Blank Slate launches new papers

Bill San Antonio

Blank Slate Media announced Thursday that it will be launching two new newspapers with the publication of the Manhasset Times and Roslyn Times.

The Manhasset Times and Roslyn Times will join the Great Neck News, the New Hyde Park Herald Courier and the Williston Times as papers published by Blank Slate Media, bringing the group total to five. The company has also has a Web site – islandnow.net.

Steven Blank, owner and publisher of Blank Slate Media, said the Manhasset Times and the Roslyn Times will fill a void in both communities for professionally written and edited publications. The Manhasset Times will serve all of the villages and hamlets of Manhasset, while the Roslyn Times will do the same for Roslyn in addition to also covering Old Westbury.

“The Manhasset Times and the Roslyn Times will provide daily newspaper-quality -coverage of the things most important to readers in Roslyn and Manhasset– where they live, where their kids go to school and where they are going out this evening.” Blank said.  “In providing that type of coverage, we have also become a strong vehicle for businesses to reach their customers and prospective customers.”

“That formula of editorial excellence and local focus has been the key to success at the Great Neck News, the New Hyde Park Herald Courier and the Williston Times,” Blank added. “And we expect it will receive a similar reception with these new publications as well.”

Blank Slate Media, which is based Williston Park, recently leased additional office space to accommodate new staff members for the two new newspapers as well as further expansion.

Blank said the two new newspapers and expanded office space will enable Blank Slate Media to become more efficient in its operations, while offering expanded coverage to its readers and opportunities to reach new readers to its advertisers.

Blank purchased the Great Neck News, the New Hyde Park Herald Courier and the Williston Times from Litmor Publications in March of 2010.

Since then, the three newspapers have become the No. 1 source of news information in the communities they cover and the most cost-effective way for local businesses to reach their audience.

To strengthen Blank’s relationship with his advertising partners, Blank Slate Media teamed up with Litmor Publications to form the Blank Slate/Litmor Advertising Group, extending the media group’s reach to include the Garden City News, the Syosset Advance, the Jericho Syosset News Journal, the Bethpage Newsgram and the Mid-Island Times.

The group allows advertisers to work with only one person to reach all 10 communities. In addition, agreements with other newspaper groups allow group advertisers to also reach the South Shore and all of Queens.

Blank had worked for 10 years as a daily newspaper editor and reporter. His last reporting job was an investigative reporter for the Kansas City Star. 

After leaving the Star, Blank worked as vice president at SaveMart, a then 32-store electronics business his family owned. In his three years there, he eventually took over the day-to-day store operations, learning the processes behind purchasing product and advertising for the company.  

“It gave me to get a firsthand education of how a retail business operates from the ground up,” he said. “It gave me the chance to visit stores throughout the area and meet with salespeople and learn how to run a business.”

When Blank returned to the journalism in 1989, he combined his two professional areas of expertise, becoming the owner and publisher of TimesLedger Newspapers after purchasing the Bayside Times and the Little Neck Ledger . According to Blank, the media group grew to 16 newspapers covering all parts of Queens and earned more than 200 awards for reporting excellence during his time there. 

In 2006, he sold the TimesLedger Newspapers to News Corp., 

Blank stayed on as editor and publisher for two more years, as the company integrated with newspapers in Brooklyn and the Bronx to form the Community Newspaper group.  

Even though daily newspapers and other print publications have struggled financially, Blank’s weekly newspapers have grown due mainly to their strict attention to covering individual towns and focusing on subjects that directly affect the people that live in them, he said.

“The problems of daily newspapers have been well documented,” Blank said. “But weekly newspapers have continued to grow based on providing coverage of the things most important to readers.”

In addition to providing local news coverage to North Shore communities, Blank Slate Media also works with local businesses to extend their presence in the community to customers and potential customers alike.

“By having a separate newspaper for each community we cover, advertisers are able to target the audience they’re trying to reach and not have to pay for the audience they don’t want to reach,” Blank said.

Blank, a Roslyn Heights resident, has lived on the North Shore since 1994 with his wife and two children. 

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