It's not the stupid economy, newspapers

“The biggest thing we need right now is an improved economy, because at least 60% of the revenue problem we’re facing today is a good, old-fashioned economic recession,” says William Dean Singleton.We should be so lucky. But we’re not.The chief executive of the MediaNews Group was on the money when he told PaidContent.Org that an economic revival would be mighty welcome. But even the most robust

Drudge shows how to do news

As I scrambled from website to website this morning for the latest news while my retirement melted away, the place that consistently had the most complete, convenient and up-to-date information was the Drudge Report.For all the millions of dollars and thousands of people employed at the mainstream newspapers, broadcast networks and cable channels, Drudge had assembled the perfect mix of salient

‘Make or break’ time for newspapers

Newspapers have 18 months to prove themselves as valuable cross-media partners for retailers or the flow of advertising dollars away from them may accelerate, publishers were warned this week by their customers.“The next year to 18 months may be ‘make or break’ for the newspapers,” says David T. Clark of Deutsche Bank in a report summing up the NAA Retail Advertising Forum that just wrapped up in

The yin and yang of newspaper unions

Unions indeed are part of the problem for some of the newspapers struggling to survive the historic distress that has rocked their world. But unions, imperfect as they may be, help to level the playing field for workers. They are valuable and we need to protect them.The question of the proper role for unions at newspapers evoked vigorous comment at the prior post, which mentioned that a Chapter

Bankruptcy may be next at some papers

Bankruptcy court may be the next stop for some of the most precariously financed newspaper publishers.As awful as the prospect sounds, it actually could be a good thing for the newspapers, because a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing enables a struggling company to restructure its debt, streamline its business and potentially put itself on a sounder footing for the future. Not all Chapter 11 filings

How the shrewder CEO cashed out at MNI

The year 2007 was a tough one at the McClatchy Co., as it struggled to integrate the complex and costly acquisition of Knight Ridder at the same time a steady deterioration in advertising sales began picking up steam.But the company seemed to be in luck. It had not one, but two, experienced chief executives on its board of directors – the incumbent Gary Pruitt and former Knight Ridder boss Tony

What’s going on at McClatchy?

Seeking the meaning of Gary Pruitt’s sudden resignation from the family trusts that control McClatchy, the Wall Street Journal speculated that the move foreshadows an initiative to issue millions of new shares to pay off the company’s billions in debt.The Journal might be right. But I doubt it. Here’s why:MNI has $2.1 billion in debt. Its shares nowadays are trading at about $3.30 apiece (only 18

McClatchy preparing to go private?

The McClatchy family appears to be getting ready to take its company private again.The signal that something may be afoot is contained in a brief document filed at 5:01 p.m. yesterday at the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Friday night filing states chief executive Gary Pruitt resigned Wednesday as one of the four directors of the family trusts that collectively control 41% of MNI’s stock

Palin daughter pregnancy was valid news

Although the pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s daughter by rights should not have been news, the media had no choice but to report on it after the matter was injected into the maelstrom of the presidential campaignMy friend and former colleague Don Wycliff makes the case for why the press should have respected the privacy of the 17-year-old girl and ignored the fact the unwed high school student is

Newspaper sales headed below $40B

Newspaper advertising sales this year are on track to fall some $5.5 billion to less than $40 billion, which would make for the lowest volume since 1996.Based on the record $3 billion drop in sales in the first six months of this year, it appears that the industry’s combined print and online revenues will come in at $39.9 billion.The last time annual sales were below $40 billion was in 1996, when

Newspaper sales fall record $3B in 6 mos.

Total newspaper advertising revenues fell by $3 billion in the first six months of this year to $18.8 billion, the lowest level in a dozen years, according to data published today by the Newspaper Association of America.The record 14% sales plunge featured the first-ever drop in online sales. Interactive revenues slipped by 2.3% in the second quarter of this year to $776.6 million. For the entire

Free papers are fizzling, too

The global market for free newspapers is in a slump, too, according one authoritative industry analyst.After expanding explosively for a dozen years, the total circulation of free dailies around the world grew at an “all-time low” of 5% in the first eight months of this year, says Piet Bakker, a professor at Hogeschool Utrecht in the Netherlands.Piet, who blogs at Newspaper Innovation, says the

The high price of skinflint journalism

The idea of splitting news coverage among the three principal newspapers in south Florida is journalistically and commercially dangerous.As discussed previously here, it is clear why the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel and Palm Beach Post want to collaborate on “basic” local coverage, whatever that is. They want to save money by generating more content with fewer people. While this may seem like a

The true cost of the buyouts

A mind-numbing number of dedicated newspaper people have seen their careers brought to abrupt and premature halts as the result of the industry’s relentless budget cutting.But the true loss of these fine people to a newspaper – and their communities – typically isn’t conveyed in the rote announcements that most papers dutifully print when many of their most senior staffers are ushered out the