Florida Newspapers Fight to Survive

Aubrey Jewett

Political Science Professor, University of Central Florida

On Tuesday May 3, 2016 the Tampa Bay Times bought the Tampa Tribune. On the same day, the Tribune published its last independent newspaper and its web traffic began forwarding to the Tampa Bay Times site. Tampa had been the last major metropolitan area in Florida to support two large daily newspapers. This is a bittersweet moment for people like me (and most Sayfie Review readers) who love newspapers since it is sad to see an iconic paper close, but the consolidation makes it more likely that the remaining paper will survive.

While the timing caught many people by surprise, the purchase was just another sign of the struggling newspaper industry in Florida (and across the country). As the table below shows, there has been a dramatic drop off in circulation among Florida’s 20 largest newspapers since 1998 – a trend also found in all other states.

Table 1: Florida’s Largest Daily Newspapers(by Average Sunday Circulation): 1998 to 2012

Source: Alliance for Audited Media Report, 9/30/2012 and Audit Bureau of Circulation Report, 3/31/1999

Collectively, Sunday circulation for the top 20 Florida newspapers dropped over 42% between 1998 and 2012, from about 3.7 million to 2.1 million. The decline is actually worse than it appears since Florida’s overall population actually grew by about 3 million residents over that period of time. The largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in 2012 was the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times) - the previous number 1 in 1998 was the Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald, which saw its circulation drop by more than 50% over 14 years. One of the only newspapers to gain circulation over this time period was the Villages Daily Sun, which more than doubled its circulation as wealthy retirees moved from “up-North” to the Villages and made it one of the fastest growing retirement communities in the country.

Table 2 shows that as of the beginning of 2016, the circulation drop continued for most Florida papers (some large papers are omitted due to changes at the Alliance for Audited Media, which no longer makes all newspaper circulation data freely available). Of course the Tampa Bay Times will see its circulation numbers approach 500,000 on Sundays now that it is taking on the Tribune’s subscribers, but it will still struggle to keep its subscriber base from eroding over time.

Table 2: Newspaper Circulation 2016: Assorted Florida Papers

Source: Alliance for Audited Media Report 5/4/2016 (includes all Florida newspapers available in the free database).

The decline in circulation (and accompanying financial problems) can be tied to changing demographics, technology, and the Great Recession.  Many (older) former subscribers and many young people who never subscribed now get up-to-date news free online or from local broadcast or cable news. More importantly, newspapers used to have a quasi-monopoly on local classified advertising which provided the majority of their revenue. However, newspapers must now compete with numerous free online sources. The Great Recession exacerbated these trends. Local business cut back dramatically on their advertising budgets and newspapers were forced to increase the price of their print editions due to rising costs, resulting in more financially distressed households cancelling their subscriptions. The decline in circulation along with the decrease in advertising revenue has crippled most established newspapers.

Many Florida newspapers have struggled through cutbacks, layoffs and bankruptcies. To adapt, they have expanded their internet presence and have encouraged digital subscriptions by setting up paywalls or limiting access to online stories for frequent users, or requiring non-digital subscribers to answer several survey questions in order to get access to their desired article. While the Tampa Bay situation was somewhat unique given its distinctive status of supporting two major dailies, further ownership consolidation is likely as newspapers seek to reduce costs and share content. Recently, Gannett made an offer to purchase Tribune Publishing, which would bring the Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel into its fold to join the Tallahassee Democrat, Florida Today, Naples Daily News, Treasure Coast News, Pensacola News-Journal and the Fort Myers News Press.

While their influence has diminished somewhat, newspapers still play an important role in Florida politics. They cover local and state politics and policy in more detail than most other local television and radio stations (and which most national media outlets largely ignore), conduct in-depth investigative reports that highlight problems, run editorials to support or opposed positions and endorse candidates, and provide a community forum for readers to share their thoughts. Perhaps most importantly for representative democracy, they report on the activities of elected officials helping to hold them accountable to the electorate. Consolidation and news sharing may be necessary for the survival of the newspaper industry, but it does have a downside in terms of news coverage, as there will be less competition between independent newspapers each providing their own individual reporting. Although other forms of traditional media and new media may pick up some of the slack, it would be in the best interest of those who love to read about and follow Florida politics and policy for Sunshine State newspapers to find their financial footing and continue providing the valuable services they have long delivered.