Campus papers are well-read, and advertisers are noticing

Mainstream newspapers are up against dwindling circulation and shrinking advertising revenues, but college papers have become hot commodities.

Spurred by research indicating that about 76 percent of the 6 million full-time US undergraduates read their campus papers at least occasionally, big corporations and advertisers are latching on to student-run publications.

One of the most notable examples of the trend occurred in late summer, when a subsidiary of MTV, one of the country's best-known youth brands and part of the Viacom entertainment empire, bought College Publisher, a company that runs websites for about 450 college papers.

So solid are the economic prospects for the student-run newspaper at Florida State University, FSView & Florida Flambeau, that it was acquired in August by a mainstream newspaper, the Tallahassee Democrat.

"There's no more local paper than a campus paper," said Dina Pradel, general manager of Y2M, which founded College Publisher in 1999.

She said that while large urban newspapers are trying to woo younger readers, college papers have a ready-made audience willing to read news about their immediate environment and to be tempted by ads targeted to them.

The typical campus audience they cater to, she said, is "a very attractive demographic," a group whose members will spend $1 million or more in buying things and services over a lifetime. While in college, many students will make major first-time purchasing decisions -- cars, insurance, electronics -- a market advertisers covet.

The health of campus papers is due also, in part, to the explosive growth of the Internet and Web-based advertising, much of it aimed at the young. About 600 campus papers publish online editions, and advertisers have been quick to exploit their potential. Many campus newspaper websites carry ads from national chains and other big-ticket companies.

And students are checking in.

A recent survey by Student Monitor, which tracks the buying habits, concerns, and activities of students nationwide, showed that while students watch an average of 10 hours of TV a week, they spend 15 hours a week online.

At the same time, college students still read the papers' print editions. A Student Monitor study says 76 percent of college students surveyed during the spring semester this year read one out of the previous five print editions of their campus paper.

That number has been roughly consistent for almost two decades, never falling below the high 60s, said Eric Weil of Student Monitor, which twice a year surveys 1,200 full-time students on 100 four-year campuses.

The difference now, he said, is that 38 percent of students regularly read an online edition of their campus paper, and they spend an average of 19 minutes doing so, Weil said.

Readers of campus newspapers inhabit somewhat insulated ecosystems, with their own news, personalities and events, so picking up a free copy or browsing for its content online is, for many students, almost automatic.

"We have a captive audience," said Brian Stelter, in his third year as editor of the Towerlight, at Towson University in Maryland.

Students "have a massive amount of buying power," said Jason Bakker, marketing director at Campus Media Group, a Minnesota marketing company that helps ad agencies reach high school and college students.