NATIONWIDE, PUBLISHERS SEEK COST CUTS

By: Joe Strupp 'Belt-tightening ... Should Be Invisible To Consumers'


Heading into summer after months of industry belt-tightening, newspaper publishers are searching more than ever for innovative ways to slash costs, an informal E&P survey shows.

Seeking to avoid severe staff or news-hole cuts, many executives are implementing a variety of budget cuts, ranging from reduced newsroom lighting to pooled coverage of sporting events.

"There are expenses you don't think about when the finances are all right, but now you have to look at them," said Ray Jansen, publisher of Newsday in Melville, N.Y., who has found about $1 million in savings since January via small, day-to-day cutbacks. "There are things that have become an acceptable way to do business, but that you don't need."

His frugality has led to cutbacks in such areas as cell-phone use, overnight mail, and travel to industry conferences. He said that overnight-mail savings alone will top $100,000 after 12 months.

As summer approaches, the Newsday publisher also is giving the paper's electricity use the once-over, seriously considering turning out some newsroom lights when things get hotter. "I'm going to see if we can reduce power by turning off every other fluorescent lamp," he said. "We need to see if it will make a difference."

Jansen's efforts are similar to those at dozens of other newspapers, where many publishers are eschewing major cutbacks in favor of bit-by-bit decreases aimed at behind-the-scenes spending.

"When economic impacts force it, you look at doing things another way," said Jim Hopson, publisher of the Madison-based Wisconsin State Journal, which has contracted out its telemarketing program to save overhead costs. "We're paying very close attention to everything."

At the Tulsa (Okla.) World, President Robert E. Lorton found about $100,000 in monthly savings by cutting the use of an outside firm that had been selling discount subscriptions by phone, instead using house ads and direct mail to make the pitch. He saved another $25,000 a month with a reduction in the youth "door crews" that go house to house signing up new subscribers. "We have kept ourselves from layoffs or [full-time] job cuts this way," he said.

For those who run The Roanoke (Va.) Times, budget reductions have meant a six-month deferment in raises for the paper's 10 top executives, according to President and Publisher Wendy Zomparelli, who added that rank-and-file staff would still get their scheduled 3% pay hikes. "We wanted to do something to show employees that we're not exempt from the pain ourselves," Zomparelli said. "Our philosophy is that the belt-tightening we do should be invisible to customers." The Times, owned by Landmark Communications Inc. of Norfolk, Va., also has planned more pool coverage of area sports events with sister papers in Norfolk and Greensboro, N.C.

The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune has reduced costs by eliminating single-copy sales in outlying areas, such as Gainesville, Ocala, and other Florida cities north of Tampa, said Publisher Reid Ashe. He decided that the 4,000 or so copies that were being sold at news racks there were not worth it. "It was something that had always been done, but that we could stop," said Ashe, who declined to cite exact figures on savings. "It was a substantial, six-figure amount."

The Tribune also trimmed costs earlier this year by instituting a half-page width for some classified ad pages. Rather then spend money to fill a half-page with a house ad, the paper began cutting the page size lengthwise by 50%.



Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is an associate editor for E&P.



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