Posted by They may be down, but they’re not out. And in some cases, they may even be poised for a comeback.
If you’re old enough to remember – or you’ve seen any fifties family TV shows – you’re aware of the long held American tradition of reading the newspaper daily at breakfast. Once upon a time, this is how Americans got their a.m. news.
Perhaps you have an older relative who tells tales of having a paper route, rising before dawn to bicycle through neighborhoods, tossing those morning papers deftly into driveways.
But since the digital revolution, millions of Americans now read their daily news on their mobile phones over morning coffee or on their commute to work, delivering a hit that virtually crippled the print newspaper industry and left many to believe those days were gone.
Not so, says Hearst Newspapers Midwest, whose publications – two in particular – are unexpectedly defying the odds.
Both newspapers circulate across northern Michigan, and have seen their subscriptions rising at a time when many print publications are scrambling to battle the opposite problem. Their Manistee News Advocate has experienced a 15 percent increase in print subscriptions above its pre-pandemic total.
Aaron DeKuiper, the regional circulation director for Hearst Newspapers Midwest, says the subscription numbers are “the highest since 2017,” and reflect “the continued high-quality journalism and community involvement efforts by the News Advocate staff.”
He added that while they still have more digital subscriptions than print, there remains “a steady core of readers who prefer the print product, and we have every intention of continuing to provide that version as well.”
The News Advocate subscriber base currently stands at 47 percent printed subscriptions compared to 53 percent digital – a surprisingly close gap.
The Benzie County Record Patriot is another newspaper success story. This publication’s numbers are even more favorable to print, with 69 percent of subscribers receiving a traditional newspaper, while only 31 percent hold digital subscriptions.
Hearst acquired The Pioneer Group, who formerly owned the two publications, in 2017. They credit the success of the newspapers to investments in infrastructure and content.
Could it be a nostalgia remains for holding that print newspaper in your hands, unhurriedly sifting through its pages and curiously perusing the headlines that catch your eye? Perhaps the phenomenon is similar to the solid base who prefer reading a book over scanning an iPad version. Despite digital advances, some things it seems, can’t be replaced. Read the full story here.