Sunday, October 05, 2008
Quick, News

The state of the Sunday Paper

A letter from SP's publisher

By J. Patrick Best

I’m sure most of you have already heard the news about Creative Loafing Inc., owner of the Atlanta newsweekly Creative Loafing and several other alternative weeklies across the country, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week. This is sad news for people who love newspapers. While Creative Loafing is one of The Sunday Paper’s biggest competitors, I have a tremendous amount of respect for its staff, and their years of service to their readership.

Creative Loafing is one of the publications that inspired me to get into the newspaper business—I’ve been an avid reader since I was a teenager. In fact, I launched a little publication called Poets, Artists & Madmen in 1994 after an editor at CL had the audacity to tell 23-year-old J. Patrick Best that he “needed to get few things published” before he was deserving of a weekly column. Starting in 2000, I worked at CL for four happy and educational years (alongside my business partners Jeff Kremer, Danny Apple and Howard Landsman), and I still have several friends employed by the company. There are a lot of good, amazingly talented people in the organization, and I wish them all the luck in the world as they continue to publish and to navigate the tricky waters of our current economy.
 
That said, I thought this would be a good time to give a “State of the Union” address of sorts for The Sunday Paper. It should come as no surprise to anyone that times are tough in our industry. Papers prices are up, ad spending is down, and our country’s current economic troubles are not inspiring consumer confidence. Newspapers across the country—from dailies like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to weeklies like The Sunday Paper—are struggling to stay in the black and maintain quality in these tough financial times. Staff layoffs and budget cuts are commonplace.
 
In the last year, The Sunday Paper has had to make cuts in almost every department, including a couple of layoffs of people we loved and valued as workers and friends. And we’re examining our costs on a daily basis to ensure that we’re making the best use of our resources. While there are no company retreats to Hawaii planned, we are thankfully in no danger of missing a payroll or filing for bankruptcy. And we’ll be working hard to make sure you don’t see any decline in the overall quality of our product each week.
 
And we have much cause for optimism. The Sunday Paper has never been more popular with our readership—Media Audit, which tracks industry numbers, stated that more than 530,000 Atlantans read one of the last four editions of SP in its April May 2008 report, the latest period for which statistics are currently available.
 
I’m a firm believer that companies that encourage innovation and creativity can thrive even in the worst of times. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told by people in our industry, and readers I meet at coffee shops, festivals and events around Atlanta, that “The Sunday Paper is the best paper in the city.” I know I’m biased … but I also know they’re right. We have the best people, the best ideas, and the most passion of any company I’ve ever seen. And we will continue to strive to grow and prosper as a company, because we will accept nothing less.
 
But we couldn’t do any of it without you—the most intelligent and loyal readers in the city. Your passionate feedback each and every week drives us, and keeps us determined to live up to, and exceed, your expectations. We’re always looking for better ways to serve our readers, so please feel free to reach out to me, or to Editor in Chief Kevin Moreau, with questions, comments or ideas. And most of all, thanks for reading and supporting The Sunday Paper. It means everything to us, and we promise never to take it for granted. SP

J. Patrick Best is co-founder and Publisher of The Sunday Paper. Kevin Moreau’s “Stop the Presses” will return next week.