JUST GIVING READERS THE NEWS ISN'T PROMOTIONENOUGH

Marketing departments must see new roles and views

"Putting out a newspaper without promotion is like winking at a girl in the dark – well-intentioned but ineffective."

-- William Randolph Hearst

That quotation is typeset and framed on the wall over my desk, and it hung over at least a couple of my desks when I took home a paycheck with the words "Hearst Corp." on it.

I am always drawn to that line – I ran across it while re-reading W.A. Swanberg's biography Citizen Hearst a dozen years ago – when I am thinking about newspaper marketing, which occurred recently during the Newspaper Association of America's annual Marketing Conference. Inside, you'll find Correspondent L. Carol Christopher's view of the conference (it was held just after the Connections conference – see NewsInc., Aug. 4, 1997).

At the same time I'm drawn to Hearst's quip about business and mating rituals, I remember the words of old-time Hearst editors who derided marketing concepts such as making news accessible, zoned editions and the like.

"Just give 'em news," the old-timers would say. "That sells newspapers."

Unfortunately, that's no longer the case. People can get news elsewhere, and they only turn to a daily newspaper out of habit or from a specific need.

Part of the reason that Hearstian quote hangs over my desk is that I've always been concerned about newspapers' promotional efforts. Whether we're talking about community activities – the sponsorship of festivals, for example – or tried-and-true advertising, I don't think newspapers are currently promoting enough.

The industry as a whole (through the auspices of the Newspaper Association) has hired one of the great contemporary ad men – Jerry della Femina – to begin an effort to promote newspapers as a way of life. individual newspapers have to exhort their communities to read newspapers more.

So we must redouble our efforts at marketing. Some of the ideas that Christopher outlines inside – managing the marketing process better, attracting Hispanic (and other ethnic readers) and using the marketing department as the newspaper's way to contribute to the community – are all fine ideas that newspapers everywhere should emulate.

Also inside, Senior Editor Pete Wetmore turns his gaze toward Washington, D.C., where Congress has enacted legislation that changes the broadcasting cross-ownership rule – slightly, anyway. The balanced budget legislation passed earlier this month has a provision that a daily newspaper in a city of more than 400,000 can bid on a digital television station license. It's probably doubtful that a publisher would do this, but it does indicate a growing flexibility in our nation's capital regarding the antiquated cross-ownership rules.

Also inside, we take a look at the recent flurry of newspaper sales and swaps. From Gannett to Knight-Ridder, Scripps-Howard to Pulitzer, there is a lot of action out there.

And Wetmore talks with Gary Pruitt of McClatchy Newspapers to see how the relatively new chief executive is rearranging his organization. Pruitt has taken two longtime newspaper executives and has given them divisional responsibility for McClatchy's various properties, and tells Wetmore why.

Lastly, John Bryan debuts as one of the two alternating columnists in New(s) Media. Bryan takes the assignment we gave him – to view new media with a jaundiced eye – and turns it into his view that he will be EveryPutz, a term he may regret coining.

The notion of promoting and marketing newspapers should become a centerpiece in publishing executives' lives. Newspapers have dwindling penetration and ever-increasing churn rates.

We need to, if not stem the tide against these depressing numbers, at least figure out ways to hold our own in the cornucopia of media options that our readers and advertisers have available to them.

– David M. Cole

Inside ...