Iowa’s weekly newspapers holding their own

Posted on Aug 17, 2009 by Admin.

Mount Vernon Sun publisher and editor Jake Krob leaves a message for a source on a school board local option sales tax on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009, at the Sun office. In addition to being editor and publisher of the paper, he also writes for the sports, news and editorial sections of the paper. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Daily newspapers are hurting all over the country, but Iowa’s weekly papers are managing to hold their own.

Many metropolitan daily newspapers have lost a significant chunk of revenue to online classified advertising alternatives. And a sharp downturn in car and truck sales has slashed income from that formerly dependable advertising revenue stream.

Chris Mudge, executive director of the Iowa Newspaper Association, says Iowa’s weekly newspapers are staying afloat and in some cases doing remarkably well.

“The economy in smaller communities has been pretty robust over the last several years because they’re tied to the agriculture,” Mudge said. “The ag economy has been strong due to record crops and record prices, thanks to demand for corn and soybeans for use in biofuel products.”

Jake Krob and Stuart Clark own the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun, Marion Times and two other Eastern Iowa weekly papers. Krob says weeklies have largely avoided the financial plight of their daily cousins because they do not rely heavily on auto or classified ad revenue.

“It’s been a long time since auto dealers turned to weeklies as their advertising medium,” Krob said. “Our main customers are local businesses with small budgets who spend a few bucks here and there with us.

“In terms of revenue, we’re fairly even with last year. We’re not seeing a lot of growth, but that’s more about the impact of the weak economy.”

The front window of the Mount Vernon Sun office looks out over downtown on Thursday. Weekly newspapers, which run smaller operations, aren’t facing the same financial challenges as daily papers are.

Krob said weekly newspapers typically run tight, lean operations.

“Any weekly in Iowa — and probably across the nation — is largely a ‘mom-and-pop’ situation,” he said. “We have roughly 4 1/2 full-time equivalent employees at the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun. We contract our printing, so we don’t have the press in the backroom as we might have had at one time.”

Krob, a hands-on publisher who wears a number of hats, said payroll, printing and postal costs are his three largest expenses.

“Postal costs are tremendous for weekly newspapers and they continue to rise,” he said. “I don’t have a beef with the postal service because it’s still the most cost effective means of delivering our product to subscribers.

“I have not felt the impact of higher newsprint costs, primarily because I’m not running a press.”

Doug Lindner, publisher of the Solon Economist and the North Liberty Leader, adds rising health care insurance costs to the economic challenges facing weekly newspapers.

“We had a 43 percent premium increase this year,” Lindner said. “That’s probably the second-highest (increase) that we’ve ever received.”

Mount Vernon Sun publisher and editor Jake Krob, left, looks over an invoice with office manager Valerie Fisher on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009, at the Sun office. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Lindner said postal rate increases are hard to build into the pricing of subscriptions or advertising. He said printing costs have been fairly constant, with the exception of a 6 percent increase in the past year.

Krob and Lindner say the strong community focus of weekly papers allows them to rely on volunteer sources for things like covering sports teams.

“Parents who are following their kid’s sports team will write something up for us,” Lindner said. “Another parent may be taking photographs. That’s a couple of hours of part-time work that we don’t have to put in because other people are doing the leg work.”

Krob said weekly newspapers are dependent on the health of the business communities in the towns they cover. He is confident that Mount Vernon’s locally owned clothing, grocery and hardware stores and a 100-year-old men’s clothing store will remain viable for years to come.

“I do wonder about corporate ownership and what it means for weeklies,” he said. “Will there come a day when doing business in a small town is a real challenge? Maybe, but so far that has not occurred in Mount Vernon and Lisbon.”

The Solon Economist and North Liberty Leader charge $25 for an annual subscription, while the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun gets $29. Krob and Lindner say circulation has continued to grow — albeit slowly — because subscribers are invested in their communities.

“They see us as an integral part of the community,” Lindner said. “We’re viewed as a primary source of information in the community, especially in Solon where residents are older and very engaged. North Liberty residents tend to be a lot younger and much more technically savvy.”

Krob is convinced the rifle-sharp focus of weekly newspapers is their greatest strength going forward in an uncertain media climate.

“We cover Mount Vernon and Lisbon — nothing else,” Krob said. “If people want to get information about their community, they will continue to turn to us.”

By George Ford