Why other newspapers are failing

I frequently hear and read things like: Print is dying! The news media cannot be trusted! The end is nigh!

None of that is exactly false, but it is also not exactly true.

Print is not really dying, but in many places, it is not doing as well as it used to.

This is not one of those places.

It is a rare month that the Hamilton County Reporter does not show a net gain in print subscribers. We are not spending ad money on radio, TV, social media or billboards, so our growth is organic. Sure, we run the occasional ad in our own pages, but not often.

Those of us who own and run this newspaper are fascinated by our slow, steady growth, and today I think I know part of the reason for it: we answer the phone. When we can’t, if you leave a message, we call you back.

Radical, right?

Apparently so.

Even more shocking, on our website we list accurate numbers to call us directly.

Last week I had to reach out to a newspaper in southern Indiana to publish an obituary. It took 22 hours to get a human on the phone.

That newspaper, which shall remain nameless to make sure this column does not impact their quality of service or reputation, has a website with contact info for several departments and the publisher. I called the number for the publisher and bounced straight to voicemail … sort of. I bounced to a message telling me that the mailbox is full and cannot accept new messages.

I called the general phone number for the newspaper and entered the published extension, as listed on the website. I was then bounced to another automated operator for a newspaper in another state.

I called every department except sports and never spoke to a human.

Finally, I found a small ad on the website listing a number to text for “live” customer service. I sent a text message a few minutes after 4 p.m. and received an instant response that their offices were closed and I should try again later.

The next morning, I got another response asking which newspaper I was texting about.

More texting.

More waiting.

Finally, just before 2 p.m. on day two of this Odyssey, I spoke to the publisher. She is actually the publisher of 11 newspapers spanning three states. She was very courteous and as helpful as possible, but she could not give me a direct line to the person who handles obituaries because there is no such phone extension. Instead, I got an email address.

I got a response back a full day later.

A lot of newspapers are dying. The Reporter is growing. Today that makes a little more sense to me.

When people tell me how much they enjoy dealing with The Reporter because we have made something easy for them, I often explain that none of the owners have degrees in journalism. We have a philosopher, a political science major, two lawyers – one of whom almost became a mathematician instead – and a broadcast legend.

Why do we make things easy? Because no one taught us we were supposed to make it difficult.

Dear other newspapers,

The sky is not falling, but you may be bashing your own ceiling with a sledgehammer. That probably explains some of the pain you feel when things hit your head.

Stu Clampitt loves both wisdom and efficiency. After nearly 30 years of chasing wisdom, he has not caught much, which means he is neither wise nor efficient. You can reach him by email at News@ReadTheReporter.com.