Derrek Vaughn | The Valdosta Daily TimesSarah Warrender, copy desk chief, designs pages for a print edition. 

VALDOSTA — Print and digital products created by The Valdosta Daily Times reach 83 percent of the people in Valdosta-Lowndes County.

Jeff Masters, publisher of The Valdosta Daily Times, The Tifton Gazette, The Thomasville Times-Enterprise, The Moultrie Observer and Florida newspapers Suwannee Democrat, Jasper News and the Mayo Free Press, said this is a fantastic reach number and an indicator the newspaper business is doing well in South Georgia.

For many years, the paper has talked about its circulation numbers for the paper edition, he said. However, in today’s world, The Valdosta Daily Times must talk about audience rather than circulation. 

“Our content is delivered across multiple platforms and consumed on a variety of devices, making us available to consumers more now than ever,” Masters said. “We are all tired of hearing the naysayers tell us that newspapers are dying. We are experiencing just the opposite. We are changing to meet the needs of our audience and they are embracing the changes.

“The fact is our local audience is larger than it has ever been,” Masters said.

These numbers show that readers turn to The Times as their best source of information, and advertisers turn to the paper when they need to deliver messages to their customers.

Advertisers should feel good spending money with The Valdosta Daily Times, knowing that 83 percent of the people in Lowndes and the surrounding counties will be reached by the ad.

For South Georgia and local residents, these numbers mean the newspaper business isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, Masters said.

“We have gone from being focused on newspapers to successfully evolving into an online business as well,” he said.

Editor Jim Zachary is CNHI’s deputy national editor and oversees newsrooms in six states.

“While The Valdosta Daily Times is near the top in market reach, we are seeing similar trends across our national landscape,” Zachary said. “Community newspapers are more relevant than ever and as we have used all the tools at our disposal to connect with our audience, we have found the community responding in very positive ways, increasing engagement and benefiting from coverage. This is an exciting time to be a journalist. What we do has always mattered, but it has never mattered more.” 

Dan Sutton, advertising director for The Valdosta Daily Times and The Tifton Gazette and major account director for the South Georgia and North Florida regions under parent company CNHI, said there are few other media in the region that can boast this type of market coverage.

He said the paper is reaching more people than ever before in its history with the combination of print and digital. 

Getting that many households to see the paper’s content means a better informed population, because everything in the paper — from its locally produced content to its business sponsored advertisement — is news.

“We offer people information and information people need to know what’s going on in their community,” Sutton said. “We are the number one source of news in the community.”

The goal for The Valdosta Daily Times is to continue to be that source and reach even more households and provide even more accurate, reliable information to the many people who see the content, he said.

Dean Poling, executive editor at The Valdosta Daily Times, has been saying it for years at various speaking engagements throughout town.

“It’s always been tough hearing people say newspapers are dying when you know more people are reading The Times than ever before,” Poling said. “People are still reading the print edition but they are also reading stories on the website and through social media, watching video, listening to our podcasts.

“You can see analytics where people are getting on the website all across the nation and around the world. So, it’s good to have the evidence – the numbers – to back what we have known for the past several years.” 

Poling laughed. “I hate to say I told you so but …”

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256