A Sad Day for Newspapers

Today marks a sad day for newspapers. First, today’s print edition of the Rocky Mountain News (part of SSP) was its last. After 150 years in business, the newspaper is closing, a victim of the Internet and the economy. Then, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, a pretty influential group of the nation’s top newsroom execs, announced the cancellation of its April convention. Across the industry, the cancellation is being viewed as a symbolic event that says something bigger about the fate of newspapers. More on that below.

In my world, I saw an even bigger blow to the newspaper industry this morning: two people who could have been and should have been life-long readers - my mom and dad - canceled their subscription to the hometown paper today.

I never thought I’d see the day when my dad would be sitting in his recliner on a Sunday morning, cup of coffee on the end table but no newspaper in his hand. But, he’d finally had it. The content, he said, had suffered so much because of the newsroom layoffs and cutbacks that he just couldn’t bring himself to read it anymore. Oh yeah, and the price of the subscription went up. There was no way they were willing to pay more for less.

I don’t pretend to have the answers on how the newspaper business can salvage what’s left of the business. Sure, I can point fingers back in time and talk about how they were late to the online game and unwilling to break hold of the old model and try new things - before the panic set in, that is. But that was then. What’s done is done.

Is it too late for newspapers? Maybe. But I don’t think it’s too late for “news content providers.” (Coincidentally, ASNE’s members were going to vote at the April convention about dropping “paper” from the group’s name.) I also don’t think that journalism is anywhere near dead. On the contrary, I think there’s greater demand for quality journalism, no matter whether I read it on a dead tree, a PC or my Blackberry. The need for a free press, one to watch over a government that has troops overseas and is injecting billions of dollars into economic recovery, has never been greater.

A blog post by the Knight Digital Media Center this morning looks deeper at the implications of ASNE’s canceled convention and asks the question of whether newspaper executives have given up on learning. Michelle McLellan, who wrote the blog post, says:

Lack of innovation is a real crisis in the news industry and innovation requires that leaders turn from the urgent to the important. The traditional culture of newsrooms is one of command and control and the executive who never gets out of the newsroom epitomizes that. The traditional culture is also one that resists change, preferring instead to focus on perfecting narrow objectives. It’s a culture that does not make time to learn to change.

She’s right in that newspapers - no matter how late in the game - need to learn how to change. In this economic climate, no industry - from automakers to banks to newspapers - can afford to hold on to the old way of doing things. The world is changing. If you don’t keep up and change with it, it will knock you down and move right past you.

In the newspaper industry, it happened this morning in Denver.

Comments

[atlasman:]

Count me in the group that canceled their newspaper subsciption due to its liberal bias. It is one thing to have a liberal editorial board that endorses democratic politicians year after year, but when the bias started bleeding in to the news (or take over the news as in the case of the NYT) was when I threw in the towel.

Feb 28 08:39 AM

[Maximus:]

Excellent list... and one that I concur with. It shows that media outlets producing quality and relevant journalism will survive in different formats.

Seeking Alpha is a great new format that I have been impressed with. The comments section calls out the truly bad analysis and has also helped me discover great investment and trading ideas.

As far as other formats, the only reason I don't read the WSJ newspaper regularly is that I live in Europe and it is too expensive on a daily basis.

I love the Economist, Wired, Monocle and Foreign Affairs.

If the list is a predictor of what publications will survive, then say goodbye to generalist newspapers.

Sell what's left of the New York Times.

Sadly, coming from someone who thus far has made a living as a newspaper designer.



On Feb 27 07:25 PM bcncv wrote:

> With all of the (deserved) negative comments on print media, I thought
> I would take a second to recognize the news/content sources that
> I find have quality, and are enjoyable to read- in no particular
> order:
>
> The Wall Street Journal
> Stratfor
> Wired!
> Foreign Affairs
> The Economist
> MIT Technology Review
> MSNBC online (least bad of major news IMO)
> SeekingAlpha (mostly good- some bizarre)
>
> Sure this list reflects my personal bias, but it is always worth
> a moment to recognize the companies that are doing things mostly
> right. Feel free to add more of your own.

Feb 28 09:51 AM

[speculari:]

Wow! I enjoyed reading every post on this subject! I cancelled our subscription to an old and revered paper - just could not put up with the drivel. We gain local ads & news from two complimentary papers delivered once a week or so. IBD is the only paper I have read daily for several years, but I may cancel my subscription to that as well - too costly. We are all "barraged" daily with so much stuff - print, tv, inet, radio, email... more media than ever...with less content.

Feb 28 11:22 AM

[k9s-4-k8:]

Clearly, the emergence of the Internet has put a bullet into the heart of a great number of newspapers. This is a paradigm shift that won't be reversed. There will always be newspapers but their hold on information is gone. Many will need to restructure their paper providing cheaper content for an ever smaller circulation. Foreign correspondents will be decimated while reliance on overseas AP reporting will grow ever larger. But in another way, newspapers are getting their just dessert for pursuing partisanship over news. It happens in so many ways. What to print, where to report it, and how often to run a story a particular topic is so much more about what any specific newspaper wants you to know and believe than what is newsworthy. The partisanship has peaked these last couple of years and so its appropriate that the wheels should be coming off the cart at this moment in time.

