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Quality is on the rise, circulation has been falling

Click on chart to see the quality change for the newspapers participating in a survey of Upper Midwest newspapers.

A newspaper’s quality is the foundation of the business, and the quality of newspapers in the Upper Midwest is on the rise.

A survey conducted by journalism students at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire revealed that 56 percent of the 585 journalists responding  from Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota felt the papers they for work have better quality now than when they first started working at them.

The survey also revealed that 23 percent of journalists felt that the quality of the newspaper they work for is worse.

The background of a newspapers publisher also affects the quality. Of journalists saying their paper has a publisher with family ties to the business, 72 percent say their paper has higher quality now than when they first started.

Of those journalists with a publisher with a background in business, 59 percent say their paper is higher in quality, and 51 percent of journalists working for a publisher with an editorial background say their paper is of higher quality.

Quality of a newspaper is in part determined by the size of the staff in the newsroom. Among journalists who say that there is a staff size that is “much more now,” 56 percent also say that their paper’s quality is “much better now.” Also, of those journalists who say their newspaper is “much worse now,” 60 percent also say their staff size is “much smaller now.”

Ownership is also an important factor in the quality of a newspaper. Owners who are more restrictive of newsgathering efforts are also more likely to cut staff, place a greater emphasis on profits and have journalists with less job satisfaction than owners who are less restrictive.

Owners are cutting their editorial staffs. Half of all journalists surveyed say that their staff size is smaller than when they started, with only 24 percent saying the size of their staff is larger now.

Owners who feel more restrictive towards their employees’ newsgathering efforts are more likely to cut their staff. Of journalists who feel more restricted by their owners, 64 percent also said their staff is smaller than it used to be. Conversely, 15 percent say their staff size is larger than it used to be.

The size of the staff is also related to the ownership’s desire for higher profits. Among journalists who feel there is “much more” emphasis on profits, 52 percent said their staff size is smaller. 

Owners who are more restrictive are also more likely to have a staff with lower job satisfaction. Among journalists who feel “much more” restricted by owners, 27 percent say their job satisfaction is “much less,” compared to 6 percent who say their job satisfaction is “much more.”

Newspapers that are a part of a chain are more likely to have more restrictive ownership. Among journalists working for a chain owning between five and 10 papers, 38 percent feel at least somewhat more restricted now. Only 6 percent feel at least somewhat less restricted.

Among journalists working for chains owning more than 10 papers, 36 percent feel at least somewhat more restricted now, with only 7 percent feeling at least somewhat more restricted. 

The numbers for independent papers, or chains with fewer than five papers, are different from the chains. Among journalists working for a company with fewer than five papers, 13 percent feel at least somewhat more restricted. However, there are also 14 percent who feel at least somewhat less restricted.

Chain papers are placing more emphasis on increasing their profits. Among journalists working for a chain with more than 10 papers, 38 percent say their paper’s emphasis on profits margins is “much more” now, and 43 percent say their paper’s emphasis on profits is “somewhat more” now. 

Among journalists working for independent papers or chains with fewer than five papers, 18 percent say their paper’s emphasis on profits is “much more” now, and 42 percent say their paper’s emphasis on profits is “somewhat more” now.

The content of a newspaper has also been changing. Some of the biggest changes in newspapers come in the area of state news and business news, especially at chains.

Among journalists who responded to the survey, 13 percent said that there is at least somewhat more state news being covered now than when they first started. However, 40 percent of journalists said that there is at least somewhat less state coverage now.

While state news is losing coverage, business news and local news are gaining coverage. Among journalists in the Upper Midwest who took the survey, 52 percent say that there is more business coverage now than when they started. Only 10 percent say that there is less coverage of business news now.

There are also 39 percent of journalists who say that there is at least somewhat more local coverage now than when they started. Only 15 percent say there is at least somewhat less local coverage now.

The increase in business coverage seems to have been taken well by readers. Among journalists who said their paper has seen an increase in circulation of more than 10 percent, 90 percent said that there has been an increase in business coverage, and no journalists at papers seeing an increase in circulation of more than 10 percent said that there is less business coverage now. 

Of journalists who said their paper as seen an increase in circulation between 2 and 10 percent, 58 percent also said that there is more business coverage in their paper now than when they started.

Despite the perception from journalists that the quality of their paper is better now, circulation is dropping. Thirty-one percent of journalists responding to the survey said that the circulation at their paper is increasing while 42 percent said that their circulation was falling.

At the extremes, 12 percent of journalists said that circulation had fallen more than 10 percent, while 8 percent said that circulation had risen more than 10 percent.

Falling circulations could result in the further reduction of staff, cuts in news content, increasing restrictions put into place by ownership, and ultimately a drop in the newspapers quality.