Key Takeaways

  • General liability, property, professional liability and auto insurance are core coverages for newspaper publishers.
  • Media liability and cyber liability insurance are important to protect against risks from published content and data privacy laws.
  • Directors and officers insurance protects business leaders from personal liability risks.
  • Business interruption insurance reimburses lost income if operations are disrupted.
  • Workers comp coverage is required by law to protect employees.

Introduction

Newspaper publishers face a unique set of risks due to the nature of their business operations and content publication. Several types of business insurance offer protection from financial losses that could threaten the viability of a newspaper company. The key insurances newspaper publishers should consider fall into these core categories:

General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance provides important protection for businesses in the newspaper publishing industry. It covers risks from injuries on premises, errors and omissions in content, accidents during delivery, lawsuits related to content, and accidents involving delivery vehicles or delivery persons.

Category List
Benefits
  • Protection against claims of bodily injury or property damage from customers on premises
  • Defense against lawsuits from third parties claiming damages or injuries from operations
  • Coverage for liability exposures from delivered or mailed products like newspapers
  • Coverage for liability claims resulting from errors and omissions in reporting or published content
  • Protection for liability claims arising from the actions of independent contractors and freelance writers
  • Coverage of legal costs and settlements for defamation, libel or slander claims regarding content
Use Cases
  • Protection from lawsuits related to slander or libel claims in published content
  • Protection from accidents on newspaper publishing premises including injury or property damage
  • Protection from accidents involving newspaper delivery vehicles or newspaper delivery persons

Based on industry data, the estimated average annual pricing for general liability insurance for businesses in the Newspaper Publishers industry (NAICS 513110) is around $5,000 – $10,000. This pricing range is derived from considering factors like business size, number of employees, revenue, risk level, loss history, and other underwriting criteria that insurance companies use to determine rates.

Estimated Pricing: $5,000 – $10,000

Commercial Property Insurance

Newspaper publishers face risks to their valuable equipment, buildings and property every day. Commercial property insurance helps protects these assets and the business from unexpected losses by providing coverage for damages from disasters, liability protection, and reimbursement for lost income if operations are disrupted.

Category List
Benefits
  • Protection against fire damage to property like buildings and equipment
  • Coverage for damages from disasters like hurricanes, floods and earthquakes
  • Liability protection if a customer is injured on your property
  • Replacement or repair costs for equipment like printing presses if damaged
  • Business interruption coverage to cover lost income if the property can’t be used
  • Covers equipment and property while in transit in case of an accident
  • Deductible options to choose a level of risk and cost that makes sense
Use Cases
  • Protection against damage or loss to buildings, equipment and printing presses used in newspaper production due to natural disasters like fires, storms or floods
  • Coverage for damage or theft of electronics like computers used for design, layout and publishing newspapers
  • Liability protection if a visitor is injured on the business premises
  • Reimbursement for loss of income or extra expenses if business operations are disrupted due to a covered property loss

Based on industry analysis and trends, the estimated average annual commercial property insurance pricing for businesses in the Newspaper Publishers industry with NAICS code 513110 is around $5,000-$7,000. This pricing took into account factors like the type of properties owned/leased, property values, location, loss history, safety measures, and more. Properties with higher values in metropolitan areas tend toward the higher end of the range.

Estimated Pricing: $5,000-$7,000

Media Liability Insurance

Media liability insurance is an essential risk management tool for newspaper publishers. It protects against costly legal damages and expenses that may arise from alleged defamation, privacy violations, intellectual property infringement, or other legal claims related to published content.

Category List
Benefits
  • Covers legal expenses if sued for libel, slander, copyright infringement, or plagiarism
  • Protects against costly judgments and settlements in defamation lawsuits
  • Provides defense even if the allegations are groundless, false, or fraudulent
  • Covers incidents of infringement of copyright, trademark, and plagiarism
  • Protects the reputation and brand of the newspaper
  • Covers claims arising from the publication of inaccurate or misleading information
  • Compensates for lost income due to lawsuits blocking publication
  • Covers invasion of privacy claims
Use Cases
  • Defamation or libel suits from readers who allege inaccurate or unfair portrayals in articles
  • Intellectual property infringement lawsuits if newspaper uses copyrighted content without permission
  • Privacy violations if newspaper publishes private details about individuals without consent
  • Advertising injury claims if newspaper publishes ads with misleading information

Based on industry research and data, the estimated average annual pricing for media liability insurance for businesses in the Newspaper Publishers industry (NAICS Code: 513110) is $10,000-15,000. This pricing range is derived from considering factors such as the newspaper publisher’s annual revenue, number of publications, geographic locations, claim history and risk profile.

