WHY DO NEWSPAPERS FAIL?

By Joe Ingino Editor/Publisher “I live a dream in a nightmare world” In my 26 years in the publishing business I seen all kinds of publications come and go. From the Oshawa Times that served Durham for over 123 years to the many smaller attempts such as Oshawa life an attempt by a former City Councillor that was doomed to fail from the get go. No real business model. To the Courtice News, Oshawa News and The Oshawa Express. All three owned by the same people with the same fate. Reason: No readership. NO REAL DISTRIBUTION NETWORK, Very few paid advertisers, other than City ad given as token for brown nosing City elect. No paper can survive like that. The EXPRESS blame it on COVID. That is shameful to blame their failure on Covid. Another sad example of a publishing company was the SNAP concept. The SNAP was the brain child of in my opinion true charlatans. They went from town to town hitting all the socialites. Hitting the social clubs like the Rotary and Lions. Places where has been and wonna be’s are normally found. These lost souls made the perfect sucker base to pitch something that most candidates had no real qualification. Doomed from the beginning. Offering them a magazine that would be community based. A vehicle to publish all that would normally not make it in any reputable newspaper. On the way. The SNAP group would charge these new editors a franchise fee. Editors that had no vision and no experience in direct publishing. The glamour and empty promises suckered in many. To the tune I heard of 50 million dollars before they SNAP’D. When SNAP’D hit the market place it was a disaster. As all these suckers that had bought into the original SNAP. Now faced the reality of having to run their own show. Many folded. As did the Oshawa outfit. Only to now resurface with an even worst publication called ‘NEIGBUR’. I received their first issue the other day. And that old saying same turd from a different cow. It is the SNAP’D repackaged. Now my question is. If it failed as the Snap’d. What makes them think it will work as the NEIGBUR? It is a matter of time before they go. Why do they fail? The answer is very simple. A newspaper is a machine. You must have it well tuned to the needs of the community and constantly balanced between content and advertisers. Many newspapers fail to maintain this equilibrium as they fail to realize that the key to keeping balance is highly dependent on readership. If you have no one reading your paper. Your advertisers do not get their money worth and they won’t return. If you have to many advertisers and not enough content. You will loose your readers. How do you the consumer determine if you are reading a reputable and recognized within the industry publication. Number one indicator. Is the publication a FREE or paid distribution. Any publication that is FREE to the public by their own admittance have no readership. These are the publication you see littering entrance ways to banks and public places. In this business you must constantly stay one step ahead of time. The Central in 1995 was one of the first companies in Durham that offered internet to homes. The Oshawa Durham Central made history by being the first newspaper to be publishing online. No other newspaper in the world had an online image. The Oshawa Durham Central through THE WAVE RADIO was the first commercial internet radio. Making a global mark and putting Oshawa on the tech map. The Oshawa Durham Central has given back millions in contributions to the community at large. The Central has the longest standing SHOP LOCAL campaign in the history of Oshawa. The “INGINO SHOP DOWNTOWN INITIATIVE”. The Central is not a fly by nite company like these so calls social butterflies that come and go. We are dedicated to bringing results to our advertisers. We are committed to keeping our community informed. We will not be compromised, bought, persuaded, persecuted nor pressured.