The Post Register has been the de-facto print news source for years in southeast Idaho. They have touted themselves as the second largest newspaper in Idaho. It is likely one of the oldest media sources in Idaho. Now it looks as though the newspaper may be falling behind, losing out to fresher, more versatile, and more in-depth news provided by local television stations, who are more and more providing printed versions online to their customers.
(click image to enlarge)Comparing local news websites at an internet traffic monitoring site shows LocalNews8.com traffic is up 16% for the year; and KIDK, while coming in behind localnews8.com, shows they know how to pull customers by producing the biggest single unique traffic month of the year. In this grouping, the Post Register comes in dead last with the fewest number of unique visitors month after month, and worse yet, a nearly 7% decline in unique visitors for the year (16,327 visitors in 9/2008 fell to 15,214 in 9/2009).
Could the Post Register be in trouble?
The Post Register has been the source of controversy for years. They have been accused of having a liberal bias and promoting a liberal agenda, as well as accused of attacking conservative groups or individuals that they don’t like such as the Boy Scouts of America, or Rex Rammell. Even the paper’s owner, Jerry Brady, ran twice for Governor for the state of Idaho as a liberal Democrat. Despite owning one of the largest newspapers in Idaho, Brady lost both times to his opponents. Others hold the Post Register up as a voice of opposition, challenging traditional beliefs and values, and as a team willing to dig into the details to bring buried facts to the surface. The newspaper has had an online presence for years now, and has held to a pay-for-access model while other newspapers moved to a free content model.
But their pay-for-content model may now be backfiring. As local news stations enter the digital print arena with their news stories, the newspaper finds itself in direct competition for what used to be their monopoly. And the numbers don’t lie. According to one online tracking company, Local news stations are beating out the Post Register in unique visitors month after month, and the Post Register is seeing their monthly visitors continue to erode.
Editor, Roger Plothow, has obviously done what he can to keep the paper alive. Under his leadership they’ve gone to using more color in the newspaper, updated their website, added the Post Register Marketplace, and improved staff while cleaning house of liabilities such as Dean Miller, who was said to be a bit of a loose canon. There’s little question that the Post Register is viewed more favorably in the community recently with Plothow’s recent leadership, but is that enough to pull them out of the slide? Or is it too little, too late?
For the paper to succeed, they may need to start thinking outside of the box. The internet opens the doors for more media content, without the overhead of a full blown television station. Offering free one year memberships to new customers could get people excited about the new direction the Post Register has taken, and get people locked in to what they offer.
What do you think the Post Register needs to say afloat? Are they stuck in a losing battle? Predictions welcome.
One thing is for sure for all news organizations: If you don’t adapt, and provide value to your customers, you’ll eventually find yourself sunk at the bottom of the ocean.
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Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
:@:)
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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
The Post Register has alienated too many people, I like their coverage, but I don’t think they’re going to make it long term.
Sounds like sour grapes to me. The author must have a gripe against the Post Register. Saying that they don’t like the Boy Scouts? That’s just not true and you know better. What they don’t like is Boy Scout camp staff molesting children and having the leadership try to cover it up. But I think they Post Register likes Boy Scouts in general. If you read the paper you probably know that Roger was an Eagle Scout himself.
I think that they do an outstanding job at their main product, a daily newspaper. My biggest complaint is with their poor home delivery service, but I think the paper itself is very good. Their website is a little harder to navigate than some of the others that were mentioned. And much of their online content is not free. But you usually get what you pay for. If you don’t want it, don’t buy it. The fact is that many others do want it. I understand that their number of printed copies has remained fairly stable. And if you pay attention you will find some introductory subscription deals that are a bargain. The information I get from my Post Register is worth much more to me than the price I pay for it.
By the way, it’s Post Register, not Post Resister. I don’t know if that was intentional or not. And the same goes for calling Dean Miller a loose canon. That’s the nice thing about professional journalists. They still make mistakes, but not nearly as many as some others.
I personally enjoy my morning paper and coffee time. I also try to be understanding of the paper delivery people. My son delivered papers for awhile, and being up at 4:00 every morning and delivering a large batch of papers is hard on a kid. They don’t get a day off (except Christmas) and the houses that you deliver to can change daily.
