Just About Anyone Can Start & Run A Newspaper

I appreciated the thread started by Chad Fairbanks on starting a newspaper. I also found the replies interesting. I know that it sounds a little scary to lots of people.

In 1994, with absolutely no experience whatever in journalism, advertising sales, etc. and with pitifully poor equipment (386SX computer, 600 dpi emulation laser printer, home-made light-box, etc.) I started a weekly paper in Western Montana. It ran for about 1 1/2 yrs before my wife & I collapsed from exhaustion.

We tried to do just about everything ourselves. Our paper covered several small communities and included 2 local high schools. Covering all the sports events, etc. was an interesting game in itself.

Our paper won readers and fans because we were not liberal. The daily paper nearest to us was the Missoulian of Missoula, MT and the fact that were NOT the Missoulian took us a long way.

Our paper was small and only tabloid-sized, and only a weekly. But it was all done very cleanly and it looked good. I made sure it had comics from locals as well as material from King Features, etc.

In my very biased opinion, any intelligent person willing to do the work can start and run a newspaper. If you are limited on time or ability in some area, then get a friend (or make a new friend of someone) who is excited about the same idea(s) to help out.

I have an 8th grade education with a GED. I did manage to take a 1 year Bible course. My wife also has an 8th grade education, formally.

But I have found that a person can learn anything they want or need to learn and do anything they want to do. After all, this is still America.

See my notes on starting & running a newspaper at this website: http://www.jimsdesk.com/middle/news1.htm

Attempting to save the taxpayers money by voting no after you voted yes: $87 billion Residences resulting from your second marriage of convenience: $33 million Having somebody from the Secret Service to blame while snowboarding at your wife's Idaho weekend retreat: $10,000ish
	Believing you can present yourself as an alpha male by wearing a Flower Power zipper pull on your vest: Priceless!
Donate Here By Secure Server Or mail checks to: FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794 Or you can use: PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD- It is in the breaking news sidebar!

Petronski wrote:
I would think the challenge in publishing a newspaper is not in the tech, but in the finances.

Yes, that must be addressed, if you want to continue in business, as with any other business. But I started my weekly newspaper with nothing but the idea and some local research into pricing, printing costs, etc. (I address this some in my notes at www.jimsdesk.com)

I had nothing in the bank, I quit my job to start the paper, I was a stranger to most of my new customers (advertisers and subscribers), and I'm not a high-pressure, or high-powered salesman. I'm just a guy who wanted to provide a service to the area.

And it may very well be better to start your paper without high financing. Safety nets can make a lazy person (such as myself) feel too comfortable, and that detracts from imagination, hard work, perseverance, and other good things. To run a paper takes courage and conviction, so one may as well start out using both.

But once you're going, and people can see who you really are, it shouldn't be that difficult to find community-minded folks who are willing to add their support. You can then form a corporation with a board of advisers or directors who are willing to work with you.

And you'll need (I think) the wisdom and observations of others to help guide you along, if you really want to serve the community. Otherwise, you just become a lone dog barking at the wind. A community may need your clean, fresh vision, but that vision will need fresh fire along the way if it's to continue for very long.

So along with money, you need other people's input anyway. At least that's how I see it. You need folks who are willing to fight with you and who will also oppose you as needed, otherwise your mind (and your paper) becomes too filled with your own thinking. No fresh air in the lungs will put anyone to sleep.

The community must see their own opinions and feelings -- their own voices, to some degree -- reflected in any good paper. The best service you can provide, I believe, is to give the community a voice. When you do that, the help you need will always be there, and it may come from the most unexpected sources -- even from those you consider your enemies.

Jim

Citizen Tom Paine wrote:
As part of a small computer business, I wrote a small newsletter for years. What is generally overlooked is the tremendous amount of work required to generate and distribute a newsletter...

I hear you, Tom. Yep, having produced newsletters and newspapers, I would say that there is much more work, and much less reward (as a rule) in producing and publishing the typical newsletter. For one thing, newspapers are not stuffed into envelopes.

They are folded, however, and they may be addressed, if they're to be sent out by mail. But the press automatically folds them as part of the printing operation, and they can be addressed right at the print shop, or by an independent mailing service, for a small fee, in minutes.

They can even be mailed out for you, if you don't want the extra bother. I always do my own mailing, and whatever I need to know, my postmaster (or associate) is happy to tell me. If you mail in bulk (Standard Class), you can cut postage down quite a bit. There are also special rates for periodicals, and for nonprofit, if you want to cut costs even more.

I'm willing to bet (as long as no money or anything else of value is involved) that it's ALWAYS more economical and less trouble to produce a small newspaper than to do a newsletter (although, of course, you can still call your paper a newsletter). You get much more space, pay less money, and get a better turn around time (the production time required at any printing service) with a newspaper than at any regular "commercial" print shop.

I use print shops of all sizes on a regular basis, and it's all about knowing where to shop for what, as far as cost and difficulty goes. Even a "full-color" newspaper costs hundreds or even thousands less to print and fold than the same quantity of typical newsletters.

This is not to say that the Internet is not cheapest of all. But it's a different world. The better promotions (business or nonprofit campaigns) will always use both print and the Internet (as well as a little radio, etc.) to get the message across.

For example, you may save money by building an extensive and attractive website to offer complete coverage of all you want to discuss, and then use printed (and or broadcast) media to simply entice readers to visit the site.

But never forget that lots and lots of people are not that comfortable with computers, and many people of all ages and classes of society still do not really use them at all. And many who do own a nice computer still can't figure out how to surf the net, or even how to visit a site they really want to find.

But anybody can pick up a printed piece and look at the pretty pictures, and quite a few can even read the words (although the numbers are not as good as I wish they were). Any old man (such as I am) or teenager or homemaker or factory worker can scan a newspaper and get the general idea.

My point is simply this: What do we really want to do? Do we just want to say what's on our minds, or do we want to touch another life (or as many lives as possible) with an idea, a message, maybe with something of real value?

If all we want to do is express our feelings and ideas, then a page on the web will do it, even if nobody ever really sees it. But if we want to touch the people around us, if we want to help make a positive difference in society, then we must communicate in whatever way the folks all around us can hear and understand. We must make it simple, make it relevant and meaningful, make it easy to get.

Jim

Liberty Valance wrote:
I worked for dailies and weeklies for over 20 years. We now own and operate a monthly real estate magazine here in central Texas.

Yes, I can imagine that the pace is much better than the daily routine. I'm guessing you distribute your publication free to the public, in stands, etc. That's really catching on these days.

BTW, my wife and I both are from Texas. Good to hear from the ol' home state.

For anyone seriously interested in starting a newspaper, see the excerpt below from Editor & Publisher (with links) of a story related to the topic of this thread.

Ex-'Morning News' Exec to Start Dallas Freebie
By Lucia Moses
October 28, 2003

NEW YORK Jeremy L. Halbreich, who spent 24 years at The Dallas Morning News before leaving to start his own newspaper chain five years ago, is putting his know-how of the market back to work. Halbreich became the latest to join the free-distribution daily craze, announcing plans to launch Nov. 12 a tabloid for busy professionals.

A.M. Journal Express would be similar to other big-city, quick-read freebies now available in New York, Washington, Boston, and Philadelphia. With minority backing from two unnamed publishing and media companies, A.M. Journal Express would start with a distribution of 140,000 to 150,000.

For the whole story click here

BONUS: Click here to get a current copy of Halbreich's new paper in PDF format.

Jim

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.