Making Newspapers Profitable

Written by Kevin Miller

Profile: John C. Tompkins, President of News Media Corporation

faith_tompkins John C. Tompkins, President of News Media Corporation, must have been born with printer’s ink in his veins. Not only did both of his parents come from a newspaper background, from the moment John was old enough to ride a bike, he was working in the business, too. But John was not satisfied with simply working at a newspaper; he wanted to own a piece of the action for himself.

“I had read a book called The Young Millionaires and it talked about a lot of younger people in their twenties and early thirties who had built up large companies,” says John, “and that fascinated me, because to me, if somebody’s already done something, then I know it can be repeated.”

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Caught his vision

To prepare for his future career, John studied business in college while continuing to work part-time at his father’s newspaper. However, it was during a church service one morning that John finally caught hold of his vision.

“The pastor taught a sermon on the seven steps of success…very practical steps. And while I was sitting in the service, the whole blueprint for how to construct a national newspaper company just came to me.”

By then, John was married to his high school sweetheart Cindy. She recognized that he was more driven than most individuals.

“I can still see him sitting at the kitchen table in our first apartment with napkins all over, because he would make notes on napkins, papers, and books. He was putting together a plan. And so, from early on, I was used to him studying and preparing for that job.”

Once John had his strategy in place, the big question became how to get started. John found the answers he was looking for in Purdue University’s library. Says John, “I believe that everything is written down somewhere, and if you just look hard enough, you’ll find it.” Find it he did, everything from how to form a corporation, sell stock, and get other shareholders on board. Now all he needed was money – and a newspaper on which to spend it.

After borrowing money from family members and his bank, John purchased The Rochelle News Leader, a twice-weekly publication in Rochelle, Illinois. The deal also included a weekly paper in Oregon, Illinois. John and Cindy moved from Indiana to Rochelle so John could run the new business. They also brought along John’s younger brother Mike to help with editorial and circulation.

Getting to work

John was under pressure immediately, because the papers were losing money at a rate of about $40,000 per year. At a mere twenty-one years of age, John was also younger than everyone else on staff, so he had trouble earning their respect. Nevertheless, lay-offs, increased advertising revenues, and a lot of advice from his dad enabled John to make his newspaper profitable within the first year. Within four years, he had paid off his ten-year bank loan and purchased his mother’s shares in the company, giving himself majority ownership and the power to take his business in whatever direction he saw fit.

What John wanted most was to purchase more newspapers so he could reproduce the formula that had worked so well in Rochelle. After picking up two more newspapers and making them profitable as well, John was beginning to feel like he was finally getting somewhere.

Success…with attitude

But John’s success also began to affect him in other ways. “I was starting to feel pretty cocky about myself, pretty much like I was hot stuff, that I had arrived,” he says. Unfortunately, this attitude as well as John’s focus on his business, began to have a detrimental effect on his family life.

“I wasn’t the most sensitive guy at the time,” says John. “I had gotten even less sensitive because of my business success. I think I was getting further and further away from a dependence on God. The result was that my wife and I grew further and further apart.”

The stress on their marriage was compounded when John’s father was diagnosed with a brain tumor. John and Cindy were also in a bad car accident where someone was killed, and their son developed a near fatal lung condition. Finally, Cindy had enough. She asked John for a divorce.

Spinning out of control

When Cindy broke the news, John realized suddenly that his life had somehow spun out of control. His conflict with Cindy also began having a negative impact on his business as well.

“You must pay attention to details on these small newspapers, so if there’s any distraction from your focus on that, details start to slide. The people underneath you begin to realize you’re not watching, so they stop watching.”

Realizing things were quickly moving from bad to worse, John took decisive action.

“I went and saw a pastor. The minute I sat down with him, he told me what my problems were. It was like God was speaking right through him. A couple of them, I knew about already. But one of them – pride – was new to me. So I started to pray more, and I got my hands on a book about how to pray expecting results.”

Back on track with the desired results

Within two weeks, John got exactly the results he wanted: Cindy met with John and told him she wanted to get back together. John was elated.

“We both knew it was not God’s will to break a family up. He wants the father, mother and children to be together.” In an effort to rebuild their marriage, John and Cindy started attending a church in a nearby community. They went through counseling with the pastor and attended Bible studies. During the time their marriage was falling apart, they had pulled back from other Christians. Now they saw the church as the only hope for rescuing their floundering relationship.

With his personal life back on track, it was time for John to refocus on his business. Soon, he was back in a profit position and acquiring even more newspapers, all thanks to the new perspective he had gained by putting God first in his life.

Today, News Media Corporation employs 625 people. Total circulation is 307,000, which adds up to over one million readers. With 54 newspapers in total, News Media’s annual profits are in the millions and rising steadily. Despite his success, John is not afraid to admit to his own shortcomings along the way.

“I often say that I’ve made about every mistake you can make in business, some of them more than once. In spite of that…God kept pushing me along, even when I would turn my back on Him. So I can say that any great successes I have had have come strictly from God’s interference in my life – in a good way, that is.”

Could you use some godly “interference” in your life? If so, why not ask Jesus for help? If you don’t know Jesus, we encourage you to pray the following:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me be the person You want me to be.