager.56
According to data from the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), car
dealerships have increased all forms of advertising except newspaper print advertising in the past
10 years ending in 2012, which has experienced a 30% drop. Table No. 1 here reports what the
ad spending share of U.S. automobile dealerships by media type was from 2002 to 2012.57 It
demonstrates what newspapers have been experiencing the last 10 years, a steady decline in new
car advertising.
Table 1. Auto Dealer Ad Expenditures by Media Type
_________________________________________________
Media
2002
2011
2012_________
Internet
5.0%
24.8%
26.6%
TV
16.7%
20.1%
20.2%
Newspapers 46.7%
20.0%
16.9%
Radio
15.7%
15.9%
15.9%
Direct mail
7.4%
9.9%
10.8%
Other
8.5%
9.3%
9.6%
Total
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
_________________________________________________
Source: Data from National Automobile Dealers Association.
Managers in the industry generally accept, but do not often publicly acknowledge that
some businesses advertise with print media out of habit, without requiring any measurable return
on advertising investment. Some small businesses recognize a lack of return on investment and
choose not to advertise in the local weekly newspapers, even if they previously did so. Those in
19

the former category supported Smith’s research: “A survey of 131 advertisers in the markets of
six small daily newspapers revealed that the majority of advertisers were unknowledgeable about
advertising conditions in their markets …”58
Profitability
While maximizing profit is the goal for many newspaper firms, Lacy and Martin reported
that “investment in news content by dailies can draw more readers to the publication and,
conversely, as demonstrated by Thomson newspapers, that failure to invest in content, especially
where competition is present result in lower circulation and penetration.”59 That can lead to
declines in advertising revenues since advertising rates are based in part on circulation or size of
print audience. Lacy, in a separate study, also found that investment in the news product can
affect newspaper circulation. 60
The positive news is that weekly newspapers are, relatively speaking, faring financially
better than many dailies, whose much-ballyhooed impending death has been predicted for
decades.61 However, rather than die, some smaller dailies have simply morphed into weeklies.
These small dailies typically earn, on average, half the profits that medium size daily newspapers
earn, thereby pressuring them to adapt by increasing revenues, cutting expenses, staff levels or
reducing publication frequency to weekly.62 Interestingly, dailies are feverishly trying to adopt
what has been a traditional strength of weeklies, the practice of focusing on local news, now
dubbed “hyper-local” news by dailies.63 A recent national study of dailies and weeklies looked at
the question of how each type of newspaper covered county government news compared to city
government. The results showed that both dailies and weeklies provided far less news coverage
of county government than they did of city government, but dailies did a better job of covering

20

county government than did weeklies. However, weeklies devoted greater percentage of local
articles to county meeting stories than did daily newspapers.64
2.5 Research Questions
Some theory and research findings about dailies may also be applied to weeklies, namely
that each “participates in two product markets: They sell information to readers and audience
access to advertisers.”65 However, much more remains to be learned and researched about
whether ownership type and/or distribution type has any relationship to the absence or presence
of profit for general circulation weekly newspaper firms.66
Answers to the following research questions were sought from this weekly newspaper
survey project.
2.5.1 Descriptive Research Questions
RQ1: Was online ad sales part of weekly newspaper revenue strategy?
Conventional wisdom and logic suggests that for many weekly newspaper markets,
where insufficient audience size exists, low or non-existent revenues from online advertising
may be the norm rather than the exception here. More research about the online advertising
component of weekly newspaper companies is needed to help establish whether this is true or
not. Free print weeklies – which have no circulation revenue – have an extra incentive to be more
aggressive in selling advertising on Websites than do paid print weeklies that enjoy additional
circulation and advertising revenues.
One publisher responding to the survey wrote, “Please remember that the predictions
about the newspaper mostly concern urban markets where local content is available from
elsewhere – the Web, TV, etc. Here in rural areas, and in suburban markets, newspapers are

21

actually doing well and in some cases, growing. We offer local content that our readers cannot
obtain elsewhere.”
RQ2: Did weekly newspaper managers view paid weeklies, free weeklies, radio stations
and TV stations as competitors in their markets?
Studies about competition among daily newspapers are prevalent, but less so among
weekly newspapers. It is believed that the weekly newspapers will make a profit with the
presence or absence of non-print competitors and print competitors alike.67 More research is
needed to test to see if daily assumptions are also true for weeklies.
Traditionally, newspaper managers and advertisers alike valued paid newspapers as a
more credible advertising medium than that of free weeklies. That was primarily based upon the
proposition that if a person pays single copy price or annual subscription fee, the reader is more
likely to read the news and advertising content of the publication. Conventional wisdom used to
be that free newspapers would be less likely to be read just because it didn’t cost the reader
anything, but that truism has been supplanted by today’s conventional wisdom that has
conditioned consumers to expect all the content they read on the Internet sites to be free.
Basic economic theory suggests that when a marketplace has more than one competitor
that the players will have lower revenues and profit levels than if they enjoyed either less or no
competition. As Lacy and Martin reported in a 2004 study, advertisers when viewing all of their
local advertising choices will tend to make subjective decisions based upon their perceptions of
substitutability among various media: “It (advertising decision) is influenced by a wide range of
factors from advertising sales people to the mangers' previous experience with advertising. Even
if a media product is a limited substitute for newspaper advertising, a newspaper's high
advertising rates could result in poor substitutes becoming alternatives for advertisers.”68

22

RQ3: Did a majority of weekly newspaper managers expect to be in business in five
years?
One newspaper manager who responded to the survey has evolved with the times at his
newspaper, writing:
This business is 74 years old. It started as a shopper in 1937, and has always competed
with 100% subscription-based weeklies and dailies. My wife and I bought the business in
1975 from my grandparents. We saw the writing on the wall then. We developed our
‘Free Weekly Newspaper’ model in 1985, and our website in 1999, when the Internet was
going to be the ‘demise’ of the newspaper industry. It has been the demise of the OLD
newspaper model. But not our model. 2010 was the BEST year in sales in the 75-year
history of the business – and we surpassed that mark in October 2010!
RQ4: Did automotive and real estate advertising remain the top advertisers for weeklies?
An unpublished research study by this researcher has shown that new automotive and real
estate firms no longer view weekly newspapers as a critical part of their advertising strategies for
selling cars and homes. Interviews of car dealer and real estate firm managers in several
Michigan counties by this researcher for an unpublished research project revealed that they have
shifted their advertising dollars to non-newspaper websites operated by MLS.com (multiple
listing service) real estate or AutoTrader.com advertising companies. However, this study is very
narrow since it is limited to Michigan, which is not a representative state because of its poor
economy and of its possession of among the highest employment rates in the country.69
RQ5: Did newspaper managers believe that firms advertise in free and paid distribution
weekly newspapers primarily out of habit?

23

2.5.2 Relational Research Questions
RQ6: Was there a correlation between competition and weekly newspaper revenue or
weekly newspaper profits?
In this research study, surveyed weekly newspaper managers were asked if they had
competition from other media, including: paid weeklies, free weeklies, daily newspapers, radio
stations, TV stations
Another respondent publisher, bullish on the future of weeklies, replied to the survey
saying, “Radio was supposed to kill newspapers, TV was supposed to kill newspapers and now
the Internet is supposed to. However, it should make us better able to deliver local news, with a
combination of print and on-line editions. Digitalizing archives will also make weeklies more
valuable in the future.”
RQ7: Was there a correlation between newspaper type (rural vs. non-rural) and weekly
newspaper revenue or between newspaper type and weekly newspaper profits?
While daily newspaper circulation has been trending downward for the past 50 years,
paid weeklies may actually be enjoying a resurgence in circulation growth because of two key
factors: a once-a-week newspaper requires less time to read than does a newspaper delivered
daily, and also because the weekly newspaper provides hyper-local content unique to the rural or
suburban community that other media will not or cannot afford to cover.70
RQ8: Was there a correlation between newspaper viability and weekly newspaper
revenue or between newspaper viability and weekly newspaper profits?
Rising newsprint prices may be pushing weekly newspaper managers to reduce the press
runs for their newspapers, thus reducing the free distribution numbers of their publications. They
may be able to do this without endangering their competitiveness with local paid weekly

24

distribution newspapers so long as their free distribution numbers significantly exceeded the paid
circulation of their competitors.
RQ9: Did paid and free distribution weekly newspaper firms, with competing broadcast
media, in their home counties of origin make more of a profit in 2008 or in 2010?

