Tony Hunter

Arlington, VA – The News/Media Alliance (NMA) has elected Tony Hunter, Chairman and CEO of McClatchy, as its Board of Directors chair. Tony succeeds Maribel Perez Wadsworth, former President of Gannett Media.

“Tony has contributed to the Alliance’s success as a member of the Board and we are delighted that he has agreed to take on the role of Chair,” said News/Media Alliance President and CEO Danielle Coffey. “As we address the dislocation within the digital ecosystem, we will continue to advocate and fight for fairness. The Alliance’s work to preserve and sustain quality journalism is more important than ever and I look forward to benefiting from Tony’s aggressive, strategic and results oriented leadership approach.”

Together, Tony, the Board and Alliance staff will advocate, lobby and implement new initiatives that will support the thriving news and magazine media sectors.

Tony’s work with his team at McClatchy in creating a digitally driven, sustainable media company is consistent with the focus of the Alliance. McClatchy’s reinvention of the business model has driven significant digital audience growth and strong operating results. This turnaround from a print-dependent model has been driven by an enterprise-wide digitization effort, investments in local differentiated content, culture change, and innovative strategic partnerships.

Hunter stated, “I’m honored to assume this role and build upon the momentum created by Danielle, the Board, and the NMA team. Aggressively addressing the economic and technological issues facing our industries is of urgent importance.”

Prior to his time at McClatchy, Hunter led the reinvention of the Tribune Publishing’s business model and also served as Chairman of Nucleus Marketing Solutions—a collaborative venture between McClatchy, Gannett, Hearst, and Tribune—from 2016 to 2019.

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The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

McClatchy features a powerhouse of vibrant news brands that have earned awards and national recognition, including the Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star and The Sacramento Bee. The McClatchy digital platform hosts over 30 news sites and a robust digital content offering from syndication partners. Our platform is a catalyst for informed engagement, greater understanding, and deeper community connections. Through state of-the-art technology, we reach more than 95 million unique visitors per month by providing essential news and information to the communities we serve. We’re in the midst of a digital transformation, leveraging our platform to deliver mission-based journalism, independent reporting and innovative customer solutions in order to serve our audience at the highest level. Connect with us on social media @mcclatchy or at mcclatchy.com.

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View webinar recording

(YouTube)

Original webinar date: March 2, 2023

Gain understanding and stay in compliance with data privacy laws and records retention regulations and procedures. ADMA and CNPA (California News Publishers Association) joined with the News/Media Alliance to present the latest on the California Consumer Privacy Act, national regulations and what’s on the horizon in Washington, D.C.

Description:

ADMA – CNPA – NMA Joint Webinar

Carson Wingler, Director, Data Privacy Program for McClatchy, moderates an informative and dynamic legal panel with Danielle Coffey, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the News/Media Alliance, and Brittney Barsotti, General Counsel of CNPA. In addition to current regulations, the panel touches on future regulations which may include but are not limited to Age-Appropriate Design Code and CCPA Proposed Rulemaking topics (cybersecurity audits, risk assessments, and automated decision-making).  The combination of California expertise and national scope will help you better prepare and stay informed.

Speakers:

• Carson Wingler, Moderator, Director, Data Privacy Program, McClatchy
• Danielle Coffey, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, News/Media Alliance
• Brittney Barsotti, General Counsel, CNPA

Sponsored by:

Inka Solutions

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Guests: Gregg Fernandes, The Washington Post and Dan Schaub, McClatchy

“Is there another product you can purchase that is literally updated throughout the day, 24/7 that you can read in multiple formats? Probably not.”

– Gregg Fernandes, The Washington Post

Regarding print or digital news consumption: “It’s not ‘or,’ it’s ‘and.’ Our mission is to enhance and improve the communities we serve and to bring to life free speech in each and every local community. And whichever platform that happens on, that’s great. Today’s digital reach is a multiple of 10x any reach we ever had when we just relied on a printed material to go to a home. We’re doing substantially better at taking our journalism to our markets because we’re using the “and” theory.

– Dan Schaub, McClatchy

What is the role of the print product in an age when people are increasingly consuming news digitally? What challenges are newspapers currently facing in satisfying the demand for the print product? What are the operational and/or cost pressures newspapers must contend with? How do newspapers find people to do the multiple hands-on pieces of production and delivery? How is consolidation in the print industry impacting business decision-making? What are the challenges for newspaper delivery, and what does it looks like in the not-too-distant future? How can newspapers’ delivery networks and distribution knowledge be valuable on a macro scale?

