Adapting Small Market Rural Media to the Challenges of New Media: Interviews with Small Market Rural Managers

Small rural media outlets are key sources of information, provide a site for local advertising, and are an important local voice in their communities. This paper examines how small market rural media are trying to survive under tough economic conditions, and how they are using new media as part of their strategy to remain viable. Interviews were conducted with managers at several small market newspapers, television, and radio groups in order to identify specific concerns and strategies about how they are managing their resources, how they are using new media, and how they envision their future. The results show that most media are struggling, but also find that local media are in a good position to make their new media content viable for their local audiences. Cuts in journalistic enterprises dominate news stories about today’s media. Columbia Journalism Review called this “a transformational moment” in the history of journalism as the traditional economic foundation of advertising is eroding at rapid rate (Downie and Schudson 2009 1 ). Driving this change is the move to online content by readers and listeners, especially younger people. Media managers are trying to monetize the Internet by increasing the number of ads (Downie and Schudson 2009 2 ) and experimenting with economic models that charge for online content. 3 Most research about the economy and the effect of new media on business has focused on big companies. Smith and Wiltse (2005 4 ) suggested that researchers need to study media in more rural areas. Downie and Schudson (2009 5 ) said smaller media organizations that do not have competition have been relatively successful. Morton (2009 6 ) said 70% of smaller daily newspapers are still profitable. More community-oriented, non-daily newspapers are also doing well, as a whole. 7 This is in part because these smaller, often rural, media organizations take their civic responsibilities seriously (Bradshaw, Foust, and Bernt 2005 8 ). There are two major reasons why media organizations are so vital in rural areas. First, the First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press so people can be informed about their government, Adapting Small Market Rural Media to the Challenges of New Media Vol. 5, Issue 6 (2010) 2 and these media are the key sources that link government issues to local audiences. They are key sources of information. Second, media outlets provide key sites where businesses can reach their local audiences. If newspapers or radio stations leave the area, it is unlikely that other entities will step in to fill the void. This study examines what small market rural media are doing to incorporate social media and remain relevant to their communities. It concludes with policy implications for state and local governments to help keep rural media organizations vibrant. Media management and media economics theory As stated earlier, media organizations are experiencing many transitions. According to a national survey, 31% of Americans get their news and information from television (down from 35%); 19% from a daily newspaper (down from 24%); 19% from radio (up from 17%); and 15% from the Internet (up from 13%). Those who are younger and college-educated were more likely than average to get their information from the Internet (Rumpza and Bellmont 2009 9 ). Vocus Media Research Group found that in 2009 nearly 300 newspapers closed – 230 of which were weeklies. Many TV station groups went bankrupt, so big-name anchors were cut to lower costs. More than 10,000 jobs were cut in radio (Coates, Bredholt, Holley, Johnson, and Mendolera 2010 10 ). In the last 100 years, when new media came into the picture, the old media adjusted but generally was not totally replaced (Hachten 2005 11 ), a concept called substitutability. In other words, media outlets all provide information or entertainment, but these outlets are not fully interchangeable (Picard 1989 12 ). But now, the Internet has become “an integral part of everyday life” putting new pressure on old media (Kung, Picard, and Towse 2008 13 ). Although Hachten (2005 14 ) said that the Internet is a complementary source of information for media outlets, other sources say that it and other new technology can replace the older media in many ways (Bakker and Sadaba 2008 15 ). For example, you can download television shows, listen to streaming of radio, and read newspaper articles. With the Kindle and iPad devices, you can read books or magazines (Coates, Bredholt, Holley, Johnson, and Mendolera 2010 16 ). The field of media economics is related to “how media operators meet the informational and entertainment needs of audiences, advertisers, and society with available resources” (Picard 1989 17 ). Media organizations are concerned with owners, audiences, advertisers, and employees. Owners want return on their investments. Audience members want quality content at little or no cost and the ability to easily acquire the