Welcome to the first issue of Rough Draft: A Pinch of Pepper, my periodic Publisher’s Note that will include a peek behind the scenes at Rough Draft and will give some of my insights on the local media industry, with mini-explorations into what I’m doing around town.
We are using Substack for this newsletter to experiment with new platforms (more on that later). Like all of our content, this newsletter will be free.
Please let me know what you think via email: keith@roughdraft.news.
I acquired a group of hyperlocal newspapers in December 2020, and the venerable metro columnist at our major daily paper called me “a nut.” Most people probably agreed, whether they said so or not. Fair enough, as the conventional wisdom said that print was dead, and investors were avoiding media companies like the plague.
In many ways, that sentiment has not changed, and in some cases, the headwinds are stronger and the industry outlook is worse.
I’m not a risk taker, but I saw what Chick-fil-A’s Dan Cathy calls an “unexpected opportunity” to take a good brand and inject some energy, mostly in the form of an intentional digital strategy that would allow us to grow both audience and revenue.
Almost five years later, the team is delivering on our mission to provide the news communities need (local government, public safety, education) and the stories people crave (food, real estate, arts), while helping local businesses reach the audiences that matter most.
Through August, ad sales are up 15% over 2024, and, yes, we are profitable (People love to ask me this, and I always remind them that we can’t afford not to be!).
Our mix has shifted, and we are now 25% digital (up from <2% in 2020).
Q3 will be the company’s largest print revenue quarter since Q1 2018.
We're on pace to eclipse pre-pandemic numbers for the year.
Traffic to RoughDraftAtlanta.com is higher than ever, and Rough Draft content is reaching almost a million readers a month through print, web, social, and newsletters.
We send about 50,000 daily emails, and open rates are around 48%—nearly double the industry average.
The growth is fun and important, but I have a Post-it note on my desk with my personal goal, which is to build something that is “meaningful, not massive.” Last week at lunch in Dunwoody, a reader told me that “Rough Draft changed my life.” I’ll take it!
When we are not changing lives, we try to be good corporate citizens. By partnering with other media organizations (both for-profit and nonprofit), we help nurture an eclectic, thriving local media ecosystem in Atlanta, something my team has told me is “the most impactful thing we do at Rough Draft.”
We also reserve 10% of our digital ad inventory for nonprofits that we support, including Giving Kitchen, CHRIS 180, Atlanta Pride, Spruill Center for the Arts, ATL Jewish Film, the Decatur Book Festival, and the Book Festival of the MJCCA, to name a handful.
The media business is not for the faint of heart. Yes, there are many bright spots on the local side, but if you follow the industry at all, you’re probably familiar with the depressing stats from Northwestern, which notes that fewer than 5,600 newspapers remain in the country, with the collapse of print media outpacing previous predictions.
Federal funding to public media has been eliminated, and the economic roller coaster of 2025 has understandably made many businesses tighten their purse strings. Changing consumer behavior and technology make the distribution of content very tricky.
Recent reports from The Wall Street Journal (subscription), Axios, and influential industry website A Media Operator have heralded the resurgence of print.
As I noted above, our print revenue is still critical to Rough Draft’s operations. Without print, we’d be dramatically smaller, employ fewer journalists, pay less in taxes, and so on.
I think of print kinda like I think of vinyl. If you walk into my living room, my turntable and records are the main attraction (currently showing “52nd Street” by Billy Joel, more on that below). But let’s be honest. It’s a great lean-back experience, but whether we like it or not, technology makes it easier to consume music in a way that conforms to modern-day life.
That said, our print model is thriving surviving because of the quality of our content, our monthly cadence, and our direct mail distribution model. Remember a few paragraphs up when I was bragging about print revenue being up? The ugly side: Print costs have increased 71% since 2021!
Save for fantasyland vacation towns like Aspen, which has two daily papers, there are fewer and fewer use cases where a daily newspaper makes economic sense.
I say this with tremendous love and respect for the AJC — a media organization that we, as concerned citizens and media professionals, should all want to see thrive. They’re expanding with award-winning video and a robust podcast portfolio because they know that type of innovation is essential to their growth plans.
I recently heard an interview with New Yorker Editor David Remnick, who admitted that even he doesn’t get the Times delivered. When you lose the Upper West Side, you lose the country.
This is why it’s critical for us to continue to grow our newsletter audience. If you’re not subscribed to one of our newsletters, please click here to sign up.
What we are working on:
Covering the local elections, particularly the mayoral race in Sandy Springs, which is shaping up to be the most exciting race in the state.
A 20th Anniversary issue for the City of Sandy Springs.
How can we use AI tools to make our processes more efficient?
A FIFA World Cup newsletter and/or special print editions.
What I’m watching:
“The Bear, Season 4” - The Wedding episode (Ep. 6) may be the best hour of television in the last decade, and is a satisfying corrective emotional experience to the Christmas Eve (“Fishes”) episode from Season 2.
“Billy Joel: And So it Goes” - A captivating look at the ups & downs of the Piano Man.
“Landman” - It took a recovering alcoholic to make me try Michelob Ultra again.
“Hunting Wives” - Because sometimes you need a break from all the “ish,” as the kids say. (Don’t @ me if this is not what the kids actually say.)
What I’m reading:
“I Regret Almost Everything,” by Keith McNally - The mastermind behind some of New York’s most iconic restaurants writes a raw and engaging memoir.
“The Haves and the Have Yachts,” by Evan Osnos - The New Yorker writer’s somewhat nauseating tales of the ultra-rich.
Where I’m eating:
Sammy’s - The best sandwiches meet the best hospitality.
Banshee - Go with six people, order the whole menu.
Miller Union - It’s field pea and peanut season.
What I’m wondering:
Why doesn’t Georgia have front license plates? Seems like an uncontroversial crime-reduction idea.
When will people at Hartsfield-Jackson learn to stand on the right and walk on the left on escalators?
Until next time, thanks for reading!
- KP (keith@roughdraft.news)
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