These questions and many more are the focus of this episode of News Take. News/Media Alliance President & CEO David Chavern talks with The Washington Post’s Vice President for Distribution & Customer Care, Gregg Fernandes and McClatchy’s Vice President of Supply Chain Operations, Dan Schaub, about the role and value of the print newspaper product, as well as how they are innovating and evolving the product to continue to meet changing reader needs and demands. Fernandes and Schaub give their honest takes about resetting consumer expectations of the print product in a 24/7 news cycle, as well as how they have gotten creative with ways to produce and deliver the print newspaper more efficiently and cost-effectively. They also talk about how “the original gig economy” – newspaper delivery – is best positioned to capitalize on the growth of the sector as retailers and others get in on the game.

Listen or download the audio file to listen offline:

Don’t forget to subscribe to the News Take podcast by clicking “Follow” and selecting your preferred podcasting platform, or click on your preferred platform: Spotify, Apple, Google.

Watch with video:

Speaker bios

Gregg Fernandes is the Vice President for Distribution & Customer Care for The Washington Post Company. He has more than 30 years of experience in the newspaper industry and has worked in all capacities of Circulation and Marketing. Gregg is responsible for all aspects of The Washington Post’s relationship with its customers, including consumer marketing, delivery operations and customer service.

Dan Schaub currently serves as The McClatchy Company’s Vice President of Supply Chain Operations. This role was designed to provide the necessary leadership and focus as McClatchy works to serve its print readers and grow McClatchy’s digital subscription base while offering an array of distribution services to homes and retail outlets throughout the McClatchy’s markets.

Watch the next episode: The State of Advertising and Local News 

Watch the previous episode: Committing to Product Thinking in the News Industry: Putting Readers First

View all episodes

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Send your suggestions for future News Take guests to Alliance VP, Research & Insights Rebecca Frank at rebecca@newsmediaalliance.org.

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Bipartisan bill would grant news publishers limited, temporary safe harbor to negotiate better business terms with tech platforms

Washington, D.C. – This week, the News Media Alliance will host virtual meetings between Alliance member newspaper executives and their members of Congress to advocate for the passage of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), also known as the “Safe Harbor bill.” Executives representing Advance Publications, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Globe, CNHI, Gannett, Los Angeles Times, McClatchy, Tampa Bay Times/Times Publishing, Trib Total Media, and Tribune Publishing Company will meet with key lawmakers over the next three days.

Alliance President & CEO, David Chavern, stated, “We are pleased to be facilitating these important meetings between news publishers and policymakers. Our members believe, as we do, that a safe harbor for news is the best solution to correcting the current imbalance in the competitive landscape. As we have seen in Australia and Europe, the world is moving toward new compensation systems for publishers. A healthy democracy needs quality journalism now more than ever, and we must ensure that the digital ecosystem returns value back to the people who create that journalism.”

The JCPA, which was reintroduced in the House and Senate in March, would provide a limited, temporary safe harbor for news publishers to collectively negotiate with the dominant tech platforms, such as Facebook and Google, for fair compensation for the use of their content. Co-sponsors of the House bill include House Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI) and Ranking Member Ken Buck (R-CO). Co-sponsors of the Senate bill are Senate Antitrust Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA).

Tribune Publishing CEO, Terry Jimenez, stated, “The JCPA was narrowly tailored and limited in scope by design to ensure that Facebook and Google must participate in good faith negotiations with news publishers and that any negotiations are only in the interest of promoting trust and quality journalism. This legislation is the solution to the power imbalance these platforms have created.”

Currently, the Duopoly is capturing 90 percent of all digital ad revenue growth and approximately 60 percent of total U.S. digital advertising. Like the bills’ co-sponsors, the Alliance believes the solution to this problem is to provide a safe harbor for news publishers to allow them to come together to negotiate with the platforms on their overall behalf.

Tampa Bay Times/Times Publishing Company President, Conan Gallaty, stated, “When local journalism suffers, it’s more than just reporters who are affected. Local communities will lose quality news and information, and readers will be left with misinformation on the big tech platforms, which undermines the fabric of our democracy. It is more important than ever to pass laws that will protect quality journalism because the price of inaction – the disappearance of local news – is too great.”

