A newspaper business model that's working

[Commentary] The National Newspaper Association (NNA) last month reported on a study that showed community newspapers were far less affected by the challenging economy than the industry in general. The fact is that gains among progressive community newspaper companies are offsetting a large part of the massive losses being suffered by the staid, big newspaper companies. These "strong and viable" companies recognized and adapted to the changing economy in a way that larger newspapers - for the most part - are not. They adapted to evolving reader habits and emerging business models. They abandoned the traditional, head-in-the-sand mentality of denial and exploited the opportunities presented by their often larger, but undeniably obsolete, brethren. This success is no great mystery - it's the American way. Ingenuity, creativity, and the entrepreneurial spirit always have been rewarded. The newspaper companies that have altered circulation methods and policies, have focused their content and developed news delivery methods to fit today's audience and advertisers are thriving. They found new streams of revenue and ways to reduce costs that didn't eviscerate their core products. In other words, they ran their businesses the way businesses ought to be run.

[Dan McDonough Jr. and Alan Bauer are founders of Elauwit Media, a community newspaper/media company based in Haddonfield (NJ)]