What’s the Future for Lancaster County’s Daily Newspaper?

Five Key Commitments Make the Difference

In conversations with neighbors, friends, and business associates, our colleagues at LNP Media Group are often asked about the future of LNP, Lancaster County’s daily newspaper.

Given the rapidly changing media environment for newspapers in particular, we focus on ensuring a vital, vibrant future that matches our nearly 225+ year legacy. The press reports regularly on news organizations that are laying off staff, reducing original content, and eliminating days on which they print. Some communities are without a daily newspaper and others are without a paper completely.

LNP is committed to being the source of news and information for every resident of Lancaster County and being the means by which every business in Lancaster County can reach their target customers. LNP’s commitment is evident in so many ways.

Meaningful Content

LNP Media Group, with Lancaster County’s daily newspaper (LNP) and a premier website for news and information (LancasterOnline.com), strives to deliver thorough and valuable content in a way that is informative, helpful and entertaining:

• Our staff of professional journalists works tirelessly to discover and report what is important and meaningful to residents of the county.
• No other news organization covers our community as in depth as we do, and no other news organization highlights issues that prompt community conversation as we do.

We are immensely proud of the work we do and industry leaders recognize the excellence of our efforts. The LNP staff has won more than two dozen awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and the Associated Press Managing Editors organization. LancasterOnline has won several awards for excellence in digital platforms, including best overall digital experience at the 2016 America East Conference.

Connecting Audiences to Advertisers

LNP has the largest core circulation of any newspaper in Central Pennsylvania and has the fourth largest circulation in the state. We have a diverse audience of engaged readers that is appealing to businesses in Lancaster and beyond:

• Our advertising clients know the power of print advertising and see the results when their ads appear regularly in LNP Media products.
• Advertising clients also reach new local customers and raise awareness of their businesses via LancasterOnline, our digital voice.
• LancasterOnline is the county’s most widely read online news source. Our team also provides digital marketing tools and services to our clients, including paid search advertising, social media advertising, media-rich email marketing, and geotargeted mobile advertising.

Community Impact

Stories we publish have a profound impact on the quality of life in Lancaster County. From reporting that explains the importance of transparency in government to articles that illustrate the scourge of heroin across our county, we strive to investigate and develop stories that help our readers understand issues that matter to all of us:

• Our reporting has helped open wildlife preserves to the public and prompted changes in a local school district that both saved money and re-established the arts and music programs.

Local Ownership

Unlike many nearby newspapers owned by large media organizations that make staffing and editorial decisions from afar, LNP Media Group is committed to fostering the vitality of Lancaster County due to its local ownership by the Steinman family:

• We are headquartered in downtown Lancaster and are directed by members of the Steinman family. LNP, LancasterOnline, and all of the other publications produced by LNP Media Group operate under the guidance of people who live and work right here in Lancaster County.
• The Steinman family has also dedicated a significant portion of LNP’s earnings to fund The Steinman Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in Lancaster County. In the last 65 years, the foundation and its predecessors have given more than $80 million to causes dedicated to improving the quality of life in Lancaster County.

A Legacy of Innovation

Some dismiss LNP Media Group as a legacy media organization that does not reflect today’s innovation and creativity. We’ve seen extraordinary technological changes and embraced them. We’ve been nimble throughout all 44 U.S. presidencies, 2 world wars, The Great Depression, and several recessions. We’ve adapted, grown and thrived since 1794. The ability to innovate to meet advertiser’s needs and exceed readers’ expectations establishes that change and adaptation are core elements of our DNA.

So back to the question, “What’s the future for Lancaster County’s daily newspaper?”

The answer is that LNP Media Group is deeply committed to our newspaper audience. We are also committed to evolving and growing as a news organization to ensure that we are able to anticipate the changing needs of our audience of readers and the advertising customers we serve. While the news business is changing fast, we are optimistic. We have faith in the bright future of Lancaster and we know we will continue to be part of it.

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