Romenesko

Wall Street Journal
With web companies beginning to dominate the market for local ads online, newspapers are hiring sales teams that specialize in the digital market and creating new editorial packages to sell. "Local media companies, because they are based in the communities they serve, would seem to have an edge over Internet sellers when it comes to persuading the diner or corner hardware store to take out an ad," writes Emily Steel. But instead of tailoring their sales to local businesses, many publishers initially focused on selling ads to big advertisers who were already buying space in their print editions.