E&P Reports with Mike Blinder

Dr. Samir Husni is "the country's leading magazine expert," according to Forbes magazine; "the nation's leading authority on new magazines," according to min:media industry newsletter; "a world-renowned expert on print journalism" according to CBS News Sunday Morning; and The Chicago Tribune dubbed him "the planet's leading expert on new magazines." It's no wonder he is better known in the industry as Mr. Magazine.

As founder and director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi's School of Journalism and New Media, Husni decided he needed to find out how magazines, printers, designers, digital media, and other business executives were coping with COVID-19. His free new book, Publishing During a Pandemic, is online on Issuu and goes behind the scenes with the leaders of the magazine and magazine media, including Stephen Bohlinger, senior vice president group publisher of Better Homes & Gardens and Kent Johnson, CEO of Highlights for Children, recording their stories during the 2020 pandemic.

In this segment of E&P Reports, E&P publisher Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with Husni to gain what insights he learned through the new book as well as how he feels about the future of news publishing and the survival of printed media. He offers tons of advice and information that any news publisher (print or pure play) can use to serve their audiences better.

Related links:

Publishing During A Pandemic by Samir "Mr. Magazine™" Husni https://issuu.com/mrmagazine123/docs/husni__pdap

Mr Magazine Website https://www.mrmagazine.com

One of the most anticipated media studies is the yearly release of the Borrell Associates' Local Advertiser Survey where thousands of local advertisers complete more than 40 questions, yielding unique insights about current and future marketing plans. Although the study is being fielded now to be released in November, Borrell has been issuing "snaps" of the data they are accumulating via "chart of the week" releases.

In this segment of E&P Reports, E&P publisher Mike Blinder asks Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, if he would offer an exclusive preview of what they are seeing from the thousands of datasets being garnered for the survey.

Spoiler alert: Gordon is high on local media focusing on content marketing (which he calls "storytelling") and OTT (Over the Top TV advertising). Plus, he also says now is the time to be 5G ready to stay competitive in your local market.

In Memphis, Tenn., the Daily Memphian just celebrated its second anniversary. The website currently boasts more than 14,000 digital-only subscribers each paying an average of $9/month for the content created by a team of more than 45 fulltime and freelance journalists. Plus, they push 20 different email newsletters to the more than 45,000 subscribers they've managed to garner in this short time. But, Eric Barnes, founder and CEO, says even though they list themselves as a non-profit, the culture of this growing enterprise looks and acts just like any successful, aggressive news operation (print based or digital-only) that you would find in any city in the world. Moreover, their formula is not as innovative as you may think--it's truly serving the community with good journalism. In this edition of E&P Reports, E&P publisher Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with Barnes to uncover what they are doing to win in a very competitive news market.

This week's installment of E&P Reports is a recording of a live broadcast, hosted by E&P publisher Mike Blinder for the Association of Alternative Newsmedia's AANOVATION 2020 virtual annual conference. This one-hour roundtable is a discussion on the future of news media.

Topics include: Will reader revenue ever rise to a level to fund our newsrooms; how to recruit and maintain talent in turbulent times; should local media be compensated by Facebook & Google for the content these platforms monetize; how is hedge fund consolidation affecting the industry; and what does the future hold. The panel includes: * James Fallows, Atlantic national correspondent * Nancy Lane, Local Media Association CEO * Ken Doctor, Newsonomics CEO * Cheryl Thompson-Morton, Lenfest Institute of Journalism Program Manager

Many people were shocked last April when the Tampa Bay Times, the flagship newspaper of the Poynter Institute and the largest newspaper in Florida, made the decision to reduce its print frequency to only twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays. To this day, the 11th largest media market in the country has no daily print newspaper. It was reported that the reason for this decision was the effect that COVID-19 had on advertising revenue, with more than $1 million dollars of cancelations occurring in a two week period in early March.

Industry veteran Bruce Faulmann and the current VP of sales and marketing at the Tampa Bay Times was a part of the senior management team who made that decision. In this episode of E&P Reports, Bruce chats with Mike Blinder, publisher of E&P, about how the Times' digital edition, robust website and niche publications are helping them maintain a great audience and the advertising revenues necessary to keep their news operation working. He also talks about how he is leading this major media market's sales organization in tough times.

Ken Doctor Finally Reveals Lookout Local

For more than a decade, media analyst Ken Doctor sat on the sidelines evaluating, commenting and even making sweeping predictions about where the news publishing industry was heading and how he felt about the factors that impacted it. But today, Ken has moved into the fray as CEO of a new startup he has been teasing the industry about called Lookout Local.

Lookout hopes to expand across the country, but it's first model will launch in Santa Cruz, Calif. (Ken's hometown) with Lookout Santa Cruz with funding from the Knight Foundation, Google News Innovation Challenge, The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and various other foundations.

