Here’s to rolling with the changes
I’m a ripened 64, and I still love real newspapers. However, my affinity for online browsing is also taking root. Statistics show that many my age are making the same transition.
I’ve spent the better part of my life with newspapers. From the time I was 10 years old, the morning paper ritual was well established in our home. Both my mother and father were avid wake up to coffee and the newspaper types, and I got hooked early. Perusing sports, my favorite columnists as I got older, never missing a day by the time I was in high school. That addiction followed me to college at Appalachian State University, where I would rise way before classes to consume the paper and coffee, either in cafeteria or at a local drugstore/diner on King Street that served the best damn fried doughnuts I’ve ever eaten.
And so perhaps it’s not surprising that I built a career in this business. I wave off accusations that reporters and editors are flawed and not to be trusted, that we are part of the problem. To the contrary, trusted newspapers and news sites are what keeps us from the sewer that social media and unethical and fake news websites would drag us into if we were OK with ignoring facts.
Here’s something I’ve found to be true as more people move toward more online news consumption: those who get their online news from “newspaper” sites like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and local newspaper sites can generally differentiate between fact and fiction. Those who get their news from television talking heads — who don’t hide the fact that they are spouting opinions — or online ideologues or social media often reveal in polls that they have a hard time differentiating what’s true and what isn’t.
All these thoughts about digital news consumption came to mind after I read that the New York Times, the granddaddy of U.S. journalism, surpassed 11 million paid digital subscribers in September. That’s the most subscribers among what started out as a newspaper and now is — sort of like many of the newspapers in WNC and across the country — transitioning to a digital plus print business model. Executives with the company say the goal is 15 million online subscribers.
Hurricanes, regional politics, local city and county news, art and music, what’s happening in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and our national forests, our waterways, it’s all information important to people who call this place home. It’s the kind of news you’ll find in our paper and on our site. Most of us want to know about the place we call home and this country we live in.
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Since we started this newspaper in 1999, I’ve kept a close eye on newspapers around this region, have watched as paid subscriptions have declined, as efforts to attract digital audiences and advertising have intensified. While many areas of this country are in what is known as news deserts — no local newspaper, no local online news source — that’s not the case for us in Western North Carolina.
For us at The Smoky Mountain News, these are exciting times to be in this fray. We are among the few free online news sites in this region, and with your support we hope to keep it that way. In October, we had about 180,000 unique visitors to our website. I haven’t gone back and checked all our data, but that’s probably a record. Hurricane Helene struck and people wanted news. Our reporters were out in the storm and providing all the information they could.
Our daily e-newsletters are seeing much higher than the industry average open rates. These daily dispatches are an important part of our digital strategy, and we have nearly 8,000 subscribers. If you aren’t getting these, I’d encourage you to sign up.
I haven’t mentioned the election or the latest regarding clean-up and repair from Hurricane Helene. So, here’s my mention: we’re still providing plenty of coverage on these important issues. But we’re also looking ahead as we continue with our strategy of providing a real newspaper each week (to which you can subscribe and have delivered weekly to your real mailbox) and continuing to offer more online offerings for those so inclined.
This business, like many, is changing right before our eyes. You’ve got to roll with those changes or throw in the towel. Here’s to keeping on rolling.
(Scott McLeod can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..)
