Newspapers, Magazines Inch Towards Obsolescence
- Posted on October 17, 2011 at 6:14pm by
Becket Adams
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Newspaper companies are in deep trouble again, and it is not just because of the economy. Ad dollars have moved to online media fast enough to make the dip in newspaper revenues permanent.
Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper chain, announced that its advertising revenue for the last quarter dropped 8.5 percent. This reflects a revenue drop for this segment of Gannett’s sales from $591.7 million in the period compared to $646.7 million in the third quarter last year.
Gannett’s total revenue dropped 3.5 percent to $1.266 billion. Net income dropped 1.7 percent to $112 million. The company’s problem are such such that it has already cut costs and has nearly run out of places to save money.
The news comes the same week that The New York Times Company reported it would offer buyouts to 20 newsroom staff members and a number of workers in other departments. The Times has also aggressively cut costs. It must now count on its online operations to offset print ad declines, and analyst’s forecasts indicate Wall St. does not think that is likely.
The Gannett problems mean that other parts of the print industry are likely to be affected as well. It is indicative of an overall trend. This includes the magazine division of Time Warner, the operations of Conde Nast, and properties which have been deeply troubled recently–Newsweek and Business Week.
There was a reason to believe last year that as the economy stabilized so would print ad revenue. It has not turned out that way. The newspaper and magazine closings that were so prevalent two years ago are about to return.
So what is the overall implication for the future of this medium?
(Douglas A. McIntyre–24/7 Wall St./The Blaze)
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justbcz
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 12:30amMajor newspapers are being replaced with the internet: some-what reliable instant news. The only way small town newspapers will survive is reporting local news – sports and local – not AP. Switch back to afternoon / evening deliver by neighborhood kids and keep it local. Small town news and commerce will continue.
Report Post »BigTex1
Posted on October 23, 2011 at 8:16amI was in the newspaper business for over 20 years. I started out as a paper boy in fifth grade, delivering the afternoon daily from bags on my Mongoose bike. After experiencing the birth of the Internet, I walked away from the industry in 1997.
Report Post »BULLDOG98
Posted on October 19, 2011 at 12:12amMy family cancelled our newspaper subscription a long time ago, if we wanted to have our beliefs bashed we would just turn on a certain tv station.
Report Post »olderthandirt10
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 9:08pmI can’t help but think that newspapers, especially the more liberal such as the NYT and The Washington Post are to blame for this because they have followed a leftist ideology rather than pursuing the truth. Case in point: The Post’s going after the Perry story re. the racially offensive printing on a rock at a hunting ranch in Texas while ignoring the elephant in the room about Obama’s past during the 2008 election. Rolling Stone’s shot at Bachman this past summer also comes to mind. The drivel on the opinion pages of the NYT sums it all up. How columnist Krugman who writes in a incoherent style manages to win awards is frankly beyond the pale of belief. So is it any wonder that print media is as my 7th grade basketball team members said years ago when I made them run the lines, ‘hey coach, they’re not in shape. They are all sucking air!’
Report Post »The Divided States of America
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 8:09pmTime to get rid of the post office and newspapers…tech wins !!!
Report Post »OniKaze
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 2:58pmI’d say its a shame that the newsprint industry is going out of business and many people will lose their jobs… HOWEVER, The whole goal of Journalism is to REPORT THE TRUTH… I can’t tell you the last time I read a newspaper that just told the facts without being littered by the writers opinion. Well guess what, I don’t care about the opinion of the writer… I only care about the facts of the issues, I will make my own opinion… I don’t need one given to me….
If the newsprint industry wants people to start reading them again, then they need to get away from stating opinions, and get back to facts… Do the research, cite your sources, state the facts…. leave the opinions for discussion with your family or co-workers.. I only buy newspapers for facts, not for opinions.. If I want some random fools opinion, I would ask the cashier I bought the paper from..
Report Post »sharksuit
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 7:35pmAmen!
Report Post »katamb55
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 2:44pmI only get my local Deseret News (Utah) paper delivered because I have friends who work there and I’d like them to keep their jobs, but it doesn’t look promising. Monday’s paper is usually about 10 pages. Sad because I love the smell of newsprint in the morning (lol).
Report Post »georgeisn6
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 12:50pmIt is hard to see how the TIMES can servive when the have to lay off the people who invent their news stories.
Report Post »truthseekerusa
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 12:18pmAs the Political Elites flee New York while urging on the idiots Occupying Wall Street, the last of the readers of the New York Times will disappear. Maybe Soros will bail out the NYT so he doesn’t have to print his own newspaper for the idiots as he is now doing.
Report Post »jeffro314
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 10:57amthis is one of my favorite issues:
Report Post »newspapers and the postal service need to team up to provide the best possbile obsolete service they can… get rid of all the morning delivery infrastructure, hire all those guys to be postal delivery, and mail the paper to the dwindling recipients who cant stand to not read a paper on the can each morning…
save on the gas that delivery drivers are wasting each morning and combine it with the gas being used by the obsolete postal service…and provide sunday postal delivery with all those new delivery guys..
Liberalismsamentaldisorder
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 10:17amFunny, most conservative mags and papers are doing OK or at least holding their own. Maybe the huge liberal bias is putting them out of business?
Report Post »kellied
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 3:29amYes, I agree about the news paper and biased T.V. so called news reporting. I got the Direct T.V. cut off, even the entertaining shows were all about the messages from the, “OBAMA SQUADS AGENDA.” I started getting the news from this website, and other’s. I used to get the paper, hasn’t been much in it for years, unfortunate. But, we want the facts. All the facts, not their B.S. I don’t like change, and miss what I feel was the good old days. There hasn’t been much to feel good about since Bush put Nancy P. over the House. Been going, WAY DOWN every since . the upside there is GLEN AND HIS GREAT WRITERS… thank you people!!
Report Post »a1g2
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 1:04amif they would stop being cheerleaders for everything wrong with this country, then maybe people would start reading them again…..nah
Report Post »Cosmos102
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 12:36amI would be so thankful to see Gannett go bankrupt. They are the backers of both our local newspaper and our local television news station. I rarely watch the local news. When I stopped to listen for the weather report last week I was treated to the news that the TEA Party protesters are just like the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Then today I got to suffer through listening to the sound of Obama’s voice making that speech in NC, telling the crowd that the Republicans want dirty air and water, and for people to not have jobs. The anchorette was obviously enjoying the speech. I don’t suffer fools well anymore. It’s just gotten so blatantly biased, that I find myself despising the reporters and questioning their motives. I used to actually like watching the news. That’s why now I get my news at the Blaze.
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