Memphis Flyer November 10, 2016 Issue featured an obscene phrase related to Trump's photo on the cover. This document addresses the author's concerns to the publisher.

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To the Memphis Flyer and Contemporary Media, Inc.
You claim you don’t endorse a candidate…
well maybe not in so many words!
Your recent November 10, 2016 Memphis Flyer cover with
Trump’s photo and WTF? is “deplorable” at best and reflects
poorly on your paper and your firm.
My comments here in this document are NOT related to your
position on Trump and/or Clinton but on your failure to
represent the City of Memphis, Shelby County and the Mid-South
in a positive and progressive manner. You owe your readers,
your advertisers and your distribution network an apology as
well.

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Newspapers have the right to espouse their liberal and/or
conservative views as they see fit, but your “WTF” message
crossed the line of decency (it rivals Trump’s 2005 remarks with
Billy Bush at Access Hollywood)! You are NOT publishing some
social media rant or Facebook posting or twitter remark online,
but you are representing the city of Memphis and Shelby County
and the people who reside here.
If you bother to read the remainder of this document, you will
understand why the media in general and the newspaper
industry is in decline. Yes…the technology of the INTERNET has
given citizens alternate choices to get their news and
information (often on a more-timely basis), but that is not the
primary reason that newspapers in general are suffering from
subscriber and readership loss. Consolidation in the industry has
led to “one paper towns” and the owners of these surviving
papers have elected to use their papers as a forum to “preach”
and “lecture” to their constituents about what they should
believe, how they should act as well as who they should vote
for.
Newspaper personnel have somehow decided that their role is to
dictate to their readers and/or subscribers rather than SERVE
THEIR NEEDS! I should like to point out to you that the
newspaper business is a SERVICE business that should be focused
on providing timely, factual news and commentary that
represents multiple points of view. When your staff all
represent a SINGLE VANTAGE POINT, you are more likely than
not failing to serve a significant portion of your target audience.
While this might make the few editors and writers feel good
about being able to preach and promote their personal agendas,
it does little to serve the needs of your readers, subscribers and
advertisers.

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Let’s Look at some facts about the
newspaper industry, the city of Memphis
and the market area you serve …
Newspapers, more than any other media form, play an
important role in providing the public with meaningful
information about the world around us. The chart below shows
the major categories where newspapers can be most effective in
communicating news events and facts.

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U.S. Newspaper Decline
This graph presents data on the total number of daily newspapers in
the United States from 1985 to 2014. Per Statista, the number of
daily newspapers shrank by nearly 400, from 1,730 in 1981 to 1,331
in 2011. Source: Statista
After a year of media companies spinning off their newspaper units into stand-alone
companies, the newspaper industry including the Memphis Commercial Appeal
saw a wave of consolidation between spring 2015 and spring 2016. E.W. Scripps and
Journal Communications, both of which had been spun off as newspaper-only units
from larger media conglomerates, merged into a new company called Journal Media
Group. The merged company was then purchased by Gannett, itself a newly formed
stand-alone newspaper company after Gannett’s television and digital holdings were
incorporated as TEGNA.

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You might wonder why these downward
trends persist?
Most people want to BLAME the Internet, Social Media
or some other new trend. Yes…these reasons may be
contributing factors but business consolidations and a
FAILURE to SERVE their customer base is at the HEART
of the problem!

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Let’s Look at Some Demographic Data
Newspaper Readership by Age Groups
The percentage of adults who report they read a newspaper
“yesterday” declined again in 2012 for all age groups except 18-to-
24-year-olds. The biggest decline was for 35-to-44-year-olds, down
three percentage points. Those 65 and older again were most likely
to be newspaper readers.

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Newspaper Readership by Education Levels
Frequency of newspaper readership increases with the level of
education, but all levels of readership are declining.

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Newspaper Readership by Income Levels
Newspaper readership also correlates with higher income levels. In
2012, the two highest categories, $100,000 to $149,000 and
$150,000 or more, showed, by a slight margin, the biggest declines.

