October 6, 1999
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Page 7
Extra! Extra! COMMUNITY NEW5PAPER5 OM THE RISE
Daily new spapers, whose
circulation has flattened out in
Contributing Writer from ANS
recent years, understand the
Americans complain of free-time trend toward local news, too.
starvation and information over Sections and local editions de
load, but they’re not too busy voted to city neighborhoods
to keep up with neighborhood and suburban communities are
news.The total circulation of now standard fare in m e t -
comm unity new spapers, de ropolitan papers. In the
fined as general-interest papers past, Glick says, the dai
published less than four times lies never considered
a week, grew 6 percent between their sm aller cousins
1996 and 1999 to 48.7 million much of a threat. To
copies, according to The Edi day, she says, they’re in
tor & Publisher Co., a New “head-to-head" compe
York-based firm that tracks the tition that will likely
newspaper industry. In that pe increase.A ccording to
riod, 94 com m unity papers Veronis Suhler & Asso
were started up.In contrast, ciates, a New York in
E&P reports, circulation of vestment bank that con
daily newspapers fell by about centrates on the media
§00,000 copies, from 56.9 m il and communications in
lion in 1996 to 56.2 million in d u stry , a d v e rtisin g
1999. The number o f daily sp ending on w eekly
newspapers also dropped, from newspapers is antici
1,520 dailies published three pated to grow 8.6 per
years ago to 1,489 in cent to $7.5 billion in
1998.Readers pick up commu 2002. The fact that
nity papers for lots of different many of the papers are
reasons, analysts say, but the d is trib u te d free o f
common interest is a desire to charge has contributed
connect to their neighborhoods. to their popularity with
“These papers may not have advertisers, says Kevin
the breaking news, but they do Lavalla, managing di
have refrigerator news - ar rector of the bank.
“There had been for
ticles you can cut out and put
on your refrigerator that will years a perception that
affect your family. T hat’s still free-circulation publi
important to a lot o f people,” cations were not effec
says Ken Allen, executive vice tiv e a d v e rtisin g v e
president of the National News hicles, but that percep
paper Association, which rep tio n has c h a n g e d ,”
resents some 4,000 general and Lavalla explains. Free
papers can offer adver-
special-interest newspapers.
By Mieke H. Bomann
A Tribute to Leroy
Vinnegar and His
Music
Atwater’s will host the Leroy
Vinnegar Tribute on Sunday, Oc
tober 10*h, 1999 from 4 PM to 9
PM. The Atwater’s Trio featur
ing Mel Brown, Geoff Lee &
Andre St. James will play in
Leroy’s honor as well as special
guests such as Teddy Edwards
and many other friends of Leroy.
The $25 cover charge will ben
efit Leroy Vinnegar’s Memorial
Trust and will include an appe
tizer buffet prepared by Execu
tive Chef Flynt Payne. Bever
ages are provided no-host. Con
tributions will be taken at the
»
door for The Jazz
Society’s Leroy Vinnegar
Perpetual Scholarship
Fund.
The tribute will take
place at Atwater’s Restau
rant & B ar’s John
Elorriaga Auditorium on
the 41” floor. Capacity is
limited to 400 persons.
Reservations will be taken
over the phone & pre-paid
with a credit card. Tickets
sold at the door will be
based on availability (“first
come, first served”).
tisers nearly 100 percent pen
etration o f a given market and
if they’re part of a newspaper
group, can offer coverage of a
large area.
Most community newspapers
are concerned with quality-of-
life issues for the neighborhood
and in trying to preserve that
quality.C om m unity new spa
pers may lack the edge that
characterizes daily reporting,
but they can serve the critical
function of putting the local
community in context with the
rest of the world. Many agree
that newspaper should be used
to bring about a positive social
change. By putting people in
touch with one another and
writing about the lives of ordinary
people as being important runs directly
counter to an awful lot of the messages
people get in society.