THOUGHT, PLANNING, LEADERSHIP MARK NAA PLANS FOR GROWTH

Initiatives unveiled at annual meeting offer new itinerary down old roads

SAN DIEGO – Reported here and elsewhere in recent weeks, Intel co-founder Andy Grove's remarks last month about the viability of the daily newspaper business have given a number of people in the business pause.

After explaining to the crowd at the American Society of Newspaper Editors about the complete turnaround Intel made in the mid-'70s – switching from making memory chips for computers to making microprocessors – Grove told the editors, "You're where Intel was three years before it changed. Very difficult time. You have to ask, what's your microprocessor?

"What can you do for me as a reader that the web pages can't? Please don't give me length instead of depth. From a publisher's standpoint, there's going to be a huge push-pull that will require money, just when things are getting tight. ... You cannot save yourself out of a mess. I really wonder how many people who are involved in the business process understand."

Grove's words hung heavy over the Southern California sky as the nation's newspaper publishers met here late last month (full story inside). There is no question that a pall had descended on the daily newspaper publishers, and more than once a panelist or a member of the audience reminded those assembled of Grove's words.

But I don't think it was just Grove's words that had the publishers rattled. Whether or not Grove had articulated it, newspapers know it's time for a change.

This venue proved that; the Newspaper Association of America came to its annual meeting with a handful of projects designed to fix the problem. Most – whether NAA staff, board or just members – danced around the issue, but the subtext was clear: Whether it's in three years or six or 12, daily newspapers know it's time for change.

Whether it's making it easier for advertisers to buy national advertising (the Newspaper Industry Communications Center, or the NICC) or for them to expect consistent results across the varied reproduction environments the newspaper business supports (the Color Quality Task Force); whether it's increasing readership (the Readership Initiative) or increasing newspaper diversity (a board resolution on diversity outlines a number of steps), the Newspaper Association of America has become aggressive.

This is not an implied criticism of previous administrations of the NAA, but it is clear that within the last couple of years, the trade group has begun to take a leadership role in important issues regarding the health and well-being of our industry.

There's no question in my mind that in the past the membership of the NAA sent a message to its leaders and the staff of the organization that there was no real reason to rock the boat. The recession of the early part of the ’90s, followed by the Internet revolution, have changed the message.

Newspapers are looking to the NAA and its leaders to be just that – leaders. The warning signs are in the sky, say many in the daily newspaper business, and it's time we did something about it.

The unfortunate thing is that right now, daily newspapers are doing great. The first quarter earnings of the publicly traded companies look uniformly good (if not "record") and, according to Senior Editor Pete Wetmore's story inside, analysts are pleased with what they see. This should be a time for celebration.

USA Weekend put on a fireworks display one night here, but there was no cheering. Newspaper publishers understand that it is time for fundamental change.

For a couple of years I've been writing and giving speeches about how to change the business model of the daily newspaper. When I first started doing it, I got a lot of flak. Today, even when people don't like my specific suggestions, they are a lot more respectful, because I'm at least bringing alternatives.

Whether or not Grove was right – is it three years until the end? – newspapers know that it's time to change.

– David M. Cole

Inside ...

• Analysts are buoyed by quarterly earnings
• Six companies report earnings, ranging from records to losses
• NAA's marketing plan focuses on branding and readers
• All aboard! National tour guided by FAS-FAX is far from pleasant
• Time Warner was right to pull the plug on its Pathfinder site
• Persons

From NEWSINC., May 10 1999, Copyright © 1999, The Cole Group. All Rights Reserved.