Buoyed by a pre-Christmas flurry of large newspaper chains signing on, the second phase of the ComBase (Community Newspapers Database) study is now in the field with more than 300 community newspapers participating.

Most of the new support came in December with the signing of papers from three British Columbia chains. New members include 12 papers from the MetroValley Newspaper Group (a subsidiary of Black Press) in the Lower Mainland; another 12 from CanWest’s VanNet group; and then three of Madison Publishing’s five B.C. papers.

In addition, eight Saskatchewan papers joined the project, five of them part of the Turner Warwick Group of Winnipeg.

The study, an initiative of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) in Toronto, was originally scheduled to be in the field this past September but a number of properties were changing hands so the CCNA decided on a delay in order to give as many papers as possible the chance to take part.

While David Stanger, ComBase chair, is elated by the growing countrywide support for ComBase, his mood is somewhat tempered by the fact that there are no community papers in Manitoba participating.

He says the reasons those publications have given for opting out is that they’re not convinced it will result in any national advertising for them and that, as small publishers, the venture is too expensive. (The ComBase membership fee is tiered with a sliding scale based on circulation.)

‘From my professional point of view as a media director, the decision not to participate sends a signal to a national audience that they don’t believe in their product,’ says Stanger, who is also managing partner of DSA Baron Communications of Vancouver and Calgary. ‘Whether that’s the signal they intend to send is secondary, but if you’re sitting in Toronto you’re going to ask yourself what have they got to hide, what have they got to worry about?’

In addition, Stanger says there has been great feedback from participants in last year’s pilot study with salespeople winning business from advertisers who were reluctant to buy prior to ComBase.

‘My interest in this as a media professional,’ says Stanger, ‘is that I’ve been striving to create a level playing field where I have the same analytical tools for every medium out there. Community newspaper is one of the top-five media in terms of share of spending, but the only one that didn’t have a national tool.’

The results of Phase One, a pilot study of five markets, have been available to subscribers of Harris Media Systems and IMS-Interactive Market Systems planning software since last July. Phase Two, the national rollout, is expected to be added to the systems in either September or October of this year.