During the oil boom in 1940, Dave Lyons told Linda Deutsch of the Associated Press in 1990 (some 50 years later) of the readers of his newspaper 'The Odessa American' (based in Odessa, Texas): "They (the roustabouts and rig workers) were blue-collar workers. But they were sophisticated. They were world traveled. Some of them had served overseas in Saudi Arabia or Libya."
At the American Newspaper Publishers Association 104th convention held in April 1990, the topic reportedly of panel discussions, speeches and workshops was "declining readership". It was understood the publishers decided, "Poor education was denounced. More literacy was demanded."
The William Monroe Trotter Elementary School opened in Boston in 1969 to develop "thinking, socially adjusted human beings." Mel Conroy spent 5 years teaching "in traditional and more structured environments". Mel taught 3rd, 4th and 5th grade at Trotter (750 pupils in 1971). Of Mel's first year, "We (the pupils) use (news)papers for everything. If you use your imagination, there is no end to what you can do with a newspaper, whether to teach arithmetic and English or develop a social awareness. The idea is to encourage them to read the papers at home and get them thinking about anything that interests them. Maybe they'll begin to wonder about the society around them, or maybe they’ll only learn how to shop – but in either case the newspaper will bridge the gap between school and life at home, and they'll be better for that."
In 1990, 'The Odessa American' had a circulation of 38,000. "Since 1986, we've lost about 20% (of circulation) but that was because we lost population," Dave Lyons explained. "Our home county had a population of 144,000 before the oil bust. Now the population is 116,000. These days, every time I see an obituary for a person over 50, I think, 'Oh, no, there goes another subscriber.'"
According to the Leading National Advertisers in 1990, Linda told readers, "Advertising, the life blood of newspapers, has been draining away at an alarming rate (the newspaper ad revenue) all over the country." Craig Standen of the Newspaper Advertising Bureau made known, "The whole media market, the advertising business, is not going as fast as it has in the past. Yes, it's a problem for newspapers. But I don't think it means something is structurally wrong with newspapers." John J. Curley of Gannett Co. contributed the decline to regional, "West is best. Northwest is second best. Midwest is more down than out. Southeast is mostly down – that's retail related. Northeast is worst, with automotive ads a big factor."
Back in 2000, Gary Rust of Rust Communications told Jim Obert of the 'Southeast Missourian' that he did not believe the newspaper industry was "a dinosaur business destined for extinction". It was pointed out in 2000 newspapers reached 60% to 80% of the households on a regular basis than radio (about 4% of the households) and television (TV news reached over 15% of the households). Brett Cromptom of 'The Power County Press' noted in 2006, "While many people predicted a dire future for newspapers in this electronic age, a time when computers and the Internet grow in popularity at an alarming rate, a recent survey conduced by the National Newspaper Association and the Missouri School of Journalism (reveals) the number of people reading non-daily newspapers has doubled since 1965."
Some 81% of adults read a newspaper every week; 75% of those readers shared their paper with friends, colleagues or family members. On average, Brett observed, readers spent 38 minutes reading an issue of their paper. 50% of those surveyed stated they received their information from the local newspaper; 16% declared TV; 9% admitted to radio and (at the time) 2% Internet.
The survey also indicated readers read 95% local news, 76% local sports and 75% read public notices.
On April 30 1979, 'The Ledger' founded in 1928 based in Lakeland, Florida would become a morning newspaper. Publisher Elven Grubbs enthused at the time, "This is a bold and exiciting move for the newspaper, but after a year of study and carefully planned research, we are convinced that morning publication is not only best for Polk County but also what Polk County readers want."
Editor Tim J. McGuire described the $6.5 million changeover, "The simple truth is that in today's (1979) newspapering world the better-planned, better-coordinated newspapers are the morning newspapers. As an afternoon paper we often face the same news budgets as the morning newspapers. We simply have not been able to produce as fresh a product as we'd like." Elven added, "We decided we could not go morning until we were sure we could deliver complete sports and news information from the night before. We believe with our new facilities we’ll be able to achieve that goal." It was mentioned the new $2.8 million offset press would be much faster than the old press in production speed.
Tim McGuire also said, "We're adding almost 4 pages of news a day, we're adding local coverage of the county areas, we're adding international and national news, we're going to 2 stock pages a day and adding a complete business page 6 days a week, and we're going to present a slightly redesigned 'Ledger.'"
Rust Communications ran 11 dailies and 27 weeklies in 7 states in the United States in 2000. Gary Rust elaborated, "Newspapers are going online. A major change is going on in newspapers and in all the media. What the offset press is to a newspaper, the Internet is also. I had strong feelings about government and the free enterprise system, and I realized that only through an informed public can the Republic exist free and open." Steven L. Isenberg of 'Newsday' expressed in 1990, "In New York City, the number of people who read 2 or more papers a day is remarkable. Opinion is the mother's milk of New York life. Newspapers are part of helping us to be intelligent citizens."
On April 30 1979, 'The Ledger' founded in 1928 based in Lakeland, Florida would become a morning newspaper. Publisher Elven Grubbs enthused at the time, "This is a bold and exiciting move for the newspaper, but after a year of study and carefully planned research, we are convinced that morning publication is not only best for Polk County but also what Polk County readers want."
Editor Tim J. McGuire described the $6.5 million changeover, "The simple truth is that in today's (1979) newspapering world the better-planned, better-coordinated newspapers are the morning newspapers. As an afternoon paper we often face the same news budgets as the morning newspapers. We simply have not been able to produce as fresh a product as we'd like." Elven added, "We decided we could not go morning until we were sure we could deliver complete sports and news information from the night before. We believe with our new facilities we’ll be able to achieve that goal." It was mentioned the new $2.8 million offset press would be much faster than the old press in production speed.
Tim McGuire also said, "We're adding almost 4 pages of news a day, we're adding local coverage of the county areas, we're adding international and national news, we're going to 2 stock pages a day and adding a complete business page 6 days a week, and we're going to present a slightly redesigned 'Ledger.'"
Rust Communications ran 11 dailies and 27 weeklies in 7 states in the United States in 2000. Gary Rust elaborated, "Newspapers are going online. A major change is going on in newspapers and in all the media. What the offset press is to a newspaper, the Internet is also. I had strong feelings about government and the free enterprise system, and I realized that only through an informed public can the Republic exist free and open." Steven L. Isenberg of 'Newsday' expressed in 1990, "In New York City, the number of people who read 2 or more papers a day is remarkable. Opinion is the mother's milk of New York life. Newspapers are part of helping us to be intelligent citizens."
