Internet marketing research firm Jupiter Research issued a report today that it says "reveals growing preference for online news at the expense of TV and newspapers." In a note commenting on his company's report, Jupiter VP and Senior Analyst David Card tells Poynter Online: "I think the interpretation of this data could be pretty positive for local papers. I'd recommend, for instance, that a local paper invest modestly in its online local entertainment coverage as a way to steal young adult market share from TV or the local alternative paper. It's probably more cost effective than launching a free tabloid." When Card says "local papers," we think he means "daily papers." Read the Poynter column here.

Continue ReadingJupiter Exec Encourages “Local Papers” to Invest in Web Sites to Steal Alt-Weekly Market Share

Hartford Advocate Editor Alistair Highet calls the listings calendar his paper's "universal point of interest." The calendar is -- and long has been -- indispensable for most alt-weeklies, attracting readers who don't necessarily agree with a paper's perceived political stance. But the marketplace is increasingly crowded with online and print publications listing concerts and theater times. Freelance reporter Charlie Deitch speaks with AAN members to find out what they're doing to fend off competitors' attempts to infringe on the alts' longtime stronghold.

Continue ReadingThe Listings Calendar: Alts’ Mainstay Faces Stiff Competition

Journal Newspapers, Inc. will begin distributing the Examiner on Feb. 1, reports the Washington Post. (The Washington Post Co. publishes Express, the District's other free daily.) Journal Newspapers currently publishes free suburban tabloids in Northern Virginia and Maryland, and is owned by Phil Anschutz's Clarity Media Group Inc., which also owns the San Francisco Examiner. In October 2004, Clarity trademarked variations of the Examiner brand using the names of cities nationwide.

Continue ReadingAnother Free Daily to Launch in Washington, D.C.

According to the Outer Banks Sentinel, Yes! Weekly, "an alternative newspaper" that "will focus on the cultural, political and artistic aspects of [Greensboro, N.C.]" is set to begin publication in January 2005. The paper is a venture of Womack Newspapers, Inc., which is a division of Womack Publishing Co., a publisher of 21 papers -- two of them dailies -- in Virginia, North Carolina and Colorado. Yes! will be distributed free to more than 300 racks and business locations throughout the city.

Continue ReadingNew Weekly Launches in North Carolina

The trouble started in 1998, when the Chicago Sun-Times broke ground on a new printing press on the south side of Chicago. The start-up process was a "nightmare," the publisher said. The press malfunctioned, causing the paper to hit the streets late and leading to mass subscription cancellations.

Continue ReadingDailies Padded Circ Figures to Keep Ad Rates High