CENTRAL IOWA NEWSPAPER RANKINGS

The following rankings were derived using proven algorithms and methods applied to a huge data base and other sources of information.  As discussed previously, the methods passed the test of Governor Vilsack's professional, performance improvement consultants, to the Governor's chagrin.

The rankings show, as did the rankings of Northwest Iowa newspapers, the smaller newspapers are far more integrous and efficient.  Bigger is not better, just as bigger schools are not better.  The  bigger schools and newspapers have totally squandered their opportunity to realize economies of scale.  Their management's have no idea of realization factors, routinely used by those making performance improvements--nor any idea of the use of these 'P' words to produce quality outputs and results: 1) PURPOSE  2) PRIORITIES 3) PLANS  4) PROCESSES  5) PERFORMANCE  6) PRODUCTIVITY  7) PROGRESS AND  8) PROFIT, for a  business.   At best, their plans are little more than a list of things to do.  

The numbers in the table show the  Hubbard South Hardin Signal-Review to be the best overall Central Iowa Newspaper, barely edging out the outstanding Marshalltown Times Republican .  The Signal-Review is small, similar to the one-room country school houses that taught students discipline and academics so well, when Iowa was truly a leader in education.  

Like schools at that time, the newspaper is operated by honest, hard-working, multi-talented, multi-tasking  people who know exactly what needs to be done, and how to do it.  They understand what readers need to know--and meet that need efficiently.  They are not distracted by garbage news--nor will they carry it.  They know the difference between 'more' and 'better', and 'change' and 'improve!  The integrity and value of the newspaper is so high, and the price so low, that subscribers and advertisers could pay over twice the price and still have a bargain.   

As usual with such newspapers--its customers do not realize how good it is.  They are more apt to take it for granted, and then complain loudly about its demise--after it closes its doors.   Similarly, some businesses do not recognize the goodness in small Iowa towns--and mistakenly shun them, at substantial loss.

Kudos to Ed and Carolyn Dorsey, for managing and operating a successful newspaper, as its publisher and editor--without a CEO, managing editor, columnist, reporter, editorial page editor, features editor, advertising manager, circulation manager, production manager--and for sure without a self proclaimed, Information Content Conductor, such as at the Cedar Rapids Gazette.   Please compare the Signal-Review with the Iowa Newspaper Association (INA), the Cedar Rapids Gazette, and Des Moines Register in the table farther below.  

Under no circumstances would the Signal-Review advise Iowa school officials to "go ahead and break the law' or to "dumb the tests and keep two sets of school books" as those two newspapers did--on their shrinking pages.   Similarly, those two newspapers have yet to see a tax increase they didn't like.  Integrity runs steady and deep at the Signal-Review--and the numbers in this table show it.  

64% OF CENTRAL IOWA NEWSPAPERS HAVE SIGNIFICANT INTEGRITY & the Adel Dallas County News made the most overall improvement in the past year.
COUNTY	INTEGRITY INDEX RANK	OPERATING EFFICIENCY  RANK	CENTRAL IOWA NEWSPAPERS	INTEGRITY INDEX LEVEL BASED ON ETHICS & MORALS PRINCIPLES, ON A SCALE OF 0 TO 1,000 TOPS.  Significant Integrity Starts at Level 300	AVG. YEAR-TO-DATE, 12-31-08 OPERATING EFFICIENCY
MARSHALL	1	4	Marshalltown Times Republican	790	56%
HARDIN	2	1	Hubbard South Hardin Signal-Review	780	59%
STORY	3	10	Slater Tri-County Times	770	54%
HAMILTON	4	5	Webster City Daily Freeman-Journal	760	56%
STORY	6	6	Nevada Journal	760	56%
MARSHALL	5	8	State Center Mid Iowa Enterprise	760	55%
WEBSTER	7	11	Fort Dodge Messenger	755	54%
MARION	8	9	Pella Chronicle	750	55%
STORY	9	13	Story City Herald	750	53%
WARREN	10	14	Indianola Record-Herald & Tribune	750	53%
DALLAS	11	2	Adel Dallas Co. News	740	58%
WARREN	13	20	Norwalk N. Warren Town & County News	710	49%
JASPER	14	3	Colfax Jasper Co. Tribune	705	58%
DALLAS	12	18	Woodward NE Dallas Co. Record	700	52%
GRUNDY	15	15	Reinbeck Courier	670	53%
STORY	17	16	Ames Tribune	670	53%
MARION	18	12	Pleasantville Marion Co. News	650	54%
MADISON	16	17	Winterset Madisonian	640	53%
GRUNDY	19	19	Grundy Center Register	605	52%
BOONE	20	22	Ogden Reporter	520	47%
HARDIN	21	21	Iowa Falls Times-Citizen	480	49%
HAMILTON	22	23	Jewell South Hamilton Record-News	420	44%
BOONE	23	24	Boone News-Republican	410	44%
WARREN	24	27	Carlisle Citizen	405	40%
HARDIN	26	26	Ackley World Journal	320	43%
GRUNDY	25	31	Conrad Record	320	33%
STORY	27	30	Ames Iowa State Daily	310	36%
HARDIN	28	25	Iowa Falls Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman	270	44%
HARDIN	30	28	Eldora Herald-Ledger	260	38%
HARDIN	29	29	Eldora Hardin Co. Index	260	37%
MARION	31	33	Knoxville Journal-Express	260	31%
WEBSTER	33	36	Gowrie News	250	26%
WEBSTER	32	32	Dayton Review	245	33%
JASPER	34	37	Newton Daily News	220	25%
MADISON	37	7	Earlham Advocate	210	56%
DALLAS	35	38	Perry Chief	210	23%
JASPER	36	39	Prairie City News	210	22%
JASPER	38	34	Monroe Legacy	205	30%
MADISON	39	42	Altoona Herald-Mitchellville Index	170	17%
POLK	41	35	Des Moines Register	160	29%
JASPER	40	41	Sully Diamond Trail News	160	20%
BOONE	42	40	Madrid Register-News	150	22%

 

THERE IS NO INTEREST IN HAVING NEWSPAPER INTEGRITY AWARDS--FOR OBVIOUS REASONS!
DESCRIPTION	AVG. INTEGRITY INDEX LEVEL BASED ON ETHICS AND MORALS PRINCIPLES, SCALE 0 TO 1,000 TOPS.  Significant Integrity Starts at 300.	AVG. YEAR-TO-DATE, 12-31-08 OPERATING EFFICIENCY
IOWA NEWSPAPER FOUNDATION	220	18%
IOWA NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION	180	34%
DES MOINES REGISTER	160	29%
CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE	130	29%
IOWA NEWSPAPER ASSOC. AWARDS SELECTION PROCESS	5	NA

Anyone claiming to have better numbers is asked to provide them for evaluation and comparison. 

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