Alyssa Chuiniere | for Editor & Publisher
A few early adopters of the internet saw opportunities in digital in the early days. Digital pioneers are today the bosses.
The 90s saw a turning point in the field. The end of a golden era in print journalism was fast approaching, but it was not yet obvious. Conan Gallaty (CEO of the Tampa Bay Times) stated that news leaders saw the internet a way to increase revenue in an already profitable sector.
For those who were at the forefront of the digital movement, their careers took shape in ways that they had never imagined.
Conan Gallaty CEO Tampa Bay Times
Conan Gallaty was soon hired as an online editor at The Victoria Advocate in Texas, in 1998. He borrowed a book on HTML from the library. It was in the mid-90s when newspapers were still economically viable.
“A lot of publications were putting up websites for the first time, really without much of a strategy. A lot of those attempts were the wild west of ‘Let’s try a few things and see what sticks,’” he said.
He said the digital side of news in the early days of the internet was “more like an R&D shop than a business unit.” But it was an era of brainstorming, and newspapers had the finances to support new ideas even if they failed. He stated that the print industry was so strong, that news leaders saw the internet a way for them to increase their revenues.
Although the online editor role was relatively new, it was quickly becoming a common position in newsrooms. The digital aspect of most newsrooms was handled by a small group.
News leaders saw the potential to grow advertisers and subscribers, and they had “excess money,” Gallaty said. News leaders invested large amounts of their excess funds in digital.
However, some news leaders viewed digital as a distraction.
“They didn’t want to take their eye off the ball of the cash cow that was really creating money at the time,” he said.
According to him, the industry’s peak was in the mid-2000s and news leaders began combining digital and print parts of their businesses.
“We really thought that the advertising would catch up to the audience. We thought there was a big appetite for digital, and there was, but we thought that the advertising would follow,” Gallaty said.
He stated that millions of people are reading the Tampa Bay Times online. This is far more than the print version. The advertising dollars made by digital advertising are only a fraction compared to print advertising. Google, Facebook and other social media platforms take much of the profits.
“It’s such a challenge to learn how to make local journalism sustainable,” he said.
Conan Gallaty of Tampa Bay Times celebrates his 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative reporting with his staff and guests. The prize recognizes the acclaimed project named “Poisoned” which investigated safety hazards in a Tampa lead smelter factory. On Monday, May 9, the celebration took place at St. Petersburg’s Poynter Institute for Media Studies. (Photo by Tampa Bay Times
There were a few lessons that news leaders learned during the internet’s early days, he said. The first was the fact that digital products require the same quality and care as print products. The second was still being learned — how best to monetize digital publications.
“The audience is there, but the revenue is not. You had a change of very lucrative advertising in print in exchange for pennies on the dollar in digital,” Gallaty said. “It felt like you were jumping into this very large pool, but the opportunity was very shallow. Within that broad pool, there are some deeper pockets where the industry can thrive.”
He expressed gratitude for his ability to start his career during a time of experimentation and innovation because he has become accustomed to the idea that change is possible.
“Can we do things better? What can we do to pivot? Those were lessons early in my career that are very beneficial to me now,” he said.
Gallaty earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and publication management from the University of Georgia, combining economics and business classes with journalism classes.
“It was a great program because it helped me understand the tenets of journalism, but also that it is a business that has to be run well and to pivot and change as it needs to,” he said.
In 1999, he was appointed online director for The Advocate. He worked in various digital roles until he joined the Tampa Bay Times in 2018 as chief digital officer.
After becoming president in 2020, Gallaty was appointed CEO in January. The paper has seen some significant changes since then. Their print publication days were reduced to Wednesday and Sunday. Instead of printing “yesterday’s news,” the print product is a “lean-back, deep-dive read.”
He said printing “news that happened yesterday” is not sustainable.
“What’s left, then, are those readers who read those publications for the journalism, and typically journalism you can’t get anywhere else,” he said. “It’s the lean-back model of print. Let me know if you have something that I can dig into. We don’t need to be social media printed out. We need to be pieces that people can really enjoy diving into.”
Gallaty said that change happened over time as they began gearing their work in print toward readers who cared “first and foremost for the journalism inside that publication” over coupons, listings and quick briefs. Gallaty said that the newspaper is proud of its narrative work, which gives readers context and perspectives.
“I’d say that we’re a writers’ newspaper. We pride ourselves in creating long-form narrative, investigative work,” he said.
They also promote the digital benefits to their subscribers. “It’s never late and never wet,” Gallaty said. Readers will be able to see the election results shortly after they have been announced. You can even make the font as large or small as you like.
According to him, they are seeing more digital users who don’t like the endless scrolling on many news sites. Those readers want to feed a news habit where they spend a few minutes a day reading the news instead of getting their news in “snack sections.”
He said that print journalism will continue to thrive, but news leaders need a niche to be successful.
“There still is a long runway for print, I believe,” he said. “But it has to do what it does with excellence instead of being a little bit of everything for everyone,” he said.