25

Chapter 3
Method
This project’s questions were answered using chi-square and multiple regression, for the
most part, depending on the nature of the question.
The research subjects for this project were limited to those decision makers at general
circulation weekly newspapers. Their titles varied from paper to paper, but included: publisher,
manager, general manager, business manager, advertising manager and editor. These decision
makers typically possess access and control over and intimate knowledge of their newspapers
and their markets.
Focusing only on weekly newspapers was admittedly a narrow subsection of the entire
print publication industry and excludes dailies, monthlies, books, newsletters, etc., but it made
sense to do so for two reasons: limited amount of research about weekly newspapers and the
unique role weekly newspapers play as a source/provider of local news and advertising content
in rural markets.
A survey instrument was used to collect information from managers of weekly
newspapers. In an effort to generate sufficient data for generalization to a national population of
weekly newspapers, 1,000 weekly newspaper publishers from 48 contiguous states were
electronically surveyed in spring of 2011.
Of the 1,000 weekly managers surveyed for this research project, 189 of the 202 responding
managers disclosed the state in which their newspaper is located. The U.S. Census Bureau
identifies four regions of the United States of America: Northeast, Midwest, South and West.71
Newspaper respondents came from these four U.S. regions in these proportions: 35% from the
South, 34% from the Midwest, 17% from the West and 14% from the Northeast. Nearly 70% of

26

the total number of responses originated from weeklies surveyed in the South and Midwest
regions. All 48 states except for Idaho, Nevada and Rhode Island, had survey responses, with the
top four survey response states and their number of respondents including: California, 11,
Illinois, 11, Michigan, 9, Texas 21. For each of the remaining 41 states, response rates varied
from 1 to 8 newspapers replying to the survey per state.
While 202 or 20.2% of the 1,000 respondents actually started the questionnaire, 146
(72.3% of the 202) completed the entire 40-question survey. Of these 56 respondents, who did
not complete the questionnaire, 6 opened the survey and answered none of the questions. This
dropped the overall response rate from 202 or 20.2% down to 196 or 19.6% of the 1,000
managers originally surveyed.
A completion rate of 14.6%, representing 146 of the managers surveyed who completed
the entire survey from start to finish, is less robust than desired to generalize results from these
respondents to the entire population of all weeklies from which the sample of 1,000 weeklies was
randomly selected. One research study that analyzed studies using both mail and e-mail for
surveys discovered that e-mail did not consistently do better than U.S. Postal Service mail.
Apparently, surveys by email did better than some mail surveys when it comes to response rates,
but some performed worse, and some were statistically tied. While there are many advantages to
email surveys over mail surveys, this study reported that responses rates are falling for surveys
overall, both email and mail ones.72
Although a response rate of 50% or more is highly desirable, some scholars have argued
that response representativeness is more relevant than the response rate, even for response rates
lower than 50%. One analysis on the subject asserted that studies surveying top executives from
organizations are likely to experience lower response rates, with some research pointing to a

27

response rate benchmark of about 35-40 percent. The response rate in this dissertation research
project was lower than this benchmark. While the respondents are all weekly newspaper
managers, they are different from one another in that they come from free and paid weeklies,
which are privately or publicly owned. Therefore, response representativeness would not apply
to these survey respondents.73
The response rates to the individual non-narrative and narrative questions ranged from
19.6% to 9.2%, with this breakdown of the percentage of the 196 respondents answering how
many of the 40 questions (see Appendix D).
One hundred and forty-five participants (145 of 146, 97.8%) responded that the
company’s stock trade was private. The majority of participants (99 of 146, 65.6%) answered
that their company did not own any free weeklies. Less than half of the participants (71 of 146,
46.7%) answered that their company owned one paid weekly. One hundred and twenty-five (125
of 146, 82.8%) participants answered that their company did not own any daily newspapers.
Two survey questions asked, respectively, if the manager’s company owned paid weekly
newspapers and if the company owned free weekly newspapers. Out of all 202 newspaper
managers surveyed, 52 (25.7%) owned by paid and free weeklies, 114 (56.4%) owned paid
weeklies only, 18 (8.9%) owned free weeklies only and 18 (8.9%) didn’t answer if they owned
free and/or weekly newspapers.
3.1 Sampling Design/Participation
A list of the weekly newspapers and their top managers were collected from the 2009
Editor & Publisher International Year Book. While not all weeklies are listed in the Editor &
Publisher publication, it was the most complete source and is a trusted publication within the
newspaper industry and academic circles.

28

The sample of 1,000 weekly newspapers was proportionately selected from each of the
individual 48 states, based upon the number of weeklies in each state. For example, if California
had 10% of the nation’s 6,065 weekly newspapers, then 10% of the 1,000 newspapers to be
surveyed, would be selected from E&P’s listing of California weekly newspapers. After picking
a random starting point, every fourth newspaper was selected until the requisite number of
papers, respectively for each state, was selected for each state. Contact names, phone numbers
and websites for each paper were obtained from Editor & Publisher International Year Book.
Email addresses for each publisher were obtained from each newspaper’s individual website
and/or from Editor & Publisher Yearbook.74
3.2 Survey Method
The project relied upon an email survey of the questions that appear in Appendix C,
utilizing www.surveymonkey.com. Each manager was offered the opportunity to receive a
summary report after the data have been analyzed, as an incentive to participate in the survey.
Transmission of the email questionnaire was followed up in a one-week interval with an email
reminder to any non-respondents among the 1,000 weekly newspaper top managers who would
possess the data and information germane to this project.
Three weeks after the initial emailing, an additional email reminder was made by the
researcher to any newspaper managers who had yet to participate in the survey. Four weeks after,
a final email reminder was sent to remaining non-respondents.
The consent form was included in the body of the email, as well at the top of the survey
to ensure it was received and seen by each respondent. See Appendix B for a copy of the written
informed consent document that was included in the email survey invitation sent via
www.surveymonkey.com. Confidentiality of respondents to survey is maintained by ensuring

29

only this researcher has access to the respondent newspaper identities, via
www.surveymonkey.com.
3.3 Questionnaire
A questionnaire of 40 questions included 2 questions in the introduction, 7 questions on
ownership, 4 questions on distribution and advertisers, 11 questions on competition and strategy,
5 questions on advertising revenues and expenses, and 11 questions on profitability/viability.
Included in the survey design were yes/no, 5-point and 7-point interval question scales, fill-inthe-blank and narrative questions. See Appendix C for a copy of the questionnaire. Percentages
of completed questionnaires for survey questions appears in Appendix D.
3.4 Validity/Reliability
A pretest of the survey instrument was conducted with two different newspaper
managers, and adjustments to some of the questions were made accordingly. Respondents were
supplied with option of specifying their agreement or disagreement on a symmetric 7-point
agree-disagree, 5-point much higher-much lower, and 7-point very unlikely-very likely scale for
a series of statements. This permits a range for the intensity of respondent feelings for a given
item while the results of analysis of multiple items (if the items are developed appropriately)
reveals a pattern that has scaled properties of the kind Likert identified.
The most common cause for loss of representativeness comes when small samples are
solicited from a specific geographic area. When this happens, it can call into question any
inference from the one isolated geographic location to other locations geographically. However,
this survey intentionally drew upon a list of interview subjects from each of the 48 states, in
proportion to the number of the weekly newspapers in each state and in a random process.

30

Table 2 first lists the percentage of the sample that responded from each state and then
the percentage of the population in each state. In 38 of the 48 states, the percentage of responses
in each state equaled or exceeded the population percentages of those states, respectively. For
example, 4.2% of the response came from Michigan, but 3.1% of the population was from
Michigan. A majority of the percentages are close, presenting a possible argument for the
sample’s representativeness of the population.
Table 2. Percentage of Sample of Weekly Newspapers that Responded from Each State
Compared to Each State’s Percentage of the U.S. Population
______________________________________________________________________
State %’s
State %’s
State %’s
State %’s
State %’s
State %__
AL 1.5
GA 3.0
ME 0.4
NE 0.5
OH 3.6
TX 8.0
AZ 2.0
ID 0.5
MD 1.8
NV 0.8
OK 1.1
UT 0.8
CA 11.9
IL 4.1
MA 2.0
NH 0.4
OR 1.2
VT 0.1
AR 0.9
IN 2.0
MI 3.1
NJ 2.8
PA 4.0
VA 2.5
CO 1.6
IA 0.9
MN 1.6
NM 0.6
RI 0.3
WA 2.1
CT 1.1
KS 0.9
MS 0.9
NY 6.1
SC 1.4
WV 0.5
DE 0.2
KY 1.4
MO 1.9
NC 3.0
SD 0.2
WI 1.8
FL 6.0
LA 1.4
MT 0.3
ND 0.2
TN 2.0
WY 0.1
____________________________________________________
Source: Data from U.S. Census Bureau, https://www.census.gov/.
The questionnaire response rate from weekly newspapers in the 48 states from each state,
as a percentage of the total number of weeklies in each state appears in Table 3. The statistical
techniques applied via SPSS included the following techniques: Chi square analysis, independent
sample t-tests and Spearman correlation.