In this segment of E&P Reports, E&P publisher Mike Blinder interviews both Doctor and newly-announced Chief Revenue Officer Jed Williams who recently left the Local Media Association after a four-year stint as chief strategy officer.

Related links: Lookout Local Announcement: https://lookoutlocal.com/lookout-local-launch-release/

Nieman Lab Article about Launch: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/in-the-arena-ken-doctor-is-moving-from-media-analyst-to-media-ceo-with-lookout-his-plan-for,170327

A new 10-minute survey is asking local journalists and news publishers to share their story and experiences as part of a project examining the health of local newspapers. The project is supported by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University and is seeking to find how local news is coping with COVID-19, corporate downsizing, concerns about "fake news," mistrust in journalism, "news deserts," and any and all factors influencing the local news publishing industry.

This new study builds on the findings of earlier research performed by Tow in 2016-17, which shared lessons from the perspective of 420 journalists across the United States. By revisiting this earlier study, researchers hope to compare--and contrast--the experience of local journalists in late 2016 and mid-2020, while also highlighting the contemporary characteristics of today's media landscape. Fundamental to the research is also the desire to hear and amplify the experiences of local journalists working on the frontline during very troubling times.

In this segment of E&P Reports, Mike Blinder, publisher of Editor and Publisher Magazine, chats with Damian Radcliffe, the Carolyn S. Chambers Professor of Journalism at the University of Oregon and lead researcher on the project. Professor Radcliffe not only discusses the study but gives an overall perspective on the news publishing industry and how important these studies are in helping us navigate forward.

Related links:

10-Minute TOW Study sign-up: https://bit.ly/Tow2020

FAQ's About the TOW Study: https://medium.com/damian-radcliffe/take-this-survey-about-the-health-and-future-of-local-newspapers-in-the-usa-5b6e8230e054

Background on the study and findings from the 2016 TOW study: https://medium.com/damian-radcliffe/local-news-is-changing-we-want-local-newspaper-journalists-to-tell-us-how-3ad8096d18b5

Damian Radcliffe's "Article: "231 Ways Publishers Can Make Media Pay: https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/231-ways-publishers-can-make-media-pay/

This year, Christian Hendricks, president of the Local Media Consortium, will head-up the judging for Editor and Publisher's EPPY Awards. He will work with a panel of judges made up of media leaders with backgrounds in website design, marketing/advertising, editorial, technology, education, and management. In 2019, EPPY winners included the Boston Globe, CNN, the Weather Channel, USA Today and the New York Times.

In this interview with E&P publisher, Mike Blinder, Hendricks urges small market digital leaders with limited resources who've created a platform or initiative that deserves recognition to make sure they enter the competition. He also would like to see more broadcast stations and universities participate as well.

Now in its 25th year, the EPPY Awards are open to all print, digital and broadcast media outlets to submit entries in 38 diverse categories. This year, the EPPY Awards has broadened its scope with new categories for college journalism and investigative reporting. Publications can also submit nominations for career achievement.

All entries to the EPPY Awards must be submitted online no later than Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Judging will take place Sept. 14 through

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic damage across virtually every sector of the news publishing industry with many newspapers already closing, and others are facing closure if the economic climate doesn't change quickly. News deserts are being created by the end of local journalism, but HR 7640--The Local Journalism Sustainability Act (LJSA)--may be part of the solution. The LJSA addresses many of the pressing issues and even helps local businesses by proposing three separate tax credits: 1) A credit for advertising in local newspapers and local media 2) A credit for local newspaper subscriptions 3) A payroll credit for compensation to the employers of local journalists E&P publisher Mike Blinder checks-in with two of the bill's founders: Francis Wick, president & CEO Wick Communications, and Alan Fisco, president of the Seattle Times. Also in this installment of E&P Reports, Paul Boyle, News Media Alliance's senior vice president of public policy, talks about how the lobbying in D.C. is going, and Dean Ridings, CEO of Americas' Newspapers, speaks on why and how local news publishers can contact their legislators to urge them to support this legislation. More information is available online at newspapers.org.

The Cushing (Okla.) Citizen has had many owners since its first issue came off the press in 1895. Today, (along with two other nearby publications), it is in the capable hands of J. D. Meisner, who purchased the paper with his wife, MaryLee, one month before COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the local economy. After downsizing, J.D. now maintains profitability while still serving his three small markets. Even while providing most of the management functions of writing, editing and selling ads, he still carved out some time to create a widely popular activity page along with MaryLee to help provide a critical benefit to the remedial students that she teaches in the local school system. In this segment of E&P Reports, publisher Mike Blinder goes one-on-one with Citizen publisher J. D. Meisner to discuss small market survival during challenging times, along with their new homegrown activity page product that local readers are loving.