Flattered by the response to his plans to slow down, Kevin Slimp shares the views of 300 of his publisher contacts
I had a really nice experience speaking at a convention in recent days. Word had got around that I probably wouldn’t be returning after this year – I’ve decided to leave the road to focus on two companies I’m supposed to be running – and I was flattered by the response. Two publishers who couldn’t make it told me they would have found a way to come if they’d known.
Six staff members who had started their own news organisation – which is doing great after six years, by the way – after leaving a metro paper that had been sold to a large venture capital group a few years earlier, even took me to dinner and embarrassed me constantly with their comments.
I guess that’s why I care: Of the 6000-or-so printed newspapers in the US and elsewhere that I still write for now and then, most are still locally-owned community papers. They’re run by people like these.
So, when I hear a speaker, as I did recently at a newspaper convention, tell the audience that newspapers were woefully behind in adopting AI and were surprised that most papers aren’t using AI to create content, I realise there is still much to do. This speaker obviously has no idea that our top priority is not adopting AI or other technologies, but to serve our communities and create content that informs the public.
I’m still shocked that so many people, even ‘experts’ in our industry, don’t realise that our number one job is to create great newspapers and to constantly improve the quality of what we do.
With that in mind, I’d like to share some of what I learned in my August survey of 300 newspaper managers (mostly publishers) in the US and Canada concerning the role of AI in their newspapers. The responses came from publishers of major metro papers, tiny community newspapers, and every size in between. In line with the North American newspaper industry, 56 per cent of respondents were publishers of locally-owned community newspapers.
In an effort to stay within my self-imposed 800-word limit, I will share a few of my findings here, and then more later.
Interestingly, 45 per cent of newspapers reported they use AI in some way in their newsrooms. Digging deeper, these were primarily for two purposes: transcribing interviews and meetings, and using Grammarly to proofread for grammar errors.
The second most common way newspapers reported they use AI is in ad creation. I was surprised to see that 22 per cent of respondents reported they’ve used Canva. I think I’ll stick to reporting the findings, and share my thoughts on them later.
The third highest reported use of AI was in advertising sales. Following sales, the numbers were small (three to six per cent) for circulation, bookkeeping, and page design. Seven per cent of newspapers reported they used AI only with Adobe products, which have built-in AI capabilities, but which are optional.
When asked, ‘Which of the following comes closest to describing your feelings about the use of AI at newspapers?’, answers broke down like this:
–strongly opposed: 16 per cent;
–very sceptical: 12 per cent;
–somewhat sceptical: 29 per cent;
–neutral: 12 per cent;
–generally positive: 22 per cent;
–extremely enthusiastic: seven per cent.
I can’t help but think back to a New York Press Association convention around the turn of the century, where I was to speak about incorporating online news into their publications. Before I got up to speak, a publisher in the centre of the front row asked, “Are you going to say the last thing the last guy said to us?”
I said I hadn’t heard the last speaker, and had no idea what he said.
The publisher continued, “He said we would all be out of business within a couple of years if we didn’t drop print and move everything online.”
“I’m sure he didn’t say that,” I responded.
It was like a choir shouting, “Yes, he did!”
I assured them I wasn’t going to say anything like that.
A few weeks later, I was in downtown Denver, speaking at a convention. At one spot on the schedule, I was supposed to speak to the publishers about customer service, but before I could say a word, a hand went up: “Can I ask a question before you start? What did you think about what the lunch speaker had to say?”
I suppose I should listen to more speakers, because once again I had to admit I had no idea who the speaker was or what was said. I quickly learned it was the same speaker, the CEO of one of America’s major metro newspaper groups, that I had followed in New York: “He said we were all going to be out of business within a year or two if we didn’t stop printing newspapers.”
That’s when I said something that I’ve been quoted on several times since: “When someone stands on a stage and tries to convince you of something, whether it’s the speaker at a convention, the preacher at church, or even me, I want you to ask yourself something. Just ask, ‘What will it benefit that speaker if I do what they say I should do?’
The applause led an organiser to come running into the room to see what was happening.
I wrote a column a few weeks later and named that speaker. I mentioned that I believed he had a problem with telling the truth. Afterward, I received several messages from folks thanking me for writing it. One wrote to ask, “Aren’t you afraid he will sue you?”
Honestly, I hadn’t given it any thought until I received that message.
Fortunately, at least for me, the CEO was fired less than a week after my column was distributed. I felt like I had dodged another bullet.
My final thought today: Don’t believe everything people tell you. Your most important job is putting out a great newspaper that serves your community. That’s it. Do that and, like me, when you’re nearing the end of your career, you will be able to sleep at night.
• Kevin Slimp has served as an advisor and trainer to newspapers throughout the world since 1995. His online classes can be found at: newspaperacademy.com