Lisa DeSisto CEO, publisher of Masthead Maine
Lisa DeSisto, CEO and publisher of Masthead Maine is Lisa DeSisto. This news network includes five newspapers and their websites, including the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram and the Morning Sentinel. There are also 17 weeklies and a commercial printing company. Masthead Maine photo.
Lisa DeSisto applied in 1995 for a job with The Boston Globe, as it launched its digital division, Boston Globe Electronic Publishing.
Two days after the website was launched, she was appointed marketing manager. She was responsible for educating both advertisers and consumers about the internet.
“Everyone was really intrigued by it. It was completely new. No one knew about it, and, of course, you’re having crazy years of growth in front of you as more and more people visit The Globe’s website. Advertisers were really curious how to take advantage of this new medium, so it was ridiculously fun,” she said.
She stated that her previous experience in marketing was in audience growth and engagement so digital was an obvious fit.
She is currently the publisher and CEO of Masthead Maine. This news network includes a variety of outlets. Her role includes overseeing five newspapers and their websites, including The Times Record, The Kennebec Journal, The Sun Journal, The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, The Morning Sentinel and The Kennebec Journal. They also publish 17 weeklies as well as run a commercial printing company. In 2012, she joined MaineToday Media.
Lisa DeSisto, CEO of Masthead Maine, interviews Mary Larkin, U.S. president of Diversified Communications at “Like a Boss,” an event series DeSisto has hosted since 2018.
DeSisto claimed that she entered the industry during times of huge growth.
“It definitely helped me advance because everything was exploding. As fast as you could learn it, you could do more,” she said.
About 10 years after The Boston Globe launched the electronic publishing company, it was clear that the digital and print sides of the business should be together — one strategy, one building, one collaborative team.
The New York Times at that time owned The Boston Globe and emphasized executive development. She claimed that she still uses skills from their training and maintains connections with people she met in the same industry 25 years ago.
“One of the things I love about our industry is how much people collaborate,” she said. “People are always willing to pick up the phone and have a conversation about how things are going and share their ideas.”
DeSisto stated collaboration has been crucial in news leaders’ digital journeys. Collaboration is her number one piece of advice to news leaders.
“Continue to collaborate with others in the industry. Participating in the Google News Initiative Digital Subscriptions Lab was the best thing that we did to improve our digital growth. They helped us create a plan to get more digital subscribers, reorienting us further into modern metrics of digital marketing and e-commerce. There is a lot of information, best practices, and case studies in the field. Make it a priority to engage with others and learn from them.”
DeSisto stated that journalists and news leaders had different opinions on the internet and its effect on the industry during the early days.
“I think people were excited about it, but they also recognized the threat it posed to their core business. I think there was both, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s so much potential,’ but there’s so much to lose as well,” she said.
Lisa DeSisto served as “Principal for the Day” at a local Portland school as part of Masthead Maine’s community involvement.
Today, there are many challenges. Finding the right balance between growing a digital audience and maintaining loyal print readers can be a challenge. In March 2020, she said they decided to launch digital-only Mondays at the Portland Press Herald, MaineToday’s largest newspaper. She stated that readers still value the printed product. However, cutting costs for printing Monday papers provided the newspaper with the savings it needed without having to make cuts in the newsroom.
DeSisto shared that she is surprised by the love readers have for the ePaper (replica). They appreciate the structure and hierarchy that is based on news value, and has a starting point and an ending point. It has been a constant goal to get print readers to connect their subscriptions so they can reap the digital benefits.
“Subscription revenue is the biggest piece of what we do right now, and we are demonstrating to readers the value in a digital subscription, so I feel like all these years later, we’re finally getting that print/digital balance correct.”
DeSisto continued, “I valued my time at the Globe and specifically working for great mentors and innovators, including Martin Nisenholtz and Lincoln Millstein. I am still driven by fine-tuning the business model that funds the critical work our newsroom produces across all platforms in service to our readers.”
Grant Moise, Chief Executive Officer of DallasNews Corporation
Grant Moise is CEO of DallasNews Corporation. This parent company houses The Dallas Morning News. (Photo courtesy of The Dallas Morning News
Grant Moise’s career began in 1998 when he sold advertising time to CBS Sports in Denver. However, the website was not built by the TV station and its digital advertising generated very little revenue. They told Moise not to spend any time on it.
“It was just the beginning of websites, so that was kind of interesting,” he said. “I literally saw the infancy of our CBS TV station creating its own website and trying to create an advertising model for that website, and it was a rounding error back then. There wasn’t enough revenue generated from that even to matter.”
He said that the moneymaker was advertising spots for NFL games.
“We were getting such big audiences for Denver Broncos football games that they didn’t even want me trying to sell [digital] advertising. They didn’t even want me spending time on it,” he said. “Think about how ironic that is now, with people watching the games on their phones.”
Grant Moise, Dallas Morning News Publisher, launches the annual Dallas Morning News Charities Campaign. This campaign funds 23 North Texas agencies that help homeless people. Donations help locals in North Texas with food, clothing, financial assistance, and other short-term relief. (Photo by The Dallas Morning News).
