Bobby Rifle

The Unraveling of Newspaper Economics

Tim H. makes some great points.

The future is in niche markets. Where newspapers are going wrong is by jettisoning their local content generators (i.e. reporters), but keeping all the national/international... that people can find anywhere else.

Cut the AP wire before you cut your reporting staff. Cover local businesses before bothering with the day's action from Wall Street.

Would Newspaper Readers Pay for Digital Content?

So report it with a conservative bias?

If it's "liberal bias" that's killing newspapers, then explain the massive circulation decline for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Explain why Asian newspapers are having trouble: www.google.com/hostedn...

Oh, OF COURSE it has NOTHING to do with "the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression," nothing to do with the fracturing of all forms of media, nothing to do with rational consumers asking why they should pay for print version when they can the same info for free on the newspaper's website, nothing to do with the mountains of debt newspaper companies took on right before the economy fell off a cliff.

No, it's all about you whining narcissists taking your ball and going home. Of course, you completely refuse to acknowledge how the networks and newspapers (McClatchy's DC bureau mostly excepted) willingly repeated every lie the Bush Administration used to justify Iraq, refuse to acknowledge the fact that the New York Times still can't even bring itself to use the word "torture" to describe what's taken place at Gitmo and Abu Gharib, and refuse to acknowledge how the Washington Post's op-ed pages have become neocon central. Well, at least now I understand why your side actually thinks you're onto a winner with Sarah Palin.

On Jul 02 03:17 AM RE Broker wrote:

> Newspapers might find more customers for both versions willing to
> pay if they stopped their liberal bias and just reported the news.

What's the Boston Globe Worth? About a Buck

So explain why the Boston Herald still trails the Globe.

Explain why the San Francisco Chronicle has lost about 20% of its circulation in the past few years.

Explain why the Washington Times still (badly) trails the Post.

Furthermore, explain why conservatives are so narcissistic now that they think it's all about them, and nothing to do with the broader changes of all forms of media splintering into niche markets.

On Jun 15 09:09 AM NP Refugee wrote:

> I continually wonder just how much the liberal bias does, in fact
> hurt the newspaper industry. It has to be taking a toll. Perhaps
> the growth and Fox News and the decline of CNN may be indicative
> of the effects of liberal bias in media. One really must ask just
> stupid an entire industry can be to alienate what is 50% of the populace--a
> percentage of the populace that is more likely to read deeply and
> delve past the headline in Yahoo! or Google news.

Saving Newspapers: Put Humpty Dumpty Back Together

Yeah. And Amazon wants to take 70% of the revenue from newspaper stories on Kindle AND have the right to distribute those stories to any other digital platform. Yep, that's a partnership all right.

As far as AP goes, newspapers pay a shit ton of money to the wire service. So much so that at least a few are balking at the fee and giving their 2-year opt-out notification.

That might not be all bad, because then maybe they'll use the money for local staffing (yeah, right. Not with the managerial beancounters who ran them into the ground by piling up debt for acquisitions while cutting local content). Then they can provide the info that CNN/Reuters/Fox don't provide, which is news about the communities these papers exist in. Go hyperlocal.

Of course, that's a problem for advertisers who don't recognize that all sections of the media are fracturing into niche markets. That's a process that's been going on for 30 years now (see the difference in audience shows for primetime televisions shows between 1980 and now). Advertisers think they can still get a mass media audience, and haven't figured out that you're going to have to go to places where you may only get a thousand pairs of eyes. And that's even before you're challenged by DVRs that allow people to fast-forward through your ads, or ad-blocking software on people's computers.


On Jun 04 07:35 PM FullMetalPhotographer wrote:

> What's true for the group is also true for the individual. It's simple:
> overspecialize, and you breed in weakness. It's slow death.
> -(Major Motoko Kusanagi) Ghost In The Shell
>
> Humpty Dumpty not only fell down but was turned into an omelet and
> was served up.
> Newspapers have been living in fantasy since the 90's. Numbers were
> declining before then. By 2001 Newspaper invested heavily in the
> internet or I should say the bubble. As far as Google goes the Genie
> has left the bottle. To be blunt Google and Yahoo are not the issue
> here. Newspapers retro economic model and news distribution model
> is the problem. I hate to say it but a pay per story model will not
> work because there are so many other sources. Even if you put a gag
> on AP. You still have Reuters, CNN, FOX and many more willing to
> fill those shoes.
> Newspapers need to think differently. They need to realize they are
> not in the printing business but in the information business. Gather
> and delivering information. They need to lose the the Deadline mentality
> and think of a constant flow of information. They need to look at
> partnerships such as Amazon and Apple for news distribution. If they
> do not adapt then they will join the dinosaur as a marker in history.

Newspaper Ad Sales Go from Terrible to Terrifying

PastTense hit it dead on.

