Zeitung Arbeiter II

Newspapers 'Rightsizing'? More Like Frightsizing

Which papers did Walter Cronkite and Harry Reid work for again? Maybe papers did abandon the truth when they became cheerleaders for the Iraq war (Knight-Ridder being the exception) but the truth today is more people are reading news than ever before. They're just not paying for it by subscribing or buying classified ads (at $20 a line, who could blame them). Some newspapers are a product of their success ... a la Life Magazine. The more subscribers, the more paper is consumed and the more fuel it takes to deliver ... a vicious circle. I think most papers are happy to lose readers to the web ... they just haven't figured out how to get advertisers to pony up the money. The industry is searching for its equilibrium. It's not easy when Wall Street is breathing down your neck. Get used to it ... 20 percent profits are a thing of the past.