31

Table 3. Percentage of Weekly Newspapers that Responded from Each State Shown Below as a
Percentage of the Total Number of Weeklies in Each State
______________________________________________________________________
State %
State %
State %
State %
State %
State %__
AL
5.4% GA
1.4% ME 4.4% NE
2.0% OH
2.1% TX
4.9%
AZ
0.0% ID
0.0% MD 1.7% NV
0.0% OK
2.3% UT
3.0%
CA
4.2% IL
2.2% MA 3.4% NH
7.4% OR
4.2% VT
6.8%
AR
6.4% IN
3.3% MI
4.2% NJ
3.0% PA
3.5% VA
3.6%
CO
5.2% IA
1.2% MN 1.6% NM 1.0% RI
0.0% WA 7.1%
CT
1.2% KS
2.9% MS
3.8% NY
1.3% SC
2.8% WV 3.8%
DE
6.2% KY
2.5% MO 5.3% NC
4.2% SD
3.6% WI
1.0%
FL
2.0% LA
6.9% MT 1.5% ND
3.7% TN
3.0% WY 3.2%
____________________________________________________
Source: Data from 2009 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, Editor & Publisher, 17782
Cowan, Suite A, Irvine, CA 92614.
3.5 Statistical Analysis
Multiple regression was employed to allow for control of the multiple independent
variables and their potential effect upon, relationship to the two dependent variables: revenue
levels and profit levels of weekly newspapers. Since questions of increasing and/or decreasing
revenue and profit levels led to responses along 5-point or 7-point interval scales, multiple
regression was the appropriate statistical analysis to apply to this survey data.
A two-sample proportion z test was conducted to assess for significant differences in the
disagree and agree responses to the inquiry: Do newspaper managers believe that firms advertise
in free and paid distribution weekly newspapers primarily out of habit?
A chi square analysis was conducted to determine if there exists a statistically significant
relationship between weeklies with radio competition and separately between weeklies and TV
stations.

32

3.6 Dependent Variables
Two dependent variables were examined in this research study project: revenue and profit
of weekly newspapers. Each of the survey questions, relating to dependent variables revenue and
profits, asked the newspaper managers to indicate whether revenues and profits had experienced
an increase or decrease or had no change in 2010 budget year compared to 2008 budget year.
The survey respondents were given the opportunity to supply their answers to these questions on
five-point interval question scale.
Theoretically, this research sought to learn whether weekly newspaper’s revenues and/or
profits could be correlated to various outside predictors, namely competition.
3.7 Independent Variables
A number of independent variables were examined in this research study project: paid
weekly, free weekly, daily newspaper, radio station, TV station, online ad sales, viability,
competition index, newspaper type (rural versus non-rural).
Newspaper managers responding to the research survey were asked to respond on a 7point interval answer scale to indicate how much or little competition each faced from paid
weeklies, free weeklies, daily newspapers, radio stations and TV stations. There were five survey
questions focusing on managers’ perception of competition.
Theoretically, this research sought to learn whether things like competition, viability,
ownership type and other predictor variables mentioned above would have any correlation or
relationship to the increase or decrease of a weekly newspaper’s revenues and/or profits.
Concretely, what was being measured was the presence or absence of relationship between
individual independent variables of competition upon dependent variables of revenue and profit
levels.

33

Two questions were asked of managers about their perception of their individual
newspapers future viability by asking how certain they were that they would still be in business a
year into the future and five years into the future. Again a 7-point interval answer scale was used
by survey respondents.
Also, an index of competition was formed by combining all of the individual competitive
independent variables to discover whether, as a composite index, competition had any effect
upon revenue and profit levels. And since newspaper managers are protective and not inclined to
to disclose actual dollar figures when it comes to revenues or percentages when it comes to
profits, this research project resorted to soliciting interval-level characterizations from managers
on whether revenue levels or profits levels had increased or decreased in 2010 compared to their
levels in 2008.

34

Chapter 4
Results
The respondents to the survey for this research project hailed mostly from rural
newspapers, with a tiny number of them publicly owned and a clear majority from paid
circulation versus a smaller number of free distribution newspapers. Most of those responding
were publishers, editors or in many cases one manager holding the title of editor and publisher.
While the presence of more than one competing daily newspaper has long since disappeared
from metropolitan cities, competition appeared plentiful in the mostly rural or suburban markets
in which most weeklies are located.
4.1 Descriptive Findings
Regarding ownership type, only 4.3% the weekly newspapers responding were publicly
owned and 95.7% were privately owned. Also, 88.4% of the weeklies responding are paid
distribution and 11.6% were free distribution.
Newspaper managers also identified each of their weekly newspapers as urban (located in
the central city of a metropolitan area), suburban (located in a suburb within a metropolitan area)
or outstate (located outside of metropolitan areas, i.e. rural). Of the 186 responding, 72.04% selfidentified as outstate (rural), 25.81% suburban and 2.15% metropolitan.
When it comes to selling advertising online at their weekly publication’s websites, 32%
of the 153 managers responding said they don’t sell advertising at all online and 26% didn’t first
start selling advertising online until sometime between 2006 and 2010.
As far as competition goes in their county, 60.4% of the 149 responding managers said
they had between 1 and 10 paid weeklies, compared to 34.9% saying they had zero competing
paid weeklies in their county, with the remaining 4.7% providing answers above 10 weeklies or

35

replying they didn’t know. That contrasted with 51% of the managers reporting they had
competition from between 1 and 10 free weeklies in their county, compared to 42.28% saying
they have zero free weeklies with which to compete, with the remaining 6.71% of the managers
providing answers of above 10 competing free weeklies or replying they didn’t know. Table 4
shows what percentage of responding newspaper firms owns how many free weekly, paid
weekly and daily newspapers.
Table 4. Shows What Percentage of Responding Newspaper Firms Owns What Quantity of Free
Weeklies, Paid Weeklies and Dailies
_________________________________________________________________________
# of papers owned by
Percentage of types of papers owned by
owned by companies
Free weekly Paid weekly Daily
0
10.44%
62.16%
81.32%
1
45.05%
17.30%
5.49%
2
12.64%
6.49%
3.30%
3
9.34%
4.86%
2.20%
4
4.40%
1.08%
1.65%
5
3.85%
1.08%
0.00%
6
1.10%
1.08%
0.00%
7+
3.30%
0.54%
2.20%
no answer
9.88%
5.41%
3.84%
Total
100%
100%
100%
N
182
185
182
Responding to the question about type of ownership, 7 of the weekly newspaper firms
said they are publicly traded and 145 of the firms said they are privately owned. The
underrepresentation of publicly owned weeklies makes any test of differences between privately
and publicly held weeklies impossible. It is also possible that publicly owned weeklies may have
corporate policies against answering surveys.
Ninety-six participants (61%) answered that his/her role at the newspaper was publisher,
followed by 83 (54%) participants’ role as editor, followed by 31% general managers, 32%
owners, 19% ad managers. Since many of the managers wear two, three or more hats at their
weekly, the percentages obviously total more than 100%. But some of the respondents who were
36

editors and ad managers, in particular, provided anecdotal feedback confirming that they lacked
access to financial information necessary to answer some survey questions.
Frequencies and percentages participant’s roles at newspaper are presented in Table 5.
Table 5. Frequencies and Percentages for Roles at Newspaper
________________________________________________________________________
Roles at newspaper*
n
%
Publisher
115
61.5%
GM
59
31.55%
Editor
101
54.01%
Owner
61
32.62%
Ad manager
36
19.25%
*Note: Participants could select multiple responses; therefore total of n doesn’t equal total
of respondents and total of individual percentages doesn’t equal 100%.
RQ1: Was online ad sales part of weekly newspaper revenue strategy?
Selling online advertising is not a part of most weekly newspaper’s revenue strategies, as
evidenced by only 25.7% of weeklies agreeing, 51.4% disagreeing and 22.9% neither agreeing
nor disagreeing.
RQ2: Did weekly newspapers view paid weeklies, free weeklies, radio stations and TV
stations as competitors in their markets?
Managers of weeklies ranked forms of media with which they compete for advertising
dollars ranked as follows: No. 1 – 58% of managers cited intense competition with radio stations;
No. 2 – 56% of managers cited intense competition with daily newspapers; No. 3 – 39% of
managers cited intense competition with paid weekly papers; No. 4 – 38% of managers cited
intense competition with free paid weekly papers, and No. 5 – only 27% of managers cited
intense competition with TV stations.
While 58%, of the responding managers claimed intense competition with radio stations
for advertising dollars, 56% of managers viewed daily newspapers as a close second to radio
stations as intensely competing for advertising dollars.
37

