Bryant Newspaper advertising isn’t what it used to be. Clients have more options, the media industry changes for the better or worse every day, and companies’ advertising budgets are generally thinner.

While the larger newspapers have suffered substantially more than the smaller, community publications, most have faced the same revenue declines for the last few years.

What newspapers and customers don’t realize is it doesn’t have to be this way. Instead, it just takes some creativity, determination, and common sense for both to meet their needs.

The economy is usually blamed when companies spend less on print advertising or pull their business all together.

But a bad economy should be the primary reason for spending more money on advertising — not less.

Businesses can’t sell their products and services without marketing them, and out of sight is out of mind. When the economy tanks — and inevitably it does — advertisers should become bigger spenders.

Naturally, consumers spend less during recessions, so it makes sense for businesses to call out to their customers more during rough times.

People are always going to need certain products and services, even during a bad economy. And that’s when newspapers are often at their best.

I laugh when I hear some of the reasons people temp orarily pull advertising. I have to resist the tempta- tion to pick up the phone, call the customer, and delve into a 10-minute session about how spending less on advertising can only hurt their businesses.

Sure, their bottom lines might improve for a quarter. But their year-overyear numbers are probably going to suffer. That’s because regardless of whether you’ve been in business for 75 years or 30 days, you can’t reach your customers by a two-week marketing run and word-of-mouth — especially when customers look for businesses in more than one media.

For papers like the Statesman, advertising is everything. We can’t print the news without ads, and we can’t print ads without the news. Certainly, without advertising, we couldn’t exist.

However, the advertising business isn’t like it was during the golden age of newspapers, when ad revenue was soaring and the closing of media companies was rare.

Today, it’s not just about loyal businesses paying to publish their messages in their newspapers.

With the increasing popularity of online media and niche publications, advertisers must become newspaper supporters instead of simply being advertisers in newspapers.

For example, one of the Statesman’s advertisers has made good on a promise to faithfully spend money with us because he recognizes what it means to our livelihoods.

Not only that, but the paper has worked with him in more ways than one to serve his needs while also serving ours

It’s a good partnership, and we very much appreciate him doing business with us.

I talk regularly with this advertiser and his people about the future of large and small newspapers. Face to face, we discuss the challenges of today’s print industry and the role of advertisers in newspapers’ survival or failure in a down economy.

He understands what we go through every day and how tough it is for even the most well-intentioned and business-minded newspaper owner to keep all his employees on payroll and all the lights turned on.

Make no mistake: An already difficult career became much more difficult when Wall Street and Main Street tanked. Fine newspaper people are still losing their jobs, and once proud, powerful, and profitable newspaper companies are still closing their doors. As a career newspaper professional, that’s always tough to see.

And I remind myself, and my staff, that we’re fortunate to still be in the industry.

At the same time, we can’t cast the blame entirely on the economy. We must help advertisers understand that it’s not just about them anymore.

It’s about all of us. Small newspapers like this one can only do so much for so long without community support editorially and fi- nancially. And none of us can be taken for granted.

Without ad revenue, we cease to exist. It doesn’t matter how hard we work, how good the paper looks, and how much we’re liked and enjoyed.

Without support, we can’t make it, and that’s what’s happened to many good newspapers around the country - large and small.

So let’s work together to make it through. We want to see your businesses thrive, and we want to prosper as well. If your ad is not big enough, call us and let us do something different for you. If you’re not getting enough attention, let us design an ad that will bring you plenty.

And if you have ideas you think will help us both, let us know.

Because without us, you can’t get your message across. And without you, we can’t serve our communities.

Paul Bryant is managing editor of The Chandler & Brownsboro Statesman. In a 16-year career, he has been recognized by state press associations for investigative and political journalism, features writing, and photojournalism.