All in all, I think I would really miss my paper. Besides, reading very long on the computer gives me a headache.
I don’t think it’s sour grapes. I’ve lived in Southeast Idaho for a little over a year and I remember when I arrived a handful of discussions talking about the Post Register, and how it was out of touch with the community. I have also heard they have made progress back recently. I hope they survive. I like their local section. I get my national news online, however.
the post register has long been a polarizing entity in the area, but im not sure thats a bad thing. yes, they tend to promote liberalism, but we need a little of that in an area that is so flaming conservative.
The Post Register could be much better if they would do investigative journalism on a continual basis. There are many cases that are continually brought to the P.R.s attention, but they choose not to investigate the cases. Frequently these are due to friendships of the person that is under investigation and friendships of those who write the articles. Much like the recent elections in which many of the incumbents were replaced, the P.R. needs to listen to the public that supports the paper. Remember raising the cost of the paper and then assuring the public that they were going to continue daily delivery. Then shortly after the paper was cut on Monday and again another increase. These are the things that the subscribers get upset with along with the numerous problems with the new presses. I feel sorry for the carriers when the presses have a problem. There are many subscribers that demand that they have their paper at a certain time each day no matter what. The carriers get the brunt of the publics anger when the P.R. has a problem.
Guest_2748 : I don’t think the Post Register is in trouble… if they can keep producing value, and keep their advertisers happy.
The Post Register is done. It has not only been too long out of touch with it’s demographic, but the mode of paper news is as outdated as the carriage. Their pay for the news online won’t fly either. Bye Bye and good riddance. Hopefully Roger can make a living as a nature photographer.
The Post Register is an amazing paper. You dont know how much work goes into running a newspaper like this, and Roger Plothow has done an amazing job! Thank you, Roger for giving us the best news in the area!
The one thing I always loved was the Post register and a cup of coffee in the morning. I hope the Post Register survives. It can be a bit controversial, but, its a good paper. thanks
This is kind of similar to the article someone already wrote in September, isn’t it?
http://www.idahofallstoday.com/2009/09/21/newspapers-the-next-bailout/
Newspapers all across the land are dying as the internet has become the main source for news for everyone except the older generations who haven’t quite got the internet fad figured out yet. The only way a small town paper like the PR can survive is to stop acting like its a big town paper and focus solely on local stories. By the time the PR publishes a national story its been on the internet for at least 12 hrs if not days so why would I buy the PR to reread them. What I can’t get so much of on the net is the local stuff.
12 hours? The National and State wide news the PR chooses to publish is usually 2 or 3 days old. By the time they published the story about the guy in Ohio who the police had arrested after finding 6 dead women in his home, the cops had found 4 more dead women.
But, yeah, I buy and read it for the local news.
Guest_1798 : the Post Register is the only media voice of reason in this town!
Guest_2344 : Sure is a heck of a lot better than the Idaho State Journal!
I’m curious.
Any business has to make money to be in business. How do news outlets that don’t charge for online content make money? Is it strictly advertising? (and yes, I do realize the costs are much lower to maintain an online presence than to print a newspaper).
Even with advertising, we’ve always had to pay for the paper. I honestly can’t see online content staying free forever. People will complain about the paper until it is extinct, and they will be content with their ‘free’ online content, till all online news is on the same level.
Then, guess what? They will start charging. I can almost guarantee it, and there will be an uproar over that as well.
People have to get paid to bring you the news, one way or another.
The Post Register doesn’t offer free on-line content, other than recent obituaries; I think. Not sure why, as The Idaho State Journal’s on-line content doesn’t require a paid for membership, and their reader distribution is about the same. The Idaho Statesmen also doesn’t require paid membership but, their distribution is probably 6 times that of the PR. I have a hard time believing the print editions of the local papers will ever go away, or that the free on-line services will begin charging anytime soon.
The Post Register just remains behind the times, like most of Idaho. Thankfully for them, they have no local competition.
publius said:
The Post Register is done. It has not only been too long out of touch with it’s demographic, but the mode of paper news is as outdated as the carriage. Their pay for the news online won’t fly either. Bye Bye and good riddance. Hopefully Roger can make a living as a nature photographer.
