Readers see newspapers as "all of the above"

With the state primary season concluded, the forms of messaging statewide candidates used leading up to June 11 is curious. Likewise, the steady drumbeat we hear from local and state governments to move public notices to government websites, along with the decisions some state agencies make in bypassing legacy media to publicize state programs.

As the executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association (NDNA), and also a community newspaper publisher, the requests for free coverage by statewide candidates when they make a campaign stop, announce an endorsement, or advance a policy position and the lack of paid advertising shows a disconnect between candidates wanting the newspaper audience and their unwillingness to pay for it.

Likewise, government agencies send press releases they want newspapers to print for free or use as the jumping off point for expanded coverage of an issue – which frequently happens because we're in the information business – yet they decry the cost of publishing required public notices or minutes of public meetings when the cost is less than 1 percent of their budgets. Similarly, some public agencies steer communication budgets away from legacy media – and local newspapers --for reasons that are difficult to fathom for results that are less effective. Why would local and state governments want to pay Mark Zuckerberg in California rather than a community newspaper employing North Dakotans?

A few months ago, NDNA sought out the services of a respected polling firm to complete a demographically representative study of newspaper readership. The results are stunning.

• 76 percent of newspaper readers are UNDER age 65.

• Digital platforms disseminating print content have exploded the newspaper audience to include more than half the state.

• 86 percent of North Dakota adults read print or digital newspapers every month.

• 82 percent of North Dakota adults believe an independent third-party should be the primary source for dissemination of public notices – not government websites.

• 67 percent of newspaper readers vote in national or state elections.

• 77 percent of North Dakota adults says "newspaper advertising is important."

• 65 percent of North Dakota adults use newspaper advertising to help them decide what brands, products and local services to buy.

These are the kinds of statistics any industry would be proud to crow about, so we are!

It's interesting that district legislative and local government candidates seem to know the value of newspapers. Competitive primary races resulted in a great deal of advertising placed in community newspapers this cycle. In many cases, newspaper advertising is likely to have made the difference for candidates rising to the top of ballot.

Quite successfully, the state tax department earlier this year focused messaging heavily in North Dakota's 73 newspapers to get the phones ringing and applications flowing for a new primary residence tax credit.

Sometimes it seems like the biggest detriment to newspapers is our name. Planning a media campaign used to be a calculus between print, television and radio. Today the buzzword may be "digital" but today's newspapers are both print AND digital, giving advertisers access through trusted local news websites, apps, social media and emailed newsletters.

Ask a consumer whether they read the newspaper and they understand it's "all of the above," not just print. Our association is on a mission to help candidates, public agencies and advertisers of all kinds understand that, too.

Cecile Wehrman is the Executive Director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association and owner of Journal Publishing, which publishes The Journal, Crosby.