Can native advertising succeed in small news operations?

Jaci Smith

I'll admit it, I'm competitive.

If somebody is doing something interesting and innovative in our industry, I want to know how they do it – and maybe learn how to do it even better.

As a consequence, I spend a fair amount of my time checking out industry blogs, e-newsletters, articles and academic research. I am also a MOOC – massive open online courses – addict.

But as an editor of a small community newspaper, this can be an exercise in frustration. The Faribault Daily News is a five-day publication with a circulation of about 5,200. Our newsroom, including me, has seven people in it.

So, when I read about some really interesting, disruptive innovation happening at The New York Times or The Washington Post or even smaller community papers like the Northwest Herald in Illinois, I tend to shake my head and wistfully note, "If only we had the resources."

We can't afford to think like that any more – really, no one in our business can.

That's why I'm really pleased that the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute recognized the struggle smaller community papers can sometimes face and awarded a fellowship to our paper so we can innovate in the area of native advertising.

Why native? Because I think the silos that have been painstakingly built over time between editorial and advertising need to come down a little. Readers want content that is useful and entertaining. They didn't dictate that their coupons run entirely separate from their cop logs, we did that. And though I'm not suggesting there should be no separation between the church and state of ads and news, I do think we need to instead focus on the best way to deliver information to our audience, no matter where it originates, as our top priority.

I also believe native advertising will provide a great way for media to generate revenue in the near future, and I don't think it should only be the responsibility of advertising staff. Many large media companies have responded to the native advertising challenge by simply creating new divisions to handle both sales and content creation.

Not many community newspapers where I've worked are able to do that. So we need to find a model that works for us and doesn't require a lot in the way of initial investment of resources. We need to figure out how to make native advertising work in small offices, without costly external vendors.  

That's what I intend to spend eight months, beginning in September, developing. I hope to keep you updated on my progress through this blog as often as possible, and I'm counting on you to tell me your stories of native advertising success or failure, too.

We can innovate better (and faster, too) when we do it together. I look forward to hearing from you.

Jaci Smith, managing editor of the Faribault Daily News, is the project leader for APG of Southern Minnesota's institutional fellowship at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Contact her by email at jsmith@faribault.com.