Editor & Publisher

OPERATIONS

It’s working for The Berkshire Eagle, snatched back to local ownership from Alden Global Capital

By Mary Reardon

The big Saturday paper ..................

One of the most compelling newspaper stories of recent years is The Berkshire Eagle, based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and covering Berkshire County and parts of New York.

In 2016, a group of local investors bought the paper from Digital First Media, owned by industry bugaboo Alden Global Capital. The paper has since forged forward under local control, benefitting from its geography in the Berkshires, “a unique spot that attracts, by virtue of its natural beauty, cultural traditions, and proximity to major intellectual hubs, artists and writers of international repute,” states the paper.

Among the changes the paper has undergone is cutting Sunday print.

Gary Lavariere, chief revenue officer for Eagle owner New England Newspapers, sings the praises of the Tuesday through Saturday print. Lavariere told his paper’s print cut story at a recent NEACE (New England Association of Circulation Executives) conference.

Facing a 50% ad revenue loss with the pandemic, “we built out kind of every revenue and expense model, from current business as usual, printing seven days for the Eagle and six days for the Vermont properties all the way down to printing zero days — going completely digital.”

They settled on a Tuesday to Saturday print, a not-uncommon model these days. Yet, “everyone said to us, well, you can’t eliminate Sunday,” he said. The paper had already cut Monday print and provided an e-edition for that day. Lavariere said the company needed continuous shifts five days in a row to get the most out of a used Goss Magnum New England Newspapers bought last year. The press handles the Eagle, commercial jobs, a new tourism, arts and culture magazine called Berkshire Landscapes, the new Berkshire Business Journal and the printing of the Brattleboro Reformer,

Bennington Banner, Manchester Journal (all in Vermont) and all their supplements. New England Newspapers used to own those papers.

Despite worries about fallout with carriers, it’s been easier to attract and retain carriers since the paper cut Sunday, said Lavariere, as the carriers now have two days off. The paper currently gives carriers a temporary fuel allotment to offset gas prices.

And another worry proved unfounded: The paper was able to move advertisers to other days with little to no revenue loss, said Lavariere. “Ultimately, it’s been a really good move.”

‘HUGE MISTAKE’

Cutting the Saturday print paper is a “massively huge mistake” for newspapers, said John Newby, media and community consultant and founder of 360 Media Alliance and Truly-local. (Both companies work to create synergies between media and the communities they serve.) Mcclatchy has been the most notable for ditching Saturday print in recent years. The California-based publisher announced in 2019 that it would eliminate Saturday print editions in all its dailies in 2020.

Newby said papers small and large most likely do need to cut days (“the die-hards” who have not already made the cuts will need to, that is), but when they do it, it should be Sunday that they drop, he said. His reasoning? With punishing gas prices, many newspapers are having a challenging time finding carriers, he points out, and many carriers are quitting. “I’ve talked to papers in the last few weeks where they just don’t have the money to give them more.” If a paper drops Sunday and makes Saturday its weekend print edition, it will be poised to switch to mail delivery in the future.

“Going into mail will save you a ton of money.” Newby worked for Utah Media Group in Salt Lake City and said The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News saved over a million dollars by going into the mail. “While a change, customers actually did fine with it as the mail provided better consistency of mail delivery, especially in areas where carriers haven’t been reliable.”

Newby, who’s worked with Sandusky Newspapers, Small Newspaper Group, CNHI, Utah Media Group and Hearst Newspapers, among others, said papers might fear losing pre-print revenue by cutting Sunday, but “the pre-print buyers don’t care. You can have your weekend paper on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. And they’re okay with it as long as they know in advance, so they plan for it.”

He said concerns over reader habits may push papers to cling to Sunday. “But I’ve never seen readers push back with Sunday elimination if they’re getting a bigger paper on Saturday to make up for it.”

Newby said he’s done most of his consulting work in small and mediumsized markets. “And what I’m seeing there is either people have already eliminated days, or it’s in pretty heavy discussion.” Among industry watchers, some larger publishers seen as holdouts are bound to start cutting days eventually. “I think that they’re attempting to hang on as long as they can,” said Newby.

Newby said he feels bad for the holdouts. “Cutting a day or more allows a publisher to shift the funds to new ventures or innovations.” More bluntly, he said, “Change frequency or die.”

Now, those who’ve worked in the industry know it’s not so easy to cut days. It’s difficult for papers with storied histories and close, emotional ties to their communities. Whatever papers decide to do with their product, Newby said that in his experience, it’s best to be honest with readers and make as many of the changes as possible at one time, rather than in dribs and drabs.

At the Eagle, the focus remains on growing digital subscriptions.

The paper is ahead of the game compared to other publishers of its size regarding digital subscriptions, according to Lavariere. “Digital subscriptions make up about 40% of our total subscribers between print and digital. We have just short of 6,500 active digital subscribers right now,” he said.

Lavariere said he thinks his operation will be printing as long as they have a substantial audience and an advertiser base that wants to reach that audience. Does he believe the Eagle will be printing in 20 years? “I doubt it. But I’d never say never.” ■

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2022-07-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://editorandpublisher.pressreader.com/article/281771337885577

Editor and Publisher