Randy Bennett

Sr. V.P. Business Development, Newspaper Association of America

Randy Bennett leads the Newspaper Association of America’s efforts in coordinating readership building initiatives in the industry. In addition, he is responsible for NAA’s electronic media efforts in helping newspapers understand and best take advantage of electronic media business opportunities. He is also responsible for the newspaper trade association’s Horizon Watching Initiative, a long-term project to understand the strategic forces shaping the newspaper industry over the next 5-7 years.

[Bonus 0301] - Part 1: 2010 Business Picture (4:00)

Randy Bennett, Sr. V. P., Business Development, Newspaper Association of American (NAA), says despite a double-digit increase in revenues for digital news products, overall newspaper revenues were expected to be “flat” for 2010. Overall, Bennett says monetizing digital revenues, to fill in for print circulation declines, remains a major challenge for the industry (recorded Nov. 19, 2010).

[Bonus 0302] - Part 2: Digital Revenues (8:43)

Randy Bennett, Sr. V. P., Business Development, Newspaper Association of American (NAA), says he expects discussions about the institution of “paywalls” and/or subscriptions for newspaper websites will remain a fractious issue in 2011. Overall in 2010, on average, Bennett says the sale of digital news products and digital advertising contributed about 10 percent to newspapers’ annual gross revenues (recorded Nov. 19, 2010).

[Bonus 0303] - Part 3: The Future (3:53)

Randy Bennett, Sr. V. P., Business Development, Newspaper Association of American (NAA), says, newspapers can be expected to continue to sustain their key role as “aggregator and curators of content in [their] communities.” With their digital platforms, newspapers can also be expected to produce more journalism than ever. But, he thinks the community of “95 million adults” who read print newspapers each day, will narrow by becoming “an older demographic with higher education and higher income” (recorded Nov. 19, 2010).