small newspapers

[mel]

Re: small newspapers

Back in the day some people at my high school published a little rag on mimeographed paper called "Da Radical." It was very critical of things going on in our school back then. It lasted about 3 or 4 issues before disappearing.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: small newspapers

Must be one of those rites of passage. I know some classmates that did an unauthorized rag in HS. Didn't take a brainiac to figure out who was behind it.

Wonder what the kids do now? Blog it probably.

[buzz1941]

Re: small newspapers

The underground paper at Radford High School was The Radford Lye ("Good clean news!") and the underground paper at Leeward Comm College was Ka Lua O Hawaii

[TuNnL]

Re: small newspapers

When I was in J-school, the definition of "small" newspaper meant one that was not published on a daily basis, so that would include any community newspapers that published less than daily. In Honolulu, that might mean Midweek, the Sun, and others.

I would say this statement demonstrates an ignorance of what’s going on in Honolulu. Ka Leo O Hawai‘i (the student newspaper of UH) is published on a daily basis. Does that mean that these kids are supposed to compete with the big boys?

Ironically, even if the answer is no, they are being FORCED to compete with the big boys because of the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin’s shady practice of dumping free copies of their publication at the UHM Student Housing dormitory lobbies.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: small newspapers

Ka Leo O Hawai‘i (the student newspaper of UH) is published on a daily basis.

Including Saturday & Sunday? All year around? (Seriously - I don't know.) If not, then they are not technically a "daily" paper, assuming that definition to mean every single day of the entire year.

Can one of the HT participants presently working for a paper look into the circulation bureau's definitions of large/small/daily/whatever newspapers, and perhaps we can accept them as a definitive industry-accepted answer?

[lavagal]

Re: small newspapers

I would say this statement demonstrates an ignorance of what’s going on in Honolulu. Ka Leo O Hawai‘i (the student newspaper of UH) is published on a daily basis. Does that mean that these kids are supposed to compete with the big boys?

Ironically, even if the answer is no, they are being FORCED to compete with the big boys because of the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin’s shady practice of dumping free copies of their publication at the UHM Student Housing dormitory lobbies.

I don't know about that. When I was at Ka Leo, no doubt we wanted to break news that was happening on campus. Despite being smaller, we were THERE, and were able to get elements the further removed daily newspaper reporters couldn't. When we worked at Ka Leo, you can bet we wanted the dailies to notice our stories, in hopes of scoring an internship and eventually a job.
Did I ever think we were competing with the dailies as a publication? No. If I lived on campus, I'd read the freebie dailies if they were dumped on my doorstep. I never expected, nor do I think anyone living on campus expects, that Ka Leo could provide all the information they need. Even if all you wanna read is One Big Happy and the obits, there's something a daily could provide you. Even if you wanted to see what Nadine Kam is recommending, Ka Leo doesn't really do weekly restaurant reviews (or does it?). Long's advetisement? I'm thinking a paper beyond Ka Leo. I just don't see Ka Leo even wanting to provide me with business news beyond the MBA program or what the UH Foundation is up to. Does even want to?
It's been 12 years since i graduated, and I was an older non-trad student back then. Maybe it's different now.

[Media Guy]

Re: small newspapers

Using data from Editor & Publisher, a respected industry trade, and utilizing the bylaws of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) & survey numbers from a 2006 report from the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), I go back to my original point that newspaper size (large or small) is determined by circulation numbers.

Advertiser; "in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of approximately 141,341 ranks 77 out of 1,410 daily newspapers in the US."

Star Bulletin "in circulation, this newspaper's average weekday circulation of approximately 64,305 ranks 159 out of 1,410 daily newspapers in the US."

This is not a 'tiser vs bulletin statement, because I work for neither paper. It's just factual numbers.

Secondly, here's a portion of a statement from Diane McFarlin, the president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors at a ASNE lucheon; "Thank you so much for coming today. Small newspapers are a very important part of ASNE’s membership. Editors from newspapers under 75,000 circulation make up a third of our membership. Your importance to this organization is something that we’ve only recently become as aware of as we should have, and in the last few years, we have been working hard to enhance the value of membership to small newspapers." [/B]
http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?ID=5616

[pzarquon]

Re: small newspapers

This is not a 'tiser vs bulletin statement, because I work for neither paper. It's just factual numbers.