There is secular change going on, yes, but the bulk of newspaper troubles now are due to borrowing a ton of money right before the economy fell off a cliff.

Take a look at Gatehouse Media for example: www.boston.com/busines.../

Can Traditional Print Newspapers Survive Creative Destruction?

Except studies (which to be fair have a small sample size because so few have done it) are showing that newspapers that discontinue their print editions to go digital-only actually see a *decrease* in their online readership. For better or worse, the print edition is acting like a billboard for the digital product.

If I had to guess, I think that at least for a generation you're going to have print and digital sitting uneasily with each other. You may have a print edition for the longer-form articles as suggested in the OP, breaking news posted to the Web, alerts sent to cell phones, etc.


On May 28 09:24 AM PeakOiler wrote:

> I don't know how anyone can justify the selfishness of cutting down
> trees, expending vast amounts of fossil fuels in the process of cutting,
> pulping, paper rolling, and delivery of an individual newspaper.
> Clearly these processes have no future in the delivery of digital
> information.

The Journalism Bubble

Waterboarding is a minor issue?

We prosecuted Japanese officers after WW2 on the grounds that it was a war crime. Even executed some.


On May 22 11:59 PM Missing_Link wrote:

> "People — particularly if they’re under 40 — have news priorities
> other than those of the editors of The New York Times or producers
> of the 'NBC Nightly News.' "
>
>
> Well put. I find it unfathomable that the media seems to be hyperfocused
> on minor issues like waterboarding while the biggest economic crisis
> in 75 years is causing massive loss of jobs, homes, and savings across
> the country.

The Journalism Bubble

> Wrong. I ended up being very well-paid because I worked in news

You must be the only one.

Study: Newspapers Must Cross ‘Digital Abyss’

>While Pwc concedes that some newspapers are finding success by developing “hyper-local” or “local-loop” sites that address content at the neighborhood level, findings show that advertisers still want and need to reach mass audiences.

Great, so we've got a total disconnect. Newspapers have to focus on content that you can't get anywhere else, which means hyperlocal and niche level reporting (especially now that we've pretty much reached the point that anybody can be a content provider thanks to YouTube, blogs, etc., reaching an audience of maybe a few thousand people). But the advertisers want newspapers to continue being the big general interest, mass media, mass consumption concept.

Yet it's the newspapers that have to "reinvent their business model."

Will Amazon Announce New Kindle for News Distribution Today?

Kindle doesn't look to be very promising for newspapers, if Rupert Murdoch and James Moroney are any indication.

Moroney (Dallas Morning News publisher) told the Senate today that Amazon is offering newspapers only 30% of the subscription revenue *and* wants the right to license the content to any portable electronic device (not just Kindle, not even ones made only by Amazon).

Similarly, on the NewsCorp earnings call today, Murdoch griped about Amazon's demands on content rights: “We will not be ceding our content rights to the fine people who created the Kindle. We will control the prices for our content and we will control our relationships with our customers. Any device maker or website which doesn’t meet these basic criteria on content will not be doing business long-term with News Corporation.”

Buffett: I Wouldn't Buy Newspapers 'At Any Price'

Here's my question: why can't critics see their own biases? You don't want "news," you want something that tells you you're right, that confirms your biases.

Why else are Fox and MSNBC now 1-2 in prime time?


On May 03 05:47 PM iel76 wrote:

> Newspapers are getting what they deserve. Most no longer convey "news"
> but instead the editorial opinions of their "reporters". Local news
> consists of murders and auto accidents; local business coverage is
> de minimis. I'll find my news on the web thank you.
>
> Newspapers are going?? Good riddance!

Newspapers: Give Us More Creativity Please

And yet the WSJ has had layoffs, just like every other newspaper.

mediamemo.allthingsd.c.../

The Speech Newspapers Need to Hear

I still have yet to hear any revenue plans from Mr. Jarvis that don't come down to panhandling.

Newspapers Need a New Business Model

>You can hasten this transition and support the vitally important free press. For example, begin ignoring the old media with its disrespectful advertising by canceling your newspaper subscriptions and redirecting those funds to your trusted friendly neighborhood bloggers

Panhandling is not a business plan.

The End of (Most) Newspapers

>my base case is a last-man-standing scenario in which the big boys (NYT, WSJ, Guardian, BBC, Reuters) win, and most smaller publications lose.

Depends on what field you're talking about. Community newspapers are doing relatively well, better tha n the big boys, although they may be dragged down by their corporate parent (such as in the case of Lee, which is still posting a 19% operating profit. It just ain't enough to cover all the debt they took out to swallow Pulitzer)

The shakeout is more likely to be specialization. Maybe McClatchy shuts down its DC bureau and relies on the NYT instead, for example, while focusing on local news. Similarly, perhaps Dow Jones divests its Ottaway division and focuses on the WSJ and national/business news.