The nation's newspaper editors, having withstood the worst of an industry recession, gather today in Baltimore to confront an uncertain future of fickle readers and changing technology.
The American Society of Newspaper Editors, a trade association of 450 of the country's largest dailies, meets today and Friday at the Convention Center and travels tomorrow to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis for an address by President Clinton.
Mr. Clinton has won high marks so far for his ability to handle the press, but the editors will also hear today from Ross Perot, whose 1992 presidential campaign treated newspapers as nearly irrelevant. Mr. Perot used talk shows and television "infomercials" to bypass reporters.
The newspaper industry has emerged from the depths of recession with fewer dailies (1,586 at last count) that have smaller staffs writing shorter stories for not always loyal readers.
All is not gloom, though. Newspaper readership and advertising revenues are both up a bit. Not coincidentally, so is attendance at the editors' 70th annual convention (about 700 persons, including some spouses, are expected), and there's renewed optimism in the air.
"A couple of years ago the mood was just black because of the economy," said Frank M. Denton, editor of the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison.
"An awful lot of newspapers were reducing staffs, cutting expenses, and things were just grim. Now we're a lot more optimistic about the future."
Last year, the proportion of American adults who read newspapers inched up to 63 percent on the average weekday and 68 percent Sundays, bucking a 20-year slide, according to the Newspaper Association of America. More newspapers than ever publish Sunday editions as busy readers often skip newspapers during the week but buy them on weekends.
Newspaper advertising revenues edged up by 1 percent in 1992, to nearly $31 billion. Projections are for a 3 percent increase this year.
Media analyst Kenneth T. Berents says some optimism is justified, although he doesn't expect a return to the profitability of the 1980s.
"I expect we'll see that the 1980s were the final golden era of the newspaper business, but that doesn't mean it's still not a good business," said Mr. Berents, newly named co-director of research for Wheat First Securities in Richmond, Va.
