Circulation gain: A case study
I just heard from an industry colleague the Kalgoorlie Miner achieved circulation growth of more than three percent last financial year. I knew it was on track for that result when I left in May, but it was good to hear confirmation.
I haven’t seen all the other regional daily figures to benchmark the result, but I expect the Miner’s performance is a good one.
I said to staff in my farewell speech the previous year’s result was most outstanding and laid the foundation for this year’s success.
In 2006-07 we maintained sales despite serious distribution problems. The delivery woes afflicting West Australian Newspapers have been well documented elsewhere and don’t require my comment.
However, it was extremely difficult to market the paper when arrival times in Kalgoorlie were so erratic.
We heard The West Australian suffered more in Kalgoorlie-Boulder and this was reflected statewide in their audit figures. The Kalgoorlie Miner was the best performing daily newspaper in Western Australia for circulation.
Population grew slightly in Kalgoorlie last year, but not significantly, according to the census. The West should have benefited more than the Miner from extra people in the state.
Why did more people buy the Miner?
When I arrived there in January 2006 the paper had a reputation for being negative and sensationalist. Relations with key community stakeholders were frayed or hostile.
While every newspaper will sometimes be at loggerheads with government, it helps for both parties to maintain a working relationship based on trust and respect. There was no trust and little respect for the Miner when I arrived there.
We had to win back trust by demonstrating a commitment to balance, rather than just preaching it.
I felt the paper had previously tended to rush to print with only part of the story. There’s not much to be lost by waiting an extra day and giving all sides a chance to comment.
Print journalists can become too consumed by what television and radio are doing. It’s good to keep the competitive juices flowing, but few people listen to radio news or watch regional TV news. What they may hear or see disappears the instant it’s broadcast. Newspapers are journals of record.
The Miner has a ridiculously early news deadline of 2pm and a final pre-press production deadline of 4.35pm. That might explain why stories were sometimes rushed.
I also believe that papers should entertain as well as inform. People don’t want heavy political news or doom and gloom in every edition. Nor do they want the light fluffy entertainment stuff that seems to be popular on newspaper websites.
People like to read about other people. They like to be part of the conversation about issues which affect their lives. They like to read stories about human achievement, mystery and intrigue.
I’m an old-fashioned reporter who thinks newspapers should tell the facts and not interpret them. If you want someone’s opinion there are millions of blogs out there to search and find.
But report someone’s opinion, along with those of other people, and you have the makings of a good story.
Along with my general philosophy, I made several changes to the content of the Kalgoorlie Miner.
- New pages were added for technology, history, churches, community groups and junior sport;
- Weekday issues were boosted with editorial feature content;
- We created new-look magazine lift-outs for Friday (entertainment) and Saturday (lifestyle);
- The web site was developed and an Esperance journalist was appointed.
The lifestyle content is something I have also added to The Border Watch.
Newspapers are not complicated entities. They should reflect their communities back to themselves.
It’s not rocket science, as Ian Law once told me.
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