Rebranding in Georgia's Golden Isles puts a unique emphasis on print
New name. Check. New website URL. Check. App under construction. Check. New Sunday paper. What?
In Brunswick, Ga., the family owned newspaper is rebranding its operation and investing in print. It's unlikely that there's another newspaper in America that has started a Sunday paper and expanded its newsroom staff by 25 percent in the past six months.
"We see every day the dogged passion that our readers have for the printed product," said Tim O'Briant, general manager and executive editor of what is now called The News. "They feel like it's their newspaper. The commentary we've gotten on our changes proves that. There's ownership.
"And while the audience may be smaller, it's a committed audience. Instead of shrinking our newsroom and shrinking our newshole, we felt like we need to aggressively invest in the best things about newspapers."
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Iconic clip from Young Frankenstein becomes opening line of campaign
"It's Alive" campaign emphasizes that The Brunswick News is a living entity thrumming with the pulse of the community.
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MoreHyper-local news organization in Tennessee is growing readers and revenue
Five years after its inception, Main Street Media of Tennessee is a fast-growing media company operating in the suburbs of Nashville. Publishers of eight weekly newspapers, magazines and websites, the company's focus on hyper-local news unique to each community has allowed it to grow ad revenue as well as circulation.
In three weeks, at the SNPA News Industry Summit, hear how a "print-first" operation has been able to buck the trends and set itself on a path for continued growth.
Dave Gould, president and CEO of Main Street Media, says: "The idea that people no longer want to read newspapers is, in my opinion, completely misguided. But as an industry, we have to be honest and ask ourselves if we are offering our communities a product that will attract and retain readers. If we do that, can we then build a business model that will support our efforts to provide readers with strong newspapers? I believe the answer is 'yes' and that has been the basis of our company's growth to this point."
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