Malkiel

LA Times' Madness Is Brand Suicide

It isn't the place of the "business side" to throw out journalistic standards, these are a professional obligation of the creators of the content. Inserting paid content as though it were editorial content, like too many of the news magazines do today, is an example of this...

What Is Wrong With Tribune's Math?

Don't assume that newspapers serve the same function in all markets. While newspapers may not seem "local" in a metropolis, in suburban and rural communities the newspaper may be the only source of news on local affairs and local government, and people (including generations who don't use the internet and social classes who can't afford web access) will loyally subscribe to their local paper. Free papers like the Advocate seem to thrive on a free distribution model because again, they offer the only source of information on neighborhood entertainment and local affairs. It's all about the local, identifying what that is and addressing the content and advertising to it.

The piece of the puzzle that needs to be looked at is the cost and method of producing the paper product itself. When papers are printed in magazine sizes and distributed by the US postal service or UPS rather than their own delivery fleet, that will be more like what needs to start happening. Having the publication be printed on spec by local outfits who are licensed to download and deliver the content is another way to get rid of owning infrastructure...