RQ3: Did a majority of weekly newspaper managers expect to be in business in five
years?
A super majority, 93% of responding newspaper managers, said they did not anticipate
their newspapers closing within one year, and 84.6% said they didn’t anticipate their newspapers
shutting down within the next five years. Clearly, managers in this survey are bullish about being
around five years from when they answered the survey.
RQ4: Did automotive and real estate advertising remain the top advertisers for weeklies?
Thirty-seven participants (24.2%) ranked grocery number one as the weekly newspaper
firm’s top advertiser. Thirty-two (20.9%) participants ranked retail number two as the weekly
newspaper firm’s top advertiser. Twenty-six (38.2%) participants ranked automotive number
three as the weekly newspaper firm’s top advertiser. Rankings here are subject to some distortion
due to the small n. One conclusion is that some of the ad categories do not appear in a lot of
newspapers, but the ad categories are important to the papers in which they appear. Frequencies
and percentages for the ranks of the top three print advertisers are presented in Table 6.
Table 6. Frequencies and Percentages for Rank of Top 3 Print Advertisers
________________________________________________________________________
Rank
1
2
3
n
%
n
%
n
%
ARI* Category MBN**
2.571 Gambling 17.99
5
3.16
1
0.65
1
0.68
2.352 Grocery 159.93 37
23.42
18
11.69
13
8.78
2.330 Attorneys 13.98
3
1.90
2
1.30
1
0.68
2.106 Medical
138.96 24
15.19
25
16.23
17
11.48
2.087 Real estate 118.95 21
13.29
20
12.98
16
10.81
1.987 Retail
158.96 23
14.56
33
21.43
24
16.22
1.915 Automotive 135.96 21
13.29
23
14.93
27
18.24
1.790 Other
55.49 12
7.59
4
2.60
15
10.14
1.709 Banking
93.99
9
5.70
21
13.64
25
16.89
1.684 Insurance 31.99
3
1.90
7
4.55
9
6.08
N
158
154
148

38

Table 6 (Cont’d)
*ARI stands for average relative importance. The advertising with the highest average is the
most important, second highest, second most important, etc. Average relative importance figures
were obtained by giving every first rank a value of 3, each second rank a value of 2, and each
third rank a value of 1. Then those numbers were added together and divided by the number of
respondents who listed them. **MPN stands for multiply by N (total number of papers for each
advertising category).
4.2 Relational Findings
RQ5: Did newspaper managers believe that firms advertise in free and paid distribution
weekly newspapers primarily out of habit?
Most newspaper managers believe that firms do not advertise in free and paid distribution
weekly newspapers primarily out of habit. Responses included 67.8% (103) disagreeing, 24.3%
(37) agreeing and 7.9% (12) neither agreeing nor disagreeing. A two-sample proportion z test
was conducted to assess for significant differences in the disagree and agree responses. Results
were significant, z = 7.59, p < .001, suggesting that the proportion of participants that selected
“disagree” was significantly higher than the proportion that selected “agree”.
RQ6: Was there a correlation between competition and weekly newspaper revenue or
with weekly newspaper profits?
Dependent variables competition index (consisting of free weekly, paid weekly, daily
newspaper, TV) failed using regression to predict the results of revenue or profits, with a
significance level of only .296 after running separate regression analyses for independent
variables revenue and profit. Therefore, competition is not highly correlated with either weekly
newspaper revenue or weekly newspaper profit. See Table 7 and Table 8 below.
RQ7: Was there a correlation between newspaper type (rural vs. non-rural) and weekly
newspaper revenue or between newspaper type and weekly newspaper profits?

39

Dependent variable newspaper type (rural vs. non-rural) failed using regression to predict
the results of revenue or profits, with a significance level of only .296 after running separate
regression analyses for independent variables revenue and profit. Therefore, newspaper
geographic location is not highly correlated with either weekly newspaper revenue or weekly
newspaper profit. See Table 6 and Table 7 below.
RQ8: Was there a correlation between newspaper viability and weekly newspaper
revenue or between newspaper viability and weekly newspaper profits?
Dependent variable viability (viability 5 years out) also failed using regression to predict
the results of revenue or profits, with a significance level of only .296 after running separate
regression analyses for independent variables revenue and profit. Therefore, newspaper viability
is not highly correlated with either weekly newspaper revenue or weekly newspaper profit. See
Table 6 and Table 7 below.
Table 7. ANOVA for the effect of predictor variables on weekly newspaper revenue.
______________________________________________________________________________
Model
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square F
Sig.
1
Regression
6.055
3
2.018
1.246
.296
Residual
200.914
124
1.620
Total
206.969
127
a. Dependent Variable: Revenue from 2008 to 2010
b. Predictors: (Constant), Dummy for paper type, Viable in 5 years, Total competition index
Table 8. ANOVA for the effect of predictor variables on weekly newspaper profit.
______________________________________________________________________________
Model
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square F
Sig.
1
Regression
6.055
3
2.018
1.246
.296
Residual
200.914
124
1.620
Total
206.969
127
a. Dependent Variable: Profit from 2008 to 2010
b. Predictors: (Constant), Dummy for paper type, Viable in 5 years, Total competition index

40

RQ9: Did paid and free distribution weekly newspaper firms, with competing broadcast
media, in their home counties of origin make more of a profit in 2008 or in 2010?
The first of two chi square analyses (Radio & TV) conducted was significant and,
therefore, suggests a relationship between weekly newspaper intense competition for advertising
(with radio stations) and the weekly newspaper’s net profits after taxes in 2010 (compared with
2008). Results of the second chi square were not significant, indicating no comparable
relationship between weekly newspaper intense competition for advertising (with TV stations)
and the weekly newspaper firm’s net profits after taxes in 2010 (compared with 2008).
The results of the first chi square (Radio competition) were significant, χ2 (df4) = 12.16, p
= .016, suggesting that there was a relationship between weekly newspaper intense competition
for advertising (with radio stations in primary county of business) and the weekly newspaper
firm’s net profits after taxes in 2010 (compared with 2008). Higher profits and a disagreement
with intense competition resulted in a counted response of 20 (expected 13.9). Same profits and a
disagreement with intense competitions resulted in a counted response of four (expected 9.9).
Because of the low cell sizes for “neither” responses, the chi square was re-run without these.
The results of the chi square came out similarly, χ2 (df2) = 7.28, p = .026, supporting the
previously found results. Results of the first chi square are presented in Table 9.
Table 9. Chi Square Analysis on Newspaper Intense Competition for Advertising (with Radio
Stations in Primary County of Business) and Weekly Newspaper Firm’s Net Profits after Taxes
in 2010 (compared with 2008)
______________________________________________________________________________
Net profits after
Weekly competes intensely with radio stations
taxes in 2010
Agree
Neither
Disagree
χ2(df4)
p
Higher profit
21[27.3%]
1[10.0%]
20[46.5%]
12.16
.016
Same profit
21[27.3%]
5[50.0%]
4[09.3%]
Lower profit
35[45.4%]
4[40.0%]
19[44.2%]
Total
77[100%]
10[100%]
43[100%]
______________________________________________________________________________

41

The results of the second chi square were not significant, χ2 (4) = 3.68, p = .452,
suggesting that there was not a relationship between weekly newspaper intense competition for
advertising (with TV stations in primary county of business) and the weekly newspaper firm’s
net profits after taxes in 2010 (compared with 2008). Because of the low cell sizes for “neither”
responses, the chi square was re-run without these. The results of the chi square came out
similarly, χ2 (df2) = 2.51, p = .285, supporting the previously found results. Results of the
second chi square are presented in Table 10.
Table 10. Chi Square Analysis on Newspaper Intense Competition for Advertising (with TV
Stations in Primary County of Business) and Weekly Newspaper Firm’s Net Profits after Taxes
in 2010 (compared with 2008)
______________________________________________________________________________
Net profits after
Weekly competes intensely with TV stations
taxes in 2010
Agree
Neither
Disagree
χ2(df4)
p
Higher profit
11[27.5%]
3[20.0%]
29[37.2%]
3.68
.452
Same profit
12[30.0%]
4[26.7%]
14[17.9%]
Lower profit
17[42.5%]
8[53.3%]
35[44.9%]
Total
40[100%]
15[100%]
78[100%]
______________________________________________________________________________

The questionnaire resulted in these open-ended responses from some of the weekly
newspaper managers:


“Advertising markets vary run the gamut: stable, extremely slow, stagnant, full of very loyal
advertisers, steady but gradually declining, weak, poor economy, lower income residents,
mostly franchised advertisers where advertising decisions are made remotely.”