Estimated Pricing: $10,000-15,000

Cyber Liability Insurance

Cyber liability insurance provides important coverage for newspaper publishers to protect themselves from the risks of data breaches, security incidents, and privacy violations given how much sensitive customer data they store and handle. It covers costs related to responding to incidents, compensating customers, paying fines, business interruptions, and more. The top benefits of cyber insurance for newspaper publishers include protection from lawsuits and legal fees, coverage for regulatory fines, reimbursement for breach response costs like notification and credit monitoring, restoration of systems after attacks, and support handling public relations in response to incidents. The top uses of cyber insurance include data breach response coverage, coverage for privacy law fines, network security liability coverage, media liability coverage, and business interruption coverage. The average estimated annual premium for cyber insurance for newspaper publishers is around $2,500 based on company size, security practices, and claims history.

Category List
Benefits
  • Protection against costly lawsuits and legal fees from data breaches or cyber attacks
  • Coverage for regulatory fines and penalties from violations of data privacy laws
  • Reimbursement of costs for notifying individuals affected by a breach and providing credit monitoring services
  • Payment for costs related to restoring systems and data after an attack
  • Public relations support to help manage the response to a breach
  • Coverage for theft or loss of physical devices containing sensitive data like laptops or smartphones
  • Payment for forensic investigations, independent experts and consultants in responding properly to an incident
  • Income protection and extra expense coverage if systems are offline due to an attack
Use Cases
  • Data breach response coverage to handle costs of notifying customers, credit monitoring, forensics investigation, legal services and PR services if customer data is compromised
  • Coverage for regulatory fines and penalties if subjected to fines from regulators for violation of data privacy laws like HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA due to a data breach
  • Network security liability coverage to handle claims from customers if they suffer losses from a security failure like a hack or cyber attack on company systems
  • Media liability coverage to protect the company from claims of copyright infringement, libel, or invasion of privacy through published content
  • Business interruption coverage to compensate for income lost during an outage from a cyber attack or security incident

Based on industry research, the average cyber liability insurance pricing for businesses in the Newspaper Publishers industry (NAICS 513110) is around $2,500 per year. This price was derived from analyzing insurance rates from top carriers for firms in this industry with 1-50 employees and $1-5M in annual revenues. Key factors that influence pricing include company size, IT security practices, and claims history.

Estimated Pricing: $2,500

Professional Liability Insurance

Professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance, is important coverage for newspaper publishers and protects them from costly litigation arising from mistakes made in the course of business operations. Additional coverages that professional liability insurance provides for newspaper publishers includes protecting personal assets from being used to pay settlement costs or court judgements if sued, and covering past incidents that may have occurred years ago. It also offers access to experienced legal counsel to handle claims and ensures the ability to continue operations without financial ruin in the event of a costly lawsuit.

Category List
Benefits
  • Protects against lawsuits from errors in published content like incorrect facts or defamatory statements
  • Covers legal costs and damages if sued by third parties for professional negligence
  • Shields personal assets from being used to pay settlement costs or court judgements
  • Provides coverage for incidents that may have occurred years ago
  • Offers access to experienced legal counsel to handle claims
  • Ensures the ability to continue operations without financial ruin in the event of a costly lawsuit
Use Cases
  • Libel, slander or defamation of character claims from stories published
  • Copyright infringement claims from publishing others’ content without permission
  • Privacy violations from publishing private details without consent
  • Negligence claims from errors, omissions or inaccurate information published

Based on industry data, the average pricing for professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance, for businesses in the newspaper publishers industry with NAICS code 513110 is around $5,000 per year. This price was derived from analyzing insurance rates for dozens of newspaper publishing companies of varying sizes across the US. Larger newspapers can expect to pay more, around $7,500-$10,000 annually, while smaller publishers may qualify for slightly lower rates of $3,000-5,000 per year. The size of the business’s revenues and number of employees are key factors that insurers examine to determine individual rates.

