Gazette publisher touts pluses of digital conversion
TEXARKANA, Texas — Texarkana Gazette publisher Walter E. Hussman Jr. on Thursday answered questions from a local Rotary Club about the newspaper’s coming conversion to an almost all-digital format.
Hussman spoke to the Wilbur Smith Rotary Club from Little Rock by internet video conference, explaining the necessity and advantages of publishing the Gazette as a digital replica of a printed paper delivered via Apple iPads provided to subscribers.
“We see this as the best hope to keep the Texarkana Gazette a vibrant, strong newspaper that does good journalism and keep it from becoming a shadow of what it once was, which has happened to so many newspapers around the country,” Hussman said.
The Gazette is in the process of making the change, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Subscribers can get a free iPad onto which a digital version of a printed newspaper can be downloaded daily. The Gazette will continue to print a traditional ink-on-paper edition each Sunday.
Similar conversions have been successful for other Arkansas papers owned by WEHCO Media Inc, the Gazette’s parent company. The Arkansas DemocratGazette has successfully moved 77% of subscribers
to the paper’s iPad version, and the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has converted 86% of subscribers, Hussman said.
Prioritizing customer service and education has been key to that success. Every subscriber can get in-person, one-on-one instruction on how to use the iPad and get the most out of the digital newspaper.
After a brief adjustment period, many subscribers say the digital paper not only replaces printed editions but because of various features is better, Hussman said.
The most popular feature is the ability to enlarge the newspaper’s type, he said, demonstrating how to do so.
Other features include high-quality, all-color photos and embedded photo galleries and videos. The iPad can read stories
aloud, useful for the visually impaired or those who would like to listen to the news while driving or doing other tasks.
Subscribers can share stories via internet, save up to 60 editions, curate their own personal libraries of articles and access the Gazette’s entire archive at no cost.
The digital newspaper is portable, can be downloaded anywhere, and will be available earlier in the day — usually by about 4 a.m. It also alleviates the need to brave cold or rainy weather to retrieve the newspaper, as is necessary with the print edition.
Coupons and circulars will still be available, as will more than 10 crossword puzzles and more than 40 other puzzles and games daily.
WEHCO has pioneered conversion to digital replicas as a new business model necessitated by disruption of the newspaper industry. As mass market print advertising has given way to targeted internet advertising, newspapers have seen ad revenues dramatically decrease, Hussman said. Eliminating the expense of printing and distributing physical copies is the only way to sustain most newspapers’ profitability and therefore the journalism they provide.
Moving to digital publishing may also help newspapers, many of which have been acquired by large corporations, return to local owners with stakes in their communities, he said.