That might be your own opinion but you say it as a matter of fact. You don’t speak for me and if you don’t want the PR don’t buy it. I like my printed newspaper and I suspect I always will.
Did the PR ever consider including more news in their news paper? Color is swell, but I don’t buy a newspaper for the pretty colors. I’ve counted as few as three total news stories in a section before.
Also, how about more international coverage? There’s a lot going on in this great big world, and some of it affects us here in Idaho. If all you read was the PR, you wouldn’t think much existed outside the Snake River plane.
The on-line version is a joke. The last time I tried looking at it, it was huge PDF files of the print version. It was difficult to read the articles, and took forever to load.
When I can get local news from any one of the news station web sites, and international news from MSNBC, CNN, FoxNews, etc… that isn’t three days old, and all for free, and laid out better, the PR web site doesn’t have a chance.
Kudos, to the post register! I think, the online version is the way to go…as paper versions sadly and slowly disappear, it seems with advancement. I love the online version of the Post Register! I think they are one of the leading news sources, as well as in other areas of the Post’s adventures, I would rather have a non-biased approach to writing…even if it is liberal, as at least it seems the truth. I am a long time reader of the Post’s news and views. If it weren’t for the sanity and refreshment of the Post Register, on a nice morning with a cup of joe, I would have had a terrible day!
The PR has made some really boneheaded strategic mistakes in the last 24-36 months, and as a result suffered a loss of key individuals, and 1-2 that should have never been there in the first place. Also, Jerry Brady’s close identification with the state Democrat Party has not endeared him to readers in East Idaho. Instead of investing in a new printing plant & newpaper in Challis (100 year old technology), maybe they should have become an omnibus regional Internet portal, similar to the ‘newspaper’ in Lawrence Kansas…but then again, the PR’s still thinking ‘paper, ink, print-advertizing, and physical distribution’, while the rest of the world is going online.
It makes one wonder about the region’s highly vaunted tech reputation. Given all the supposed ‘brainpower’ in Idaho Falls, these guys could have been nearly 80% virtual and maybe figured out a micro-payments scheme for content & ads, long ago….including a method to use IF’s highly underutilized municipal broadband network to empower key citizens to post handheld video reports, etc. online. The whole damn town could haven been a giant free Wi-Fi system if Idaho had constitutional home-rule, unlike every other state west of the Mississippi.
Good to see all the postings regarding Post register news paper. But providing news paper deliveries is the best one to be used. I prefer only the home delivery news papers.
I think that both Jerry Brady and Roger Plothow have done good jobs.
I think that the printed press’ time of extinction is at hand. To eek out a few more years, the P-R needs to go leaner, much leaner. Forget national news–that’s online, on cable news 24/7. Forget national sports. Same thing. Focus locally–run articles (not opinions) from other Idaho papers that report on events occurring in that part of Idaho.
Do investigative journalism locally. There’s lots of opportunity. Blake Hall. The IF mayor (drug paraphernalia in his home and just giving Farr’s Candy what they want for their buildings without independent appraisals) gets relected by a 5-1 margin. That’s the sign of the local journalists having given him a bye. Why? The inexplicable and untiring support by a vocal handful of monied-types for taking away more parking to make access to both the greenbelt, the courthouse and the downtown more difficult, while increasing the amount of grass the city has to mow. Sounds like Shirley Chastain is just trying to justify her salary over the past half dozen years, or those that decided to pay $50 grand to city consultants to come and suggest that and the equally lame-brain idea that there should be a walking bridge constructed from Scenic Falls Credit Union to the West Bank hotel and restaurant. Then there’s Daren Palmer. Rollie Walker’s eye sore between Smitty’s and the river–and why did the city P&Z ever approve such a monstrosity in the first place.
And the beat goes on…
I think that the time when professional journalists and politicians were the only two with ‘pulpits’ for their views being broadly disseminated has ended. The Internet, blogging, etc. is more democratic than the logistics behind any newspaper ever could be.
