Some encouraging news on community newspapers.

Thanks to Mark Comerford for this link from a piece by the suburban newspapers of America.(SNA)

They report that

community newspapers continue to experience only a slight downturn in advertising revenues, contrary to industry-wide reported trends, according to third quarter 2008 financial data collected by the trade associations — Suburban Newspapers of America (SNA) and the National Newspaper Association (NNA). The SNA/NNA financial reporting group reports total ad revenue at $394 million, a 1.7% decline from the same quarter in 2007. As a point of comparison, NAA has reported an overall decline of 18% for the industry in the third quarter

According to figures from the SNA there are more than 10 million in circulation with annual revenues of $2b.

A good ground for continued success and SNA President Nancy Lane says

Local advertisers continue to value the hyper-local news and desirable local audience provided by community newspapers,Community papers are affected by the current economic downturn but they are not in a crisis; in fact, there are some that are showing growth.