Feb 28 12:02 PM

[notsosmart:]

you have to cancel your stocks & other investments as the ceo's & management are all liars.there is no more truth.all have an agenda.the locals should have kept the neighborhood carrier.hard to cancel.

Feb 28 12:35 PM

[jksisco:]

To label failed newspapers as victims is inaccurate, they made choices that proved to be incorrect, period.

Feb 28 12:51 PM

[zepheri:]

Newspapers use the closest thing to slave labor, in the US, to get that paper to your door every morning. No taxes are paid by the carriers, even if they have other income. If it wasn't for this fallacy they wouldn't be able to exist, presently.

Feb 28 01:05 PM

[PeteK:]

borgnuster;
You hit the nail to the head. Agree 100%.
The many newspapers seem like they alone can pick
our President. They seem to pick our Congress too.
Too bias !!

Feb 28 04:20 PM

[Griller:]

I am still looking for good news service. Where and how can I get timely news? I am willing to pay up to $20/month for rapid delivery of breaking stories. I have looked and looked. Can anyone help?

Feb 28 06:02 PM

[lastboyscout:]

Put me down as another who will not tolerate poor writing, bias reporting, non-existent fact checking and outright lies. I want to know what is going on without the slant, Just the Facts

Feb 28 08:41 PM

[Puddin' Head:]

Bias !! We saw it coming and cancelled our subscription 15 years ago. We haven't missed the paper at all. When papers start promoting their favorite candidates, like they did in the most recent election, it's time to cancel one's subscription. We can decide for ourselves who we wish to vote for and don't need biased journalists giving us advice!! We don't want slanted news. Just give us the Who, What, Where and When and we will make up our own minds. Report the news ~ don't slant it !!!

Mar 01 02:22 AM

[antiquary:]

This is an amazingly stupid opinion. If that were the case the liberal ones would be hurting and the conservative ones, like the Wall Street Journal, would not. Which is not the case. But then again, though there are many stupid Democrats, there is some substance to their claims of greater thoughtfulness-- "the thinking person's party," etc. I mostly hear drivel like this from right-wingers.

On Feb 27 05:20 PM borgnuster wrote:

> Newspapers are delusional if they believe that the economy and the
> Internet is the reason for their demise. Every person who has canceled
> a newspaper subscription due to the liberal bias that is spewed out
> of their hateful pseudo-reporters knows what the real root cause
> is/was.

Mar 01 09:32 AM

[Relayer10:]

I worked in the newspaper business for about 26 years- most of it as an executive manager (Advertising Director). I can tell you from one sitting in the meetings with the highest levels of management, that the real reason for demise is those executives. The method and execution of decisions made back in the late 90's were the beginning of the end.

Family owned newspapers began to sell to corporations, like MediaNEWS, Lee Enterprises, CNHI, Thompson, and others. The long time seasoned (and mostly independent) journalists began to be forced into a more "corporate" posture in order to stay employed.

About 2002, due to the downward revenues caused by 9/11, those corporations began to shift the management direction. Prior to that, most upper level managers (Publishers and above) were primarily groomed from either the Newsroom or Advertising. After 9/11, most managers were advancing out of the Accounting disciplines.

Accountants are far more focused (because of bonus compensation) to operating profits for the next 12 months, and the current month. Trimming expenses added to the operating margins, and increased bonus. For the huge majority of those corporate owned local newspapers, the quality of content was not a high priority. They SAID is was the prime priority, in the closed door meetings, and to the public, but the actions and execution did not support that posture.

The accountantss were not willing to support the salaries of what a seasoned news professional earned at that time. They instead allowed those seasoned pros to drift away...the people that were the mentors for new journalists out of school. Most importantly, they were the editors at those newspapers, and made those new folks dig for facts that supported supported the story. Far less bias, far more quality information.

As a consequence of seasoned professionals leaving (in many cases, fired) those young (and much lower salaried) reporters are now elevated to editors- in some cases very high level editors. Low experienced editors are then forced to deal with a Publisher that is focused on expense reduction- which means they want to shrink the "news hole" in favor of a greater advertising to "non paid" space.

The new editor does not stand up for journalism, because they want to remain employed. They allow that corporation to eliminate as much cost as requested (the reporter and photographer). The smaller news hole is harder and harder to fill, so they begin to use more and more Associated Press (AP) and national syndication. The natural bias of an inexperienced young editor helps steer the choices of content to fill that news hole. The Accounting back ground Publisher or Regional VP does not care one bit about the content- only the expense saving, Operating Profit Margin of that newspaper or group of newspapers.

The short sighted high level execs focus only on the current month, quarter, and fiscal year for their own bonus. The internet begins to creep into slowly declining circulation numbers. The bleeding is very slow- so they do many short term and cosmetic things to make the circulation bleeding appear minor (Newspaper in Education NIA). The exec (who also gets a bonus for circ numbers) ignores the reason the newspapers' circ is dropping- which is content.

