Newspapers, reeling from slumping ads, slash jobs

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: Yahoo Finance

The increasingly rapid and broad decline in the newspaper business in recent months has surprised even the most pessimistic financial analysts, many of whom say it's too hard to tell how far the slump will go.

"They're in survival mode now," said Mike Simonton, a media analyst at Fitch Ratings, a credit analysis agency.

"We had very grim expectations for the sector," Simonton said, and publishers have either met or surpassed his estimates for how bad the results would be.

Last week alone, deep staff cuts were announced at The Hartford Courant and The (Baltimore) Sun -- two Tribune papers -- as well as at the Daytona Beach-Journal, while The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press said they hoped to reduce the head count in their joint operations by 7 percent through buyouts. The Boston Herald said up to 160 employees would be laid off as it outsourced its printing operations, and in a memo explaining the terms of its job security pledge, the Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., said it is operating in the red. The week before, McClatchy Co. said companywide staff cuts of 10 percent were coming.



Read more: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080629/newspapers_cutbacks.html

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Maybe, if they actually printed news

instead of fluff and propaganda, people would read them. My paper is good for nothing but cupons on shit I don't need.

[PSPS]

2. That's because they're trying to sell something nobody wants

Newspapers today only print that which will serve their financial interest. Advertisers hold sway over the editorial content, and their other "reporting" consists of copying a handout or press release into story form (provided it gets the prior imprimatur of the advertising department.)

[Mist]

3. All the consolidation has dumbed down the papers--real news is on the internet. It makes

me sad to remember the New York Times years ago--I cut my teeth as a newspaper reader back when it was
actually a good paper.

[CatholicEdHead]

12. And most good news comes from overseas now

Since there are only a few good domestic news wires. We need to go outside to look in with overseas sources that are well funded and cover the USA (e.g. BBC, CBC, ABC.au).

[LaStrega]

4. You're both correct.

The rag for which I work has tried a "home grown - local" spin. Which is working brilliantly.

Not.

The most read section of the STrib is the obituaries. Obits also, coincidentally (not), carry the highest paid space per column tab (outside of four-color).

In the last year, over 700 people have accepted buyouts. More are coming.

My days are numbered.

[summer borealis]

8. All great points

Watch how fast these rightwing corporate rags drop the "all local news" horseshit when Obama's in the WH and there's trouble. They ate up the Lewinsky bullshit then once Bush/Cheney drove the country to hell, all they wanted was local news.

Fuck every newspaper to hell. They've lost not because of a lack of immediacy but because of a dumbed-down, fearful, corporate-stained lack of content that continues to fade every day.

[natrat]

11. yea too bad that isn't happening to tv news as well

[LaStrega]

15. check this out:

As I posted in my journal, there's a new contender in town. I think it sounds promising.

[Diane R]

5. They have no one to blame, but themselves. Many of them (mine included) print self-serving propagan

Spokane Washington. The Spokesman Review. Owned by a family that has controlled all business interests, and all media for well over a centure. The newspaper is owned by the Cowles family, the city is owned by the Cowles family. Using their newspaper and their political clout, they have recently swindled the taxpayers (we're a poor city because they've succeeded in keeping wages low) out of up to 70 million dollars...and stolen our HUD funds to pay for their private upscale mall.

The 'news' in that paper is crap, and always slanted to their advantage. When newspaper publishers stop thinking the paper is their own propaganda machine...they might get some readers.

[iamahaingttta]

6. It's the Craigslist effect.

Nobody looks at classified ads anymore, which used to be a cashcow for newspapers.
It's all on craigslist now.

Regular advertising is suffering because people don't have as much money to spend.
And that's because newspapers don't print anything at all related to reality.
It's all bullshit and propaganda...

[Ivan Sputnik]

7. Vicious circle and downward spiral

They cut staff, which leads to fluff content and declining readership. So they deal with that by cutting staff.... The death rattle is getting louder.

[L0oniX]

9. I quit reading the local St Pete Times about 5 years ago ...nothing but ads in it....

and I got tired of having to weed through the shit to find what little biased news was in it. I don't miss it at all.

[defendandprotect]

10. I cancelled my NY Times when they took on Rove . . . disgusting!!!

They were pretty much long, long finished ---

I wasn't even monitoring them -- we weren't barely looking at it ---

[roseBudd]

13. what does this sentence mean? just two major publishers have investment-grade debt under S&P's

ratings -- Gannett Co. and The New York Times Co.

[Maureen1322]

14. Canceled our local paper when the editor wrote an op-ed supporting torture.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

19. cancelled NYT once, but got it again, until they hired Kristol. No more. never.

[ccinamon]

16. I cancelled my subscription 5 years ago to the Star-Telegram, I told

them, both in email and over the phone when they called, to let me know when they decide to be a true newspaper and tell BOTH sides of the story.....not just the Bush/Republican side, and I would resubscribe. Still haven't heard from them, still haven't read them since I cancelled.

Idon't even buy it for the coupons, as the coupons expire way to soon, and they rarely have coupons for anything I use.

[Kahuna]

17. The Star Ledger (Newark) used to be an excellent paper. Now?

fish wrap.

[tanyev]

18. I buy the Sunday paper every week (Dallas Morning News)

and for the last few months, I've noticed that there seem to be fewer and fewer pages. No great loss--most of the articles they put in the front section I've already seen on DU. I just get it for the weekly TV guide and coupons.

[closeupready]

20. I'll be honest - newspaper-reading seems so dowdy to me, because

as many here have mentioned, it's just government propaganda. And too many of them don't spend money on investigating and exposing wrongdoing, they just seem to go along to get along.

[JPZenger]

21. Way to get people to read? Provide less news.

The newspaper industry has caught onto a formula - keep reducing the amount of content you provide, and that way there will be less reason to read it.

This week the Tribune papers will be laying off staff.
---
In my local newspaper, the classified ad section is 1/10th the size it used to be. That was the most profitable part of the paper. They would have more ads if they didn't charge $400 for a small help wanted ad. The independent movie theaters can't afford to buy newspaper ads except on weekends.