U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, yesterday came out strongly in favor of including local news as critical American infrastructure in need of support — highlighting the role of local broadcasters and newspapers as a trusted source of news and information during the pandemic.

More than 2,500 local newspapers have signed onto a letter from the National Newspaper Association to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra asking to join the agency’s public education campaign to promote the COVID-19 vaccines. The “We Can Do This” campaign was announced by HHS on April 1 as part of the Biden Administration’s quest to encourage vaccinations across America.

While the newspaper industry has been changing for a decade, the rate of change accelerated significantly in 2020, with publishers and managers finding new challenges in leading their teams. This session at the America's Newspapers Spring Virtual Conference will explore the core principles that every leader needs to know to be ready to lead their team in 2021.

Twice annually, in April and October, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover announce and implement adjustments to their programs that can impact card acceptance requirements and rates. Like many businesses, the card brands held off implementing adverse changes in 2020.  However, this month, both Visa and American Express are rolling out their planned updates.  These updates include increases to interchange rates that will directly impact your card processing fees.  MasterCard and Discover have postponed their updates until April 2022, which is good news.

Subscription yield management, which includes pricing strategy as well as tactics related to audience revenue growth, is a field of analysis that has very high ROI for publishers. Here’s why.

Late last spring, The Albuquerque Journal in New Mexico implemented interactive voice response (IVR) messaging on its website. The paper also started deflecting inbound IVR customer service calls made from cell phones to messaging. Of the callers offered messaging, 10% chose the messaging option for faster service.  Containment averages 60%.