HOT PURSUIT

For at least the past 45 years I have always read a local newspaper. That probably doesn’t come as a big surprise to most people given that I publish newspapers for a living.

But my roots in reading the newspaper came at a young age well before I committed my life to journalism.

I still remember growing up when Thursdays would always be a big day around our house. We usually had three local newspapers that arrived in the mail, and we would fight over who would read them first. It was always a thrill to see my name in print and even a greater thrill if I had my picture in the paper.

Sadly, only one of those three papers still remains today.

As my life has taken different paths and I have moved to different communities, the newspapers I have read have not always been the same ones.

However, I have been a faithful reader of local news wherever I’ve been, and well before I became owner of this newspaper. At times I’ve wondered if I’m in the minority, especially now with all this craziness about social media in which people get sucked into thinking they are getting reliable information. I’ll clue you in now just in case you haven’t figured it out yet: social media is not credible, but I’ll save that discussion for another time.

Have you ever wondered how many Minnesotans read newspapers?

The answer appears this week in full-page ads running in most of Minnesota’s 270 newspapers, including the Steele County Times. 

And what you find out may come as a shock.

A new study released this week by the Minnesota Newspaper Association shows I’m not in the minority by any means with my reading habits. The study conducted by Coda Research finds 3.9 million—or 86% of Minnesota adults—read newspapers each month. Leading the pack are community weekly newspapers like the Times.

The next closest activity done by Minnesotans on a regular basis is walking, jogging or running at 2.7 million adults.

The study measured media usage and purchase behavior of Minnesota adults across urban and rural zip codes.

Coda finds 78% of Minnesota newspaper readers are under age 65 while 68% own homes and 77% vote in local elections. Business owners should take note of the fact that 69% take action as a result of newspaper advertising.

What the survey found is that the typical newspaper reader is anything but typical. See related graph.

Who says newspapers are dying? While some have fallen on hard times, many others are thriving in an environment where people read newspapers. Our newspaper alone has increased by more than 50% readership in the past two years.

Minnesota newspaper readers could fill up U.S. Bank Stadium’s 73,000 seats 53 times over. And, readers nearly double the 2 million Minnesota State Fair goers who will show up next month for the great Minnesota get together.

I hope this information proves to be valuable so that the next time you hear someone talking smack about newspapers you can set them straight. People need to understand that local journalism is relevant now more than ever before.

Thanks for being a part of the elite group of Minnesota newspaper readers.

Help me go in hot pursuit of getting the remaining 14% adults to become regular readers.

Newspaper Reader Profile

51% female, 49% male

78% are under age 65

68% of households earn $50K+ annually

68% are homeowners

67% are employed

37% are college grads or higher

34% have children in the home

72% have lives in the community 5 or more years