Since 2018, the News Media Alliance has been vocally advocating for legislation in the U.S. that would combat the spread of misinformation, improve the quality and accessibility of reporting, and ensure that local journalists are able to continue their critical work. Through launching a Voter Voice campaign, the Alliance has also encouraged members of the industry and the public to contact their members of Congress and ask them to support the JCPA.

For more information on the JCPA, visit the Alliance’s Safe Harbor Resource Center at www.SafeHarborBill.com.

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Media contact:

Lauren Edmonds
lauren.edmonds@fgh.com

The News Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print, digital and mobile publishers of original news content. Headquartered near Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., the association focuses on ensuring the future of news media through communication, research, advocacy and innovation. Information about the News Media Alliance (formerly NAA) can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

John Murray

Arlington, VA – The News Media Alliance has named the Arizona Daily Star’s #ThisIsTucson (Small category), The Keene Sentinel (Keene, NH) (Medium category), and McClatchy (Large category) as the recipients of the 2020 John P. Murray Award for Excellence in Audience Development.

A selection committee of Alliance and American Press Institute (API) executives selected the three recipients for their exceptional innovation and sophistication in understanding content strategy as part of audience development. Their effective use of multiple platforms and formats for sharing content; thoughtful content and programs to help readers navigate the events of 2020, including the coronavirus pandemic, protests against systemic racism, and the 2020 presidential election; and registration programs to introduce their brands to new audiences, among other major undertakings, resulted in measurable positive impacts on audience growth, subscription and circulation revenue, and print and digital subscriptions.

All three news publishers successfully applied one or more of the seven ‘Table Stakes’ capacities of modern news publishing, which were developed as part of the Knight Lenfest Local News Transformation program.

Alliance President and CEO, David Chavern, stated, “We have been really pleased with the response from our members to this award. Even in the midst of a global pandemic that threatened the livelihoods of many local news publishers, our members were able to show incredible growth.

Chavern continued, “While we received several impressive nominations again this year, these three organizations showed some amazing results that really demonstrate how far the industry has come, and how news publishers have innovated and are seeing great success in growing audience and revenue for their digital products and services. I know John Murray would have been really excited and proud to see the hard work news publishers are putting in that is paying off in the form of new and engaged audiences.”

Jeff Sonderman, Deputy Executive Director and Executive Vice President at API, stated, “As the United States and the world were rocked this past year by crises and major events, it became more important than ever that news organizations center their audiences’ needs in their reporting and expand to serve all types of people. This year’s award recipients provide inspiring examples of how growth is possible through refining content strategies to appeal to more people while improving business practices to grow reader revenue. It’s a pleasure to congratulate the winners and to know that the work they carry on serves the legacy of John Murray so well.”

This is the second year of the John P. Murray Award for Excellence in Audience Development, which was established in memory of former Vice President of Audience Development John Murray, who was with the organization for over 20 years before passing away in 2018. Murray was known across the news industry for helping Alliance member news publishers improve audience development and engagement, and for convening members to share best practices.

In response to being named a recipient of the 2020 John P. Murray Award:

• Irene McKisson, #ThisIsTucson team leader, said, “We’re honored that our team was chosen as an example of how a small team can make innovation and content strategy a central part of audience development.”
• Terrence Williams, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Keene Sentinel, stated, “We are delighted to receive a John P. Murray Award and be among the many prestigious past and current recipients. It’s been a total company effort to grow our digital audience while doing all we can to hold onto print subscribers, too. Being part of the Table Stakes program at Poynter in 2019-2020 provided us invaluable guidance and practices, and we continue to work at those daily. My praise goes to our staff members who have committed to this effort and to our readers for their support of our journalism.”
• Abby Reimer, Director of Consumer Product & Research at McClatchy, stated, “The success of McClatchy’s registered user strategy shows the impact of collaborative work, thoughtful design, and listening to research. We leaned on data analysis, and A/B testing to implement a holistic mid-funnel experience that has so far led to more than 1.75 million registered users and more than 20,000 new subscribers. We’re excited to continue this important work, which sustains local, essential journalism in our communities.”

All three recipients will receive an award to display at their property; a check for $500 to put toward enhancing their audience development and engagement efforts; and will be invited to present their success stories an upcoming Alliance member best practices webinar. The Alliance will also add this year’s recipients to a plaque that is displayed at its headquarters.