Intereseting. Thanks for that, Media Guy. Arbitrary as it may be, it's always good to have some quantifiable measure of what makes a "small newspaper." Of course, with a threshold of 75,000 circulation, just about every newspaper in Hawaii save the Advertiser is "small."

One question, though. The numbers for the Star-Bulletin, are those from the ASNE survey, or the ABC? I recall reading that the Star-Bulletin didn't report to the ABC, or at least in some manner that prompted its competitors to discount its claimed figures. Was this or is this no longer the case?

It's been 12 years since i graduated, and I was an older non-trad student back then. Maybe it's different now.

I think it's very different. I owe some of the best times of my life to Ka Leo, and some of the worst, but whatever it was, it isn't now. It's a perfectly fine newsletter, but calling it a newspaper hasn't felt right for a while.

Oh, and it looks like they're redeveloping their website. Didn't even notice they were gone!

[Media Guy]

Re: small newspapers

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Was just validating. The numbers are from a Knight Foundation report on newsroom racial diversity utilizing data from ASNE & ABC. There's not an url for that however. As far as I know, the bulletin still doesn't report to ABC, although in the report it listed complete circulation info for the Bulletin even though they are not listed as a member. Maybe it's like the Nielsen ratings, you still get rated during sweeps even if you don't subscribe http://www.accessabc.com/aboutabc/daily_us.htm#hi

[buzz1941]

Re: small newspapers

As I recall, the Star-Bulletin dropped out of ABC because Gannett was muscling the organization's board to recognize non-paid circulation, such as the free papers the Advertiser dumps at UH.
Around 65,000 ain't bad, considering it's supposed to be zero. We were about 35,000 to 40,000 when in partnership with Gannett.
Our other "problem" is that 65,000 is about the upper limits our press can produce. You don't see piles of unsold Star-Bulletins in the vending machines, because we don't have them to spare.

[Media Guy]

Re: small newspapers

I think 65,000 is tremendous for all the obstacles the Bulletin has had to negotiate around. I remember hearing that within 18 months of David Black buying the Bulletin it would cease to exist.

What's also amazing is the fact that Oahu publications can print two editions of the Bulletin, two editions of MidWeek, various other publications, and still have a very active commercial printing division. That is some press crew!!!

[GeckoGeek]

Re: small newspapers

Ka Leo O Hawai‘i (the student newspaper of UH) is published on a daily basis. Does that mean that these kids are supposed to compete with the big boys?

According to the advertising rate card, they are published Monday though Thursday. I wouldn't rank it as a daily.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: small newspapers

I think 65,000 is tremendous for all the obstacles the Bulletin has had to negotiate around. I remember hearing that within 18 months of David Black buying the Bulletin it would cease to exist.

What's also amazing is the fact that Oahu publications can print two editions of the Bulletin, two editions of MidWeek, various other publications, and still have a very active commercial printing division. That is some press crew!!!

Does the circulation department count the free papers deliverd in quantity to our public schools? If so I don't think that's a fair representation of circulation numbers.

[Media Guy]

Re: small newspapers

It depends on what numbers are being quoted. Total subscriptions or total paid subscriptions. There are different numbers for free/other distributed papers. The numbers that drive the rates for advertisers are [B]paid subscriptions.[B] According to ABC bylaws, to be counted as a paid subscription the cost must be at least 20% of the full subscription price.

Here's an example of an ABC report: http://abcas3.accessabc.com/files/95511.pdf

[TuNnL]

Re: small newspapers

Did I ever think we were competing with the dailies as a publication? No. If I lived on campus, I’d read the freebie dailies if they were dumped on my doorstep.

Thank you for making my point for me. The Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin are both maliciously affecting Ka Leo’s ability to attract ad revenue ala go! Airlines “outspend them ‘til they go broke” style.

Long's advetisement? I'm thinking a paper beyond Ka Leo.

Again, why are the commercial dailies being allowed to compete with a non-profit student newspaper at a state-run school?