Ten major daily newspapers in New Hampshire seem to be embracing their state’s “Live free or die” motto by agreeing to come together and exchange news content, free of charge.
The New Hampshire Newspaper Exchange began in 1990 when the Concord Monitor, the Portsmouth Herald, The Telegraph of Nashua, the Keene Sentinel, and the Valley News of West Lebanon agreed to share local content.
Earlier this year, the New Hampshire Union Leader of Manchester, Foster’s Daily Democrat of Dover, the Laconia Citizen, the Berlin Daily Sun, and the Conway Daily Sun, agreed to join the exchange.
David Solomon, executive editor of the Telegraph, said: “The exchange is just seen as another way of getting local news.”
Solomon said past surveys have told the Telegraph that its readers are more interested in local news and less concerned with national news because national news is so accessible through other major news outlets.
“It’s a win/win for everyone,” Solomon said. “Instead of getting a three-paragraph AP story, we can get the story from the local reporter who was actually there. We are just going straight to the source.”
Although the exchange is a resource deemed to be similar to The Associated Press, all of the 10 newspapers participating in the content-sharing process say it’s not a way to veer away from AP.
The Keene Sentinel announced April 1, however, that it would no longer be using AP. The paper’s contract with AP included an opt-out clause, and the paper stepped away instead of signing an annual renewal.
Paul Miller, managing editor of the Sentinel, said dropping AP was a bold but necessary move because of the state of the economy. The no-cost news-sharing plan is just one penny-pinching tactic the Sentinel is depending on for content.
Miller said the Sentinel has also joined The National Sports Content Sharing Network, an alliance based in Ohio and introduced in 2008 that is set up by newspapers to exchange, at no charge, sports stories and columns for publication in print and online.
The Sentinel has also joined CNN News Wire, one of the first newspapers to do so. Because CNN News Wire has typically partnered with radio and television news outlets, the partnership was an attractive deal for both CNN and the Sentinel, Miller said.
Although he was not sure how much the Sentinel has saved by dropping AP and joining CNN News Wire, Miller said it was significant enough to make the move and on the order of “tens of thousands of dollars.”
The Sentinel also has rolled out a new design, and will be focusing more on local content in general. It has added local sections such as Community Voices and About Town, Miller said.
“We have turned a greater attention to local news, which we feel is where our real value to our readers is. The steps we’ve taken, and will continue to take, are in an effort to better connect with the readers in the 30 towns we cover,” Miller said.
New Hampshire’s largest newspaper, the Union Leader, is involved in the exchange. Joe McQuaid, president and publisher of the Union Leader, said: “We are the state paper, but we can’t cover everything.”
McQuaid said the exchange is about information, not so much about bylines, and providing readers with creditable, accurate information.
“For us, this is not a way to steer away from AP, because we have a statewide presence,” he said. “But nowadays, we look beyond our own box.”
The economy seems to be a big factor in the expansion of the exchange.
Rod Doherty, executive editor at Foster’s Daily Democrat, said that four years ago Foster’s wouldn’t have even considered sharing content, especially with the Portsmouth Herald, which is only 12 miles away.
But during the past year, a lot has changed.
Last year, before it became a part of the exchange, Foster’s began sharing sports content with the Portsmouth Herald, Doherty said.
After Foster’s joined the New Hampshire News Exchange, Doherty recalled feeling some “angst” about giving news away, but said: “People just want the news. They don’t care where it comes from.”
All of the newspapers involved in the exchange met April 13 to discuss how the content-trading is going so far.
Doherty said everyone was happy with the exchange’s progress so far and that an expansion to including online content is in the works as well. The newspapers are still working on how to share online content while making sure that the work is attributed to the proper source, Doherty said.
“Slowly we are moving forward,” he said.
For print content, each member newspaper shares its story budget each day with fellow members in an e-mail exchange. Member newspapers can then request a story from another newspaper. The story’s byline must include the name of its originating newspaper, and there is no limit to the amount of content that can be shared, Doherty said.
Frank Coppola, sports editor of the Portsmouth Herald, said he has been receiving positive feedback from readers who have noticed that more local schools and teams are being covered.
“Exchanging content is a cost-efficient way to improve the product … It expands coverage to teams that we normally wouldn’t be able to get to,” Coppola said. “Everyone is in the same boat … We need to help each other out.”
Not everyone feels the same about New Hampshire newspapers’ sharing content, however.
Jim Kozubek, a freelance writer from Portsmouth, N.H., who has written more than 1,500 published stories throughout New England, is somewhat hesitant about the exchange.
“Speaking as a news consumer, I want diversity; different opinions, perspectives and information,” Kozubek said.
In light of how the state of the economy and new media is affecting newspapers, Kozubek said he sees the content-sharing tactic as an anti-market strategy. Instead of only allowing the strong to survive through the tough times, it takes on a “we will all survive attitude,” he said. Kozubek said that might reduce the quality of the publications, because there is no fear of being one-upped by your competitors.
Maine is the only other New England state to have a news exchange among newspapers under separate ownership. The Maine exchange has been around for at least a year and a half, Rex Rhoades, executive editor of the Sun Journal of Lewiston, said. Content is shared among the Sun Journal, the Bangor Daily News, and four MaineToday Media Inc. newspapers: the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal of Augusta, and the Morning Sentinel of Waterville.
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