Posts Tagged ‘Charleston South Carolina’

Today’s New York Times reports of the continued slide in newspaper advertising revenues which are down 12% for the year and more than that for May. The most concerning aspect of this report is the fact that those who are charged with understanding the direction of the slide admit to under-rating the velocity of change downward.

“Never in my most bearish dreams six months ago did I think we’d be talking about negative 15 percent numbers against weak comps,” said Peter S. Appert, an analyst at Goldman Sachs. “I think the probability is very high that there will be a number of examples of individual newspapers and newspaper companies that fall into a loss position. And I think it’s inevitable that there will be closures in this industry, and maybe bankruptcies.”

Furthermore,

Declining sales of printed papers and rising newsprint prices have also hurt the business.

Our own Charleston Post and Courier just switched to a smaller width newsprint.

Online ad revenues are reported to have climbed in prior years but to be falling off in the current year, however, they are still advancing against print placement revenue.

The voices of the blogger, the Twitterer and online readers are heard electronically. I wonder if there is a drop off in the volume of letters to the editor since now, we don’t need a print forum?

Do you think newspapers will be successful in selling subscriptions for online versions? The Post and Courier is trying to do that. I wonder how many people will sign up for that? Advertisers get to display their ads as part of the online system for the Post and Courier, but one has to know that the ads are in the shopping section. You would think that the ads might be labeled as “To see ads from today’s paper, click here.” Now, you have to just know that you click shopping to find the ads.

With regard to selling online subscriptions of newspapers, remember what mothers of the 1950s said? “If you give away the milk, who wants to buy the cow?” I wonder, is it the same here?

Tell me, do you read the local newspaper where you live? Follow this link to an on-line survey. Click Here to take survey

For those of you living in the Carolina Lowcountry, today is the day to get out and vote in the First Congressional race. I am supporting Linda Ketner. She is a powerful, intelligent woman who I have wanted to see run for office for the past twenty years. Linda says, “South Carolina – and our country – is at a crossroads. ‘We the People’ – not liberals or conservatives – we, the citizens, must reclaim the political process and implement practical, principled solutions that work for all of us.”

Go vote.

My son, Micheal Edward Van Landingham, got word last week that he’s been awarded a Fulbright. HOORAY! He graduates from Princeton University this June. He will go to St. Petersburg, Russia in August this year to do research. He will be able to delay his entrance to Harvard’s grad school for Russian studies until he returns. (Thank you, Harvard.) And thank you Fulbright committee.

MEVL got the idea when he was in 7th grade to go away for school. He selected Phillips Exeter which is one of the most incredible prep schools in the country. Thanks to the legendary generosity of Exeter’s alums, he was provided full financial aid that allowed him to be nurtured in an environment of intelligence. Exeter is a life changing place. I think his drive and Exeter’s nurturing, but challenging, atmosphere allowed him to grow.

My friends have congratulated me saying, “what a great job you did.” I thank them and say, “I don’t think I can claim responsibility for my sons’ successes.” (I do have another brilliant son, Nathaniel) who is a professional forester with a Masters from Clemson and who works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Clark Hill district.)

I think my sons have done this on their own. Their father and I do love them and have made sure that they know how much we love them. We made sure that they learned to seek answers, had good direction, had limits and were always curious and able to get answers to questions. I think curiosity is the most important element in getting ahead or learning.

Both boys are products of the Charleston County school system, particularly Buist Academy, the academic magnet school for K-8. Buist has been in the news lately for their selection process, their delivery of services to students with learning disabilities and governance. For a county school in South Carolina, Buist is OK. It has committed staff, parents and students who are motivated to work hard. My sons were certainly fortunate to attend this school. However, it alone was not responsible for their successes.

My sons’ successes are their own. However, each of the institutions they attended aided them in some way and contributed to their success. Their father and I both contributed to their success. But, it was each man who took his abilities used the resources they were presented and went forward.

We must foster a love of learning. Of teaching one’s self. That is the real way that we achieve.

Today has been one of those days when you feel that you take two steps forward and one back. As I have been working this morning, I have encountered tiny gremlins who have nibbled away at my patience and frustrated me until have felt like a volcano about to explode. The network has turned into a notwork. However, now it seems that all the gremlins are gone and I am able to talk to the outside world and my server. How I love that connectivity.

Kudos to Peter Shankman and Help a Reporter Out. I have quickly found that this is the best public relations connection! I’ve already helped colleagues get in touch with reporters and have also been interviewed as well. Thank you, Peter!

Years ago, it was all about who you knew. Today it’s still about connectivity. We just have new technology to connect us all. Gotta love that Linkedin and Facebook and MySpace.

