Answering the Critics p.

By: John Consoli

Newspaper Association of America president defends first term
at the helm; lists a myriad of NAA accomplishments
SMARTING FROM A barrage of negative articles that have been written about her over the past several months, Newspaper Association of America president and CEO Cathleen Black this week answered her critics.
Addressing an opening-day session at the annual NAA convention in Boston, Black read a 35-page "President's Report" to the membership and at one point commented, "Has there been a misstep or two? Yes! Has there been some unfair sniping at us? Yes! Have I gotten more than my fair share of ink? Yes! But that comes with the territory when you are making dramatic changes."
In the past few months, one NAA board member quit, stating that the association was not doing enough for smaller newspapers, and another NAA member pulled out, stating that Black, who earns $600,000 per year, was overpaid.
Then on April 23, just a day before convention attendees were to begin arriving, former NAA chairman Allen Neuharth took a shot at Black in his USA Today column.
"Once run by news-oriented generalists," Neuharth said of NAA, it is now run by "promotion-oriented hucksters and lobbyists."
Neuharth then quoted Black as having said, "The truth is newspapers are undermarketed, undersold and overpriced . . . . " Black said that statement was taken out of context by Neuharth.
"You went with the news bite. Shame on you," Black said in rebuttal.
In her report, Black said NAA currently has 105 more U.S. daily newspaper members than when she took over. She also stated that 60% of NAA members are dailies with circulation of 25,000 or less.
She then announced that NAA is collaborating with six state press associations?those in Ohio, California, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania and Indiana?to co-sponsor "Small Market/Big Business" programs, "especially for small-market newspapers."
Black reiterated her position that the newspaper business needs more promotion and lobbying from NAA, contrary to what her critics say.
"As an industry, we simply must do a better job of getting the word out about what all newspapers have to offer," she said.
Many advertisers and ad agencies, she said, "do have perception problems about newspapers. Not only do they view us as difficult to deal with, they see us an ineffective medium to reach their customers. The former is true. The latter is not. But until now, we have done a poor job promoting the extraordinary customer franchise and value of newspapers to advertisers and agencies. We aim to fix that."
Black also stressed the importance of NAA's lobbying efforts in the area of telecommunications and postal regulations.
In his introduction of Black, outgoing NAA chairman Frank Bennack of the Hearst Corp. praised the new NAA management team.
"Cathie Black, Len Forman and everyone at NAA has earned my respect and gratitude, and they deserve yours," he told the membership.
Black, he continued, "has provided outstanding professional leadership at a time of great turbulence and anxiety in our economy and in our industry.
"In less than two years, she has been instrumental in developing an organization that can help us preserve and manage what we have and to successfully attack an ever-expanding list of challenges."