He attended graduate school, and he started at The Dallas Morning News in 2004. He planned to go from The Dallas Morning News to television and work in digital through the parent company’s MBA rotation program. However, he decided to stay in print when the program ended. He later sold digital advertising and worked in digital product development. Later, the role evolved into mergers or acquisitions.
Moise was appointed CEO of DallasNews Corporation in May. This is the parent company to The Dallas Morning News. He became president and publisher of The Dallas Morning News in 2018 to lead the publication’s digital strategies.
Medium Giant, the company’s marketing agency, has clients in more than 30 states.
“This business has grown in ways I would never have imagined,” he said.
He explained that the digital sector of the industry eliminates geographical boundaries for advertisers and allows information to be used to drive storytelling on journalism’s side.
Dallas Morning News Publisher and President Grant Moise reads to elementary school children as part of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’ Reading Day event, which promotes literacy and celebrates diverse readers while bringing communities together through the joys of reading. This effort inspires North Texas scholars towards a lifelong love for reading and learning. (Photo by The Dallas Morning News
“What we’ve really found is we’ve just got access to so much information about what the digital reader wants. It helps us make better decisions, not just in the beats we cover, but it also impacts story length,” he said.
Sports is an excellent example. While the Dallas Cowboys is one of the world’s biggest sports teams, giving The Dallas Morning News a large audience, the newspaper has more digital subscription opportunities from high school and college sports.
“They can get information everywhere on the Cowboys, but not on high school sports or the SMU Mustangs,” he said.
He stated that advertising data shows clients what they get for their money.
“I’d say the common theme between them is the data,” he said. “We’re following the data,” he said.
Robert Granfeldt is the general manager for Hearst Communications’ Midland Reporter-Telegram, Texas Panhandle properties.
Robert Granfeldt is the general manager of Hearst Communications’ Texas Panhandle and Midland Reporter-Telegram properties. (Photo provided)
Robert Granfeldt discovered his calling when he decided that he would take some time off to move out of the country.
He decided to create a website after his family owned a restaurant and hotel in British Virgin Islands (BVI). In 1996, he was appointed as the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s new media director.
“I flourished. I absolutely loved it,” Granfeldt said.
He started his first job with the newspaper in 1984.
“We didn’t even have voicemail or cellphones or fax machines,” he said.
Although he intended to stay in the newspaper business, he expected to continue to be in circulation. After spending nearly 10 years with the Avalanche-Journal newspaper, he transferred to The Florida Times-Union in 1992 and the BVI in 1994.
Back in Texas, the parent company of the Avalanche-Journal took notice of the newspaper’s high performance on content, and he was hired as the vice president of revenue development for Morris Communications in Augusta, Georgia. He has held several other positions that focused on digital revenue prior to being named general manager for the Midland Reporter Telegram and Texas Panhandle properties of Hearst Communications, in June 2020.
He stated that he doesn’t believe his success without his experience with digital revenue through his first website. Before the website, guests in the states had to book reservations by calling an international 800 number, which was one of the hotel’s biggest expenses.
Granfeldt created a free way for guests to book their stay. Google wasn’t around at the time, but they started booking their reservations through AOL.com. He made thousands of reservations and found guests on travel chat forums. When he saw people discussing Caribbean travel, he offered his help. He claimed that there was almost no competition for the business in the digital space.
“It showed me, ‘Wow, this interesting thing is not like a CB radio. It’s here to stay,’” he said.
Robert Granfelt was the Lubbock Avalanche Journal’s then-publisher. He served as host/MC for the paper’s High School Sports Awards, May 30, 2017. (Photo provided)
The Avalanche-Journal website began around the time that he returned from Texas. They quickly learned how online advertising can be sold through sponsorship packages. One sponsor was $2,000 per month.
“Back then, everything was so newspaper centric. They weren’t as sure about this digital thing. Once we started bringing in money, they said, ‘Wait, I think we have something here.’”
He said there was some hesitation because newspaper leaders wondered why someone would pay for the print product if they could read it for free online, which he called a “circle of life” development.
“There was definitely some hesitation, but as the revenue started rolling in, a lot of publishers came around and said, ‘I better get on this train or it’s going to leave without me,’” he said. “One of the toughest things that digital had to deal with is that newspapers were slow to change, and, quite frankly, I respect that 100%.”
He stated that newspaper leaders have moved from being skeptical to becoming adopters. He learned from them about the newspaper business, and they learned from him about digital revenue.
“I think it was a natural progression for me to start running newspapers,” he said.
Granfeldt claimed that newspapers will survive by generating revenue for the content that is most important to their readers.
“I think the key is understanding what our readers want and then delivering it to them in volume. Reporters have to do what they do, but we have to clearly track which stories are being read and engaged with,” he said.
He stated that watchdog journalism was critical and newspapers need to find a way of monetizing it.
“I think that our future is determined by watchdog, enterprise work.”
Granfeldt believes analytics are essential to show where to put resources.
“I really think that our future is bright,” he said. “We just have to be smart and measure everything.”
Alyssa Choiniere is an Editor & Publisher contributor. She is a journalist living in southwestern Pennsylvania, covering a variety topics such as criminal justice and industry news.