Key points:
• Metro Atlanta’s media landscape is rapidly evolving amid industry disruptions, like social media algorithms and declining readership.
• The Greater Perimeter Chamber invited the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Rough Draft Atlanta, and WABE to a panel discussion on the topic.
• Local media leaders stress the importance of evolving with technology and trusted journalism in a rapidly changing landscape.
Metro Atlanta’s media landscape could be categorized as “unrecognizable” in a year-over-year comparison. Like many aspects of society, local news organizations are reinventing themselves to stay competitive.
Leadership from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Rough Draft Atlanta, and WABE shared how they’ve adapted to industry disruptions at the April 15 Greater Perimeter Chamber luncheon in Sandy Springs.
Greater Perimeter Chamber CEO Adam Forrand asked the three-member panel how their companies have remained competitive amid shifting consumer habits and changing revenue strategies.
“We all know that this sector of this industry has been among the most disrupted post-pandemic, certainly in the internet age,” Forrand said. “Things are evolving so rapidly. Consumers’ behavior and their shifts change as fast as we can imagine.”
Trust is a core asset
Janel Davis, managing editor of lifestyle and culture for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said her organization has been evolving with competition from other outlets. She said the AJC is getting more intimate with readers.
“There are segments of our audience that don’t care about [politics],” Davis said. “They want to know what’s the best restaurant to visit on a Sunday night … hearing from our readers and our audience, finding those things out has really helped us to streamline and really target the way that we approach the different segments of our audience.”
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WABE CEO and President Jennifer Dorian said reader feedback and maintaining a trusted brand are essential to the local NPR and PBS affiliate.
“For the AJC and WABE, we’ve both been institutions in our own medium for a long time,” Dorian said. “And the mindset shift that has to happen is that we’re not our product form, we’re our purpose.”
Without federal funding for more than a year, WABE is narrowing the gap to become a fully community-funded operation. It raised about $1.1 million at an inaugural fundraiser in late March.
“Did y’all know 70% of newsroom jobs have disappeared in the last 20 years?” Dorian said. “The most important thing is that we have local journalists working and covering our communities. It’s at all costs today.”
Big shakeups in media
The first question from the audience targeted the AJC’s decision to phase out its print newspaper at the end of last year. Specifically, the query focused onwhen Cox Enterprises realized it needed to cease print publication.
Davis said the number of print subscribers, while passionate and vocal, has been dwindling for years. Atlanta is the only major U.S. city without a daily print newspaper.
“We talked about various things … a Sunday-only or a paper on Thursday and Sunday,” Davis said. “But when we looked at audience needs and the business model, what was best for us was totally eliminating the print product.”
Dorian said that while she is irked about the end of a daily print newspaper in Atlanta, she’s happy the AJC still has dozens of reporters.
Rough Draft Atlanta Publisher Keith Pepper said the community news organization has also scaled back its print production to once a month.
“The printing part is really hard and expensive,” Pepper said. “The distribution part is even harder … I think that decision from a business perspective was inevitable.”
Pepper said he sees a connection between the “erosion of media literacy” and “news avoidance.”
“The number of people who are just not consuming the news is scary,” Pepper said. “It’s mostly young people.”
Remaining competitive amid disruption
The panel of metro Atlanta media leaders discussed some of the market forces working for and against the news business, including social media and artificial intelligence.
Dorian said social media and its algorithms are affecting consumer behavior and publishing.
“As consumers in the United States, a new study shows 70% of the information we consume comes in our feed, and it’s so convenient and personalized,” Dorian said. “Just be aware that we are the product. The user is the product that’s monetized in that social media feed.”
Dorian said there is a profit motive in social media engagement that focuses on fear and rage. She said local media can provide free, open access to basic and relevant information without emotion.
“The antidote to that … intentionally go somewhere every day that you trust,” Dorian said. “Intentionally break out of your feed so you can get what you’re looking for … a source that you trust that you feel doesn’t layer in click-bait or emotional content … that’s different for everybody, what you trust.”
The AJC’s Janel Davis said the metro area’s flagship (online) paper is embracing technology and new ways of meeting its statewide audience. While the AJC is not embracing all influencers, she said it’s bringing some partners on board.
“For many folks, that’s how they get information and news,” Davis said. “It’s forcing us, maybe, to rethink some of the things that we’re currently doing and evolve with the times a bit.”