“Some markets are dominated by casino money but casino does not advertise locally. Market
is struggling and so is the newspaper, but many businesses are surviving and so is this
newspaper.”

42



“Many local advertisers have a tendency to support local activities through their advertising
more so than in support of their actual business. Although the weekly ad market is softer than
it was in 2009, it is stronger than it was in 2010.”



“Extremely rural, low retail base, dependent upon real estate advertising and real estate is
hurting.”



“Strong base of clients who advertise weekly, starting to see an increase in advertising from
the last year’s slight depression.”



“Serve a rural area that features strong local support from the community – lots of auto
dealers and grocery stores, strong, anemic, good growth potential and expanding
manufacturing base is fueling growth, more deaths than births.”

43

Chapter 5
Conclusion
This research project, which examined the nature of the weekly newspaper industry
during the Great Recession, explored several overarching questions.
Were weeklies planning on closing their doors or selling their newspapers in the
foreseeable future? Did weekly newspaper firms view online advertising as an important strategy
for remaining viable in the future? Did key traditional advertisers, such as car dealers and real
estate firms, reduce or stop advertising in weekly print newspapers? Did weeklies face
significant competition from other media?
Contrary to popular conventional wisdom about the world wide web serving as the
newspaper industry’s salvation for multiple millions of dollars of lost print advertising revenue,
it was somewhat surprising to learn that a majority of the newspaper manager respondents didn’t
really buy into this premise of a gold rush of online advertising dollars awaiting them. But it
shouldn’t be all that surprising to think that weekly newspapers, especially those in rural markets
where many have fewer than 2,000 paid subscribers, would not pursue scarce and perhaps
nonexistent online advertisers with newspaper resources becoming more scarce. While the future
may be in the online arena for content providers, it remains to be seen how economies of scale
will ever make it a viable revenue stream for smaller weekly newspapers unless perhaps state
newspaper/press associations can marshal and organize their state’s weeklies into a large enough
vehicle for attracting statewide and national online ads.
While the newspaper website with its advertising sales potential has been touted as both
replacement for and savior of print newspapers, survey responses from weekly newspaper
managers tell a different story: A 75% majority of the survey respondents confirmed that

44

generating revenue from online advertising sales is not a part of their newspapers’ revenue
strategy. That might help explain why 380 or 38% of the 1,000 weeklies surveyed had no
websites, according to Editor & Publisher Yearbook.75 The survey results also confirm an earlier
study published in 2012 on the state of weekly newspapers in the United States, by Coulson,
Lacy, Riffe and Blom, reporting that weekly newspapers in general have not adopted and
embraced Internet technology with a proactive eye toward maximizing revenues.76
Daily newspapers and even publicly owned groups of weekly newspapers might have the
resources, staff and time to make online advertising sales a key part of their revenue strategy. But
for many privately owned weeklies their full-time staff may total as few as two or three people.
The failure to adopt web ad sales strategy may have more to do with lack of resources than with
lack of desire. The survey responses bear this out.
The fact that radio stations are viewed as the top competitor for weeklies by a majority of
the newspaper manager respondents in this survey underscores the ability and strength of radio to
advertise and promote local business sales and local news, with the added ego gratification for a
car dealer hearing his own voice on the radio, and more importantly his customers, neighbors
and golf buddies affirming that they heard his ad spots on the radio. While TV stations have the
same ego pull, they tend to pull more ad dollars in medium and larger size markets, less so in the
rural markets in which so many weeklies operate.
To a much lesser degree, weekly newspapers perceived competitive threats from TV
stations, free weeklies and paid weeklies. Percentage of weekly newspaper managers perceiving
threats to these various other forms of media with which they compete for advertising dollars
ranked as follows: No. 1 – 58% of managers cited intense competition with radio stations; No. 2
– 56% of managers cited intense competition with daily newspapers; No. 3 – 39% of managers

45

cited intense competition with paid weekly papers; No. 4 – 38% of managers cited intense
competition with free paid weekly papers, and No. 5 – only 27% of managers cited intense
competition with TV stations.
Stability (or belief the newspaper would still be in business five years out) also did not
predict the results of profits and revenues. A majority of newspaper manager chimed in strongly
that they anticipated being around for at least five years into the future. What this communicated
was that despite tough recessionary times weekly newspapers had found ways to adapt and either
sell more advertising and/or make do with less revenue by accepting lower overall revenues and
profits and/or by cutting expenses. Given the lower cost structure of weekly newspapers, it
remains to be seen if weeklies will reach a tipping point beyond which viability is not possible.
The struggles of some weeklies notwithstanding, a full 93% of responding newspaper
managers said they did not anticipate their newspapers closing within one year, and 84.6% said
they didn’t anticipate their newspapers shutting down within the next five years. That optimism
about keeping the doors open in the next five years could suggest that, even for weeklies that are
earning lower revenues and profits, the managers in this survey believe they can weather adverse
economic conditions and remain viable into at least the near future.
As to the future viability of weekly newspapers, Rosse maintained that a newspaper’s
ability to survive in a particular geographic area depends upon its ability to provide customers
with a unique product: local information. He went on to suggest that newspapers would face
competition for audience and advertising, not from other local newspapers primarily, but from
other local media and advertising outlets.77
The verdict is in and car dealers and real estate brokers have known experientially for
more than a decade that they by and large don’t see a positive correlation between print

46

advertising and additional foot traffic into their respective sales lots or offices. For years, both of
these formerly huge weekly newspaper advertisers have found a much larger return on
investment marketing their new cars or homes for sale on online advertising sites like Auto
Trader and free real estate sites like Zillow and free classified sites like Craig’s List. Some
Realtors continue to advertise with print newspapers, but oftentimes do so only under pressure
from their home-selling clients who perceive the agent is not doing his job if not advertising in
the local newspaper. However, as more and more consumers access online portals in their search
for buying cars and homes, even consumer reliance on print advertising will diminish, at least in
these two fields.
While nearly two-thirds of newspaper manager respondents reported their belief that
merchants do not just advertise out of habit alone, this researcher’s experience as a former
weekly newspaper owner, publisher and ad sales manager found the opposite to be true in at least
in one rural weekly newspaper market. More often than not, merchants did in fact tend to make
advertising buy decisions based upon their friendship with a weekly newspaper sales rep. This
researcher did find, however, that new car dealers were sometimes the exception to this rule,
even in rural markets, choosing to do no or very little print newspaper advertising in local
weeklies.
The analysis, using a composite index for competition failed to predict the results of
profits and revenues. The fact that regression statistics showed no significant relationship
between competition composite and revenue nor between competition composite and profit may
indicate that, at least in rural markets, that weekly newspapers enjoy more freedom to operate a
business, generate revenues and earn a profit with fewer obstacles caused by competitors, at
least.

47

Data confirming weeklies experience competition with other weekly newspapers supports
research in at least two studies, one by Guenther78 and another by Lacy and Davis,79 that
concluded evidence existed of direct competition between weeklies in the same market.
However, between paid and free weeklies, as Martin reported, “Free circulation may also make it
easier for new weeklies to acquire readers.”80 He cited the fact that Gannett and Lee Enterprises,
two publicly traded newspaper companies, have launched free weeklies as a strategy for
attracting younger readers who have less of an interest in reading a daily newspaper.81
The fact that more than half, or 58%, of the respondents claimed intense competition with
radio stations for advertising dollars suggests that inter-media competition represents more of a
threat to weeklies than even other weeklies, paid or free, pose to the weeklies. However, nearly
as many managers, 56%, see daily newspapers as a close second to radio stations as intensely
competing for advertising dollars and thereby posing a threat to a newspaper’s bottom line
profits. Lacy reported that electronic and other inter-media competition is only going to continue
to grow. This additional pressure on weekly and daily newspapers is a challenge that managers
must face as they will increasingly compete with other media like radio and other media for
advertising dollars.82
Clustering of newspapers in regional groups was seen by newspaper managers as a way
to reach and allow advertisers to reach a single geographic area with one ad buy, something that
Morton accurately predicted would become a buzzword in the 1990s.83 The mounting pressure
on publicly and privately owned weekly newspaper companies to maintain profit margins will
likely ensure the continuation and perhaps additional pursuit of firms buying weeklies to give
them a competitive advantage that clustering affords.

