NewsBeat

July 2023 NewsBeat 4 By JUDY PATRICK 'Really strong content' is the engine powering the Times Review Media Group lishes three Long Island news brands (The Suffolk Times, Riverhead News-Re- view and Shelter Island Reporter) and three lifestyle magazines (northforker, southforker and the Long Island Wine Press). Andrew serves as publisher, Sar- ah as an editor. At Chapel Hill, they spoke about lessons learned as well as the challeng- W hen the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Family Enterprise Center was look- ing for an expert to talk about a fami- ly-owned media company, they turned to Andrew and Sarah Olsen. The husband-and-wife team own the Times Review Media Group, which pub- The Times Review' Media Group's Northforker Wine & Food Classic celebrate local restaurants, wineries and breweries. Publisher Andrew Olsen is at center. es faced since acquiring the company from Sarah's parents, Joan and Troy Gustavson, in 2013. Before assuming ownership, Sarah and Andrew worked in New York City, he in advertising, she in public relations and publishing. Their challenges have been much like the challenges faced by hundreds of other media companies in the last decade: Rising production costs, dramatic shift in its advertising based and a shrinking audience. In their first decade, the Olsens have worked to reinvent their business mod- el. The key, said Andrew, is differentiat- ing themselves with quality content. They've had some success. Times Review publications, with strong writ- ing, photography and design, have won stacks of awards. The strategy is to burnish the publications' reputation for quality content by reducing costs in other areas. "Really strong content: That's the engine," he said. From a practical perspective, that's a financial challenge. Producing quality content is "a very, very labor-intensive business," he said. More than half of the 32 people on staff are dedicated to editorial. Sustaining that requires a strong base. "That's the part of the business that's most challenging," he said. Andrew Olsen likens shepherding his company through this tumultuous era to a giant puzzle he has to solve. He's finding the task intriguing. "I love what I do and I love the mission," he said. To maintain the core mission the company has, for example, moved into smaller offices and digitized the once laborious classified ad production process. They've also had some gains on the advertising front, where sales volume is up. The Times Review Media Group's

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