On The Record - Newspaper Industry News

Parade President: Reports of Death of Papers May Be Greatly Exaggerated

Innovations Could Still Allow Them to Reverse Their Fortunes

By Randy Siegel

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- According to the pundits and prognosticators, newspapers are in a death spiral and doomed to extinction, just like the dinosaurs.

But what if these wags are wrong? What if newspaper companies reinvent themselves, innovate aggressively and discover new ways to increase revenue and market share? What if -- to paraphrase Mark Twain, who once read his own premature obituary -- reports of the death of newspapers are greatly exaggerated?

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Read the Fine Print: Smaller Newspapers Still Thriving

We don’t read much good news about newspapers in general.  This article shines some light on smaller papers and how they are doing better than some would think:

Amid all the dire talk of falling revenues at big newspaper publishers, some good news gets lost: Many smaller operations are doing quite nicely--even during an economic downturn. Above all, smaller newspapers are benefiting from their still-unchallenged ability to deliver local audiences for local advertisers.

There's no question that small-town daily newspapers are faring better than most regional and national papers, which tend to dominate the headlines...

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World's Editors Weigh in On Future of Newspapers

Some insight on the Newspaper industry’s efforts to embrace digital can be found on this NAA “Future of Newspapers” blog...

A survey conducted by Zogby International for the World Editors Forum and Reuters indicates that editors “remain confident about a mixed-media future and have quietly got on with the business of integrating their newsrooms," but this is "tempered by anxiety that newspapers are not investing enough in recruitment and training for the future," according to World Editors Forum president George Brock...

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New Report: Small Is Still Beautiful in the Newspaper Biz

By Jennifer Saba

NEW YORK - While big city metros are taking the lion's share of the industry's ills, community newspapers are having a different experience. Advertising revenue for community newspapers fell only 2.4% to $482 million in Q2 compared to the same period last year according to figures released from Suburban Newspapers of America (SNA) today.

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Users Act on Local Ads 9% More Frequently

by Kathleen

ADOTAS – Location, location, location: new findings show that online advertisers should probably be thinking small these days. Local media sites are delivering superior results to online advertisers, according to a report from the Online Publishers Association. It found that ads on local newspaper, magazine and TV Web sites are “very likely” to result in users taking action.

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Buyers Want Newspapers to Reinvent Model

Philip M. Stone

The bad news from Dean Singleton – “We are selling the Connecticut Post to Hearst and paying down a lot of debt.” The good news from Hearst CEO Frank Bennack, Jr’s response, “Newspapers will be viable as far as the eye can see.”

Singleton and Joseph Lodovic, Media News President, told employees in a company e-mail update, “Proceeds from the sale were used to repay almost 25% of our outstanding bank debt. Secondly, the transaction provides a unique opportunity to approach our bank lenders with a ‘win-win’ proposition. In exchange for the large repayment, our banks agreed to relax certain key aspects of our credit agreement to provide more room to navigate over the coming years. In sum, the sale, coupled with the changes to our credit agreement, provide us the runway we need to execute our strategic plans, position the Company to be opportunistic, and to continue to lead the industry into the future.”

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The Newspaper Doomsayers Still Can Be Proved Wrong

One of the Problems Is Underinvestment in Digital Technology and Talent

By Jonah Bloom

Another prediction of the death of newspapers just hit my inbox. It was a link to a blog post from William Lobdell, who recently left the Los Angeles Times after 18 years in its service.

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Buyers Want Newspapers to Reinvent Model

This year seen as industry’s worst since Depression

-By Lucia Moses

Shrinking newsrooms. Falling operating margins. Double-digit declines in ad revenue. American newspapers today are awash in ink—but the ink is red. Soaring newsprint prices and stalled ad business have, in fact, led analysts to call this year the worst for newspapers since the Great Depression.

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With Fewer Readers, Big Newspapers Charge More

by Erik Sass, Monday, Jul 28, 2008 7:30 AM ET

As their print circulation falls, big metro dailies are charging more at the newsstand. They are hiking prices to offset the growing costs of production--including ink and paper--and distribution, where they are feeling the squeeze from high gas prices. This paradoxical strategy may shore up revenues for some companies, but it's a risky proposition.

Most recently, The New York Times announced last week that it will raise its newsstand price by 25 cents for the second time in as many years from $1.25 to $1.50...

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Grim Reaper: Newspapers Cut 3,500+ Jobs in Two Months

by Erik Sass

Call it the Midsummer Massacre. The last two months have seen a bloodbath at some of America's largest newspaper publishers, with substantial job cuts hitting a number of papers, including a high proportion of newsroom positions.

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