48

Group-owned weeklies may have a competitive advantage, according to Martin, because
they “may hold down ad prices while distributing more free circulation to increase their
competitive advantage in markets where entry barriers are low.”84 The downside going forward
is that weekly consolidation might also bring about the decline of weeklies in some markets.85
While most of the predictor variables did not explain variations in weekly newspaper
performance, radio competition was shown to have an effect. Regarding competition, weekly
newspapers in this study perceived strong competition for ad dollars from radio stations and
nearby daily newspapers as affecting the weekly newspaper’s net profits the most. But this is not
surprising as it confirms earlier research that suggested as much. Shaver and Lacy found that
radio and television are acceptable substitutes for people and organizations seeking to advertise
in newspapers, consistent with economic theory. So, if also true for weekly newspapers, this
would suggest that weeklies are not immune either from inter-media advertising competition.86
Previous research suggests that weekly newspapers have employed the use of websites to
share news and information with its readers, some to a greater or lesser degree, to try and recruit
new subscribers and to sell additional advertising.87 However, the results in this dissertation
study reflected a majority weekly newspaper manager respondents do not believe that significant
website revenue is achievable and also have not adopted a web-based ad sales strategy.
Car dealers and real estate firms have slipped as ad revenue sources from prior decades
when they were known as weekly newspaper’s major sources of advertising revenue dollars,
survey responses confirmed. As demonstrated earlier in Table 6, based upon average relative
importance, categories of advertisers were ranked as follows by weekly newspaper managers:
No. 1 Gambling, No. 2 Grocery, No. 3 Attorneys, No. 4 Medical, No. 5 Real Estate, No. 6 Retail,
No. 7 Automotive, No. 8 Other, No. 9 Banking, No. 10 Insurance. However, this is misleading

49

actually only a small number of weeklies in this survey actually had gambling and attorney
advertising.
While about one-half of the managers responded that they still receive real estate and/or
automotive advertising, it’s clear that newspapers are earning historically lower revenue from
real estate and automotive advertisers, as well as from grocery, than in decades gone by.
Although grocery is still listed at No. 3 advertiser position, grocery store advertisements bring in
substantially less advertising revenue now than they did decades ago when they ran primarily inpaper display advertising. Grocers, with their current practice of paying an insert fee to insert
their own preprinted grocery ad circulars into the newspaper, yield much fewer ad dollars to
newspapers than when they bought in-paper display grocery sales display advertisements.
Based upon an unpublished survey of 40 Michigan weekly newspapers, some weekly
newspapers still manage to sell full-page print ads to new car dealers. Even so, these weekly
Michigan publishers bemoan the fact that new car dealers have greatly reduced or even stopped
advertising in weekly newspapers. Instead, there’s a greater reliance by auto dealers in these
weekly Michigan newspapers’ markets on using their websites, including SEO (search engine
optimization), direct mail and third-party companies to generate sales leads for prospective
buyers of their new cars. These publishers reported that the same can be said for Michigan real
estate companies, which report the main reason some of them even still advertise in their print
newspapers is because home sellers pressure them to advertise in newspapers as proof of sales
efforts ... in spite of the fact that real estate brokers receive few leads or calls as a result of home
for sale ads appearing in the newspaper.88
In spite of the reduction in dollars spent with weekly newspapers by key advertising
categories like automotive and real estate, several weekly newspaper managers surveyed for this

50

study remain bullish on the future of weekly newspapers, with some like this weekly newspaper
publisher, who reported:
We have very low advertising rates compared to daily newspapers in the area, so when
we attempt to sell, a lot of the advertisers with lower budgets are much more likely to
advertise with us, even though our circulation is less. Our readership is significantly
higher than our circulation because we carry local news, and an added bonus to
advertising with us is that our shelf life is longer. Also, because our newspaper itself is
smaller and does not contain wire, it is read cover to cover – therefore ads in our
newspaper are noticed. Many of our advertisers say they receive a lot of business from
our readers because ads are not squeezed into the newspaper among articles no one is
reading.
A second weekly publisher reported: “With the struggling economy, I think it is obvious
weekly papers are more likely to succeed than daily newspapers ... just think, we only have to fill
an advertising quota once a week, whereas our competitors are required to do it 5-7 days a week.
This makes it much easier to make our publication profitable.”
A third weekly publisher reported, “Also, because the economy is tougher, there is a lot
more public adversity. This gives us more controversial news to publish, which sells more
newspapers. As we sell more, we have advertisers calling us. In a small community, word gets
around quickly. Local businesses also want to see other local businesses succeed.”
A fourth weekly publisher reported, “With television, I think it is necessary for
newspapers to think outside the box and stop relying on wire to fill the newspaper - people are
getting the same news everywhere. In my opinion, local news, and plenty of it, is very important
and necessary for a newspaper in today's world to flourish....”

51

While online advertising offers the potential of bringing additional advertising dollars,
even to rural weeklies, many weeklies already have captured the advertising budgets of mom and
pop businesses; and would be hard-pressed to sell these same advertisers online ads, too, without
just simply shifting dollars from print to online. Surveyed newspaper managers, 40.2% of them
to be exact, reported earning more online revenue in 2010 than in 2008, while 16.1% of
managers reported earning less online ad revenue in the same time period comparison. But when
newspaper web sites earn only pennies on the dollars that weekly newspapers earn via print ad
sales, the percentage increase in online ad sales fails to tell the whole story. However, even if
rural weekly newspapers do not aggressively pursue online advertising revenues, weeklies may
find nearby daily newspapers reaching into their rural markets via sale of advertising on their
daily websites. As Bridges, Litman and Bridges contend, “When advertising becomes a major
revenue component of newspaper web sites, the pattern of competition will change again.”89
The data from this research study found many of the weekly newspapers surveyed across
the United States were financially doing about the same or a little better in 2010 compared to
2008, although some papers were not faring well. While most of the responding newspaper
managers optimistically reported that their firms’ performance would improve, still a significant
number of the weeklies seemed to be struggling. Case in point: 61 weeklies or about 32% of
those surveyed had lower profits, which is a significant percentage even though it is not a
majority.
5.1 Limitations
Research project limitations always include the possibility of a lower than desired
response rate. A robust response rate of 50% or greater to the survey would help maximize the
possibility of generalizing results from these respondents to the entire population of all weeklies

52

from which the sample of 1,000 weeklies was randomly selected. However, the response rate
was only about 14% in this electronic survey of 1,000 newspaper managers.
Another limiting factor likely was the reluctance of many top managers, with access to
P&L data for their weekly newspapers, to comment about the financial performance of their
publications. And for those papers’ managers, where editors or advertising directors (not
publishers or general managers or owners) ended up responding, those lower level managers
responding may literally been unable to answer financial questions if they had no access and/or
permission to share financial information, even under the cloak of an anonymous survey.
5.2 Recommendations
It would be useful in future research to study whether merchants advertise with radio
stations out of habit, without requiring a measurable return on invested ad dollars, like so many
mom and pop retailers do with weekly newspapers. It would also be helpful to learn if the
prestige of having one’s business advertised through a voice-powered medium like radio gives
radio stations a competitive advantage over print weekly newspapers.
Another area of future research could focus on how much advertising for certain market
categories, like grocery, comes in the form of advertising inserts versus display ads … while
grocery ranked as No. 2 print advertising for weeklies in this research study, the question didn’t
specify type of advertising, i.e. display ads or inserted circular advertising. This would be a more
focused area worth examining since newspapers earn far more revenue dollars from display
advertising than they do from insert advertising circulars.
In these especially challenging times since the onslaught of the recession several years
ago, why wouldn’t every weekly newspaper have sales of online advertising a centerpiece of
their revenue strategy? The answer may lie in the types of ownership of weekly newspapers:

53

privately owned and publicly traded/owned, but this question could not be addressed here
because there were so few publicly owned weeklies in this research project. Future studies on the
percentage of total weekly ad revenue coming from online advertising dollars would be worth
pursuing.
Measurably significant data turned up in this research study in terms of weekly
newspapers viewing local radio stations as a significant competitor, but TV stations and daily
newspapers were not viewed as strong competitors by the weekly newspapers in their respective
county markets. Further research focusing on the competitive relationship between weekly
newspapers and radio stations would be helpful in better understanding the future viability of
both of those mediums in the marketplace.
Finally, it would be beneficial to investigate rural (outstate) weekly newspapers alone to
learn what best practices they are engaged in that are contributing to their ability to survive and
thrive in their rural markets.