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Newspaper Readership by Racial Groups
Whites have the highest level of daily newspaper readership,
followed by African Americans. Whites decreased readership by 5% in
2012 and Asians dropped by 7%. African Americans and Hispanics
remained at the same level of readership in 2012.

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Where does Memphis stand in all of this?
 Males: 312,755 (47.6%)
 Females: 344,106 (52.4%)
Estimated median household income in 2013:
 Memphis: $36,722
 TN: $44,297

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Unwed Mothers … no fathers present to
provide financial or family support!
Memphis has some issues…and no one is
addressing the “root cause” problems
plaguing the city!
As a newspaper, have your examined your current readership
and subscriber base to determine what their metrics are and
what their interests and needs are?

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Newspaper Market Penetration
Market penetration for Print and Online measures the number of
newspapers sold in each market as a percentage of households and
includes unduplicated audiences as well.
The Memphis Commercial Appeal is one of the top 25 papers by
Market Penetration and has shown gains from 2011 to 2012 but still
reaches only about 50+% of the households in essentially a single
paid daily newspaper city.

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Top 100 U.S.
Newspaper
Endorsements
Here is a summary of the
general election
endorsements by the 100
highest-circulation
newspapers in the
country (2012 and 2016)
… [only 1 paper endorsed
the Republican candidate
in 2016 compared to 16
papers in 2012]. Source:
Mother Jones

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So – Do YOU think there could be any
MEDIA BIAS?
Almost 1.2 Billion votes cast in 2016 Presidential Election and 49.9% of
them were for Trump … now who is going to represent these voters’
viewpoints?

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Here is how we voted
in the Mid-South…
Tennessee

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Mississippi

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Arkansas

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Summary
What is YOUR game plan now … are you going to continue to
“blow off” and/or “alienate” half of your potential market?
What about your advertisers … don’t you think they will want to
utilize an advertising medium that responds favorably to ALL
their potential customers?
Here are some factors for success:
 Know your customers
 Serve ALL your customers
 Know your customers’ needs
 Meet or Exceed all your customers’ needs
 Place your customers’ needs FIRST
 Make sure your newspaper staff represents differing points
of view that mirror the community that you are serving
I will end this dissertation with a “fast food story” analogy.
Listen to this two-minute video message about this very
successful company…in all likelihood you have eaten there!
http://wealthyretirement.com/videos/one-company-proves-courtesy-boosts-
bottom-line-two-minute-retirement-solution/?src=email
Chick-fil-A Success Story
You might wonder why I would compare a newspaper firm
with a fast food chain … but after you have listened to the
above message I think you will find some worthwhile
parallels.

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Some Takeaways from the Chick-fil-A message…
Restaurant companies are being measured in new ways… by manners,
courtesy and customer service. I kid you not.
Take Chick-fil-A for example. It currently generates about $4 million in
revenue per restaurant, which is more than any other fast-food chain.
That’s almost double McDonald’s revenue per store, and it beats KFC by
four times.
Analysts say that it’s because the people who work at Chick-fil-A smile
more and say “please” and “thank you.” They seem to understand that
you (the customer) are the reason they’re there, not the other
way around.
Chick-fil-A has half as many franchises as other fast-food companies but
generates more revenue per store than all others. And its formula is
shockingly simple…
 It invests more money in training its employees than its competitors
do.
 Chick-fil-A employees take your order using tablets while you’re
sitting in the drive-thru line, that way your order is ready when you
get to the window.
 And when you dine in, polite and friendly employees serve you your
food at your table if they can’t immediately fill your order at the
counter.
 But most importantly, Chick-fil-A employees look you in the eye and
smile when they’re talking to you.
 And one of the key reasons this politeness model seems to work so
well is Chick-fil-A franchisees can own only one restaurant.
 The company wants franchisees present in their stores, leading the
way with hands-on supervision, training and politeness.
And it shows… The lines to get into Chick-fil-A are always ridiculous.

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Document Author
Woody Savage
savageman3tn@gmail.com
901-757-8349
8926 Cedar Mills Cove
Cordova, TN 38016