Like so many other businesses, much of the recent news about The Florida Times-Union has focused on its current financial difficulties.
I, for one, am really pulling for the T-U to work things out and become stronger than ever. And, as members of the real estate and building industries, you should be rooting for the hometown newspaper as well.
Why? Well, there are several reasons.
For one thing, daily newspapers not only help us keep up with what is going on in real time, they serve as a community’s link to the past and its barometer for the future.
In Jacksonville, the Times-Union has often played a key role in the progress and development of our city. Whether pushing for the environmental clean-up of our river, creating a new and corruption free government, or bringing an NFL team to town, the newspaper and its leadership has always stepped up.
But, in particular, The Florida Times-Union has been a very good partner with our businesses, helping Realtors and builders stay connected to buyers and sellers, as well as to each other.
In this issue of Realty/Builder Connection, we explain how that relationship works, talk about its value, and examine the current condition of those aspects of the T-U that impact us the most.
In fact, just before I started writing this column, I read the lead story in the T-U business section with the headline that screamed: “Area real estate market has good month.” While the news was not exactly the “great news” that we all want to read, it was informative and positive that a better April may lead to a better May. Stories like this help create consumer confidence. And, if that happens, then we might be looking at some momentum which could be great for everyone.
But, you might ask: as publishers of our own daily newspaper, The Daily Record, isn’t the Times-Union a competitor? Why would we wish a competitor well?
No, we don’t view the Times-Union as competition. While both the T-U and the Daily Record contribute a lot to Jacksonville, we do very different things as news organizations, and our missions are dissimilar in a lot of ways.
You know, not all of the news is found on the front page in the business section of the paper. Special sections of the T-U, like “Builders Showcase” and “Homes,” are great places to locate real nuggets of news and information that help potential buyers find the pertinent information they need to help make investment decisions. Like Realty/Builder Connection, the T-U’s special publications also help us keep up with what is going on inside our own industries.
And, frankly, regular readers find the information interesting because it tells them who’s moving in and how much they paid.
Right now, because of the downturn in the economy, the T-U has rolled “Builders Showcase” and “Homes” into a single publication, and even with that change advertising revenue to support the publication is strained.
However, that challenge does not make the value of the publication any less important. In fact, I would argue that in troubled times like these, the fact that the T-U is holding fast and continuing its partnership with our industries is very good and positive.
Joe DeSalvo, director of special publications at the newspaper, is confident that when the economy gets better, both “Homes” and “Builders Showcase” will make a positive comeback and once again be strong publications. He’s right, and that will happen in part because the T-U has been able to weather the storm while continuing to provide a great service.
- Jim Bailey is president of Bailey Publishing & Communications and publisher of Realty/Builder Connection.