The new owner of a group of weekly newspapers that includes the Normalite has plans for growth and plenty of optimism about the future of local news – even in print.
Billy McMacken recently bought the Normalite Newspaper Group from longtime owner Ed Pyne. That included eight papers around Central Illinois, including the Normalite in Normal.
“Ed’s done a good job of being successful with these papers, but there’s room to grow,” McMacken said.
McMacken, a South Dakota native who now lives in Sycamore, Illinois, has worked in newspapers his whole professional life, in reporting, business and management roles. He last worked for News Media Corp., a chain of papers that shrunk while he was there and closed this summer after he left. He’s known Pyne for a few years and knew he was looking to retire – if he could find the right owner for the Normalite.
“I texted Ed and said, ‘Are you ready to sell? Because I’m ready to do something different,’” he said. “And since Aug. 1, it’s been crazy learning the business with Ed. And for me, it’s taking me back to my roots.”
Now, McMacken will be working for himself – not a giant corporate chain like those that have struggled to stay profitable in the internet age. That’s led to newspapers cutting staff and coverage, including at papers like The Pantagraph in Bloomington, creating "news deserts" across the country.
“There would be no coverage of the sports, no coverage of the town council. You talk about transparency in government … we keep them honest by covering the meetings. You lose all that. It’s devastating,” McMacken said. “It means everything to these communities.”
McMacken said he doesn’t want that to happen in the markets the Normalite group serves, like Lexington, Heyworth, LeRoy, and Chenoa. McMacken said he’s planning for growth mode.
Growth mode
McMacken hopes to diversify the Normalite group beyond newspapers, though print will remain the priority.
Today the weekly editions are typically 12 pages; McMacken hopes to routinely bump that to 16. Typically, eight of the 12 pages are shared [common] between editions, with localized content for each small town on the remaining pages. Circulation is around 4,000, he said. They are printed in Astoria, Illinois, he said.
The Normalite doesn’t have an updated website. That’s expected to change – although McMacken said he has no plans to post all content online, because that would cannibalize his print subscriber base.
The Normalite plans to solicit advertising more aggressively than it has in years past, McMacken said, hoping to establish something akin to a one-stop shop ad agency for business clients.
McMacken also recently purchased the Clinton Journal newspaper in DeWitt County. McMacken plans to make its two staffers – GM Katy Pyne [Ed’s sister-in-law] and editor Gordon Woods – full-time staff of the entire Normalite group, so that McMacken can focus his time on revenue growth. Previously, the Normalite didn’t have any full-time staff other than Ed Pyne, McMacken said.
“That gives us an opportunity for growth with some real seasoned newspaper people,” he said.
The Normalite group is also expected to redouble its efforts to generate community submissions – the lifeblood of the weekly papers – and to hire correspondents to cover their communities. Expansion of sports coverage will also be a priority, McMacken said.
Still, making money from local news is not easy. The tech giants have largely gobbled up advertising budgets. Police departments and mayors have their own Facebook pages that can bypass traditional media. And media outlets are competing for the audience’s attention with TikTok, Netflix, YouTube and a million other things.
McMacken said the Normalite's previous owner didn’t have detailed financials to share prior to the purchase, but he was told it’s profitable. He said there is a model for successful newspaper operations – as long as there’s compelling local content and good business sense.
“As long as we do things smartly, and we don’t take on too much expense, whether it’s payroll or printing or postage, and can build the revenue, it is a sustainable model and a moneymaker,” he said.
For now, one of the Normalite’s biggest moneymakers are legal notices – ads that people and local governments are required to run when they, say, schedule a public hearing or want to operate a business under an assumed name. But that revenue stream could evaporate quickly if state lawmakers were to ever change legal notice requirements.
“For the Normalite group, legal advertising really drives the bus right now. It’s so out of balance with other revenue that comes in. Losing legals would be devastating,” McMacken said. “You could handle that being diminished by boosting the revenue in other areas, and boosting circulation. That’s what I want to do is to get on those areas, and go nuts.”
