Change is something Publisher Mark Rhoades has seen a lot of in the newspaper business over the years.

     “The changes in production just in the last 10 to 15 years – it’s kind of a good news bad news thing,” Rhoades said.

     Rhoades is the publisher at Enterprise Publishing Co. in Blair, Nebraska. He is the fifth consecutive generation of his family to own Enterprise Publishing Co., founded in 1869 by his great-grandfother. The company has 11 newspapers in Nebraska and Iowa, including the Seward County Independent, the Milford Times, the Friend Sentinel, the Wilber Republican, the Washington County Enterprise and Pilot-Tribune, the Arlington Citizen and the Missouri Valley Times-News in Missouri Valley, Iowa.

Technology’s impact

     Rhoades said technology has been a game changer in terms of centralizing areas of the business like page and ad design.

     “All of that is being centralized because with the way media is going, the impact that social media is having on all media, not just newspapers, it’s so fragmented any more,” he said. “As it gets more fragmented, coming back to a local hometown newspaper might be the best mass media still available.”

     The challenge Rhoades sees is that there are so many forms of not just media but also entertainment. 

     “People are so distracted with hundreds of cable channels, video games, phones, computer. They are distracted and don’t take the time sometimes to read. They skim,” he said. “That’s a big picture thing because these are some of the problems that we are seeing socially because people don’t dig down anymore. They say, ‘My friend sent this to me on Facebook so it must be true.’”

     Rhoades said some of the information on social media sites is misinformation, some of it is fake and some of it is rumor.

     “Where you used to get the rumors at the local coffee shop, now it’s all online and it spreads like wildfire,” he said. “I see the role of a good media company putting those wildfires out and bringing forward the facts.”

     He said his staff monitors social sites and puts out factual information to set the record straight.

     “We also try to drive people back to the newspaper and website whenever possible,” he said.

Reader engagement

     In terms of keeping readers engaged, Rhoades said journalists have to think about what their readers want.

     “Find out what they want and give it to them,” he said.

     Similar to other newspapers, Rhoades said his publications have increased the amount of short newsbriefs, breakdowns, charts and graphs they offer readers.

     “People look at those,” he said. “People aren’t taking the time to read the longer stories.”

Advertising changes

     When it comes to advertising opportunities, Rhoades said local advertisers sometimes talk about advertising on Facebook for free or a minimal amount.

     “That’s part of a media package. I’m not saying don’t do it but then they tend to start relying on only that,” he said. “We tell them to keep marketing their business in a variety of ways including Facebook, but include print because it is a great way to advertise.”

     Rhoades said from the advertising side, he and his staff are seeing the impact of social media. He talked about the perception that some people have about newspaper advertising.

     “I think people go to conventions, and they hear you don’t need newspapers anymore,” he said.

     He said the consolidation of small-town businesses has also affected newspaper revenue.

     “In Blair, Walgreens came in and bought out two local pharmacies. Both were really good advertisers,” Rhoades said. “The locally owned, local decision maker kind of businesses are shrinking. I feel that’s a bigger impact than the web for us.”

     Rhoades said he is optimistic though about the opportunities print advertising offers to local businesses.

     “Print is a great way to advertise,” he said.

Is print on its way out?

     “Print is not dying, but it’s not growing either,” he said. 

     Rhoades said the goal is to stay flat.

     “Which is a weird kind of goal to have,” he said. “If you think on the other side of that, when you talk about people we touch when you combine the website and the newspaper, we’re reaching way more people than we used to.”

     In August alone, Rhoade’s said their website had 218,000 unique views.

     “We’re reaching a lot of people. We’re still relevant,” he said.

     Rhoades has stayed in the business throughout his career because he enjoys it.

     “If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t be doing it. Just because there are so many different facets to it, advertising, reporting,” he said. “There’s a chance to be creative. There’s a chance to serve a purpose in the community.”