For more information about the John P. Murray Award for Excellence in Audience Development, click here.

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Media Contact:
Lindsey Loving
Director, Communications
571.366.1009
lindsey@newsmediaalliance.org

The News Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print, digital and mobile publishers of original news content. Headquartered just outside of Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of news media through communication, research, advocacy and innovation. Information about the News Media Alliance (formerly NAA) can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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Marc and Debra Tice at the opening of an exhibition of their son’s work in the Rayburn House Office Building (by Jennifer Peters)

Austin Tice disappeared seven years ago, in August 2012, while working as a freelance photojournalist in Syria. He has been held hostage for the past seven years, the only American journalist currently being held overseas.

On September 23, free-press advocates from the National Press Club Journalism Institute and Reporters Without Borders, along with more than 100 volunteers (including myself), canvassed Capitol Hill to ask legislators to support efforts to free the American journalist.

During the day-long initiative, supporters – including Tice’s parents, Marc and Debra – visited the offices of all 535 members of Congress to ask them to keep pressure on the Syrian government to obtain Tice’s “immediate, safe and unconditional release.” Volunteers asked each representative and senator to sign a bipartisan and bicameral letter to President Trump, urging him to work with the State Department to free Tice. The letter, which was drafted by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patty Murray (D-WA), as well as Representatives Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Michael T. McCaul (R-TX) and Al Green (D-TX), implored the president to “continue to use the full weight of your national security team — including dispatching the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs — to secure [Austin Tice’s] release.”

As a result of the volunteers’ efforts, 173 members signed the letter — 121 Representatives and 52 Senators.

Tice, an award-winning journalist whose work has been published by McClatchy, The Washington Post, the Associated Press and others, is also a veteran Marine Corps captain. In the seven years since his capture, his friends, family and supporters have worked tirelessly to draw attention to Tice’s plight and to encourage Congress, the White House and the State Department to work with them to free Tice, whose current whereabouts are unknown.

Canvassing on behalf of Tice was a life-changing experience, and one I won’t soon forget. While traversing the Rayburn and Longworth office buildings, I met not only like-minded volunteers, but dozens of compassionate and concerned Congressional staffers willing to listen as an army of Tice supporters in matching green T-shirts went door-to-door to share information on the missing journalist. During one office visit, a young staffer originally from Syria shared that she herself had lost friends and family during the country’s civil war, and she offered a warm hug and a promise to put the letter at the top of her boss’s inbox.

Another staffer I met went to college with Tice’s sister and had already flagged the “Dear Colleague” letter for her boss; she and her coworker offered me and my canvassing partner water and a place to rest between offices.

Marc and Debra Tice share a moment during the exhibition of their son Austin’s work (by Jennifer Peters)

In addition to the kind and compassionate staffers and volunteers, I had the opportunity to get to know Tice’s parents and hear stories from them about Austin, not simply as the reporter I’ve come to know and respect through his work, but as a brother and son. Debra shared anecdotes about Austin giving his younger sister dating advice when she was in college, and the hilarious outcome – his sister asking her then-boyfriend, “What do you bring to the table, anyway?” when he suggested they get serious. Marc, meanwhile, shared his excitement at the prospect of my meeting Austin when he is eventually returned home, assuring me that I would love his son even more after getting to know him in person.

Following the canvassing, Tice’s parents appeared on CNN to talk about their son and their efforts to bring him home. “I think the hardest part about waiting is when we began to realize what seven years means. Seven years is the difference between an infant in the cradle and a second-grader,” Debra said.

“We know that Austin is alive, the United States government knows that Austin is alive, and that he will walk free, and so we just have to get the stars lined up and all the ducks in a row and all those different metaphors to get this done for Austin,” Debra continued.

“Keeping Austin top of mind is a challenge, but also very important to drive momentum to bring him home,” Marc said.

This was not the first event of the year to draw attention to Tice’s plight. In May, “Night Out for Austin Tice” recruited restaurants across the country to join in spreading awareness and donating proceeds from the evening to the National Press Club Journalism Foundation to be used in their efforts to bring Tice home.

Following the most recent event, organizers capped off their efforts with an exhibition of some of Tice’s photos from Syria displayed in the foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building, as well as remarks from Tice’s parents, his college photography teacher, and Reps. Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Al Green.

