Bolt Newspapers: Is There a Future in Print Media?

Abstract

Jane Darcy is the editor of Bolt, a free daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, and she has been working since January 2007 to build a devoted readership. Published Monday through Friday, Bolt features topics such as local news and sports and is written in a snappy style to appeal to readers between 18 and 34 years old. Advertising has been steadily climbing, but Bolt's parent company is suffering, and the free paper might therefore be on the chopping block. What can Darcy do to save her beloved paper? Excerpt UVA-ENT-0191 Rev. Apr. 30, 2019 Bolt Newspapers: Is There a Future in Print Media? Introduction Jane Darcy stared in dismay at the spreadsheet. As the editor of Bolt, a free daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Darcy had been working since January 2007 to build a devoted readership. Published Monday through Friday, Bolt featured topics such as local news and sports and was written in a snappy style for readers between 18 and 34 years old. Advertising had been steadily climbing. Everywhere Darcy went, she heard: “I love Bolt!” A few advertisers told her that their teenage kids were reading a newspaper for the first time. Darcy thought Bolt was on its way to success. But the economy had not cooperated. It was November 2008, and over the past year, as businesses had tightened their budgets, newspaper advertising declined. The pace was frightening: Newspaper advertising was down an estimated 14% in a single year. Bolt's advertising had been slowly growing, but its parent company was suffering. And that meant it might not be able to support fledging publications created to capture future readers. . . .