content. Advertisers want to tell their stories to their target audiences at a reasonable cost. Employees want fair pay, good working conditions, and “psychic rewards for their labor” (Picard 1989 18 ). Managers must allocate resources to get the maximum benefit for all groups, but need to insure their businesses are profitable. Media managers also have to determine what value their medium has to advertisers and consumers. In media, an audience member can have a direct investment of money, such as buying a book, magazine, or newspaper (Picard 1989 19 ). However, with more free content coming through the Internet, there is less “investment” from audience members. People often want the content for free, but also do not want to be bothered by advertising (Bakker and Sadaba 2008 20 ), so media managers are reconsidering the value of their organizations in light of changing consumer preferences. A problem that traditional media organizations have is inertia. For example, newspapers have been operating in a similar manner for years and are not easily The Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy Vol. 5, Issue 6 (2010) 3 equipped to adapt (Kung, Picard, and Towse 2008 21 ). Despite the tendency of inertia, media managers need to consider how new technology could be a benefit, such as having an onlineonly publication, which eliminates printing and paper costs. One of the ways that media organizations are trying to make money is to have a paywall for online content (Coates, Bredholt, Holley, Johnson, and Mendolera 2010 22 ; Hachten 2005 23 ). However, there is no consensus about how it will work because people are used to getting information for free (Coates, Bredholt, Holley, Johnson, and Mendolera 2010 24 ). But Washkuch (2009 25 ) said the large numbers may not be absolutely necessary because those who pay for the content will be a more engaged and interested group. The bottom line is that media managers are still scrambling to find the business model that is going to keep quality content while still making a profit (Hachten 2005 26 ). New media and technology’s effect on media organizations User-generated content has exploded in the last few years. Sites like YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and many others, allow people to become creators of content and bypass traditional channels. Nielsen Research Company found that in December 2009 users around the globe spent about five and a half hours on social media sites, an 82% increase over 2008. Facebook had 207 million visitors to lead the pack, but Twitter saw an increase of 581%, up to 18.1 million users (“Led by Facebook” 2010 27 ). Media organizations are tuning into the user-generated angle. Many other news organizations around the United States use pictures or video from viewers as part of their newspapers, newscasts, or websites. For example, an airplane crash near Boulder, CO, was captured by a by-stander and the footage was used by both local (“Boulder air collision” 2010 28 ) and national stations (Smith 2010 29 ). Unlike a traditional audience that passively waits for information or entertainment, “Internet users are in many cases active, looking for those pieces of content to satisfy their particular and concrete needs” (Bakker and Sadaba 2008 30 ). People can also use the Internet to be more interactive with organizations or groups they visit by posting comments, links, or pictures (Kung, Picard, and Towse 2008 31 ). Some media organizations are using social media to encourage this interaction. “In some cases, a little-known newspaper or radio station may not even have an official Web site but will have a Facebook page or a reporter who can be followed on Twitter” (Coates, Bredholt, Holley, Johnson, and Mendolera 2010 32 ). Each of the major traditional media have been going through transitions related to new media technology. David Coates, managing editor of newspaper content at Vocus Media Research Group, said newspaper editors ten years ago did not see the Internet as a real threat. “In their minds, nothing could replace the feeling of having an actual newspaper in your hands, and as a result the newspaper business was late to the party when it came to taking advantage of the Internet for news distribution” (Coates, Bredholt, Holley, Johnson, and Mendolera 2010 33 ). At first, the Internet era was thought to threaten newspapers and newspaper business models “to the core” (Ala-Fossi 2008 34 ). In some ways this is true, especially as younger readers turn to other sources for information. And these sources are not necessarily the traditional “gatekeepers,” i.e., the journalism outlets where traditional reporting takes place. To counteract Adapting Small Market Rural Media to the Challenges of New Media Vol. 5, Issue 6 (2010) 4 this, many publishers have online editions, but those editions do not have the advertising revenue to sustain the costs needed to create and put the information on the Web. But digital publishing can cut down on print costs and increase the distribution channels to reach m