Like Tice, Moulton is a veteran of the Marine Corps, an alumnus of Georgetown University and a strong supporter of journalism. “Austin… had the courage to take the principles of a free press to one of the most dangerous places on earth, in the heart of Syria,” Moulton said. “Freedom in a democracy means freedom of speech, freedom of the press and, fundamentally, freedom of its citizens. Austin has lived up to the highest ideals of freedom.

“He has fought for freedom, and it is up to us to fight for Austin until he is free once again,” Moulton continued. “Marines do not leave anyone behind. America should not leave anyone behind. So, it’s time to bring Austin home.”

Green, who represents the Tice family’s home district in Texas, has worked closely with them in an effort to secure Austin’s freedom. “In times such as these, with a crisis such as this, we should all become one, we should be on one accord, we should have one purpose, and that one purpose is to bring Austin Tice home,” Green said. “He belongs to us. He is one of ours. We can’t turn our backs on him.”

For more information on how you can help #FreeAustinTice, visit the National Press Club Journalism Institute’s ‘Ask About Austin’ webpage.

You can also watch videos from the #AskAboutAustin exhibition below.

The post Volunteers Flood Capitol Hill to Help #FreeAustinTice appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

We caught up with Jeff Rosen, Assistant Managing Editor/Sports, to talk about Sports Pass in this edition of Alliance 5 Answers.

Where did the idea originate?

Our parent company, McClatchy, had thought about trying a subscription built around sports content for some time. We were actually the second in our chain to go live – the Miami Herald launched its own sports-specific digital subscription a couple weeks ahead of us. We saw the traction they got and decided to launch our own version here in Kansas City. The inception of The Athletic in the last year or so – targeted sports coverage for a set subscription price – really opened our minds to the notion that there could be some sustainability here.

How does the subscription work?

What the subscription specific to sports does is vaporize the paywall surrounding our sports content at Kansascity.com. Whereas before, you could read five stories on our site per month, you can now pay about 8 cents per day – $30 per year – to read it all. The subscriber to this digital product maybe doesn’t favor other coverage The Star produces or has a limited amount of money to spend on the purchase of coverage. For that person, a sports-only digital subscription is just the ticket. Do we want all of those people to then notice the other great coverage that our colleagues outside of sports are producing, and eventually opt for The Star‘s full digital subscription package? Of course we do. But we realize that not everyone is going to do that. You want just the sports content? That fine, too.

What has reader response been like to the announcement?

The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Readers have shared with us their various reasons for opting in, and one thing that we hear a lot is that consumers today, especially consumers of entertainment and media, want to be able to purchase “a la carte.” They don’t need a giant cable package or satellite contract offering a ton of channels they’ll never watch; they want Netflix for movies and some series; Hulu for The Handmaid’s Tale; and so on. The same goes for their choices in news media: they’ll get some coverage from site X; find and read reddits that interest them; and they’ll take their Kansas City Chiefs, Royals and other sports coverage that we offer at the low price point we’ve presented, knowing that they’re getting an excellent return on their investment – no one covers the KC sports scene as thoroughly as we do.

How have staffers reacted to the change?

I don’t think the subscription has changed the way our reporters and columnists work or produce the content they create, but they’re definitely energized by the thought that we could actually try something new – to borrow from sports, they appreciate playing offense for a change, having a new plan of attack, as opposed to playing defense. They work hard, produce incredible stories and visual journalism, and the public is responding to our message that these things don’t come cheap. It costs money to do journalism at the highest level, and we’re finding that our savvy readership is willing to pay to support it.

What are your goals for the first year of Sports Pass?

Obviously, the primary goal is to continue to build our subscriber base. Initial response was exciting: We did brisk business as Sports Pass was rolled out, and our top brand personalities – our journalists – shared links for signing up via their various social media accounts. We’d like to see that organic growth continue – you like Sports Pass, so you tell your friends about it and they sign up, too. We’re not 100 percent certain that this is the new model for sports journalism, but it’s certainly proven to be worth a shot right now. Will this model usurp all others? Will it morph into something new? Not sure. But we know that the old news-organization model of print subscriptions and circulation, with advertising paying most of the freight for our work, is no longer intact. It’s fading out. And right now, the targeted-subscription model appears promising enough to pursue. So that’s what we’re doing.

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