Buying a weekly

Is there room for growth? Do the advertisers care about content? Would there be more ads if you improved it, or are the advertisers always going to advertise because its the only shop in town?

You're in the business so you know what to expect....generally it seems like places run into trouble when ownership is looking for higher profit margins, is saddled by debt and limited by chains. If there's no debt and no infrastructure problems, and you're going in understanding what the margins are going to be, that could be a great thing. It'd be important for your partner(s) to see it that way, too, I think.

 

I really appreciate the replies, guys. Some very good food for thought here.

I was talking to a successful business guy I know tonight, just to strip the conversation of sentiment—to just talk about it as a business. All he's worried about is the growth of money. I think there's two ways to make money here—you increase the value of the paper by making it better, and you run an annual profit. (I don't need the profit to be ridiculous, but I do need it to make a profit. I'm not willing to lose money on it.)

My friend's concern was what Jimmy's talking about. If we invest in the product and make it better, will subscriptions go up, and will advertisers pay more? I worry a bit in a town the size of this one, that the advertisers just aren't willing to pay that much for an ad. They're advertising, for the most part, to people who already know they exist. I would guess that many of them advertise in the paper as a form community service. I think the only way we increase profits, or at least get more money to invest in the paper, is by getting more people to read it, to grow it. So then it becomes: Will more people read the paper if it's good? It's the only source for local news, and it's been around a long time, but is that enough to generate a bigger audience? I'd like to think so, because I've been saying for years that for newspapers to survive they need to be better products. But I can't say for sure.

The other question is the work. Like JR said, I can't spend a lot of time and energy on it. I have two jobs already. But I know myself well enough to know that I'll want to work on it and make it better. Half the pride of ownership would be that.

I'm talking myself out of it right now, but when I wake up, I think I'll probably still be thinking about it. Put aside the worries, and I really think it would be cool in a lot of ways.

 

I typed out a 300-word response, then hit delete because I can say what I need to say in two sentences:

Don't put your own ambitions before the needs of the readers. This isn't some experiment to them; this is how they get the news.

 

It's worth remembering that what we consider "good" often pisses off people in small towns. If you make the paper "good" by the journalistic definition of the word, are you going to scare off your advertisers? (You won't scare off the readers. They'll threaten to cancel their subscriptions, but they won't, because if they did, they wouldn't have anything to be pissed off at.)

And who are your advertisers? It's all well and good to say "I'm gonna shine light in dark corners," but if the county commissioner hiding in that dark corner is also the manager of the local car dealership -- and depending on the town, that's highly possible -- he has a pretty big sword to hang over your head.

 

Don't do it. You're a perfectionist (and an idealist). You'll end up dedicating far too much time towards it.

 

Do it for a year or two then write a book about the trials and tribulations. You have a huge audience, so the book will pay for your expenses at the paper, and then some.

 

First, what are the paper's physical assets?
Do they own or rent the space they are in?
What about computers, printers, phone system, and all the other things that go into a real office like desks, chairs, etc?
Does the current owner have a physical inventory of everything in the building down to the paper clips?
The next question is what kind of computers and how dated they are? That sounds dumb, but the paper might look like poop because they are still running out justified columns of text and pasting it up. Upgrading would be expensive.

I have more but I'm being told she wants her iPad back.

 

Essentially, I'd be buying the name, the history, the subscription base and the advertising base. All printing is done off-site, and their computers are crap. I'd be buying new computers. They also rent the office space. (I'd move it back downtown; it's hidden right now.) Part of me thinks it would be cheaper just to start a new paper, but I think I'd look like a villain, trying to crush the old one when it's weak. There are instances when small-town realities conflict with the most efficient business decisions.

I really couldn't be more torn about this.

YankeeFan knows me too well. He said exactly what the smart half of my brain is whispering. But the smart half is way smaller than the dumb half.

Yes, I know what I did there.

 

That's incredibly selfish.

 

But practical.

 

You'd have to hire an excellent editor whom you'd trust to do the heavy lifting. There is no way you would be able to juggle this and your current obligations (as if I know what those are). There is no way this isn't a massive time suck if you plan to oversee it on a daily basis. But it sounds like a great opportunity to do something great for yourself and the community. Your passion for writing and talent would definitely make it better, but like someone said, you would have to be patient and not expect the writers to put out the quality that you do. Or even the quality of a mid-size daily. Unless you plan to pay a premium for talented young writers and groom there. There is a lot to think about here, obviously, but I hope it works out for you. It doesn't sound like the financials are a major issue, so that is a plus. And I would guess a small paper like that (that you could help grow), with no competition and a loyal readership and advertisers, would be a decent investment.

 

Have to agree with Norrin on this one. Definitely selfish, and I wouldn't go in with that plan, but it would make a good read, depending on what comes out of it.