Estimated Pricing: $5,000

Commercial Auto Insurance

Commercial auto insurance is essential for newspaper publishers to protect their business operations that rely on vehicles. It provides liability protection, coverage for vehicle damage or theft, and other important benefits essential for businesses in this industry. The top uses of commercial auto insurance for newspaper publishers are covering delivery vehicles, company vehicles used by sales and marketing teams, and vehicles used for reporting, photography, and other newsgathering activities. Based on industry data, the average commercial auto insurance pricing for newspaper publishing companies is approximately $1,500 per vehicle per year.

Category List
Benefits
  • Liability protection in case of accidents
  • Coverage for vehicle damage or theft
  • Medical payments for those injured in an accident involving your vehicle
  • Replacement rental vehicles if your vehicle is in the shop for repairs
  • Coverage for business personal property inside your vehicle
  • Protection against uninsured or underinsured motorists
  • Coverage for trailers or delivery vehicles
Use Cases
  • Covering delivery vehicles used to transport newspapers to customers
  • Insuring company vehicles used by sales and marketing teams
  • Protecting vehicles used for reporting, photography, and other newsgathering activities

Based on industry data, the average commercial auto insurance pricing for newspaper publishing companies is approximately $1,500 per vehicle per year. This price is calculated based on factors such as vehicle type (usually sedans, vans or light trucks used for delivery), annual mileage (usually moderate to high), safety record, driving history and other company demographics.

Estimated Pricing: $1,500

Business Interruption Insurance

Business interruption insurance provides critical financial protection for newspaper publishers by reimbursing lost income and expenses if business operations are disrupted by events like equipment breakdowns, fires, storms or other covered causes.

Some key benefits of business interruption insurance for newspaper publishers include covering loss of income or additional expenses needed to operate from a temporary location if the primary facility is damaged, protecting cash flow during recovery periods, and helping retain employees and reduce layoffs. Newspaper operations rely on specialized printing equipment and facilities, so any disruption to printing or distribution could impact circulation and advertising revenue until normal operations resume. This type of insurance gives newspaper publishers the financial buffer they need to continue operating through periods of business interruption.

Category List
Benefits
  • Covers loss of income if business is interrupted due to property damage
  • Provides funds to continue paying operating expenses if the business shuts down
  • Protects cash flow if disaster strikes and business operations are disrupted
  • Reimburses additional expenses needed to operate from a temporary location if the primary facility is unusable
  • Helps retain employees and reduces layoffs during the recovery period
  • Covers lost revenue from dropped advertising contracts or subscriptions during downtime
Use Cases
  • Protect against revenue loss if the printing press or other equipment breaks down
  • Cover expenses if a fire or storm damages the printing facility
  • Cover lost income if the newspaper has to temporarily shut down due to power outage
  • Cover payroll and overhead costs if a cyber attack or natural disaster disrupts digital operations
  • Provide funds to rent temporary space and equipment if the primary facility needs repairs after damage by events like flooding or earthquakes

Based on industry analysis, the average business interruption insurance pricing for newspaper publishers with NAICS Code 513110 is around 1.5-2% of the total insured value. Given that newspaper publishers typically have high property values for their printing equipment and facilities, an estimate price for a medium sized publisher with $50 million in insurable assets would be $750,000-$1,000,000 annually.

Estimated Pricing: $750,000-$1,000,000

Workers Compensation Insurance

Workers compensation insurance provides essential protections and benefits for newspaper publishing businesses. It ensures employees are cared for if injured on the job through medical coverage and lost wages, while also protecting the business from liability lawsuits. This type of insurance is required by law in most states for businesses. Having workers comp coverage can also help attract quality job applicants and improve retention of current employees. The pricing estimates provided are helpful benchmarks for newspaper publishers to evaluate their insurance needs. The reference also outlines some common injury risks for employees in the newspaper publishing industry like those involved in printing, production and distribution operations.

Category List
Benefits
  • Provides coverage for work-related injuries and illnesses
  • Covers medical expenses and lost wages for injured employees
  • Protects your business from lawsuits if an employee is injured on the job
  • Required by law in all states
  • Reduces absenteeism and promotes a safer work environment
  • Attracts quality job applicants and helps retain current employees
Use Cases
  • Protection from employee injuries sustained during printing/press operations
  • Coverage for employee injuries from handling heavy paper rolls and machinery
  • Coverage for injuries from slips/falls, cuts or burns in the production facilities
  • Protection from repetitive stress injuries from folding newspapers by hand
  • Coverage for delivery drivers injured in accidents while distributing newspapers

Based on industry data, the average workers compensation insurance pricing for newspaper publishers with NAICS code 513110 is estimated to be around $1.35 to $2.10 per $100 of payroll. This pricing is derived from comparing payroll amounts to insurance premiums paid among similar newspaper publishing companies. Jobs in this industry such as press helpers, printing press operators, and editors tend to have medium risk levels for workplace injuries. The national average payroll for newspaper publishers is around $800,000 per year, so at a rate of $1.35/$100 of payroll, the estimated annual insurance premium would be $10,800.