54

APPENDICES

55

APPENDIX A
Definition of Terms
Terms unique to this research study are defined below:
Advertising display – advertising in print publications
Advertising online – advertising that appears online on websites
Advertising revenue – dollars resulting from sale of advertising
Distribution free – newspapers delivered to readers free of charge
Distribution paid – newspapers distributed for a subscription or single copy price to readers
Manager (or general manager) – sometimes top or second in command managaer at a newspaper
Newspaper publisher – top manager at a newspaper
Newspaper editor – manager in charge of editorial content at a newspaper, who usually reports to
a publisher or a general manager, but at weeklies is sometimes also the top financial manager,
too.
Non-dailies – another term or name for weekly newspapers.
Ownership private – independently owned, not traded on stock market.
Ownership public – publicly owned company, with shares traded on stock market.
P & L – shorthand standing for profit and loss
Profit – each dollar of revenue remaining after operating expenses are deducted.
Single copy price – refers to the cost of buying a single copy of a newspaper from a newspaper
coin box or from a newsstand inside a store or business.
Subscription fee – refers to the cost of buying a newspaper, typically for six months or a year,
and receiving it via U.S. mail or via private motor route or foot carrier.

56

APPENDIX B
Dear Weekly Newspaper Publisher/General Manager:
This survey questionnaire is part of a research project concerning weekly newspapers and relies
on your expertise, familiarity and knowledge of weeklies.
In return for your participation, we would be happy to send you a short report about the results of
the survey when the data have been analyzed. If you would like a report, please send a message
to: alan_blanchard@hotmail.com with your email address and name.
However, if you would prefer a printed survey, email me to that effect and I’ll send you one via
snail mail with postage paid, self-addressed envelope.
Should you choose to participate in this in-depth survey, your identity and your business’
identity will not be disclosed or used. Your privacy will be protected to the maximum extent of
the law. Please respond to each question and statement as completely as possible. You may be
assured of complete confidentiality. Under no circumstances will you be identified in any report.
Feel free to call (616) 222-1504 or email alan_blanchard@hotmail.com with questions.
Participating in this survey constitutes permission to use the data.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your rights as a study participant or are
dissatisfied at any time with any aspect of this study, you may contact primary investigator
Stephen Lacy, Ph.D., at slacy@msu.edu, 517-432-1332, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies,
Michigan State University, 293 Communication Arts & Sciences Building, East Lansing, MI
48824; or myself. The study identification number is IRB i036327.
Participation is voluntary. You can refuse to participate, refuse to answer particular questions or
choose to withdraw at any time prior to submitting the survey without penalty or consequence.
Please select the responses below that best represent your experience and opinions. Thank you
for participating.
Sincerely,
Alan D. Blanchard
P.O. Box 732
Greenville, MI 48838
616.222.1504 or 616.835.5574

57

APPENDIX C
Weekly Newspaper Ad Research Questionnaire – Alan D Blanchard – Ph.D. Candidate MSU
1. Weekly Newspaper Research Study – Questionnaire
Dear Weekly Newspaper Publisher/General Manager:
This questionnaire concerns weekly newspapers and relies on your expertise, familiarity and
knowledge of weeklies.
However, if you would prefer a printed survey, email me to that effect and I’ll send you one
via snail mail with postage paid, self-addressed envelope.
In return for your participation, we would be happy to send you a short report about the
results of the survey when the data have been analyzed. If you would like a report, please send a
message to: alan_blanchard@hotmail.com with your email address and name.
Please respond to each question and statement as completely as possible. You may be assured
of complete confidentiality. Under no circumstances will you be identified in any report. Feel
free to call (616) 222-1504 or email alan_blanchard@hotmail.com with questions.
Participating in this survey constitutes permission to use the data.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your rights as a study participant or are
dissatisfied at any time with any aspect of this study, you may contact primary investigator
Stephen Lacy, Ph.D., at slacy@msu.edu, 517-432-1332, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies,
Michigan State University, 293 Communication Arts & Sciences Building, East Lansing, MI
48824; or myself. The study identification number is IRB i036327.
Participation is voluntary. You can refuse to participate, refuse to answer particular questions
or choose to withdraw at any time prior to submitting the survey without penalty or consequence.
Please select the responses below that best represent your experience and opinions.

58

Thank you for participating.
Sincerely,
Alan D. Blanchard
Ph.D. candidate, Michigan State University
alan_blanchard@hotmail.com
1. Do you wish to participate in this research project? If your answer is yes, please continue with
the survey. If your answer is no, please submit the survey as is.
__ YES
__ NO
2. If you have selected "yes" above that you plan to participate in this survey research, would you
like to receive a summary report on my research findings after I've had time to analyze the data?
If yes, please email me at alan_blanchard@hotmail.com with the following words in the subject
line: WEEKLY NEWSPAPER RESEARCH PROJECT
__ YES
__ NO
2. Section I – Ownership
Following questions focus upon weekly newspaper’s ownership in your country. Please respond
by selecting the appropriate answer on the drop-down menus, checking the appropriate answer
box and/or by typing your answer in the blank.
3. In what state is this weekly newspaper located?
State: _____ (dropdown menu allows respondent to choose state)
4. Is this newspaper company’s stock publicly traded?
__ Yes
__ No
5. How many free weeklies does your company own in total?
______ (dropdown menu allows respondent to choose zero through 10 or to type in another
number in an “other” box)
6. How many paid weeklies does your company own in total?
______ (dropdown menu allows respondent to choose zero through 10 or to type in another
number in an “other” box)
7. How many daily newspapers does your company own?
______ (dropdown menu allows respondent to choose zero through 10 or to type in another
number in an “other” box)
8. Check one or more of the following that describe your role(s) at the weekly newspaper:
__ publisher __ general manager __ editor __ owner __ ad manager _______ other
59

9. How would you classify your weekly newspaper firm?
__ Urban (located in the central city of a metropolitan area)
__ Surburban (located in a suburb within a metropolitan area)
__ Outstate (located outside of metropolitan areas)
3. Section II – Distribution & Advertisers
Following questions focus upon weekly’s distribution and top advertisers in your county. Please
respond by selecting the appropriate answer or ranking on the drop-down menus, checking the
appropriate answer box and/or by typing your answer in the blank.
10. In what year did your newspaper firm first sell online advertising?
______ (dropdown menu allows respondent to choose an answer between 2010 to 1995 or to
choose answer: do not sell advertising online)
11. On average, how many total copies of your print newspaper were distributed weekly in 2008
and 2010?
______ (Blank spaces are provided to fill in number totals for free and paid copies for each
year.)
12. Rank your weekly newspaper firm’s top 3 print advertisers as 1, 2 and 3: feel free to fill in
the blank if one of your top 3 advertisers is not listed below:
______ (Individual drop down box allows respondent to rank 1, 2 or 3 for the following
advertising categories, plus a blank to fill in with a different advertiser category:
automotive, real estate, grocery, medical, retail, banking, insurance, gambling, attorneys, other.)
13. Rank your weekly newspaper firm’s top 3 online advertisers as 1, 2 and 3: feel free to fill in
the blank if one or more of your top 3 advertisers is not listed below:
______ (Individual drop down box allows respondent to rank 1, 2 or 3 for the following
advertising categories, plus a blank to fill in with a different advertiser category:
automotive, real estate, grocery, medical, retail, banking, insurance, gambling, attorneys, other.)
4. SECTION III – Competition & Strategy
These questions focus upon competition/strategy in your county. Please select the correct
answers on drop down menu for some questions, on 7-point disagree-agree scale provided for
others.
14. Not counting my weekly print newspaper, how many paid weeklies are there in my county?
______ (dropdown menu allows respondent to choose zero through 10 or to type in another
number in an “other” box)
15. Not counting my weekly print newspaper, how many free weeklies are there in my county?
______ (dropdown menu allows respondent to choose zero through 10 or to type in another
number in an “other” box)

