Dave Berry is one of two southwest Missouri media members inducted into Missouri Southern State University's Regional Media Hall of Fame on April 15. Berry, a graduate of Missouri State University, has been publisher of the Bolivar Herald-Free Press since 1985 and vice president of Community Publishers Inc. since it bought out the Bolivar paper's former owner, Sterling Media, in 1999.
Q: What's your reaction to the honor?
A: Having grown up in Aurora, I was privy to the Joplin media coverage - I saw the Joplin TV stations and the Joplin Globe with some regularity. I have gone down to Missouri Southern a few times to speak to news classes, but I'm not sure how my name came up. I am honored and humbled by it. I guess it's evidence that if you stay around long enough, people will find a reason to give you an award.
Q: How is the recession affecting your industry?
A: This is a pretty deep recession. It's not the first one that I've encountered in my career, but it's coming up to being the worst and the widest-spread. We've faced newsprint shortages and hyperinflation in the past, but this has the potential to take out more companies than ever.
Q: Why have newspapers been so heavily impacted?
A: I think TV, radio, Yellow Pages, anyone that depends on revenue from advertising is seeing some hard times right now. Cash is hard to come by these days, and companies don't have a lot of money to throw at advertising, even though it's as important a time as ever for people to advertise. The ones that manage the most effectively will be the ones that come out ahead. But newspapers seem to be the worst of any media at wanting to tout their problems and shout them to the wind, and report on their own suicide.
Q: Why do you say that ownership is the biggest problem the industry faces?
A: When you get one person or one couple who are in that community, live and die with that community and are tied to it, that is the most perfect form of ownership for the readers and the community. But it's risky for the owners, because you're only as strong as your own resources. The next best form of ownership is ... a group of owners that share the same passion and are effective at moving that passion from one community to another.
The absolute worst form of ownership is publicly traded stock. A large part of what's going on in our industry is in that form of ownership, where you have people who have no idea of where your community is and only care (whether) the stock price goes up or down.
Q: Will there ever be a time without printed newspapers?
A: People have been predicting the demise of the printed product for many years. Radio was going to take over, TV was going to take over, and now it's the Internet. I find it interesting that in most markets, the leading local news player on the Internet is the local newspaper. Hardly anyone has figured out how to make money online, and we're throwing a lot of money at it trying to figure it out. As to how long there will be a printed product, I would have to guess that I'll see the printed paper throughout my lifetime. But even if it goes away, I still think that newspaper companies will lead the way in providing information, regardless of what medium people choose.[[In-content Ad]]Interview by Jeremy Elwood.
