Happy holidays from the North County Outlook staff! (From left) Debbie Glidden, Brenda Felder, Beckye Randall, Carrie Harris and Sue Stevenson.

 

There's no need to remind everyone that many small businesses have faced economic hardships over the past several years. Every week we see the signs: dark storefronts, liquidation sales, closed signs in windows.

The newspaper business has also been hard-hit as print advertising revenue, the bread and butter for most papers, competes with other media for shrinking promotional dollars. A number of large regional dailies have succumbed to the bottom line, closing their operations or switching to an all-electronic format.

But despite all those nationwide trends, local community newspapers-like the North County Outlook-have survived and, in fact, a recent survey conducted by the National Newspaper Association indicates that local papers remain strong contributors to their communities.

In towns served by a weekly or biweekly newspaper, 74 percent of residents said they read the local paper. And although most publications maintain a robust website, nearly half the readers say they never visit the online version of the paper, preferring the print product instead.

Even more significant for our small business advertisers, respondents indicated they prefer to receive ads in the paper rather than online-51 percent to 11 percent.

"The survey shows a majority of respondents believe that the newspaper does a better job of providing background and depth on stories essential to the citizens," said NNA president Reed Anfinson, publisher of a weekly paper in Minnesota. "Further, the newspaper is more useful to them personally than any other news source."

According to the survey, readers are seven times more likely to get their news from their community newspapers than from the Internet, with more than half claiming the local paper is their "primary source of information" about their community.

As we wrap up a year of news here at North County Outlook, we rededicate ourselves to providing the residents of Marysville, Arlington, Smokey Point, Tulalip and Lakewood with interesting, relevant stories written to enrich and inform. We take our responsibility to you seriously, and are grateful for all the positive feedback--and even the occasional criticism--we've received from our readers.

2012 is going to be a great year!

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