Last week I received an e-mail from a reader who wrote a few paragraphs to tell me they thought the type in the paper had been reduced and was too small to read. Furthermore, they are unhappy we aren’t printing six editions of the Monroe Times a week. They said the news in the paper is without value.
In all honesty we rarely get these letters. More often our staff members receive compliments on our ability over the last few years to reduce the subscription price, produce an all-local news product and remain as important to the community as possible in these times of changing media.
What follows is my response to the reader, which takes into account many meaningful issues regarding the importance of news and the coverage of it, in our area:
I thank you for being a reader and subscriber of the Monroe Times. Here’s a response to your thoughtful question.
When we reduced the frequency of the newspaper from six editions per week to two editions per week we also significantly reduced the subscription price. Print subscribers get a free online subscription. We find our subscriptions offer great value for the local news and advertising readers are provided. Since our conversion to fewer editions per week, our number of subscriptions has increased both in print and online.
As for the size of type for our main copy and headlines, it hasn’t changed. It has remained the same for many years. We have minimally reduced the size of blotter copy simply to publish it all. The amount of paper we use is based on the number of advertisements we have and the news we provide. We try to provide space that allows all of our pertinent content to be placed in the newspaper. I genuinely wish we had more pages, because that would show a more-healthy level of local advertising support for what our mission is in the community.
As for a complaint that “there’s nothing of any worth in the paper anymore,” that’s certainly a matter of opinion. Because our product is out in the public, everyone has an opinion on it.
Since Morris Media of Monroe took ownership of the paper in February of 2017, there have been many changes. They haven’t all related to frequency. We’ve replaced the national Associated Press news stories with local stories. We’re remained committed to local coverage because people can get their national news from a variety of different sources, but they can only receive their local news through our products. A main complaint from readers before this change was, “There’s nothing local in the newspaper.” Now the news is all local and it’s news local readers often can’t get anywhere else.
In 2018, the Monroe Times was named the “Newspaper of the Year” in its circulation group by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation. Our newspaper won 38 awards in the WNAF’s Better Newspaper Contest including the top award for “General Excellence.” While receiving awards is nice, the main guidance for us is local response. Although you are unhappy with our content, we receive far more compliments than complaints. We publish photos of local people doing local things. The people in these photos have local family and friends. They are pleased to see this content. We’re providing a mirror to the community.
Before we made changes to the frequency of the paper, we surveyed the community and found people did not have time to read six editions of the newspaper per week. Also, advertisers found it difficult to sustain our ad prices that were necessary to generate revenue to run a newspaper that had six editions per week. The Times isn’t a civic organization, it’s a business. We provide jobs for people that cover the news, help other businesses grow and distribute the newspaper. We’re a local employer that provides a unique and sought-after product in the community. We absolutely need support from readers and advertisers to exist. Advertising remains the most important part of providing a paper to the community. Without advertising and subscribers, there wouldn’t be a newspaper.
It’s important that businesses and civic leaders in Monroe understand that without their support of the newspaper, a pillar of the community would cease to exist. We cover local government, courts, law enforcement, elected representatives among other important community institutions. We provide people information they need to know and protect the people’s right to know by ensuring meetings are open and records are available. Having this important work done makes our community stronger. Our readers are better-informed local citizens, which make better local consumers and supporters of the community in general.
If businesses think they’re best served by advertising non-locally, purchasing items via the internet and spending money that doesn’t go into the local economy, they are leading to the erosion of our community. When have Facebook, Amazon or Google ever provided local face-to-face service or spent money to sponsor a local hockey team, the Relay for Life or a 4-H Club? Our newspaper supports these entities by providing them coverage, telling the community when they meet or events will happen. We provide results. Our circulation is audited, our website has analytical information for each advertiser and our social media audience is the biggest in the community.
If there’s ever an opinion voiced that “nobody reads the newspaper,” I simply say we are often thanked for publishing information regarding local people. When someone goes afoul of the law and is in the court system, we’re regularly called and asked not to publish information because, “everybody in town will know about it!”
In a city of 10,000 residents, we sell approximately 2,000 of our 3,200 newspapers. Newspapers calculate actual readership based on how many people touch the paper per sold copy and the most often used, accurately audited number is four readers per newspaper. Our market saturation in this community is second-to-none.
When you add our online and social media presence, we reach more people in the community by far than any other source. When people subscribe to our product, they are inviting it into their homes. They are seeking our news and advertising. We have excellent readership throughout northern Stephenson County, Illinois; Green County and southern Lafayette County.
I hope you take the effort we’re putting into providing you with local information into consideration.
I truly appreciate you taking the time to write me and if you have a response or other suggestions, I’m absolutely willing to listen. Thank you to your family for being readers.
— Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.
