The Guardian's financial problems

The publication of American government National Security Agency leaks has raised the profile of the British-based paper The Guardian. But it's still a news organization and -- as with nearly all publications -- a good scoop doesn't save it from realities of the news business.

The Guardian is financially struggling.

From the Washington Post:

For all its nominal success abroad, the Guardian is troubled at home. Circulation of its domestic print edition has tumbled by more than half since the beginning of 2006; according to British media accounts, the paper lost about $1 million a week from 2009 to 2012. It continues to lose money, according to [Guardian Editor Alan] Rusbridger. “We’ve been through lean times like everyone else,” he says. “Last year wasn’t great.”

But he notes that the paper is subsidized by other ventures owned by the trust, including Auto Trader, a highly profitable British car-sales site.

Rusbridger isn’t blind to the irony. The next round of globe-rattling government-secrecy revelations, he says, may be brought to you by “a secondhand car magazine.”

@eScarry