His Irish Luck is Smiling
By Angela Evans
“I would do everything better,” says Cliff Carlson, editor of the Irish American News.
But his newspaper is flourishing, and running an ethnic media paper is no easy feat. The community readership is often so limited that it is a challenge to stay afloat— particularly in an economy that has had a brutal affect on the news media.
He thinks of expanding and revising his newspapers, but realizes that today is not the time to take such a step.
Carlson, 62, bought the Irish American News in November of 1991 from Bob Burns, who was the original founder and owner in March 1977. Burns was getting too old to go out and do it, and that’s where Carlson came in.
The Irish American News (IAN) has always been about covering everything and anything to do with the Irish community here in Chicago, with minimal coverage of Ireland due to the difficulty of accessing information from there.
Carlson is technically the only employee, relying primarily on independent contractors to cover the work he is unable to do personally.
He runs the paper out of an office of his Oak Park apartment. It contains two desks, a printer, a bookcase stuffed with various history and other books, and dozens of Irish tokens displayed as décor on the walls and other available surfaces. Carlson was born in Chicago, and is a mix of Irish and Swedish decent.
A Foot In The Door
Carlson got his start in publishing back when a friend wanted to publish a book and Carlson suggested the food industry, offering to do the type work. They put the book together and sold it, also selling ads from scratch. The rest is history- Carlson has stayed in publishing ever since.
Prior to the digital age, the paper was done by cut and paste, printed on two-color newsprint, making up 16 pages. Everything was done from the outside, Burns paying various people for stories and photos.
But times have changed and now much of the reporting and writing can be done in one place, which is cost efficient for Carlson.
A major roadblock for IAN along the way has been advertisers’ unwillingness to purchase ads. Carlson explains that nobody wanted to purchase ad space the first two times he approached them after he took over the paper. The third time was the charm, and finally they started buying.
Carlson says he has a hard time getting advertisers to realize how useful the publication can be to them in print and online. They often put up a defense, and it is his job to open up the lines of communication. His strategy for overcoming such barriers is to see people in person. He says calling and or emailing them is the lazy way to do it.
“Mainstream newspapers have made a big mess for us,” he says and blames the larger publications for throwing money at the Internet before they knew what to do with it.
He recounts the story of how newspapers then suffered steep financial losses and had to fire their reporters, compromising journalistic integrity and making wrong moves afterwards.
His Survival Strategy
All of this has not contributed to a thriving situation for a concentrated media outlet like the Irish American News or other like-minded publications.
IAN’s strategy for keeping interest in the paper is to report on as much as they can, and stay connected with the various Irish groups in the community.
Recently they participated in an event called IBAM Chicago, Irish Book Art and Music celebration, which was a three-day event that took place over the Celtic holiday. (Oct. 30- Nov. 1) This was a successful event, and Carlson plans to work further with the Irish American Heritage Center and the Gaelic Park to create awareness for the facilities and promote the Irish culture.
“We try to marry the web to the paper,” says Carlson, “and that seems to be working so far.” Carlson explains that the way to keep readers coming back to the publication is to offer a little something for everyone; you can’t cater to any particular niche. Everything Irish is the way to go. IAN prints about 25,000 papers per month, with an estimated 100,000 readers.
Carlson has also formed a group with 10 other Irish newspapers across the nation as well as started an Irish book club. The Irish book club have become a place to find the largest variety of Irish specific books, and the website appears in each of the affiliated papers. Indeed, the website has been a success since it was started approximately 6 months ago.
Though there are many stories Carlson would like to cover, he realizes he cannot do it all on his own. And though the recession may have stalled the paper’s march forward, Carlson says things are looking better lately.
And that alone is good news.
Angela Evans is an intern with the Community Media Workshop