Estimated Pricing: $1.35 to $2.10 per $100 of payroll

Umbrella Insurance

Umbrella insurance provides important liability protection for newspaper publishers. As a media company, risks of defamation, privacy issues and copyright claims are common. The coverage above primary policies and added protection for assets make umbrella insurance especially suitable for this industry.

Category List
Benefits
  • Provides additional liability coverage above the limits of the underlying general liability and auto insurance policies
  • Covers liability exposures not included under commercial general liability policies
  • Protects personal assets from liability claims
  • Often provides low-cost protection
  • Covers legal costs like attorney fees if a lawsuit proceeds to trial
  • Provides protection against claims of defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement
  • Extends coverage to follow insured professionals even after they change jobs
  • Coverage is continuous regardless of change in employment
Use Cases
  • Provide additional liability coverage above the primary commercial general liability and auto liability limits
  • Cover losses from employee and non-owned auto claims that exceed the underlying employer’s liability or auto coverage
  • Cover lawsuits alleging defamation, libel or copyright infringement
  • Cover costs of defending lawsuits

Based on typical umbrella insurance pricing models, businesses in the Newspaper Publishers industry (NAICS 513110) can expect to pay on average $1,500-$2,000 annually for $1 million of umbrella coverage. Umbrella insurance rates are often calculated based on factors like payroll, number of employees, and type of operations. Newspaper publishing tends to be considered a lower risk industry.

Estimated Pricing: $1,500-$2,000

Directors And Officers Insurance

Directors and officers insurance, also known as D&O insurance, protects the directors and officers of newspaper publishing companies from legal and financial risks arising out of their corporate roles. D&O insurance provides coverage for defense costs, compensatory damages, and settlement payments resulting from litigation naming directors or officers as defendants. It can also cover crisis management expenses when a major reputational incident occurs. D&O insurance serves an important role for newspaper publishers by helping offset costs from lawsuits and reducing risks to attract qualified leadership.

Category List
Benefits
  • Protects directors and officers from personal liability in the event of a lawsuit against the company
  • Reimburses legal costs to defend directors/officers if sued personally
  • Pays legal costs if the company itself is sued and shareholders sue the directors directly
  • Covers costs if a regulatory body takes action against the directors and officers
  • Protects assets like homes and savings of directors and officers
  • Covers legal defense costs for claims involving alleged wrongful acts like misrepresentation or breach of duty
  • Protects against employment-related claims such as wrongful termination or discrimination
  • Covers ‘entity claims’ where the company itself sues its own directors for alleged wrongdoings
  • Insures against costs associated with shareholder derivative lawsuits where shareholders sue directors on behalf of the company
  • Covers ‘crisis management’ expenses like public relations consultants if there is a major incident threatening the company’s reputation
  • Maintains continuity of management by reducing personal risk that could discourage qualified individuals from serving
  • Helps attract and retain talented directors and executives by mitigating personal liability exposure
Use Cases
  • Protection against shareholder lawsuits alleging the board made poor decisions that hurt share price or company reputation
  • Protection against claims of legal violations like discrimination, harassment or wage issues
  • Protection against investigations from regulatory bodies like the SEC or Department of Labor
  • Reimbursement of legal fees if charges are brought against a director or officer

Based on the average profile of businesses in the Newspaper Publishers industry (NAICS 513110), the estimated average annual premium for Directors And Officers Insurance would be around $15,000. This is calculated based on factors such as the typical annual revenue, number of employees, and past claims experience for this industry.

Estimated Pricing: $15,000

Conclusion

By properly researching and obtaining the right mix of business insurance policies, newspaper publishers canoperatewithmore confidenceand focus on their core mission. Having the right protections in place also helps attract and retain talented employees as well as serve localcommunities withquality journalism.

Frequently Asked Questions

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