Has anyone ever looked into corruption with the local media reporters? I know it’s laughable to think they’d every investigate themselves. I’m just wondering who’s doing the investigative journalism on the investigative journalists. I’d bet you’d find some real juicy stories there.
Regarding Post #23, I agree with a lot of what you say. I think the PR should focus more on local news since national news is everywhere you look and often it changes by the time the paper is delivered. But I suspect there is a lot more information in one day’s newspaper than a week’s worth of local TV news. Regarding investigative reporting, I have honestly learned more about local misdeeds and shady deals in the Post Register than anywhere else locally, by far. They rock the boat here a lot more than the TV news media. That’s a big reason why people love them or hate them. They have ruffled a lot of feathers here with some of their investigative pieces. Many people around here are so stubborn you can hit them in the face with the facts and they still won’t believe them. They’ll get mad at the messenger instead. It must be a fine line for the PR to walk sometimes.
I think one of the problems that we have locally is the fact that everyone borrows the news from either the Post Register or the Idaho State Journal. What ever happened to the local media sending people out to do interviews and communicate with the public. Every morning and again in the evening when most go to and return from work you hear the local radio stations repeating what was in the paper in the morning. For once Channel 8 actually got the jump on the PR when they reported that Blake Hall had been sentenced. That was probably because the paper was already out for the day and the sentence was given early in the morning. All of the local media needs to do a better job of developing information and not taking from the other media sources. If they do this they might get a local following and actually do a better job than they have in the past.
Let us not forget boys and girls…
Roger has to walk a very fine balancing act there in his chair at the P.A.P.R.
I too agree there should be more local-based, investigative journalism done, instead of relying so heavily on the wire services. However, not a few of the “subjects” the newpaper would be investigating are also those who advertise in Mr. Plothow’s daily, and I think it’s a safe bet that the advertising revenues might drop if his paper were to do an in-depth investigativee piece on say, the abuses and barely-legal dealings with employees, hiring practices, etc. that go on there.
Sure would make for more interesting reading though.
Just keep in mind, RP is doing as good a job as anyone might be asked to do, and I support his continued efforts.
Also…I almost forgot…
I would like to point out that in the last few days, there has been decidedly more “local’ topic articles on the front page of the PR than is the norm.
I made a fuss about the ovewhelming number of AP pieces covering our front page a few weeks back, and while I doubt my kvetching had any influence on the matter, I want to give praise where and when it is due.
Good on ya, Roger!
As a PR subscriber, I think that the PR’s content is very average – the writing and topics are both mediocre. And although their content may be a bit liberal on average, they temper it with plenty of conservative letters to the editor. And with a market this small, many of us are use to the tradition/routine of reading the paper – no matter how good/bad it may be.
With that being said, the real issue is their website – why would someone look at their site when not only do you have to pay for the bare minimum of content, but nothing is TIMELY. The aforementioned TV websites have high traffic counts because if you’re going to look at online news, you want the most timely, current and detailed information available in your area – and until the PR brings back their “blog” section or pays someone to post up-to-the-minute content, no one is going to want to pay for it.
The other interesting thing – I have purchased advertising with them on behalf of my business, and although their web traffic is lower than the local TV stations and their subscribers are lower than the local TV watchers, their advertising rates are generally HIGHER.
This is a problem.
I thought about trying to read it again after Marty Trillhouse left the paper but I haven’t got around to it yet. I bet J. Robb Brady is still there and that is reason enough to not read it.
East Idaho is conservative and the Post Register actively tries to undermine our way of life.
Crap! You folks arrange, fold and drawer your prejudices.
Wendyjo,
Stating why I no longer buy or read this paper is relevant to whether the topic of column.
You know Daryl, I think that, just maybe, what the PR does is try to report information about ALL ways of life here is Southeastern Idaho, and not just to those who follow your narrow-minded, ultra-conservative mindset.
It sounds more like you are suffering from acute paranoia, knowing that the last 8 years of conservative rule have shown your true colors and you are afraid that intelligent people on both sides of the ideological spectrum are going to wake up and realize that the neo-cons have gone completely over the top and that we all, progressives and conservatives alike, need to meet in the middle and find common ground.
And that scares the HELL out of you.