WATERTOWN — While deemed essential businesses in the early days of the pandemic last March, newspapers nationwide took significant financial hits in 2020 as their staffs worked tirelessly to report on the pandemic and its effect on communities.
The Watertown Daily Times was not immune, but the locally owned newspaper fared better than many others owned by publicly traded companies, many of which laid off reporting staffs and others closed entirely.
Advertising revenue in each month of 2020 shrunk by an average of about 40% when compared to the same month in 2019 as businesses that have relied on newspaper print and online marketing struggled to maintain their own supply chains, some struggling to keep afloat themselves. Many advertisers continued their support and more readers lent a hand by subscribing in print and online. The Johnson Newspaper Corp., the owner of the Times, lent a hand through an advertising grant program that extended discounted advertising to more than 100 businesses across the state through the spring.
Alec E. Johnson, editor and publisher, said the company focused on its core mission of delivering news to readers.
“While the pandemic certainly ravaged our already damaged industry, we as a company came together to fix what was in our control,” he said. “We stabilized our operations and delivery and have given readers strong content.”
The newsrooms of Johnson Newspaper Corp., from Malone to Hudson to Batavia, all rallied to tell the story of the year. Reporters, photographers and editors worked for weeks straight, taking no time off and everyone within the company had a part. The newsrooms worked together to share resources and statewide reporting.
An edition of the Watertown Daily Times is printed on the ManRoland press in downtown Watertown. Sydney Schaefer/Watertown Daily Times
“From advertising, circulation, accounting and customer service to the press and distribution and carriers, all our employees and independent contractors contributed to our mission of delivering news to our readers,” Mr. Johnson said. “We were tested. I am proud to say, we succeeded.”
By success, Mr. Johnson said, the company has worked to grow its readership while making financially responsible changes to adapt and promote the longevity of the business. The Times, through its website NNY360.com, has attracted thousands of subscribers. Some of those financial decisions, including reducing the number of comic strip titles in print, have upset readers. But the reduction of certain comics has allowed for two reporters to keep their jobs, covering community news in Northern New York.
“We are filling open positions, and having conversations now about what we can do to bring more to our readers,” Mr. Johnson said. “That includes a conversation about the feasibility of restoring retired titles.”
The company pruned back to make it through the year with hopes of further growth, including exploring what features readers miss most to prioritize their return.
An invaluable partner to the newspaper through the pandemic has been Watertown Savings Bank. From navigating the early days of the Paycheck Protection Program to daily updates on the company’s financial condition and needs, the communication between the institutions across Clinton Street in Watertown allowed business to continue as close to normal as possible.
“As the nation worked to understand how to take advantage of programs meant to support businesses, Mark Lavarnway, the president of Watertown Savings Bank, spent a weekend afternoon on the phone with me so we could learn the process together,” Mr. Johnson said. “That attention to detail, communication and trust as we worked together allowed us to benefit from assistance needed to offset the substantial revenue loss we otherwise would have suffered.”
The bank recently helped the newspaper through the Small Business Administration’s forgiveness process for the spring loan, and helped secure a second round of funding necessary to further support operations as the economy recovers.
As the newspaper enters, 2021 it has developed new printing partnerships with daily and weekly newspapers throughout New York state to help those companies find efficiencies. The printing presses in Watertown and Massena are running for hours daily.
Corey Covell, press room manager, checks out a print edition of a newspaper as the ManRoland press in Watertown prints one of the company’s many newspapers in 2019. Sydney Schaefer/Watertown Daily Times
Over the past decade, the company has expanded its reach and invested in its press operations in Watertown and Massena to print newspapers for commercial clients. In December, that grew as the company began printing the Rome Daily Sentinel for its owners, the Waters family. Like the Johnsons, the Waters have been publishing their newspaper for multiple generations. The Johnsons are in their fourth generation and the Waters are in their sixth generation of family publishing.
Besides the Rome Sentinel’s newspapers, Johnson Newspaper Corp. has brought on commercial printing clients from all over New York state. According to Gary C. Valik, vice president of Johnson Newspaper Corp., the company has brought on a number of college newspapers and community papers since 2010, including both weeklies and dailies in Binghamton, Batavia, Oswego, Syracuse and the Hudson Valley.
Mr. Valik said there’s plenty of press capacity available to print for clients, while also maintaining press capacity for Johnson Newspaper Corp.’s own publications. The ManRoland press in Watertown, which uses rolls of newsprint up to 4-feet-wide, weighing nearly a ton each, prints more than 5 million individual newspaper pages each week.
The corporation employs more than 200 people in New York state, 67 of whom work in the press rooms, as well as the distribution department. Ten press crew members work in Watertown, and another six work in Massena.
Mr. Valik said the expansion of the commercial print business has presented opportunities for other industries in the north country as well. As Johnson Newspaper Corp.’s printing client list grew, they needed a quality trucking team to deliver the products to their clients, often hundreds of miles away.
Rather than develop their own trucking department, Mr. Johnson said they established a partnership with a new company, S.E.A.T.S. Trucking.
“In 2018, we were running our own trucking, along with the printing, and we realized that really wasn’t our expertise,” Mr. Johnson said. “Justin Ernst with S.E.A.T.S. came along and started talking with (Mr. Valik) about how he could build a company to serve our needs.”
A continuous web of newsprint enters the folder where it is cut into single folded copies of a newspaper. Sydney Schaefer/Watertown Daily Times
Mr. Johnson said Mr. Ernst has begun building a business from the ground up, based solely off of Johnson Newspaper Corp.’s commercial print division, and has established what is sure to be a long-running partnership.
Johnson Newspaper Corp.’s clients themselves say they’ve formed a cost-effective, efficient and understanding partnership together, and are pleased with the results.
Mr. Johnson said the pandemic has kicked the company into overdrive and helped identify its strong leaders who will help the team achieve its mission of the continual delivery of quality news to readers.
“While the challenges of the pandemic, were and continue to be stressful on individuals, they collectively helped us bond as a team to adapt and meet new challenges head on,” Mr. Johnson said. “I am beyond thankful for the efforts of everyone within our family company and thankful to all the readers and advertisers who continue to support local news reporting.”
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