Our Hometown Blog

For many small community newspapers, the challenge of digital publishing isn’t a lack of interest. It’s a question of resources.

A publisher may recognize the need for a modern website but still have to ask: Who is going to maintain it? Who will post the content? How much will it cost? And will the additional expense actually generate enough revenue to justify itself?

Those questions have become more urgent in Arizona as changes to public notice requirements put additional pressure on newspapers to maintain a compliant online presence.

That’s why the Arizona Media Association (AMA) and Our Hometown have partnered on a new Digital Initiative designed to give Arizona publishers a practical and affordable path online.

Starting with the immediate need

The initiative grew out of a conversation with Lisa Simpson, Senior Vice President of the Arizona Media Association, who was concerned that some of AMA’s smaller members might not have websites capable of meeting Arizona’s changing public notice requirements.

As Lisa explained when she initially contacted us:

“We have some changes coming on public notice requirements. I know a bunch of my smaller newspapers may not have a website that’s compliant.”

Her question was straightforward: could we come up with a plan to help them?

Rather than starting with a large digital transformation package, we worked with AMA to develop an entry point specifically for newspapers whose immediate priority is simply getting online and posting their public notices.

Through the AMA Digital Initiative, participating publishers can start with a basic newspaper website for $60 per month.

The goal is to remove as much of the financial and technical barrier to getting online as possible.

Start simple, then build a digital business

Getting a newspaper online for public notice compliance is the starting point, not necessarily the end point.

Once the basic website is established, publishers have the option to add tools that can turn the site into a larger digital publishing and revenue platform, including:

• Digital subscriptions and paywalls
• Digital advertising
• eEdition
• Email newsletters
• Full-service publishing workflows
• Mobile apps and audio articles
• Circulation integrations
• Automated public-meeting coverage through Quorum Scribe

That approach is particularly important for smaller newspapers. They don’t have to make a large investment in an elaborate digital operation on day one. They can establish the infrastructure they need now and add revenue-producing capabilities when they’re ready.

Let publishers see their own newspaper online

We’ve also tried to eliminate another barrier: asking publishers to imagine what a new website might look like.

Instead, we’re offering AMA members a free prototype using their actual newspaper.

A publisher can send us a recent PDF edition, and our team can use its logo, articles, photography and other content to create a sample website on the Our Hometown platform.

There is no commitment required to see the prototype.

For a publisher who has spent decades focused primarily on print, seeing their own publication presented as a modern digital newspaper can be much more persuasive than looking at someone else’s website.

More than a vendor relationship

An important part of this program has been AMA’s direct involvement.

Tregg White of the Arizona Media Association and Arizona Local News Foundation described the potential relationship during our discussions this summer:

“Potentially as a preferred vendor … it would be weird for us not to at least really entertain the opportunity with Our Hometown for ourselves.”

That conversation ultimately expanded beyond member websites. AMA selected Our Hometown to work on new websites for the Association and the Arizona Local News Foundation as well.

Tregg also described what he sees as a broader opportunity for the partnership:

“It could be a really cool partnership.”

That alignment matters. A press association isn’t simply handing its membership a list of technology vendors. It can help evaluate solutions, negotiate better terms, introduce members to trusted partners and participate in the process of getting newspapers online.

A model for other state press associations

Arizona isn’t the first association we’ve worked with on this challenge.

Our Hometown has been working with the Virginia Press Association on a similar Digital Initiative for approximately six years. The Arizona program builds on lessons from that relationship while addressing the specific needs of Arizona publishers.

The larger opportunity extends well beyond either state.

Across the country, press associations have members ranging from sophisticated multi-publication groups to tiny independently owned newspapers with limited staff and little or no digital infrastructure.

A statewide digital initiative can give those smaller publishers something that can be difficult to obtain independently: economies of scale.

Instead of every newspaper separately researching vendors, negotiating pricing, figuring out migrations and developing a digital strategy from scratch, the association can create a common pathway for its members.

And participation can make that pathway stronger. Our association model is designed so that discounts can increase as more member newspapers participate.

Public notices can be the catalyst

Public notice requirements may be what starts the conversation, but they can also provide an opportunity to address a much larger issue.

Every community newspaper should have a durable digital home for its journalism.

Once that infrastructure exists, a publisher has somewhere to build an email audience, sell digital advertising, develop subscriptions, publish breaking news, distribute an eEdition and experiment with new forms of local coverage.

For a small newspaper that doesn’t have those capabilities today, the first step doesn’t need to be complicated.

Get the newspaper online. Make sure it can meet its obligations. Then build from there.

That’s the philosophy behind the Arizona Media Association Digital Initiative—and it’s a model we believe other state press associations can adapt for their own members.

Interested in creating a Digital Initiative for your association?

Our Hometown can work with press associations to identify members that need digital assistance, develop association-specific pricing, build free prototypes for participating newspapers and establish a program that can grow statewide.

If you’re a press association director interested in exploring a similar initiative, contact Our Hometown to discuss what a program could look like for your members.

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