60

16. A new weekly print newspaper in my county would likely to be financially successful if it
were free distribution.
______
___ Strongly agree
___ Agree
___ Somewhat agree
___ Neither agree nor disagree
___ Somewhat disagree
___ Disagree
___ Strongly disagree
17. A new online newspaper in my county would likely attract enough online advertising to be
financially successful.
___ Strongly agree
___ Agree
___ Somewhat agree
___ Neither agree nor disagree
___ Somewhat disagree
___ Disagree
___ Strongly disagree
18. My weekly competes intensely for advertising with paid weekly newspapers in our primary
county of business.
___ Strongly agree
___ Agree
___ Somewhat agree
___ Neither agree nor disagree
___ Somewhat disagree
___ Disagree
___ Strongly disagree
19. My weekly competes intensely for advertising with free weekly newspapers in our primary
county of business.
___ Strongly agree
___ Agree
___ Somewhat agree
___ Neither agree nor disagree
___ Somewhat disagree
___ Disagree
___ Strongly disagree

61

20. My weekly newspaper competes intensely for advertising with daily papers in our primary
county of business.
___ Strongly agree
___ Agree
___ Somewhat agree
___ Neither agree nor disagree
___ Somewhat disagree
___ Disagree
___ Strongly disagree
21. My weekly newspaper competes intensely for advertising with radio stations in our primary
county of business.
___ Strongly agree
___ Agree
___ Somewhat agree
___ Neither agree nor disagree
___ Somewhat disagree
___ Disagree
___ Strongly disagree
22. My weekly newspaper competes intensely for advertising with TV stations in our primary
county of business.
___ Strongly agree
___ Agree
___ Somewhat agree
___ Neither agree nor disagree
___ Somewhat disagree
___ Disagree
___ Strongly disagree
23. Some businesses in our community advertise in my weekly paper more out of habit than out
any kind of strategy.
___ Strongly agree
___ Agree
___ Somewhat agree
___ Neither agree nor disagree
___ Somewhat disagree
___ Disagree
___ Strongly disagree

62

24. Selling advertising on my newspaper’s Web site is an important part of my weekly’s revenue
strategy.
___ Strongly agree
___ Agree
___ Somewhat agree
___ Neither agree nor disagree
___ Somewhat disagree
___ Disagree
___ Strongly disagree
5. Section IV – Advertising Revenues & Expenses
These questions focus upon advertising revenues & expenses in your county. Select the correct
answers on the drop down menu on the 5-point higher-lower scale provided for others.
25. The number of potential advertisers in my county marketplace is _____ in 2010 than it was in
2008?
___ much higher
___ slightly higher
___ about the same
___ slightly lower
___ much lower
26. My weekly newspaper firm's print advertising revenues in 1st quarter 2010 were _____ than
they were in 1st quarter 2008?
___ much higher
___ slightly higher
___ about the same
___ slightly lower
___ much lower
27. My weekly newspaper firm's online advertising revenues in 1st quarter 2010 were _____
than they were in 1st quarter 2008?
___ much higher
___ slightly higher
___ about the same
___ slightly lower
___ much lower
28. My newspaper firm's total operating expenses in 1st quarter 2010 were ______ compared
with 1st quarter 2008.
___ much higher
___ slightly higher
___ about the same
___ slightly lower
___ much lower
63

29. My weekly newspaper firm's newsroom operating expenses in 1st quarter 2010 were
_______ compared with 1st quarter 2008.
___ much higher
___ slightly higher
___ about the same
___ slightly lower
___ much lower
6. Section V – Profitability/Viability
Following questions focus upon profitability/viabilty in your county. Please respond by selecting
the correct answers on the drop down menu for some questions and on the 5-point higher-lower
scale for some questions and on the 7-point disagree-agree scale provided for others.
30. Compared with 2008, my weekly newspaper firm’s operating profits before taxes in 2010
were ________.
___ much higher
___ slightly higher
___ about the same
___ slightly lower
___ much lower
31. Compared with 2008, my weekly newspaper firm’s net profits after taxes in 2010 were
________.
___ much higher
___ slightly higher
___ about the same
___ slightly lower
___ much lower
32. Given predictions of the decline of the newspaper industry, how likely is it for my weekly
newspaper firm to go out of business before Dec. 31, 2011?
___ Very unlikely
___ Unlikely
___ Somewhat unlikely
___ Neither likely nor unlikely
___ Somewhat likely
___ Likely
___ Very likely

64

33. Given predictions of the decline of the newspaper industry, how likely is it for my weekly
newspaper firm to go out of business within the next five years?
___ Very unlikely
___ Unlikely
___ Somewhat unlikely
___ Neither likely nor unlikely
___ Somewhat likely
___ Likely
___ Very likely
34. My newspaper firm is likely to start a new sister print publication inside my county within
the next five years?
___ Very unlikely
___ Unlikely
___ Somewhat unlikely
___ Neither likely nor unlikely
___ Somewhat likely
___ Likely
___ Very likely
35. My firm is likely to purchase a competitor weekly print newspaper inside my county within
the next five years?
___ Very unlikely
___ Unlikely
___ Somewhat unlikely
___ Neither likely nor unlikely
___ Somewhat likely
___ Likely
___ Very likely
36. Is your weekly newspaper currently listed for sale?
___ Yes
___ No
___ Not sure
37. Even if your weekly newspaper is not for sale, if a buyer made a serious offer, would the
owner likely sell?
___ Yes
___ No
___ Not sure
38. How would you describe the nature of your local advertising market that your weekly
newspaper firm serves.
(Space provided to provide narrative answer to this open-ended question)

65

39. How do you think your local advertising market affects the long-term viability of your
weekly newspaper firm?
(Space provided to provide narrative answer to this open-ended question)
40. What else you would like to add?
(Space provided to provide narrative answer to this open-ended question)

66

APPENDIX D
Table 11. Percentage of Completed Questionnaires for Survey Questions
Categories of Questions

% of 196 Respondents Answering Questions

Introduction

94% to 97% response rate range for these 2 questions

Ownership

90% to 93% response rate range for these 7 questions

Distribution

45% to 75% response rate range for these 4 questions

Competition

73% to 76% response rate range for these 11 questions

Advertising

55% to 74% response rate range for these 5 questions

Profitability

35% to 70% response rate range for these 11 questions

Quantity of Questions

% of 40 Questions

Response Rates

9 questions

22.5% of questions

90% to 97%

24 questions

60.0% of questions

70% to 78%

2 questions

5.0% of questions

66%

3 questions

7.5% of questions

55% to 59%

1 question

2.5% of questions

45%

1 question

2.5% of questions

35%

67

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68

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24

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70

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71

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37

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38

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39

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40

Janet A. Bridges, Barry R. Litman, Lamar W. Bridges, “Rosse’s Model Revisited: Moving to
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41

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42

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43

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44

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45

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46

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72

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50

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53

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54

Jake Kelderman, “Back on Track: Recapturing auto dealers’ dollars requires knowledge,
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56

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57

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Ken Smith, “Inter-media Competition for Advertising in Small Daily Markets,” (winter 1998):
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59

Stephen Lacy and Hugh J. Martin, “Circulation and Advertising Competition: Implications of
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60

Charles St. Cyr, Stephen Lacy and Susana Guzman-Ortega, “Circulation Increases Follow
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73

61

Jock Lauterer, “The Future of Newspapers: Perhaps We Could Learn Something From The
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62

Stephen Lacy, Arvind Diddi, and Esther Thorson, “Small Dailies’ Profit Margins Half Those
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63

Donna Shaw, “Really Local,” American Journalism Review, (Apr/May2007): 54-57.

64

Frederick Fico, Stephen Lacy, Thomas Baldwin, Daniel Bergan, Steven Wildman and Paul
Zube, "Newspapers Devote Far Less Coverage to Country Government than to City
Governance," Newspaper Research Journal 34, no. 1 (winter 2013): 104-111.
65

Stephen Lacy and Robert G. Picard, “Interactive Monopoly Power in the Daily Newspaper
Industry,” Journal of Media Economics 3, no. 2 (1990): 27-38.
66

Stephen Lacy, Alan Blanchard, “The Impact of Ownership, Profits and Competition on the
Number of Newsroom Employees and Starting Salaries at Mid-Sized Daily Newspapers,”
Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 80, no. 4 (winter 2003): 949-968.
67

Alan Blanchard, unpublished research paper in 2008, “Rural weekly newspapers do little to
differentiate themselves to advertisers,” which involved interviews of newspaper publishers, new
car dealers and real estate brokers in five counties in Michigan where there was at least one free
distribution and one paid distribution weekly newspaper. Response rates included: 100% from 17
newspaper publishers, and 100% from 10 real estate brokers; and 63% response, 12 out of 19,
from new car dealers.
68

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