Alt-Weeklies Combat New Competition

By: Lucia Moses With alternative weekly readers aging and many dailies starting new youth-aimed publications, it's no surprise alt-weeklies are uneasy. In a survey of publishers by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN), 65% said they would make people age 30 and younger a readership target.

Changing demographics, competing publications by dailies, and other publishers were named by respondents as the greatest threat to their business.

"One of the concerns of many of our members is daily incursions into their markets," said Roxanne Cooper, director of sales and marketing for the AAN, which intends to use the survey to plan its marketing strategy. "I assume we'll come up with some kind of message to combat that."

The AAN's last campaign two years ago touted alternative weeklies' reach with young, active, single, influential readers. Cooper said the next one would put a stronger emphasis on its members' reach with influentials.

Respondents also said they plan to focus on local retail, restaurant, automotive, arts and culture, and real estate advertising in the next two to three years.

Forty-three publishers responded to the survey, which was e-mailed to publishers in July. The AAN represents 123 non-daily papers in North America with a combined distribution of 7.4 million.