Finally, the slow bleeding has lowered the circ numbers to a point that superficial measures no longer work- and now the bleeding speeds up. The lowered circulation means less response for advertisers (who have paid higher and higher rates for less). A strong recession hits, which affects the advertisers that have carried the newspaper. The newspaper execs have long ago abandoned those other advertisiers....which caused even more expense cuts, which made the entire problem even worse.

Because the executive heavily leveraged the corporation to buy as many papers as possible. They did NOT buy them to control news- that is a fact. They bought them to make money...that leverage is now killing them quickly,

So....you'll find that most newspapers across the country are not trying to control the news- they don't really care. That is even worse. They have inexperienced people who suddenly have control of a message, and they have no idea of the responsibility that requires. The top execs just do not care- which causes the local consumer to cancel that subscription. Which makes it all worse!

Long...but maybe it helps readers and bloggers understand more. I am commenting on the huge number of local newspapers in the country- NOT some of the major metros, like NYT etc. They have very similar stories, but are sometimes controlled by very wealthy owners who simply want their viewpoint carried- and still make a profit. The much greater number of smaller dailies and weeklies are much more influential collectively.

Mar 01 09:48 AM

[David H. Deans:]

On a positive not (beyond the "sad day" for newspapers rhetoric), the forward looking perspective will be that this is a perfect opportunity for new micro media companies to reinvigorate the news gathering and dissemination business.

I celebrate the notion that independent thought is alive and well in America, and everywhere else where people have access to the open Internet. You can choose what you read, you choose what you want to ponder or believe.

It's a wonderful day, not a sad day. Open your eyes, and your mind, to the upside possibilities of meaningful free speech in action, all sides of the issue finally being included in the debate, and the knowledge that there is hope -- as long as we can agree to disagree, with mutual respect and tolerance for all.

Mar 01 09:49 AM

[Robert Osaz...:]

I agree that it is the problem is innovation. Innovation has to be applied to answering the question of "how can we develop new digital products based on local content and local advertising?". Merely taking made-for-print content and sticking it online with a pricetag is NOT innovation. locoforlocal.blogspot....

Mar 01 01:28 PM

[PeteK:]

Sad Day for bias Newspapers means Happy Day for the honest citizens
of this country.
The sooner they fold up the better.
Good for the environment too, save lots of trees from becoming paper.
This country has suffered enough damage from these bias.
It's about time to shut all of them down.

Mar 01 02:02 PM

[Gedankonomist:]

You know there have been many "sad" days for newspapers in the past.

Like for example, when NYT reporter Walter Duranty critized the Ukrainian landholders in the paper for being "spoilers" and not going along with Uncle Joe Stalin's "agrarian reform policies."

Or when Herbert Matthews told NYT readers that Fidel Castro is "definitely not a communist."

Good riddance is all I have to say. You newpapermen can now see what "useful idiots" you are.

Mar 01 02:27 PM

[jay fredric...:]

The biggest newspaper companies all took on massive debt at the worst possible time. There isn't enough cash flow to cover the interest payments on the debt to continue to put out quality products. The entire newspaper industry is in that same boat. Too bad, it was a fantastic business to be in for more than a century.

Mar 02 09:01 AM

[name:]

Relayer 10,

thank you for your illuminating and thoughtful comment. You have outdone the author of the article. The author could have engaged in actual analysis, but curiously, is playing violins instead.

The change of management executives from groomed news men and women to just straight accountants is precisely what one would expect from a society that is more and more (post WWII) under the sway of business interests; that is the desire for more and more profit.

It seems to me that if one is a sane human being the profit function of a firm is pursued but one still pays attention to the actual product that the firm makes. One does not debase the actual product to increase profit and then have the temerity to tell the end user they are still getting the unblemished high quality product they've come to expect.

That kind of unprincipled (and in some cases deranged) pursuit of profit in any industry ranges from pitiful to tragic. With the newspaper industry information is degraded. A newspaper has less or erroneous information, informed opinion becomes less informed. But the executives still claim to be manufacturing a newspaper. In the food industry Tyson Foods will sell you something they want you to believe is chicken, when really it is chicken laced with hormones and God knows what else. Or some infant formula manufacturer will tell you they are selling you milk when really it's melamine.

The standard economic outcome for firms that make crummy or lethal products is that they will fail eventually due to competition and a decrease in demand for their rotten product. But in the interim so much damage and pain is caused.

Mar 02 11:14 PM

[Conan the B...:]

Reporting just the news without a slant of some sort whether Liberal or Conservative is beyond the requirements of Print Media. Tabloids make money. The owners realized this and converted accordingly.

Unfortunately, most Media owners have a Liberal bias.

If blame is to be laid anywhere, it is definitely not with the Staffs who just do as they are told.

That being said, SeekingAlpha has its own host of Authors whose main agenda is their own aggrandizement. I don't see any comments regarding the Liberal and sometimes totally misleading Titles and Articles which dot SA's landscape.

These are the true miscreants, they report to no one and work only for themselves. IMHO

Apr 07 10:34 AM