09-23-2009, 02:12 AM
deckeda wrote:
Newspapers are dying because advertisers are going away, fast. Normally, advertisers go away after readers do-and so that's been the assumption here. But the opposite is what's happened to newspapers.
Deckada is dead on correct..
I've worked for newspapers for 29 years and been through a few up and downs in the industry. I've worked for chains (Knight-Ridder, Morris and Media General) and now am a senior photo editor for the largest paper in our state, which is also very highly respected publication on the national level. We are independent with no share holders to please.
Our circulation has held it's own and even grown during the last several years. That would normally be seen as a good thing, but now there are new thought processes at work.
We have to look at the cost per subscriber. The subscriber or reader is not where a newspaper makes money. Circulation is a break even at best, and generally you lose some cash on the deal. But advertisers value a paid circulation, it means people want your product enough to pay for it.
But as Deckada points out the advertisers have gone, and many are not returning. Craigslist has destroyed the classified ad sections, that is 30% of a papers revenue stream.
For those that think the printed product is going away -- it won't be anytime soon. No publication is making enough revenue from their web product to survive. The printed product is still the cash cow generally giving a publication between 85% and 95% of it's gross profit.
Newspapers are a business and must make a profit to survive. Journalists are dedicated to getting news to those that want it, but we can't do it for free or worse, pay to give it to you.
There will be more publications failing but many more will survive.