Published: May 16, 2009 10:35 pm      

Here for the long haul

The Meridian Star will never die ... who would write our obituary? Sounds simple, but I believe it's true.

There has been a lot of talk lately, particularly in mainstream mega media, about the death of newspapers. I get a kick out of these self-acknowledged experts who like to talk about something they obviously know very little, if anything, about. 

The kicker for me was actor Ben Affleck. Now, I'm not going to go on some tangent blasting Affleck because he is actually an avid newspaper reader. But when he was making the rounds recently to promote his new film, MSNBC and other cable news networks decided to get his expert opinion on newspapers ... because that makes sense.

He went on and on about how newspapers were dying and why he believed it was happening. 

I quickly realized I probably shouldn't get too bent out of shape because he, like most of the Hollywood elite, is out of touch with reality. I respect their opinion on newspapers about as much as I respect their input on politics. I also realized he, like the other experts, failed to think about "community" newspapers when he so profoundly surmised the death of this news medium.

Our readers depend on us a bit differently than say the readers of the New York Times. Our readers aren't reading us as they catch the Subway to work with an iPod blaring in their ears, a Starbucks cappuccino in one hand and a blackberry in their lap. 

Some of our pages are being cut out by grandma just this morning and will be passed around the aisles at church. And some of those will likely end up on a refrigerator somewhere in Whynot, Collinsville or Hickory by today's end. 

Our newspaper didn't end up on some bench in Central Park or covering some fish in Seattle, not that there's anything wrong with that (other than the littering of a park bench, of course).

My point is this: our readers depend on us in much different ways. And while, yes, there are hundreds of other news media outlets out there, our readers still matter and their world — which may include a dirt track race on Saturday night and a good sermon the next morning — will never be covered by a cable news network or their Web site. Only local folks can provide that.

Stop and think about this: what if there was no Meridian Star today. Where would the folks in Collinsville go to find in-depth coverage and photos of West Lauderdale's baseball championship run?

Where would you go to find funeral services for your favorite grade school teacher so you could go and pay your last respects?

Where would you read about Hartley Peavey's journey the past 44 years with Peavey Electronics and the pride of a hometown man who's garage amplifier made the Peavey name global? Now, that doesn't mean community newspapers, including The Meridian Star, aren't hurting. We've lost some employees and had to make cuts that hurt ... but so have many other businesses out there. After all, we are in a recession.

Sometimes people tend to forget an important fact when discussing newspapers, and more specifically community newspapers. We are not hurting due to a readership problem but rather a revenue problem. In other words, we do not find ourselves with a lack of readers. But, largely due to a hurting economy, we, like others, find ourselves low on revenue.

Our single copy sales — that's the newspapers bought every day out of the rack and in stores across our area — are up by 400 or so from a year ago. More people are reading this newspaper today than they were a year ago. Our Web readership also is up. We're averaging about 6,000 more daily readers (unique visitors) on our site than three years ago.

I also believe that we are more relevant today than we've ever been. With all the new media out there, our readers are depending on us even more.

But when the economy lags, businesses tighten their belts and cut their budgets. And, unfortunately, their marketing budget is among the first areas to be cut. That, in turn, hurts us. Also, as companies close and downsize, our revenue takes a hit then as well. 

So if readership is up, particularly online, what can newspapers do? I believe we must continue to evolve and change. We also must find ways to leverage those new dollars when technology allows us to reach new readers.

For instance, we have an average of 8,000 people a day (average daily unique visitors) who read our paper online.  And it's free.

We're also reaching people through our Twitter and Facebook accounts. Less than two weeks ago, our Twitter account — www.twitter.com/meridianstar — provided the fastest election results from the municipal primary election that you could find. We were at least 5 minutes ahead of any other local medium in providing those results as our reporters were in the field filing returns from their cell phones and laptops. 

As a matter of fact, Percy Bland's camp found out he had won his party's nomination for mayor by watching our Twitter account on an iPhone. And just yesterday, Assistant Sports Editor Chris Brennaman had blow-by-blow coverage of West Lauderdale's championship baseball game on his Twitter account and on our Web site.

That's the good part. 

The bad part: we made no money off of that great coverage. So our industry, as it continues to evolve, must find a way to profit from our new ventures. And we will.

But this idea that newspapers are dying, particularly community newspapers, is simply not true. Are we hurting? Yes, but few businesses aren't hurting these days. 

The bottom line is this: CNN will never cover a Meridian municipal election, ESPN will never be concerned about the final score of a Clarkdale and Southeast softball game, and Fox News will never showcase the Quitman High School student who received a scholarship to Meridian Community College. 

That's why communities will always need their papers ... and as long as that news matters to you, you've got us to bring it to you.

Just don't expect Ben Affleck or any other news pundit of the minute to get that. They're too busy covering Hulk Hogan's divorce and Sarah Palin's out-of-wedlock grandchild.

If you want that, you've got them. If you want the most up-to-date and relevant news to your life and to your world, we've got you covered.



Fredie Carmichael is executive editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at fcarmichael@themeridianstar.com.