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.
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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
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Members of the News/Media Alliance staff have contributed to this post.