Today’s news includes a story regarding the calamitous decline in print revenue for U.S. newspapers and the rise in on-line ad revenue which cushioned the fall. The story further details that classified ad print revenue also fell. This should be no surprise. As I posted yesterday, the revolution is over. The newspaper reading habit is not catching on with those younger than 45, and even those who read newspapers read less. It’s interesting to see who reads the newspapers.

Where I believe the analysts are incorrect is stating that the declines are due to the implosion of the housing industry. I was a vice president of marketing for a southeastern volume builder. Prior to that, I counseled national volume homebuilders such as D.R. Horton in South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina on their advertising and marketing. As such, I stayed out of newsprint, except for high end luxury properties and age targeted properties.

First time buyers and move up home buyers don’t turn to the dailies for their information. However, if I wanted to sell a new drug to some greater than 65 years of age with a greater than $75K income, I’d advertise that drug in my local daily.

Where did the classified revenue go? Why to Craig’s List? Why pay when you can post for free? Google, Trulia, Yahoo!, and Zillow all allow the user to list specific properties for sale or rent.

It’s a one-to-one world now.

Revolutions don’t come overnight. They are the climax of incremental changes in perspective that sneak up on you. Until one day you realize that there is another way of doing things.

For several years I have supplemented my daily reading of my local newspaper the Post and Courier (gotta know whose doing what and where and why and see the pics and get the newsprint on my hands) with online professional readings. They come from many sources. I particularly like Ad Age, Marketing Sherpa and a few more. I also am an avid reader of news headlines and news videos on Yahoo!. I love the ease of seeing the vid, clicking, reading the story for more information. Google News is my go to for alerts on any kind of breaking information by client name, sector or issue. Although I am addicted to printed information, I find online sources are most immediate and I expect to get the latest news NOW.

The lust for the NOW has changed the way newspapers format themselves. People want more local news on their front pages knowing that they can get national, breaking news all day either on their phone or computer. And even though I know evening news broadcasts have their audience, for most, the best channel is either one to one through social networking sites or RSS.

However, all this being true and being of a certain age, I will still be a holdout for holding the printed word. My spouse loves his e-books on his PDA. I like the heft of the book which I borrow from the library. (Sorry authors, I would rather read and return.) If it changes my perspective on the world, I will buy and keep the book. The only volumes I seem to keep are those of poetry. So, I am a hold-out for print too, being of the Baby Boom generation.

The NOW of advertising and communication is all digital as far as I can see. What about you? Do you see the same NOW? Many argue that we still need mass media. The recent campaigns I’ve organized using newsprint, commercial radio and television have generated impact for clients but how long will it be before it’s all one to one, on demand? I say it’s NOW. The revolution is done. It happened while we were changing channels.

Today’s Post & Courier contains an article about the Gibbes Museum of Art’s resigning executive director. I posted a comment there that reflects my perspective on the arts today:

“Until the Gibbes Museum trustees recognize what many other museums have, that for the majority, entertainment is what causes people in our culture to part with money and not art from the past, we will not see increasing attendance. Museums, like symphony orchestras, are often relics of the cultures that established them. In order to continue to breathe, they need to take in the air of today. Mixing current art that has integrity, with what has come before gives relevance to the whole. It can create an interesting conversation, something that is entertaining and draws the people in. If I’ve seen Childe Hasam’s Green Gown 100 times (and I have and it is amazing and beautiful), I may not want to come back to see it unless it is allied with art whose perspective is now.”

I’m not always a fan of pop culture, but I am a fan of engaging people where they are now. And we in the U.S. aren’t part of a history of nurturing a love of the visual or performing arts. We all enjoy watching our children in the Christmas pageant or the school play, but other than that, we aren’t huge patrons of the arts. Gian Carlo Menotti realized that in the 1940s by producing his short two part opera The Telephone / The Medium on Broadway. He continued to do so for many years. Gian Carlo brought his art to the people.

Americans are generous with their money and time and if engaged will contribute, participate and enliven any dialogue. But most people less than 40 today, don’t care about art or music from one hundred years ago unless as was suggested in Moulin Rouge! it’s “Spectacular, Spectacular.” (And in case you didn’t realize it, Moulin Rouge is loosely based on La Boheme.) It’s painful for museums and symphonies. Look at how the circus was brought to the interests of today with Cirque du Soleil.

I love the concept of art for arts sake, but in these days of pay your own way, it’s important to realize that the world is a marketplace and unless you have a patron as did Mozart, Bach, or DaVinci, you will not be able to engage in the pleasures of art for arts sake.

The one area where we seem to support the arts and urge them forward is in our arts magnet schools. These schools are showing that when our children (read something we care about) are allowed to study the arts as an integral part of their curricula, they become engaged and their parents become engaged which leads to high achievement in school. But for heaven’s sake, please don’t “expose” them to art. Engage them in the arts.

Cheryl Van Landingham Smithem was executive director of the Charleston Area Arts Council from 1990-1995.